Homefront: Halloween Decoratng

Our kid corner is getting a little bit of  a spooky glam makeover this month! I added blackout curtains in a pretty magenta color (clearance for $7 a panel at Wal-Mart)... that perfectly matches my Garden Ridge floral lampshade that graces my Goodwill crystal lamp. A pretty black and white geometric area rug from Garden Ridge grounds the area and provides a soft place for our new little, 5 1/2 month old speed crawler baby. Our dresser that has served as a changing table, kitchen storage, and now a toy storage and staging area, fits this space perfectly. An IKEA poang chair for $20 from a garage sale, and cheap and sparkly goodies make this space ready for Halloween.

  

 We love our fuzzy spider, I think we should name her Harriet.

Our large, ornate frame (from a garage sale we used for our family portraits) is a perfect backdrop for a small little vignette on our Expedit bookshelf.

I am going to be mega busy this weekend, doing tons of face painting and balloons for lots of Halloween parties! Here's a fast little pretty eye design I whipped up last weekend :) I hope to get a chance to breathe and update the blog soon, but if not, I hope you all have a very safe and very happy Halloween!!

Homefront: Vivid Modern Florals

I bought a book called Rooms in Bloom a few years ago, about decorating with florals throughout design trends. A little outdated, but still some great ideas in there. I started picking through it again a few weeks ago and a few of my favorite images really grabbed me all over again. One of them I will be implementing in the nursery, I can't wait!
  

So, when I went thrifting and found these two vintage glass lamps, I couldn't decide what I wanted for shades. The book about florals must have inspired me. I brought home a few different shades and harp sizes, and nothing seemed to modernize the glass and bring personality in the room like I had wanted. When I found these bold purple floral shades at Garden Ridge, I was sold. I would have loved to get larger shades, but then they would not have sat as well on our little side tables. Now I am wanting to use more, bold florals in here.

While I have been loving these vivid purple florals for a few weeks now, I saw that Amy of Ten June guest posted on Censational Girl the other day about bringing back modern, bold, vivid florals to liven up spaces and was a little surprised I had picked up on a trend. There is some great advice (and examples) in the post on what to look for and how to do it so you don't feel like you are living in a 90's era garden room. Happy picking some florals, you will be glad you did!

Homefront: So Long, Couches

 We got rid of our couches!! I did love my slipcovers, but my highly energetic 4 year old is a major couch jumper, and keeping those things on, are near impossible with him. It's been a good 2-3 year run with them, so I'm not complaining. We are selling off the large couch and slipcovers in a garage sale this weekend, but keeping the small loveseat with it's slipcovers to cozy up another room.

9 years ago when we were first married, I fell in love with a gray sofa. But, $500 was way too much, so we got a half sectional, gray corduroy for $86 on clearance from an actual furniture store. I loved that couch... but since it only had one arm, the cushions always slid off the other side. Ever since then, we have had one couch dilemma after another. Always from garage sales, hand me downs... at one point, we were using a bundt pan and kettle to sturdy the broken legs of a very awful sunny yellow floral monstrosity.

My slipcovers (white pottery barn and brown surefits) were heavenly, but they had drawbacks as well. Constant rearranging and so forth. So, nearly every single day for the past year I have been searching for nice, sturdy, affordable gray couches. Preferably, ones in which the cushions do not easily come off.

 And I found them last week! A natuzzi microfiber gray sofa and loveseat for $225... barely used on craigslist. They are a little shorter/smaller than I was hoping, but aside from that singular detail, perfection.

Ever since we brought these couches in, I have been on a major redecorating curve. I found these images of Kristin's living room via Little Green Notebook and it inspired a living room transformation. The beginnings  is taking form in a similar style and placement as hers.

Now all I have on my list to do... rehang wall art, find a coffee table, paint our tv stand, maybe dye our curtains, and learn how to slipcover my $1 skirted circle ottoman find. Pics to come soon!

Homefront: Adding a Plate Wall to our White Vinage Linen Bedroom

 
I just blogged last week about a little redo in our bedroom, by haphazardly hanging curtains over an odd window. (Details about my daisy chandelier is in the above link.)

 

But, I decided I really wanted something more with the space over the headboard, so I moved the bed, added a quick fresh coat of white paint to the headboard, and went ahead with my plate hanging wall. Plate hanging post is here for lots of tips on creating your own design.

I hope you like how it turned out. I know we do, and since we will only be in our home for 2 more weeks, I figured, I may as well give it a shot before everything is packed up and stuck in storage, just to see what it would be like. I'm glad I went with my instinct to experiment. Though, it could possibly be denial.

I love these little brass owls I found at a garage sale and this oriental lantern from my in-laws. I painted this vintage letter holder a soft pink. It's so pretty with a crystal base.

I am very blessed to have a husband who supports my decorating whims, and doesn't  mind my creative chaos (so long as it's not too crazy). He prefers minimalism and clutter free spaces, so we strike a balance as I constantly putter around. His mother trained him well to appreciate (and compliment) woman's special touches in the home.

I found this vintage framed embroidery of a Bible scene the other day. I love it's simple charm. It's perfect by the bedside to help keep it fresh in our minds to read the scriptures every night.

Of all my vintage linens, this by far is my favorite set of pillow cases together. So cheerful and sweet.

If you are hesitating on moving a piece of furniture, or rearranging a picture wall or spray painting an old piece of furniture, just try it and see what happens. If you hate it, it's an easy fix... but you just may love it.

Linked to:
The Vintage Farmhouse

Homefront: I'm Going to Miss This Place

 I'm going to miss this place. We have been here for 6 months. It's a 2 bedroom apartment, but we got very lucky. This little room right there, is the patio. But, on the 3rd floor layout, it is an enclosed extra room. I love the massive window, the extra space for my little computer area.  Just when I was starting to feel settle, deciding on window treatments and maybe even a new computer chair... my husband lost his job.



The reason we got this place, is because we also got a great discount on it from his employer. So, not only did our income become zero, our rent went up a few hundred dollars. Fortunately, since he was non-disciplinary terminated due to no fault of his own, we get some unemployment, though we only have 4 weeks of it left. And our wonderful church has helped us out with groceries, and keeping us encouraged as well.



 So, in a few weeks, our family of 4 will be moving in with the in-laws. We've done it before when we were pregnant with our first. At that time, we decided not to renew our lease on the 400 sq ft apartment we were in so we could get a 2 bedroom for the new baby. Just as we were going to put down a deposit on a place we had been looking at, Hurricane Katrina hit and all of the evacuees came here and took all available apartments. We were homeless and moved in with the in-laws for several months. It was rough.

Fortunately, they are kind and gracious people, but that doesn't mean things will be easy. I will miss all that we have built together and wondering how and where we will end up. Starting out all over again is difficult. Not to mention living out of a bedroom with most all of our belongings in storage is hard enough. And being cramped and not feeling like the ruler of your own home is difficult, though I will focus less on that and more on how grateful I am of all that we do have. I am fully aware things could be much worse.

Our home is more than a place... it was a start of something new, a joy, finally feeling like we had a fresh start and things were just beginning to take off. We were just beginning to make friends and find ourselves out here. I had finally decided on what I was going to finish college in, so that is going to have to wait again.

Our oldest was about to start preschool for the first time. It was the first time in the last 7 years we have felt settled and in a city where we were known for us and not as our parent's children.

Before we go, I'm going to do what I can to remember it. Before we pack everything in boxes, I am going to try and finish what projects I can without having to buy anything. Then I can leave here with no regrets.

So, expect to see lots of pictures of this place in the next few weeks. Then, when I am feeling sad and alone and crazy, I can remember that I did have a home at one point in time. I did have dreams and they were starting to come true. Maybe it will help me remember that it can happen again.

Besides, it will be good to leave this city. I won't have the temptation of going and throwing rotten eggs at my husband's jerk of a former boss's office window. And, I suppose, that is a good thing.

Homefront: Vintage China Plate Collection

 

I have been wanting to make a little plate wall. All of the plates I find are small little vintage china floral rimed dishes, and though I love them, I would love to get my little hands on some colorful Mable's House bird style plates!

But really, the white satiates my need for a clean uncluttered look, a la Nester Style, and the floral detailing adds a subtle pop of color that I lean to at times. So, it's a win-win, I suppose, with my ever changing mind.

 One last mission, finding plate wall hangers. They elude me no matter where I go, always sold out, on the verge of extinction. Which is interesting as my plate collection tends to multiply and replenish a stack on my countertop. And at 65 cents a dish, it's easy to see how that could happen.

Do you have some type of project or collection that is starting to take over? I think, maybe if I go to my calendar,. and write a specific date on when it should be complete... perhaps it will help me make my goal.

ps.. in case you are wondering about my lovely new table cloth... it is actually a vintage bed sheet that I fold in half and throw on the table. It's so pretty, how could I not? I'll show pics of it in action soon enough.

Homefront: My Very Own Frame Wall

Remember my frame wall rant post? I bought tons of frames with the intention of painting them white and doing a nice gallery wall, and the pile sat there collecting dust, stressing me out, so I got rid of most of them. Here is what this space above my couch looked like before. I love the wrought iron circle I painted in a distressed aqua, and now it's over the tv.

Well... while I was at Goodwill the other day, I saw this lovely painting of this little Native American girl by Bettina Steinke. Really, isn't she just a precious doll? It was in some obscure aisle, and I picked it up and put it in my cart. I walked around some more, and decided, what am I going to do with it? So, I put her back in another obscure aisle (shame on me, I know).

An hour later (yes, when I go to Goodwill, it takes a few hours) I stumbled across this girl in another part of the store and I walked by. By the time I got to the frames, she had been brought back there. By this time, it kept getting harder to walk away, so for $3.99, I brought her home, and my son has named her Sammie.

I also brought home the embroidered flower photo, oil flower vase painting, raccon sketch and the automobile photos. I even put several things back, they just had tons of great vintage finds! Some frames I already had, so I filled them with bits of vintage maps and bookplates of flower sketches. I really need to add more family photos, but since this digital camera age has sprouted, I haven't printed photos off in ages! (sorry Grandma).

Since we will most likely be leaving this apartment in a few months, I figured, why hesitate on the frame wall? If we don't like it, we will be moving so who cares!

All I did, was lay the frames on the floor until I liked the arrangement. Then, I took a picture of it. I picked up the pictures from the ground and brought them up to the wall one by one and nailed them in. If I forgot how one went, I referred to my camera screen. Easy.

But... I love it. I'm so glad I did this. And when I showed everyone my frame placement floor layout ideas, you all persuaded me to make it grand instead of a smaller grouping like I intended. And really, with these high walls, the larger grouping looks best. Adding in the wood letters and smaller pieces helped close in odd gaps and hide nail holes I used when trying to get the placement right.

 

This post is linked to A Soft Place to Land's DIY Day!