What A Girl Wants

I'm a girl of wants, what can I say? I am all about finding pieces to enhance my living room look right now. My 70's style sofa, in the perfect grey micro suede, an antique storage chest as a coffee table, and a brass trunk end table, need dazzling accent pieces. Here's what I've been thinking on:

(L to R, top to bottom)

cozy wool pillow in a small herringbone pattern in navy and cream (arhaus)

fun yellow chevron pattern pillow (society6)

paisley patterned plate to corral tiny succulents under my terrarium lamp (anthropologie)

faceted ceramic end table (west elm)

arc lamp in simple silver, probably change shade to black to match other lamp (target)

soft cable knit throw to wrap myself up (free people)

I can't decide if I want to match my existing brass trunk end table with one with a similar finish. So I'm torn between the martini side table (west elm) or two drawer trunk-esq (1stdibs)

patterned accent chair in my favorite accent color: yello (target)

Pouring Over Books

I got some great gifts for Christmas, but I'm most excited to dig into a new pile of books I got. With the holidays over, the decorations taken down and put away,  I look around my living space and I think, "hmmm...what can I change?" It's time for a new start! Things need freshening up and coordinated together. That's why I'm so glad to have 3 great new resources to help kick my redecorating into high gear. Grace Bonney's Design Sponge at Home is filled with fabulous photographs that will create inspiration in every corner of a house. Holly Becker's Decorate Workshop has all the tips, spacial planning guides, and ideas to pull it all together. And Jon Carloftis' Beyond the Window Sill has the most basic, easy to follow directions on how to add, and keep alive (one of my serious problems!) plants and greenery in your home. I've never seen it broken down so simply before.

Spring will be here before we know it and I know these books will keep me in beautiful images until then!

A Banner Headboard

I am totally on board with all the streamer banners used for weddings, photo backgrounds, and party decor. I think it's a great way to pull your whole color story together for an event into one cute decor piece. After seeing a simple picture on sweet sweet life of bunting hung over a bed, and easy to follow instructions on the lovely cupboard for using fabric, my project was set in motion. The colors were pulled from my Anthropologie Glasswing duvet. You can see the tops of the shams peeking into the last picture. I still need to get an actual insert for my duvet otherwise I would have photographed the whole bed. My only worry is that it'll be too matchy-matchy with all the same colors together in one small space, but we shall see. If it's a bust then it's back to square one on the headboard idea but I have a good secondary home for the banner to live just in case.

I'm in love with...

image: minthome 

...a piece of furniture. It's true. One look, and I knew that this mid century dress in mint green was destined to be my soul mate. An expensive price tag and shipping costs might keep us apart, but if it's meant to be we will find a way to be together. Right next to my bed; as the perfect nightstand/extra storage facility.

Falling in love with this dresser has re energized me to get my decorating butt in gear, and get to work on decorating my house again. Remember when I was only thinking in mood boards? Remember the dresser I planned to refurbish? Gracious where does the time go? I'm going to blame daylight savings time, and I the fact I've been watching too many old episodes of Secrets from a Stylist, and feeling intimidated by Emily's awesome skills.

So dresser, love of my life, thank you for getting me inspired.

Our First Kitchen Table

I have not eaten at a kitchen table in a place I have lived since I moved out of my parents house 10 years ago. Where have I been eating dinner for the past decade or so? The couch of course! There was a brief period of time in one of my apartments where I had a card table with ONE folding chair in the space where a dining table should have lived. But I think I did more crafts on it than meals.

So now, after a few weeks looking on Craigslist, fifty bucks, and a great diy tutorial later, I am all grown up with my very own kitchen table. I felt like Aaron and I were having an official family dinner after our first meal at the table. Our small kitchen space called for just the perfect sized round pedestal table and the white walls begged for a bright pop of color in that corner. I'm still working on finding 2 more mismatched chairs and finishing decorating our apartment.

The table has an extra leaf to it but with only 2 of us dining most nights, it stays nice and small

It's kind of hard to tell but the pedestal was a dark hunter green

I say this last picture is only the "somewhat" after shot because the chairs aren't finished and neither is the styling of this space. But I was so happy to see it finally coming together that I had to share the progress. I need to take some better pictures when it's completely finished; you can't really see how vibrant the color of the table is because of the direct sunlight coming through the windows.

This photo was the source of my inspiration to paint my table. Everyday Lovely had very easy step by step instructions for this project. Check them out here!

Dreaming of Collages

I finally hung some art on the walls of our house this weekend! I can't believe what a difference it makes. It really is starting to feel like people with some taste live here! It took me some time to find all the right frames to make up the collage above the couch in the living room, and finding the energy to do it took some time as well. But they're up there. The only thing left to do is find some fun artwork for the empty frames. Hello etsy wish list...

studiotuesday

AndILoveYouSheSaid

thelittlechickadee

thelittlechickadee

dekanimal

BlackBaroque

berkleyillustration

beethings

sarahjanestudios

claudiavarosio

handz

It's Official!

We've found a place to live!  If all goes according to plan we hope to be moved in by the first week of September. Since leaving my college dorm room I have spent the past 7 years living in apartments; I can't tell you how happy I am to finally be living in a house! We're not quite ready to own a house, but renting one suits us just fine. Besides, who wants to mow the yard and fix leaky faucets when you have a landlord to do those things? Last night, after dropping off the final paperwork and picking up the keys on the drive home, I let my mind wander to all the decorating I want to do...

A fun light fixture over the dining room table, perhaps? Keeping our white bathroom clean and stylish. Setting up a desk near the window in the second bedroom, and some sort of chalkboard element in the kitchen.

The 'Key' to Inspiration

I think we're thisclose to finding a place to live! Not only am I looking forward to finally unpacking everything but also decorating it! Visions of where to hang things and how we'll arrange our furniture are keeping me up at night. One of my vision is what to do with this odd little wall between the front door and the garage door. I was inspired by the images of the framed blue keys and the hand painted black frame on the white wall. Ideas of framed skelton keys, key hole plates, hooks, doorknobs, and Alice in Wonderland prints will create one large piece of art on the wall. What do you think? I'm just hoping the vision I see in my head turns out just as well in real life.

links: alice image, key hooks, silver key plate, skelton key, framed keys, painted frame, door knob hook, brass key plate

Inspiration Board: Corn Fest

As a faithful reader to blogs like Snippet and Ink, Green Wedding Shoes, and Amy Atlas, I feel like I could tackle any type of party with the amazing inspiration and photos they share. Next week I’ll finally be able to put all the great ideas I’ve seen to good use. At the end of this month my parents are throwing a party called “Corn Fest.” I know, not your typical theme for a party, but nothing says summer to my parents like corn on the cob. They love it so much that my dad built a corn roaster a few years ago out of an old barrel so he could roast a large amount of corn! You know the kind you see at festivals and food fairs?  So to celebrate summer, friends, and (of course) corn, they are inviting all their friends over for a cookout. They’ve asked me to be in charge of creating a photo booth for the Fest as well as some decorations. You can see how geeked out I’m getting by my inspiration board. Wish me luck on the planning!

top row: flowers: saraspartyperfect, chalk board: stylemepretty, corn hole: beavercreeksda
middle row: corn on a stick: hostessblog, root beer: thepleatedpoppy, plate of corn: melskitchencafe
bottom row: photo booth props: karaspartyideas, table: style-files

Bookcase Instructions

Nothing makes me happier than a well-styled bookcase. When looking through decor blogs and magazines, I find myself drawn to the bookcases. This is mostly because I'm in awe of how someone could make stacked books and small objects look like a piece of art. I would desperately rearrange my bookshelf in our old apartment trying different groupings and never being satisfied. I organized it once by color, the next time by size, and then again by subject matter. I could never get it right.

But I think my troubles are over. Yesterday, thanks to a great tweet by Emily Henderson (a stylist with great secrets!), I stumbled upon help to turn my jumbled bookcase into a thing of beauty. Kate, from Centsational Girl, has broken down all sorts of things to think about, and adjustments to make to your bookcase to instantly turn it around. When we finally move into a new apartment and I get to decorating, I will no longer feel intimated by styling my bookcase thanks to Kate. You must check out this article, and be sure to click on all the extra links she included in it too. You'll be happy you did.

images: Lonny Magazine, The Art of Doing Stuff

Let There Be Light

Usually when I'm at work, colorful dishes, interesting containers, and unique found furniture pieces are the home items that catch my eye. Though recently I'm discovering all of Anthro's amazing lighting pieces. The Ring of Light lamp was recently displayed in our store, which started the mini obsession I'm having right now. So I went online to read more about it and one click led to another and suddenly I have a handful of favorites. I knew I had to share them with you guys too. The best part is they show how it looks during the day and lit up at night. Genius!

Ring of Light Lamp

Menlo Lamp

Hippity-Hop Lamp

Secret Silhouette Shade

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Chandelier

Tea Time Chandelier (this is simply gorgeous!)

Book Review: Modern Vintage Style

The very talented interior stylist and author, Emily Chalmers, has just published a new book that I am in love with called Modern Vintage Style. If you are someone who collects and decorates with vintage pieces than this book is a must for your bookshelf. Broken into two parts, Emily first showcases great examples of vintage furniture, lighting, textiles, and displays. Then, she shows you how to work these vintage pieces into your home and decorating style so your home life has a wonderful modern vintage feel to it. Modern Vintage Style is really a great resource for inspiration and Emily encourages the reader to have fun with their pieces and collections you want to display in your home. That there are no rules; just trusting your instincts and tastes you'll create the perfect balance of old and new in your home.

This book, as well as her many other wonderful titles of work, can be found in her online shop Caravan, Amazon.com, or at Anthropologie (where I first saw this colorful cover).

Below is a sneak peak at a few pages from my copy; but you really must get one for yourself to drink in all great work of Emily Chalmers, photographer Debi Treloar and writer Ali Hanan did on this book. Enjoy!

All images by: Debi Treloar and words by Ali Hanan