If I had to choose one aspect of a room that I love to design and choose, it would be the lighting.  I love the variety of pendant lights, chandeliers and lanterns out there - the selection is almost overwhelming and certainly fits any style imaginable.  I thought I would talk today about how to make sure your space is perfectly lit - every time.

When I'm designing a room, I allow for at least 3 light sources.  Not 3 light FIXTURES, but 3 light sources.  Usually it boils down to ceiling light, lamp light and candle light for me.  I love those 3 mixed together, but if I'm being honest, I rarely actually turn on any ceiling lights (except for my kitchen).  And if I do, it's on a dimmer switch.

Let's take a peek at some of my favorite images that are swirling Pinterest right now. 

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Even going beyond that, think outside the box!  Check out these amazing spaces with chandeliers:

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Think of lighting as the jewelry for your space and maximize that impact.  Be a little daring and go big!  Whether your style is modern or rustic or elegant glamour, you can maximize the impact your space makes by paying attention to the lighting.

Here are a few of my favorite pendant chandeliers at a few of my favorite lighting retailers - these all have shades on them and would be perfect for any of the spaces mentioned above:

Last tip - one of the most frequent questions I get is regarding how high to hang a chandelier above the dining room table. The answer is about 30-33 inches above the table if you have 8 foot ceilings.  I like to add 3-4 inches per foot of additional ceiling height - so if you have 9 foot ceilings, your chandelier will be about 33-37 inches above the table.

Happy Lighting!

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I like pretty things.  Not diamonds, not fancy cars, but pretty things like gold polka dots and shimmering paintings.  I like white furniture and white dogs.  I love pale walls and delicious scents.  I love a cozy bed and coffee on the front porch every morning.

I'm going to be 40 next year, and I've finally realized something.  Life is 100% about the tiniest moments. The moment a pretty tree makes you stop and look, or the moment you smell cookies from your neighbor's window and they transport you back to your moms kitchen.  That moment when you tuck your daughter in bed at night and silently pray to God for her to be healthy. And happy.  These are the moments that make up our lives. These are the moments that count.

It's been a long journey for me to reach this place where I can be happy with my collection of tiny moments.  Getting here, I realized that if you really stop to think about every single thing you do, see, purchase, say or want - you'll find yourself surrounded by things that truly make you happy, people who feed off your energy and your mind will be clear of negativity and brimming with possibility.

I've been thinking a lot lately about what I want this blog to be. I love design. I love decorating people's homes. I love taking a part of me and a part of them and creating a room that is beautiful and fulfilling and exactly who they are. On Instagram, I follow a lot of designers. I see a ton of images.   They all look the same - feed after feed after feed - they all look the same. The same furniture, the same colors, the same feel... there are thousands of blogs out there about home decor and interior design and it's making me sad that there isn't a unique style to many of them - if I removed the banner from my view, I couldn't tell you which blog was which.  And isn't that a shame? 

I'm not going to sit here and say that my own decorating style isn't without some of those same neutral rustic tones.  It is - to an extent.  However, when I was a new photographer, I went to a workshop with an amazing artist named Cheryl Jacobs.  She was one of those people that you met and instantly you knew you wanted to be friends with her - the spirit and energy around her was intoxicating.  She was authentic and true and kind and a person you just knew would be a happy addition to your circle.

Cheryl taught me many things that weekend about photography, but she taught me one very important thing that I carry with me everywhere I go:  Be different.  Whatever you create, make sure it's YOURS and it looks and feels like you.  What?  How can a photograph always look and feel like you?  It can.  And mine did.  My work went from being copycat to totally original. I went from being the copier to being the copied.  People would say to me, "I saw your photograph on display and I knew it was yours before I read the name."  THAT is my goal with this blog.  I want you and other people to come to this blog and say "ah.  This is Jessica. I can feel it before I read a word."

I believe every person has a gift.  I believe that some people live their whole lives never knowing what their gift is.  I believe that I'm not one of those people.  My gift is what I'm excited to share with you here.  You might think it's design and decorating and color scheming... If you knew me before this journey, you might still be clinging to the hope that my gift is in photography, but I'm hoping you'll be reading this blog one day and realize that my gift is in my energy. It's in my passion.  It's in my spirit and optimistic point of view.  It goes so much deeper than sofas and colors and design.

I believe every person can be happy.  I believe every home can be beautiful.  I'm going to make it my personal mission to not only improve your spirit with my own, but I'm going to show you that life is in those tiny moments - and you don't need an expensive home to have them.

Spring is definitely in the air!  I don't know about you, but one thing that makes me so very happy is the feeling of a pretty rug under my feet OUTSIDE.  I love how an outdoor rug can completely transform a space from "patio" to "outdoor living".  

In our kitchen, we used an indoor/outdoor rug under the table. I will tell you this, my fabulous friends:  it's genius.  The first day I spilled spaghetti sauce on the rug.  It came right out with less than 3 minutes of cleaning.  The next week? My puppy decided to be a puppy all over it.  Again, SO easy to clean.  The best part about this rug?  It's beautiful. It's durable and it feels so good under your feet - no one would ever know it's an outdoor rug.

Here's the rug we used in our kitchen:

Many, many MANY times I've been asked "how do you keep the entire rug so clean?" The answer is two fold:  1.  I spot clean it when I notice a stain.  Usually, it comes out super quickly.   2. When the entire rug gets dirty and just needs a general cleaning, I take it to the car wash. These rugs were made to be durable! I will literally lay it where my car is supposed to go and use the power wash/soap feature at the carwash to clean the whole rug. I bring it home and drape it over our fence to dry.  It's barbaric and not very lady like, but dude - it works.  

So, in honor of my favorite kind of rug to use both indoor and outdoor with kids and dogs and pools... I present you with the Spring Rug Roundup.

First up:  One Kings Lane  - If you aren't familiar with OKL, then you should be.  It's basically an online Homegoods, but with a little bit of a higher end product. You can find the most unique and interesting pieces on this website - all at very affordable prices.  I, personally think they have the best selection of indoor/outdoor rugs.  And that is where I purchased the one seen in my Kitchen. I swear to you, there will be no disappointment!

I am not linking to these rugs from OKL because their inventory changes hourly.  Best suggestion: head over to their site and just search indoor outdoor rug - you'll see that they have a gazillion to choose from.  Here's a selection of my faves from this morning!