Inspirations Room by Room

Outside

(need a relaxing sitting space with curtains)!

Living Room

(not the bed, but the photo collage, shag rug, and industrial look).

(must have reading nook)!

(rug for living room. where can I get this)?

Dining Room

(plate collage, white chairs, brown table).

(cool, unique light fixture is a must).

Kitchen

(green accent wall, stainless appliances, white cabinets, white subway tile).

(open up cabinets around stove).

(wish we could keep our original hardwoods in the kitchen).

(DIY concrete countertops and a huge farmhouse sink from Ikea)

(chalk board paint on pantry door. love the clock).

Laundry, Craft, Homeschool Room

(wall of books).

(love this office space, so, so, so much).

(storage for crafts).

(gotta have bean bags to read on).

Master Bedroom

(heaven. I want a canopy bed so bad. don’t think it would work with a ceiling fan).

(color scheme).

(love green).

(jute rug is a definite must and white duvet. our room color looks similar to this).

Nursery

(changing table? love the white ceramics, and stenciled wall).

(love the frame over crib and the banner).

(I can’t tell you how much I LOVE these colors. This room is perfect)!

(wall art).

(shared room).

(I’m making a rag rug out of sheets for the nursery).

Guest Bedroom

(This is all you need to know. Perfection).

Bathroom

(bathroom color, bamboo blinds, white curtain).

(love the stripes, coral, sconces).

(I can’t explain how cute this is to me. we already have tile, so this is a no go, but I still love it. how cute are those shelves)?

THE END.

Hope you’ve been inspired today.

Cheers!

> 3 ?

Nope, this isn’t a math lesson, it’s just a question. Usually in the decorating world they tell you to have 3 maybe 4 (at the max) colors per room. One needs to be a neutral, the other two accent colors. What do ya’ll think about this rule? I totally understand where they are coming from because you don’t want your room to look super busy. We all want to have a “put together look”. Don’t we? Hummmm…

I am a color person. I love color. Color makes me happy. Color makes me smile (a little repetitive I know). What’s wrong with rainbows and unicorns?

Here is what I think. Do what you love. Do what makes you happy. There shouldn’t be stupid rules to follow in your own home! Everyone has their own style. Maybe you LOVE color. Blow it up, it’s your home after all. The bottom line is: you have to live in your house, you need to be comfortable. Your family needs to be comfortable. Does it look best to limit your living room (or other rooms) to 3 or 4 colors? Why yes it does, but does that really matter to you? Why does it matter; because that’s what the experts say? Don’t limit your creativity because HGTV tells you to only have 3 colors in your room!

If you saw my post yesterday about my bookshelves, then you probably know where I’m coming from. I can see blue, green, orange, red, brown, gray, white, and that is not including the book colors! I am an artist. I love to paint. Again, I love color. Most of my paintings are really vibrant and have a TON of colors on them. I don’t think I should paint more paintings with only 3 or 4 colors just so they match my living room.

Think out of the box. I encourage you to REBEL (in the decorating world, that is)!

Cheers!

Not My Forté

Before I really get into this post I should explain that I am awful at arranging decorations on shelves, mantels, etc. I have so many odds and ends, once I start putting them out it usually looks cluttered. I need your input, because if my bookshelves (which is what I’m showing you) look crowded, please be a friend and tell me.

Ta-Da!

For those of you interested I’m going to go through all the interesting things on my shelves. If your not into it, you can just exit out of this post because I’m practically done.

We will start on the top of the left bookshelf.

The paintings are abstract art made by yours truly. They were painted in 2003 and are both for sale. The blue and brown pitcher is from Hobby Lobby, as are the orange and red flowers. To the right of that is a fox head Russian crystal decanter. I picked this up at a yard sale for $15 and then looked it up on the web and theses babies sell for $300+. Here’s a close up:

Isn’t it gorgeous and regal?

Then on the second shelf we have a picture of my paw-paw Ray when he was in the navy. I love this picture of him (he is so special that he is the only person in a frame on my bookshelves). I believe the frame was on sale at Kohls. Next is an oblong, silver, bread basket I got at a thrift store for $3, inside you will find an old Nikormat camera, a Bell and Howell recorder (from the 50’s), and an old Sun 600 polaroid. I really love the way they look in the silver basket. Then there is a foam craft, lime green owl from 1981. He’s for sale if anyone is interested. Beside the owl is a white glazed pottery bowl my little brother made me for Christmas a few years back.

On the next shelf are two small planters I purchased at Lowes on sale for less than a dollar. Inside them is organic dirt and some moss I dug up out of my front yard. I am using the planters as book ends. I really love how these look and the fact that the project was dirt cheap! hehe

The next shelf has an old fossil we dug up in our front yard when we lived in Greenville, AL. It looks like a fossil of a shell. Other than these things there are just books.

If anyone is interested in the black and white lamp, I purchased it at Old Tyme Pottery a few years back, but it was made by Isaac Mizrahi. I think I paid $10 for it.

Next is the bookshelf on the right:

On the top of this bookshelf is another original oil painting by me, also for sale, along with an old telephone box. Here is an close up shot of it:

It can be hung on the wall and used as a shelf. It also has a drawer on the inside that I painted blue and distressed. The door closure is magnetized.

The top shelf has a little ceramic birdie I purchased at a thrift store for 50 cents. Beside it is a phone from Kirklands.

Next is a really cool turquoise blue box (more details about it tomorrow) with a S from Hobby Lobby, painted a hammered silver. The shelf under this has a collection of blue vases from random places over the years. The black and white vase/bowl was a present from my little sister.

There you have it. Hopefully they don’t look cluttered or too busy. Feel free to share any ideas!

Cheers!

Pillows

Hopefully, once my house gets back to order I can start sewing more pillows. I’m obsessed with pillows! I’ve always “collected” them. I have been buying vintage fabric and I have great plans for them.

This pillow is one I’ve been working on for months to go in my new living room. It wouldn’t have taken me that long, but other projects have been popping up and taking priority. I felt like I needed a little texture on my couch, besides fabric. That is one thing I’m really going for in the new living room, lots of texture! The pillow is aqua and knitted in 100% cotton. It is super duper soft. It is actually a pillow cover and it is fastened by metallic silver buttons.

Here it is:

By the way, this wooden chair is a garage sale find I picked up in FWB, Florida for $15. I fell in love with the legs on this baby. I normally wouldn’t pay that much for a chair, but if it’s really special I will splurge. It’s future home is around my dining room table.

My auto focus was off on these pictures, sorry for the blur.

I thought it would be nice to have extra texture by ribbing the closure. You can make the back the front (button-side), or face it the other way so the smooth side is facing out. It just depends on your preference. I think I’m going to list this pillow cover in my Etsy Shop if anyone is interested. I will take custom orders, so you can choose the colors to match your room!

Floor Pillow

This pillow was made from a silky vintage handkerchief I bought today for 25 cents and an old pillowcase. I had a floor pillow I bought at Old Tyme Pottery years ago; I never used it. I cut the white pillowcase to the size of the scarf/hankie and then put the right sides together and hand-sewed 3 sides. (I chose to hand sew bec/ of the silky material and the fact that my kitchen table is covered with drums, so I have no place for my sewing machine). Then, I flipped the case right side out and stuffed my old pillow inside. Lastly you sew up the open side. Ta-Da! A new floor pillow for our living room. Does anyone else use throw pillows?

Keira, I said FLOOR pillow, not DOG pillow! uggghhhh… :D

Placemat Pillows

Crocheted Pillows

I took these pictures last night, so I had to use the flash. The stitching is pretty tight, but in these you can see the wrinkles underneath from the pillow case inside. In real life and light you can’t see. Also, it is really hard to see the ribbing detail. Sorry.

I crocheted this in a ribbed style to make it look more like knitting. If you can’t crochet or knit but still want the look of a knitted pillow I have a big secret for you. Go to goodwill, buy a cashmere sweater or any other sweater with a design you like (cable would be nice), make sure it is good and large, if you want a big pillow. Cut a square (or rectangle) from both sides and then stitch together to make pillow. Please make sure to wash it first!

If you want the pattern for this I chain stitched 32 across then I single crocheted in each stich. Row 2 SC into the back loop only, Row 3 SC in each stitch, repeat till you get the length. For the border I SC around, then two rows of DC, then two rows of SC.

I was being really lazy with this pillow (unlike the knitted one at the top) and just wanted something quick and simple. So, I decided to make the back out of bleached canvas drop cloth. Boy o’ boy do I love some canvas drop cloth. I’m working on a lot more pillows make of it and hope to add them to this page in the near future.

Anyways, I wanted this to be a cover, not an actual pillow. I needed to get my pillow in and out easily. All you have to do is measure the length of your pillow divide by half and then add 3 inches. Now cut your material to the width of you pillow, plus your new length from above. Do this twice. Now you pin your material to your front piece, overlapping the two back pieces you just cut. Sew. The pieces that overlap will be your opening. Is that clear as mud?

Here is what it looks like on my bed. Again, in real life you can’t see the wrinkles of the pillow case inside.