tiny bit of pink, er honeysuckle

As I am sure most of you know, the Pantone color of the year is "honeysuckle."

A Color for All Seasons
Courageous. Confident. Vital. A brave new color, for a brave new world. 

Let the bold spirit of Honeysuckle infuse you, lift you and carry you through the year. 

It’s a color for every day – with nothing “everyday” about it.

source

I love pink. Not in overwhelming doses and don't plan on re-decorating my home around this color trend 

but am love adding touches of it here and there...

...especially when that touch of pink can be found for $4 at your local grocery store!

Have you added pops of pink/ honeysuckle anywhere in your home yet? 

bursts of sun

I was clicking through the internet one night this week and found this beauty at Pier 1. on sale!

Now that the furniture situation is taken care of in the living room,

I can start working on wall art. I have been craving the addition of a sunburst. Surely it will add that needed bit of pizazz and refresh the room with it's sparkling personality.

I was looking for one to hang on the wall above the newly positioned loveseat, and expected it to be pretty expensive, but it wasn't & it was on sale! The Pier 1 in town had just one left so I snatched it up and they honored the online sale price, even though it wasn't marked as such in the store.

I brought it home and Hubby admitted that it wasn't his favorite,

and that it would have to grow on him. Hmmmm.....I appreciate his honesty but I bet he loves it by next week.

Then yesterday morning I received my weekly Houzz.com updates, and lo and behold was an entire article about sunbursts!

I sent it to him at work hoping to encourage the love of all things sunburst.

Here are some of my favorite images from the article:

eclectic entry design by 1.bp.blogspot.com

traditional hall design by san francisco architect Barbara Chambers

modern living room design by boston interior designer Rachel Reider Interiors

and here is the link to the article.

Are you a lover of all things sunburst? 

Armoire, found!

This post begins the saga of striving to solve the problem of the TV over the fireplace.

My post here told why we ended up with a blank wall space, 

which had my mind's little wheels spinning.

My post here told how we thought we'd solved the empty wall dilemma.

A few weeks ago I wrote this post, almost at my wit's end with looking for an armoire. 

I am so thrilled that now my post today is to tell you that I FOUND IT!

THE PERFECT ARMOIRE!

 It took lots, lots, lots, and lots more patience, but C-List came through again!

I checked it every day, at least once, sometimes twice, and maybe three times if I was feeling desperate!

I had seen an add for this armoire a couple of weeks ago and they were asking 3x my budget.

Last week, I started noticing that each day they dropped the price little by little.

1,000

750

650

500

375

Finally, on Friday the add said 

"$350 or best offer. Pick it up today because the lease on our storage unit ends tomorrow."

They were des-per-ate!

I offered $300 and they accepted!

Hubby took off work early so he could pick up a friend's truck and it was in our house that night!

I breathed a huge sigh of relief, until...

It was WAY too big for this wall.

I wish I'd had a camera for you to see hubby's face.

priceless.

And honestly, I didn't even take a picture of it in that space because I thought I'd made the 

biggest decorating mistake ever.

My mind was racing. What are we going to do with my "dream" armoire?

Now what's going to fill this huge empty wall space?  Maybe I'll get used to this monstrosity. 

What am I going to write about on the blog? Will I even admit that I did this?

PANIC!

Hubby could tell I was losing it, along with being so so super disappointed.

He brilliantly suggested trying it on another wall.

Amazing how your mind can freeze dead in it's tracks when you enter panic mode.

Why hadn't I thought of that?

So we scooted it over to the wall where the loveseat had previously been.

What do we do with the loveseat?

So we moved the couch into the area between the living room & the kitchen,

and put the loveseat in front of the windows.

The poor little thing looked dwarfed.

Here is my disappointed Hubby.

He was googling "flat screen armoires"

Then we moved the couch back to the window wall.

Like.

And we moved the loveseat onto the empty wall.

Like.

Now the plan is to purchase a sofa table for behind the loveseat, 

place two lamps atop, and hang a sunburst mirror on the wall!

In case you're wondering about my chairs-to-be-bleached,

they went one on each side of the white couch.

Truth be told, I hadn't been thrilled with our living room arrangement before,

and now I am so much more in l.o.v.e.

It's cozier and more inviting. 

Along with looking for the sofa table, I am also on the lookout for a new coffee table. 

There is a lot of wood in that room, and I want to break it up with one 

similar to this...

source

Love how one piece of furniture, in our case very large furniture,

has the ability to dramatically change a room!

Sharing my thrifty find over at Shabby Nest's Frugal Friday and Cottage and Vine

Don't forget to enter the Home Goods giveaway and share the news!

project::office eclectic wall, done!

This past weekend we checked two BIG items off of our 2011 to-do-list,

the first one is 95% completing the eclectic wall!

Hubby's eclectic wall is finished!

well, the frames are hung.

but the pics are the easy part!

(and we're just two small steps away from completing the whole project) 

This might seem like not a big deal, but for some reason that wall intimidated me.

I was so worried that we'd hang all the frames and I'd hate it.

Worse even, I'd hate it and Hubs would love it!

I will admit that even though we followed what we thought was a fool proof plan,

we changed our minds a few times along the road...ha

::before::

::pondering in my pjs::

::1st attempt at positioning the "frames"::

see this post for why we chose butcher paper

::hung the picture we had planned on using in the middle::

eh.

::then scrapped the 1st plan and added a shelf with a boat"

blah. blah. blah.

::starting over the next morning:

::finally, loving the progress::

:: FINISHED:: 

more paparazzi pics of the wall...

The images that I used were from NYPL.

I believe I searched "nautical"

Hubby, his brother Dan, and his dad all traveled to Spain

a few years ago for the America's Cup race. 

The largest sailing race in the world, 

and we're already looking forward to the next one in 2013!

The following two items are historic images from past America's Cup races.

These handsome ocean creatures add a nice touch as well!

Hubby used the chart (map) on the bottom right when he was studying to 

apply for his Captain's License.

There you have it, the ins and outs of the office wall.

Just need to print some more images before officially checking it off my list!

Check back tomorrow to see what other TO-DO we've accomplished!

Sharing my progress with Blue Cricket Designs and Debbie Doo's



Don't forget to enter the Home Goods giveaway!

taking care of business

After traveling nearly every weekend during the holidays,

and being gone the three weekends following Christmas

Hubby & I were worn out!

It seemed like as soon as I unpacked on Sunday, washed and folded clothes, 

cleaned one room, and grocery shopped, that I was repacking again on Thursday!

That is just a tough schedule to live by for three or more weeks in a row, 

and lots of little knick knack jobs around the house get ignored! 

So, after stealing this idea from some of our friends,

Hubby & I set a goal that throughout 2011 

we would only leave town one weekend each month.

We're hoping that this will allow us to cherish all the time we're with family/ friends out of town,

and still leave us plenty of time to invest in our relationships in town!

And also give me 3 weekends a month to tackle home projects...

So, these last few evenings have been spent playing catch-up on little projects around here.

Started on the eclectic wall... 

(are you sick of hearing me talk about it yet? 

I am. so. ready. to. check. it. off. my. list.)

Fixed the wrinkle in our breakfast room rug.

I was the one who put down the rug and moved all the furniture around...

and that table is heavy. I couldn't lift it and fix the crinkle at the same time.

The task took less than 3 minutes, it was just a matter of remembering to ask Hubs to help me.

so  much better!

Changed out dead light bulbs.

I am embarrassed at how many light bulbs were out, from ceiling fans, to our breakfast room chandelier, to bathroom fixtures. 

silly.

Touch-up painted the office.

No lie...that had been that way since we moved in ... occurred as we took off the painter's tap.

Hubs fixed my leaky faucet...

Which actually wasn't installed correctly from the beginning. 

The handle turned the wrong way.

Hubs was the one who installed it.

love him.

and caught up on e-mails, laundry, dishes, etc. etc. etc.

Here's to hoping you had a successful week around your home as well!

cheers!

dijon dreaming

Last Thursday, I headed to Austin to help our friends Evan and Julie
decorate their home!
They definitely have a good eye for selecting beautiful pieces of furniture,
they just wanted some help in the areas of color and decor.
When asked, Julie said she wanted her home to feel "warm, comfortable, and classic."
She loves warm colors and is drawn to them, but wasn't sure how to incorporate that into her decor.
The combination that I picked for their master included a warm neutral and color,
mustard yellow & gray!

Those serve as a great base for adding different pops of colors throughout the year, too.
You could throw in some turquoise in the spring & summer or rusty red in the fall,
and accents of natural green would add a fabulous touch all year round.

Here is a peek at the inspiration board for their master bedroom:

I am looking forward to sharing before & after pics, projects

and the vision for creating the "warm, comfortable, & classic" home of their dreams! 

Stay tuned for more to come throughout the week!

I should break more rules.

The other day on The Nate Show,

 he talked about the 4 rules made to break when it comes to decorating.

The examples he gave were from decorating a bedroom, so that's where I compared my notes.

That's when I realized I just don't break enough rules, though I do break some ;) 

The RULES below are meant to be broken!

:: RULE 1 ::

"Don't mix large, small, & different prints because it won't look coordinated."

I don't know how to assess that one, but just to be safe I'll say that I don't break it.

Our dust ruffle matches that mama-jama bolster pillow. which i seriously love.

all the pillows pictured were ordered from PB but not from the same set... 

so maybe I kinda broke the rule?

but it could definitely use a few more pillows, or a coverlet, or some more pizzazz

to help me really break the rule!

:: RULE 2 ::

"You can only use matching frames on the wall."

Now, sometimes the look created from matching frames is stunning and the coordination is necessary.

However, at other times the eclectic look adds more personality.

Sadly, the walls in our master are in some serious need of attention.

But I have been dreaming of making framed botanicals to hang on either side of the mirror.

 pottery barn 

Though I must say, I would be tempted to hang them in matching frames! eek! 

:: RULE 3::

"The only piece of furniture that you can place at the end of the bed is a bench"

Alas, I don't have any furniture at the end of our bed.

That upholstered bench above would be lovely, but so would this setee.

and a setee can hold more pillows!

Nate also suggested a vanity or a desk. All a matter of personal preference.

:: RULE 4 ::

Your bed side tables should match one another.

Finally! A rule that I've broken!  Both of our end tables are family heirlooms,

and I love how they add an extra dose of character to the room.

love those curvy legs.

So, are you a RULE breaker?! 

If so, brag on how many rules you've broken!