We love featuring a wide range of Southern home styles in our Southern Newlywed column, from Hope and Michael’s serene neutrals to Meredith and Nic’s modern farmhouse. Stacie (owner of the Parlor at North Ridge) and Nick are such a fun addition to our Newlywed crew, bringing their own mix of palm prints, leather details, dark paint, leopard print, needlepoint, and dotty wallpaper to the table. And family photos! If there’s anything you take away from this tour, it will probably be an urge to frame your precious memories. Lots of inspiration below if you’re ready to do just that!
Thanks to our friend and Blue Ribbon Vendor Nancy Ray for these photos, and to Tidwell Interiors for helping Stacie with her home’s design!
The couple: Stacie (28) and Nick (28) Patrone
Years married: 5
Tell us a little bit about yourselves. Family is everything to us. We are thankful to be in business with family and we strongly believe in entrepreneurship. We try to live life by the “slight edge mentality”–that small actions, compounded over time, produce large results. Galatians 6:9 helps sum it up.
Tell us your love story in one sentence. God led our paths perfectly to each other by a thin thread.
What has been the most surprising thing about marriage? Even though this sounds cliche, we loved each other when we got married, but we are surprised every day by how we fall more and more in love with each other the longer we are married.
Tell us a little bit about where you live. We love our home in North Raleigh, very close to friends and family. It has a great floor plan (a ranch with a room above the garage!). Our future plans include building a house we design from scratch on land with my family.
Which room in your home is your favorite, and why? Our gathering room off the kitchen. We knocked out a wall to open this room up to the kitchen and we use it all the time. It’s so cozy, and we love to enjoy our bullet coffee there each morning while we do our morning reading. It’s where our daughter sits in her high chair, and where we sit to unwind at night and share about our days.
What most makes your house feel like home? Of course, the people in it! But other than that, all the sweet things that have been passed down to us from our families, our pictures on the wall, and the style of the space around us. It’s comfortable, neat, and functional, with some quirks and flavor thrown in.
What are some of your favorite sources for home things? We save on trendy items at HomeGoods, flea markets, and on Craigslist. We splurge on classic pieces that we will keep and love forever. I buy things from all over, because I like our home to have an eclectic flair. I love our crib from Bratt Decor, and the Ethan Allen bed I found on Craigslist is a favorite! My Pottery Barn wingback leather chairs will be somewhere in our home forever.
What is your favorite memory from your wedding? Stacie: Dancing on the battleship. Nick: the drive to the battleship from the ceremony site. It was 45 minutes alone right after being married.
Which items from your wedding registry do you use the most often? A cozy Pottery Barn blanket we got from Nick’s mom. We fight over who gets to use it most of the time!
What different decisions, if any, would you make for your registry if you knew then what you knew now? Register for good frames! You will want to put up so many pictures!
Who cooks dinner? I do… though Nick likes to tell people he does since he’s Italian. (But it has only happened once in five years.)
What is your go-to weeknight meal? Weekend meal? Weekend meal: nachos on a cookie sheet with all the fixings–guac, sour cream, salsa, cheese, and taco meat. Weeknight meal: sweet potatoes, asparagus, and roasted chicken.
How does your family handle finances? Do you use a set budget? We don’t spend more than we make! Period.
What’s your best tip for balancing your relationship and other life priorities? We respect our calendar. We have full, packed lives, so if it comes down to it, we put family time on the calendar, too!
What is your favorite part of being married? Having sleepovers with your best friend every night!
Do you have a favorite date night idea to share? We like to work out together! But we also love the chocolate mousse cupcake at Fresh Levant Bakery. It’s gluten-free and one of the best desserts in Raleigh.
What is one small way you love or serve your spouse? I make Nick bullet coffee every morning. Nick makes the bed for me, and serves as the technical support department of our house :)
Do you have children? Yes, our daughter, Poppy! We want a house full of kids. We love the chaos of big families!
Before getting married, I wish someone had told me… read marriage books before you need them. We recommend The Five Love Languages, Love and Respect, Sheet Music, and The Story of Marriage. Someone told us to do this, and we listened–it was such wise advice!
Thank you so much for sharing your hearts and home with us, Stacie and Nick!
A little reminder: we’d love to hear from you! Our hope is to feature REAL couples in the South – not just folks who write blogs (though we love them, too!), but also your inspiring friend, super talented cousin, or neighbor with the cutest house – the kind of person everyone would love to “e-meet.” If that sounds like you or someone you know, take a peek at our Southern Newlywed submission page and shoot us an email!
I really like the idea of a painting. I’ve found some artists that will make a collage painting from pictures of details of your wedding. It’s a nice alternative if portraits aren’t your style.
A nice monogrammed robe (maybe coordinating his and hers) is also a nice splurge, for all those Sunday mornings spent lounging around.
Big fan of both Biscuit and Heirloomed!!
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