Hey – I’m Stephanie. Remember me? I started a blog and tried so hard to be consistent. But hey - life happens and it seemed to be happening faster than I could keep up.

But I’m back! & my theme for the blog, the reminder I tell myself daily, and love to tell others is GRACE (and cupcakes of course)!

I hope your summer is off to a great start! I am going to keep summer super simple and share with you some of my favorites: decorating, our turning 50 bucket list (this has been so fun), road trips, and date night ideas.

I hope you will join me here as we enjoy summer time together!

It’s been nearly nine months since we’ve moved into our dream home and I am close to having all of our seasonal décor organized (your girl has A LOT). Having storage definitely makes it easier but also gives my husband a glimpse into just how much stuff we have! Oops.

I have always loved decorating our home to go along with each season or fun holiday. Before Instagram and Pinterest, I would spend hours flipping through magazines to get ideas. Apparently, I am not the only one who has a thing for Rae Dunn, soft throws and pillows, because there are bloggers and zillions of photos about home and seasonal décor.

Here are my 10 tips on seasonal decorating:

1. First – I love to start with cranking up one of my favorite Pandora stations. I love my Zumba Fitness Radio or Pop Fitness Radio. In my mind – this is the best way to get your cardio on!

2. I typically start with the kitchen as everything happens here! From entertaining, to dinner with just the two of us, or just hanging out, the kitchen is the place to be! I start with removing all the visible pieces from my glass cabinets that are not a good fit for the next season or that I have used a lot. I love using our glass cabinets to showcase old family antiques and then mix in some new pieces. I then remove anything on the countertops and place everything on the island. It’s surprising how rearranging your pieces and placing them in other rooms can create an entirely new look.

3. For the Living Room – I remove everything from the mantle, coffee table, side tables, and bookcase. Typically, I just add most of those items to the island so I can easily see all that I have and get creative. Next, I remove all the throws and pillows and pack up anything that is season specific. My favorite seasonal décor has always been throws and pillows. I can never get enough!

4. My foyer table is absolutely one of my most favorite pieces. I found this long before we ever moved into our house at an antique store in Blowing Rock, NC. This is also one of my favorite areas for seasonal décor and the area where I love to just get creative.

5. Dining Room: For now, I have old bookshelf I purchased years ago from Target. It has been fun using to display lots of my favorite Rae Dunn pieces. I love having fun with the table and the table linens. I usually start in the spring with a basic color scheme that I can keep going for the summer but just add in some seasonal pieces and change out the centerpieces. I have loved these farmhouse linens I found at TJ Maxx along with these galvanized chargers.

6. Once I have everything cleared, I pick an area and choose pieces that have been used in another room/area. I’ll pull together items such as baskets, trays, candle sticks, floral pieces and just have fun with it. This is also where I take all my Rae Dunn pieces and switch them up. This can often take just a few minutes or hours (depending on how good my Pandora station is). This is also where I can get some fun dance moves in while staring at an area to see if I really like it as is.

7. Next, I bring out my seasonal totes and put everything out to see what I have to work with. This is such a fun part because it’s amazing how you can forget what you have, purchased the day after the holiday on clearance, or sometimes it goes in the “why did I buy this?” tote. Tip: some seasonal décor can be used in multiple seasons. Often times my Christmas décor is used for Valentines Day and, of course, the reds from both can be used for 4th of July.

8. My key seasonal pieces are always pillows, throws, welcome rug, table linens, floral pieces for centerpieces, and a few wooden pictures. I also love adding in a seasonal dish towel in the kitchen and hand towel in the guest bathroom. There are some seasons I completely go overboard with everything!

9. My favorite stores for seasonal décor – TJ Maxx, Marshals, Target dollar spot, Hobby Lobby, Joann’s Fabric and Dollar Tree! Besides the fun of putting it all together – the thrill of the hunt is almost just as fun! For budget purposes – I always try to purchase seasonal items on sale, on clearance, or pieces that will last for years to come.

10. For my final touches, I add some fun to the front door and front porch and finish with more pillows, throws, and tabletop for our screened-in porch (currently our favorite summer hang out spot)!