Tips, Tricks and Tools...

Sometimes I actually sit and wonder how in the world did I even think for myself before Pinterest?  How did any of us accomplish anything creative or get by in life without mixing your own cleaning products? There is not much in life that you can't do without a reference to Pinterest.

Moving into a new house or loving the one you're with and remodeling is prime time for Pinterest deep dives. I've collected some of my favorite tips, ticks and tools that I've pinned onto my boards for the new house or for future projects.

1. Can a girl ever have too many pillows on her bed?  That's even a silly question.  Here's a great pin that helps you get the Elle Decor cover for your own bed.

2. Dream laundry room that's both pretty and functional??  So you are finally building your dream house or your ripping out that old laundry room and it's grand linoleum floor?  This is a great reference!  

3. This one is like the holy grail of remodeling and updating.  Dina from Honey & Fitz always has great references for tips on remodeling or new homes.  Her blog is one of my daily reads.

4. STRIPES!  I love the look and hate the work.  But Megan over at Honey We're Home  has some awesome tips for stripe painting.

5. This is a favorite of mine... pattern mixing.  If you're like me sometimes you wonder if maybe those 3 pillows you have are maybe a little TOO much.  Or if the rug with the pillows with the throw is maybe a little overboard on the eyes.  Shannon at Burlap and Lace came to the rescue with her post and how to on pattern mixing.  It's amazing. 

So there's a few of my faves that I've definitely referred to my Design board on my pinterest site for ideas and tips with the new house.  Especially during this loooong winter some of us more than others are having, take a look at these with your coffee or hot cocoa this week! 

XO
Jaime 

Waterlogue Rehab...

I am so not one of those "Happy Monday" people or those "do you have a case of the Monday's" people... so let's just cut right to the chase in the hopes of getting this week moving already!

As usual I caved to the blog and Instagram hype of the Waterlogue app.  If I were a 16 year old girl or James Earl Jones in a Sprint commercial, I'd say it's totes amaze!  I've almost if not for sure waterlogued (yep, I think it will quickly become a verb) every picture in my phone.

Seriously, how could I not...

I took this one at Arlington National Cemetery before the holiday when my sister and I participated in their annual wreath laying.  I highly recommend this if you live in the DC metro area as a tradition on your holiday list, btw!  It's a sadly beautiful experience.  The waterlogued picture turned out amazing!

I took this one last summer in the NYC on 5th Ave.  That first building with the black and white was the Louis Vuitton store and with the cab and the 5th Ave sign sticking out, it made for an awesome picture. And even more awesome in watercolor form! 

So this one is a picture from the real estate listing of my first home that I just recently sold.  My agent had professional photos taken and they were amazing.  And as most first homes do, it holds a very special place in my heart even though I moved on to bigger and better.  I poured every ounce of design, remodeling and styling I had in my little heart on this little place. So it's only proper that it gets made into a water color to hang in my new house and every future new house. 

And my favorite waterlogued picture is this one.  I am so in love, I almost want to blow it up to a mural.  It's from Little Italy in Baltimore when my mom, sister and I went for a summer festival. I fell in love with this little section of Baltimore and it's cute duplexes with fences and even fire hydrants painted in green, white and red like the Italian flag.  Our Italian blood runs very deep, so we had a blast walking around this little neighborhood with the short, chubby, Italian grandmas who could pass for any woman over 65 in my family, passing us cookies and canoloi's, big heaping spoonfuls of ravioli and meatball subs and of course the kind smiles and love only an Italian grandma or aunt can give!  So this one will be printed and hung for sure!

Seriously, you have to buy this app right now.  It's the best $3 on an app you will ever spend.  I will even send you $3 back if you hate it.  Ok, I won't but that's how much I love this app.  Whoever created it is on my genius list with the fine folks at Starburst who created the FlavorReds bag. :) 

XO,

Jaime

Fab Friday... Home Edition

Haaaaaaappy Friday!  It's been a crazy short week filled with snow and crazy low temps for the DC area, so sleeping in inside my warm cozy bed tomorrow will be especially nice.

Fab Finds aren't just limited to the stores.  They can come from your grandparents house, your mom's basement, your basement... So today's finds are some family finds, some other rooms in my house finds and of course some Home Goods finds, that accessorized my no stranger to blogland... Ikea Vittsjo shelving unit. As seen here...

I used this fab find as a room divider between my open dining/living combination.  I love using open shelving as a divider because it does it's job separating spaces, but still give you the open feel.  And because I can't ever leave well enough alone when it comes to design, I spray painted it gold.  So without further ado, here she is with all her added touches and muuuuuuuch debated styling...

So first up is this awesome pink vase/vessel that I found at Home Goods on a trip specific to find only items for this shelf.  After I gathered what I had, it needed more, so off to Home Goods it was.  It does it's job well, it adds my much desired pink for the pop of color and it adds some much needed height.  At only $14, it was fo sho a fab find.

Next up, the stack of dishes...

These were my grandmother's.  I have about a million Sunday dinner memories on these plates.  Piles of spaghetti and manacotti and lasagna piled up on these plates for many, many years even prior to my existence. So these girls have some wear on them.  The kind of wear that you just can't find in a store and definitely not the kind of heart that you can find in a store.  And pink and gold... it's like she meant them to be mine over 60 or so years ago when she and my grandfather were married and got this china.  They've both passed about 15 years ago, so this stack will always have a special place in my home.  And never shut up in a cabinet.  

Another special find is my tea set.

My great grandmother got me this tea set I think when I was around 3 or so.  It has over 30 years of love and wear on it and like those plates, holds a special place in my heart and home.  And over those 35 years or so I've only lost one of the saucers and the top to the sugar jar. Through many, many moves since I was 3, it's amazing how I've managed to keep it in tact. 

Onto another Home Goods find, those amazing rose gold boxes.  

Staying true to our childhood, an empty box can cause pure joy.  They were $3 and definitely add so much style to that shelf that I can hardly take it.  I swear I admire those boxes when I walk by or sit and watch tv just about every day!  (And what shelf would be complete without a copy of the Domino or Perfectly Imperfect Home book?!) 

Last but not least, an antique store find.

You can't really tell in this picture, but the vase is a light shade of pink.  I can't think of anything better than a milk glass vase except a pink milk glass vase!!!  She was only $12!!  There was no way that she wasn't coming home with me.  And next to a tea cup from my grandmother's china, the two go together like they have been dating for years!! (How awesome is the flower on the inside of the cup too?)  I may sound like I'm 85 and on my front porch rocker, but they totally don't make things like they used to and that tea cup and milk glass vase are perfect examples of that!

So there's my shelf and it's Fab Finds that live on it.  Hope everyone has an awesome weekend and if you're struck by those single digit temps this week like I am, STAY WARM!!

Stylishly yours,

Jaime

My little corner of the world for today...

Since moving in back in October, I was under the grossly naive assumption that everything would come together bing, bam, boom.  From the moment I saw this house, I knew it was mine.  I've had the design and the colors and furniture placement burned into my brain even before it was mine. As is the case most of the time when buying and selling, it takes a lot of time and A LOT of stress.  My case was no different for sure. It was a loooong summer.  So when it was finally mine I became totally overwhelmed and found myself in such a big design slump.  All of my ideas seemed to run out of my ears and disappear and honestly I didn't even have the desire to do anything.  Totally unlike me.  Projects and styling and moving furniture has always been my outlet, the only thing that made me forget about everything else going on in my life.  And once I moved in and had so much more space to fill and paint and style, I wanted nothing to do with it.

I say all that to say I'm slowly coming back to life and getting out my hammer and paint brush!  And even after being here for 3 months, this wall is finally done with a capital D...

(So obviously I'm still working on my picture quality!)

That peacock blue was one of those thoughts filed in the big design filing cabinet in my brain.  I love it.  I've always loved it and never once doubted how great it would look.  The rest of the room is not as bold, it's a nice light grey. They go together like carrots and peas.

Most of the pictures around the tv are from antique or thrift stores.  I just started at one end and took a stab at it and I must say I love it.  I feel like it's the perfect scale for the tv and wall.  And those sconces... I am so in love with them.  I love the fact that they are ribbons.  Here's a closer look...

I found them this past weekend at a new antique store I found.  They were only $40 for the pair.  I got a pair of candles for them, but only one pack of course because I wasn't thinking, but the more I look at them, the more I kinda like them without candles. I don't know... we'll see. They are currently on my list of top antique store finds.

And my little reading corner, well she's a work in progress.  I love that chair.  I got her in Home Goods on clearance because the legs were scratched up.  What pretty girl doesn't have a few dings and scratches?  So she came home with me.  BUT I'm really thinking a big plushy, comfy chair with an ottoman will serve me better to sit down with a good book.  I'm on the hunt.  But until then, this is perfectly pretty and acceptable. The mirror on the floor??  I'm digging it there.  My mom came over and said she thinks it looks dumb. Word for word... It looks dumb.  Not the first thing we've disagreed about and certainly will not be the last, so I'm ok with my defiance of her opinion.  And in true daughter form, maybe that's why I like it even more.. HA!

In keeping with the reading corner theme, my two favorite books... Charlotte's Web and Anne of Green Gables.  I love them there.

So that's my little corner of the world for today.  I promise to get better at pictures! 

Small change, BIG impact!

My favorite thing is always the little things.  An unexpected card, finding a few dollars in your pocket, a text that makes you smile... you know, just those little things that make you feel warm and smiley!!  Well those emotions even boil over to design for me.  Maybe even more so in some cases.

In this case most especially.  Can we talk about knobs?!  I think they are on the top of the small change, big impact list.  Something as small as a knob or a pull can change the look of your kitchen or an old dresser you have, or anything really, even some cute boxes you have.

I stopped into design and craft heaven this weekend, Hobby Lobby aka HobLob.  While strolling the aisles, which is pretty dangerous, I come across the knob and pull aisles and wouldn't you know it... they were 1/2 off.  Have you been down that aisle?  They have glass knobs and pulls, they have detailed and painted knobs, they even had different colored jeweled knobs that would look so cute in a girl's room.  My point is, these knobs and pulls aren't just your plain jane's or low quality, they were so chic and rich looking and ranging from $1.99 to $9.99 for some of the larger ones.  Go to some of the tile or design store and you'll pay up to triple that!  And then they were giving us an even greater gift and knocking them 1/2 off!

I like the look of different knobs on the drawers and cabinets in kitchens.  And it's a great money saver too. The larger, more ornate knobs and pulls are a little more, so use those on your drawers which in typical kitchens, there are less of than cabinets.  And that's just what I did.  Check out the difference it made!

Peace out boring silver, hello, shiny black!  As you can see my appliances are black and you can see the touch of black in my counters too.  Black just make so much more design sense, right?! I am so in love with the touch of gold in the drawer knobs.

I was off by 3 knobs of course.  I stood in that aisle for at least 15 minutes picking them out and going over in my mind a good 4 - 5 times trying to count how many I'd need.  Because as usual I did not go into HobLob with the intention of picking these up. That's where the best projects come from though, right?!

Fab Friday

The best day of the week is here! And here's some fab finds for the week!

As usual Target never disappoints. How stinking cute is this bag for Spring?

http://www.target.com/p/merona-satchel-handbag-with-removable-crossbody-strap-green/-/A-14918109#prodSlot=large_1_1

And this beauty definitely lives up to its name and makes me blush at its adorableness....

http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/kate-spade-new-york-idiom-make-me-blush-boxed-pave-pendant-necklace/3628302?origin=category-personalizedsort&contextualcategoryid=0&fashionColor=&resultback=1492&cm_sp=personalizedsort-_-browseresults-_-1_5_B

My car can't pass my Target and my cart can't pass the Nate aisle...

http://www.target.com/p/nate-berkus-border-knit-throw-white-and-black/-/A-14697451

And I'm fairly certain my whole life has gotten infinitely better with the creation of the statement necklace! Seriously, how were we just walking around a few years ago without huge baubles and bright colors draped around our necks?!  And then give me a great price, so I can buy oh I don't know, 7 or 8?!?!  Check out this one I got a Forever 21 (which I always feel like people are looking at me like I'm 60 years old shopping for a crop top when I'm in there! Is that just me?!) and I looove it.  Check out the whole page and seriously hit up Forever 21 this weekend.  Who cares if we have 401K's, comfortable footwear, and complain the music is way too loud in there... we can shop there in our 30's and 40's!! ;) 

http://www.forever21.com/Product/Product.aspx?BR=f21&Category=acc_jewelry-necklace-statement&ProductID=1000109832&VariantID=

And those are some things I think are fabulous today.  I also am loving the fabulousness of a 4 day weekend!!! 

Lamps on the cheap

Can we talk about how much of an impact lamps can make?  And can we talk about how much impact they can make on your wallet too?!  Last year was a like a literal light bulb moment for me.  Get it? :)  I don't think there are very many things that I used to decorate the new house that are brand spanking new.  I just don't get that same warm fuzzy if I buy it new than if I hunt at antique/thrift/consignment/etc... That feeling that you get when you find the right shaped lamp or the perfect sized accessory... and then it's 3 bucks!!!  You just don't get that feeling at the mall.  (Ok, sometimes I get that warm fuzzy in the mall too, or at Home Goods, or the outlet mall, etc, etc, etc!)

And then looking for a PAIR of lamps?!?!  Forget it, 3 months later and a defiance to spend $300, you still have nada.  So, enter the consignment shop and these beauties (in mid transformation).  The flower took a few coats of paint to cover, but the shape is exactly what I wanted. I love a plain jane lamp.

And here's the best part... They were $18 FOR THE PAIR!!!  Seriously, where are you going to find that anywhere else?! 

So here's a not so good pic of where they were intended, but you can still appreciate their beauty in a dark iPhone pic.  (The headboard is in since this pic too!) 

Happy Thursday!!