dream homes

We met Laura a few weeks back when she found our blog, and we were instantly impressed with her cute blog design and  creativity after just one short month of blogging!  She asked us to do a guest post for her and we decided to have her do one for us today, too!  You can find us over at her blog, and are thrilled to have her here on ours!  Welcome to our blog to all of her followers---we hope you make yourself at home and follow us, too!!

Hi, I’m Laura from over at Walking in Memphis in High Heels.  I’ve only been blogging for a little over a month, and Betsey and Becca were kind enough to let me do a guest post for them this week.  I’m just thrilled, and I really hope you like it!  I generally do posts about food, fashion and fitness, but I also have a passion for interior design and architecture.  I can’t talk about home design without talking about the HGTV Dream Home.  Every winter HGTV builds a gorgeous home and then gives it away.  It is actually one of my favorite things about winter (besides Christmas and hot chocolate of course!)  This year the dream home is located on Kiawah Island in South Carolina.  There have been some gorgeous dream homes over the last few years, but I’ve got to say this one ranks up there near the top mainly because of their incorporation of the outdoors.  They did a great job of really using the beautiful scenery around the house as a focal point.  The home almost looks like it could have been there for years with the way that it is perfectly nestled in between the tall oak and palm trees.

Not only did they do an amazing job of incorporating the scenery into the design of the home, but they also really maximized the living space by utilizing every bit of outdoor space that they could.  They built a huge deck on the second level of the house that wraps around almost 3 sides of the house.  They even used the space below the deck as a casual dining and sun lounging area.

This is probably my favorite design element of the home.  Who wouldn’t love this gorgeous pool?!  Even when you’re not using the pool, you can still take in the gorgeous view of it and the marsh from indoors through the floor to ceiling windows.  The pool is even illuminated at night which makes it not only a functional piece of design but also a very aesthetically pleasing one also.  I also love the wicker benches lining the wall!  They are simple but very easy and practical.  If you’re crafy, you could easily sew new cushion covers to easily change up the look occassionally.  I think some large concrete or steel planters (use this link to save $5) outside with some tropical, colorful flowers would look great  beside the benches also to really brighen up the color palette.

I love all of the neutral colors in the great room, and not to mention the beautiful 12 foot vaulted ceiling.  I think they were very wise to use these colors and think it would be fun to add a punch of color with some great accessories such as rugs (65% off right now with code NY2013), paintings and lamps (sign up for email to save 10% on your next online purchase.)  I think some bright colored velvet pillow colors like these (on sale for $16.99 right now with code NEWYEAR15) would look great in this room also, and it would really help to add more diversity in the textures.  This neutral color palette really makes the house feel modern and elegant, but not cold.  It still feels very cozy, and I feel like I could just plop down on the couch and take in the beautiful view through those amazing windows all day long. 

Now some people may not like this kitchen very much because it is so modern, but I just love the sleekness of it.  I think the clean lines and white and stainless steel colors and textures really mix well to complement the home.  This dining room actually makes me want to sit down at the table to eat.  No matter in what direction you look in almost any part of the house, there are also multiple large windows to help bring the outdoors in.  So even when you’re not outside, you’re still connected to it. 

Aside from the gorgeous canopy bed (similar one here), the room has a door that leads straight out to the deck.  You can have breakfast in bed or just walk out the door to have breakfast outside.  The neutral color scheme is carried into this room also, and I love the contrast of the white and the rich wood tones. 

I love the beautiful windows and the tub in the master bath.  I think the only thing I would have done differently in this room is that I would have added a beautiful light fixture like this one (sign up for email to save 10% on your next online purchase) from West Elm above the tub to really make a statement. 

So what do you think about the 2013 Dream Home?  Which one has been your favorite over the years?