For Nancy Meyers fans, I know this week-old news is already old news, but the trailer for the new movie she’s produced (directed by her 29-year-old daughter Hallie Meyers-Shyer) is out and I’ve watched it 12 times at least…. pausing multiple times to take in the gorgeous set design Nancy’s famous for.

The film is Home Again and the leading lady is Reese Witherspoon. Other amaaaazing cast members (another Nancy thing) include Candace Bergen, Michael Sheen, Lake Bell, and more.

If you don’t know Nancy by name, you definitely know her fabulous movies: Something’s Gotta Give (Diane Keaton), It’s Complicated (Meryl Streep), The Intern (Anne Hathaway), The Holiday (Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz), Father of the Bride (Diane Keaton again)… each one as good as the next and just as beautiful.

Which brings me to the newbie: Home Again. The plot centers around Reese’s character, a 40-year-old mother of two little girls whose ex?-husband is not in the picture… until he shows up later in the film. I’m not going to lie, I’m slightly confused by it all – basically Reese has a one-night fling with a hot young guy when she’s out celebrating her bday, and then lets him and his two aspiring film-maker buddies live at her house… but in one of the trailers, one of the other guy friends says he’s in love with her, different from the guy she’s hooking up with. Intruiging, no? Perhaps a love triangle. My favorite of all the plots!

But enough about that: let’s talk home decor.

To make it easier for people to source the things they see in our home on Instagram, follow this series SHOP OUR HOME #SchmiedskiGreystone. Sometimes it will be product by room, sometimes it will be a specific item category.

You can see the mirrors we have here (there’s a surprising amount of mirrors around this place). Now we’re on to lighting!

As I mentioned in the “Things We’re Updating in a Rental and Why” post, we will be taking all of these light fixtures with us when we move out. 

Here it is! Our living room design plan with links to all the goodies you’ll find in that room.

I’ve had so many questions about what we registered for and if I had any advice for the newly-betrothed. Pretty much everything on our lists were needs–either upgraded quality or matching sets, or add-ons to really “finish” our kitchen supplies. We definitely approached it from a practical standpoint and restrained from overdoing it with superfluous items that would barely get used–i.e. no ice cream makers or beer making kits or formal china, or I don’t even know… ten serving dishes in different styles.

So here’s a list of ten things we registered for that we use pretty much every day, and I highly recommend you consider adding to your list, as well. And if you’re not engaged and registry, just maybe consider adding to your home!

We registered at Williams-Sonoma, Crate and Barrel, and Anthropologie–but West Elm has great options also (like the world’s faaavorite Belgian linen bedding–and don’t forget a bed skirt!)! I know Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, and Food52 are other popular options.

I have gotten so many questions asking what we’re fixing up, how we got permission to fix things, are we paying for the cost ourselves, why bother fixing anything up if we don’t own, etc?

Hopefully this post will answer all of those questions.

My other favorite trend right now – second only to the beautiful color ecru – is the blush craze that’s taken over every brand’s spring collections. So feminine and light and gorgeous! I’ve picked up a watch strap, striped blouse, sandals, go-to purse and earrings in the dusty color.

Dan and I never took engagement photos. I’ve never quite understood them since my reasoning was “yes, they’re lovely, but a photo from one of our trips together, or laughing at a ball game, or at the lake house in the summer is so much more meaningful because it was from a specific event together.” Rather than an arbitrary photo shoot. This is not to offend people who take them or photographers who photograph them… it just wasn’t a need of ours.

Fast forward to our honeymoon. We’re in Paris with just a few days left when I get a message on Instagram from none other than Chicago-based photographer Amanda Megan Miller, who I happened to meet and work with when I spoke at the Martha Stewart Wedding event in Chicago the previous year. She said she was landing in Paris the next morning and would we have any interest in a little honeymoon photo shoot. Ooo interesting.

My and Dan’s first reaction was: camera shy. No way can we do that.

I feel like there are two types of Americans… the ones who get REALLY excited and go all out stars and stripes and parades and fireworks and boating for the 4th of July. And those that don’t.

I’ve more or less tried to be the former, although when the day comes I’m usually scrambling to find a festive getup…  probably because I don’t own anything red. Anyone else in the same boat?

To make it easier for people to source the things they see in our home on Instagram or wherever, I’m starting this new series SHOP OUR HOME #SchmiedskiGreystone. Sometimes it will be product by room, sometimes it will be a specific item category, like this first one: mirrors.

I’ve bought more mirrors for this place than anything else. I usually have two mirrors in my home aside from what’s in the bathroom; a floor mirror, usually near the front door, and a mirror above my dresser for getting ready. But a larger home calls for more mirrors… I guess?

I wanted to get this up while it’s still the beginning of summer so you have time to place orders and zhush up your own outdoor space.

I failed to include any photos of our back yard in the before tour of our home largely because I didn’t take any before photos.  I had zero vision for this space; to me it was pretty hopeless, and that’s saying something. Half of it is covered in astro turf, the other half is made up of broken, uneven concrete, and the fences, which were covered in dead ivy vines, resembled the upside down world from Stranger Things. I had no plans to make over our backyard; I was just happy to have a space to sit and drink rose in the summer, regardless of how it looked.