Shame on me! Here I am in one of my favoritist cities in all the land (NYC) and all I can think about is how much fun Jack and I are going to have this weekend moving into our finished house out in the country! YES that’s right, it’s actually done! I’ve asked Jack not to send me any photos so it’s gonna be one helluva reveal when I get back.

Now that all of the construction is finally finished, I can stop focusing on picking out floor stain, trim, doors, windows etc and move on to fun stuff like furniture and accessories – booyaaa!

It’s going to take us for-eva’ to fill each room, but we’ll get there. I’m looking forward to taking our time and only buying things we really, really love. Below are some finds I’ve had my eye on, all within the palette we are going for – neutral yet textured and interesting. I’m obsessed with the stork wallpaper – it may be going on the really tall wall in our front entry to greet all our house guests.

Word.

1) chelsea wall sconce 2) laguna wallpaper 3) octagonal mirror 4) petite magnifiers 5) vintage parsons chair

Word up, homies. Today I am off to the BIg Apple for a werk trip. We’ll be shooting some apparel work for Target Holiday 2012. My days will be filled styling pritty models in sweaters and booties and knit hats… fun stuff, let me tell you! And being in NYC is always an added bonus so I am excited for the trip.

The only downer (waah waaaah), is that our house is SERIOUSLY almost done. No, for realz this time. There has been so much progress the last couple days and it’s a bummer I’m going to be gone when it is OFFICIALLY completed. But I s’pose it will be that much more fun when I return home to Jack and the pups next weekend and we can MOVE THE FUCK INTO OUR NEW HOUSE! Yeah!

A lot of you have emailed asking for “before” pics – or pics of what this process looks like along the way. While I can’t bring myself to put anything ugly on my bloggie poo, I do want you guys to see what it’s really been like living like this. Here are some photos I snapped yesterday to give you an idear: one, two, three. Tee hee. That last one was just a dude I saw at the salon getting a pedicure.

Alright! So now you know where I am headed today and you’ve see photos of the shit hole we’ve lived in for the past four months… let’s look at something pretty!

Sometimes I find a photo and it just grabs me. Like really hard. And it hangs on tight and drags behind me everywhere I go. And whenever I stare into space and daydream, it wiggles around and sings this cute song that goes “look at me! remember me?”. Below are a few photos that have been grabbin’ at me lately. They all feel so rustic and lived-in and serene, eh?

via flickr

via fem home

via simply grove

via blood and champagne

via la dolce vita

Holla.

So I was werking on my Pinterest Boards the other day and came across some oh-so-cute faux deer antlers that I wanna hang in Jack’s office (bottom left). I bopped over to the shop on Etsy and sure shit, there are a gazillion unique friends to choose from! I about wee-d myself when I saw all of the fun colors and finishes. You could do a whole wall of these bad boys – like a modern day version of a hunting cabin. No, really. YOU COULD!

Check it, homies!

via white fur taxidermy

Do you ever just wanna be like “Yo, SUMMER, why don’t you slow the eff down”?

Summer is sadly flying by for the Fahdens. Jack and I were supposed to be able to spend this past weekend together before he left for San Diego… but sadly his trip got bumped up and he had to leave Thursday (for NINE DAYS!). When he returns, we have like two nights together and then I leave for NYC. And then we are booked every single weekend until mid-September… cray cray!

So, yeah, I flew solo this weekend here at the homestead. Usually on Saturday mornings, Jack and I walk around the house with our coffee and daydream about how great it’s gonna be when (if) it gets finished. We even bring stools upstairs so we have somewhere to sit (amongst all the extension cords and rubble) and we gaze into each other’s eyes and whisper sweet nothings. Just kidding. We don’t do that. We gaze out the newly installed picture window (which faces Lake Minnetonka) and shoot the shit.

Even though I was a Lonely Laverne this weekend, I did do a couple of fun things. I sat in the little claw foot tub (fully clothed because it’s coated in weird dust and crap) upstairs and drank my coffee and enjoyed the trees outside (kinda like the sexy lady on the pillow below). And I took the pups to the nature preserve across the road. And I got to see my old friend Jane who was in town from Cali. And I watched the season premiere of one of my favorite shows ever (Breaking Bad). Aaand, per usual, I perused the internets for pretty things I’d love to have but can’t afford. Take a looksie-poo at the beauties below and have yerselves a great Monday!

1) flokati diamonds rug 2) lady in bath pillow 3) antique brass lamp 4) spalding sofa

Jack and I have this new game (or rather, a means to keep our sanity). It’s called “Bad News/Good News.” It’s quite easy, let me tell you, to wake up and start bitching about the crew forgetting to turn the gas back on (no hot water means I didn’t shower on Monday, folks) or the fact that the reverse osmosis faucet was installed wrong (coffee made with non-filtered well water ain’t too tastey) ooooooor how one of the new toilets just decided to stop flushing. Yes, it’s very easy to wake up and start bitching. But we’ve started negating every bad thing with a good thing and it’s really helping. Wanna hear some good (great) things?

1. New kitchen counters were installed! Boom. No more frickin’ charred. melted, plasticy counters because the Doughy Tards (our nickname for the previous owners) didn’t know how to use their range.

2. Our rustic wood vanity with vessel sink was installed in the master bath! I am going to be able to wash my face without having to stare into a sick-ass grime-coated sink with hair caked around the drain!

3. Trim, casing and crown molding is complete! I love how everything instantly looks consistent and classic. Once the painter is done spraying everything a nice crisp white (Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace), it’s really gonna sing.

BONUS: I am deeply, madly in LOVE with living in the woods. This sounds cheesy but my soul really feels complete living on this land where we are surrounded by trees, can’t hear a single car and Fern + Rosy get to tear around after chipmunks, deer and (really cute) baby raccoons.

That concludes this edition of Bad News/Good News, now onto a little sumthin’ sumthin’ that I like to call… RUSTIC AND RIGHT!

In a small (like really, really small) way, I am happy that we haven’t been able to ACTUALLY move into our new house yet (we live on the three season porch). Since getting the keys on MARCH 23 (OMG, almost four months ago!), we have not done a single ounce of painting, decorating or styling in any sort of way. All of our belongings are at Jack’s bro’s or in our basement which has really forced us to get to know this big empty space (including the views) and realize what kind of decor is going to look best here.

The spaces below do a really great job of representing our end goal. We want this place to feel purposeful and well thought out, but really lived in, COMFORTABLE and personable. For as lousy as it’s been tip-toeing around nails, breathing in dust and having to strategically get dressed in a corner every morning (so our team of werkers don’t see my privates), it has been really f-ing awesome to daydream about what a wonderful home this is gonna be. I’m really pumped to start sharing pics with you SOON!

(I owe you a Snickers Ice Cream Bar if you actually read all that)

images via interiors porn

Ummm, where the shit have I been?! Shame on me. I have NEVER gone this long without blogging and oh how I have missed it so. It has been really nice to hear from you all and I appreciated the emails asking wha’ happened to ol’ Color Me Carla.

So you wanna know wha’ happened!? A muther eff-ing house remodel that started 11 weeks ago and is still going. We were told it would be a 4-5 week process… cha right. We are finally starting to see some actual esthetic progress, though, which is refreshing since they spent the first several weeks dicking around with heating, plumbing and other behind the scenes shit we couldn’t actually SEE. Now we have things like fireplace tile, a wallpapered bathroom, a walk in closet, refinished floors, NEW TOILETS and more. So yeah, our mornings have been devoted to shooting the shit with the nice fellas that show up at the butt crack of dawn and I haven’t been able to work on the bloggie poo. But now I’m away at my parents’ for a relaxing five day break on the lake, sooo HERE. I. AM!

Now that we have that update outta the way, let’s talk about something fun like rustic and affordable lighting! Our mudroom is stacked high with light fixtures waiting to get installed and among the mix are some pieces from Worley’s Lighting (#4 and #5 below). We’re going to hang the caged pendant in our little hall to the bathroom (which has a hanging white barn door that I am prettaaaay excited about). And the rustic wall sconces will be wall mounted and used as our bedside reading lights (they even added dimmers for us… I LOVE DIMMERS). Check out their shop for all sorts of unique lighting options to add some rustic flair to your pad.

Have a good weekend, yo!  Oh, and don’t give up on CMC… I will be back full force once our house is finished in “two weeks.”

one, two, three, four, five, six