answering a few of your questions...

Hi everyone. I will have another redesign to share with you soon...really, I will...but in the meantime, I've had a few questions about my master bedroom makeover that I thought I'd answer for you now.

Q: "I LOVE your round white framed mirror above your dresser and was wondering where you got it from?"

A: I hate to disappoint you, but I've had the mirror for probably seven or eight years! I purchased it long ago on clearance at Linens-n-Things. You gotta love clearance. And re-purposing things. I do anyway.

Q: "I was also wondering what shade of white you used on your walls… or did you just pick up a can of white paint? I’m wanting to paint my walls white and I’m not sure what shade to go with."

A: I chose Behr's "Moon Rise" in a flat enamel. I love Behr paint (Home Depot's brand) and the flat enamel helped play down the crazy texture on the walls and ceiling that used to drive me crazy. Now it's just sort of soft and hazy white. Flat enamel is also washable, which is nice. Although I must admit, I am not the wall-washing type.

Q: "Did you have trouble finding an all-white comforter?"
A: Nope. I went to my local Ikea and purchased their Alvine Medaljong duvet cover. It's all-white but with a woven jacquard detail that adds depth and detail when you look at it close-up.
 
Hope this helps! :-) Have a GREAT day!

fifty cent masterpiece

So do you like how I make a big announcement ("I'm back!!") and then promptly disappear for a couple of weeks? I just like to keep ya guessin'! On your toes! Well, I have been sooo busy, both with Nesting Instincts clients (yay!!) and with the rest of my real life. I've had so much fun with my clients, handing out opinions left and right (one thing I'm never short on)...but most of them are in the midst of larger, long-term redesigns as opposed to one-day jobs where I can take pictures. Because I know how much you all like a good before-and-after story. I do too! But unfortunately, those haven't been the kind of jobs I've worked on recently, so we will just all have to be patient while my clients do the hard work implementing some of my suggestions.  

But I have made it to a few garage sales recently. For those of us that live in Oregon, there is a definite (though unspoken) garage-sale season which will officially kick off after Memorial Day weekend. But, there have been several brave souls scattered about the city which have taken their fate (or at least the weather) into their own hands and offered their junk...I mean treasures...up for sale. I've nabbed a few of them recently.

At the top of this post is a cute little original oil painting, very nicely done I think, which I scored for...I'm almost embarrassed to tell you this...$.50. In case you get the decimal point mixed up, that's fifty CENTS.

Then, the chandelier in the box...Shiny Boring Builder's Special from 1989. Let there be no doubt, this is a BEFORE picture. I haven't had time yet to make it into an AFTER but I'm hoping I can soon. I can't decide whether to make this a "safe" re-do with white paint and crystals, or a "funky" re-do with...well, I won't tell you with what, but trust me...it would be funky. IF I could pull it off. Haven't decided yet...but it's for my dining room. Confession: there's still a gaping hole in the ceiling where the fan used to be before my big dining room makeover a couple of years ago.

Mostly, recently, I've been spending time with this little hearthrob:

and these two cuties:

but I did get to see her recently:

...and she was just as gorgeous and funny in person as she is in her cookbook and on her blog. The line was too long for me to wait for her to sign my book, so I just lurked for a while and shot this photo on the way to the restroom...just to prove that I was in the same room as the Pioneer Woman! (I know, my photojournalistic skills are...stunning.)

So there you have it, friends! I'm having fun, designing for friends and living life...but man, it's a busy time. Three kids, five and under...need I say more? But I'm not complaining. I feel blessed. Now if I could just get my own house in order! Ah well. That's what tomorrow's for. :-)

my weekend (or week-day!) must-reads...

my husband's photo, taken last spring...my photo-editing

I've been spending a lot of time gaining inspiration from the blogosphere lately. I've had sick kids all week and so while they watch more TV than usual, I've had a chance to be on the computer more than usual. I've been editing photos left and right...it's my new addiction...and reading blogs, which is an old addiction. Sometimes blogs can be sensory overload...one thing leads to another, leads to another...and before you know it you are deeply entranced in the personal writings of someone that you would never have the chance to rub shoulders with in real life. But suddenly you can read about what inspires them....you can see pictures of their most personal spaces...get recipes from their favorite foods...and hear their tips on photography. It's a pretty amazing thing when you think about it.

So, without further ado...and in no particular order...here are some of the things that have been inspiring to me lately. I hope you follow the links and check them out - although consider yourself warned - you will find CRAZILY creative people!

So I'm in love with The Pioneer Woman. She is truly a Jill of all trades and seems to be a master of all of them. She's a former city girl who fell in love with a cowboy. Now she lives on a ranch with her husband and four kids. The question is not, what does this woman do that is noteworthy?, but rather....what does she NOT do? She's recently written and published her own cookbook, she homeschools her four children, she is a seriously GIFTED photographer, a witty and entertaining writer. Seriously, people. If I were less of a person I would hate her. But I've chosen the path of love instead.

Have you heard of Amy Atlas? I've had her website in my bookmarks for about the last year and a half. How in the world did I miss the fact that she has a blog? Seriously. I went over there yesterday and spent a ridiculous amount of time drinking in the (literally!) eye candy. She creates high-end dessert tables that are so elegant and coordinated and look positively yummy. I think I gain a little bit of weight each time I look at them...but it's so worth it.

I just discovered Marianne from Songbird. She has a beautiful blog and is another one of those ridiculously talented women....ladies, she makes her own clothes. Gulp. And I'm not talking about how she wraps a piece of fabric around her body, toga-fashion. I'm talking cute, detailed, boutique-quality clothes. Oh, and curtains, and home decor, and...and...these plaster roses that I have totally fallen in love with. It actually looks easy enough for me to do. I WILL try these one day. Really, I will.

spotted on Etsy: Organic Baby Boots in green, by infusion

I also spend a lot of time window-shopping on Etsy. Some of you have asked how you can view my list of favorite things from other sellers on Etsy. If you go to my Etsy shop, you'll see a sidebar on the right. Scroll down the list of options, and "Favorites" is one of them. But, if you need me to hold your hand...here's the link. I'm considering going back to my "Friday's Fabulous Finds" posts because there is SO much handmade beauty and creativity out there, and I really like to spotlight artists and their work here.

Okay, if you stuck with me all the way through my wordy little brain-dump, thank you. And perhaps you should check your temperature. Fevers are going around, you know. :-)

going crazy with silver paint

Okay, so I've decided to share a few of my silver paint projects with you, even though they're not done, in order to ask for your help on a couple of them. But first, here was a spur-of-the-moment project. I had this fake orange pumpkin sitting around. (Don't we all?) Now that my walls are blue, instead of yellow, somehow the orange pumpkins just don't look quite right.

BEFORE...

AFTER... I already had the silver paint out, which I had been using on the projects below, and decided to see what a silver pumpkin would look like. It was craft paint, rather than spray paint, so a fair amount of orange still showed subtly through the silver. I can't decide if I like this look or not. But, when the paint was still wet, I also showered it with a liberal coating of clear glitter. Yep, that's the one and only thing I was able to accomplish with my new glitter before the glitter incident. So now I have a silvery, glittery pumpkin. Again, not so sure if I'm in love with this or not. But at least it's not orange anymore!

Here's the real reason for the purchase of the silver paint. Yep, recently I've been extremely expired by all the cherry blossom branches I've seen on walls in magazines recently. The latest issue of Elle Decor showed designer Cynthia Rowley's dining room on the cover, with wall paper (of her own design) depicting a modern-looking version of cherry blossoms.

Inside was another story of a young designer (can't remember his name off the top of my head) and his dining room also had cherry blossoms. These two examples looked vastly different from each other, but I still loved the idea. So, since I'm planning to repaint my bathroom sometime soon anyway, I thought I'd try out the idea on my bathroom walls. There is tile wainscoting up to about 3 1/2 or 4 feet off the ground, so I'm only planning to paint the area above the wainscoting.

These branches literally took about five minutes. They were so easy. The flowers - not so much. In fact, this is where I need your help! I want to find a stamp of a cherry blossom that I can use to quickly and easily put uniform cherry blossoms on these branches.
I found this one on Etsy that would be perfect, except that it's a typical rubber stamp, intended for use on smooth paper and fabrics. I have very textured walls, which will need a stamp made out of a sponge or something similar. But this one, by Etsy seller Corrabelle (who has adorable stamps, by the way!), is the right size (about 1 1/4 inches). Any ideas where I could find something like this, but appropriate for use on walls?

...and then things got a little crazy and I started painting my fireplace screen. So, could use a stamp for this too, because those little flowers are enough to drive you nuts! As you can see, neither the walls nor the screen are finished. Still waiting for that elusive stamp. Any ideas, my genius blogging friends??

my craftiness (in more ways than one!)

Just a quick post...checking in with nothing to say, really...but I went to Michael's yesterday and bought just a few things. Have you ever noticed how easy it is to buy crafty things, but how difficult to actually DO something with them? For me that's the case, anyway. I find if I don't follow my vision right away for the things I purchase, they just get tossed in a closet to possibly never get used...or at least not for what I originally intended them, anyway. So I'll give you a little list, and you can try to guess what I'm going to use them for:

silver craft paint
rounded tip paint brush (about 1/2 inch)
white Martha Stewart coarse glitter w/ glittering glue

Here's another hint: there are two different projects represented here. Oh, I also selected some paint colors for my bathroom...and a new light fixture...and am going to schedule painting for next week. My husband will be out of town. Isn't that the best time to work on projects? Especially those that he might complain about the money spent on them. He'll just come home, and - voila! - I'm just sure the bathroom will look like it's from the pages of a magazine! (wink) At which point he will be so overcome by its beauty he will neglect to ask how much it cost. Hmm. If you know my husband at all, you will know this is a bit of a pipedream...but hey! A woman can dream, right??

my living room tour

I've disovered that it's a whole lot more nerve-wracking to share pictures of my own abode than it is to share pics of someone else's. I post photos on here all the time from my client redesigns, but never has my pulse raced quite so much as when posting my own pictures. I guess when it's your own home, you tend to be hyper-aware of all the little imperfections - all the projects still on the to-do list - all the areas that need improvement. But at the same time, our homes are so personal...they're a reflection of who we are, how we live, and what we perceive to be beautiful.

So I don't take it lightly when a client lets me into their home to make changes left and right. I know how personal HOME is. Above is a photo of what you see when you first walk in my front door. My house was built in 1927, and the front room is a rectangle that I've divided into dining room on the left, living room on the right. (Here are some pics of my dining room on Design*sponge.) This piano is right smack in the middle of the two, directly opposite the front door. Ever since I repainted this room back in the spring, I've yet to hang something over the piano! Crazy, I know...but it's painful to mess up those walls that are beautiful and unblemished once again. I'm considering my big crazy gold garage-sale mirror (after I paint it white...I think). But it definitely needs something hanging there again.

On the same wall, to the right of the hallway, is our "entertainment center". It's actually a cool old mid-century buffet that we got for free from Chad's grandma. She was going to take it to Goodwill...brought it instead to a garage sale we were having...and our poor customers never got to see it. It came home with me instead. I always intended to paint it, but now I'm sort of partial to it's original darker-wood finish. I'm not super happy with the DVD player, receiver, speakers, and cable box just sitting on top, out in the open - but I don't have any other ideas for them at the moment. Allegedly, they have to have room to "breathe" so I can't stack them all on top of each other. Any ideas, anyone?

On the wall directly opposite of the TV is our lovely couch. I say "lovely" but what I really mean is "it's the only one I've got and it's functional". We bought it almost 8 years ago, before we got married, back when I was into olive green and dark purple. I've painted the walls since then (they used to be pale yellow) and have removed all the purple, and now I just treat the couch as if it were neutral. Pretending it's neutral and decorating accordingly almost makes me believe it. Anyway, this end of the couch is where all the blogging magic happens. See the laptop hidden down on the lower shelf of the end table? (The table was my grandma's, by the way. It's a bit rickety but I'll use it till it falls apart.)

Here's a close-up that's really a "before" - I'm planning to switch this up and add some fall stuff, but it hasn't happened yet. It's 91 degrees in Portland today, people! Yikes. I keep thinking fall's here, but it turns out to be a false alarm. Perhaps Fall is waiting for me to decorate before showing up?

Here's the full view of the couch and my two Ikea tables that are currently being used as my coffee table. I had another one, but I got tired of it. So it's in the basement.

And here's the wall perpendicular to the couch and TV. Sorry about the lame photo. It's always hard to take pics of windows, isn't it? That AC unit in the window - how can one object be both a lifesaver and a bane to my existence, all at the same time? It's so necessary in the summer - we don't have central air and can't install it (old house, long story). But yet it's so UGLY. And, of course, my two Ikea chairs with slipcovers from Ebay. How I adore white slipcovers! Seriously. My daughters colored on these with markers and smeared jelly on them. I simply put them in the wash and started over. Voila! Love them.

I'm hoping to show you more as I get a little farther into seasonal decorating. I'll do a little for fall - but Christmas - well, that's my thing! I'm getting excited just thinking about it. :-) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little tour of my humble abode!

Welcome to my front porch!

Someone in blogland hosted a Front Porch Party last week (although I've already forgotten who...do you know who it was?). Well, I showed up too late to even go to the party or participate! Total social faux-paux. However, I liked the idea so much I figured I'd participate anyway (please tell me it's not lame to have a party all by yourself?!) I thought I could at least invite each of you to visit my front porch. Sit down and have a sip of lemonade with me. Or if you're a fellow Oregonian I'll give you some hot tea - and we can at least pretend it's sunny and warm. Because that's the closest we're going to get to summer at the moment, apparently. In our dreams.


Anyway - my recently planted annuals on my front porch. I LOVE sweet potato vine! I'm usually pretty thrifty when it comes to buying annual flowers, but I'll pay a little extra for this beauty. It's large, chartreuse leaves are just so dramatic.


Have a seat - well, only if you're pint-sized. This little set is the perfect size for my three-year-old. Looks and feels just like the real thing (it's painted metal) but is tiny. Too cute. :-)


I'll let you sit here - these chairs are grown-up size. Bought them at a garage sale a few years back for $5 each. They were already painted this fabulous blue color. They've weathered quite a bit (it's funny - leaving them in the rain for like two years will do that!) and I think they're just perfect now. My little plant stand/table was a recent purchase from TJ Maxx for $12.

It's hard to tell, but this is actually a huge terra cotta planter in my front yard, with a baby hydrangea in it. Which goes to show how absolutely enormous those irises are in the background. They weren't blooming yet when I took this photo, but I think one or two are finally starting to open up now. It's a shady area so they have to s-t-r-e-t-c-h for sunlight, which apparently makes them huge.

And the Englishy-cottagey jumble that is part of my perennial garden. This is blooming a little more now (I took these pics last week) but you get the idea. See the huge plant with the little pale pink/lavendar blossoms? It's a perennial geranium and is on a secret mission to take over the world. I have no doubts it will be successful very soon, too. It is SO prolific and keeps sending volunteers all over the place.

I took these photos during a random sunbreak one afternoon last week. Who knew it would be the LAST sunbreak for quite some time? I am really living vicariously through all my blog friends who live in warmer parts of the country. Baby steps to summer, baby steps to summer... :-)

the thrill of the hunt...

I thought I'd share more fun garage sale finds, this time from last weekend. I went to just a few sales with my parents and found lots of treasures. My husband made the mistake of allowing me to take all the cash in his wallet - $40, people - and I can proudly say I came home with $15 left. Unheard of! (Would have had $20 left but had to loan my dad $5.) You can tell it atually wasn't a GREAT garage sale day or all that money would've been gone. Anyway...enough little details...let's get to the fun stuff:

fun mid-century vase...my color, too...for $1

a little footed bowl - blue Carnival glass, which I've always loved and now can start collecting (provided they are all only $2, like this was!) :-)

four cute little dessert dishes ($2 total), and two matching cake plates in the background (which my mom thinks are Princess glass...I wouldn't know...just think they're pretty) for $6 total

This sweet bowl and pitcher for $3

This Longaberger pie plate for ONE DOLLAR

These small Fire King baking dishes for $1 each

Plus a silk tree for a client for only $4...a small handtruck for $5...man I had a good time. :-)

Precious Style's Cutest Cupcake Contest

Remember these cupcakes? I entered them into Precious Style's Cutest Cupcake Contest, just for fun. Blogger Marcia has five entries of cute cupcakes, some edible, some not, and she's asking that readers vote for their favorite. So head over there and check them out! (You don't have to vote for mine - honestly, it's not the cutest, in my opinion - just vote! Why not?)

Nesting Instincts Goes Down Under

Woohoo! Sorry, not a very dignified way to begin a post. Let me start again. Ahem, ladies and gents...ah, whatever. I need to just spit it out! I had the fabulous opportunity to contribute as an "expert" to an article on Real Living magazine's website. Real Living is a very fun magazine in Australia - wish it was here too - that focuses on decorating, shopping, food, living - hey, all my favorite things! Web editor Belinda Graham is a faithful reader of my blog and she asked if I could contribute to an article where readers submit questions about decorating delimmas (you may remember me sending you to her blog for this post).

Anyway, the article is live on their website! Go check it out - and you may find you even have some of your questions answered! Definitely read the whole article if you have time - if you submitted a question, it may be answered there (I know yours was answered, Jen!). If you need the "cliff note's" version, here's my portion of the article. She even included one of my before-and-after photos.

****

Thanks again, Belinda, for this opportunity. It was so fun and I am tickled pink to be included!

inspirational reading list

Do you work at a 9 to 5 job, but have a yearning inside to be doing something else? Something creative? Something more, you? Do you love art, music, design, writing, or anything else that is not the "typical" career? Are you making perfectly good money, but unhappy at your job? Are you a stay-at-home mom that is itching to be creative (and possibly make money doing it)? Then I suggest you spend some time this weekend and read the inspirational series that Holly over at Decor8 has been featuring called What to Do When You Don't Know What To Do. Holly is not only inspirational in the design sense, she's also a genuinely nice person that cares about other people and wants to see them succeed. That genuine desire comes out in her blog, with this series being a perfect example.


She's been interviewing a series of people who have stepped out in the design world to pave their own way; in many cases, to be self-empoloyed; many who left the "9 to 5" to pursue their own personal dreams. Many others were able to find their calling within corporate America. While the interviews have a bent towards design, there are concepts that are universal to anyone who is trying to decide what to do...questions like, how do I know what my dreams even are? What did I love to do as a child? I realize that I'm a creative person and so this kind of thing really appeals to me; but even you left-brained folks may enjoy reading through this series. There are so many nuggets of wisdom that are worth digesting.


There are a lot of interviews, so bookmark it and start diving in over the weekend. It's almost a mini-book. I plan on going back to re-read it more in depth when I get a second. It's worth it.


Images:
photos 1 & 2, Holly Becker for Decor8
photo 3, House to Home via Restyled Home

a girlfriends getaway

Wow. I just got back from the most wonderful weekend with my girlfriends. I was so sick last week - as was every member of my family - that it was touch-and-go as to whether or not I'd be able to make it to the beach with my friends like we had planned. Thank goodness I rallied just in time...this weekend was just what I needed! There are five of us who have been friends since we were twelve (a few of them even before that), and for several months we had planned to take off for the weekend to celebrate all our 30th birthdays this year. (I'd show you a photo of the five of us, but the only photo taken of all of us is on someone else's camera and I don't have a copy yet.) Anyway, I had more in-depth adult conversation in the last two days than I've had in about the last three weeks put together...it was fabulous! Just for fun, here are a few highlights from the trip...

I created little spa-themed gift baskets for each of us, in a different color palette for each person. They included pedicure & manicure sets, nail polish, body butter, a travel candle, some trail mix, an inspirational magnet, and my favorite Lindt chocolate truffles. They weren't expensive to put together, but were a lot of fun - Saturday evening I painted my toe-nails for the first time in...well...I don't know how long.

We spent the weekend at my friend's beach home in Astoria, Oregon. We happened to have perfect weather, and if you live in Oregon, you know how rare that is at the coast. One of the highlights for me was going to the most wonderful antique store in Astoria called Farmhouse Funk. Isn't that a great name? I wish I had taken more photos. It was in this great old house, and every single room was packed full of wonderful goodness...antiques, reproductions, new items like candles...even the bathroom was packed full of homemade soaps and lotions for sale. If you are ever in Astoria, it's got to be a destination for you. I was tempted by the extensive milk glass collection, with pretty reasonable prices. (Sorry, I forgot to get a pic.)

Here was a pair of bamboo chairs I spotted there that my friend Holly and I would have fought over, except that there was no room for them in our crowded SUV (what with five women and all their luggage). Only $29 each! How cool would these have been, painted some fabulous color? (I can see them in red for some reason...maybe in my dining room, or on the front porch?)

And speaking of red chairs...saw this little cutie for $34, in perfect condition. I would have been tempted to buy it for my kitchen if there had been more than one.

But the major purchase that actually made it home with me? This enormous hammered metal ice bucket, of uncertain origin and age, for $9. Why? It will most likely never actually be used for ice...I'm sure it will be used in some other fabulous way in the future. (Watch for it as a prop or serving piece at one of my future parties!)

Here are two of my girlfriends, Sarah and Holly, who are expecting babies this summer/fall...hating me for making them pose like this, but managing to smile anyway. Ah, they love me.

Sigh. All in all...a wonderful weekend with the most wonderful girlfriends a gal could hope for. We need this kind of thing every once in a while. I feel like I just might be able to handle what life will throw at me now...this week, anyway.