In the spirit of politics I thought I'd host my own little debate on the blog today. The topic? Marble countertops vs Quartz. We are deep in the throes of selecting finishes for our kitchen remodel that will begin in November and we just keep coming back to this topic. Which countertop is best? Marble has been getting a lot of backlash for its high maintenance nature, so much so that a lot of companies like Cambria have manufactured their own "marble look" countertops in quartz. These options replicate the natural beauty of marble but as a non-porous material they do not stain or etch like marble can. They come in a variety of options with deep grey veins or all white backgrounds with just a spot of grey. Here are some of my favorite quartz looks.

Now that I am back into my blogging grove I wanted to introduce a new mini series called Trend Watch Wednesday. I'm always watching trends in the home and fashion and now I have a spot where I can share all of my latest obsessions. Right now I'm obsessing pretty hard over cement tiles. On the floor, on the fireplace or as a backsplash. I can not get enough of these beauties. I have a few samples picked out already for my new mudroom space. Which by the way did you know Wayfair sends free samples? Like 12'x12' Cement Tile Shop samples for zero dollars! You can never have enough samples when your in design school. Anyway, here is a round up of my favorite spaces with this latest design trend. I think I would tire quickly of a whole wall in a vibrant pattern but on the floors the look is a but more subtle as a base. I hope you enjoy these drool worthy spaces as much as I do!

We all know the art of perfecting the selfie by now. Eyes wide, natural light behind us, camera pointed down with a little pink filter please. But how about the art of perfecting my new favorite... the #shelfie? Floating shelves are hands down my favorite 2016 Kitchen Trend. I cannot wait to incorporate some floating shelves into my own kitchen design. So many people are intimidated by having all of their dishes on display and honestly I get it. Things get messy fast. But the kitchen should have just as much personality as the rest of your home, if not more, since we spend a majority of our time in this space. There's not an exact science behind styling your shelves, just put your pretties on display! And if your kitchen is designed well you should still have plenty of storage to hide your all of your ugly dishes you still have from college. (Please tell me I'm not the only one who still has them?) There are so many beautifully styled shelves I have been pinning lately that I just had to share! Make sure to check out my tips and picks to add some style to your space.

Summer might not be over just yet, but I can't help but get excited for fall and the fresh beginnings the season brings. Back to school time is my absolute favorites, add in some falling leaves and a pumpkin spice latte and I'm one happy Mommy. And now that the kids are in school I can finally focus more on those changes that I was talking about last post! I am going to be taking on several interior design projects this year and I can not wait to share them all with you! Tracy and I initially started this blog to share our journey in Mamahood while our kids were little and we spent our days at home. And lets be honest, I just needed the creative outlet and blogging was the perfect way to feel like me again! But Tracy's photography business has been kicking major girl boss ass and she has to step away from being a part of Olde Town Style. I really couldn't be more proud of her and all of her hard work. The girl takes some amazing pictures that you can drool all over here.

As for me, as I wrap up my final year in design school and start making moves to start my own Interior Design firm, I'm going to be testing the waters with some E-Design projects as well as my own home renovations. I wanted to share with you my latest home project I have been working on because I'm just too excited to wait for the final reveal!

This space is bright and airy and will be opening up into a newly remodeled kitchen. The natural light in here is so good that I want the design to be consistent with that bright aesthetic. I'm so inspired by Monika Hibb's home and all of her neutral rooms. Especially her dining nook here:

Happy Friday and April Fools Day! I've already had one fake pregnancy announcment from a good friend of mine, and while my baby making days may be over, nurseries like these always leave me thinking one more baby wouldn't be so bad. Especially if I could spend my sleepless nights in a dreamy nursery like this one. A special thanks to Cate from Ivy & Ivy &Honor and Lisa Marie with Sweet Tea Photography for sharing their beautiful work!

But really, what better way to start off your weekend than with this fresh space?

So the ORC is over... but I still have a wicked case of design insomnia. Only this time its not so personal. It's for design school. I figured if I'm going to be working around the clock to get it all done before finals week then I might as well share with my readers. So welcome to Designer Files. Hopefully one day this will be a place where I share my inspiration and installations. But for the next 18 months it will be where I share my homework. LOL. I feel a little too old to be saying that. This weeks images are the storyboards I have been sourcing for my latest project. I have to design one kitchen 4 ways. Here is what I came up with so far. First up is Blogger Style, followed by French Country, Boho Modern and Retro. I'm really digging the Boho Navy Cabinets but Caitlin Wilson's Kitchen of the Year stole my heart years ago when it was featured in House Beautiful back in 2014. What kitchen do you prefer?

Welcome to Week 6 of the One Room Challenge! Can I just say how good it feels to not only have finished playroom but my first official design challenge completed?! For those of you jut joining in in the fun, the One Room Challenge was started by Linda from Calling it Home. She basically gives 20 designers 6 weeks to transform a room from start to finish.... and the results are just well AMAZING! Olde Town Style might be a brand new baby blog but mark my words this will be the first of many more design challenges to come. It was just so much freaking fun! And my kiddos actually love this space. Its so gratifying to see the people you love most enjoying the home you've created for them. I wanted this room to flow with the rest of the house with neutral walls and rustic touches. My designs tend to read super femme with causal elegance and I think this room achieves just that. So without further ado here is my One Room Challenge Final Reveal! Wahoo!

How is it Thursday already? And how are we almost finished up with the One Room Challenge?! So last week was a flop on my ORC post, between design midterms, witnessing childbirth and throwing a kindergarten Halloween party, lets just say that life got in the way. But the good news is we got stuff done this week! The accent wall is finally completed and I couldn't be more thrilled with how it turned out. Here is our step by step on how we went from blah to tah dah.

Step 1: Measure & CutWe knew that we only wanted our accent moulding to be 3/4 height of the wall itself. We have this weird little HVAC drop down interfering on the wall you can't see in this picture. It really drives me crazy and I didn't want to draw more attention to it, so we measured accordingly. Our squares are 24"x 24" and I think what makes them look so seamless is the longest cuts being continuous and the horizontal cuts setting flush in between. I tried to get Tom to take his shirt off for these pictures, but unfortunately he just ate a rather larger cheesesteak and was not in the mood for shirtless DIY pictures. Bummer

Happy Thursday! I can't believe its already time for this weeks #ORC post. With all of the pumpkin patch trips and design school projects this week seriously flew by. I wanted to have a tutorial on our DIY wall this week but since it STILL didn't get done well thats just going to have to wait until next week. This week I wanted to share our progress. All of our furniture has come in by now and I'm getting seriously excited about it! Here are some sneak peaks of the playroom thus far…

So this week was a whirlwind. Design school is officially under way as is the start of Kindergarten. As much as I love spending summer with my favorite little tan people, I really do need a solid schedule in place in order to function like a normal human being. I need a full agenda book and a wicked to do list to get my sandy butt into gear. The first thing on my to do list for this weekend is to find some inspiration for my first design project. Naturally I like to search my favorite design blogs before I get lost in the world of Pinterest... and I noticed a weird little pattern. I think I have a thing for Canadian bloggers. All of my favorite design bloggers live in Vancouver and have the luxury of popping into The Cross Design whenever they are in need of some perfect accessories for their next styled shoot. After I am done drooling over these spaces I think its time to dig out my passport and beg my husband for a trip up North. In the meantime, I thought I'd share the love for all of you to enjoy, because Canadian girls got some serious style.