This summer I'm into...

all of these things.  No rhyme or reason, this season I'm into these things.  Enjoy!

Planters from Pottery Barn, I'd love to cover my porch with these! 

These knitted poufs have long been on my list of things 'to buy', though my hangup is I'm not sure where to put it in the house! 

This was one of my favorite wedding gifts, so personal and I love it!  I recently decided that it was ok to actually use instead of just admire, so if you come over, you'll probably see it holding some cheese to be eaten. 

Scrabble tiles!  As necklace items, as inspiration for decor, who knows what possibilities they hold! 

Copper lanterns from Pier 1, really like this type of metal look.

Feeling Crafty

With knitting season coming to a close for me, I've been itching to do some crafty things with my hands when I would usually be knitting (since this cold weather won't seem to go away!).  So I've tried my hand at a few things recommended by friends or things I've been wanting to tackle.  Pictures below, enjoy!

Yarn wreathes, made for some great mother's day gifts! Thanks Lindsey for teaching me how to make them!

And one for me since I didn't want to be left out.

Tissue poms, made into a summery bouquet of flowers for the kitchen table.

Necklace made out of fabric, really fun to make! 

Office Redecoration [Part 1]

While Josh was out of town a few weeks ago, I tackled the last room (non-bathroom) in our house that needed painting, the room we affectionately call the 'man room'.  Basically it houses a little bit of junk and has functioned as an empty workout room for the last year or so. Here is it in its before state.

I painted it gray, my color of choice these days.  I figured that was versatile enough for the future and I really love the idea of having the accessories be the items that bring the color to the room instead of the walls like I've done in the past [guest room & our room].  This is a switch for me, but its been a fun challenge finding coordinating colorful things to put in this space  My thoughts are that I want to have the accessories be mostly white (following the 60, 30, 10 rule, sort of) with pops of bright green and bright orange. Here are some of the things I've found!  

Thus far we've purchased the desk, thanks IKEA.  We also got the companion drawer set (pictured below).  Others we're considering, the lamp, the hourglass, the cube bookends and the green chair are all from Crate & Barrel.  The file folder is something we probably won't end up with, from the MoMA store.  I've got the chord holders in the works from amazon.com and one thing I really want is the green wall file folder holder, but I can't for the life of me remember where I found it! (Please if you find it, comment and let me know where!) 

I love this chair! But it doesn't look super comfortable.  But if I didn't have to worry about sitting in it myself for hours at a time, I'd get it in a heartbeat.  (CB2)  We'll see what kind of chair we can agree on or if we just keep the plain black one we have. 

More to come later along with finished pictures of the new office.  Thanks for reading!

Awesome Decor Idea!

Today I found this amazing transformation home decor project!  Here on the blog The Wright Family blog, she has turned a beautiful vintage window into something lovely and functional!  I love this project, in fact I'm thinking of trying to find something this summer to do this with. 
Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but more new designs/products to come very soon!

My New Candlesticks

For the last year or so I've been on the hunt for the perfect candlesticks.  Of course, my dream set is this set of Nambe ones (found here). 

So elegant and simple.  But out of my price range, hence the hunt.  I finally found these at, of all places, home goods last week! 

I'm really excited about them!  (I'm also excited that Josh brought home another batch of beautiful flowers to brighten up the house!)  But in my hunt, I found some other ones I want to share with you. 

In time for Christmas, from Crate & Barrel.

Love the simplicity of these, also from Crate & Barrel.  I would've bought these hands down if I weren't more in the market for candlesticks for tapers, not pillars. 

From World Market, I like that these are wood, I feel as though those are hard to find. 

I like these from Pottery Barn for the organic shape to them. 

Outdoor Entertaining

I recently got a few plastic serving pieces (on clearance, yippee!) at Target from the Liberty of London collection and have now been thinking on developing a full set of outdoor entertaining-ware.  That way you're not worrying about things breaking but you're not using paper plates, which I always do.
But, I just started hunting for these pieces and want to wait to purchase until I decide what kind of theme I want.  Flowers, geometric, flourishes, bright colors, simple... I'm not sure yet and my tendency is to impulse buy, then nothing matches and I'm discontent.  However, I figured while I wait for my outdoor entertaining style to congeal, I'd share my favorite finds!

The cutest citrus cup from Pier 1.  I always for get about Pier 1 when I'm shopping for home goods, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say they could be one of the best places to find cheap, outdoor dining pieces.  Maybe not the most unique, but affordable. 

My Favorite Things...

In our house there are a few pieces that are my favorites, pieces I looked long and hard for, created myself or just got a great deal on and feel so lucky to have!  I finally got around to photographing them recently and here they are. 

The highlight here for me is really the old rod iron pieces in the frames.  I got these at the boutique I used to work at and the owner got them in Texas at a flea market, such a find!  I love them, they're definitely the most prominent thing in our family room, being on the wall opposite the entrance, and on the only colored wall in the room. 

A great find from the Kane County Flea Market!  This window (with 2 panes missing) hangs over our piano.  I painted the patterns on the glass to give it a little something extra, but the frame was already distressed white.  I think it brings the whole room together.

Simple, useful, got these from World Market.  Nothing super special, but I love having them in our entry way.

Pillows, Pillows, Pillows!

Sometimes I wish for two things. 1. that I had more space in my house for pillows, more rooms, more couches, more beds etc.  2. that I wasn't so irritated by the pillows I do have which inevitably take over the bed and/or couch and then need to be removed in order for the bed/couch to be useful!  Pillows are something I have a love/hate relationship with because I think they are such an amazing accessory, but often I find them very tiresome to actually live with.

So I've contented myself, for now, with simply browsing & admiring beautiful pillows.  I found these at ferm Living.  They're so bright and colorful and I can just picture how the whole room would look if it were inspired by these pillows. 

I found this pillow at UrbanOutfitters.com.  Reminds me of my great-grandmother's house, I can even conjure up the smell when I see these pillows.
 










Etsy has a wealth of sellers that have pillows in their shops, all hand made.  Here's my favorite one I've found, unique, bright.  Love it.  Made by Persnickety Home Designs

Color of the Day

I was reading the new issue of House Beautiful that arrived the other day, and it was called the 'blue issue'.  This is so intriguing because I suppose when you think about it, at least in my life, blue is the color I see most often.  It really is everywhere.  The issue talked about all kinds of blues; cornflower, cerulean, aquamarine, turquoise, denim, navy, and plenty more.  (The cerulean mention brought me back to The Devil Wears Prada movie, where Merilyn Streep berates Anne Hathaway for not recognizing the subtle difference between blues, amazing scene).  But the more I read, the more I felt like blue isn't the color I enjoy the most right now.  At the moment for me, life is all about gray!  I love it, you can pair grey with anything and I love that about it.  It can be dark for a background, it can be light for an accent.  What a versatile color. 
In fact, in the Dec/Jan issue of House Beautiful, Jonathan Adler said his favorite color combination right now is yellow & gray.  So I say, bring on the gray, its my color of the day. 
Here is a great article about designers and their favorite paint colors of gray.  And enjoy the photos of lovely interiors done in grey.

I love you Eames, but why are your designs so expensive?

I love Eames design. If I had all the money in the world, I'd put something of his in every room! In fact, once upon a time, I had an Eames chair.

But alas, my mother gave it away because it was in her garage too long. So sad.

Anyway, Eames. In my office I'd put the swag leg desk.


And in my entry way, I'd put this lovely coat rack.


And of course, for relaxing in the family room, I'd put this wonderful recliner.


It's too bad all things cost upwards of $5,000! I'll just have to settle for knockoffs until I come into some serious money. :)

Facelift for the Bedroom

Josh & I endeavored to redecorate the second bedroom in our house this summer.

It wasn't a remodel, just a face lift with some paint, curtains, bedspread, lamps and wall hangings. I love the colors we chose (indigo for the back wall) and a light (not baby) blue, kind of a cornflower blue.

And the 'headboard' is just a giant vinyl sticker. I ordered it on Etsy which is actually where I got a lot of the things in this new bedroom (love that site!). It was not that expensive and beats buying a brand new headboard. I bought it from Leen The Graphics Queen.

But, my favorite thing about this room is the paper that I framed on one wall. It is an amazing blue (with hints of purple and green) hand marbled paper imported from France. Isn't it gorgeous!?