• Home
  • Arcadia Neighborhood Home Tours
  • Entertaining
  • Home Decor
  • Michigan Cottage Tours
  • Tour Our Cottage Style Home
  • DIY
  • DIY Favorites
  • DIY Home Decor
  • Furniture Makeovers
  • Room Makeovers
  • Style
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Men’s Favorites
  • Lifestyle
  • Beauty + Grooming
  • Book Reviews
  • Cute Backgrounds & Wallpapers
  • Food
  • Holiday Favorites
  • Travel
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Shop our Favorites
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Love and Specs

  • Blog
  • Home
    • Home Decor
    • Entertaining
    • Tour Our Cottage Style Home
    • Arcadia Neighborhood Home Tours
    • Michigan Cottage Tours
  • DIY
    • DIY Home Decor
    • Furniture Makeovers
    • Room Makeovers
    • DIY Favorites
  • Style
    • Fall
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Men’s Favorites
  • Lifestyle
    • Book Reviews
    • Cute Backgrounds & Wallpapers
    • Travel
    • Food
    • Beauty + Grooming
    • Holiday Favorites
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Shop our Favorites

Holiday Favorites, Home, Home Decor, Lifestyle

Charming, Cottage Style Valentine’s Day Home Decor Ideas You’ll Love All Year Round

I’m sharing my annual roundup of all the charming, cottage style, pastel and heart-print Valentine’s Day-inspired home decor and gift ideas I’m loving and lusting that will brighten up your abode all year round!

Cute Backgrounds & Wallpapers, Holiday Favorites, Lifestyle

Cute, Free Valentine’s Day Phone Wallpapers & Desktop Backgrounds for a Season of Love!

I am beyond excited to share our very first cute, fun and totally free Valentine’s Day phone wallpaper and desktop background set with you guys so you can spend the season of love enjoying all the hearts, kisses, flowers, pink, purple and puppy love your heart can handle!

Mulled Wine by popular Phoenix life and style blog, Love and Specs: image of a woman holding a mulled wine gift basket filled with mulled wine, cinnamon sticks, cloves, oranges, and a bottle of honey.

DIY, Food, Holiday Favorites, Lifestyle

Easy Last-Minute Christmas Gift: DIY Mulled Wine Gift Basket

Searching for easy last-minute Christmas gift ideas that are as fun and festive as they are affordable? Look no further than our super cute for DIY mulled wine gift basket that’s filled with tasty goodies your friend, neighbor or co-worker would love!

Cute Backgrounds & Wallpapers, Holiday Favorites, Lifestyle

Cute, Free Holiday & Winter Phone Wallpapers to End 2020 With Some Cheer!

Our cute, fun and totally free 2020 holiday, winter and Christmas phone wallpapers and backgrounds are here and all of the holiday/winter hits are included, like garland, pine boughs, bows, ornaments, Christmas trees, cozy mugs and presents galore! Come download and share your favorite now!

Sparkling Ice Drinks by popular Phoenix lifestyle blog, Love and Specs: image of two gift baskets filled with Sparkling Ice drinks, cookies, drink mix in a mason jar, and pine sprigs with dried oranges.

DIY, Entertaining, Food, Holiday Favorites, Lifestyle

DIY Spiced Sparkling Ice Holiday Mocktail Gift Basket

We’re getting a head start on the holiday season by sharing an adorable DIY spiced sparkling holiday mocktail gift basket for friends or neighbors that’s as easy to whip up as it is fun to make!

Entertaining, Holiday Favorites, Home, Home Decor

Fun 4th of July Inspired Red White and Blue Decorations to Love This Year!

Summer is officially here, and that means we have our mind on one of our favorite, festive holidays of the year that just so happens to be just a week and a half away – 4th of July! Our Independence Day celebrations may look a little bit more intimate this year, but that didn’t stop us from rounding up all of our favorite red, white and blue 4th of July inspired decorations from around the web that are perfect for small celebrations and general summer fun of all kinds, even if it’s just a backyard BBQ for two!

Beauty + Grooming, Holiday Favorites, Home, Home Decor, Lifestyle

14 Game-Changing Products I’ve Fallen in Love With at Home That Make Genius Mother’s Day Gift Ideas!

After hunkering down at home over the last month and a half or so, I’ve made some revelations, friends. Home revelations, garment revelations, cleaning revelations, life revelations & it’s made what’s essential, what’s useful, what works and what just downright makes our lives at home easier and more comfortable so much more clear, so I thought it would be really fun to take a different approach to Mother’s Day gifting & use what I’ve discovered to guide my Mother’s Day gift ideas! Gone are the tchotchkes of old & in are the unique things that make mom’s life easier or better in some meaningful or useful way! I’m going into detail about why each product has been such a game-changer in my life at home over the last month or so in hopes that something in there speaks to the mom in your life or… even just to you. Because treating yourself is always appropriate.

Holiday Favorites, Home, Home Decor, Lifestyle

Cottage Cute Valentine’s Day Home Decor Ideas You’ll Love All Year Round

My favorite season for home decor? Valentine’s Day season! I absolutely love capitalizing on the excess of heart prints, the pastel color palette and the romantic, playful decor pieces that hit the shelves and the web this time of year, so today I’m rounding up all of my favorite cottage style Valentine’s Day home decorations that you’ll love all year round!

Holiday Favorites, Lifestyle, Style, Winter

Lovely Valentine’s Day Outfit Ideas You’ll Love All Year Round

My totally unapologetic obsession with Valentine’s Day, the holiday that brings a delightful overload of hearts, pink and all the sweet treats I can handle continues this year, and I’m absolutely overjoyed to kick off a few weeks full of Valentine’s Day content and ideas with a foray into my favorite Valentine’s Day style finds that you’ll be loving and wearing all year long! This is the time of year that I capitalize on the abundance of pretty pink, purple and heart-clad pieces that hit the shelves and the web, and I consider it my life’s mission to get all of you on board the V-Day style train, too. Come feel the love, friends!

Holiday Favorites, Lifestyle

No-Fail Last Minute Christmas Gifts Anyone Would Love: Amazon, Anthropologie & More!

Today’s post is all about arming you with can’t-fail, tried, tested and loved last minute gifts ideas that anyone in your life would be thrilled to receive this year – men, women, sisters/brothers/mothers/husbands/wives included! So sit back, relax and let us melt that procrastinators stress away with everything you’ll need to look like you started thinking of the perfect gift way back in the summer!

Arcadia Neighborhood Home Tours, Holiday Favorites, Home, Lifestyle

The Arcadia, Phoenix Holiday and Winter Neighborhood Tour is Here

It’s here! The Arcadia neighborhood holiday tour is here, and I hope it fills you guys with ALL of the cozy, festive holiday feels before you wind down and head off to spend time with family, friends and your fur babies for the holiday! There is so much charming cottage-farmhouse-ranch goodness to be had, with festive floral-lined paths, adorable front doors and holiday decorations in abundance! I absolutely love the way this little corner of Phoenix does the holidays and am so excited to share our little slice of holiday heaven with you guys. Come on in – it’s warm, cozy and full of cheer in here!

DIY, DIY Home Decor, Holiday Favorites, Home, Lifestyle

DIY Gilded Wood Christmas Ornaments

We’re sharing another fun (and super easy!) holiday DIY project today that’s perfect for adding that gorgeous, cozy glow to your Christmas tree this year – DIY gilded wood Christmas ornaments! These adorable, rustic wood ornaments are a breeze to make so you can even get the kiddos involved in this one, and they fall right in line with that Scandinavian-inspired, natural holiday decor vibe we love. So what are you waiting for? Come make your house merry and bright with us this season!

Next Page »

meet maryal and chris

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

sign up for our newsletter

Popular Posts

Jan
07
Cute Backgrounds & Wallpapers, Holiday Favorites, Lifestyle
Cute, Free Valentine’s Day Phone Wallpapers & Desktop Backgrounds for a Season of Love!
Nov
05
DIY, Home, Room Makeovers, Tour Our Cottage Style Home
DIY Laundry Room Makeover With Design Ideas, Decor & Painted Cabinets
May
14
Arcadia Neighborhood Home Tours, Home
Unique Home Design (And Cute Corners) in Arcadia, Phoenix, Arizona: Round 3
Feb
26
Book Reviews, Lifestyle
The Virgin River Series Review: A Review of the 20-Book Series That Inspired the Netflix Show
  • Home
  • DIY
  • Style
  • Lifestyle
  • Shop our Favorites
Maryal Miller Carter

loveandspecs

Link to display lightbox
Instagram post 18144143809141458 Ok ok ok since everyone clearly loves @bridgertonnetflix & it seems to be a nice little introduction to the world of romance novels for a good chunk of you like @virginriverseries was for me last year, would you guys be interested in a roundup of my very favorite romance novels/series to read if you loved it & want more of it?! I’m gonna be honest - I read 140 books in 2020 & watched very, very little TV because I was positively enthralled with the wonderful world of romance novels! Seriously... it saved my sanity in 2020 with its endless happy endings, loved-up storylines & spicy characters. It was honestly the best escape from reality in my downtime. I had surgery in September & I was 0% nervous or anxious while I was waiting to go in because I was so engrossed in my book & barely even noticed when they wheeled me into surgery 🤣 My doctor came in to chat with me & go over the procedure before we went in & I was like “yeah yeah cool cool but can you leave so I can get back to Ryder & Sammy because they’re at a pivotal moment right now.” 😂 So let me know if that would be of interest & I’ll get a blog post up ASAP! 💗
Link to display lightbox
Instagram post 18027559984291140 Oh snap! New shutters (the DIY tutorial for these is on the blog)! Also you can catch a glimpse of the new light we installed a while back here. It’s a sage barn light with a black metal arm & base by @progressltg progressltg & we’re obsessed! It was such a good swap & I’m so glad we just dove in & figured out how to make it work. Totally worth it. Also can we just talk about how awesome a stained wood Dutch door would be here?! It’s happening... someday. It has to! 😂
Link to display lightbox
Instagram post 17915557696547572 What. A. Day! Today has been pretty thrilling to say the least, so I thought I’d keep the good vibes rolling & share a super fun DIY project over on the blog that we finished last year. Im so happy that we’re finally getting around to sharing one of the many DIY home improvement projects we’ve tackled during our time at home this last year & I think there’s no better way to kick it off than by sharing one of my very favorites - our DIY shutters! Well decorative shutters, that is. This project is SO easy to execute & will save you a bundle compared to buying prefabricated shutters or having a carpenter make them for you. We have a few more things we’ll be changing & adding to our front porch over time, but it’s coming along! Hop to the link in my bio to get the full tutorial on how to make your own shutters at home & before & after pics of the project!
Link to display lightbox
Instagram post 18092369944221655 Just when I think my love of pink is of the casual variety, I start looking through old photos & realize that I spent most of summer 2020 finding & snapping pretty pink houses in Northern Michigan 🤣 No wonder I love this time of year so much - it’s a pinksplosion! If you missed all 3 of the Northern Michigan Cottage tours on the blog last summer/fall, you can see all of the pink prettiness & a ton of other amazing color combos at the link in my bio if you just go to the category “Home” & then “Michigan Cottage Tours” in the drop down menu. So many inspiring, charming homes to get lost in! The first image here in the carousel is of one of my very favorite historic Victorian homes in Petoskey, MI - you can admire it right from the main drag that drives through & out of Petoskey & the details always leave me drooling!
Link to display lightbox
Instagram post 18116494060171676 Citrus season & the lead up to Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite times of year to be a Phoenician. 🍊 It’s starting to get pretty dreamy around here right now & I feel like I reeeally needed this. I was startin’ to lose it a little bit I think being so cooped up inside. 😬 You guys know I’m a serious sucker for all things V-Day & especially love all of the pretty pastel, romantic, happy home decor that hits shelves right now, so if that speaks straight to your design feels head on over to the link in my bio because I shared my annual roundup of ALL the V-Day inspired decor I’m loving this year that would be awesome additions to your abode all year round. And bonus, they’re perfect for gifting, too! 💗
Link to display lightbox
Instagram post 18051844207273408 I’m pretty much of freaking out with excitement about what went up on the blog today. Like jumping up and down, doing a happy dance level excitement! Ever since I connected with the amazing @rhianawni , the incredibly talented artist we collaborate with for all of our seasonal phone wallpapers and backgrounds, I’ve been dying to create wallpapers for my very favorite holiday – Valentine’s Day! I have a totally unapologetic, long-standing love affair with the most Hallmarky of Hallmark holidays, and I think a huge part of that is due to the fact that it’s my favorite time of year on the design and decor front. The abundance of pink, purple, hearts and flowers everywhere is pure heaven in my eyes! Which is why when Rhian told me that she created a brand new set of Valentine’s Day watercolor illustrations last year that I could use to create new free V-Day phone wallpapers & desktop backgrounds for you guys, I was beyond pumped to get to work and bring these to life. And sure, these designs are totally V-Day inspired, but love is kind of in fashion all year round, right? So head to the link in my bio, download & share them all & just switch ‘em up as you please all year long! 💗💗💗

Copyright © 2021 · Love and Specs · Site by Ready to Blog Designs

Copyright © 2021 · Love and Specs on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in