A long time ago, I decided that I just wasn’t a fan of curtains. The idea of adding some color or pattern to a room seems nice, but in reality, it doesn’t every work in my spaces. Yes, I like when someone else uses curtains, but for some reason curtains and I are not friends. In our first house, I had white linen curtains in our dining room for about a year or two. And they were okay, but not great. And then in this new house, I bought curtains and hung them in our bedroom, only to take them down the very next day. And aren’t curtains just big dust collectors? One of my favorite things about owning an old home is the windows. 100 year old Craftsman windows are huge with beautiful wide trim around them. I felt like curtains just covered up all the pretty wood work.

Our living room is a gigantic room with 9 windows!!! It really has 3 walls of windows. When we bought the house, there was striped, satin-like curtains hung on ornate curtain rods. I knew they had to go, but trying to figure out what to replace them with was not an easy task. I tried some pretty linen colored drapes for a day or two thinking that the gold and blue stripe was what was bothering me. But no, even the simplest curtain panel just didn’t feel right. I just didn’t want to hide all that pretty unpainted wood trim.

So, I started hunting for non-curtain options and I thought I’d share some of my favorites with you. In our last house, we had cellular blinds in almost every room. In our master bath and kitchen, I made fabric roman shades (which I super time consuming to make). So, I started looking into shade options. One of the the windows in the living room is 8 feet wide though, so anything we were going to install had to be custom.

I began looking at Hunter Douglas cellular shades and discovered SO MANY amazing options. I’m talking about stylish, high tech options that are so much better then any mini-blind or curtain out there.

Having to turn to a custom option, because of the size and age of our windows, Hunter Douglas gave me a lot to consider. You aren’t stuck just figuring it all out on your own, they have dealers all over the country. And actually the paint store I often visit even has a Hunter Douglas display room and a dealer. Here’s some of my favorite shade options and why I’d consider them.

1. Fabric Vane Shades – These sheer shades allow light to filter in and still offer privacy. I like this option because we live on a main street, and while I love natural light flooding in, I also don’t want the whole neighborhood to know what I’m up to. These also have a modern, minimal feel. And I love that you can see through these shades even when they are down.
2. Fabric Roman Shades – Roman shades are a classic look. And they come in more options then you can imagine. But, I wonder if 8 feet of fabric across a window will feel heavy and cumbersome in our house. I also don’t know that we need complete black-out or privacy for this room.
3. Roller Shades – Roller Shades are clean and slick looking. They roll away to almost nothing, leaving no bulk of fabric or shade at the top of the window. They come in every color and pattern. They are very practical, but I feel like there are really only two options with these shades – open or closed.
4. Adjustable Fabric Vane Shades – Everything I love about #1, but even more adjustable. These shades tilt to allow light to come in a different angles. I love the idea of privacy and filtered light all at the same time. And these shades also have no cords or pulls, they are completely automatic and can even be operated from your phone!
5. Cellular Shades – I’ve long been a fan of these honeycomb shades. We lived with them for 13 years in our first house. They are neat and tidy and the almost disappear when they are pulled all the way up. We also found that these shades helped insulate our house from the heat and cold. If you live with 100 year old windows, you know that this is very important. These also come in every color possible, but I’m sure a classic neutral would be my first pick.
6. Woven Texture Roman Shades – These shades have all the classic features of a traditional fabric roman shade, but also the pretty texture of natural fibers. They have the look of grasscloth, but all the shade and ease of a Roman Shade. I feel like these natural textures and tones would work really well with all the wood trim in our house.

So, many amazing choices, I can’t wait to share with you what we pick. Stay tuned. What would window treatment would you consider for our windows? Are you are curtain or non-curtain person?

Now, let’s take a look at the before.  Don’t you think we can do better?

And how about those curtain rods? And yes, the blue/green walls are gone.

This post is sponsored by Hunter Douglas, thank you for supporting the companies that help make this blog possible. 

The bathroom might be the most under-styled room in the house. Would you agree? But, really everyday is started in this room. I am a firm believer that your surroundings can effect your mood. Waking up to disorganization and an uninspired space might be the wrong way to begin your day. Today I’m sharing some pretty bathroom art that might give you a little boost of encouragement (and yah, you can download all three pieces for FREE!). And I’ve also got some simple tips to help your keep your bathroom organized and stylish.

If you are going to love your bathroom, you might want to start with hanging something pretty on the walls. I recently spent time playing with my camera and some pretty Spring blooms. Then I framed these images as sleek, modern, acrylic prints at Mixbook. These prints are perfect for showing off crisp, detailed photographs. I also love these acrylic prints for the bathroom because they are frameless. There are no nooks and crannies where dust and moisture can collect. I chose to hang one on the walls and lean the other on a shelf. With easy to mount hardware, these are synch to hang.

If you like these prints, you can download them for free.

• Tulips
• Anenome
• “You Look Great!” Print

I also created a little print that says “You Look Great!”. I like the idea of this being small enough to fit into a medicine cabinet. It’s a nice little surprise with you open the cabinet to reach for your toothbrush. I printed this as a 4×6 photo print at Mixbook, which are only $0.15 each to print. I framed this little print in a inexpensive brass frame to add to the gold and brass accents in the bathroom.

And don’t worry, I didn’t forget about you.  Mixbook is giving Oleander + Palm readers 40% off anything on their site!!!!! Just enter the code OP40  and get 40% off sitewide. (Expires May 14th Midnight PST). Now how cool is that?

Once you get something pretty on the walls it’s time to get organized. Here are my 5 tips to keeping a organized and stylish bathroom:

1. TRAYS – I might own more then a couple trays. I think I use them in every room in my house. They are the perfect landing spot for odds and ends. Instead of loose items floating around on surfaces without a purpose, a tray gives these items a place to belong. In the bathroom, I keep a lot of my most-used toiletries out on the counter.

2. WHITE LINENS – I’ve decided that white towels are the only way to go. They really are easy to keep clean, unlike colorful or patterned towels, they can be bleached back to snowy white. White towels hung in a bathroom don’t clutter the space. For me, clutter creates chaos, so having white towels is one simple step to creating a little less chaos. Now don’t get me wrong, I love trendy, patterned towels. So, my exception to the white towel rule is that hand towels can be any color or pattern. These are the least expensive towel to replace, so why not?

3. ONLY PRETTY BOTTLES – Yep, it seams like a stupid rule, but it will help make for a prettier space. I’m not saying you can’t buy the budget or bulk soap (I definitely do) but if you do, transfer the product to pretty bottles. I did this in our shower years ago. I made simple 1-2-3 bottles and filled them with shampoo, conditioner and body wash. And then, if you have pretty bottles, put them on display. I don’t know about you, but clean branding and pretty packaging makes me happy. 
4. CONTAINERS – Jars, glasses, bowls, baskets – these are all your friends in the bathroom. Keeping like objects together is the best way for my kids to stay organized. Inside drawers and medicine cabinets I keep hair ties and clips within easy reach. I like using glasses and bowls for combs, make-up, toothbrushes and cotton buds. They can easily be cleaned by putting them through the dishwasher from time to time. If you buy bathroom specific items, often they can’t be washed in the dishwasher.

5. SILVERWARE TRAYS – Again, the kitchen section of the department store saves the day. Perfectly compartmentalized for make-up, medicine and all the unmentionables that are stored in the bathroom. I’m not a huge make-up girl. Yes, I need make-up to look somewhat presentable in public, but really I wear pretty much the same thing everyday. So one tray is plenty for me.

Be sure to take advantage of Mixbooks awesome discount code for O + P readers. There products are really high quality and I can’t recommend them enough. Remember the pretty Mocktail Calendar I made? Ya Mixbook does that as well.

This post is sponsored by Mixbook, thank you for supporting the awesome companies that help make this blog possible. 

I’ve shared a lot of pictures of this fun space on my Instagram feed, but I’m finally ready to share all the reveal pics here on the blog. So, get ready for the Oleander + Palm Guesthouse Bedroom Reveal! I’ve got so many pictures, because I don’t want you to miss any of the details. If you missed the guesthouse bathroom reveal, you’ll want to go check that out as well.

I teamed up with one of my favorite online stores, AllModern. Remember the plan, I think it looks even better in person. I kept this little space feeling modern and fresh with lots of white and geometric patterns. To keep the space from becoming stark and cold, I added touches of pale pink. I also believe that geometric shapes can feel very masculine, so nothing softens a look like a little pink.

The walls got a coat of my favorite white paint, Sherwin Williams Alabaster. We refinished the original floors and I love the warm honey color of them. I’m a huge fan of warm wood tones and white. So, my vintage dresser, that I refinished a few years ago, and this gorgeous new headboard are a perfect pair for this room. Modern design doesn’t have to be just molded plastic and glossy surfaces.

The bed needed to go in front of the windows, which it not ideal, but I think this tall headboard really anchors the bed. I love the mid century shape to the simple bed frame. It’s clean, simple shape feels timeless in this 1918 building.

I feel like I’m always playing with finding a balance between the age of our home (1918) and the modern day life we live. It’s a fun challenge. I want to preserve the character of the house, but I also don’t want to live in a museum. I like to keep things uncluttered so that the details and finishes of the home shine through. If you can’t tell already, I LOVE old houses.

This room has no shortage of great lighting. I chose to keep the bedside tables clutter free and mounted two gorgeous brass swing arm sconces on either side of the bed.

This post is sponsored by AllModern, thank you for supporting the companies that help make this blog possible. 

I’m so excited to share our guesthouse bathroom reveal with you today. It might be the smallest room in our house, but I’m pretty sure it packs the most style. All the gorgeous fixtures, fabulous tile and modern decor came from one store, AllModern. This bathroom makeover has been months in the making and I’m so grateful to my brother, Joash for all his help in seeing this project through. Our little Airbnb guesthouse will be open for business very soon!

I’m sure I broke a whole bunch of design rules when I chose this very bold, geometric tile and not only put it on the floor but also up the walls. But, that’s what makes it fun and exciting for me, trying something new and taking a risk. And even though this is some very loud patterned tile, the color palette is very neutral.

The room was mostly grey and white, so I chose to warm up the space with some warm wood tones and brass finishes.  This free-standing vanity is the perfect space saver for this tiny bathroom. With no legs or a pedestal base, it feels light and not cluttered. I love the view of this space from the doorway. Seeing the tile seamlessly transition from the floor to the wall creates an illusion of the space a little being bigger then it is.

If you can be in love with a shower fixture, I definitely am! This gorgeous shower handle is about the prettiest piece of hardware out there and instantly give the space a luxurious feel with out being too stuffy. We kept the shower classic and clean, with pretty white subway tiles. And there is definitely no missing those gorgeous fixtures in that all white space.  (I also added a set of my numbered shower bottles to the little nook in the shower.)

Limited wall space meant being a little creative with towel racks. We opted for two large knob hooks for guests to hang their towels to dry. Extra linens are tucked away in the large drawer under the sink. We also kept the original medicine cabinet because it offered so much fantastic storage. We found a simple round mirror to add to the long narrow cabinet door, and it broke up all the straight lines in the space.

This guesthouse was built in 1918, so we wanted to try to keep as much of the original charm and character as possible. The arched entry to the shower was one of the details.

Years ago the room was re-wired and conduit was added instead of dealing with the lath and plaster walls. While this can feel a little industrial or even unfinished, I kind of feel that it adds a fun layer to the space. A shiny new brass globe pendant light mounted to the exposed conduit is a playful juxtaposition.

There will be more room makeovers and reveals coming your way soon. Thanks friends for sticking with me. So, what do you think? Is the tile to wild for you? Are you in love with the pretty brass fixtures as much as I am? I’d love to hear what you think about our new and improved guesthouse bathroom.

This post was sponsored by AllModern. Thank you for supporting the companies that help make this blog possible. 

Slowly but surely there is less and less wallpaper in our house. This is a long, painfully messy process, but every time I see another room with crisp white walls I am sooooooo happy. The latest room I tackled was the upstairs hallway. It’s a great little space that needed a little personality.

If you’ve been following me for a while now, you know that I love vintage, and especially mid century furniture. So, when I came across this adorable mid century style bookcase at Hayneedle, I knew it would be a perfect fit for our home.

If you aren’t familiar with Hayneedle, then you are truly missing out. They have a huge selection of home furnishings, decor items, and almost everything you can think of for the inside and outside of the home.

I’ve teamed up with three other bloggers to share a styled bookcase from Hayneedle. Be sure to check out Love Your Abode, Wife in Progress, The Mountain View Cottage.

Here’s what I used in this space:

• Mid Century Bookcase
• Artificial Fiddle Leaf Fig
• Ceramic Face Vase
• Wood and Marble Decorative Cube
• Set of 2 Gold and Mirrored Trays
• Moroccan Rug Runner

I’ve tried a few times to keep a plant alive in this room, but with no natural light, it’s just impossible. So, believe it or not, this is an artificial fiddle leaf fig! Ya, they can look this good. I love the color and life plants bring to a space. And although I didn’t think I was an “fake” plant girl, I was easily convinced when this one arrived on my door step.

So you can appreciate how awful the wallpaper was, here are some lovely “before” pics. Oh yes, there was a boarder as well. This yellow tone just felt aged and very dated.  Fresh white walls help make this space feel a lot brighter. With no natural light in this room, I needed to bounce as much light as possible.

This part of the upstairs landing leads to the kid’s bathroom. So, a soft Moroccan rug runner felt like a must. Cold floors first thing in the morning can be a little rough. And this mostly white rug adds even more light to the space.

I kept the shelves kind of sparse and was super picky with the items I chose to display. I wanted to keep this space feeling light and airy. And in a couple weeks, I’ll probably change it up again. I like to rotate my favorite objects from room to room, it makes the whole space feel brand new.

This post is sponsored by Hayneedle. Thank you for supporting the companies that help make this blog possible. 

Well, I know I said I was taking off the month of January to kind of get caught up with life, but I wanted to pop in and share a little more of the progress on the guesthouse.  This is one part of life that I’m really trying to finish – the guesthouse. We are full-steam-ahead and trying really hard to have this space 100% done in the next week or two. Tile is being installed and I’m giddy with how amazing it looks. I’m so glad we chose to have the tile installation done by professionals. I’m all for DIYing, but this was beyond my skill set.

The bathroom is small, but we are packing a whole bunch of style and functionality into this tiny space. The color palette is very neutral, but there is no shortage of bold geometric pattern and pretty brass details. I’ve teamed up with AllModern to give this 100 year old guesthouse a gorgeous, modern bathroom makeover. My guests are going to feel like they are staying in a 5 Star hotel with this bathroom makeover.

1. Rosewood Vanity
2. Brushed Brass Faucet
3. Brass Globe Light Pendant
4. Wood and Brass Shelf
5. Toilet
6. White Towels
7. Turkish Hand Towel
8. Brushed Brass Shower Head
9. Towel Hooks
10. Hand Towel Ring
11. Toilet Paper Holder
12. Geometric Tile
13. White Subway Tile

Stay tuned friends, because things are coming together really quickly now. My brother, Joash, has worked many many hours to help us create this beautiful space. We are so grateful for his skilled help. We just finished the refinishing the floors right before Christmas. I took lots of the step-by-step pics and I’m excited to share the finished product with you. That will be on the blog next week. Spoiler Alert –  floors turned out better then I could have imagined.

I’m sorry for the radio silence last week. But, we are in up to our elbows in this Guesthouse project. I did A LOT of sanding and painting in the last week and a half. Today some of the tile is being installed and I’m absolutely giddy. I’ve been sharing lots of the behind-the-scenes over on my instagram stories. So, if you like awkward videos of me talking and seeing the mess that goes into a project like this, then feel free to follow along. I’ll share the tile process today. We hired a professional and I’m feeling really good about that. We try to DIY as much as possible. But, sometimes having someone who REALLY knows what they are doing and has all the right equipment and tools is a nice luxury.

Today I wanted to share with you the plan for the Guesthouse bedroom. It’s going to be super cute. I’ve partnered with AllModern and this room is decked out with Scandinavian design and stylish modern and mid century pieces. I kept the palette very muted, but played with some fun geometric patterns and lots of texture. There is also a hint of pink to soften all those bold black and whites. I keep saying that I’m moving out there, and really, looking at these gorgeous pieces, I really think I should.

1. Geometric Rug
2. Pastel Pillow (similar)
3. Wall Sconces
4. Mustard Sheepskin Pillow
5. Chandelier
6. Vase Set
7. Mid Century Bed
8. Brass Chair
9. Throw
10. Wire Basket
11. Woven Wall Art
12. Metal Plant Stand
13. Brass Planter

Even though the bathroom isn’t totally done, the hope is to have the bedroom set up by the end of this week for my parents to stay in. Fingers crossed and lots of coffee to be had. I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

I was very tempted to invest time and energy into painting, decorating, and styling my kid’s rooms first.  I’m pretty sure that’s what I did in our first house. But, this time around I decided to do our bedroom first. The first thing we did when we moved in was to add some closet organization to the one very tiny closet in our room. And really, that has made life so much easier. But, now that the room has a fresh coat of paint and things are hung on the wall, this really does feel like a sanctuary and retreat for us.

Here’s a look at the room before.

There are a few changes we made from our old bedroom. The first thing is we bought new/old dressers and night stands. A couple weeks before we closed on this his, Lonnie and I were wondering through a local antique mall and came across this gorgeous set of mid century furniture. And the crazy thing is, it matches my beloved mid century credenza that sits in my living room. We could’t believe it was we saw it. I know you are already jealous, just because these pieces are so beautiful, but you are really going to hate me when you hear that I only paid $499 for the set. YEP!!!! Just one of the dressers is worth probably twice that amount. I would normally choose pieces that aren’t so matchy-matchy, but I felt an obligation to keep this set of furniture together as a family. Before this set, we had lived 17 years of marriage sharing a thrifted dresser and keeping a majority of our clothes in plastic drawer containers in the back of our closet. I have to say that each of us having our own dresser has made life so much easier and organized.

While we were still at the old house, I had bought a new white duvet cover. I was ready for less pattern and a brighter, lighter look. Now with just one new statement pillow (which I found at Marshalls for $20), my very pretty brass headboard is the star of the room.

There’s probably no chance that I would buy a house that didn’t have hardwood floors throughout. Part of the reason I love them so much is because they give you a chance to play with pretty pattered rugs. And really it is nice to have a soft place for your feet to hit the floor in the morning. This fun, Moroccan hand tufted wool area rug from Rugs USA is just the right amount of pattern I was looking for. Without it, the room feels a little bare and boring.

I haven’t bought any new art for our new house. Except for one special piece that now hangs in our room.  It’s an illustrated scene of the old city of Sanaa, Yemen that I’ve had for the last 8 years. It was tucked away in a cupboard, waiting to be framed. So instead of storing it again at this house. I sent it off to Framebridge to have it framed in a sleek, modern brass frame. I’ve had Framebridge frame some of my photography before, and it’s so nice to have those images off my computer and on my walls. It’s an awesome service. You can either send them a digital file of our art, or they will mail you an already post marked box to send art into them. It making framing so easy. Now I’m kicking myself for not doing this sooner. I LOVE having this piece of our past adventures on our wall.

Besides that one piece of art, I’ve mostly just taken what we already own and moved it around from room to room. Pieces that used to live in our dining room, now have a new home in our bedroom. We tend to get stuck in a rut with art.  We decided that this is always the piece that hangs in my living room grouped with a specific chair and side table. But, it’s fun to experiment and move, what you already own, to different rooms in your home. It’s like shopping, but not having to spend a cent.

In our old bedroom, there was space for over-sized nightstands. I refinished 2 thrifted dresser to serve as bedside tables. They were great – they had huge drawers for storage and a nice big surface for lamps and accessories. But, this new room, with the location of the door, required smaller scale nightstands. While I really loved my mismatched, thrifted lamps from our old room, I really love the clean clutter-free look of these super chic wall mounted lamps for Schoolhouse Electric and Supply Company. Because the house is 1918 and most of the furniture is mid century, this beautiful lamps offer a modern element that helps keep the room feeling young and fresh. I love this combination of black and brass, it really feels like these were always meant to be on either side of my bed.

We’ve been in our new house almost 3 months now, and while I want all the rooms to be done right away, I’m having fun taking my time and putting some thought into how I want to live in this house. So, this is another room done and I’m ready to take on he next.  I think the living room is getting paint next.  I don’t think I can live with these dark walls any longer.

I big thank you to Rugs USA, Framebridge and Schoolhouse Electric and Supply Company for providing gorgeous products for me to use in this room.