Kristen • Opal and Home

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My biggest recommendation when you move into a new home, PLANT THE TREES and the bushes that’ll grow to offer privacy. We planted everything here back in 2023 and 2024 (the aspens were planted then), and it’s all paying off now. Here is a list of my favorite trees and plants from this space: 1. Maple trees are slow growers it feels in the first few years, but I love that this one is more narrow. It definitely has gotten much fuller over the years too! 2. Hydrangeas all the way! Can’t believe just this one plant is this big already. We have them planted around our house and the ones we planted in the beginning are now finally a good size. 3. Catmint: This stuff grows so fast and offers a gorgeous purple color. Every year we are able to split them and plant throughout our yard. 4. Aspen Columnar: these were so tiny two years ago and now they are huge! Aspens are temperamental in our area due to the stress the heat can put on them, so you really have to take care of them the first few years. We have loved all of our aspens and how their leaves flutter in the wind. 5. Lasting, add vining plants early and where you can! We have loved how this wisteria gets bigger every year. What privacy things do you do in your yard to add more privacy?? #landscaping #privacylandscaping #pergolas #privatebackyard

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When a dog is such a huge part of your life, I have found that finding ways to continue to remember them is the most helpful. My husband, daughters, parents, family, friends, and all of you have all been so amazing during these past few weeks. Grief hits you randomly, and I still have moments where I think “oh I have to let Abu out” and a split second later I remember I don’t. It’s weird. Hoping to see some beautiful birds in this space soon ❤️🌈🕊️ Please feel free to share stories about your beautiful fur babies in the comments who are keeping Abu company up in heaven! 🐾🩵🌈🪽 #birdhouse #birdwatching #birdfeeders #copperaccents

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To be fair, most people don’t have two full size sinks, but I promise there is a good reason why we do. When we first designed the pantry we had a much smaller prep sink in the plans, but it looked so weird as we couldn’t get the sink centered on the arch without making this huge cabinet skinny. So we opted to go for a bigger sink, and we were shocked to find the pantry sink (where the stone backsplash is) for a third of its original price on Facebook marketplace. It was like it was meant to be! For any dishes that are super dirty, I just clean them in the kitchen. The pantry sink I use for food prep and cleaning my espresso machine. I was very thoughtful it what materials I used around our kitchen sink so I could easily wipe things down. #pantrydesign #pantryinspo #kitchensink