Thursday

Works like a charm

I love using tablecloths for drapery panels.  There are so many pretty patterns and colors and you could even line them if you wanted/needed to!  The other great thing is that they are longer than typical drapery panels.  Without going custom, it's hard to find a curtain panel over 100" long.  I decided it was time to change out my living room curtain panels for something a little more streamlined and modern so I started with this basic long tablecloth for around $10.  I added some ribbon to embellish it and give it a more custom look. 


after hanging and embellishing....


Stay tuned tomorrow for the beginning of my house tour!

Wednesday

A little green

I'm thinking about adding a fairly large indoor plant/tree somewhere in my house.  Maybe I've just got spring fever, but I love the look of fresh live greenery in a room.  It brings the outdoors in and adds a pop of color.  I'm really loving the look of dwarf citrus trees for my breakfast nook.  I was born and raised in Florida where oranges abound so I may just be going back to my roots. 

I'm thinking one of these would look lovely in my breakfast nook...It would coordinate nicely with my framed botanical prints (there just so happens to be a citrus print included in the gallery I have on the wall)




design sponge


apartment therapy


aparment therapy


apartment therapy

Tobi Fairley even used citrus to decorate for Christmas


So, the hunt begins for a little citrus tree for the house.  If I can keep it alive I'll even get to enjoy the "fruits" of my labor ;)



Sunday

Spring has sprung

Thank you all for my birthday wishes and a special thanks to my sister for the extremely sweet blog post!

Although it's freezing uncharacteristically cold here today, our house is looking like spring!  I like to add a few fresh touches during this time of year to brighten things up and get us ready for spring.  It's definitely one of my favorite times of year due to all the beautiful blooms and the perfect weather (besides today that is).  So here's what I've done to get ready for the season...

a garland turned wreath on the front door...


I love fresh flowers by the sink...



a few goodwill items add some "spring" to the mantel...





Happy Spring!  What have you done around your house to get ready for spring?

Thursday

Breaking and Entering

Hi!  It's Mrs. Devore's sister and I am here to hijack this blog!  Today is her 26th birthday.  So, for you today, I will list the 26 reasons why I think she is just so wonderful.


1.  She is creative in a way that I cannot even figure out how to be.
2.  She has always agreed that I was the favorite child.
3.  She maintains a very healthy lifestyle.
4.  She is really good at cooking, especially cake.
5.  Her hair consistently looks fabulous.  I am talking Barbie fabulous.
6.  Her design gift goes beyond home decor and into fashion.  She can work.it.girlfriend.
7.  She cleaned my room as a child.
8.  She can navigate the giant Marshalls/Homegoods near where we live with ease.
9.  Many parts of my home have been redesigned by her...on a dime...
10.  She loves my son, her nephew, and uses a special mousy voice when talking about him.
11.  No goodwill is safe when she is near.
12.  Trash becomes treasure.  Like, real life, side of the road trash.  She's good, people.
13.  She runs with me even though I can be a slow poke.
14.  She possesses the mental strength I wish I had.
15.  She still gets in trouble with me in the grocery store when we shop with Mom.
16.  Puns are a major part of her vocabulary.
17.  She is witty.
18.  She makes me laugh until I cry at almost every family function.
19.  She acts like she has really big muscles.
20.  Her voice is so beautiful.
21.  She is a really good blogger and helps me know what to do.
22.  She has her own shop.
23.  She bites her tongue when she concentrates real hard.
24.  Did I already mention she is a fabulous dresser?  I mean, when I get dressed each morning I try and think what would Bethany wear?
25.  She's athletic...always has been more athletic than my brother.
26.  She is love.

Happy Birthday, Sis!  As cheesy as it sounds, I am thankful that you are not only my sister, but my friend.  I love doing life with you near. Thank you for all you are!
If you want to see more birthday celebrating, head over to my blog.

Wednesday

Completed Gallery Wall

The gallery wall in our house had been sitting empty for a while.  It was one of those loose ends that was driving me nuts!  I think part of my problem was that I couldn't decide which pictures to put up, but I finally narrowed it down.  I'm actually planning to extend the gallery to cover most of the wall so we can include even more pictures and things that are special to us.  

So here it is all finished (for now)....


This is a silhouette of my husband from when he was a little boy, isn't it precious?





Tuesday

Earthy Chic

I best describe my style as earthy chic.  I love shiny things and clean lines but also love earthy elements.  I try to always use at least one thing from nature in every room; moss, driftwood, coral, etc.  I like the contrast between earthy and chic.  I am currently loving this fabric and think it's the perfect blend of earthy chic.  Too bad it's WAY out of my price range.  I'm currently looking for a good knockoff...



it also comes as a wallpaper which I love and I saw a similar stencil too, which I may just have to try....here's some examples of how this could be used to glam up any room!

totally LOVE this chair



as a wallpaper in this room...



as furniture...


as a lampshade...




as a shower curtain






one of my favorite rooms...



and a less expensive alternative, a stencil, I may just have to consider this...







So what do you think?  Is this trend growing (pun intended ;) on you like it is me?  I think if I were to do it, I would go with a stencil.  Although it is a little more labor intensive, it's definitely more cost effective and the effect is similar.  You could use it for multiple projects: lampshades, walls, curtains, shower curtains, etc.


Monday

Master Updates

I wanted to make a few updates/changes to our master bedroom without really spending a lot of money so I looked around and used some things I already had.  I wanted some wall art for behind our nightstands so I rounded up these canvases I had in the garage.  I bought them at a floral wholesaler for around $4 because the size and shape were perfect.  I'm not a fan of fruit, at least when it comes to decorating, but I knew I could paint over it or in this case recover it. 

So I started with this...



and covered it with this fabric using a staple gun...

and there it is, instant art!

I also replaced my lampshades with black ones that I had and hung a $10 sunburst mirror from family dollar above the bed.  I'm sure you all saw those around blog land a while ago.  It used to looks like this....It looks OK in this picture, but in real life the finish looked cheap so I painted mine gold.









Friday

Fancy Dresser

You may remember this post I did a while ago about this fabulous dresser I found at Goodwill.  It was one of those I have absolutely no idea where or what I'm going to do with this but I have to get it kind of moments.  Well, after posting about it, one of my sweet friends who was planning her wedding emailed me saying she was interested in it.  After talking with my husband, we decided it would be the perfect wedding gift for them.  Although I wanted to surprise her, I decided to tell her so I could customize it for her with the colors that she wanted.  I finished it up last weekend, just in time for their wedding.  We actually delievered it to their house last night so they will be surprised when they get home from their honeymoon.  (hopefully she's not reading this, if she is...SURPISE Jamie! :)

So a reminder of the before...


and AFTER!  She chose a shiny black finish with aged brass handles.  I chose to just paint the existing hardware since it fit so perfectly with the piece.  These after pictures aren't the greatest because they were all taken with my iphone (I hate it when I forget my camera).  When she gets it all decorated I'm sure she'll let me take some more pictures to share with you all.

ok, enough rambling...AFTER!


in progress...I was fixing the track on a few of the drawers...


and after we delivered it to their house....these pics make everything look a little more yellow (it was dark and again these were with my phone)





and since it just looked so bare there all by itself screaming "decorate me!!"  I obliged :)

Jamie really likes peacocks, so I used peacock blue as the inspiration for this design...


and a little more gold and glamorous...


Although this dresser has a distinct design, it is still very versatile!  Can't wait to see how she decorates it.  Also, a huge thanks to our friends for helping us move it in!  I've moved a lot of things, but this puppy was heeeavvvy.

In other exciting news, I got a new camera yesterday!  So once I get some tutorials from my fabulous photographer sister, you should be seeing some better pictures!