what's on your...bathroom vanity

Hey everybody! I'm a little late to the game today - my computer had a tantrum and then I had a photo shoot. The dog ate my homework and there was traffic. Any other excuses I can think of? :)

At any rate, I'm here and happy to have a sun filled day in these parts. I'm still recovering from Nashville and I promise to give you the play by play on that amazing trip soon, but for today I'm joining my friend Sarah at 702 Park Project for her new series, 'What's on your...'. So if you are from one of the other wonderful blogs participating, welcome!

As some of you might know my bathroom is...compact. (how's that for diplomatic) So aside from some hand soap for the girls, I'm not really in possession of any bathroom real estate for my goodies, so instead I use my bedside table. #smallhouseproblems

Many of you have seen this table a time or two before, and admittedly it is always changing but there are a few staples that never leave.
- Flowers - OK, the flowers do change because eww, dead flowers by your bed wouldn't lead to sweet dreams. I go as fragrant as possible in this spot, hyacinth, peonies etc. to ensure a flowery deep breath to start my day.
- Candle from K Hall Designs - They have the best scents, their candles last forever and when you are done you have a beautiful hobnail container for, wait for it, your flowers! It all comes back to flowers people.
- And speaking of people, I keep pictures of my people close by as well as whatever stack of books I'm skimming reading at the time.

On top of my books is my tray that keeps all of my 'if I had a big vanity' things.

1. Eos lip balm. Holy softness! I'm highly addicted to this stuff. If you don't have it yet, you should. I put it on every night before bed, and about 100 times thru out the day. That and a bit of mascara is most often my 'beauty regime'. I also have their lotion. Aces.

2. Rubber bands. Necessary for long hair, taking it off after washing my face is the last thing I do before rolling over to go to sleep each night.

3. Essie No Chips Ahead. I put this on every two or three nights to keep my manicures in tact as long as possible. This stuff works like a charm.

4. Whatever jewelry I had on that day.

5. Flowers. I can't say it enough (apparently). Flowers everywhere.

So that's my pseudo vanity. Be sure to check out all of these other lovely ladies for a peak into their vanities.

Brittany French Blog

Design Chic

Domestic Charm

Eat. Sleep. Decorate.

Southland Avenue

The Grit & Polish

702 Park Project

What do you keep on your vanity? Do you have as many vanity items by your bed as you do in your bathroom? Did you play a drinking game with the word 'flowers' while reading this post? If not, I think you should start over again and play.

you had to be there

It's warm, sunny and Monday. Two out of three, not bad. How was your weekend? Did you wake up confused as to what day it might be? I did. Bummer when you think for a split second that it is Sunday.

Anyway, as those of you that are long time readers know, I can't go very long without changing things around these parts. It is chronic and there is no end in sight (sorry hubs). But often the changes are small enough that they aren't meaty enough for their very own post. (see, I now remember the word meat)

So I thought I'd gather them up and every once in a while do a little show and share - thus, the birth of 'you had to be there'.

Let's go into the living room, shall we? Don't look at the Barbie's on the floor but turn your eye up. I decided that keeping blue and white platters in a closet is just as bad as putting Baby in a corner. So I've added them above my favorite Pink Pagoda couple.

Since you are already looking up, you may also notice this.

Yes, I'm changing my dining room chandelier again.

We finally have a rug in our bedroom.

The hubs got it for me for Christmas. Which is in December. And it is now April. I know, I know.

This is happening in the entry hall (if you can call it that).

And finally, my ongoing battle with my mantel continues and I've changed it yet again. I pulled out some old sconces that I got at an estate sale way back when and slapped those suckers up. I had always thought I might spray them but I think I like the patina on the brass. And I love my pink candles.

Why yes, that is one of my lovely Indie Mats on the mantel. Good eye! Let it serve as a reminder - this is the last day you can enter to win these lovelies for your own home! Make sure you enter to win!

What about you? Do you move things around your house often? Made any small updates lately?

how did i do - 2012 goal review

Happy New Year to you! I hope you enjoyed a great holiday with family, friends or the remote. I enjoyed all of the above and truly had a relaxing and enjoyable time off. But the Christmas decorations are put away and the tree is at the curb, so its time to get to work.

Before I share my goals for 2013 I thought I'd see how I did with my 2012 goals.

1. Redo the master bedroom. Woop Woop. Check this sucker off. The big bedroom reveal was back in May but I've kept making updates as recently as last week (more on that later). I'm happy with the room but you know it's gonna keep evolving.

2. Repair and redo deck and stairs. I'm on a roll. This one was wrapped up in June and talk about a pandora's box of crazy. It was dirty, sweaty and a hell of a lot longer than planned, but we are digging it now and use it more than we ever did.

3. Plant a herb garden. Big fat goose egg on this one. I must have been drunk when I thought of this because the idea that my children would give me enough time to dedicate to a herb garden is laughable. We barely are able to get raking and mowing done. Maybe in a few years. Until then I'll just continue to watch Barefoot Contessa and pretend that's my herb garden.

4. Lighting. Well...sort of. I did get a new chandelier for the dining room, (which will be moving again soon - stay tuned) but I never got around to the hallway light and the deck got candle sconces rather than electric ones. So maybe 75% complete? I completed the 'light' but not the 'ing'.

5. Reupholster couch. It wasn't quick, and often not a pretty process, but I'm giving myself a gold star on this one. And on top of it all I discovered a new talent that led me to tackle this and this.

So there you have it. 4 out of 5. I gotta say, this is the best I've ever done sticking to a list. Will I be able to do as well this year? I'll post the list tomorrow and let you be the judge.

How about you? Do you make any goals? Have any new year traditions?

industrial sleepover

I've been in need of a new bedside table. The one I used in my bedroom reveal was on loan from my daughters' playroom. Turns out, they didn't think it was as wonderful next to my bed as I did. So back downstairs it went and the hunt was on.

At least though I knew what to look for because that table taught me I need more space. I don't know about you, but I keep a lot of crap important stuff by my bed and as dreamy (ha, no pun intended) as cleaning off my night stand on a regular basis sounds, it's not happening.

So more storage was needed. But also, I wanted something different. Something certainly different than anything I had. Nothing that screamed 'hello, I'm a bed side table. Won't you lie down?'

A tall order but nothing I can't find after a little digging. And right around my birthday, this table was found at a local shop, by the same name actually - found. Happy Birthday to me! It had plenty of storage and an industrial/vintage feel. This sucker can take a beating. Not that I'm particularly abusive with my furniture, but you know.

Getting this table for my birthday ment I've had it since July. So why haven't I posted about it until now? Because I wanted to live with it for a while. See how I liked it and get a feel for what I would want to do to it, if anything. I was waiting for my table to talk to me.

And now that I've lived with it I'm thinking I want to fresh it up just a bit. Specifically its color.

Ever since I picked up this orange greek key tray in Florida, I'm thinking orange might be the way to go. Pretty surprising I know since we all know my fears about orange. I must be growing. Or drunk.

So, what say you? Know of any good orange spray paint colors? I've got to have spray paint - can you imagine brushing this sucker? Any other color ideas?

now i can lay down - bedroom reveal

Grab your cocktail and lets get this party started! I'm happy to report that I'm done. I don't think the room is done (are they ever really done?) but I am done.

There has been blabbing aplenty on this room so I'll try to talk (type) less and show more. Most of you know how hard it is for me not to talk, so this will be a challenge.

To recap, here is what we started with. A sad little space. The space of a couple who was too tired working on the rest of the house to put much energy into said space (or apparently into proper pillow placement).

Initially the plan was to just throw some lipstick on it. Add a bit of paint and maybe some new bedding. It was to take no time at all. Ha! I'm such a fool. When will I ever learn?!

A little paint led to more changes and more changes. It was that whole 'and they told two people, and they told two people, and so on.' This turned into a lot of 'and so on's.'

Here is my 'and so on' space.

The new paint color was a bit darker than I had originally planned but it grows on me more every day. Its like Barry White, all warm and velvety. And there is no better room for Barry than the bedroom. Yep, I just went there.

The gold spray painted lamp shades were moved in here and I love their pop of black against the panels.

Bedside tables are still a topic of discussion (in my head) but these are a good fit for now. Both are castoffs from the basement.

I shopped my basement and brought up this old iron headboard and added ribbon trim to bamboo roman shades (also from the basement) to soften them up a bit.

Giving the ribbon treatment to the existing bedskirt and making my own monogramed shams meant that all I bought for the bed itself was a throw pillow from HomeGoods and new sheets (which I lurve) from TJMax.

The lampshade came with the lamp (purchased from Target about 5 years ago) but I never used it as it had a big rip along one side. Hmmm, maybe that is why it had been on clearance? 

I covered it with a 1/2 yard of fabric purchased with a Hobby Lobby coupon and a can of spray adhesive. I mean I used the coupon to buy the fabric. I don't think you can pay for things with spray adhesive.

The floor lamp was found at a garage sale while walking the dog. I only had $1 on me and the wonderful woman was happy to take it. Holla!

Another gallery wall in the making, although this one is certainly in process and will grow over time.

The old frames came from my parent's basement (what's with me and basements?) and my mom was nice enough to hand them over under one condition  - "don't you dare spray paint them!"

A rug is still needed (I'm waiting for one to speak to me but I'm told rugs don't speak, so that might be part of the problem), and I'd still LOVE to talk the hubs out of chucking that ceiling fan in favor of a great old chandelier. But for now - I'm just going to enjoy.

So in the words of the Beastie Boys - that's it that's all that's all there is.

P.S. - I made a challenge to myself at the beginning of this project to try and take a second look at things I already owned rather than going out and just buying a bunch of new stuff. After all, if I bought it at some point, there must be something I liked about it - right?. Almost everything in here was something I already owned and just altered. As for the items I did purchase - paint, ribbon, wrapping paper, fabric and a few estate/garage sale items - I did this whole room for less than $125. And that makes me happy.

P.P.S - For anyone who thinks my bed stays that straight all the time - here it is just 10 minutes after taking these pics.

Now what am I going to do with all this free time?

what's in a name

We are in the home stretch (whoop whoop) of this master bedroom and what is one of the last things you do before leaving your room each morning?

I would accept 'hide dirty clothes in closet' but really 'make the bed' is the answer I'm looking for.

Since the beginning I've had monogrammed shams in mind. Now we've already established my love of out-of-my-budget-linens, but I though since I wasn't going crazy with linens on the rest of the bed, I could certainly spring for two Euro shams.

Turns out I couldn't. Everything I found that would work was upwards of $75 each and still not right. And I'm not spending that much on something I don't absolutely love. I do have a pair of old Pottery Barn shams but their polka dot color wouldn't work. Too green and gray.

Other than the color though, they were in perfect shape. I couldn't see spending money on new shams when I had two perfectly good ones sitting in my perfectly organized linen closet. So... I bleached them.

I figured they would either sit in my closet forever and never get used, or I could take a chance that the bleach would work.

And luckily, it worked. Wonderfully. I should have done it long ago.

With crisp white (and wrinkly) shams in hand I called the local monogram shop that I've used several times before.

"How much would it be to monogram two Euro Shams?"

"Well, it depends on the size of the monogram and the type, but it would start around $150 per sham."

Excuse me?
Does that include the crack you are smoking, or is that separate?

Did she not know the conversation I'd been having with myself about cost? See paragraph above lady!

I mourned my perfectly stitched monogramed shams for about two minutes and then thought, I'm just going to have to do this on my own. Kirsten at Restored Style and Jenny at Little Green Notebook have both tried similar things. So I know I wasn't crazy. I can do this.

First step, finding the monogram. I played with some fonts on the computer until I found the style and size I wanted.

After printing out the monograms, I laid them out on my cutting board to cut out the letters. If you have 'B' 'O' or any letter that has a cut out, be sure to keep those cut outs as you will need them later.

With the monogram cut out, it was time to transfer the template to the sham. I taped it down super tight and put a book inside the sham to 1. prevent any bleed-thru from the paint and 2. keep as flat and hard a surface as I could for painting.

Time to get down to business. I used craft paint I already had on hand (fabric safe) and a little, very stiff, paint brush. It is super important to always brush away from the paper so you don't paint 'outside the lines'. Slow and steady wins the race. Full concentration is required. I even had to turn off Bravo (gasp) for a bit as it was too distracting.

After its all painted, pause for a quick 'Did I really just paint my bedding?!' and then

slooowly pull the tape and stencil off. I admit, I did this with only one eye opened.

Tadah!

Wahoo!

Now just lather, rinse and repeat with the second sham. I did lay the second sham onto of the first one (after it was dry of course) to make sure to line up my stencils. It was faint, but just strong enough to help.

Now I've got what I was picturing in my head and didn't have to spend $$$ to get it. This project was 100% FREE since I already owned everything I needed.

This means I can cross another thing off my 'f' list:

• find a rug
• finish art project for walls
• finish bedding
• find bedside table alternative
• finish seating - 80% finished

I'm making one final push this weekend and then I'm slapping a big old 'done' sign on this sucker.  Wish me luck that I keep my momentum going for a few more days. What do you have planned this weekend? Tackling any projects? Tackling any BBQs?

there is something on your skirt

Happy Thursday all! I'm slooowly inching my way towards finishing this blasted bedroom. Close enough that I'm down to the details...mostly. And what is more detail-ish than a bedskirt.

I have a bit of a linens fetish. D. Porthault is like porn to me. But obviously that is a bit out of budget and I couldn't throw out my perfectly fine white Target bedskirt. Although, (cover your ears bedskirt) if I ever win the lottery you better believe I'm going to roll around in my D.Porthault bed all the live long day.

the old room and plain bedskirt

I was so inspired by my lovely friend Tiffany's bedskirt and the magic Freckles Chick worked on her curtains that I thought I could certainly slap some jazz hands on this thing. And while I am sans sewing machine, I can work some mean magic with an iron.

I love a big red slash on a price tag.

 One free bedskirt, $3 heat and bond and $3 ribbon gave me a nice little touch.

Such a simple project that adds a nice finish, I should have tackled it long ago. I measured the height that I wanted the ribbon to sit and then used a spacer to keep myself straight. Start to finish it was only a one episode of RHONJ project. (I like to measure all projects by the 'Bravo clock')

My bed never stays made for very long with these two around. 

So the list is shrinking. Just a few things left to knock out:

• find a rug
• finish art project for walls
• finish bedding
• find bedside table alternative
• finish seating

That's a heck of a lot of 'f's' on one list.

Are you making any progress on your list(s)? Any big projects that seem to never end? Any suggestions on how to teach my dog how to make the bed?

wrap it up

A few weeks back I mentioned a brainstorming moment brought to you by the number 4 (aka my 4-year-old daughter Amelia).

To recap: my bedroom has a new coat of paint and is ready for some 'flair', Office Space style.

I had to start somewhere so I grabbed a mirror I was luke warm on. But when I stepped back to eye my trusty template, I decided some wrapping paper might be that little somethin' somethin' the space needs. Only less carnival-ish wrapping paper.

For those of you that can't see inside my head, I was thinking something more like this

via Pinterest

Or this. 

via Little Green Notebook

And yes, I know that those examples feature lovely and possibly pricey wallpaper. But I'm on a budget baby, so I'm going for the look for less option. 

I wanted to stick with the blue pallet I had (in my mind) and go for something soft, soothing, dreamy. Don't those words make you feel sleepy and relaxed? Your getting sleepy...

After a long conversation with myself at the art supply store (please tell me you talk to yourself while shopping) I found a winner.

Dogwood Wrapping Paper via Paper Source

Lovely Chinoiserie inspired dogwood. With great pops of black. A room is not complete with out a bit of black. (feel free to knit that on a pillow)

To hang the paper I used 3M Command Poster Strips. I bought the bulk pack and used 8 strips on each sheet.

Starting at the top of the wall I positioned the first paper exactly where I wanted it to sit between the window and the other wall. Then, I put the second piece below that, layering it over the first piece just slightly in order to have the pattern flow a bit better. I repeated this until I had covered the wall from ceiling to floor. 

The paper is 20" x 30" a sheet and I used 3 pieces for each wall@ $3.50 a sheet. So for just over $20 I had myself two budget friendly panels.

this picture is how I learned that I needed to overlap the pieces

A good start, but it needed to be framed to look 'finished'. I thought about getting some wood trim but then immediately thought about needing to prime and paint and cut said trim so that was quickly axed. Instead I went with the easier softer option of black grosgrain ribbon. (more black)

The command strips were wider than the ribbon so instead I just lightly glued it to the paper...not the wall. Glue + wall = hubs takes glue gun away.

the branches don't look black in this picture but I promise they are

I repeated the same process on the other side and with that, all done.

Both panels took about 45 minutes. It would have been even shorter if I lived in a newer house that had  plum walls. Nothing is level in this joint. 

I am pretty smitten with my little panels. And I don't think you would know it was wrapping paper if I hadn't told you. Damn, I shouldn't have told you. Look at my expensive wallpaper!

Can't show you a wider shot of the room yet as there are several more projects going on up in there. (how's that for a tease?!)

I am sooo happy with it. I love the look and it gives the room just what I needed to get my groove back. My design groove that is. My other groove is just fine thank you very much.

What are you grooving on in your house these days?