Eeek!

This is what my computer is doing to me...

...the night before I go back to school!!  I have students in my room at 8AM!!  Ugh.  Sorry, no bloggity-blogging today, but I have some amazing things to show you as soon as I'm back up and running.  Have a happy Tuesday night, anyway!  

**Say a little prayer for my little computer (and my sanity) if you don't mind!**

Hip-hip-hooray! (x3)

Sometimes you run across a blogger or an individual post that makes you want to give the gal in charge three cheers for being so awesome.  I recently discovered Lauren from Pure Style Home (why yes, I HAVE been living under a rock, thank you for asking), and I seriously love every post the woman does.  Enough about my girl crush, though...

Her post this morning really hit home with me.  I don't know if it's Phoenix and the surrounding area, but the design trends around here are just... not me (<- me re-thinking my words and trying to be more kind).  She's written a post about being kid friendly, pet friendly, and still chic - and I think it's pure genius. 

*Disclaimer* She lists a few pet peeves that I am so completely on board with I want to grab an oar and start rowing.  However, as she mentions, almost all of us (myself included) has made one of these "poor" (<-opinion alert!  Feel free to think differently!) design choices in the past, and she's trying to keep that from happening to the rest of the masses.  Please don't be offended if you love something she or I don't.  This world is big enough for tufted-back tweed sofas AND microfiber =)

That being said, if I were to give you any design advice today, it would be this: Please avoid the following things when you are shopping:

 

I must say I agree wholeheartedly with her "peeves," and her tips for success are completely brilliant and equally cheap as those big box living room sets (*shudder*).  Great design can be done on a budget (and not the $10,000-couch-I-scored-for-$4000 kind of "cheap," because that business isn't really cheap).  And I'd like to think my home, while still changing and growing, is living proof.  Enough patience, some good sources, and being willing to DIY can get you an amazing space on the cheap.  I promise - cross my heart and hope to dye (teeheehee, get it?). 

Wouldn't you rather live in this living room...  (<-another opinion alert!)

Than this one?

I promise you can do both on the same budget (given enough time), and they are equally kid and pet friendly.  So, pop on over to Lauren's blog and read her post here (while you're there, browse her blog and see if you don't fall in love with her right away!).  And please promise not to hate me if you happen to be the world's biggest fan of all things overstuffed and made of microfiber.  I'm all about living in a space you love, and if you love you some wrought iron lamps and Tuscan art, then more power to ya! =)  Happy Monday, friends!

pink friday

Take time today to smell the flowers...

...taste something sweet...

...wear something soft and sparkly...

...sip something slowly...

And take in the views...

 

Have a wonderful Friday, and a relaxing weekend, friends.

{all images vie WeHeartIt and Pinterest}

time for a snooze

Maybe it's just because Eric has been gone on business all week (coming home today!)  and I've been staring blankly at our bedroom walls trying to fall asleep, but I've noticed something: our bedroom sucks.  It's filled with JUNK, and is the only room in the house which we haven't recently organized or spent any time/$$ on, and it shows.  Big time.  We have white walls (not a bad thing in and of themselves!), a matchy bed set, a rug with stains on it (inherited this way - stained rugs are NOT my thing.  Go figure...), and files all over everywhere.  It's not soothing, and it's embarrassing.

That being said, I'm not rushing into ANYTHING with this space.  I want it, more than any other room, to be perfect.  It's Eric's and my space that we don't share with anyone else (except Ted, obviously), and we are so jealous of our time together, it needs to suit us to a "t."  I think this is why I've been too intimidated to start anything: I don't want to do anything I won't absolutely love.  I'm just beginning to gather inspiration and begin planning.  Thanks to my Pinterest addiction, I've come across some inspiring spaces...

Soothing colors and white wood are so bedroom friendly.  However, my set is cherry, and would look a little strange with the same bedding.  One thing is for sure, I wouldn't say "no" to that sunburst mirror.  Yum.

Pretty sure I've posted about my love for this bedroom before.  It's so cohesive, I think that's what I love - I know it's not the yellow...  I find yellow to be one of the least relaxing colors for me.  It's a great color and I have some in my home, just not in Napville (i.e. the bedroom).

EVERYTHING about this is incredible.  The monochromatic color scheme is so classy, but not boring.  The textured wall covering makes me want to rub my face fingers all over it, and just say "yes" to bathroom barn doors.  Sign my name on the dotted line, I'm movin' in!

Curtains behind the bed are so awesome.  This may actually be a tactic I use in our space, considering we have one oddly-shaped and off center window near the bed.  Hmmmm, now the wheels are a-turnin'...  P.S. The upholstered headboard is to DIE for. 

I would describe this look as classy, but unfinished.  I like the bones of the space: window framing, color scheme, bedding, chair, etc.  But it needs something.  Make that window a bay, and throw in a window seat and load of pillows.  That's what it needs!  That or a rockin' statement rug between the chest and the foot of the bed/bench.  Yep - done and done.

 

 

And last, but certainly not least, my favorite.  It's cheery, the colors translate well from seaon to season, there's some patterns involved, natural wood (like mine!), comfy seating, AWESOME lamps.... I want to model our room after this one.  Now all I need is.... everything. :-/  This will have to be a work in progress, I guess.  Eric will, of course, have to sign off on everything too.  This one will take a while ladies and gentlemen.  Buckle up. 

What's inspiring you lately?  Are you as addicted to Pinterest as I am?  I hope you're having a completely fab Thursday, friends!

Come to my window...

As promised yesterday, I'm going to show you the nasty that was my dining/sitting/adacent-to-my-kitchen(?) room curtains.  Originally, I'd planned to have blackout curtains in here to help control the heat, but as the sliding glass door doesn't get direct sunlight, we didn't end up needing the blackout bit.  Let me tell you, it's nice to have a bit more natural light around here.  Our 70's ranch isn't super bright, so any help we can get is welcome!  So, here's what I had before (don't judge my initial color choice, I was misguided and uninformed!)...

There is SO much wrong here: drab color choice, crazy fabric texture, wimpy/skinny/saggy curtain rod, rod hung too low.... Ugh *hang head in shame*  But, I can say I have learned from my mistakes!  I tried to correct all of those errors in my new IKEA lovlies...

The rod is beefier (it's what's for dinner!) and straight, the curtains are neutral (tried a pop of color here and it looked nutty!) with a great linen texture, and they are hung higher, which makes the 8.5 foot ceilings feel higher.  Even though I decided against extreme puddling....

I like that they puddle just a bit...

 

Thanks to my superb cutting, measuring, and pinning skills.  And not to mention my mom's way with the bobbin.  She's a world class seamstress and I'm a slow learner!  I like to think the puddling adds a bit of glam to our otherwise not-fooling-anyone-into-even-thinking-the-word-glam home.  We have to have these hung back for Teddy's private entrance/exit...

And I like that they barely sweep the floor as they are.  The other side is where our reading nook begins...

(can you spot some of my baby shower deco in these shots??)

I'm really loving how they turned out!  I think I may end up sewing a simple trim onto them, just to add some life.  Other suggestions welcome!  And just for good measure, here's a sweet before and after...

I know they're not perfect, we're still tweaking them.  But it's LOADS better than what we had before!  =)  Any pretty ideas on how to personalize them?  I'd love your suggestions!  Have a most happy and wonderful Wednesday, friends!

I've been working on updock...

What's updock?  Not much, what's up with you ;)  Get it?  Teeheehee, but really what's been "up" with me is a whole crap ton of projects, that's what!  And I'm finally ready to share them with blogland.  It's been my goal in the last few months to slowly switch over the color scheme in our home from browns, and cranberries, to blues and greens and whites.  *aaaaaah beach tones....*  To tie it all up in a nice pretty package for you, here are the projects we tackled either this weekend or in the preceding week:

• sewed 10 pillows in 6 different fabrics
• hemmed (removed 17 inches!!) 6 curtain panels 
• ended up winning the war against the bobbin (booyah!)
• hung two curtain rods
• channeled my inner Martha and created decorations for a baby shower entirely by hand
• spray painted one lamp
• found a coffee table by the side of the road (Free! Score! Win!) and brought it home
• cooked two new yummies from scratch
• replaced the weather stripping on two doors

Whew!   I'm tired just looking at my list.  Seriously, I'm still recovering.  I'll share a few of them with you today, mainly the curtains and the pillows, and the rest will be coming later in the week. So, here we go!

Before this weekend, my little couch was all neked (so much more fun when you say it like that!), as was the window behind him.  Now, he looks all gussied up...

Isn't he cute in his Sunday clothes?!  For real, I'm LOVING the new colors.  that lamp will be changing soon, and coffee table is going to be painted, but one step at a time, April, one step at a time...

Here's a view with the full curtain effect...

Our room is loooong and narrow.  You can see the edge of our front door in this picture, and the third wall in this room is directly on the other side of that door.  Our room is seriously 13 feet wide and 30 feet long (read: IMPOSSIBLE to furnish), so we hung the curtain rod extra high to give the ceiling some extra height, and add some drama to the wall to give it the illusion of being wider.  The wall color will be changing soon (relative term), so the curtains should "pop" a bit more without "screaming,"  like their cranberry cousins in the dining room (who also disappeared this weekend - I'll show you that tomorrow!).  Who knows, maybe when I work up some more confidence I'll brave the bobbin again and sew on some nifty trim?

Our chaise lounge got some pillow love too...

 

Again, he'll "pop" more too, once the wall color doesn't match him... PERFECTLY.  Those two skinny pillows behind the blue beauty have big plans awaiting them.  I think it may be a completely original idea (are there really any of those left?) , so I'm keeping it to myself for now.  But get excited.

One thing is for certain, I have two very big fans of my adventures in pillow making...

Oh, Sunday afternoons, you are good to us!  Ted has claimed his busybody spot...

"Don't mind me, I'm just creepin' on the whole neighborhood, mom."

The reading nook got some pillow love, as well a a few decorations for the baby shower (consider this a teaser for Wednesday's post)...

Ted has demon eyes!  And notice the picture frames on the wall that are picture-less?  Yeah, I'm good with details like that.  It was totally on purpose.  I certainly didn't put them up 3 months ago and then forget... (ormaybeIdidandIfeelsuperrediculous)

One thing is for sure, I'm SUPER loving my couch/curtain makeover right now!  Here's another pic, in case you forgot (and b/c I'm proud of my pillows, but mostly b/c you WANTED to see another picture)...

 

*Sigh*  Doesn't it look so inviting and friendly?  Now you all have to come over so we can sip some (iced) coffee and catch up.  Who's up for a trip to AZ?  It was only 110 here today, not bad ;)

And since I am completely in LOVE with YoungHouseLove and any/everything John and Sherry touch (stalker much? lol), I'm taking part in their...

Today!  I'll be linking up my pillows, as the blue ones were inspired by this here pin...

 

And my version is this beauty and it's two twin sisters...

Not an exact match, but mine cost about $12 per pillow and WestElm is about $35.  It's deal central up in here!  And as I start to wrap up this LONG post, I'll give you a sneak peek at what I started on last night...

Oooh, I think it looks like something out of a biology text book!  I'll share the full details with you soon!  In the meantime, have you ever completely changed the color scheme in your home?  Ever had a breakthrough moment when everything in one space seemed to come together?  Are you linking up to YoungHouseLove today?  Have you ever worked on a project that in any way resembled a picture in a bio text book?  ;)  Please do share!  I hope you're having a wonderful Tuesday, friends!

Linking to: Not Just a Housewife

Sneak Peek

Hey all!  Sorry I didn't post on Friday (not that anyone noticed, haha!), I was SWAMPED with work.  I'm going back to work this morning at a new school, yeehaw!  So, I was CRAMMING all my diy-ing into this weekend and got a little run down.  But I did finish a TON of projects this weekend (and hosted a baby shower!), and I think I'll spend this week re-capping my progress, and maybe I'll preview my next little project (It's gonna be cute!).  For now, I'll give you a little sneak peek of a bit of what I did this weekend...

 

Ooooh, I can't wait for the final reveal!  I have to be honest here, our house made so much progress this weekend, I feel like it's a completely new place!  I have so much new inspiration and can't wait to dive right into more projects.  I want to scream about my house...

"I'm in love!  I'm in love!  And I don't care who knows it!" 

Gosh, I love Will Ferrell in Elf.  Can't wait to share with you this week - wish me luck (and stamina) as I head back into the world of educating my favorite breed of person: teenagers.  =)  Happy Monday, friends!