Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Sunday, December 23, 2012

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Scenes from the weekend...

This weekend was spent wrapping gifts, baking cookies for Santa with the Littles, stuffing my face, and continuing in the usual holiday festivities.

Happy holidays to you & yours!

Friday, December 21, 2012

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

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Cozy Bedrooms

I normally gravitate towards light, open, and airy bedrooms, but lately, I've been drawn to darker, moodier spaces.  I truly believe in making the rooms in which we live evoke positive feelings in us, especially our bedrooms because they are our sanctuaries, after all.

I've recently taken on the task of (slowly) redecorating our master bedroom.  Not because it needed it, just because I'm ready for a change (which happens quite frequently around these parts).  It's a bit on the small side, and the huge king-size bed we both love doesn't help to make it feel any bigger.  For that reason, some might shy away from using a darker color here for fear of making the room feel smaller, but I beg to differ.  I think the right color can completely transform a room.  Darker walls help to enhance that cozy feeling I'm after and can actually make a small room feel that much more expansive.

If you don't believe me, here are some pretty images to help persuade you...

Molly Molina Crawford Moody Bedroom

Jimmy Stanton Moody Bedroom

Phoebe Howard Moody Bedroom

This is the mood board I put together to help evoke the coziness I'm longing for.  Each element is a loose interpretation of what I envision for the space, so things will surely change once everything is complete.

A complete rundown of my final choices and the materials I'll be using is soon to come.

Stay tuned....


Sunday, December 16, 2012

Friday, December 14, 2012

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A 1920s Charmer

This is the story of our first home.

(All photos are from the original real estate listing.)

1920s Charmer: Front Porch

We purchased the home in Fall 2010 after many months of searching.  I don't think we were all that picky and we were definitely open to committing to some minor renovations, but for some reason, nothing came through for us.  We must have made about 6 or 7 offers and every. single. one. fell through.  I think this house was just patiently waiting for us and our paths were destined to collide.

Here are a few pics of what the home looked like when we first moved in.

1920s Charmer: Living Room 1

1920s Charmer: Living Room 2

1920s Charmer: Living Room 3

It was almost like a large peach threw up over the entire house.  Peach paint EVERYWHERE (moldings, walls, light switch plates  etc.) and peach carpet.  My husband and I do not have a strong affinity for peach, but the home felt very warm, cozy, and inviting from the moment we stepped in.   You could say it was love at first sight.

1920s Charmer: Kitchen

1920s Charmer: Master Bedroom

After our initial offer was refused, the seller approached us about a week later just as we were ready to sign on the dotted line for another home we liked (but not nearly as much).

1920s Charmer: Family Room

1920s Charmer: Bathroom 1

1920s Charmer: Bathroom 2

It's not large by any stretch, but that's okay for us.  We do have quite a bit of work ahead of us (as evidenced by every single picture in this post) to make it more our style, but it's ours and we love it.

"And the rest," as they say, "is history."

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

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Loving: COZAMIA Fine Art Prints by Nancy Ramirez

I stumbled upon Nancy Ramirez's work some time ago on The Hunted Interior.  Kristen posted about a beautiful Cozamia print.  Considering I'm a huge fan of bright colors and affordable, quality art prints, that little glimpse had me at 'Hello'.

Here are two of my favorites that already have reserved spots in my home:



Cozamia Sweet Chinoiserie
Sweet Chinoiserie


Cozamia Flamingo Mingle
Flamingo Mingle


Check out Nancy Ramirez's full gallery at Cozamia.

Monday, December 10, 2012

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Holiday Gift Guide (for me)

In case any Secret Santas are lurking....
2012 Holiday Gift Guide



2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Thursday, December 6, 2012

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WHOOOooooo says you can have too many gold accessories?

Not this gal.

Spray Painted Gold Owl Accessory



Isn't he cute?  I scooped him up from Target's dollar bin about 2 years ago.  He was originally decked out in more owl-appropriate colors - black head & wings, white chest, white eyes with black pupils - but I wanted more for him.... So I spray painted him using Rustoleum mettalic spray paint.

It's the brass color, for those who wanted to know.

LOVE

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

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Using Clear Contact Paper As Privacy Film


I always feel like.....somebody's watching me....




We live in a heavily populated suburb. This means I have the favorable amenities of city life, but I also have to deal with being able to reach out and touch my next door neighbors' windows from the comfort of my own home, should I feel so inclined. That is certainly not cool with me.

Since I can't exactly move my house or the neighbors', I've decided I can do the next best thing and opt for privacy film on the windows with the most exposure. Immediately after moving in, I did put privacy film on the windows of my front and side entry doors. I just found it really weird that anyone standing on my porch could get a full view to the interior of my house. Recently, we decided to do the same thing on the dining room windows. I hardly ever raise the blinds in there because I would be staring directly into the neighbor's dining room. And because those windows get the best sunlight (and I wanted to acquire a Fiddle Leaf Fig tree more on that later), I figured something drastic needed to be done. Enter privacy film....

Or, better yet, my more affordable option for privacy film. 

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

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A Case of the Randoms: The Hunger Games

This is why The Hunger Games will forever have a place in my heart.





Enough said.

Monday, November 19, 2012

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Reading Now: Divergent


 
My book club is currently reading Divergent by Veronica Roth, and I must say it's pretty good.  We chose it because we absolutely loved the Hunger Games trilogy and wanted something along the same lines.  This book is definitely living up to the whole post-apocalyptic, young adult thing we were after, so I'm excited about it.  I've already read up to our first discussion point and can't wait to dive in a little deeper, but I'll be a good book club member and await our first group discussion.  So far, I would recommend it.
 
By the way, I'm finishing American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld to bide my time.


Monday, October 8, 2012

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Scenes from the weekend....

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After conquering my mountain of laundry, I experimented with removing the wallpaper in my kitchen.  A little google research led me to a source that explained the different types of wallpaper and the removal processes for each.  Luckily, my wallpaper is paper-backed vinyl, which means I can peel off the decorative vinyl layer, moisten the paper layer using warm water, and scrape away the glue residue.




This 12" section from the chair rail to the floor took me about 15 minutes to complete....not too bad, but considering I have a whole kitchen to strip, I need to come up with more efficient methods/tools.  Any ideas?

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

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SCORE!: Thrift Store Buffet



This little buffet came from a thrift store I frequent near my job. It wasn't very pretty with it's horrible laminate top and extremely dirty hardware. But it's looks weren't what lured me - the massive amount of storage it could provide did.





This thing was priced at a mere $12.99! Can you believe it? It's a full 58.5 inches long by 16 inches wide 
and has an interior storage space with an additional shelf at the top. I just knew at that price, I could make some good come of an ugly situation.

It sat in my basement workshop for months before I actually got around to working on it. I loosely followed Centsational Girl's directions for painting furniture and primed, painted, and poly'd it to within an inch of it's life. I also used Brasso to clean up those grungy looking cabinet pulls.  And here's the finished product...





I'm actually quite proud, as this is my first furniture painting project and I couldn't be happier with the results. The color is Schoolhouse Slate by Martha Stewart.  I used Zinsser oil-based primer and Polyacrylic in gloss to round out the facelift.

Tell me what you think.  Check back soon to see how she's styled and how we're using her and for pics not in a dark and dreary basement.

P.S. There's also a shocking surprise behind those doors!

Monday, October 1, 2012

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Scenes from the weekend....

This weekend, I did a lot of things around the house.  One major thing being the painting of my $12.99 thrift store find.  I love this thing for the enormous amount of storage space and style it's adding to the foyer.  I also love it for the price.  More details to come on this project....


Monday, August 27, 2012

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Scenes from the weekend....




Punki Purple by Nina Ultral Pro






A very surprising trip to the ER
followed by multiple doses of this....





 via
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