I was perusing through some of the amazing before and after tours over on the Better Homes & Gardens website recently (ah, the inspiration!) when I ran across a gorgeous porch makeover. While my screened-in porch is certainly not BHG worthy, I do know how fun it can be to create an outdoor living space like this. You feel like you get an extra room added on to your house!

Here's the BHG sun porch makeover tour!

BEFORE 

(some good bones, if I do say so myself!)

AFTER

Things I love in this room... the turquoise + yellow roman shades... the window seating... the layered rugs... it's all so delicious and perfect for a sun porch!

The bar cart in the room is absolute perfection! I'll take a sparkling water with lime, please, on the rocks.

To see more photos of this beautiful sun porch and for more information about the room (including how that beautiful roman shade was actually a DIY project!) check out BHG's article here.

And just because it's fun to revisit, here are the before and afters of my sun porch makeover!

BEFORE

AFTER

You can learn more about how I painted the porch ceiling here and chose furniture for the space here.

I must have seen a nursery at some time that had a great vintage quilt in it, because one of the very first things I thought of when I began to design a nursery for my baby boy was... well, a vintage inspired quilt! In fact, it was actually one of the first things I decided I wanted for the little guy altogether. How sweet would it be for David and I to give the pea pod a quilt that he could use his entire life? I mean,  every kid needs a special blanket, right?

I searched Etsy for awhile, looking through what was available in stock, but I just couldn't find the blanket that perfectly fit what I was thinking. Then I found Kelly Hillis. This talented lady definitely had some mad skillz for quilting and I absolutely fell in love with her vintage-chic designs. So we chatted back and forth on Etsy and, sure enough, she was willing to whip up a custom quilt for us!

After we discussed the look I was going for (eclectic, boyish, vintage chic, fun and whimsical, something he could grow into, etc.), Kelly emailed me photos of the fabric swatches she was thinking about using. It felt like Christmas morning- she sent over sooo many beautiful fabric samples! It might have taken me a week, but David and I finally narrowed it down to our favorites. She also used a couple of fabrics that we planned on using in the room already, just to tie it all together. Love it.

All of this happened about four or five months ago. Meanwhile, Kelly has been busy stitching up our little man's quilt! But guess what arrived at my front door last week?

Don't worry, I cried when I opened it. It's. So. Perfect. 

I can only imagine the hours of tummy time we'll have on this quilt. Or once he's a toddler, how he'll drag it around as a safety blanket. Or maybe even one day it will still sit at the edge of his teenage bed. Okay... now I'm crying again. I cannot wait for our pea pod to get here! Six more weeks.... 

Oh and not to mention I think it fits in perfectly with our nursery. Especially as we add more fabrics into the space... it's all coming together!

So thank you to Kelly for her amazing talent. You were a dream to work with!

What special items have you given your sweet little kiddos to treasure forever?!

Pssst! You can also find me elsewhere in the ol' blog-o-sphere today! I popped by the absolutely adorable blog, Cleverly Inspired, where I guest posted for Tracie about one of my favorite DIY projects. I also posted my first post over on Land of Nod's blog, Honest to Nod. There are so many inspirational kiddo posts over there, you have to go check it out!

Hi friends! It's been awhile since I've shared some good Friday Finds with you. I know I've highlighted World Market before, but this week there are so many good deals and coupons out there, I just had to let you know about them.

First off, if you're a member of their Explorer program, you should have a 15% off your entire purchase coupon and a $10 off of a $30 purchase coupon in your inbox right now. Suhweet. They also have a tonnnn of cute furniture on sale right now and you can use these coupons on the sale prices! Love.

I picked up a couple of fun goodies, as a matter of fact....

These little 2x3 jute rugs are only $16.99, but when I bought two and used the $10 off of $30 coupon, they came in somewhere around $12 each, with tax! They're really chunky and soft underfoot- good find!

I also snatched up a couple of small items, like this adorable chevron picture frame and a couple of wire baskets I may use in the nursery.

I bought these with my 15% off coupon, along with a couple pieces of furniture... more to come on that later! : ) So print out those WM coupons (or actually, you can use your iPhone at the cash register, like I do!) and get shopping, peeps!

[By the way, I'm not sponsored or paid by World Market to write posts like this... I just genuinely love me a good deal and thought I'd share with all of you! : )]

Find any good deals in your neck of the woods this week? Do share!

Psst! Thank you guys so much for the love yesterday on my two year blog anniversary. You rock!

What the whaaaaat? Two years. It's been two years, folks! On July 26th, 2010, I popped up in the blogging world with my very first post. In honor of my little blogiversary, I've been looking back on some of my favorite old posts- it's crazy to see how much I've grown in terms of being a blogger, designing my home and really just grown as a person in general.

Since it's Ten June's birfday, I thought it would be fun to go back and pick through a few of my favorite old posts and share a couple of them with you! Like my very first living room makeover post (not to be confused with my recent living room makeover post) where I had about ten billion projects all crammed into one post!

Or there was the post where David popped in to write all about the stripes in our office. I think he talked more about beer than home decor, go figure : )

Lots of love goes out to the post where I talked about my rack. Not that rack, people... my newly painted and stenciled wine rack. Duh.

I also loved looking back on all of the travel posts I wrote, like our driving trip up the west coast, our trip to the Caribbean, our visit this year to New York City or the trip I took to Sonoma with my sister. Such a fun way to look back on wonderful memories!

Let's just say that I quickly realized my photography has vastly improved since day one of blogging... definitely with some big help from a new camera and the 30 day photo challenge I did!

I also had a great time answering your questions and getting downright personal with ya'll in my very first vlog (part one and part two)! That was definitely a blogging milestone.

Oh and we can't forget about that one time I pitched a fit in my front yard because I found a dead gopher... yeahhhh, about that.... : )

Or what about the ten million master bathroom renovation posts I shared? I think my favorite was my professed love for the sliding pocket door we installed in the bathroom... to the window, to the wall!

Actually, that's not true. Our big master bathroom renovation reveal has to be my most favorite post ever. There was such a sense of accomplishment once we finally finished up that project!

This year in particular has been a year of big announcements here on the blog. I think I was as surprised as all of you when I shared our decision to put our beloved house on the market!

But perhaps even more exciting was our announcement in March that David and I were expecting our first little pea pod- a little boy! Hard to believe we only have six weeks or so now until he comes : )

Needless to say, it's been a fun ride so far! I've absolutely loved each and every day of cranking out posts and sharing projects with all of you. You guys keep me motivated, excited and most of all, inspired. So thank you, thank you, thank you for reading Ten June!

Cheers to many more years of blogging to come!

And I have to ask... what's been your favorite post here on Ten June?!

Psst! You can catch more of the evolution and before/after shots of my house in our house tour.

Pssst again! You can also find me over at Brooklyn Limestone today, sharing my favorite "trash to treasure" project. Any guesses on what I chose? Head on over here to find out!

Throughout my pregnancy, I've been trying to eat relatively healthy. I've got to keep this growing baby boy healthy, right?! But a few weeks ago, when I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, I learned I had to step up my healthy eating game even more! (You can learn more about my GD diagnoses and experience here.)

I hit the ground running... well, pinning... and started doing some research for healthier recipes. I pinned a lot of fun new stuff over on my Pinterest account but found some great recipes for carrot muffins. I tweaked a few recipes to make them my own and thought I'd share with you today!

Here's what you need to create these yummy, healthy treats!

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

1.  Mix all ingredients except for carrots and applesauce.

2. Now gently fold in carrots and applesauce into the mix.

3. Spoon batter into muffin pan and bake for thirty minutes at 375 degrees.

This should make about twelve or so muffins. 

I don't have the exact counts on this recipe, but from what I understand, these muffins are super low calorie, fat and (importantly for me and my GD!) low carb.

Now... how do they taste? Well, I can't promise you that they're the best muffin that I've ever had... but they are certainly delicious enough considering how healthy they are! And they make me feel really good knowing that I am eating healthier for my little man. I usually eat a couple for breakfast with a small bit of peanut butter, which is a great and filling meal.

So spill it... do you have any fun, healthy recipes up your sleeve?!

Y'all. This is a day I've been waiting on for awhile now. As you guys know, David and I had to wait to get started on the nursery because our house was on the market. Well, it's still on the market, but with only six and a half weeks until baby Ten June makes his appearance, we decided it's high time to get this nursery ready! Which thrills me : ) I've been wanting to get started on this sucker since I found out that I was pregnant!

And when Sherwin Williams contacted me to test out their new Emerald paint line- a paint line that is entirely zero VOC and perfect for a baby's room- I knew it was time to dive in!

Last week, I told you about the prep work we put into the room before we started painting, including sanding and filling holes in the walls, installing quarter round trim and painting the trim in the room. This week, I've got lots of gorgeous "after" photos to share with you.

Introducing baby Ten June's freshly painted baby boy room! Welcome!

David and I (yes, I could help too because the paint has zero VOC's!) painted the trim a fresh white- Emerald Interior semi-gloss in "Extra White" (SW 7006) and the walls a sweet baby boy blue- Emerald Interior eggshell in "Sleepy Blue" (SW 6225). I am in love with the colors.

(Side note: I still need to paint that little black vent!)

Look at that little stash of goodies our pea pod has already over in the corner! He's a lucky man : )

As you can see, we haven't started setting up the room yet- we still have a dresser to put together (that's what those large cardboard boxes are), curtains to hang (more on those next week!), bed linens to set up and art to put on the walls. Hopefully a lot of that will be tackled this weekend!

I love that the doors are all a crisp white now, to match the trim.

Oh and hello, how can I forget the ceiling? David labored over painting this bead board ceiling and wow... he did an amazing job. It. Is. Gorgeous.

Doesn't that beautiful white bead board just make you want to go slap your momma? 

In case you forgot, here are the before photos of the room.

And one big fresh breath of after!

I can't even believe how much I love it in there. Is it weird that I just go sit in my yet-to-arrive son's nursery just to hang out? Hey, Maggie and Tucker do it too!

The Emerald paint was really amazing to work with. Obviously, the biggest draw for us is that the entire formula (from the paint base to the colorants added into the paint) is zero VOC. This means there are no harsh chemicals mixed into the paint, which makes it extra safe for a nursery. And it meant that I could actually be around the paint as we were painting! Double score.

The paint is supposed to be very durable, washable (on all finishes) and mold and mildew resistant. I can't attest to these yet, but of course I'll keep you posted : ) 

The Emerald paint is also self-priming, which is great. David and I typically only use self-priming paints around our house because it saves a step or two, but we've been concerned lately about the durability of some of the self-priming paints we've used in the past. Let's just say that after using four gallons of it, the Emerald paints take the cake and have now become our favorite self-priming paint! Everything went on so smoothly and evenly; the colors (even from different cans) all dried with the same perfect finish.

We were hoping to knock out the room with just one coat, because of the self-primer, but did have to do two coats on most surfaces. The wall paint went on incredibly smoothly- in fact, we probably could have only done one coat, even on top of that ugly beige color we were painting over. But the trim and ceilings were a bit different- the Emerald paint is a little thin (which I like, David doesn't) and didn't cover the cream trim in one coat. But to be completely fair, we painted the room on two hot, muggy, Georgia days... so I'm sure the crazy humidity played a part in the paint and how well it was sticking.

Overall, we loved the Emerald paint and will certainly be using it around our house again!

So, whatcha think?! Are you as in love as I am with our baby boy's room so far?!

Want to check out some of my other nursery posts? Here are some on the rest of the work we've done so far in this room, like choosing a nursery room, buying a crib and glider, creating a rustic wooden growth chart, repainting a hand-me-down kiddo rocking chair with a color-block theme and creating a Mod Podge scrapbook paper city skyline piece of art.