Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Dreaming of a New Bedroom

Though we are quite a ways from starting the bedroom, I am pretty decided about where I want to go with it!

The inspiration for the entire room is a DIY headboard I saw on design*sponge.



I'll take these acrylic nesting tables from Overstock.



Now I would really love to use all white bedding, but it isn't really realistic because we have a chocolate lab. So maybe a compromise is printed sheets and a white duvet cover. I am loving these aqua trellis sheets from Serena and Lily.


The bedroom is the one place upstairs that we are keeping carpet, and I am pretty set on going with sisal.


For a bit of glamour, I am DYING to own this capiz shell chandelier.

image via target.com

I have forgotten to mention that I have this guy that I picked up for $50 at an antique store. We are in the process or refurbishing it now. {the sanding is kicking me in the behind} It will either be stained or painted white.


I will put one of these at the foot of the bed since it is the only place our room will allow for seating.

image via hsn.com

Too bad I can't snap my fingers and be finished!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Feeling Ambitious

Alright Folks. As if I don't have enough on my plate {school and work mainly}, I really want to learn how to sew AND how to upholster. I can remember as a little girl sewing pieces of fabric together on my grandma's sewing machine. If only I would have taken advantage. I would prefer to spend my time rather than my money on custom upholstery and drapes.

Word on the street {that street being Little Green Notebook} is that this is a pretty good book to get started on upholstery. In that case, I am going to buy it.

This gal also gave me a jolt of inspiration after sharing her upholstery adventure. She says I can do it and I believe her!!

She turned this...



Into this!


{images via my Anything and Everything}


That ain't half bad.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

My husband thinks I'm crazy.

Yesterday, we were checking out our local farmer's market and we just happened to drive by a garage sale. {I don't normally go to garage sales, I am more of a CL girl} I told him to slow down so I could see if there was anything good... and what did I see?! Two horse lamps!!! I told him I needed them and he told me I was crazy. I made him take me back to see if they worked. They did. Ten bucks for the pair.

Now I must agree, they were a little questionable at first. But, as you know, this in nothing a little spray paint can't take care of :)



Since he wasn't loving the idea, I let him choose the color. I should have known before I even asked. Orange. {Once a cowboy, always a cowboy! Go Pokes!}




I ran to target and grabbed a couple of lamp shades for $12 each. {Disclaimer: I don't like the way they look with the art so I will either be moving the art or the lamps.}



He still thinks they are weird. I think they are freaking awesome!



I might be attending a few more garage sales!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Time to work

Due to an overwhelming response from readers {1 comment, ha}, I decided to buy the chairs. When I told my husband he about had a conniption fit {whatever that really is}. Why, you ask? Because now I have not one, not two, but THREE sets of chairs that need to be worked on, not even mentioning a few other pieces that aren't chairs. It is starting to look like a used furniture store around here.

Let's recap in the order that they were acquired.

1.

2.

3.

I think there will be some serious consequences if I bring home any more furniture before all of these are done :)

The good news is we have no plans this weekend. I have a test next week {microbiology, ew} so I will have to study some, but otherwise I will be redoing chairs or scraping popcorn ceilings. Anyone want to join?

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

To buy or not to buy?

I found these cool bentwood chairs on CL that need a little work. I have the bamboo chairs that I talked about here for the breakfast nook, but still need chairs for the table we built.



I have this photo saved in my inspiration file and would paint them to achieve a similar look.

{source unknown}

They are only $60 for all four! I could even use these in the breakfast nook since they look so good with the tulip table (thank you, IKEA) and use the bamboo chairs in the dining room. Thoughts, anyone? I would really appreciate any advice!

Monday, June 21, 2010

Kitchen Crush

I came across this kitchen renovation on Nest Egg when Camila mentioned it on her blog. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I saw it, so I figured I would share.

The two-toned cabinets are ah-mazing and I now dying to do this in my kitchen!

White marble backsplash and countertops? Yes, please!


I am also pretty obsessed with the cow skin rug. I am going to need to get one of those...

Do you see the little piece of butcher block counter peeking out? I have been contemplating using this in my kitchen and this is definitely sealing the deal.


The light fixtures are so gorgeous!

It seriously doesn't get much better than this in my book.


{all images via nestegg.typepad.com}

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

DIY Silhouette Art

I have been wanting to make Adam and I's silhouettes for a long time but wasn't quite sure of the best way to do it. I have read a couple of tutorials and tweaked those to come up with my version.

1. Find a picture you want to make into a silhouette. I used a stock photo for mine {I know, I know. I liked it better!} and snapped a photo of Adam for his.



2. Trace the images onto contact paper with a sharpie. This is where you can make your nose smaller or your neck skinnier :)



3. Use an X-Acto knife to cut your image out making sure to have a continuous edge.



4. You will then stick the negative space to a piece of paper and paint in whatever color you choose. Be sure to paint from the outside in so you minimize the likelihood of the paint bleeding through. {use a heavier weight paper since you will be painting)



5. When the paint is almost dry, peel off the contact paper and you should have something that looks like this:



6. Cut out the image with the X-Acto knife or scissors.



7. Add fabric to your frame and tape or glue the silhouettes to it and you're done! {I used some burlap I had lying around and the IKEA RIBBA frame}



Gift Idea

The Farmer's Egg Crate from Anthro is adorable! It would make the perfect thank you or housewarming gift. It is also a great price at $14. I bought the sky for myself and the white for a friend.



Aren't my eggs so chic?! It makes me happy every time I open the fridge.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

The Weekend in Pictures {Palm Beach}

As I mentioned earlier this week, the husband and I headed to Palm Beach for a long weekend. {Poor guy had to work for two days while we were there} It was sunny, hot and gorgeous!









While Adam was at work, I went antique shopping {Ok, more like antique browsing... I didn't buy a thing} and was pleasantly surprised by the amazing selection that store after store had. I definitely wasn't in Kansas anymore.

I was REALLY tempted to ship this baby home.



Isn't this chair Ah-mazing. {There were two more}



While we were at the beach, we asked a local for a restaurant recommendation and that was the smartest thing we did on the whole trip. He told us about a place called Little Moir's Food Shack and it was incredible!

Butternut Squash Crusted Dolphin {I don't like seafood, but this was delicious!!!) We also had fried plantains... yum.



Adam went fishing and fought a monster 115 lb Tarpon for an HOUR!



The guide pulling him in!



They didn't keep him because they aren't good eatin'...

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Looking At: JCREW Summer Sale

I am leaving to go to Palm Springs tomorrow with the hubby {he will be working, I will be playing} so I was browsing on the world wide web and came across JCREW's summer sale. An additional 20% off sale items make them that much more appealing... doesn't it? Here are a few of my favorites:

Vintage Cotton Tuxedo Henley



Ruffled Henley Tank


Perfect Fit Petal Tee



Vintage Matchstick Jean in Vintage Dark Distress Wash




Broken In Boyfriend Chino



If anyone wants to donate to my clothing collection, feel free! Happy Wednesday!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Labor of Love

Remember this post where I talked about wanting to build the modern farmhouse table from Knock-Off Wood? Well... we did it! {finally}

It only took us about 3 hours to build the table {not counting finishing} and we spent about $60 on wood, $10 on stain and we had pretty much everything else we needed.







After 1 coat of stain:



After 3 more coats of stain:



The bamboo chairs are filling in until I find chairs. {Bamboo chairs are going in the breakfast nook}



We used black screws and are leaving them exposed right now for a more rustic look, but I am still trying to decide if I like it.



It is a pretty big step to have a table in our dining room. It has been empty for so long!