World Market + Polyvore = Love...

I love World Market. I love Polyvore. Put them together like they did on the World Market website and it is amazing. I couldn't resist playing around and making a few "vision boards" as they call them. Actually, I couldn't resist making five. :)

Each "vision board" I made is an idea for an entryway into a house. I love homes with pretty entryways - it is just so inviting and a great way to show off the home's character the second guests walk in the door. Our entry way is currently empty. Completely empty. We even have an art niche...with no art. Hopefully, that will all change soon. :)

In the meantime, here are my five entryway "vision boards." [Click the link below each to go to Polyvore for the product details.]

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A few notes about the "vision boards":

• I want to go buy the media stand in the first board right now. I love, love, love it.
• The five boards are posted in order of how likely they would be to end up in our house. Okay, more like how much I would like it if they were in our house. [This is primarily based on the color scheme of our house.]
• Did you notice that there aren't any products used in more than one board? That's because I'm a crazy person who randomly gives myself rules like that. :)

Beautiful bedding mood board...

I am on a mission lately to finish a bunch of half-done posts, including this mood board that I found on my computer. I made it for a Mood Board Monday, using the Barbara Barry “Poetical” bedding collection as my inspiration. I am officially more than six months late to the party, but I finally made it. :) I am such a goofball, I have had the mood board made and the links saved this entire time and just didn’t ever write the post. Sheesh.

 

I really love the inspiration bedding – the pattern, the simplicity, the colors…everything. It would make a beautiful, relaxing and elegant master bedroom.

The other items I chose for the room are:

• The Meridiano sleigh bed from Pier 1
• Hayworth nightstands, also from Pier 1
• A white capiz chandelier from Pottery Barn Teen
• A steel blue curved upholstered chair from West Elm
• A shag rug from CB2
• Three narrow infinity mirrors from CB2 for above the bed
• Accents would include the blue pedestal vase and blue footed vase from Walmart

I had also originally selected the leather slipper chair ottoman that is shown in the mood board. I would have used two at the foot of the bed. I can’t find it on the West Elm site now [that’s what happens when you wait six months to post something], but I could substitute this made-over bench. :)

Better late than never...

I tend to have really grand ideas of posts I am going to write on this blog, but then they never actually get posted. You'll have to trust me on this, but in my head this blog is ridiculously cool. Generally, I have pictures taken, links saved, and even posts half-written. But they still never get posted. I always seem to get busy and run out of time. The next thing I know, the holiday is passed or whatever else I was going to post about happened months ago, so I never end up posting about it.

But, I've realized that we've all been there - you know, when there just isn't enough time for everything you want to get done. So, I'm sure you all understand. :) For now on, I'm going with the motto "better late than never." So what if I post Christmas [or even Thanksgiving] photos in January? So what if I show the first photos of our new home months after we moved in? I want this blog to be all about sharing ideas and little pieces of our lives, and being too busy to post right away is definitely a part of my life right now.

I've got a little [okay, a lot of] catch up to play, but hopefully in the process I'll get better at being more timely. :)

And to prove my point about not finishing posts....here is a mood board I made [but never posted] for a Mood Board Monday in June that I just found looking through pictures on my computer. I'm sure I have all the links saved somewhere too and when I find them I'll be sure to post them because it's better late than never. :)

200 posts and 200 dollars...

After a bit of a blogging hiatus, I'm back to celebrate my 200th post. :) And to stick with my tradition of celebrating blog milestones with pretend money, we're going to play the game...

I've changed up the rules just a bit this time around:

1) Pick a store.

2) Pick a room in your house.

3) Pick at least ten items (they can be multiples of the same item) to redecorate the room.

4) Be in awe of how cool your room could be with $200. :)

I picked Pier 1 to makeover our guest bedroom and here is what I came up with using my pretend money...

The new "purchases" for the room are:

• 2 blue and green paisley pillows for $22.38 each
• 1 ivory micro dot pillow for $19.38
• 2 large modular storage baskets for $14.98 each
• 2 small modular storage baskets for $8.98 each
• 1 blue and white mosaic glass vase for $26.18
• Scroll wall decor for $19.99

  6 smoke blue placemats for $4.00 each
• $17.77 worth of fresh fig candles

The current bedding in the room is navy with light blue sheets and a sage green throw, so the pillows would fit in well and help brighten it up. The modular storage baskets would be stacked and used as side tables on each side of the bed. I would say adios to the old black nightstand and paint the current headboard and bookcase white.

The vase and scroll wall decor would help fancy the room up a little. I don't know about you, but our guest bedroom tends to get the hand-me-downs from other rooms, so it would be fun to have some pretty new things that are just for it. :)

So, is anyone confused about the placemats yet? ;) I wanted matching art for above both nightstands and had to get a little creative. I have six small canvases at home just waiting for the perfect project. I could cover them with these pretty blue placemats and do some freezer paper painting on them. Maybe a simple paisley or scroll design to match the other new pieces?

I would also hang a pair of white curtains we have on hand to finish out the wall the bed is against. [It is in front of the window.] And my remaining pretend money would be spent on candles.

Yep, I am in awe of the difference $200 could make in the room...now if only I had $200 real dollars. :)

Design Star play along...

Since I'm totally obsessed with Design Star, I decided it would be fun to play along. [In case you're wondering, it was really fun and you should play along too. :)] Anyways, the rules for the first challenge were:

• Shop at Pearl River for one hour with a budget of $500
• Decorate white room as inspired by one of the designers in the competition

On the real show, they didn't get to pick their partner, but hey, this is my blog and I do what I want, so I picked Tom. I thought it would be fun to see if I could come up with something that might not have been eliminated. 

Here's my plan...

And here are the details...

The bed area:

1) The back wall of the room would get a striped paint treatment in a gray-blue, deep navy and white - similar to all the fancy clothes Tom wears while he designs. The other walls would be the same gray-blue. I'm not really sure what the rules on the paint were, but I'm going to say I can have enough paint to also have a light brown paint for the floor.

2) The bedding was the tricky part, because the actual beddings sold at Pearl River (online at least) were all very silky. And I know from the judges' critiques that would not go over well for Tom. So, I picked this blue fabric and would make bedding out of it. Practical for the show's time constraints? Maybe not, but again, I make the rules in this version of the show. :) [4 yards = $38.00]

3) These coordinating fabrics would be used to make pillow shams and some other details...more to come on that soon. [2 yards total = $19.00]

4) One of these lanterns would hang on each side of the bed. [2 lanterns = $39.00]

5) I would put these beach mats together towards the end of the bed to serve as a rug. [4 mats = $22.00]

6) Alright, now is when you have to start getting creative to follow my thinking, because this is when my construction helper would come in very handy. Basically, I would deconstruct most of the furniture in the room to switch it up. One of these baskets would go on each side of the bed topped with a white square from the existing furniture to make bedside tables. [2 baskets = $39.20]

7) I'd add these decorative pillows to the bed. [2 pillows = $15.00]

8) One of the bedside tables would get this alarm clock. [$9.50]

9) I would get extra pillows for the bed. I also would make two square benches from the existing furniture and "upholster" them in the coordinating fabrics from above and use some extra pillows as the stuffing. The two benches would go at the foot of the bed. [4 pillows = $42.00]

10) I would paint the bed frame dark brown and replace the headboard with one made out of these brown bamboo placemats. [12 placemats = $27.00]

The desk area:

11) The last piece of furniture I would make would be a desk that would be three squares of the bookshelf on the legs of the original side table. A square basket would go in two of the squares of the desk and under both of the benches by the bed. [4 baskets = $62.40]

12) This stool would be used as the chair for the desk. I would also buy two of the smaller stools to use the wood to make frames.  The frames would go along with Tom's picture for a gallery wall on the opposite wall of the room. I would frame simple handmade paper. [3 stools = $59.50; Paper = $9.00]

13) The wooden abacus is a little random, but the room needed something interesting.  A group of three would be used as art above the desk. [$19.50 total]

14) This bamboo candle would accessorize the room. [2 candles = $13.00]

15) This wine bottle holder would be used as a magazine and newspaper rack. [$10.00]

16) I would get three of these bowls (two striped and one checker) to hold office supplies at the desk. [3 bowls = $17.85]

17) And finally, various journals would be on/in the desk. [4 journals = $56.00]

All total, my room would total $497.95. :)

Mood Board Monday - PATCH NYC pillow inspired sunroom...

Pewter + Sage is hosting a special Mood Board Monday today. It's a collaboration with West Elm, so the inspiration items are some amazing PATCH NYC items. Looove them all.

Today, I picked the PATCH NYC pillow covers for my inspiration. So beautiful.

Actually, they were so beautiful and inspiring that I couldn't even fit everything in one "mood board." So, first up is the furniture...

1 - In my imaginary sunroom, the overlapping squares daybed in chocolate would face the large windows. [And, of course, the windows have a view of a luscious green garden.]

2 - On one side of the daybed, this sunflower bird bath would be used as a side table. The top would be fitted with a piece of glass to make it perfect for holding a drink as you lounge in the sun reading a book.

3 - No sunroom is complete without plants, so this topiary tree would be right at home.

4 - Two off white flip-top ottomans would serve as storage and a coffee table in front of the daybed.

5 - The sunroom would be grounded by this hand-tufted olive green wool rug.

6 - The sunroom is mixture of many different textures to help bring the outdoors in. This weathered wood floor lamp is the perfect fit for providing additional light in the evening hours.

7 - The large windows will be flanked on both sides by the Apex tower in chocolate.

8 - The seating area in the room will also include two modern weave armchairs.

9 - To bring a dramatic texture to the area, the coconut strips pendant will be hung above the seating area.

10 - For privacy, the windows will have bamboo blinds and rustic leather-top window panels.

11 - To wrap up the furniture, a side wall in the room will be home to this two-tier plant stand. The stand will also be fitted with glass to become a drink cart.

Next, the accessories...

Daybed - The daybed will be accessorized with three of the PATCH NYC pillows [in pear thistle, ivory rose and flax butterfly] and a bamboo/cotton plum throw. Above the daybed, there will be a collection of stepping stones from Home Depot. The stones will be arranged haphazardly, similar to a plate wall, but with a more rustic outdoorsy feel.

Chairs & Ottomans - The chairs will feature the slate pigeon PATCH NYC pillow, while the ottomans will hold a tray of lattice spheres.

Shelves - The shelves will feature a variety of items, from books to summer glass vases to volcanic ash sculptures.

"Drink Cart" - This beautiful yellow skies canvas will be hung above the newly fashioned drink cart. The cart will hold bottles of wine, water and other beverages to be served in the hammered acrylic drinkware in clover.

Considering the last item is a turtle garden statue, I probably didn't even need to label it as "random." But it would be a cute little accent to the sunroom to really bring home the ideas of nature and varying textures.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of my imaginary sunroom. Don't forget to check out the rest of the rooms at Mood Board Monday. [And if you want to check out my previous mood boards, click here and here.]

Mood Board Monday - Chic Monkey Nursery...

I am participating in my second Mood Board Monday today. [Check out my first one here.] Today's party is hosted by Comfort & Luxury and has some amazing mood boards linked. To participate you just had to pick between two beautiful Anthropologie chairs and go from there.

For some reason when I think of really cool chairs I always think about nurseries. [And I swear, I don't even have babies on the brain!] I just think nurseries should always have an incredible chair. Given, generally the chairs are rockers, but just go with me on this one anyways... :)

I chose the Bertram chair because I loved all the colors mixed throughout it. Mommy can snuggle up with her new baby boy and a soft throw from Anthropologie in the beautiful chair and kick up her feet on this fabulous burnt orange ottoman by Williams Sonoma. It is the perfect corner for reading books with a soft yellow rug, white floor lamp and white sleigh side table all from Pottery Barn Kids.

When it's bedtime for baby, he is put to sleep in the combo crib and changer with the mod monkey bedding set from Babies R Us. The coordinating hamper helps keep the room tidy. And to help with organization, the room is filled with a six-drawer dresser and storage unit, both from Ikea. The green and orange Ikea storage boxes hold both necessities and toys, including the adorable memory game.

The room also includes green dot panel curtains from Pottery Barn Kids, the orange tulip pendant and alphabet hooks from Anthropologie and, of course, a plush monkey from Babies R Us.

Thanks for checking out my amateur little mood board. And for some truly incredible boards, be sure to check out the rest of the mood board party! :)

Mood Board Monday...

Room Remix is hosting Mood Board Monday today...I should be working, but instead I am playing along. :)


The "rules" were pretty simple - pick one of two inspiration items, make a cute mood board and post about it. [Be sure to check out Room Remix for more information and the great designs others came up with!]

I choose the lime trellis fabric [upper left corner] as my inspiration item. From there, I found two coordinating fabrics - the pink trellis fabric and beach stripe fabric, both from Hancocks. And then I had about eight million ideas of fun rooms these fabrics should be used for...a summery outdoor room, a plant-filled sunroom, an ultra modern dining room.

But then I found this crazy amazing modern bright pink kids' chair and fell in love. So I finally decided on a modern preteen bedroom. For between the two chairs, I found this lime storage ottoman.

Across the room is the simple bed with bedding that just happened to coordinate perfectly. The bed would have modern tables on each side and two hot pink sparkle storage ottomans at the foot of the bed.

This totally cool preteen would also have this bright orange art deco table lamp and four-drawer dresser. The three fabrics would be used to make pillows for all over the bed and chairs, and maybe for an accent on curtains as well.

I didn't include any art on my mood board, but don't worry, I thought of that too. :) There would be blown up pictures of flowers [think the orange, lime, pink and teal in the fabrics] with giant white mats and big black frames.

Oh, and in case you don't click on the 42 links in this post, everything other than the fabrics was found at good 'ole Target.

Fab fall finds...

Unfortunately, summer is quickly drawing to an end. I don't know how it went by so quickly...but I do know that if I had a few of the items below, I would be much more excited for fall to come.

By the way, I definitely paid no attention at all to the prices of these wonderful items. So the $924 clutch, the $629 candle sticks and some other items are way out of the realm of reality. But there were a few pleasant surprises too, like the two cute green tops and the eye-catching orange skirt.

Only the coolest website ever...

I recently discovered the website Polyvore via an old post on Hostest with the Mostess. I've never really done the whole inspiration board thing before, but with this site it's so much fun I can't stop! The above inspiration board was made to go with the girls' night invitations I made for my friend's party. Try it - you'll like it!