Showing posts with label Decor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Decor. Show all posts

11.26.2012

DIY King Sized Headboard

We recently upgraded to a king sized bed. It's the Sultan Finnvick from Ikea if you're curious (I wanted the natural latex mattress but we couldn't justify the 700$ difference). We looked around for a headboard/bed and didn't find many king sized options for a reasonable price, so we decided to make a headboard.  I was going to go the usual plywood route until Mike found that a 36x80 inch hollow core door was thicker, lighter, and the perfect length for a king sized headboard.



We cut 3 yards of 1/4 batting into 3 sheets and covered the door, stapling each layer as we went. I recommend using a pneumatic stapler over a staple gun as we need the extra power to get through all the layers.



After we attached the batting we covered the door in three yards of natural linen, scored for 40% off at Joann Fabrics. I liked how the staples almost look like tufting. We stapled the shit out of this thing to make sure it stayed tight.




We mounted the headboard on the wall with a French Cleat for 15$

Here's the finished product. We're planning on changing the bedding and adding some large Euro shams to match the proportion of the headboard. The whole project cost less than 100$ and took about an hour.

9.19.2012

Laundry Room Update

So, since we're staying in our current house for awhile, we figured it was time to upgrade our earth shattering-ly loud washer and dryer. We knew we wanted something high efficiency and Energy Star because we're big on reusable/washable items around here including dog potty pads, cotton produce bags and someday, cloth diapers. I did a little research and found these Whirlpool Duet Stackable Washer and Dryer which maximizes the space in our closet sized laundry room. These are a lower end (but still pricey) model without some of the bells and whistles like a steam or sanitize mode, but still include some nice options like a small load setting, a cold water cycle, a whitest whites cycle, and sensor drying.

We've been using this Seventh Generation Free & Clear 2X Concentrated Laundry Detergent for the last year or so and hopefully we can switch from using traditional bleach (which never seems to do anything anyway) to oxygen bleach on the whitest whites setting.


We've never used fabric softening because it's laden with chemicals (including some natural varieties) and decreases the absorbency of most fabrics, but I've had some trouble with large items like heavy blankets and comforters requiring 2-3 drying cycles (in our old machine). I've heard that  Wool Dryer Balls  help reduce drying time by up to 20%, as well as reduce static. 



I hang a lot of clothes on a drying rack to avoid shrinking. I'd use a clothesline but they are not allowed by our HOA (jackasses). I'm going to keep using my old black plastic one (boo plastic!) but this Wooden Dowel Drying Rack from the Container Store would be nice.



One thing I am going to upgrade is our laundry baskets. You know I'm all about Everyday Style, so I'm going to recycle our mismatched, broken plastic laundry baskets and switch to this this 30 dollar guy from Pier 1. Although I'd love this Braided French Laundry Basket from West Elm, I'm too cheap.



I'm going to back in a couple of days with some update pics.

4.07.2012

One Room, Two Ways

So. I've been thinking about updating the living room. I'm over the damask print and the shitty shedding rug, and the pillows have seen better days. So I started looking around for inspiration. First, I found this black and white striped rug (P.S. it's more of an off white) Then, I perused Pinterest and Etsy for additional accessories. Ikat is huge right now, so I found two black and white coordinating pillows. Then, I remembered the lovely moon print that I pinned awhile back. Through in a vintage butterfly poster and some vases and I'm done. 
But wait. 


One of the other things I found on Pinterest was this image from Domino magazine.
Domino's Mini Guide: Twin Beds (June/July 2008 issue), photo by Justin Bernhaut via Little Green Notebook
Can I go for something like this? If you've spent any time here you know that this color combo is way out of my norm. But. I like it. I like the bright, happy contrast of the red and blue. Plus just like the first option, I would just have to add some accessories: beautiful aqua and tan ikat pillows, La Terre instead of La Lune, some bright butterflies to replace the more subdued print, some teal vases and maybe a throw. There's no way I'm going to touch the two story walls so the linen colored paint (Behr Gobi Desert) would stay, but I think it would tie in nicely to the tans in the ikat.



So. I'm putting it out there. What do you think? Family, friends, anonymous; which way should I go? Leave a comment below and let me know your favorite.

3.23.2012

Fresh and Natural Spring Decor

I like my house to reflect the changing seasons, I find it keeps the house feeling fresh and updated and you don't have so spend a lot of money for a little pick me up, especially when using natural or found objects. I'm going to brave the storms today and pick up some things to freshen up the house for spring.

Wooden Egg Vase Filler - Factory Direct Craft


Moss Wreath via Candles4less

Branches in vase via House Beautiful

Lilac Soy Candle - Target

3.07.2012

Orange, Grey & Linen

I'm sure you can tell from my other mood boards, but I love me some grey and linen. This time, however, I thought I'd jazz it up a bit with a warm orange tone instead of the cool blues and earth tones I usually go for.


Click on each image for sources.

2.11.2012

Valentine's Day Decor

I love to decorate for the holidays, but I think that holiday decor should blend seamlessly into your regular decor. Because we already have two red couches in the living room, I wouldn't want red overload, so I thought white decor would be a simple and pretty way to decorate for Valentine's Day. 






Don't forget to grab some fresh flowers. I grabbed two white planted tulips from Trader Joe's. Of course, they're white too, but because they're potted I figured these guys could hang around until spring. What kind of Valentine's Decor are you rocking? Bright and shiny or soft and minimal? 


1.26.2012

Kitchen Shelving

We're slowly but surely making our way through our mini kitchen update. We've added some new accessories and rearranged and reorganized, but still have some more decorating to do. More pics on that soon. Anyway, open shelving is very popular right now. Just take a look at Pinterest or Houzz for examples. I adore open kitchen shelving, and plan on installing them in our dream kitchen , but I thought there might be a way to incorporate it into our current kitchen. Then one day I was looking into the dining room and bam! I knew where to put the open shelving.


We took down the mirror and plan on moving it to a new home by the front door to make a more finished entrance. So we headed over to IKEA, and grabbed these floating shelves for 20$ a pop. 


I love how I can display all my glass serving and storage pieces as well as our coffee and tea accessories. We were also able to display Mike's grandma's vintage china, which just happened to be the perfect solid white.





I like how it makes the house feel more lived in and individualized. What do you think? Anyone else add shelving to there kitchen for display/storage?

1.10.2012

Kitchen Update

Hey there! I feel like I haven't posted in forever and the new year has been pretty busy with a new niece (welcome Anna Marie!) and a new pup, but I'll share more details on that soon. This year, we wanted to freshen up the kitchen without spending a lot of money and without adding pieces that couldn't later be moved when (when, damn it!) our house sells. The kitchen/living room originally started out red with yellow accents, as can be seen in the artwork on the walls in the kitchen. The yellow, however, was quickly faded out from the living room and we instead focused on red with bold black and white. 


But the yellow in the kitchen remained and it didn't feel as cohesive as it should with such an open floor plan.

So the plan for a little kitchen update includes changing to all white dinnerware and accessories, adding more functional pieces and changing the wall decor. 


1. Le Creuset French Oven - Beautiful enough to be left on the stove and functional enough for everyday use.

2. Magnetic Knife Strip - To free up counter space on the left of the stove for a functional lazy susan.

3. Ceramic Canister with Lid - Sits on the lazy susan and holds salt so we can add pinches of salt as we're cooking.

4. White Dinnerware - Crisp, clean, affordable white dinnerware always looks chic.

5. Stainless Steel Lazy Susan - To hold cooking essentials in easy reach olive oil, vegetable oil, salt and pepper, and the butter tray.

6. Red Striped Napkin - A chic linen striped napkin to tie into the red in the living room.

7. Red Striped Dish Towel - Everyday dish towels with a little red stripe.

8. White drum shade to update our builder basic chandelier, like this one over at Young House Love - We've been searching for a shade big enough with little luck and we're working on coming up with an idea to make our own shade.

9. Farmer's Egg Crate - A fun little accessory for storage and cooking, like with making quiche

10. Wall Mounted Bottle Opener - A fun and functional accessory for my craft beer loving husband.

11. KitchenAid Stand Mixer - Another item that can be left out and can be put into action for making meatballs, pizza dough and whipped cream.

12. Stainless Steel Cookware -  We've managed to ruin our previous Bialetti teflon pans with everyday cooking and figured we'd upgrade to what the pros use. We still have two nonstick pans for eggs and fish.

13. Even noticed the wall in the dining room on Modern Family? Well they have a mix of different plates mounted on the wall and I think it creates a casual and unique look for a kitchen/dining room. So I looked around the web and found a mix of different plates that I thought would like nice mounted on the wall where the artwork currently sits. These are just for inspiration and I hope to find and pick up some unique pieces during random shopping outings.

So there you have it. We've acquired most of the pieces and plan on picking up the rest of the items when we can find them (damn you ikea, that knife strip has been out of stock for a month!), afford them i.e. Le Creuset (Birthday/Anniversary maybe?) and pick up some unique plates. I'll share some more pics when the kitchen is updated! 

Anyone else doing a mini kitchen update? Getting new appliances? Painting?

12.28.2011

2012 Calendars

Check out these beautiful unique 2012 calendars. I especially love the mountain range one:








12.23.2011

Christmas Decor


My Christmas decor this year is pretty similar to last year, except this year I added a few more simple touches and we decided to forgo the tree altogether. 

The bowl and mini cake stands made a repeat appearance, as well as the kissing ball, chandelier ornaments and greeting card swag. 

I took a nod from my fall decor and filled the frames on the buffet with evergreens from my yard. 

We picked up some mini poinsettias and put them into clean white vases to hold up the stockings.

The frame ledge got some whimsical prints, that I got from a holiday gift tag printable from Eat Drink Chic.

I took inspiration from the West Elm Holiday catalog and chalk artist Dana Tanamachi for the chalkboard. I'm totally obsessed with this and was pleasantly surprised it only took about 15 minutes to do. 

How's your holiday decor this year? Over the top? Clean and simple? Red and Green? Leave a comment or link below and let me know!

12.09.2011

Rustic Modern Kitchen

So. Early this year I showed you this design day dream. I wanted some professional feedback so I asked Genevieve Gorder of Trading Spaces and Dear Genevieve for her opinion through twitter. Well being the busy lady that she is, my only feedback was "edit, less is more". I'm sure she was referring to the mix between kitchen and living room and the use of all the accessories. I took that original board and broke them into kitchen and living room to clean it up a bit. I did decide to keep the accessories because I felt it gave some additional interest and texture to the board.

I'm sure you may have noticed a bit of a theme throughout my mood boards: gray, navy, neutrals and silver. That's because that is my style (check out my pinterest page) and I don't expect everyone to share my aesthetic, but I share it to offer inspiration and to provide myself with a space to organize my ideas. This board represents my dream (definitely dream, viking appliances?) kitchen; marble and stainless steel counters, gray painted cabinets, high end appliances, and crisp white and navy accessories. I love the blend of rustic natural woods in the flooring, table, and open shelving, mixed with the modern/industrial appliances and lighting.

  1. Armoire -IKEA. Looks black in this picture but is actually a dark charcoal. I like this for cabinet color inspiration but it could also be used as a pantry if space is limited.
  2. Subway backsplash tile - available at home improvement and tile stores. Maybe some interest with a moroccan tile? - Tarbarka Studios - image via Happy Habitat. Marble counters or maybe just an island.
  3. Rustic floating open shelving - A good DIY
  4. Viking Appliances - I said dream kitchen
  5. Rectangular Shade Pendant - Restoration Hardware
  6. Reclaimed wood dining table - Sundance Catalog - but could be another DIY
  7. White dishes and serveware - IKEA, Target, Crate & Barrel
  8. Apron sink - A little bit country
  9. White nested work bowls - IKEA, Target, Crate & Barrel
  10. KitchenAid Stand Mixer
  11. Industrial Lighting - Sea Gull Lighting
  12. Zig Zag Rug - Calypso St. Barth
  13. Jackson Metal Tub Chair - World Market
  14. White Tea Tower - Macy's
  15. Le Creuset French Oven - Sur la table
  16. Wood Flooring - Lumber Liquidators or home improvement store
  17. Stainless Steel Island - IKEA

11.29.2011

Natural Christmas Decor Inspiration

I'm dying to start decorating for Christmas, but I'm bogged down with school work as we round out the final two weeks of the semester. So during a little break from reading 1000+ page textbooks, I compiled some beautiful and natural Christmas decor ideas.

Poinsettias in vases - Large ones can be displayed on the floor, small ones on tabletops.
Rosemary tree - Looks festive and smells wonderful. Also can be used after the holidays for cooking.

Mixed herb wreath - Another festive and functional decoration

Holly berry - displayed in a tall vase or incorporated into the tree or wreath.


 Pomanders - Classic Christmas decor, these oranges are dotted with cloves for a bright, natural scent.

 
Vine Topiary Cone - Can be displayed as is or covered in ribbon, twine or garland

Cranberries as a vase filler or garland


Pomegranates displayed in a bowl or pedestal or as a place card holder


Burlap as a table runner, rustic Christmas tree skirt or made into stockings.

Image 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

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