Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Salvage One!

I stumbled upon this little gem Salvage One  in Chicago, IL while I was searching for mid century lamps. This is an amazing warehouse filled with salvaged goods that you can buy in person or online! There is a huge selection of pieces from different time periods to choose from. I am going to share a few of my favorites!




Saturday, June 25, 2011

Update On Our Living Room and Office Plus Home Goods!

Sorry, I know I haven't posted much these past couple of weeks but......we have been really busy trying to get our living room and office back to a livable condition. Those room have been a construction/dirty zone for too long! This weekend we are pushing to get the last minute details finished. Our friends that will be visiting for a couple of days arrive Thursday so that is a good motivation point to buckle down and focus.


So, here is a sneak peak of a built in in our living room that we wanted to update and it really needed it....




We tea stained it a while back and wanted to give it a fresh coat of white paint that we originally had on it. 




I started painting away and it took a lot longer than we thought. So, before painting a built in think twice about the color because it is a process to change it!


We love the result and here is a tiny look  below. We are not done styling the bookshelves yet and the room is not done but you can get a glimpse of the wall color we chose, love it!












A couple of weeks back you may remember this photo below from our office that I posted here. A colonial style railing that is part of our office wasn't doing the trick!




After scouring photos of different looks this is what we decided on and it really fits the room well! I will post more photos of the room when it is done!





Thanks for following us during this process...

While we are changing things up a bit, I started by reviewing what accessories I had that were packed away. It is always fun when you open a box of things that you haven't looked at in a while. You can forget some of the little goodies you had packed away. What I also began to realize is that we sold quite a few things before moving last year. So off I went looking for a couple of needed elements at a few local places which included Home Goods. I can't say that I always have found something I liked there or that I think they have the best quality but with such good prices you can't go wrong. If you grow tired it, changing it won't hurt as bad as switching something out that was very expensive. 

Check out these goodies from Home Goods I found and love!






Sorry for my lack of photographic skills but I hope you like them! Hopefully, within the next two weeks I will have more pics to share with you. If any of you have built ins that you think are styled well, send me some photos that we can share with readers! 

Have a great weekend!

PS Don't forget the Giveaway, you can enter here!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Moroccan Inspired Sitting Room I Have Created!

On one of our latest trips to Spain, we had the chance to spend the day in Morocco and we just could not pass up the opportunity. We didn't make it to Marrakesh where I really wanted to go but at least we got a feel for the country that has recently inspired many designers! It was a very interesting place but the three things that really stood out was the architecture, textiles and the food! A real chicken tangine with dates, who would have thought it would have tasted that good!dish is to die for!

Here are just a few pics of out trip below....




I had to include the photo of the us on the camels, one of the strangest but cutest animals I have ever seen!

Going there for even just a day and just tasting life in Morocco has inspired me to create a design for a sitting room for any of you readers that are drawn to it!

Here it goes......
















Thanks for reading and don't forget to sign up for the giveaway here! If you need any sources just leave a comment and I will reply below! 

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Gender Neutral Nurseries!

So, I have several friends waiting for that special day when their new baby is born! More and more are waiting to find out the sex of their baby. Some say "as long as the baby is healthy, that is all that matters" and some say "we want to be surprised!" When it comes to decorating the nursery this can present challenges for some but the following images from Decor Pad may make you want a neutral nursery even if you know the sex of your baby!

My favorite!




MY FIRST GIVEAWAY!

In celebration of hitting 5000 page views on my new blog!!!!!!!

I am giving away......

A free virtual design for any one room in your home!

All you need to do is leave a comment below as to what room you would really love redesigned

or

Link this post to your blog and let me know that you have

or

Link this post to your Facebook, Twitter, etc page and let me know that you have

This giveaway will end July 15th and a winner will be picked randomly that weekend. I will announce the winner Monday July 18! 
This is really exciting for me and I hope you leave me a comment below! Thank you!!  

Monday, June 13, 2011

Restoration Hardware's Look For Less!

I recently came across a great furniture website that I have to share with you! If you are digging Restoration Hardware's style of furniture right now but the cost blows your budget check out Teva Living for the same amazing look for a lot less. Here are some samples I got together for you....

$1,395

$685

$2,795

$1,145

$399

$220
So check out Teva Living here and let me know if you grab a steal from this website!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Our Living Room Design Board!

So all that I can say is.......it is a lot easier to create design boards for clients than it is for yourself! I have been agonizing over choices for several months now but I have finally come up with a design that I would describe as a transitional bohemian if there is such a  thing! A mix of wood, metal and linen is included in this design. I already have some elements like drapes and curtain rods that I will continue to use but I will add some of these new pieces with some antique pieces too!  I haven't picked the perfect light creamy gray that I will paint the wall with yet but that will be done sometime this week! So here are some of my favorite pieces and I have already purchased one of them to be delivered sometime next week, so thrilled!














These are just some of my all time favorites! I am going to scour antique markets and shops to see what other interesting finds are out there to complete my living room. It will take a while for this room to evolve but I will update with photos along the way!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Our Home Office Redo Part 1!

Moving…..it has been a bit overwhelming for me this time for many reasons but we are finally getting somewhere. We are currently moving back into our house, doing a small renovation project and doing a good spring cleaning all at the same time. It has been a little crazy but we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!!!!!


The first project I want to share with you is the cosmetic redo of our home office and stairway! I have been wanting to do this for such a long time and finally it is here. This space is not a room with a door like most home offices but “loft” like in that it has an open railing to the stair way. The long wall down the stairs leads into our living room so the challenge has always been where to end of the color from upstairs to the downstairs. Do you have the same challenge? So this time I decided to paint three of the walls and leave the longer wall out to carry the color up from the living room. These pictures below I hope explain what I am trying to say…






So I went back and forth with colors and I really wanted to this room to be the one that has color on the wall. Most of our home is neutral but I really wanted to bring in a color somehow. I wanted to step out of my box but  I was so nervous choosing…. I did decide on a navy blue but the shade of blue was throwing me. I have this rustic element in the room with the old wooden beams and wanted to kind of keep that feel.


 Here are some of the color samples we were thinking about….



We lingered on some of these colors and viewed them in the morning and evening to get a real sense of each one. That is a great tip when choosing a paint color. My husband’s suggestion was the deciding factor and the winner is “Hale Navy” by Ben Moore in a matte finish which is the paint swatch on the bottom. OK so I have to admit when I opened the can I gasped a bit thinking it has a purple undertone….not what I was looking for but I knew it would dry darker so I painted away and here is the finished room painted!!!! No regrets picking this color at all and it gives me the earthy, rustic and natural look that I was looking for.


Here is the room finished with the new flooring and new paint!!!







The stairway and railing are still be worked on by my hubby but hopefully this weekend it will all be done:)


I will soon post pictures of the office furniture and décor accents but it will take me a few weeks to pull this all together. I am really excited to show you the finished room as soon as I can. Thanks for reading today and let me know what you think about the wall color!!!!!