A treasure from my Travels - Kuwait City

I guess you could say I was on a shopping trip of sorts, except my shopping ventures were with in the walls of my own home. Zero traffic + Zero Chaos + Free items = This girl loves saving money. So I was rummaging through a box of things that I guess I had totally forgotten about over the years. How I was able to 'misplace' or 'forget' about a large, square U-Haul box full of fabrics from over the years is beyond me, but than again this is me we're talking about and things tend to fly right over my head sometimes [but seriously, this is fabric we're talking about...].

One of those items however was not fabric. It's actually a... well I don't really know exactly what it is but I guess I threw it in the box labeled Fabric from past moves because it was fabric related? I may never know, but anyways this little number I bought in 2006 in Kuwait City. I was there on a stop over, coming back from Iraq and I was browsing through the selection of prayer rugs, cups, bowls, head scarfs and other Middle Eastern attire when it called my name from across the Bazaar.

Mainly because it was a super-fun pink which caught my eye like a bat outta hell. It's made of a sheer, delicate material and within it are gold fridge, string pieces sewn within the fabric.

The fact that it was made by someones hand and not a machine made it that much more awesome.

Although gold might not be on my top list of colors, there are a few exceptions when it comes to decorating. I will consider this a 'shiny yellow' and we all know I love me some yella.

Like I said, im not sure exactly what it is, all I know is I saw 'pretty' and scooped it right up. Over the years it's hung on the wall... kind of like the same way someone might hang a tapestry on a wall. Of course this isn't a rug and now that I know more of what my style is, hanging a piece of middle eastern fabric-thingy-majig doesn't really fit into that category. 

Up until [today] it has sat within the deep confines of that u-haul box. I would really love to incorporate it in with my decor but im a little stumped as to what I could do with it. Right now it's just being used as a runner on the dining room table, mainly because that seemed to be the best spot to showcase it in all it's flattened glory.

I'm thinking maybe the master bedroom once that's all finished? How about you? Should I throw it back in the box and tuck it away for 5 more years or showcase it somehow? [right now it just will not work as a table runner... for sure].

Feeling a little Vintage

As you may or may not know, I have this little obsession with all things glass. Glass bottles. Glass Jars... glass, glass, glass. Colorful glass. Shapely glass. Textured Glass... I just love it. We drink wine in our house [sometimes... although a nice glass of wine and my 'Water For Elephants' book, in the jet tub sounds about nice right now] and I keep all of the leftover glass wine bottles. Most of them are clear glass and a few have color to them [blue glass and one is a dark green glass]. Tomato sauce jars? Yep... I keep those too. Mainly for holding my pencils, paint brushes... etc.

Lately I have had this thing with vintage glass pieces. Whether they be simple hollow glass 'bowls' or candle holders.. all in all the vintage glass is right up there on my list of obsessed glassware's.

Source

This weekend while in town we stopped at one of the large Antique Malls/Indoor Flea-Market. This place is huge and you can seriously get lost inside because there is so much stuff and all of the walkways are so narrow and just zig-zag and circle all around to each room. 

The prices are fairly good, considering 99% of the stuff sold is Antique/old/Vintage. 

And in my little treasure hunt of all things glass I came across the orange and blue glass 'jars' [the pink one was bought elsewhere... more on that later]. 

They did have some fabulous old Mason Jars which totally gave me the warm fuzzies, but I just can't see paying 20-30 bucks for a glass jar... $2.99 however is more up my alley. This little orange one was just that. $2.99. I'm not sure how old it is and I don't see any 'stamp' on the glass. I'm assuming it's original purpose was a candle holder because the bottom is hollow. 

I really loved this little blue one [which I believe is a candle holder]. It has Vintagy looking flowers on it and hello... it's blue. I <3 me some blue. 

Best of all whenever I am preparing dinner or washing the dishes my rings have a little safe haven now... not that the window sill wasn't 'safe' but now they are away from any of the dish-washing 'elements'. 

They fit perfectly in the little blue jar and my fingers can reach in comfortably. No worries of having a vintage candle holder stick to sausage fingers... that would just be bad but what wasn't bad was that this little blue jar was $1.99. Zing!

The pink one you see isn't old... although it looks old. I was in Big Lots this weekend in search of some wrapping paper and of course I couldn't pass up strolling through the entire store, marveling at all of the cheap-goody-made in China-madness. I came across some little candle holders that screamed 'Vintage' and they were only 99-cents, so I figured the light pink one would pair well with Orange and Mr. Blue. -Don't mind the sad plant either... I have had that thing for a year and it just will not grow! :(

So there is the start of my vintage glass jar collection. It's about time I step away from the Wine bottles and Barilla sauce jars. I mean guests will start to wonder... No one likes a Saucy Lush. 

Do you like Vintage glass? Or anything Vintage? Or... anything glass? [They go hand in hand of course]

My inner Picaso

Hold onto your hats boys and girls. This lady has a confession to make.

[Dun dun dunnnnnnnn].

I am a closet Artist. Or at least I like to think I am. With the recent antics of breaking out my inner color-wild-child [decorating], it has really inspired me to get back into what I used to love doing all the time.

Here is my last 'project' I created. It was about 3-4yrs ago. I think it was when I was pregnant. Of course this was just a pencil drawing, with lots of shading [the 'grass' is just cheap filler]. Shading is one of my favorite art techniques, however lately I have been really inspired with Illustration [pen and ink drawings and using water colors].

****

Corid

Karingrow

Jessica Doyle

Arn't those some cute prints!? The lines, colors and design have inspired me to pick up that pen and brush and get back to it. Of course I don't have any fancy-schmancy degree's in Art or Illustration, but I have always loved to draw. In H.S I took Intro to Fine Art, Fine Art I, Drawing I and II, Painting, Pottery and Sculpture. I don't really plan to take any in my current college classes. I just think Art is one of those things that you have to be inspired. You have to really enjoy doing it. You can be taught techniques and pointers, however no amount of learning can make you enjoy doing it. You either love it or hate it.

It's been 3-4yrs since I was Inspired. I'm happy that my mojo is back and I can't wait to share what I create with you, and also incorporate some of my pieces into my own home! 

All dressed up

....And im not talking about me dressing myself up to go on a Hot Valentines Date with Josh ;) -This weekend, other than digging down deep to my inner history-nerdy-Goddess, I went ahead and worked on adding some items to my newly $20 cabinet redo. I figured a week of looking at a bare space and seeing a sad little cabinet with nothing dressing it up, was long enough.

The cost? Nothing on my expense. I just used items I already had within the house!

Of course I had to add some glass jars ;) The shells were collected from the beach one weekend. The tray was actually a yellow/burnt orange color originally. It came with a sushi set that Josh had bought a few years ago. I went ahead and used some of the Valspar Brushed Nickel spray paint I had from spraying the handles of the cabinet, and gave it a new coat of 'color'.

The ceramic Horse head I had bought at Old Time Pottery last Summer and up until now it's been in my car, still wrapped up in the bag [I seriously forgot I had even bought it lol]. Of course I loooove Horses, so im happy to be displaying it on the new cabinet :)

The photo I printed off of Vintage Printable [Free!!] using some of my photo paper and the frame I already had. The other frame behind the print used to be a brown and gold color so I spray painted it with Valspar glossy white and put a bamboo mat inside instead of a photo, to add some texture.

The mirror Josh had bought me for Christmas. Up until now it's been sitting in my closet in the bedroom. I was originally going to put it [in] the bedroom but figured this space would work best.

And there is the completed space with the new cabinet redo. I really like how it all came together and it really adds character to the entire living room. This little space has inspired me with wanting to do more thrifting and possibly even some antiquing! 

  

Happy Belated Valentines Day! :)

$19.99 Cabinet Re-Do - Reveal

I probably should have waited until the top layer was dry and I could add a few pieces to 'dress' it up a bit, but that is not the case. I am to excited to reveal the finished cabinet I scored for $20.00 @ the local Goodwill. You might remember my post Here where I discussed how we happened to just casually walk around the place after our delicious dinner at Azteca [yummy!].

Let's take a quick look back shall we?

Good bones. Good design... just a little dated with the stain and gold handles.

So with some primer, paint, spray paint and a few days, I have managed to give this dated little number a totally new leash on life. Now before we go any further... I wanted to do something bold... well a little more bold than what I'm used to. I wanted to stray away from white or black.

So with....

That fabric, which I am using as the color palette for our living room, I wanted a nice bright, fun color.

And that is what I had in mind. There are still a few touch ups I have to finish off [like right next to the door hinges... I would have took them off the doors however they aren't attached with screws, and whatever they are attached with, we don't have the tool that fits]. Overall though it's about 99% finished.

 Source

The color I used was 'Beach Ball' from Olympics Premium Zero VOC interior paint in Semi-Gloss. The color doesn't have an exact match to my fabric-palette, however I preferred a yellow over an orangy-gold hue.

For the top knobs [something about that just doesn't sound right... ha!]. I wanted to keep the original ones that came with the cabinet because they have that 'vintagy' feel to them, and they matched the rest of the designs within the cabinet. The original color was a brassy/gold... so because that is not part of my color palette, I used Valspar's premium enamel interior spray paint for metal, in a brushed nickel color.

I did the same for the door handles. I kept the original brackets because they matched the designs in the wood, also because I think it would look weird to just have a simple knob there and another knob at the top of the doors.... to many knobs, so I figured the bracket would break it up a bit. The knobs however I switched out with new ones for the doors. I found those at Lowe's and they matched the same brushed nickel in the shade of spray paint I used for the bracket and original knobs. They also seemed a little 'vintagy' so I figured that would work well with the entire cabinet.

So there you have it. My finished $20.00 cabinet. It's sitting in the living room, right by the window. That space has always bugged me because it was so bare and I have been on the look out for something special to put there and I am so excited now to have filled that boring ol' area. This cabinet will also be used to store all of Jaydens toys that he keeps in the living room, which will work out great with hiding them all whenever we have company over!

Dancin' to the deal of the DRUM

During my weekend escapades, also known as finding the perfect color paint for my cabinet re-do, which btw... totally bummed. I was hoping to get at least another coat of paint on today after I got home from work but it was nearly impossible because of all the hurricane force winds we started to get on my way home, I did manage one quick coat to the front, but it needs a good slop of one more to finish it off :)

Anyways, back on topic [I tend to get a little distracted]. I was in Lowe's and after I got my paint I decided to take a quick peek around to see if there were any deals going on. I had especially been wanting to check out all the lights, not only for the master bath redo, but also for the dining room.

 

Here is the light fixture that was in there when we moved in. It was fairly new and although it wasn't bad and I probly could have just spray painted it a different color, it still wasn't my style. So over the past couple of months I have been checking out different lights online to get some inspiration. 

I really wanted a drum shade. Not only have I been seeing them over blog-land, but there is something about them that just draws my eye. Their simple yet have a lot of personality without being so overly dramatic.

I was however. Not impressed. With the prices.

Take this simple drum shade from West Elm. I have a hard time seeing how paying almost $150.00 for a circle of fabric can be justified?

Or how about this one from Shades of Light. This one was more up my alley. It had the drum, yet it also had a few added extra elements with the simple chandelier poking out from the bottom. Almost $600.00? Ya, um... not really up my 'alley' anymore.

Than in my leisurely walk around the place that likes to build things together [i.e Lowe's] I happened upon this little gem.

Source

It's almost like the West Elm shade and the Shades of Light 'shade' hooked up and well.. ya know. I mean doesn't it!? So not only does it have the simple drum shade I was looking for but it also had the little chandelier hanging out from the bottom and check out the price! It was on sale. Triple Score.

And there she is hanging in the dining room. Granted I don't have all 3 of the lights in. Like a dingle-berry, I forgot to buy some of the small bulbs but luckily I had one extra in the house and was able to check it out somewhat, all shiny and bright.

I really love the little glass ball detail.

I love it. I really do. I never thought I would end up with a drum shade from looooowe's. Always thought I would have to order one of those online somewhere. But luckily I just happened to be in the right place at the right time!

On a side note- Don't mind the randomly placed curtain rod above the sheer curtain. I just like putting random curtain rods above the windows. I think it adds a little extra 'element' to the 'window space'. .... No. Not really ha! I am in the process of creating some new panels for the window and figured I would go ahead and get the rod ready :)

Have you scored any deals lately? What's the most you would pay for a lighting fixture for your dining room?

Como se dice..... I heart Goodwill

Yesterday in a bid to save myself from cooking for a day, that and we had Saturday night open on our meal plan, we decided to go grab a bite to eat since we hadn't been out for quite some time. So we headed over to [one] of the local Mexican restaurants which conveniently happens to be located next to a Goodwill. So of course after we ate ourselves into chips and salsa oblivion, we walked next door to take a peek at what they had.

At first I noticed a long, sturdy TV stand. My eyes widened and my gut fluttered with excitement. You see right now we have a glass TV stand and 1. I cannot stand that thing. It is nothing but a major dust magnet and 2. It doesn't go with any of our decor [it really is the only 'glass' piece in the house, other than my glass bottles, frames and mirrors]. So I quickly walked over to this TV stand before anyone else could [even though the place was less than half empty] and first I noticed the price. $29.99. I seriously wanted to jump and giggle a bit however when I saw the word 'SOLD' written across the tag my heart sank and I came back down to reality. -Of course it would be sold, right?

That's alright. Something else caught my eye that quickly made my mind forget about that TV stand anyways.

This here little beauty is a 2-door cabinet. I knew the perfect spot for it inside the house and I already knew the perfect color for it. I was ecstatic!

At first I thought it was two doors on the lower half and two drawers up on the top half, but it is just one solid door on each side with knobs at the top to give the illusion that it has drawers.

Although it did have a little surprise hidden inside... See the bottom right photo. That little thing on the top left of the cabinet is actually a drawer. It doesn't have a handle and blends right in. I'm going to name it the 'secret' drawer, and the best part? It's made of real wood, and we all know how rare it is to find some pretty awesome pieces these days that are actually made of real wood.

The bottom has this detailing that goes all the way across to the other side. You can say it gives me the warm fuzzies.

And these little shelf-style designs in the wood are just darling, and you know it has to be something special because I hardly ever say the word 'darling'. It really is.

So right now it is currently primed and the first coat of paint is drying. I already have my spot picked out and I will more than likely be using this to store some of Jayden's toys, neatly hidden from view.

So the best part... The price.

Any guesses?
.
.
.
.
.
$19.99 - Cha-Ching!

Stay tuned for the finished reveal! :)

Simple Wall-art tutorial

Last week, into this weekend, has been a little hectic around here. I was home from work most of the week last week because I had a sick toddler on my hands. After a 3rd day of a spike in temperature, I luckily got him in to see his Pediatrician and turns out he had a little sinus buggy going on and some fluid in his ears [poor little guy]. After a few days of medicine, we have a very hyper-playful Jayden back, tearing the house up, one toy at a time.

Josh did work more on the electrical for the recessed lighting in the shower, so that project is coming along smoothly. As for myself, I worked on some simple little digital projects in photoshop, to create some simple, new wall art for the office. Specifically, the new reading nook [stay tuned].

I had brackets on my mind for this little art project and so with some down-loadable bracket PS Brushes and a few 'words of wisdom', I created 'Imagine, Create and Inspire'.

I already had a frame that had 3 individual slots, measuring 4x6 inches. So basically all I did was create my prints in photoshop on a document measuring 4x6 and than printed them out on plain paper [something this simple can be printed on plain paper. It helps save your photo paper for future, bigger projects].

I placed one of the open slots on top of the paper with the print on it. I than took a pen and traced along the inside part.

Since all of the prints are centered on the page the same exact way, I gathered the 3 of them and used my small Fiskars cutter to cut along my traced line.

...Like so.

Last step is easy. Just tape the cut prints on the underside of the backing and viola!

A simple little way to dress up, and add a little character to a wall of photos.

What digital projects [or any wall art projects] have you been working on? Do you use Photoshop to create any kind of wall art? If not which program do you like to use most?

Sneak Peak

Hint: On sale and was originally made for a table.

Wear your inspiration

Do you ever just browse through home decor magazines or click through blog after blog to gain any kind of inspiration for decor in your own home? Well of course you do... we all do. Not only do I browse to gain inspiration for the rooms in my home, but I also just overall enjoy ooh-ing and ahh-ing over other peoples digs.

But one thing that has really caught my eye, as far as inspiration is concerned, is the very textiles in my own home. -Clothing in particular.

As you know, before we started demo-ing our master bathroom, I had been slowly working on our Master Bedroom. But because of the recent changes coming with the master bath, the decor and overall design of the bedroom has been put on hold [mainly because I don't want to go and buy all these nice new things, only for them to become dusty, dirty or the chance of them becoming damaged from walking in and out on a constant basis when re-doing the bathroom]. However that has not stopped me from gathering inspiration for not only the bathroom, but the bedroom and the entire space as a whole.

I guess I like to plan ahead a bit [and it's fun :-P ] and knowing the colors and design I am going for, will make it easier when starting the whole [final] process of bringing the rooms together.

Anyways enough of the babble... now on to the fun part [Pictures!] and of course the main point of this post. -Color inspiration.

See this here is my most favorite coat. It's my 'HERE I AM' Peacoat. Everywhere I go people ask where I got the coat and how bright and 'fun' it is. Well one day I was in the bedroom folding laundry and happened to be looking ever so gazingly at my closet. I was in some sort of daze, staring at this coat [it's that powerful]. Than it hit me... I put two and two together. Wall color + Peacoat = Awesomness.

Our wall color is Valspar - Stone Partition and my coat is well... pretty self explanatory - yellow. I think that may be another reason why I am on this weird obsessed with all things yellow, kick. And it just so happened that this shade of yellow goes ever so graciously with Stone Partition.

So with the help of my coat [of all things...] I have come up with two mood boards for not only the bedroom, but also the bathroom.

First the bedroom. I have chosen a white comforter/duvet. I plan on adding pops of color with throw pillows. Mainly in shades of blue, gray, yellow and little bits greens and reds. I had originally bought this lamp, seen in this post however after combining all the colors I think some type of stacked crystal lamp will look better.

For the bathroom I wanted to bring in some of the same color scheme as in the bedroom [since they flow together]. You might remember my original tile scheme ideas in this post where I talked about either adding some marble tile with the white subway tile or some type of glass tile border with the white subway tile. However after some more thought, more research and of course bringing these colors together, I have decided to use a light gray glass tile for the floor of the shower and leaving the wall to ceiling in the white subway tile.

So there is the entire inspiration and plan for the Master bedroom and Master bathroom. All thanks to my lovely little peacoat. Thank you peacoat. Not only do you keep me warm but you help me decide on co-ordinating colors!

Oh and just to show you that I am real...

I know... I really do need to start wearing my hair down more...

So... Thoughts? Should I add in anymore colors? Should I buy another peacoat to help me in deciding some colors for the rest of the house? Ha!