The Kitchen

Let’s start with the kitchen! As I mentioned, all photos in this blog post are by Amy Demos. She is seriously the most incredible photographer! She offers a free photography class on her site FYI, so check it out if you want to learn about taking good pictures. I took it and loved it! Her and her husband are just the cutest!

 1. BARSTOOLS | 2. SEAT CUSHIONS | 3. LANTERN LIGHTING | 4. SIMILAR WREATHS

Probably the most common question I get in the kitchen is where we got our barstools. We got them from Restoration Hardware and I wanted to link them, but I don’t think they make them anymore so I went ahead and found a look-alike (for a much better price anyway!) and I’m gonna link those here as well. I honestly think the look-alikes are just as good! I remember when we got them we were just in such a hurry to get something in that spot because we didn’t have any furniture in the house and we needed somewhere to sit to eat. And these came the quickest! The seat cushions that I got for them are from Wayfair and are super affordable! I know I got white, which probably will get dirty, but hey at least I can bleach them! We’ve had them for a while and I haven’t had to replace any. But I did buy an extra set just in case I have to replace in the future.

Also in the photo above you can see the blinds in our kitchen. I wish I had a more close-up photo of them because it’s subtle, but oh my gosh are they stunning. They add a warmth and texture to the room that I truly can’t describe without you seeing them in person. We got all of the blinds and drapery in our house from 3 Day Blinds. Use this link and you can get blinds buy one, get one 50% off if you need them for your home. Or get some as an upgrade! You can also mention my name when you do a consultation and you should be able to get the same deal! I can’t remember the exact fabric we got for them. In fact this white fabric is one we used in the majority of our home. But if you tell them you want the same fabric as my home, your consultant should be able to find it! It’s great because they still let some light in, but they filter harsh sunlight for great pictures and just great ambience! Can’t recommend 3 Day Blinds enough!

 1. BARSTOOLS | 2. SEAT CUSHIONS | 3. LANTERN LIGHTING | 4. SIMILAR WREATHS

The next most common question I get is where I got our kitchen hardware like the handles on our cabinets and drawers. I actually found them on Amazon and I linked them in one of my lives so I’ll link that here. They are so stunning and I’m so so happy with them!

 1 . RANGE | 2. SIMILAR WREATHS

Our range is by ilve, and oh my gosh, I can’t even tell you how many people come into our home and think it’s a $10,000 range. It’s not! It’s almost half that, and while it’s still an investment in a range, it’s honestly on par with what you’d pay for many high-quality ranges. I just think the statement it makes is so incredible. So if you’re building a house and those kind of things get lumped into the overall cost, I highly recommend going with one of these ranges if you can swing it.

1. GLASS JAR | 2. SET OF GLASS JARS | 2. SIMILAR CUTTING BOARD

The arrangement in the center of our island is also just so beautiful. I got these glass pieces from Pottery Barn but they don’t make them anymore!!! But I will link similar options for you here for you. And then I just got some eucalyptus from Whole Foods to add in the center, and a candle from Walmart. This is from the My Texas House line. She has really beautiful items. I don’t think she sells the candle anymore but check out all her other affordable items! As I do this blog series you’ll see that a lot of our stuff is from her line. The cutting board is vintage and my dear friend Willa Ford bought it for us as a housewarming gift. But I’ll link a similar one here as well.

More Details

I’m also going to link some of the things on the floating shelves on either side of our kitchen vent. The faux tulips are linked in this Amazon Live. They are the most stunning faux tulips I have ever seen! The little woven basket with greenery below that is from Walmart and super affordable!

The bowl on the other side with the faux olive tree branches in it is from Fable! So much of our dinnerware is from fable and I love all of their stuff! We had someone over the other night and they asked us where our water glasses were from because they loved them so much!

And last but not least the wreath on our kitchen vent! The exact wreath we have is from Etsy but the shop owner no longer sells them. Her store sadly isn’t even open anymore. But I linked here so you can see some similar wreaths at different price points.

Kitchen Staple!

Actually, I lied, one more thing. I can’t go without mentioning an absolute staple in our kitchen! 1to3 Life! Thank you so much to so many of you who have been such huge supporters of this small business of mine! I’m so happy so many of you are loving it and it’s making you feel better. I’ve gotten messages from people saying it helped increase their breast-milk production, helped get rid of their migraine, made them feel amazing after a night out drinking till 2 AM! The list goes on! I’m so proud to have created this product that has less sugar, less calories, and overall less junk than the leading competitors!

We’re having a clear the inventory 50% off everything sale right now! Yup 50% OFF (applied automatically at checkout)! Which basically means we’re selling the product for less than what it costs us to make and fulfill the orders so we don’t make any money. Which might seem like a crazy thing for a business to do, but it basically has to do with our product being great and wanting to do what’s best for the environment. I explain everything on the website, so I hope you take a minute to read the huge decision that our company just made. We also wanted to do what was best for our customers and I know we’re making the right move.

 1. 1to3 LIFE 50% OFF | 2. BASKET | 3. CHANDELIERS | 4. GLASS JARS 

Family Room

Now onto the family room. First I’ll say what’s not in these photos is the little kids table we have between the kitchen and the family room. I like it because it’s not toddler size, but more little kid sized so it’s perfect for Molly and Riley! In fact my friend Clea gave it to us because her kids had outgrown it and transferred onto an adult size table. But this is perfect for our purposes. A lot of people asked me about this table even though it’s not pictured here so I’m gonna link a few similar options!

Next is our couch! It’s by Sixpenny and definitely my dream couch – it’s called the Devyn! It’s massive and super deep and ridiculously comfy! I went with white just cause I love a white couch! However the cushions are easy to takeoff and wash when they happen to get dirty from dirty little fingers and paw prints! But I also linked some white couch covers here that we now use on the seat cushions that help so so so so so much! Seriously everyone should have these covers on their couch. I linked this in my Amazon Live, so after you click the link to go to the live, just make sure to scroll along to the bottom through the items!

 1. COFFEE TABLE | 2. NAVY PILLOWS WITH PATTERN | 3. SOLID NAVY PILLOWS

I’m gonna link a bunch of the blue pillows we have on our couch below – they are only $10 right now! I am also gonna link a few additional navy pillows that I love to use for decorating around the house.

Our oversized chair is also from Sixpenny. It’s so cozy and I love the size of it! Linking a similar pillow since the one we have I couldn’t find online. It was a gift from Kevin’s mom.

And oh my gosh the showstopper of this room has got to be our drapes! I’m telling you if there’s one thing that you don’t want to leave out from your home it’s beautiful drapes like this! Our house felt not nearly as welcoming until we had these installed. They instantly made the house feel more cozy! And as mentioned above, all the drapes and blinds in our home are from 3 Day Blinds.

1. COFFEE TABLE | 2. NAVY PILLOWS WITH PATTERN | 3. SOLID NAVY PILLOWS | 4. SIMILAR XOXO PILLOW 

Our coffee table we had made by one of a kind living edge slabs. They are masterful with their work and really worked hard to make our vision come to life! I was very specific on the kind of legs I wanted and the color I was looking for in the wood tone and they worked with me every step of the way. They just DM’d me and told me they would give my follower 50% OFF with code ALI50!

For the built-ins I’ve learned one key thing when it comes to decorating. Oversize is always best! I used to try to decorate with a bunch of little pieces and it just doesn’t work. So below I’m going to link a bunch of the things we used like these large white lanterns that are super affordable for only $14 from Walmart, these oversized wooden bowls (that I LOVE!!!) that I filled with greenery, large baskets, decorative painted books, the large pocket clock and other things we used to decorate.

1. LANTERN | 2. BASKET | 3. WOODEN BOWL | 4. PAINTED BOOKS | 5. LARGE CLOCK

One main question I get when I do a little question box on Instagram is where our living room rug is from, so that’s linked here as well! We got the largest size just cause we have a large family room and I was worried about the price when I bought it, but I love it! You guys know I love a white rug and I was really trying to get something darker for the space and even though this has a darker feel, it still has a lightness to it because of the lighter thread woven throughout. We got the Steel Blue color and it’s on sale right now!

1. SAMSUNG FRAME TV | 2. DECO TV FRAMES

We have a Samsung Frame TV and another question I get a lot is what frame we have around it. We got it from Deco TV frames. It’s a small business outside of Boston and I’m gonna link them for you guys here.

And just cause people are always asking me how I get videos of me and my family when we’re in the family room I thought I’d go ahead and link our Vivint security cameras. We have them all outside of the house because I am a nut about security! Hence the steel doors that are being installed today. We also have a few inside the house like this one above my head. I love it because I have an eye on the doors in the back of the house but also because they catch your sweet family moments like this one.

I think that’s it for these spaces! If you have any questions for me whatsoever, please ask in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer them. Or if there’s an item I didn’t link but you are looking for ask me!

The post Ali Manno Home Tour – Kitchen and Family Room appeared first on Ali Manno (Fedotowsky).

The pieces I used to create the space can be used alternatively for an outdoor table, a screened-in porch table, or an indoor dining room table! Plus, I’ll be sharing a few other home decor items in this blog that I recently got from Walmart that are just absolutely stunning!

Here is the before…

And the After…

1. CHAIRS | 2. TABLE | 3. RUG | 4. EUCALYPTUS CENTERPIECE | 4. TABLE RUNNER | 5. NAPKINS | 6. NAPKIN RINGS | 7. PLACE MATS | 8. SILVERWARE | 9. EUCALYPTUS | 10. DINNERWARE | 11. OLIVE TREE

Indoor / Outdoor Table

My number one priority when choosing items for the space is that I really wanted to find an affordable dining room table! Specifically an outdoor one just because this is on our screened-in porch. I am so excited to share the table I found! Let’s start with the price. I got this table for $383! It’s on sale right now for that price so definitely take advantage of it! This is seriously a steal! Look up dining room tables on any other website, or even a tag sale, and you’d be lucky to find one at this price. Seriously Google outdoor dining room table right now and I guarantee you the vast majority will be over $1000. In fact, Google the outdoor dining table chair and it will likely be more than what you’ll pay for this table!

It comes in two different colors. Brown and dark brown. If you get the dark brown, it’s even more affordable for $342. I went with the lighter brown just because it matched the other furniture I had on our screened in porch better. But both are absolutely stunning! In fact I almost like the dark brown a little better!

1. CHAIRS | 2. TABLE | 3. RUG | 4. EUCALYPTUS CENTERPIECE | 4. TABLE RUNNER | 5. NAPKINS | 6. NAPKIN RINGS | 7. PLACE MATS | 8. SILVERWARE | 9. EUCALYPTUS | 10. DINNERWARE | 11. OLIVE TREE

Oh and last but not least, the reason I love this table so much is that to make it this size which is 79 inches there is a leaf in the middle. But I can remove it and push the table together making it only 55 inches which is better for game night when we are friends over. You guys know how much I love Mahjong. So some nights having friends come over we can do that or we can pull out the foldable game table.

1. CHAIRS | 2. TABLE | 3. RUG | 4. EUCALYPTUS CENTERPIECE | 4. TABLE RUNNER | 5. NAPKINS | 6. NAPKIN RINGS | 7. PLACE MATS | 8. SILVERWARE | 9. EUCALYPTUS | 10. DINNERWARE | 11. OLIVE TREE | 12. MY TOP | 13. MY LEGGINGS

Going to quickly link my outfit as well. This green top is one that I wrote about in my Affordable Friday fashion post recently and I know so many of you got it because I’ve gotten so many DM’s from people saying how much they love it! If it’s still in stock by the time you’re reading this, seriously get it because it’s absolutely perfect for fall. So soft, affordable, and flattering! You can’t really see in these photos but I’m wearing it with a pair of leggings. The leggings are also from Walmart and super affordable! They pass the squat test and I’ve had them for over a year and they’ve held up great!

Chairs

Next I want to talk about the chairs. You might not think these are quite as affordable when I tell you the price, but I want you to hear me out for a second. These chairs are stunning! Wait let me say it again. These chairs are freaking stunning! Just read the reviews. They have all five star reviews and there’s a reason for it. You get two of them for $347. Which when you think about it, really is an affordable price. In fact it’s really affordable. Chairs that almost looked identical to these on another website I found were selling to close to $600 for one chair. So the fact that you get each chair for around $170 is a really good deal for this kind of quality.

1. CHAIRS | 2. TABLE | 3. RUG | 4. EUCALYPTUS CENTERPIECE | 4. TABLE RUNNER | 5. NAPKINS | 6. NAPKIN RINGS | 7. PLACE MATS | 8. SILVERWARE | 9. EUCALYPTUS | 10. DINNERWARE | 11. OLIVE TREE

It doesn’t appear so in the initial photo on the site, but if you scroll through to the lifestyle photos of the chairs, you’ll see that they come with a white cushion on top. You can use the chairs with or without the cushion. We use them with because I think they’re beautiful and super comfy. But honestly the chairs are really comfy without them too. I highly highly highly recommend these if you’re looking for a good outdoor chair, or even indoor! These would be really beautiful at an indoor dining room table.

In fact, I highly recommend you check out Dave and Jenny Marrs’ line with Better Homes & Gardens on Walmart’s website. Every single thing I’ve ever bought from their line has been exceptionally beautiful and well-made! If you go to their main page you’ll see that says that they wanted to create artisan pieces with exceptional quality at affordable prices and I truly believe they have done just that! Their stuff sells out fast! The pillow I got from them is out of stock, but I’m linking it for you guys anyway just in case it comes back in stock because it seriously looks like it cost over $100. I also got baskets from them that I put my faux olive tree in and the rugs that I use in our screened in porch. These rugs are incredible for both indoors and outdoors! And I love love love the neutral colors. My rug is also from their line!

 1. PILLOWS | 2. STRIPED RUG

Oh and speaking of olive trees. I use this one in numerous places in my house and I’ve blogged about it so many times. I bought real ones for the space that I want to put in here eventually but they’re just so small right now that I’m keeping them outside until they grow a little bigger. This faux one is one of my absolute favorites. I love how skinny and narrow it is because it’s perfect for small corners. And then I put it in a Dave and Jenny Marrs’ basket that came in a set of two.

 1. FAUX OLIVE TREE | 2. BASKET

Decorating Your Table

I can’t stress enough the importance of decorating your dining room table whether it’s outside or inside. I was able to decorate this one so affordably and I’m really excited to share the items with you guys! You’ll honestly be shocked by how decorating your table with a few simple items will completely transform the look of your table and just make it feel more homey.

I started with this gorgeous striped table runner. It really gave the table that cozy farmhouse field that I wanted at such a great price! I got it for only $11.50! This would look so beautiful in a breakfast nook or a dining room table or outdoor table like I have it here.

1. EUCALYPTUS CENTERPIECE | 2. TABLE RUNNER | 3. NAPKINS | 4. NAPKIN RINGS | 5. PLACE MATS | 6. SILVERWARE | 7. EUCALYPTUS | 8. DINNERWARE

I then used these navy round placemats that I got for just $10 for all six. I’m gonna link them for you guys but they’re sold out right now so I’m also going to link similar placemats that will give you the exact same look that are a great price!

If you’re looking for some absolutely stunning dinnerware, this set by Better Homes & Gardens looks artisan and handmade and is gorgeous! I love the white and neutral colors. While you’re at it, get this black silverware by Better Homes & Gardens. The set is under $25 and you can get it in either matte or glossy finish. I got the matte finish because I just really love the look of that and I feel like it gives a really pretty farmhouse feel. I put a set out on the table you so you can see, but I don’t usually leave the silverware out on the table just cause it’s a pain to wash it all whereas it’s really easy to switch out the plates. So usually I keep it in this woven basket with the three slots to bring out for people to grab cutlery from when we have friends over. I think this basket can be used for a ton of different things. I’ve seen people use it on the back of their toilet seat to store toilet paper in. I’ve also seen people use it to store office supplies like pens and pencils. It could be used for so many different things and it’s really beautiful and affordable at $18.

If white and neutral plates aren’t your thing, I found these gorgeous matte black ones that I think are stunning! I might have to order them for our In-law suite just because I think they are so cool and the price is so good! I feel like they look super high-end and luxurious!

Also going to link this cute little eucalyptus vase that I got for just $11 that I put in the center of the table. I ordered multiple of them to put in different places throughout my house. These are really great for decorating built-ins with or any cabinets you might have that have a glass door. And it’s just so so so affordable!

1. EUCALYPTUS CENTERPIECE | 2. TABLE RUNNER | 3. NAPKINS | 4. NAPKIN RINGS | 5. PLACE MATS | 6. SILVERWARE | 7. EUCALYPTUS | 8. DINNERWARE

What else, what else? Oh the napkins! I got this set of six napkins for just $19. Then these wood napkin rings for $18. When I bought them, I thought they were all dark brown but if you look closely they have a little bit of green tarnish on them which I didn’t realize when I ordered them. I didn’t think I liked it at first, but now that I’ve lived with them for a little bit, I love it and I think it gives them character! Then I bought this batch of long stem eucalyptus leaves and I cut them into smaller pieces so that I could use them to put underneath the napkins just for a little bit more character on the place setting. I almost wish I took a picture of this table before I set it up with all these things on top and then after and you can just see the difference a few affordable pieces can make to completely transform your space!

The Other Side of Our Porch

If you wanna know what other furniture we have on our screened in porch, I’ll link that here as well! This set is also super affordable and stunning! Just in case you want to create the same vibe we have going! In fact, I wrote a whole blog about it that you can read here.

 1. 4-PIECE FURNITURE SET | 2. SIDE TABLE | 3. RUG | 4. WICKER TRAY | 5. FAUX OLIVE TREE | 6. WOODEN BEADS | 7. LANTERN | 8. CANDLE

Other Affordable Items I Have For My Home

That’s it for the outdoor dining room table. I hope you guys love it and you’re able to buy something affordable for your home that brings a smile to your face! But before you go I quickly just want to link a few other things that I’ve gotten from Walmart recently that I really love that make me happy and hopefully will make you happy to.

First I want to show you this bamboo bathtub tray. I’ve had this for over a year now and I absolutely love it! Have I ever actually read while in the bathtub? No, I haven’t. So I haven’t functionally used this yet. But I use it just because I think it’s beautiful on my bathtub. I like it as a home decor piece rather than an actual functional piece. I always have a book in it open just for the luck.

Bathroom pics above by Amy Demos

 BATHTUB TRAY

I also wanna share this candle I got with you guys. I feel like candles that have more than one wick are always expensive and this one has five wicks and is still a really good price. It’s a little on the higher side and when I’d like to pay but for under $30 to get a beautiful candle like this with five weeks I think it’s a pretty dang good deal.

And last but not least I’m linking this bamboo cutting board. I probably should’ve linked this above because I always use it to make cheese boards when I’m having guests over because it just looks really beautiful and it has the handles on the side so I can easily bring it from the kitchen out to the screened in porch for people to enjoy.

Well that’s it for me I hope you enjoy this blog post! As always thank you for coming over, reading and supporting me I love you guys so much and I hope you have a wonderful Friday!

The post Finishing Our Screened In Porch! appeared first on Ali Manno (Fedotowsky).

Getting Organized

So for starters, we have tried our very best to keep our garage organized, but that just didn’t happen. With all of the kiddos stuff, boxes from packages and all my holiday decor piling up on what felt like a weekly basis (on top of other items already in the garage), we really needed sustainable solutions to help contain all of our items. We had very little storage and cabinet space, so all of those items I just mentioned were taking up space on the floor, inhibiting us from parking in the garage at all.

When Elsa first stopped by to take a look at our space, I immediately felt so much relief. Of course we could have find a way to organize it ourselves, but we aren’t experts. There were so many little suggestions she had even in the first 30 seconds that we walked into the room that I would NEVER have thought of on my own. And they are all suggestions that make life so much easier for us now. Our main goals were to clear up the floor space and get some shelving on the walls, create an accessible earthquake/emergency area and also enough find enough space so that we could have a home gym! With the help of Elsa and her organizer Maddy, I am happy to report that we checked off each of these items!

It was so crazy how many memories we found in boxes in the garage. Like the old Bachelorette items that you may have seen on my Instagram stories! Being able to get everything in an organized spot so that we knew where it was has made everything so so much easier. Because so much of this project was completed by Elsa, she jotted down some notes about the process for me and I am going to include them here for you! All quotes in this blog will be from her.

“We originally wanted to keep the two white cabinets that were in the garage so that they wouldn’t go to waste, but once we began organizing, we realized that the size and shape of them just wasn’t feasible to repurpose for the amount of storage that we needed. (We found both cabinets new homes, so nothing went to waste!)”

These white cabinets that you’ll see in the before photos below were from our old house. Okay, so now that I have painted the picture for you of our garage, let’s get into how we fixed it up!!

Storage Bins and Decluttering

Something that I had been stumped on for months was what to do in regards to our storage bins when it comes to organizing the garage. I had found it pretty difficult to decide what bins I still needed to buy, what would go into them, and how to organize them.

“We decided to keep as many of the existing storage bins as possible, and purchased only a few to contain the remaining items. It was important to get weatherproof totes for some of the keepsakes that we wanted to protect from the elements. We could have chosen to replace all the totes to be identical, which would create a very soothing and pretty aesthetic, but ultimately we agreed that repurposing what is already there is better for the environment, and for the wallet.”

At first, we discussed getting built-in shelving for the garage, but then realized that there are super durable options that we would be able to take with us if and when we decide to move (haha, I was foreshadowing and didn’t even know it!). Elsa helped us to choose 4 heavy duty metal shelving units from Amazon, opting for the 48″ wide by 24″ deep size because we were storing primarily large totes and needed the depth. While those were on order, we began to go through our items and part with the ones that no longer were useful for us.  Elsa helped us to not only get organized, but I am SO grateful that it is part of her company’s mission to give back to others and repurpose items that her clients don’t need. We often donate clothing and toys to a local spot near us, but it is so great to know of other local organizations to us that get the items right into the hands that need them the most.

 1. HEAVY DUTY STORAGE SHELVES | 2. WEATHERPROOF STORAGE BINS

“Ali decided to donate a lot of the toys the kids’ had outgrown, so we were able to give them directly to families in need. Through our partnerships with various non-profits, items that no longer serve a purpose in our clients’ homes are given a second life, which creates less waste and directly benefits those in need. We give both our time and a portion of our proceeds to charities with missions that include supporting foster children and helping homeless women get back on their feet.”

The next steps were to get our items into the bins and really organize based on what they were.

“When we finished decluttering the garage, we contained everything in storage totes, created zones for each category, and labeled! It is important to always store like items together so that they are easier to find, and you always know everything you have because you can see it all in one place. Some of the zones we created for Ali include household supplies and tools, kids’ toys, keepsakes, and holiday decor.”

Finally, labels were added to all of the storage bins so that no matter who was looking for something, they would be easy to find! This will be SO helpful for when my mom or Kevin’s parents are staying with us and the kids want to play with or need something from one of the bins! We can take the bins and storage shelves no matter where we go – and having everything labeled makes moving even easier.

“Finishing touches: always remove the original labels from the storage containers – you don’t need any added visual clutter! We chose to use large, removable labels for the storage bins so that they’re easy to read, and if you change the contents of the storage bin, the labels peel off easily, and without leaving that annoying sticky mess behind.”

Emergency/Earthquake Storage

You might remember the emergency preparedness post that I did at the very, very beginning of COVID. One of the things I realized is that although I had all the supplies we would need, I didn’t really have a good system. Elsa mentioned that we could have a single station in the garage where we could just grab what we needed quickly and I can’t believe I didn’t think of that idea. SO genius. With the possibility of natural disasters and the uncertainty of what life could bring us, it is so important to have this all ready to go.

“We created an emergency preparedness corner for Ali so that she has all of her earthquake prep items in one easy to grab area of the garage. We were even able to fit the generator in this spot! (We also ensured that all the shelving units are attached to studs in the walls with anti-tip straps – you can never be too careful in California, and with kids running around!)”

For this area, we used slightly different shelving due to the size of the wall and because as mentioned above, we wanted it to be really sturdy. We used the 16 inch long shelves with 80″and 84″ top shelving tracks and standards. I will link all of the pieces we used below.

Before and Afters

Here are a handful of before and afters from a few angles so you can see just how much we did! It is amazing and we are soo happy!

Moving or Not, Organization is Key

Like I mentioned, we first had the idea to get Elsa to help with our garage right before quarantine. Once everything changed, we held off but once we felt it was safe (with masks), we began organizing. We didn’t know we’d be trying to quickly move at the time, but getting organized has made us feel so good – and it will be so much easier to move with everything already separated and organized. Not to mention everything we purged and donated will not be coming with us, which will save on moving costs and time spent getting rid of items while trying to pack. I hope this inspires you to organize your garage! Make sure to check out composedliving.com for more tips and tricks for organizing!

The post Our Garage, Home Gym + Emergency Storage appeared first on Ali Manno (Fedotowsky).