Author

Shalice Noel

Sale

Where I’m shopping best of the web

by Shalice Noel
written by Shalice Noel

Happy Wednesday! The trees are starting to bud, and it’s starting to feel like spring! I rounded up some sales around the web. Go check them out!

Read more about our move here and our tile picks linked here.

Stanley


Up to 40% off, only in the LTK app.
Valid 3/9-3/12

Pink Lily


25% off sitewide, only in the LTK app.
Valid 3/9-3/12

APL

Use code IWD at checkout for 25% off your order

AERIE

25% off sitewide, only in the LTK app.
Valid 3/9-3/12

MADEWELL
20% off sitewide, only in the LTK app.
Valid 3/9-3/12

Anthropologie
20% off regular price apparel, accessories, beauty, gifts, and entertaining purchases of $150+. Only in the LTK app,
Valid 3/9-3/12

Abercrombie & Fitch

25% off sitewide, only in the LTK app.
Valid 3/9-3/12

Beauty

My girls favorite deodorant

by Shalice Noel
written by Shalice Noel

Strawberry Sparkle deodorant (no aluminum) // Blue raspberry deodorant // Melon punch deodorant

Reid and I have been looking at old pictures going down memory lane. We are shocked how fast our kids have grown! Where does time go? As I write, we have two teens in our house who happen to be obsessed with skincare. We’ve had some hilarious conversations about body odor, awkward situations and the best deodorants. It should be noted that my girls are super picky about their deodorant, both for its smell and appearance. This one in strawberry sparkle is their favorite hands down and available at target. Let me know what you think!

More teen related articles on the blog: Me and Atalie trying Dove deodorant for the first time HERE

My Honest Review of the Billie razor

Heart sweater // Pink Heart sweatshirt // Led Zeppelin sweatshirt

Sponsored by Target, all opinions my own.

Home

Tile 101: why we chose what we did

by Shalice Noel
written by Shalice Noel

With all the variety of tile choices nowadays, there is no surprise that picking one is overwhelming. I mean, where do you start? First, make a list of what you want.  For example, I knew that I wanted black and white checkerboard in a diamond pattern, herringbone, and a master bath inspired by Alys Beach. Keeping these images in mind, we scoured the internet for tile.  Read on for our tips and tricks to make it easier for you!

What’s the style you are looking for? How much do you spend?

Black and white tile is no easy find.

Like I mentioned, I’ve been envious of all black and white checkerboard spaces for some time now.  It’s a classic look when done right, but finding the right tile is harder than it looks.  Be cautious.  Some blogs make it look simple, but they end up laboriously custom cutting each tile or using fake peal and stick (that looks great in photos but awful in real life).  Our limitation was our tile had to be a certain thickness to avoid a silly floor transition.  This voided the options for marble and other natural stone tile.  We finally found this black and white tile from Floor and Décor.  Boom!  The triangle cut tile wasn’t my first choice, but using grey grout tied it all together and I absolutely love it, and it wasn’t a budget killer.  It reminds me of The Great Gatsby!

For the master bathroom, we loved the interior design of homes in Alys Beach, Florida.  We wanted neutral and natural looking tile.  The tile we found has specks of white fossils embedded in the surface much like the Alys Beach homes showcase.  The tiles come in large sizes and this makes for easier installation.  We liked the design potential to offset the large-scale tile with an accent wall of mosaic tile.  As for budget, the mosaic white marble tile was a budget buster, so we limited it and paired it with the large scale on budget tile to balance out the cost.  I joke that I like to “rob Peter to pay Paul.” This is Reid and my favorite room in the house.

The powder room is tiny so I splurged on a wall mounted custom marble sink, I found on Etsy.  The sink came and we were inspired by the multi tones of the natural marble.  We happened upon a tile called Country Beige Tumbled Travertine Tile and it was on clearance at Floor and Décor.  I was hesitant because the name “country” threw me off, but we bought a sample to bring home anyway.  The beige tone matched the sink perfectly.  The tile edges are tumbled so we juxtaposed the irregular edge with a modern vertical stack pattern on the shower walls and an old-world herringbone pattern on the floor.  I love it!

The kid’s bathrooms were a simple strategy.  Go way under budget yet timeless style.  Subway tile is the way to go.  We splurged with marble hexagon on the shower floor, but did a basic white hexagon on the bathroom floor.  It was all fun and fresh!

The boy’s bathroom is small so we used black hexagon flooring and white subway tile shower walls.  We used remnant vanity counters in both bathrooms to reduce cost.

The laundry room, aka the hardest working room in the house, has the tile same checkerboard pattern as the foyer for a lux look. Lots of modern splash for what could’ve been a very utilitarian space. We ended up using the same countertop as the girl’s bathroom.  I love that it has a window to the street and lots of natural light. This is a major upgrade from my last house which had a tiny dark room to do 7 people’s laundry.

Here are some tips below that we learned in the process of picking tile.

#1 Tip:  Do play with tile patterns in unexpected ways.

#2 Tip:  We played it safe with grout choices and went with what the retailer recommended.  Also, when mixing different tiles in a room, use the same grout color throughout.

#3 Tip:  Budget buy doesn’t mean short on style. Use subway tile in a vertical pattern, or better yet, use a pearl liner trim! (images via Pinterest)

#4 Tip:  Don’t overspend on tile.  You can get very stylish tiles between $5-$10 SF. 

Tile we chose

White hexagon tile

Foyer Black and white tile

Boys bathroom hexagon floor tile

Boys subway tile for the wall

Girls bathroom shower floor marble hexagon

Girls bathroom white hexagon floor

Master bathroom floor tile in running board

Master bathroom shower floor

Laundry room tile

Valentines Day

New outfit: Love is in the air

by Shalice Noel
written by Shalice Noel

Green cargo jacket (wearing a small) // Khakis (wearing a size 4) // Flats tts // LOVE sweatshirt in size small //

DeMellier Midi bag

What’s better than love month in the middle of the winter? I love the heart shaped pancakes, Sugarfina treats and yes, a cozy “love” sweatshirt. While I’m the first to admit that I haven’t mastered the art of heart shaped pancakes, I am very good at styling the best pieces from Talbots (which are 25% off today!) like this green army jacket and Chanel like flats. How cute right?

Q & A

Friday Q and A!

by Shalice Noel
written by Shalice Noel

How old are you?

I just turned 4-0! Can you believe?

Date night post 2020! I want comfort yet lots of style because I’ve been in sweats for what seems like 2 years.

Try a jumpsuit! It s the modern women’s savior for her closet. Granted, it is an extra step before you use the toilet, but to me its worth it. It’s the classic one and done.

What have you found is the biggest parenting challenge?

So many! Staying consistent and managing various needs with different personalities. God has blessed us with have 5 completely different children and that in itself is a blessing and challenge but mostly a blessing.

What are you most excited about the house?

Hmm, my top 3 are …… the beams in the kitchen, my new tub, and a bigger closet!

How was it buying the marble sink off of Etsy? I’m afraid of buying something from Turkey.

It was great! 1. Communicate with the sellers. Some sellers are GREAT at communicating. I had a faucet, pot filler and sink coming from Morocco and Turkey, respectfully, and it came in a timely manner, and communication was great. 2. Be aware of random bill from the UPS. When my sink arrived, the UPS guy asked for a check for $57 for international duties. I wasn’t prepared for that, but just know it may happen to you if you chose to order from Etsy. Here’s the exact sink I bought.

Any other questions? Type them into the comments section. Thanks for reading!

x Shalice

FashionValentines Day

Two Valentines Day outfits

by Shalice Noel
written by Shalice Noel

For Valentines this year, I got Reid a house, how about you?

In all seriousness, We’re spending Valentines Day doing the walk through for our house. I can’t wait! I love both of these tops from Revolve both for their shape and flattering fit. See more of my picks from Revolve that I love below:

Pants similar // Top in small // Mules // Florals

Pants similar // Red top in small // Mules // Bag

Which is your favorite?

Fashion

The Softest Denim Jacket

by Shalice Noel
written by Shalice Noel

Denim jacket in small // H&M pants (old) here are similar // Tee shopshalicenoel in small // Sneakers tts

Love this super soft denim jacket from the Splendid x MLL collab. It’s a beautifully broken in jacket I picked up in small. It fits perfectly and goes with everything. It costs more than the average denim jacket, but I have a feeling that I’ll be wearing it a lot. What do you think?

Home

Advice on paint colors

by Shalice Noel
written by Shalice Noel
Dover white and Iron Ore

We went with “Dover White”

When building a new house, it is exciting to be able to pick the exterior colors.  But the pressure is on.  We will guide you through our exterior paint and finish selections. 

First things first, drive around your area.  Take note of what appeals to you.  Snap a picture of inspirational homes you see while driving or walking the neighborhoods.  We recommend seeing these paint colors in person verses online images.  Daylight and shadows can make a huge difference in paint colors only visible in person. Also, if the house is north or south facing can affect the color. When investigating paint colors, make a spreadsheet of everything that would need a color.  See below for a template.

Home Color Inspiration
  Window TrimWindow SashDoorsSidingGarageGutters / Downspouts
House AddressColor      
House AddressColor      
House AddressColor      
House AddressColor      

As you record what you see in detail, keep in mind the rule of three.  Aesthetically, the exterior should only have 2 – 3 colors.  The white farmhouse has dominated Georgia neighborhoods, so we decided to veer towards a creamier pallet.  We were also inspired on a modern take on the white and black look.  You’ll see what I mean by the photos.

With the rule of 3 colors or less, decide which are your favorite combinations.  Also consider the undertones of each color.  We also chose antique copper, exterior light fixtures, and the Dover White and Iron Ore is the perfect colors to compliment. Here is a list of our paint selections:

Our Home Selections
  Window TrimWindow SashDoorsSidingGarageGutters / Downspouts
House AddressColorDover WhiteDover WhiteIron OreDover WhiteDover WhiteDover White

As for interiors, we went with Snowbound for the trim and Pure White for the walls. More on the interior later!

Read more about our move to Georgia HERE.

Read more about the realities of a semi custom build and our house selections HERE.

What do you think? Are you bold enough to go with a black and white combination?

Home

Why we chose a Semi-Custom build

by Shalice Noel
written by Shalice Noel

Looking for a new home can be both a stressful ordeal and an opportunity to express your creativity. Over the past decade, we’ve bought and sold many homes, but this will be our first time embarking on a semi-custom new build.

Here are some tips for navigating the process of finding a new build:

  1. Research: Begin by scouring online listings daily. Location is key for us—we desired a property with a couple of acres, no HOA fees, and low property taxes. Filtering our searches based on these criteria was essential. Make sure to research property taxes in your state to find the best rates. As artists, we opted against an HOA to avoid extra costs.
  2. Utilize Filters: Use search engine filters to narrow down your options to include only new builds. In our experience, these homes are often overlooked by the public, resulting in less competition and rarely paying over asking price.
  3. Timing Matters: Look for homes that show pictures of the property fully framed or recently sheet rocked. This indicates that the builder will likely finish the home within a few months. Timing is crucial—aim to get in before the builder finalizes finishes. We were fortunate to customize our home’s kitchen, tile selections, counters, laundry room layout, school room loft details, and lighting, providing our personal design touches without a long wait.
  4. Research the Builder: Before falling in love with a home, research the builder. Look for references and reviews to ensure quality craftsmanship. Trust is essential when choosing a builder—consider it akin to a blind date. We trusted our builder because they lived nearby, allowing us to closely monitor progress and communication.
  5. Collaborate with the Builder: Learning to work with the builder as a team is crucial. Communicate openly and keep a record of all decisions and receipts. Discuss any desired upgrades or adjustments with the builder, ensuring they align with their vision and are feasible. Any significant changes should be added to the contract before finalizing the offer.

As we near completion of our semi-custom build, we’ve experienced both pros and cons. Quick turnarounds on requested changes have been a highlight, but the uncertainty of the process has been challenging. Nonetheless, we’re excited to share our real experiences—both the ups and downs—with our audience. We welcome your thoughts and comments as we continue on this journey together.

Here’s a sneak peek of our faucet, lighting and tile we chose:

Lighting we chose

The Jacqueline chandelier is on sale!

Faucets we chose

Tile we chose

White hexagon tile

Foyer Black and white tile

Boys bathroom hexagon floor tile

Boys subway tile for the wall

Girls bathroom shower floor marble hexagon

Girls bathroom white hexagon floor

Master bathroom floor tile in running board

Master bathroom shower floor

Laundry room tile

Similar vegan shorts // Shopshalicenoel tee // 327 New Balance sneakers tts //

Want to see more?

Let me know in the comments

Home

Our experience buying and selling in 2022

by Shalice Noel
written by Shalice Noel

As you’ve seen on my social media, we are going through a housing transition in our family, again.  I want to share our experiences in the housing market.  Buying and selling.  How to work with realtors and how to make a final housing decision

We decided to strategically sell our last home for a number of reasons.  A major one was, Reid had a job offer back in California.  We also seem to sell after every kitchen renovation.  We do this because we feel our home has the most value while the newly remodeled kitchen is fresher.  For some reason, we deny ourselves the beauty of living in a new kitchen.  As designers, we love a new project.  We also felt the timing of our sale would be ideal late summer.

We listed our house in August and priced it competitively.  It seemed like the house was on the market for a while and we were extremely discouraged knowing all the work we had poured into it.  We did one price drop and finally got some better offers.  Ironically, many of the people interested in the house were from California.  We finally went under contract, but did not have another house for us to purchase at the time.  This was panic time.

Buying and selling is unavoidably stressful, so do not do it as often as we do.  We felt that we could not buy a home until ours closed, just in case something fell through in the contract.  At this time, we were planning on moving back to California and house buying is difficult and contingencies are not ideal for a buyer’s offer.  Therefore, we had our hands tied until our home closed. 

Once we closed, we made a house hunting trip to California, with the entire family.  The kids were grieving their friends in Georgia and I had a gut feeling of hesitation.  My gut is usually what we go with.  In summary, we could not find a desirable house in California for the right price, size or condition.  It was gut wrenching.  One house that Reid loved and would have made for great content had a squatter living in it.  Could you imagine?  The kids revolted and my gut finally said, that’s it.   We decided to pivot back to Georgia and Reid would work remote.

Fortunately, we were able to stay with family and neighbors for a couple weeks and then Florida, while we searched.  We focused our house hunt within a 20 minutes radius of our church.

What have we learned about making a final decision on a home purchase?  Here are five tips we’ve experienced.

1)     Location is always everything.

2)    Know the value of the home and don’t get emotional.  (Study the recently sold listings to get a sense of fair values.  We will go back to old listings that we put offers on or were interested in to learn that the homes sold for exactly what we thought.  The realtor will try and get you to pay the most you are willing to pay to secure the deal in their best interest, but you need to be confident that you are the market and you know what you are willing to pay for.  Remember, you are the ones making the payments, not the realtors.)

3)    As designers, it’s easy to think of ways you can change a home, but consider cost of labor and materials.

4)    You will not find everything you are looking for, so don’t expect it.

5)    Date the rate, but marry the house.  We were overly concerned about changing interest rates until someone shared this with us:  We felt rushed buying a certain home, knowing the interest rates would rise the next day.  This was a bad mistake because we didn’t really love the home or the value we were getting.  Therefore, remember this saying:  Date the interest rate, but marry the house.  Interest rates throughout financial history have gone up and down, typically in a 3 to 7 years cycle.

While looking for homes, we were always disappointed in something about the house.  We ended up finding a listing that was at the framing stage and ready for the new owners to select finishes and we jumped on it. More on our new home later and our experience with new construction.  This is all new to us, so stay tuned!

Xo

Shalice

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