Luxe Lifestye: Pool Cabanas & Exciting News!

Christin here.  Remember when I said, "I have a feeling there are some pretty exciting things in store for the year ahead"...well, it's only a month into my thirties, and already it is ringing true!...No, we're not having a baby...Yet! But my husband and I DID buy a new house!  We are beyond excited!  We got married in April, and have been pretty consistently looking since we got back from our honeymoon.  It started out just for fun....driving around our favorite neighborhoods, pointing out the pretty houses.  But we started to realize it really was a great time to buy and our hobby became a little more serious.  We became familiar with nearly every house on the market and went to see at least a dozen in person.  We saw a lot of beautiful homes...and we began to notice a pattern.  We would view a house, the next day it would sell!  We felt like a good luck charm...for everybody else buying homes.  We really started to feel the urgency!  Finally, we found a house that we fell in love with!  An absolute dream house.   We were prepared to make an offer, but when we called our realtor to do so, we were faced with the devastating news that it had gone under contract!  We prayed and crossed our fingers that the buyer would back out during the inspection period, but sadly that didn't happen.  We were heartbroken!  Everybody told me, "Something better will come along", but if you saw the house, you would have found that hard to believe too.  A couple weeks went by and after feeling a little discouraged with nothing new coming on the market, we received a call from our realtor.  He had gotten a heads up that a house was coming on the market, but not listed yet.  We were able to get a sneak preview...and would you believe, we DID find something better!  OUR dream house...for real this time! And the most ironic part, it's directly next door to our first love the original house!  But in my opinion, we got the better house!  God was saving it for us all along!

We close October 15th, so you can imagine that I am chomping at the bit!  

As The Nursery Diaries wrap up, I am exciting to begin and share with you my journey into making our house a home...in the new Luxe Report series, Designing the New Digs!

We are currently living in a great town house, which I have owned for six years.  It has served me well, but the biggest downfall has been the lack of outdoor space.  This became a huge priority for us while looking for a new home.  I'm delighted to report our new dwelling has a beautiful outdoor space, complete with a pool, that I am so eager to get my hands on!  

Nothing says luxury outdoor living quite like a pool cabana!  And I think we can all agree with that after looking at these amazingly inspiring photos!

 My inspiration mood board for our new pool area

Cabana / Loveseat, Chairs & Chaises / Chandelier / Planters / Elehphant Side Table / Pillows / Garden Seat / Striped Bolsters / Rush Basket

A custom cabana can set you back a few thousand dollars, and since we are going to have a lot of other priorities, I was lucky to score this great back & white striped cabana on sale from Z Gallerie (and just in the nick of time, before it was discontinued!).  I also, already own the white resin coffee table, elephant side table, gardens seats and lots of lanterns!  The biggest investment will be the furniture.  With all the components it sure adds up! And there is a real lack of good looking, affordable outdoor furniture out there.  But I am loving the Ballard Designs Suzanne Kasler Directoire Collection.  In addition, I will introduce other small accents of the black & white stripe, along with tropical palm leaf patterned pillows on the loveseat.  The final touch will be beautiful, tropical potted plants and landscaping!

With the closing being 41 days away, I'm trying not to get ahead of myself...but who am I kidding?? It's too late for that!  I've started my new house binder (in lieu of my wedding binder).  And despite having a full house of furniture, I have still managed to create quite an extensive wish list!

Stay tuned for more ideas, progress, renovations and designs on Designing the New Digs!