My sister's home. {Pretties and Posies)

 My sister Melanie, closed her blog, Pretties and Posies last October.  She took a break last August and decided to permanently close it shortly after.   When she closed her blog she promised her readers that I would be posting pictures of her updated home on my blog.   Well.... here it is.  

When my mom was so sick last year, she moved in to Melanie's house for a month.  Before her move, Melanie spent lots of time but little money updating from her vintage style to a cleaner, coastal style, ridding her home of all of her loved but worn and dusty vintage pieces.  

Her kitchen stayed the same except for a few minor changes. She changed out her green depression glass and borrowed some of my ironstone to add to her milk glass collection. Now her cabinets are filled with white dishes of all ages.

Her dining room was updated with a smaller pedestal table to replace the large farm table she had before. She had her old dinng room chairs recovered with slipcovers made from canvas dropcloth. 

        

She got these chairs from Marshall's!

 

The Family Room. 



Not much was done to her family room. She added some blue patterened pillows and a striped rug. She also updated her end tables and sofa table.  She is still working on some finishing touches. Someday she will get it done.

The girls' bedroom was painted and redone last fall as well.  It fits in with the rest of the house with its coastal feel.

The sunroom.



Her old vintage glider was replaced by a new Ikea slipcovered loveseat.

She still paints once in a while.  This one hangs above the loveseat in her sunroom.

 

Her Master Bedroom.

Melanie's walls are still Benjamin Moore's Palladian Blue.  After 6 years, she still loves the color.  she added some soft yellow accents and purchased new nightstands to replace the vintage dresssers that used to sit on each side of the bed. 

Another one of her paintings.

Her husband, Chris built these bookshelves and  replaced the chandelier with this hanging drumshade.  

She had these chairs slipcovered in canvas dropcloth as well.   I love the way they turned out!

That's it. The tour of her home.  Melanie recently opened her blog, Pretties and Posies back up after receiving requests from her blog followers.  She will not be posting anymore, but if you want to check out her previous posts, it is open so you can browse... and pin if you want to. 

   

Beach Photo Attire

I am always getting asked about what we wear for our beach photos, I thought this might be a good time to address all the questions because many of you are taking family beach vacations this summer. With a little pre planning you should be able to pack clothes that coordinate with each other before you go.  This year I had several people comment on our attire for this years shot.  I have to say, we already had everything in our closets so I didn't have to buy anything new, which is even better in my book!! I started with my dress, I found this sweet thing at Marshall's last year it is made by Max Studio.  You could find dresses similar to this just about anywhere this time of year.  I then when to my hubby's closet because lets face it, he has the least amount of clothing to work with!  This shirt was a purchase from Kohls a few years back.  Khaki shorts are always a must for our photos, they just work with everything and nothing says beachy like khaki!  My son Dayton had this cool plaid shirt from Aero and even though it was a plaid it had all the colors that I was looking for so I went for it and love how it looked.  Little Myah's outfit was also from last year, I had purchased this swimsuit cover up in Seaside at Ducky's toy shop it is made by Karmal Living.  I love looking at the clothes while we are on vacation, especially summer-y stuff because we can't buy that stuff all year long up here in the north.  The head wrap was purchased from the same place, I love how it keeps her fly aways from flying away while we are on windy beach.  Which also reminds me to tell you to basically shellac your hair with hairspray before you head out otherwise you will not like the way your bangs are flying in your face the whole time.  I never have taken our photo with us wearing "color" but I was really pleased at how we complemented the water and sky. A few other hints that I have learned the hard way are:  Take photos on a not so bright evening or morning, shadows can be really tricky and we tend to be squinting more on bright days.  I like photos when the water is a bit calmer too.  Look for a spot where there are not too many visitors, get as close to the water as you can and have your photographer be at a 45 degree angle shooting you so mostly water is in your background, not shell seekers!  I take most of our photos on the last night that we are there, we have great tans and everone looks relaxed and happy!  Go out of your comfort zone when looking for something to wear, I never wear long, strapless dresses but this one is so comfortable and I really wanted to cover the large scar on my leg in case you could see it in photos, I also think it makes me look thinner than I really am, who doesn't like that!!! Ha!  Just be casual, my favorite photos of our family are like this one below, not really posing at all, just being us.  Keep it simple, I could have put a cool new necklace on but I really wanted to keep the relaxed feel so I opted not to fuss myself up too much.   

Spring Break 2012

 I took these of Myah a few days into our vacation , I usually get more of her than Dayton because she is a more willing participant!  For now at least!  This was a skirt I found at a second hand store a few years back it is a Children's Place brand.  I just paired it with a simple white cami. 

 I love just letting her play in the ocean!

 Our friend Abbie was along on this trip so I caught one of her doing a jump, love her simple jeans and  cami too!

 I also knew that I was going to trash this skirt, I wanted her to get in the water, I have done this before when she was really little too and just love how it looked!

 Bare feet are a must in beachy photos!!! No shoes!!!!

 Make sure to get one of just you and your sweetie pie! 

 And some of just the kiddos playing around! I have become an orange freak lately! Love that color!

 I always take this shot every year, I love looking back and seeing how much they have grown!

 I always can find the handiwork of some creative kid on the beach so I try to snap a few of a sandcastle while we are shooting. 

 Spring Break 2011

Same outfit for Myah last year it still fit this year so I used it again! 

 I also took thise of just her as well, I paired a Target bathing suit with a sweet tulle skirt borrowed from my niece.  I loved using her little Asian umbrella as a prop. 

Spring Break 2010

 This was my khaki and white year, you can always go with this option, it is classic. 

 White polos for the guys with khaki shorts.

 Old Navy ruffle dress for Myah.

I love using a few props, like these pencil starfish. 

Lake Michigan 2008

You don't have to travel to the ocean to get great beach photos.  We live in Michigan and are blessed with miles of gorgeous beaches with the Great Lakes. This sweet eyelet dress was from the Gap, they always have a sweet spring white dress each year. 

Again, just the kids being the kids, I love this one of Dayton holding Myah's hand, even though you can't see his face you can feel so much emotion.

I hope I have given you some good ideas, go looking through your closets and see what coordinates, it doesn't have to be all matchy matchy to look great! 

Send me a postcard!!!