Eleven Gables: book review

Books on my coffee table: French Country Cottage

One of first blogs I fell hard for was French Country Cottage by Courtney Allison. Courtney has just released her first book and I got my hands on an early issue. Friends, this book is delicious. French Country Cottage the book b…

One of first blogs I fell hard for was French Country Cottage by Courtney Allison.

Courtney has just released her first book and I got my hands on an early issue. Friends, this book is delicious.

French Country Cottage the book by Courtney Allison

is a must have for your coffee table!

Courtney Allison's style is soft and romantic, a little bit shabby, but mostly chic. Her photography draws you into the space begging you to sit down and stay awhile... florals are abundant, soft and muted fabrics adorn the furnishings, and a touch of gorgeous gilding is the icing on the

French Country Cottage Cake.

It all started with a $20 vintage chandelier that first gave Courtney the confidence to transform her cottage into the stunning home that it is today.

Simple, everyday things that might otherwise go unnoticed are what inspires Courtney in her decor. Faded linens, layers of chipping paint on antique furniture, touches of gilding on the daintiest of pieces, flowers of all shapes and sizes, crystal chandeliers, family, children, nature.... all of these elements lend a hand in shaping what is currently my favorite book on my coffee table.

Can't you just feel the crunch of the gravel as you carry your morning coffee over to that wicker chair near the hearth? Throw another log on the embers and cozy up to the fire with your book.

Off I go down a rabbit trail scouring craigslist, ebay, and facebook marketplace for like items with every turn of the page.

I'm going to leave you with these last images and urge you to hop over and purchase your copy HERE. There are over 200 more pages filled to the brim with delightful inspiration to entice your senses and teach you how to decorate your own home.

Happy Decorating!

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XOX,

Emily

* links to products you may be interested in purchasing are included within this post. I make a tiny commission off your purchase, but it does not increase the price for you. I encourage you to purchase through your favorite blogger's links. This is how we earn an income so that we can continue to provide you with beautiful, quality posts. Thank you!

**all photography property of FCC, Courtney Allison, used by Eleven Gables with written permission

2 comments

Make Room For What You Love Challenge {Decluttering and Organizing}

2:01:00 AM

book review

Make Room For What You Love Challenge {Decluttering and Organizing}

book Hello, Lovlies! I am so thrilled to tell you about another book by my sweet friend, Melissa Michaels. Melissa writes a blog called The Inspired Room . Her blog was one of my very first blogs to ever read. …

book

Hello, Lovlies! I am so thrilled to tell you about another book by my sweet friend, Melissa Michaels. Melissa writes a blog called The Inspired Room. Her blog was one of my very first blogs to ever read. I told you about her other two books HERE and HERE. Make Room For What You Love is another page turner! It strikes a nerve with me because....

I am not an organized person by nature. There. I said it. Now you know my secret. Organization is not in my DNA, I have to work on it. Every Single Day of my life. I love to "collect." Some of my collections have turned into clutter.

I love what Melissa says, "Your story has wonderful chapters from the past that are worth and wonderful to remember, but don't let your home get stuck in a time capsule. It's okay to let past trinkets go in order to make more room for what inspires you now. They served their purpose at that time. Now make more room for who you have become."

When organizing our kitchen, I took EVERYTHING out. Literally put it in boxes and only brought in what we needed.

wicker chairs

I left those boxes in our storage area and if I needed something, only then did I bring it in. (I haven't been in those boxes in over two years- out they go!)

barstools | lanterns | blue and white

The first step for me was keeping all the clutter OFF the countertops. If it couldn't fit in a cabinet or drawer, it was left in the storage area. Since the island is the hub of our kitchen, I will show you how I organized my most used kitchen essentials. These drawers hold the key to my organized kitchen.

similar dough bowl, farmhouse hardware

The top drawer is for all of my sharps. I have this thing with kitchen shears. If you don't own some, you are missing out! I use them for everything food! Why aren't my knives in a big block on the counter, you ask? Probably because I watched a scary movie at some point and it involved a knife being pulled from a block on the counter. I don't need the boogie man having quick access to my knives. :) This handy dandy knife holder keeps them off the counter and out of sight.

knife tray | kitchen shears

The second drawer holds all of my baking utensils. I really do use multiples of all these items!

similar utensil tray

The baskets are unfortunately discontinued. I have searched everywhere for you. If you find them, please comment and let me know so I can share with my readers.

The third drawer holds my mixing bowls, multiple liquid measuring cups, a cheese slicer (not sure why that is there other than the fact that I had space there), and a round little slicer thingy that I bought at the fair 20 years ago... I love that it fits my mixing bowl and I can just slice right into the bowl.

graduated glass mixing bowls, marble cheese slicer, silicone measuring cups, handled measuring cups

The fourth drawer holds industrial sizes of foil, plastic wrap, and sandwich bags. Everything is within easy reach and is usable.

industrial foil, pop up foil, plastic wrap

By eliminating the clutter and making room for what I truly use and love, I have made our kitchen a place of enjoyment. The boxes of extras are still in the storage room... three years later. It's ridiculous. I promise it is my plan to haul that extra stuff off and donate it this summer!!

Now, you may be asking yourself, How can I start decluttering my house? Start with one room... look at the surface space and clear it all off. Are there magazines and catalogs you haven't looked at yet? Toss them in the trash. Don't feel bad about it. When is the last time you have actually ordered directly from a magazine? I have a stack I keep meaning to look through. It isn't happening. I always end up google searching what I am looking for anyway. Into the trash they go! Do you have an appliance sitting on the counter that you haven't touched in a month? Find a place for it under a cabinet or in the pantry. Voila! An empty space!

Organizing doesn't have to be costly.

Thrift stores sell all sorts of containers that can be utilized for organization. Or you can make your own out of small cardboard boxes covered in contact paper.

Start small, one drawer at a time. You can do this.

To purchase this life changing book and start your own Organization and Decluttering Challenge click the link:

Join my friends and me as we participated in "The Make Room Challenge." Visit their blogs today and see how they are simplifying their homes and lives.

Eleven Gables / Craftberry Bush / At the Picket Fence / Julie Blanner / Beneath My Heart / Thrifty Decor Chick / Emily A. Clark / Reluctant Entertainer / My Sweet Savannah / Domestic Fashionista / At Home In Love / 320 Sycamore / Sunny Side Up / Happy Happy Nester / The White Buffalo Styling Co / Sweet and Simple Home / Finding Home Farms / In My Own Style / Fox Hollow Cottage / The House of Silver Lining / Infarrantly Creative / Fieldstone Hill Design / Shabby Nest / Today's Creative Life / Sarah M. Dorsey Designs / Just A Girl / Southern Hospitality

Thank you, Melissa, for including me among this wonderful group of bloggers and for inspiring me to continue working through my own home to make room for what I love.

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Like what you see? PIN IT!! SHARE IT!! COMMENT BELOW!!

xox,

Emily

**affiliate links are used in this post. This allows Eleven Gables to make the smallest commission on your purchase, but does not increase the price to you. Thank you for supporting small business! xox

15 comments

6:40:00 AM

book review

The Inspired Room Tour: The Evolution of a Room and A GIVEAWAY

I am honored to participate in The Inspired Room Tour hosted by my friend, Melissa from The Inspired Room . We are celebrating the release of her new book, The Inspired Room: Simple Ideas to Love the Home You Have . Today, I am…

I am honored to participate in The Inspired Room Tour hosted by my friend, Melissa from The Inspired Room. We are celebrating the release of her new book, The Inspired Room: Simple Ideas to Love the Home You Have.

Today, I am going to show you how a little inspiration over the years turned our kitchen and keeping room into a cozy home for our family.

Once upon a time, our kitchen and keeping room looked like this:

Yes, it was lovely. Yes, it was functional. Yes, I am grateful and so very blessed. To be honest, it wasn't really working well for our large family. The kitchen is located smack dab in the middle of the house. It is our main hangout. The "keeping room" or "family room" is just adjacent to the kitchen. We lived in our home and loved it for seven years. It was time. Using multiple sources for inspiration, I designed a new kitchen. Books, Pinterest, Magazines, and now Instagram are my primary sources of inspiration.

My original rendering:

Inspiration come to life:

Family Room right after the woodwork was all painted and curtains were hung, circa 2013:

Woah! Its a floral explosion in here! The Ralph Lauren sofa was mine from college days... I saved babysitting money to purchase that doozy, but it has gorgeous lines and I'm positive the floral is almost back in style. The slipcovered Henredon club chairs were wedding gifts. Notice the original windows. All the windows were replaced shortly after our kitchen remodel thanks to tennis ball size hail completely destroying our exterior.

New windows, but way too much going on in here:

Continuously inspired, the keeping room looks like this today (well, not exactly today... keep reading if you want to see it today):

Slipcovers on the sofa, club chairs, and ottoman soften the room, yet still provide warmth and coziness. I am daily inspired by Instagram and Pinterest. Changing out accessories from time to time is an inexpensive way to update a room instantly. I scour craigslist, thrift stores, TJ Maxx, Homegoods, and Tuesday Morning for most of my accessories.

The mantle over the stove was inspired by a photo on Pinterest. Drawer placement was inspired by a need for organization. Everything has a place.

One of the blogs I have been the most inspired by over the course of many many years is The Inspired Room. Melissa has an approach to decor like no other. She takes the home she has been blessed with and completely transforms it, right before your eyes. Her photographs and descriptions, DIY's and Tutorials are down-to-earth. She shows real life happening in real time. That is why I was so excited when she released a book! I shared the book review with you here. Love the Home You Have is a witty and inspirational book on how to take your home from livable to lovable. Melissa gives practical advice on how to change your perception on your home and how to fall in love with your home.

After I read her book, I was inspired to change my outlook on my own home. I even quit shopping stores and shopped my own home. My 2015 fall tour reflects that change (this is the before) I want to change my formal living room so badly. My husband put me on a bit of a "remodeling freeze" for 2015. We have been soaking up family time and I am having fun remodeling clients' homes. So, I traded some work for a friend's seagrass rug and dug out some grasscloth wrapping paper (purchased last Christmas because I knew I'd find a use for it). Everything else came from shopping my home, advice Melissa often offers.

You can imagine my delight when Melissa wrote a gorgeous Coffee Table book!

FULL of Photographs, DIYs, Tutorials, and Practical Tips & Advice!!!!

I am so excited!!!!

Melissa says it perfectly, "This book is unique, it's not a collection of photos of nice houses or designer rooms, it's a relatable book about creating a real life home on a budget, starting with what you already have. It has lots of photos and tips for decorating and making your house feel like home."

and this is my home today: Completely Unstaged... deadlines looming, school projects due, piles of laundry, and dirty dishes; BUT I love my people who make the messes in our warm and cozy home. I'm off to ~~fold laundry~~ read my new book and sip some coffee.. Join me?

Now for more super exciting news! *hint* giveaway!

The Inspired Room: Simple Ideas to Love the Home You Have is available RIGHT NOW for preorder and officially releases November 1, 2015. If you pre-order, it ships the day it releases (maybe earlier!!)
Also, you are invited to participate in The Inspired Room Tour AND you have the opportunity to win a $300 gift card to Anthropologie!! To enter, create a post with the requirements found HERE and submit your finished post URL link to that form HERE again. Entries are accepted until November 10, 2015. All details are on the form, so follow the links to win!

I truly hope you are INSPIRED to go make your house your home. I urge you to pick up your own copy of The Inspired Room: Simple Ideas to Love the Home You Have

What is your major source of Inspiration in your home? I'd love to hear in the comments!

For a behind the scenes glimpse at life around Eleven Gables, follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!

For more inspiration on the Tour:

Home Stories A-Z . Bliss at Home . Craftberry Bush . Happy Happy Nester . Fieldstone Hill Design
  Cuckoo 4 Design . Reluctant Entertainer . In my Own Style . Honey We're Home . The Chronicles of Home
  Eleven Gables . Finding Home . City Farmhouse . Domestic Fashionista . Michaela Noelle Designs
  Wicks Nest . At The Picket Fence . Southern Hospitality . Fox Hollow Cottage . Sweet and Simple Home
  Balancing Beauty and Bedlam . Bright Bold and Beautiful . My Sweet Savannah . The Lettered Cottage . Emily A. Clark
  The House of Silver Lining . Beneath My Heart . Restoration House . At Home in Love . Julie Blanner
  Jennifer Rizzo . Miss Mustard Seed . Rambling Renovators . Jones Design Company . Not Just a Housewife . Sarah M Dorsey Designs

(links will be updated as the tour continues)

xox,

Emily

*Post contains affiliate links

21 comments

11:45:00 AM

book review

"Love the Home you Have" book review

My sweet friend, Melissa, who writes the blog The Inspired Room has written a beautiful book. Love the Home You Have is the epitome of what I desire as I love my home. It's all about loving your "right now" h…

4 comments

Books on my coffee table: French Country Cottage

Make Room For What You Love Challenge {Decluttering and Organizing}

The Inspired Room Tour: The Evolution of a Room and A GIVEAWAY

"Love the Home you Have" book review