[ THE ] QUIZ: ARE YOU CLEA OR JOANNA?

Have you ever been on a blind date and by the end of it, you started a business and opened-up several bank account together? Just us? Cool.

Turns out we are the kind of crazy people who do things like that. You know why? Neither do we. But it turned out totally fine so do not be concerned. Also, what are the odds of meeting another hot mess express who somehow also has the same singular organizing talent? It must be a very small pool of people.

Even though we have a lot in common, we also have our differences. It’s what inspired us to dress up like each other for Halloween this year. Although, we’re still trying to decide how “in-character” we’re both willing to get. If so, it looks like I’m eating all of my kid’s Halloween candy and Joanna is drinking a lot of champagne.

In honor of our costume idea, we decided to construct a very scientific quiz that tells you who you’re the most like: Clea or Joanna. Spoiler alert: Both results will show you are crazy. Just…. different sides of the same psychotic coin.

Question #1- Your child comes home from school with a homemade Mother’s Day card AND THEY USED GLITTER. What do you do?

A - Pull the alarm to activate the Operation Glitter crisis plan you had in place, complete with a HAZMAT suit that drops down from a trap door in the ceiling so you can safely evacuate the home before burning it down.

OR….

B - Smile and thank them with a big hug, while simultaneously pulling a mini vacuum out of your back pocket.

Question #2: It’s 7pm on a Wednesday night, where are you?

A - Locked in the bathroom, scrolling through Instagram with a glass of champagne until the kids are asleep.

OR….

B - Already laying completely flat in bed with pajamas on, a bag of candy, and maybe a cup of decaf tea if it’s going to be a late night.

Question #3: You’re about to spend the entire day with Roberta. What’s on the itinerary?

A - Looking at new swatches of wallpaper, fabrics, and furniture selections for the house. She’s been keeping a file to show you so sit down and get comfortable.

OR….

B - Looking at new swatches of wallpaper, fabrics, and furniture selections for the house. She’s been keeping a file to show you so sit down and get comfortable.

Question #4: An hour into a flight, the pilot asks the flight attendants to take their seats. How do you prepare for turbulence, or impending death?

A - Rush to the front and beg for two mini bottles of champagne and promise to be good.

OR….

B - Furiously push the call attendant button and ask them if they think it’s going to be really bad while nervously eating handfuls of Swedish Fish.

Question #5: What motto best describes you?

A - Caffeine Until Cocktail Hour.

OR….

B - Roberta Approved.

If you answered mostly A:

YOU’RE CLEA

A total H.B.I.C (Head Bitch in Charge). You don’t ask for much, only that your coffee must match PANTONE 15-1040. It’s that simple.

Coffee Creamer Mug

ABLE Denim Jacket

Rag & Bone Hat

Goyard Tote

Rainbow Earrings

Black Rim Glasses

Lightning Bolt Sweater

Madewell Skinny Jeans

Red Lipstick

Rainbow Neck Pillow

Piper Heidsieck Champagne

Stemless Wine Glasses

If you answered mostly B:

YOU’RE JOANNA

Not a H.B.I.C, but you are Roberta Approved. After all, isn’t that the same thing?

Blanket Scarf

Candy Club Subscription

Favorite Daughter Shirt

Goyard Tote

Tea Ceramic Tumbler

Puff Jacket

Reusable Snack Bags

Silk Pajamas

Tea Sampler

Chocolate Swatches

Barefoot Dreams Wrap

Sleep Sweatshirt

OR ARE YOU BOTH... WE’LL CALL THAT CLEANNA

Alo Leggings

Alo Pullover

Laptop Case

Rainbow Doormat

ROYGBIV Tote

CALPAK Oh Joy! Suitcase

CALPAK Oh Joy! Packing Squares

Sisterhood Tee

MTM Pin Set

Makeup Removal Towel

Sperry Duck Boot

Purse Pouch

Leave your quiz result in the comment section below!

Xo Clea + Joanna

GET [ THE ] LOOK: CLEA'S LIVING ROOM

After revamping the kids playroom upstairs, I was eager to start on my next house project. Call it an occupational hazard… So when GABBY asked if we wanted to partner on a room makeover, I jumped at the chance to reconstruct my living room and reclaim it as an adult space. It’s not like the kids are welcome to hang-out downstairs from time to time...I just strongly encourage them to sit on their own couch and leave my brand new one nice and pristine.

Turns out no one in my house listens to me and they sprawl all over it anyway. I was able to customize the layout for my Abbott Sectional so that it perfectly fits the room and provides so much extra seating for my whole entire family to watch TV even though that wasn’t really the intention. I decided to go with an armless chair on the left side to create a chaise, and then I placed a matching ottoman on the right side to give some flexibility for extend seating anywhere on the couch. The good news is that the fabric I selected (in Rush Smoke), is standing up well to all the daily wear from my kids, house guests, husband, and dog.

To compliment the couch, and to add extra conversational seating, I added two Monroe club chairs. Since the couch is a velvety material, I thought the chairs should be leather to add some textural differences to the room. Both the couch and chairs have metal rivets that tie them together, without making them too matchy-matchy. That’s the technical term, right?

Coordinating throw pillows can be tough in my house because the palette consists of black, white, and 500 shades of gray. So true to form, I went with that color scheme and tried to mix up the fabrics, materials, and shapes of the pillows so that they aren’t all identical. I ended up making some great custom GABBY throw pillows in the Lina Mercury fabric which added some silky textures to the variety. I promise I’m not afraid of color...I just don’t do accent colors. It’s either black and white, or full rainbow. I don’t really know how to do a random green pillow.

Bottom line: My living room looks great and is now even more comfortable. So naturally it’s going to be the favorite spot in the house for all of us. And as long as no one eats, drinks, spills, jumps, soils it… then everyone is welcome.

BACK-TO-SCHOOL MAKEOVER

I was so excited for back-to-school (or more accurately, mom-summer) to begin, that I spent the last month working with The Container Store to turn our playroom into a study station for the kids. Stella is officially a second grader and has *actual* homework now (thank goodness for google because I literally do not know how to help her with math - WHY DID THEY CHANGE HOW TO DO MATH) and she needs a proper place to sit and concentrate. Sutton is only in Pre-K, but...

1) he will be learning unnecessarily complicated math problems before I know it

2) he needs to do everything his older sister does or he panics and

3) it would throw the room off to only have ONE desk unit, and let’s be honest this is the most important reason.

Since I’m more than a little familiar with all that The Container Store has to offer, I knew the Elfa system was the way to go. I could customize it to fit the playroom perfectly, and add shelves, drawers, and utility boards to my heart’s content. Which I did. And then some.

My goals for the space was to have enough accessible shelving to hold the current school year’s projects, classroom art, and memory boxes - but also enough upper shelving to hold past years as well. As kids get older you collect less and less (they don't make Thanksgiving Turkeys with your kids hand print in the 8th grade…) so eventually your storage boxes can span a few years instead of a single one.

I also wanted to make sure to have several drawers for notebooks, coloring books, and the endless stacks of white and color paper used for art. Mission accomplished and now I don’t need to look at them on the desktop!

Last but not least, I wanted a setup that inspired creativity, was visually beautiful, and of course - served the core function of holding supplies. The Elfa utility board system allowed me to hang, clip, hold all sorts of things, but most importantly, a tray of pens, pencils, markers, and more. And I obviously was not going to pass-up a rainbow moment, so I used these colorful boxes to hold everything. Why the rainbow you ask? Because it always looks pretty, it keeps all the items contained within a system, and Stella can always find the color she needs and knows exactly where it goes when she’s done.

Now for the best news, The Container Store’s Shelving Sale is going on now through 10/14, and Elfa is 25% off! I think I'm going to need to make myself a desk now since I'm guessing my kids won't let me work at theirs...

PRODUCT LIST

Elfa shelving solutions
Document storage boxes
File storage box
Rainbow boxes
Poppin desktop sorter
Poppin desktop pencil cup
Poppin calculator
Poppin scissors
Poppin notebooks
Glass jars
Desk chair

xo, Clea

GET [ THE ] LOOK: JOANNA'S PORCH

My family moved and settled into our brand new house just in time for summer! This is the first house that I've ever had the (very fortunate) opportunity to build and select every finish, tile, knob... And, with this new house, I couldn't help but spring for some new furniture too. Obviously, some of my furniture moved with me from my last home. But, for the outdoor areas, my last house didn't have a screened in patio, or a very large front porch, like the new house. And... the new house told me, very loudly, that it NEEDED to be beautifully furnished. And so I did what any responsible, obedient, house owner does, and listened to its clear message - "buy beautiful furniture for your new outdoor spaces". 

Selecting furniture for these outdoor spaces was one of my favorite "new house projects", because I could already envision the ways that I wanted to use these new spaces. So, I teamed up with Summer Classics to design these perfect porch spots!

Obviously, I wanted to use these spaces to function in traditional ways, entertaining family and friends on warm days and nights. But, additionally, since our entire The Home Edit team, aside from me, lives in Nashville (proper), I also wanted a space in my home to host team meetings and gatherings, when we have jobs close to me (in Franklin). 

Always loving the look of classic teak wood - I knew right away that I wanted to lean into this material for the bulk of my new outdoor furniture. For me, the teak furniture, with white cushions and charcoal piping, sitting on my new red brick porches allowed each item to live its absolute best life! Then, for the pillows (ohhh how I love pillows), I used strategic restraint to not go overboard and interfere with any valuable seating space. I landed on using 2 pillows for the couch and 1 complimenting pillow for each chair. 

For the front porch, it will likely come as no surprise that I also had a very clear vision. In my mind this space (too) needed to stay classic all the way, but in a different way. I selected 2 white Adirondack chairs, matching ottomans and a cute, little side table in between. Simple and timeless - everything a southern, brick porch ever wanted.

This week I was able to have part of our team over for some mid-job snacks and a quick meeting. I was thrilled to finally have this spot to host our team. If only every work day felt like a sweet summer escape...

XO, Joanna