1st Birthday Photo Session

Lately I have been focusing a lot on building my new business, The Creative Cottage. I know I've been straying a bit from my {home decor} adventures, but I've just been having so much fun with the new business that I just HAVE to share it all with you guys! The Creative Cottage is 99% Graphic Design, but I have somehow fallen into some great photography sessions over the past few weeks. With every session, I walk away learning SO much and I am very thankful for that. Below is my latest photo shoot for a good friend of ours. This little cutie's 1st birthday is coming up and this photo shoot was for her birthday and invitation (which I will also be designing). If you are in the Fort Worth area and looking for some family photos, feel free to check out my website and email me if interested! Since I am still starting out, my photography rates are nice and cheap;)

If you are in the Fort Worth area and are wanting to schedule an appointment, please visit www.creativecottagephotography.com or contact me at amykwalton1@gmail.com

Who I'm linking up with:

Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Making the World Cuter

House of Hepworths

No Minimalist Here

Baby Ellie's Newborn Pictures

Yesterday I spent my day with my wonderful sister and her two beautiful daughters:) She just had her second baby and I was lucky enough to take her newborn pictures. I am still learning a LOT about newborn photography, but I think they turned out really well! What do you all think?

If you are in the Fort Worth area and are wanting to schedule an appointment, please visit www.creativecottagephotography.com or contact me at amykwalton1@gmail.com

Hope everyone is having a great Monday!

Who I'm linking up with:

Sumos Sweet Stuff

Just Something I whipped up
Making the World Cuter

Living Room Reveal

So the day has come! My first room reveal in the new house:) As I have stated since the move, our new home is MUCH smaller - I think 990 sq. ft. to be exact. I was a bit nervous to sign the lease at first because of the drastic difference, but SO thankful we took the leap in the end! It also presented me with the challenge of learning how to design in a small space. And who doesn't love a new challenge?? I know I sure do:) 

The living room looked especially small, which was my biggest concern.  When we walked in for the first time, it looked like one teeny tiny little box. Thankfully I kept reminding myself that rooms always look smaller without furniture - strange concept I know, but it's very true. 

Here is the box I'm talking about...

Could that really be the same room as this.... ???

Woah! What a difference! It's pretty amazing how some thoughtful furniture placement can really make a difference. This living room is less than half the size of our previous home, but you really don't feel like it when your in the space. We also have the same amount of seating as well (minus one chair that really wasn't used). You can't tell from these photos, but our living room opens up to the dining room and office. I think that's also why the space looks much bigger than it actually is. The room is also taken over by these massive windows which let some amazing natural light into the space.  As you can tell... it made it quite difficult to take photos with all of that light coming in! That's what I get for having a six year old camera!

Anyways - I hope you enjoy my new living room as much as I do. And now for some eye candy!

I will try to write up a post of where to find my items in the room. More to come on that later:) Hope everyone is having a great week so far. Happy Tuesday!

:: Follow my blog with Bloglovin ::

Who I'm linking up with:

DIY Showoff
Keeping it Simple
Coastal Charm
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Not Just a Housewife
The 36th Avenue
Be Different Act Normal
No Minimalist Here
Common Ground
French Country Cottage
Crafts A La Mode
Pieced Pastimes
Serenity You
Shabby Creek Cottage

Front Porch Inspirations

A few challenges I've faced with our new house is the (lack of) space. The house is perfect, the location is ideal, but the square footage is about half of our old house. This is a MAJOR case of paying for the real estate, not the size of the home. BUT we have been so so happy with our decision and I have learned to design in smaller spaces. One example is our front porch... 

I firmly believe that your outdoor spaces should feel just as homey as your indoor spaces - even if its small! In Texas we have many seasons of the year that you are able to comfortably sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine or a sweet tea. So why not create a comfortable outdoor living space? Especially if you have a front porch - this is the first thing people see when they enter your home. Why not make it inviting? 

Over the past few weeks, the weather has been going back and forth between cool and warm. The 75 degree weather has been getting me so excited for spring! Which means yes, I just HAD to start shopping for our front porch makeover. We have already ordered some new rocking chairs for the front porch and got SUCH a great deal. More to come on that later:)

For now, check out some of my latest inspirations for some beautiful southern front porches. These are truly some magnificent spaces and really helped me gain a balance between indoor 
and outdoor accessories. Enjoy!

{via}

{via}

{via}



{via}



{via}



{via}



{via}

Aren't these porches just amazing!? 

I cannot wait to share my porch makeover with you in the upcoming weeks. More to come!

Mirror Makeover

Today I want to share another one of my furniture makeovers for the new house. I forgot to take a before picture, but as you can see below, I took a snap shot mid-project! This mirror has seen a few different paint colors in its day - let me tell you! It all started somewhere in the 80's in a very gaudy gold finish. Now don't get me wrong, I love me some gold, but this was a bit overbearing. This mirror actually sat in my parents formal living room through the 80's and 90's and disappeared sometime after that. Yes, it was time for it to be hidden away in a closet and we should all be thankful for that! 

Ok now fast forward about a decade... Once I graduated college, I had no money, no job and NO furniture! So whats a girl to do? RAID her parents house;) That's when I found this old gem... well soon-to-be gem. She was still gold and still quite flashy. Not a problem for this gal though! 10 minutes later she was on my parents kitchen floor and painted black. Perfect! New mirror?? Check!

After many years of this mirror being used in its fabulous black paint color, I thought it was time for a change. See... back in the day I had this theory that you could fix any piece of old furniture with some black paint. So, naturally I pretty much painted everything black. Well... after a while, I ended up with a bunch of black furniture. With our new house, I wanted to brighten things up a bit. I went through many different color options for the new mirror. They varied from coral, to sea foam blue, to mint green and so on. Well folks, I ended up not choosing ANY of those colors and went with white. Boring?? I sure don't think so! It was such a drastic change and really lightened up the space. What do you think?