Ohhhh the Weather Outside is Frightful

Actually it’s fairly nice outside, but since this is a Christmas post I thought it was appropriate to title it with lyrics from a Christmas song.  One of my former co-workers would burst out in song singing “Let it Snow” about 5 times a day during the winter, and probably about twice a day throughout the year.  Now I’m feeling nostalgic and I miss her terrible singing; it always made me smile. 

Anyway, I digress.  I’ve gotten about 85% of the Christmas decorating done inside and I want to share some photos with you guys! 

First up, the all important Christmas tree!  This is the first year we’ve bought a real tree since the apartments didn’t allow it.  I was a little resistant but I have to admit this one looks pretty great and it smells incredible!

Leo destroyed our old tree skirt a couple years ago so we bought a new one at Hobby Lobby on sale for $25.  I really like it, but do you think it might be a little small for the tree?

I decorated our little fake tree from last year and put it on the table in front of the living room window.  Ben and I have a tradition of buying an ornament for each other every year for Christmas so I decorated this tree with our special ornaments.  I don’t have a tree skirt for this one but I did dress it up a little bit by putting it on a snowflake placemat from Pier 1. 

This is also the first year we’ve had a mantle so we had to get some stockings!  From left to right there’s one for Ben, me, Finnley, and Leo.  And that little ball thing in the middle? 

It’s a really pretty light ball I bought on clearance from Pottery Barn.  It looks great lit up on the mantle but unfortunately I couldn’t get a good picture of it. 

I put a pretty gold mosaic glass bowl on the TV stand and filled it with some cheap filler ornaments from Target. 

I wanted an ornament stand because I thought I had so many ornaments, but it turns out I had always just had a small tree.  Since I didn’t have any ornaments left after decorating my big new tree I had to pick up some cheap little ornaments.  Oh, and the ornament stand is actually a jewelry stand from Pier 1 since it was $10 cheaper than their actual Christmas ornament stands.  I have it sitting on my nesting tables in the upstairs hallway with some cute leftover gift boxes from last year. 

And I can’t leave without showing you pictures of the outside of our house.  I know it doesn’t look like much in this photo but since this is our first house Ben was super excited to hang some Christmas lights.  I picked out the little candy cane lights, aren’t they cute?!

I still want to hang some garland lights on the mantle, around the front door, and on the stairs handrail but I really like what we have done so far! 

I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!  I will be spending my weekend working on my big Interior Design project, wish me luck! 

Inspiring Spaces

I have something possibly really big in the works right now.  I don’t want to talk about it until (if) it happens, but part of the countless hours of online browsing research I’ve been doing for it is to find pictures of rooms I really love.  I wouldn’t necessarily want each of these rooms in my own home but they all have a great blend of modern graphic, vintage eclectic, and sophisticated glamour styles that I find really inspiring.  Enjoy!

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Design Project

I’m working on a huge project for my Interior Design class that’s due next week.  Basically the premise is to furnish a duplex for a fictional young couple.  I’ve drawn the floor plan, written the design concept and client profile, and now I need to finish the presentation boards.  I don’t need to pick out any actual furnishings but I do need to pick the finishes for everything: paint, floors, casegoods, upholstered furniture, cabinets, etc.  I have most of my samples picked out but I wanted to get a better idea of what everything would look like together, so I put together some mood boards. 

Here’s what I have going on in the living room:

The couch is actually a darker blue but this was the closest shade I could get.  The chair will either be in a solid light green or a striped tone on tone green fabric.  I have some fabulous flamestitch fabric that incorporates all the colors in my color scheme and looks similar to the chevron pillows here.  I’m adding some solid light yellow pillows to bring in a little more color, and all of the casegoods will be in a medium wood shade similar to the pieces shown here.  I was debating between a gray blue and a brighter blue-green but after seeing everything together here I really like the gray blue.  I also have some striped fabric for the curtains that brings in all the colors again.

Here’s the bedroom: 

The bedroom uses the same color scheme as the living room but in a slightly different way.  I have a dark blue upholstered headboard with light blue bedding, some accent pillows in green stripes and blue-green cheetah print, and another striped fabric for the draperies.  The furniture is going to be a darker wood and the walls are going to be painted green. 

So, what do you think?  Do you like how I used these colors together? 

 

Sources:  couch, chair, coffee table, side table, chevron pillow, yellow pillow, headboard, bedding, dresser, night stand, cheetah pillow, green pillow, striped fabric

Momma Got Swag

Last Tuesday my textiles class had a site visit at an interior design showroom. This was my first visit to a to the trade showroom and it was really interesting. Designers Only is only open to design professionals who register with them and they carry medium to high end furnishings and fabrics. We got a tour of the showroom and learned a lot about the different lines they carry.  We also got to see a sample of their most expensive fabric: a tiger print silk-velvet that, at the designer discount, costs $2800/yard. Crazy! One of the best parts though was the gift bag we got on the way out!

They gave us a nice gift bag from Clarence House with booklets from all the different companies with info about their products.  We also got some Ralph Lauren pencils and a Ralph Lauren notepad, a Scalamandre tape measurer, some fabric samples and some furniture samples, as well as a nice box from Scalamandre to store all our samples. 

I know that some people would consider the showroom incredibly boring but for an aspiring interior designer like me it was pretty exciting.  I can’t wait to start shopping for clients at the showrooms!

Craigslist Hunting

One of my favorite computer hobbies, once I’m done browsing facebook, my blogs, and pinterest, is to play on craigslist.  Sometimes I’m looking for something specific but usually I’m not.  It’s fun to browse and see what kind of funky stuff you can find. 

Here are some pieces I found searching “furniture” with the parameters “$5-$100” only posts with pictures.  You’ll find a ton of junk along with a few cool finds. 

cool mid century oriental style cabinet, $75

It’s hard to tell from this picture what kind of condition the piece is in, but if it is in good shape then I absolutely love this Asian cabinet.  It would be perfect as a media console in a modern living room! 

Wooden Table and Chairs, $100

This is one chair from a table and chair set from the 1920’s.  The table looks to be in rough shape but with some TLC this could be an amazing set.  I love the detail on the back of the chairs!

Country French Accent Chairs, $58 each

I see these chairs a lot but usually they need to be reupholstered.  These look to be in great shape and I like the light blue upholstery. 

Camelback Sofa with Queen Anne legs, $100

So yes, this sofa is very traditional and formal, but it was in a formal living room and never used.  I would soften it up with a comfy throw and some cool pillows and use it in a large master bedroom or office. 

Country French Side Table with Tray, $58

This is a nice little side table with a tray top.  The black finish makes it work in a traditional or contemporary room. 

Turquoise Harp Chair with Leopard Upholstery, $40

This refinished chair is a great example of what a little paint and new fabric can do for an old chair.  This would be so cute in a young girl’s room.

Steel Ward Robe Closet, $35

I’m not sure where I would use this but I really like it. It’s steel so it’s incredibly sturdy, but the cream color and gold trim make it more traditional than industrial. 

And there you have it!  Have you found anything great on craigslist? 

Felt Flower Christmas Wreath

I got the Christmas bug early this year, and to help satisfy the decorating itch I decided to make a wreath.  Store bought decorative wreaths can be really expensive but this one only cost me $7.50 in materials!

Jamie at White Table Style was the inspiration for this project.  I followed her directions pretty closely, which you can read here

For this project I used:

• a twig wreath, Hobby Lobby: $4.99
• 5 pieces of glittery felt, Hobby Lobby: $0.50 each
• scissors
• glue gun
• yarn to hang the wreath

Start by cutting spirals for your flowers.  I free-handed all of them and they worked just fine, but you could certainly trace a template onto the felt if you feel like making more perfect flowers.  For the most part I did 4 flowers per felt sheet, but I did do some smaller ones and a couple bigger ones too.

Then roll the felt spirals into a rosette.  Secure the end with a small dab of hot glue.

Once all your felt rosettes are completed start gluing them onto the wreath, varying the size and colors as you go. 

And that’s it!  This was a very easy project that took about an hour to complete from start to finish.  I doubled up some plain white yarn to hang my wreath from a 3M hook placed upside down on the back of my door.

Easy peasy!  One Christmas craft down, who knows how many more to go!

 

*Linking up at Serenity Now*

New in the Bedroom

I’ve bought some new things for our master bedroom recently and I think they make a huge difference in the look and feel of the room.

The first change is the comforter.  Here’s how the bed looked before:

And now:

It still needs a headboard, which will probably be a DIY project, but I really like the new bedding.  I bought the new comforter set, which included the comforter, shams, and two decorative pillows, for…wait for it…$60 at HomeGoods!  That is an amazing price for a comforter, let alone a five-piece set.  The new bedding is soft and warm and cushy, which we really needed for this time of year. 

I also added a new sunburst mirror above the chair.

Doesn’t it look great!  I love the scale of it and the impact it makes in the space.  It was only $60 at Pier 1, which is an awesome price for a piece this large. 

I also added a few more accessories and some artwork above the dressers. 

The room keeps getting better, slowly but surely. 

Nate Berkus at Target

If you haven’t heard yet, Nate Berkus has a wonderful new line of home décor at my favorite store, Tar-jay.  I haven’t bought anything yet but there are several items on my radar.

First up, this black and white chevron vase, which is available in a small and a large size.  I absolutely love it!

These round trays are awesome.  They have just the right amount of bad-assness because of the metal studs. 

Don’t know if I would but this, but animal heads are definitely in, and the clean white color makes it an interesting sculptural piece. 

Another interesting sculptural piece: colorful faux chain

This is such a cool lamp that would definitely make a statement in a room.

I like these decorative boxes a lot. 

These sea urchin figurines are a nice mix of sculptural and whimsical.

Love, love, love these boxes! 

Ok, I wouldn’t buy this faux tortoise shell, but it’s definitely interesting! 

And the man behind the design, Mr. Nate. 

What do you think?  Have you bought anything from Nate’s new line?