Allison of Altamonte

The en-suite bathroom is almost complete! This is a BIG deal because this room was *almost* a deal breaker! I t was giving grimy, dingy and dirty.  Updating the shower was at the top of my list.  I knew it had to be one of our first projects. Removing the shower doors was the first step.  O nly one side of the opaque glass opened at a time so they broke up the bathroom into a cramped, compartmentalized shoebox.  Luckily, it was pretty easy to learn how to get rid of them thanks to YouTube University.  The outdated silver frame was too low. Once we removed that, the bathroom felt much better! A future version of me is going to teach herself to tile, but that wasn't a project I was ready to tackle at eight months pregnant. Tile paint was a more digestible upgrade at the time. We used it in the shower to lighten up the grey-ish walls and floor. I purchased a spray  and a brush-on kit. While the tile spray paint was easier to use, the brush-on provided mor...

I recently returned to the office after maternity leave. It was a nourishing time to welcome our sweet babe, Keanu, and I'm feeling energized and excited to be back to work! Partly because I love my job and partly because I made sure to pamper myself throughout my pregnancy and post-partum period. Growing a tiny human is no small feat so I assembled an all-star team of care providers to help me feel my best. This is a list of the incredible people that helped me through this pregnancy journey. I recommend them to any expecting family! Mama Sutra Loving Arts: Sokhna Heathyre Mabin I met Sokhna on my last trip to India and she immediately made me long to have another baby, I can't believe it actually happened! I learned so much about breastfeeding from Sokhna and I was supported by her guidance, yoga practices, herbal teas and soaks throughout my pregnancy and post-partum journey. She is a magical human, doula, lactation consultant and expert in all things motherhood. She is base...

Today, my husband and I celebrate our 13 year wedding anniversary! We actually got married at the courthouse about 6 months prior to our wedding so we always have a little debate on whether this is considered an anniversary. I like to recognize both the wedding and marriage ...so happy anniversary to us!  Do you have funny recurring inside jokes with your fam? Those feel like home.  Speaking of home... onto the reveal! The Nursery - the first room we finished! Inspired by Keanu's name, which means "cool breeze", and his sign, Pisces, The Nursery incorporates art, furniture, and color that evokes nature, specifically the water element.  I truly am enamored with the color we chose, Permafrost. The baby blue hue feels luminescent, a big change from the listless grey walls that stifled the house before we bought it. The tone feels like a cool breeze itself! Here's a  short video I posted to TikTok @allison.of.altamo When I decorated Cristiano's nursery, we went with a...

  February and March were a couple of action-packed months here in Altamonte! We celebrated Cristiano's 5th birthday in grand style with a whole week of parties. We welcomed family and friends to our new home for Superbowl and for our Nesting Party. We wrapped it all up by meeting our brand new son, Keanu Beckham Gibson, on March 4th! In between all of the excitement, we've continued creating our sweet family sanctuary, which I am so excited to share more of soon!  First, however, I want to share one of my favorite places in our new neighborhood: Revival Chiropractic. Early on in my pregnancy, I started researching prenatal chiropractic care. I was interested in bodywork to help encourage the natural birth process. I am a huge advocate of natural, holistic healing and I had heard good things about the Webster technique. One day, I woke up with terrible neck and rib pain. I went to work but had such limited mobility that I called Revival and made an appointment that same day. I...

Happy to be here We have officially moved in! It has been over six weeks since we closed the deal but we needed every minute of that to get through the first phase of our home renovation. When we decided to make an offer we did so knowing there would be a great deal of work to do. Our list of projects was massive and we understood that we wouldn't be able to do it all before moving into the home. So, we prioritized the jobs that were absolutely essential or that would be a pain to do once our furniture and stuff arrived. The projects that we started with were foundation stabilization, plumbing, electrical, floors and walls. We hired professionals to help with the first few. The entire home had to be rewired. Toilets had to be fixed in order to get home insurance coverage. The back porch was sinking in one corner due to the yard's slope and considerable erosion under one corner. These weren't the most fun and exciting projects to tackle but they were necessary. I wanted to a...

Choosing paint colors can be overwhelming. Luckily, I watched A LOT of home design TV and figured out how the pros choose great combinations. The key? Keep calm and take your time with swatches!  All of the colors we picked came after we narrowed down from dozens of paint samples, taped up on different walls, looking at them at different times of day and with different lighting. Some of the colors we ultimately chose were a striking departure from the inspiration that first led us to try them. Now that the interior paint is (almost) complete, I am SO happy we took our time because we are SO happy with the results! There is nothing like a fresh coat of paint to transform a space. Not only has the new paint uplifted the feel of the home, it makes the rooms feel super clean, as if brand new again. Bedroom paint colors were the first we chose for our recently-purchased home in Altamonte Springs, FL. We decided not to remove the carpeting from the bedrooms since it was perfectly neutral...