Sit, and stay awhile…

Hi friends! I’m so happy to share these pictures with you today. Actually I’m thrilled, these pillows have been on my mind for months. I was hesitant to start them once the fabric arrived. But, now they’re finished.

However, no tutorial here! I couldn’t have made these without Janell from Isabella and Max Rooms, her tutorials are so helpful and easy to follow.

I even attached a zipper to the three pillows I made, you never know with a man in the house along with three dogs.

The leaf print is Calico Corners – Noisette in Autumn, and the velvet stripe is Myriad in spice.

The porcelain bowl is from Anthropologie, eyeglasses are Fendi.

Those vintage match boxes are another story…they’re from the 1900’s and I have a whole box full of trinkets and history to share on a rainy day.

The corner of my living room, a place to sit and stay awhile.

Our living room is finally coming together…pumpkins just in time for fall, my rustic mirror and the geometric wall.

Have a lovely week.

This project is linked to: Today's Creative Blog, DIY Show Off Fall Festival and Tea Rose Home

Special Delivery

Its really here! My fabric from the lovely Calico Corners has arrived.

Noisette in Autumn. I found this fabric 4 months ago and knew right away I had to have it! I was bold for a change and purchased a few yards without taking home a sample. (I was biting my nails the entire time, waiting for the fabric to arrive.)

I do have to say I’m quite happy I trusted myself, the fabric looks perfect in my living room. Now, its time to get started because it has been sitting beside my sewing machine long enough. But I’m terribly nervous to take that first cut. Wish me luck!

Enjoy your weekend.

182 Geometric Squared

Finally its finished! I can’t recall how many hours I spent painting this wall,  I lost count after 12 hours.

So you want to know how I did it? Are you sure…because I don’t think anyone in their right mind should even try this. Just kidding! I love it (now that its finished).

The geometric square pattern came from my rug. First I sketched out the design on graph paper.

Originally the scale was much smaller, I placed it on the wall and it was too tiny to see what was going on. So I doubled the size.

Once the drawing was what I wanted I took stencil paper I bought at the craft store and laid it on top. Using a very sharp razor blade I cut through the design.

My walls are a light tan color so I wanted the pattern to stick out, but I didn’t want stark white. We had some left over paint when our house was built, so I mixed colors. I mixed 3 parts white and 1 part tan, it was exactly what I wanted…the same tint of tan but in a lighter color. 

With the paint mixed I started in the top left corner.

After applying the paint to the stencil, I filled in the gaps with a brush. I found a brush that was the same width of the design, that seemed to help a lot.

The paint dried pretty fast, so I didn’t loose any time waiting for paint to dry. The longest part was filling in the gaps.

Also I learned early on, was to keep the stencil clean. After 10-12 squares I’d soak the stencil in warm water and remove the paint build up. It kept the lines very precise.

182 squares later and I am finished!

I need a little something to hang on the wall now. I was thinking deer antlers or even a long horn, you know to off set the urban wall design with a little country. Any suggestions?

This project is linked up to The DIY Show Off - Project Parade and Tea Rose Home

Iced Tea and Little Ladies

I’m an iced tea kind of girl! Especially as summer arrives, its my favorite drink on these hot summer days. And its made right on my patio under the warm sun (just like my mom used to make when I was a little girl).

The only problem is this new Lipton “cold brew”. Yea, you have iced tea in a matter of minutes, but what's the fun in that? I want mine to steep in the hot sun all day.

I looked high and low at the grocery store for the original Lipton iced tea bags and found nothing! Regardless of what the directions said, my tea brewed in the sun.

4-5 hours later, I had a cold glass of iced tea waiting for me in my ladybug garden.

Speaking of which, do you have pest control problems in your garden? My garden is infested with those irritating white flies! They’re small little flies that live under your plants leaves and cause problems. Plus they multiply over night!

Andrew and I tried many different pest controls last year, however this year I’m growing herbs and vegetables…so I want to be more organic. That’s where cute little ladybugs come in.

My garden is swarming with them, approximately 1500 little ladies. I picked them up from my local nursery. They’re supposed to eat white flies and many other insects lurking in the garden. I hope they work!

Do you have a cold beverage of choice that you make just for the summer? Or an organic pest control remedy? Please share!

Have a lovely afternoon.

Living Room Redesign – Sneak Peek

Ready to jump into a living room redesign with me? This is the first of many posts and long nights. I started this morning, my first stop was Calico Corners…my favorite fabric store.

I found two prints I just fell in love with, the leaf pattern is going to be perfect (I think it was made for me).  

Currently, I’m painting a geometric pattern on an accent wall. So far I’ve completed a small corner (its taken me all day) I have a feeling this will take me many hours. But, I can’t wait to see the end result.

When the wall is finished I’ll show you how I did it.

Alright, my much needed break is up. Time for more painting.

Finches & Flowers

My boyfriend and I have been tending to our courtyard garden this past weekend. The beautiful California sunshine is wonderful here (despite these early April showers this week), everything has sprouted and blooming.

  I hope the rain doesn’t ruin these early potato vine flowers!

Lavender from the front yard

Late summer last year, we made one last stop over at Bushnell Gardens and picked up some major deals. Like this hydrangea, soon it will bloom large pale green flowers!

 Annabelle Hydrangea

I’m so happy with our garden this year although, my potato vine is infested with aphids snacking away on the vines. I’ve tried just about everything, from cinnamon (yes, the cinnamon in your pantry), bug sprays, and more sprays!

Until I found a more natural approach. This little guy glided into the garden, and started devouring the aphids.

Wahoo, now I won’t have to waste money on expensive pesticides. So I headed over to the hardware store and invested in some finch feeders. Bring on the birds, hopefully I won’t regret this. :)

Dressing up the Unstylish

Since the day Andrew and I have moved into our new home I’ve hated our dining room chandelier. Regardless of the wall color or my art that hangs on the wall, that thing called a chandelier stuck out like a sore thumb. The transparent peach and cream glass light cover matched with the iron frame isn’t the look I’m really going for here.

It’s been a year now and that dreadful thing is still hanging there in the center of the room. I’ve always wanted to replace it with something sparkly and new, but everything I dream about is currently out of my price range.

Moving on to plan b. I discovered the glass light covers could be removed once the light bulbs were detached. I spent a few hours googling, looking for ideas and inspiration. I found many revamped chandeliers that turned out amazing. However, I wanted to keep my chandelier revamp cheap and simple.

With that in mind, Andrew and I headed over to Lowe's to scout out some new shades. We were a little disappointed; Lowe's didn’t have quite the selection as they do online. But it was 8:00pm and I wasn’t walking out of there empty handed.

So we found this!

And some of these…

A few minutes later, and the unstylish chandelier is now dressed up with its new shades. I suppose now I can live with it for another year!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Good Things Come in Three’s

It’s been a while but I’m still here! I’ve got some exciting, inexpensive projects lined up this week. Since I’ve been MIA for a while…I have some ground to cover.

Here’s a little teaser of what’s in store, hope this will hold everyone over until later on this week.

#1


#2


#3


Happy Monday everyone!

40 Minutes

I finally got my butt into gear and organized my closest under the stairs. So many small appliances and knick-knacks I’ve forgotten about. And seriously…how many phone books does one household really need? I pulled three out of there, two of which were still in plastic wrapping.

Here is the before mess I was living with. Yuck!


During…


And after!


40 minutes later and I can say I am satisfied, I should have done this sooner. Now every time I open that door I see a lot less clutter and a more organized closet. Now lets see how long I can keep it that way.

*PS: Despite my closet being clean, I’m frustrated…my one and only camera has broke. Time for a new one! Until then I will be using my iphone camera, as you can tell it’s not the best. But it works!

Dining Room Inspiration Board (Revamped)

Here it is…the new dining room. I’m very excited to start putting the pieces together. Plus I decided to include the inherited Noritake china from the Noritake Debate. Instead of actually using the china I’ll just have the china on display in the glass cabinet.

This took me awhile to make everything work, but I think all the pieces compliment each other. Let me know what you think!


(Images courtesy of: Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware,Barn Light Electric, Neiman Marcus, All Posters, Ann Sacks, Macy’s and Horchow)