Before and After: Kitchen Flat Roman Shade

This year I resolved to add some final touches to our kitchen.  One of the things I wanted to do was to add a flat roman shade to our kitchen window.  Not for privacy -  I just wanted to add a dose of color and pattern.  Here is my kitchen now with my new flat roman shade:

Don't you love it?  I bought the fabric at an awesome price from LGN and was contemplating doing the shade myself.  Even though I got the fabric for a great price, it was still more than I would usually pay and I didn't want to risk messing up the fabric.  So, I opted to have the roman shade done by Windows by Melissa (found via 6th Street Design). Melissa does custom window treatments.  Here is another shot:

Melissa did an amazing job and the shade was super affordable compared to how much custom shades run.  I am extremely happy.  Just so you can get the real effect, here is the before shot:

And, another before shot:

A big difference, huh?  I think the shade makes the kitchen and now every time I walk into my kitchen I smile!  Thank you, Melissa!!  It was great working with you!

Sidenote: I made my post column wider and so now I can post larger pictures.  I think it looks a lot better.  Here is a great tutorial if you need one!

Progress is being made...

Remember, one of my 2011 resolutions is to get my office into shape?  Shelves and canvas photos have been hung, de-cluttering has begun and major organization of my magazines, fabric samples and files has been taking place.  My inspiration board is a work in progress but this is how it looks at the moment.

Inspiration boards take time - you can't force these things.  Funny, lots of pink on my board.  I hardly have any pink in my house.  Maybe this a gentle nudge trying to push me in that direction??  Hmm...Remember, the before?  Blank slate.  

Finally Ready!

I'm happy to report we are finished with the Christmas decorations around our house. 

I swapped the artwork that is usually above our fireplace with the mirror that sits above my chest of drawers in our bedroom.  I made the wreath hanging on the mirror by taking ornament bulbs and securing them onto a wreath.  I hung real rope garland across the mantel. 

I added the two hurricanes to either side of the mirror to add some symmetry and height.  

Last year for stockings, I used these burlap bags that I thought were cute, but my husband was not a big fan.  I finally decided on the Garnet Hill Hable Construction stockings - I love how graphic they are. 

Lastly, we have our vintage Santa cookie jar from the days of my husband's youth and my German candle pyramid/carousel from my mother's home town in Germany (Trier).  

And, if you've missed our front door and dining room Christmas decorations, go here or our Christmas DIY gumdrop wreath, go here.  

Come join me & other bloggers over at Rene's Cottage and Vine 2010 Christmas Tour of Homes.

Nearly there...

This weekend we finished our Christmas decorations - the house is done, the stockings are hung and ready for Santa to arrive!  I was able to take a picture of our front door before we had the horrible rain and wind storm yesterday that knocked everything down.  Yup, garland, bells & wreath are all currently laying on our front stoop!

Oh well!  I still need to take more pictures of the inside but the natural lighting has been really bad.  In the meantime, here is a close-up of a little bar I put together in our dining room.  I bought 30+ of these blue and gold barware glasses at an antique store for $25.  I absolutely adore them.

More pictures coming soon.....

  

My Gumdrop Wreath

This Christmas season I was determined to make a gumdrop wreath.  So, this weekend with hot glue gun in hand and 7 packages of gumdrops, I set forth to make my gumdrop wreath.

I started off with a 12" foam wreath form from Michaels.  For starters, I wrapped packaging tape around the top of the wreath to protect the foam from the fishing line I used to hang the wreath.

I used a hot glue gun to stick the gumdrops on the wreath.  This was extremely easy to do - just seemed easier than using toothpicks.  But, learn from my mistake and don't place your gumdrops in horizontal rows like this.  

You see the gaps between the gumdrops?  Not good.  Instead, after you glue your first row of gumdrops, start to stagger the gumdrops in the subsequent rows so you don't have a gap between the gumdrops.  In other words, when starting your second row, place the gumdrop between the gumdrops in the first row.  Does this make sense?

This will eliminate the gaps and your wreath will begin to look dense.  The wreath took me about 4 hours.  Who has 4 hours these days?  But, I actually enjoyed sitting there (after my son was in bed), gluing one gumdrop after another onto this wreath.  Not complicated and a bit cathartic.  

The ribbon covers the fish-wire that is actually holding the wreath.  I love how it turned out!  Supposedly, there is a spray you can use to preserve the gumdrops.  I have no idea if this will keep until next year.  If I had more time, I'd love to make another one and offer it as a giveaway!  Maybe, next year!

Before & After: My HomeGoods Bedside Mirrors

I was able to cross one project off my list this weekend - hang mirrors above our nightstands in our bedroom.  If you remember, this is what our bedroom looked liked before the mirrors.

Before:

Obviously, we needed something above our nightstands, but it has taken me a long time to find the exact mirrors I was visualizing for this space.  I was on a hunt to find something similar to the Lilly mirror from Ballard Designs.  This mirror, unfortunately, is no longer available and costs $199.00.  Even if it was still available, there is no way I could afford that.

So, I waited and waited and regularly checked HomeGoods.  And, then one day, while browsing HomeGoods down in Danbury, I found the perfect mirror for only $19.99.  The only thing is that it needed a paint job.  No problem!

A little white (gloss) spray paint and I was good to go.  Here is how our master bedroom looks now. 

After:

So, what do you think?  It's unbelievable how similar the mirrors look like the Lilly mirror from Ballard Designs.  You gotta love HomeGoods!

Our House: Before & After

Oh my - what a week!  My supposedly "part-time" job is more like a full-time job and has me super busy.   I am trying my hardest to balance it all so I bear with me as I try to gain some control.  Anyway, some of you asked how our tag sale went last weekend.  It went well, but I think it could've been better if it was in the summer.  I was excited to earn the extra cash to hopefully put towards one of these

but those dreams quickly vanished as I got pulled over the next day supposedly going 50 in a 40 mph work zone.  Oh, yeah, a big whopping $200 ticket!  Bye bye tag sale $$$!  Do these things only happen to me?  Well, onto some better news.  I finally have some before and after pictures to show you of our house.  Remember, I told you in this post we were finally getting our house painted and I was having a hard time selecting colors, but I finally found the perfect colors!  Well, it turned out better than I expected and I cannot believe what a difference paint can make.  Seriously.  See for yourself....

BEFORE

AFTER

It's a huge improvement.  I can't tell you how much I don't mind driving up to our house now!  It makes me happy.  As you can tell, my husband (and fellow neighbors) cut down the tree right in front of the house which makes a huge difference - it really opens it up.  Sorry, we still need to remove the stump.  Here is a before and after of our front door.  

BEFORE

AFTER

I love my new black door!  I took off the old storm door which I think makes a world of difference.  I am still not finished, I have a knocker I'd like to put on the front door, I'd like to change the numbers and sconces, but all in due time.   Well, happy weekend and happy halloween everyone!!  I've missed you guys this week - thanks for bearing with me!!!

My Fall Decor

I have been trying to find some time here and there to incorporate some fall decor into our home.  I found some lovely gourds at the farmers market this past weekend and placed them in a decorative bowl.  

I love my new zig zag pillow as well - such a bright pop of yellow against our blue (boring) sofa.  I also changed up my mantle by using things I already had - I changed my candlesticks and candles.  The candles are a little too 'theme-y' for me, but it is currently what I have.  They'll do for now.  

Well, that is it for now.  I'm off to tend to my son who is sick; I was up practically the entire night w/him.  I hate seeing my little one in such rough shape.....

DIY: Halloween Silhouette Plates

I like to do a DIY every holiday because it always fun when you unpack the decorations (after a full year has passed) to see what is in there.  I always catch myself saying, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that!"  

I was inspired by Danny Seo's, a green living expert, craft room as seen on Bromeliad.  It screams 'fall' and looked liked a fun way to decorate seasonally without being too garish.  I bought some cheap white plates (8.5" diameter) from Walmart.  I did go to the goodwill store first, but none of the plates had a white background that I needed.  I printed out a couple of halloween templates that inspired me and stuck them on plates (using label printer paper). 

I painted the plates with black ceramic paint.  I painted two coats (make sure you let the first coat dry completely).  After the plates were dry, I stuck them in the oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Let plates cool completely in oven.

 And, then I hung them in our kitchen. 

What do you think?  I personally love them and plan on using the beetle all year round.  He is my favorite.  

For the full tutorial, go here.  

A nice little touch

I bought some new pillow covers and feather-down inserts for my slipper chairs in our family room/living room.  Yeah!  I think they turned out lovely.  Originally, I wasn't sure how the black would work, but I love the contrast.  Just in time for fall.  Happy Monday all!

The pillow covers are from diypillows on etsy and they have a wonderful selection of pillow covers starting at $9.99!  Check them out!

Decisions, Decisions...

I am slowly working on our upstairs hallway (landing) and am trying to find the 'rug' that is going is going to make shout, "That's it!".  I can't blame you if you have forgotten and are asking, "What hallway is she talking about?".   Remember?

I recently ordered this beauty from Rugsusa.  

I wanted to add yellow to the space because the upstairs hallway/landing leads directly into our bathroom.  If the bathroom door is open, you will have direct view of the window coming up the stairs and I'm using this fabric for a fixed roman shade.

I like the yellow with the blue against an otherwise all neutral (beige, brown & white) backdrop.  I wasn't too impressed with the rug. The yellow isn't a bright yellow (like the picture); it's more a mustard yellow. For $145, it left me saying "ho-hum" and the hand woven material wasn't cutting it for me.  So, back to the drawing board.

Here are some other options I'm considering.  I'm now thinking more of a neutral color for the rug and will incorporate the yellow via accessories.  

A:

via

Think the light blue would complement the navy blue in the roman shade fabric.  

B:

via

C:

via

Love the pattern below.  It is very similar to the tile pattern we will have on our bathroom floor (Daltile's 2" hexagon). 

D:

via

Love the faux bois - such a great neutral. 

E:

via

I brought home a sample of Dash Albert's circle fret rug and loved it!! It is just pricey.  

F:

via

So, what are your thoughts? Any favorites? Should I try other colors?  Do I seem desperate for help??  Well, I am!! :)  

Have a great weekend everyone!!  And, thanks again for all your help!!

Exterior House Color Contenders

If you remember this post, we are finally painting our house.  Per advice of a friend, I received some help from a color consultant and here are her recommendations:


Option 1: Body (Martin Senour Desert Cactus), Trim (Martin Senour Linen White), Shutters/Door (Martin Senour Black)

Option 2: Body (Martin Senour Owlet), Trim (Martin Senour Baseline), Shutters/Doors (Martin Senour Black).  She originally wanted to do a burgundy red for the shutters and doors, but I prefer black.

Option 3: Body (Benjamin Moore Weimeraner), Trim (Benjamin Moore Mascarpone), Shutters (Benjamin Moore Wenge)

While, these are great recommendations, I just wasn't 100% happy with them.  And, while I liked the idea of the color green for a house, I didn't love the green the consultant chose.  So, it wasn't until we were down in Florida visiting family when I saw this house and thought I like that color!   This is the house:

Have you ever walked up to a complete stranger's house and knocked on their door to ask them what color they painted their house?  If not, I highly recommend it.  Seriously. 


Think about it?  Who wouldn't like to hear, "Oh, I love the color of your house!  Do you mind me asking...?"  Well, these folks did, and a couple of beers later (no joke) we walked away with the color names in hand!   Sandy, thank you so much!  The paint line they used was Porter's Paints - Body (Tulip Poplar) and Trim (Soft Antique White). 


So, if you're looking to repaint your home, don't be shy and go ahead and knock on the doors of the houses you like!  Hope to have before and afters soon!

And, thank you again for those of you who suggested your favorite headboard in this post, my friend was giddy with excitement.  She goes back to NYC in 2 weeks and will make the final decision.   I'll keep you updated!