My Niece Has A New Place!

My niece Ashli moved into her new apartment over the weekend.  I was on hand to help make her place feel like a home.  I was so excited that my niece wanted artwork on her walls!  Nothing makes your space feel more like a home than artwork on the walls.  Ashli had purchased three pieces of artwork when she moved into her last apartment.  With this new space, she purchased five more pieces to hang.  I also gave her a piece of artwork that I purchased for my home but the piece did not work where I wanted to hang it.

If you are a renter, don't let that stop you from hanging artwork on the walls.  I rented for 9 years before I purchased my first home.  I had artwork on the walls in the three apartments I lived in.  Always keep a small container of spackle on hand to fill in the holes.  And, get to know the maintenance staff at your apartment complex.  I was always able to get a small jar of the wall color for touch-ups from the maintenance staff.

Another thing that was missing in Ashli's decor was accessory pillows for her sofa, love seat, and recliner.  She purchased new living room furniture for the other apartment, but the furniture did not come with accessory pillows.  You all know how I feel about pillows--the more the better!!  So, we headed to Garden Ridge to find pillows for Ashli's furniture.  Without the pillows, her furniture was sort of blah.  The pillows really pop on her furniture and liven up the space.

I like shopping with my niece.  She knows what she likes and doesn't like.  And, she makes her decisions real quick.  She's a lot like me I guess.  My only advice to her was to pick out something she would enjoy looking at.  Don't just pick out a piece of artwork to fill in a space.  Here are pictures of her living room, breakfast bar and kitchen.  I provided the artwork on her kitchen wall.

I purchased a pillow for the recliner, but the picture was taken before the pillow.

Ashli picked out the artwork over her breakfast bar.

Master Bath Reveal!!!

In an earlier post, I talked about painting and re-decorating my master bathroom.  In the eight years I've lived in this house, this is the third time I've painted my bathroom.   The two prior paintings were both done in colors from the same color chart--various shades of taupe and brown.  In fact, I used three colors from the chart and did a stripe effect.  That was one of those ideas that worked fine on paper but didn't translate well in reality.  The last painting was done a few years ago and I decided to go dark.  The color choice was Sherwin Williams Steady Brown.  I have a thing for dark colors.  For me, artwork pops better on a dark hued wall.  Everything looks richer when the walls are dark.  

So, for the past 4 or 5 years, this is how my bathroom looked:

I liked the look, but I was ready for something more dramatic.  I'm not even sure how or why I came up with the new color.  The artwork actually came before the paint color.  I wanted something different--something outside of the taupe and brown color.   So, this is what I chose-- Sherwin Williams Maxi Teal:

When I painted the first swatch of color, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it.  My first thought was, "Oh my God, I've made a mistake!"  But, that is a typical response when ever you depart from something that is usual or familiar to you.  I think this is one of those looks where you will either love it or hate it.  My sister doesn't like it.  She says this room doesn't look like the rest of my house--and it doesn't.  My niece loves it.  I didn't love it at first, but the next morning when I turned on the light, my first thought was this is a happy space!  

I didn't want my bathroom to look juvenile with this color, but the right accessories can keep it out of the kiddie zone.  I saw the artwork at Garden Ridge and I liked it so I purchased it.  Then I took the artwork to Sherwin Williams to find a color to use on my walls.  There are several colors in the artwork--red, yellow, orange, but for some reason the teal jumped out at me.  I got rid of the silk arrangement that was on my vanity.  This arrangement has been on my vanity since I moved into the house and I was so over it.  My niece proudly displays it in her house now, along with the rag rugs.  I decided to display orchids on the vanity.  It's a cleaner look and I think it goes well with the new color.

Let me know your thoughts on the redesign-love it or hate it!

What's On Your Coffee Table?

Most people I know have a coffee table in their living rooms.  I don't know how far back coffee tables go, but the use of them or their function has certainly evolved.  TV shows from the 1950s always showed stylishly dressed people sitting in a formal living room around a coffee table drinking, what else, coffee.  

Hardly anyone has the time to sit around a coffee table and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea.  Coffee tables have evolved to become a place to display decorative accessories.   Coffee tables in a lot of homes serve many purposes:  dining table, a place to display collectibles, and sometimes catchall for things you have no where else to put.  You'll find coffee tables in some homes with some type of floral arrangement on them (hopefully not coated with dust!)  

My coffee table serves two purposes: (1) a place to display decorative accessories and (2) a place for decorating magazines and books for guests to browse through.  I try to keep the magazine collection current.  I don't want my coffee table to mimic tables you see in a doctor's office that have magazines from two years ago.  I try to maintain my magazine collection for about one to two months then I donate them.

I am always fascinated by coffee tables that have unusual decorative items placed on them.  Such items serve as a conversation piece.  I have a glass knot on my coffee table.  Most of my guests are curious about this art piece.  Take a look at my coffee table:

See the glass knot, top right corner.

As you can see, my coffee table is a 3 foot by 3 foot glass top table.  I chose a glass top table because my living room space is small and a glass top coffee table allows the room to appear more spacious--it disappears in the room.

Below is a picture of a coffee table with a tray, plant, books/magazines, and miscellaneous decorative pieces.  I'm sure the items placed on this coffee table are there to be used and also add a decorative touch.

Photo courtesy of House Beautiful Magazine.

So, what's on your coffee table?

Yes, I admit it--I have a pillow fetish!!

I can't help myself.  I love pillows.  I don't know what it is about them, but I just love them.  The really nice pillows are pricey.  I've seen some as much as $300.  I love pillows, but not for $300!!  Last weekend, I saw these pillows in Garden Ridge.  I went so far as to put them in my shopping cart.  But, I decided that I had enough pillows, so I put them back on the shelf.  (You should see the top shelf in my closet!)  This past Sunday, I decided that I wanted the pillows so I went back to Garden Ridge.  I didn't see the pillows right away.  I had to hunt for them amongst 12 rows of pillows.  I found two that had the same print, but the colors were different--too springy.  Then finally, I spotted one pillow that had the fall colors on them--oranges, browns, greens, golds.  So, the search was on to find another one.  About 10 minutes later, I managed to find one.

I placed the pillows on my bed.  I thought I would be happy using the pillows that were made for my living room furniture, but the colors were not vibrant enough for me.  I'm happy with my choice, I knew they would work.  So, here are my new fall pillows:

Things I Love

Periodically, I will share with you some of the decor items I see that I absolutely love.  This week, I was staying at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, TX.  The hotel has recently upgraded its rooms.  There was a bolster pillow on the bed that was a khaki linen with silver leafing on it.  I loved this pillow.  I wanted to take it home with me.  Sadly I left without it.

The room had a wingback chair with nail heads.  I wasn't sure if I liked it at first, but the more I looked at the chair, it grew on me.  I really liked the form of the chair.  I wasn't as crazy about the fabric pattern.  I imagined this chair done in a deep blue or purple velvet with the nail heads.

I think I have a pillow fetish!  This pillow was in the wingback chair.  It was a blue velvet pillow with black velvet  insets.  I loved it!

The Front Porch Dilemma

A few nights ago, I was thinking about what I could add or change to my front porch fall decor.  Mums are a big part of fall, but I didn't want to add mums to the look because I've had mums on my front porch for the last 7 fall seasons.  After pouring through a few design websites, I decided to remove the boxwood balls and add pumpkins and leaf vines to the planters.  So, this is what it looks like now:

I still like this look better:

What do you think?

A Free Makeover!!

Depending on the seasons, I have two different comforters for my bedroom.  One comforter is for the spring and summer, and one is for the fall and winter. In the summer months, I use a coverlet and roll the comforter back to the foot of the bed.  Last weekend, I changed out the comforter to the fall/winter look. This year, I decided to flip the comforter and pillow shams over to the other side.  For accessory pillows, I looked in my closet at the various pillows I have stored there.  I used two pillows that originally came with my living room furniture and other pillows I purchased from Target and Garden Ridge.  I was able to get a new look and it didn't cost me a dime!  Believe me, that is a rare occurrence.