Mini Master Makeover

When we were first married we lived in an apartment with white walls (surprise, surprise) and I actually liked them in the master bedroom.  I went with a white, black and gray color scheme (never could get my husband on board with that "splash of pink" I had planned).  But when we moved into my in-laws house the beige walls did not jive with our gray art work.  We also had gray sheets, and I didn't want to have to buy all new king size sheets (expensive!) just for a temporary look.

So a quick, easy and less pricy tip for a temporary sheet change is just get new pillow cases.  I finally got around to that today. . . oh you know 10 months later.  And using some borrowed throw pillows from my mother-in-law (she's an addict) I did a little mini makeover on my bed. 

I decided to go with tans and creams and thought that might be a little too boring on its own.  I showed my husband Pantone's fall 2012 and had him pick the color he thought would look best in our room.  Actually I think I made him choose between tangerine and chartreuse.  He chose chartreuse.  I bought some chartreuse pillow cases, but decided not to use them in the end.  I guess the creams and browns aren't too boring on their own!

Source: pantone.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Here's the pillow configuration with the green (this is the only angle that they looked even somewhat decent!) Don't mind the black and white lamp shade.  I'm trying to figure a way to temporarily cover a lamp shade. . . email me if you know a trick.

And here are the pillows with the green pulled out.  The textures of the other pillows really help give interest so a bright color isn't necessary.  

What do you think?  Would you add a bright color in? 

Striped king pillow cases: IKEA
Chartreuse standard pillow cases: IKEA
Knit white standard shams: Pottery Barn
Fringe pillow, suede pillow and knit throw pillows: borrowed from my mother-in-law
Zebra textured white throw pillow: IKEA
White duvet cover: IKEA

Guest Posting at Living Savvy!

Good morning!  Today I am posting at Living Savvy about my My Five Fall Favorite Kid Decoration.  I had so much fun helping the kids I nanny make Halloween and fall decorations for their house, go over and check it out!

Geometric Wall Art

I created this wall art back in. . . June?  Maybe even May!  But after hanging it I decided to change the fabric to something more simple.  And then I had such bad morning sickness that was not going to happen.  And then I found out I was having a boy, so I would rather change the fabric to match the new boy's nursery I have brewing in my mind.  And then. . . just kidding.  That's the end of it.  So many excuses!

But in the mean time, I thought I would share.  I haven't had time for any new projects since I started nannying and it gets old sharing inspiration pics all the time!  I want to share my own work!

I found these placemats at IKEA and wouldn't you know they were almost exactly the same color aqua as Olivia's bedding?  Isn't it funny how you notice the colors you're currently working with?  I covered some cork pan holder things (actual name anyone?  I mean, not the name in Swedish because that's what IKEA gives me) with fabric that played off the aquas, creams and circle concept.   I laid everything on the ground and moved it around until I liked the layout.  Then took a picture so I could recreate it on Olivia's wall.

When I took these pics Olivia's crib was being used for a photo shoot for Oilo.  That's why there isn't a full wall picture.  Sorry! 

Do you agree that the fabric is too busy?  Now that I know I'm having a boy and that I want to do an orange and aqua nursery I'm just going to wait and change it to fit the new color scheme. 

One Kings Lane

Have you heard of One Kings Lane?  Its a home goods and accessories website with a few different sales every day and the prices are discounted from what you would normally have to pay.  I signed up back when I was looking for a rug for Olivia's room, but its so much fun when I find the time to browse some of their sales!  Here are some of my favorites from yesterday.

I've never had a chance to use fancy napkin rings for a dinner, but a couple years ago in a model home I saw napkin rings used as a decoration on bathroom towels.  Super chic.

Buy here

They had this throw in several colors.  Cream, gray and brown were my favorites.  Nothing says fall like a knit blanket!

Buy Here

I love yellow and gray together and I think this elephant print would be so cute in a boys room.

Buy here

You know how I love olive colored kitchen accessories!  Even though I've changed my ideas of my perfect kitchen, I think these would really make me happy. 

Buy here

This orange pillow would look so good in my boy's nursery! 

Buy here

I've never been a big fan of making pies, but I might change my mind if I had this gorgeous red pie dish!!

Buy here

All of these items will be on sale for two more days! 

*Not a sponsored post, I just wanted to share!!

The kitchen colors I used to want & what I want now

When I was dating Adam (my husband) I mentioned the colors I wanted my future kitchen to be while bridal gift shopping for Jess.  We were not engaged, not even really talking about marriage, but without skipping a beat he mentioned that he would close his eyes while getting his breakfast in the morning if I decorated my kitchen in those colors.  What was so appalling to him?  Orange and avocado.

I still love these colors together. . . 

Source: designsponge.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

. . . but since then I've learned there is more than love when it comes to picking kitchen colors. . .

Source: kunzdesign.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

. . . like livability and serenity. . .

Source: houzz.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

. . . So while I still love these retro colors (not to mention retro music). . .

Source: pinterestclothing.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

. . . my personal style has changed/mellowed just a little.  (Although, this picture is working hard to make me change back!)

Source: bhg.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Now what I want for my kitchen is very clean and less demanding of attention.

Source: go4kitchen.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Crisp white and blue glass tile.  (Plus I love the stripe detail on the floor of the kitchen)

Source: tobifairley.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Blue bead board as a backsplash.  I love this color, but I think I prefer a tile backsplash. 

Source: houseofturquoise.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

What kitchen colors are your current favorite?  :)

Obsessed with nursery design

Yeah its no secret that nursery design is kind of my favorite.  It can be sophisticated, or not.  Its always easy to find accessories, just dig through the toy box!  (That's what I did to style Olivia changing table in this post)

But here's my dilemma: You've seen how I plan to update Olivia's bedding for a boy (which is what I'm having!  I'm so good at guessing the gender of my unborn children.) but what do I do for Olivia? 

Option 1: A totally different direction.

Source: marytbet00.tumblr.com via salanon on Pinterest

I've always love shabby chic design, but its not really me.  So while I don't really see it happening in the rest of my house, I've always wanted to do a little girl room in shabby chic, because its so beautiful and totally girly.

Source: urbanoutfitters.com via Lauren on Pinterest

I could just give her a room full of ruffles and pinks and flowers.  When will I have another chance?

Option 2: Stay with the aqua and brown color scheme.

I have fabric to make a toddler blanket in the aqua, and there are some accessories in Olivia's room that just wouldn't transition to a boys room.

For example, these knobs:

And the art work I've been working on very fast slowly, which I want to reveal. . . soon, fits with the aqua color scheme.

Option 3: A blend of aqua and girly, modern and ruffles.

I just found this inspiration board which is a cute blend of aqua and modern.  I don't love every thing about it, but I do love the colors and the pillows. 

Source: chiccheapnursery.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Plus, I already have that rug!!

Your thoughts?

Trust your instincts

Source: starhughes.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Back in high school I had a bag of every Crayola marker that they made.  Sadly a lot of those color sets are no longer being made.  :(  I used these markers to decorate letters that I wrote to my friends.  I was always designing new decorations and lettering styles and I really loved the pastel colors of blue and peach together.  They weren't really "in style" back in the 90's but a quick scan of pinterest shows that they are now!  If you love something, don't question if its the right thing to love.  Trust your instincts and love what you love.

Source: stylemepretty.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

Source: designindulgences.com via Kimberly on Pinterest

The Story of a Chair

This summer I had plans to do some decorating for my mom.  I made her a quilt for Christmas and so I originally was going to work on her master bedroom but somehow it morphed into curtains and chairs in her living room/dining area.  My sister-in-law came to help me, and thank goodness, because this is not a one person job!!  Pregnancy saps so much of my energy so we didn't get nearly as much completed as I had hoped but we did finish one of the two wingback chairs in the living room!  I used Tiffany's blog post for inspiration and tried to follow in her footsteps of using as much of the chair as possible.  We used some of the tack strips and the piping and all of the padding and cushioning.  I think that saved us a lot of money and a lot of headaches!  Here's how it all went down:

We started by removing the back.  Its important to remember how the pieces are attached.  We did the whole project in four days so that made it easier, but if you were going to spread it out over time: pictures, pictures, pictures!

Then we removed the sides.

Lots and lots of staples to remove!

You might also want to have a small vaccuum ready.  There was a lot of dust and pet hair (from the former owners, my mom doesn't have pets) from years of use built up in there.  Fun.

My dad thought we were making it look to hard.  Then he found out how hard it really was! 

Eventually we got the chair down to this.  Our padding was still in really good shape, so we didn't mess with that.  Other tutorials will tell you to take it down to the bare bones and build up with all new padding.  I say, if you don't have to don't do that!  I can't imagine how much harder that would have made this project.

This is when the project started getting exciting.  We could see the beauty start to shine through the mess and exhaustion! 

From the front you almost couldn't tell it still had a long long way to go!

 And we ended right where we started, by putting on the back of the chair.

From the side.  One thing I love about this chair is the piping.  We did it in a coordinating solid blue.  Its a little hard to tell but it really makes it pop.

I feel bad we only had time for one!  We're going to have to do the other at Christmas time (joy).  In the mean time my mom is keeping this one covered so they don't wear unevenly. 

  

We made a lot of mistakes a long the way!  But thankfully no one will ever know but us.  If you have any questions about this project feel free to email me at kimmisue22@gmail.com (yeah, yeah, my email is weird.  I'd change it if it wouldn't be such a huge hassle.)

Linking up here!!

Design Star All Stars!

I have seen every season of design star. . . more than once (we'll just leave it at that).  So yeah, I was excited to see a Design Star All Stars show!  My first and biggest hope: Sparkle Josh!!!  I said, "YES!!!" out loud, complete with punching the air when he showed up on screen.  I may not love his POV (point of view) but he is SO.  FUNNY.

Here is what they had to start out with:

But!  They said this is not a white box challenge.  Don't be confused by the white box in front of you.  This time you're going to shop at an actual furniture store.  I guess the difference is that you get to buy actual nice things instead of trying to make stuff from a grocery store or Asian market?

So here is Dan's room, the winner of this and every white box challenge ever.  (Actually, I liked his white box from his original season where they shopped at a grocery store just a tad bit more)

Everyone raved over his idea to cut out a high boy silhouette and turn it into a bookshelf.  It was just a little too crafty for me.

And here is Hilari's room, third runner up from season 7 (which aired 1 or 2 weeks ago)

Hilari knows what she is doing, especially when it comes to shopping for nice things.

That being said, her style is not my style.  I like more clean lines and she likes more luxury and glamor. 

I do think this chair is rad, though.

 

You could probably guess the designer of this room.  In fact, that would be a fun game to play.  Too bad I already watched the show and know the answers!  This room was designed by Sparkle Josh (named because there were two Joshes on his season) He was the fourth runner up on season 2 (if I remember correctly. . . )

Does anyone else feel like they need sunglasses in this room?  

I have to agree with the judges, his sofa choice was a bit off to me.  A little too frumpy for such a glam room.

This room designed by Kellie, fourth runner up on season 6.

They went on and on about these book sculptures.  Probably because that was the only thing they really liked. . . 

Yeah, too crazy for me.

This room was my personal favorite, designed by Leslie.  Leslie was also in season 6 with Kellie, but I can't remember when she went home and the internets are not being very helpful!

Vern kind of hurt my feelings when he talked about the awesome shopping center they had available so there wasn't any need for "homemade art".  I love making my own art!  And I think this piece by Leslie is modern and bold.  I would pay for it.  

I do not remember this chandelier from the episode.  Why didn't they focus on it more???  Its so awesome!

And I love this sculptural art piece.  I bet I could make something similar with rulers and pray paint.  Hello homemade art! 

Tom's room, which had the most lived in, real life design feel I think.  The space planning was something you had to be inside the room to appreciate.  From the outside I just feel like an intruder.

Loved these little sketches he hung on the wall.

In the end Kellie went home.  It was between her and Sparkle Josh and I did NOT want him to leave just yet (too funny!!) so I was glad it was her.

Which room was your favorite?