Four Things Friday

Yay for the weekend! Tomorrow is officially the start of fall, and I couldn’t be more excited! It’s also Gator game day, so I’ll be cheering on my beloved Gators in Gainesville this weekend. Do y’all have any big plans for the weekend?

Here are some things I’m loving…

1. If I had a little girl, I would love to frame this print and put it in her room. My grandmother used to read Eloise to me, so I’ve been in love with her for forever.

2. This is such a cool bathtub, but what do you when the water splashes all over the walls?

3. With all the bridal showers I plan, I definitely intend to use this easy DIY centerpiece idea. Cheap and easy!

4. I want to make this dip-dye art. It makes me so happy just looking at it!

Photo from Babble

Four Things Friday

Happy Friday, everyone! This has seemed like an incredibly long week, so I’m super pumped about the weekend. My best friends and I are hosting a bridal shower for our good friend, Caroline. It’ll be outside on a patio, and I can’t wait to share photos and details with you next week! It’s been a long row planning it, but I think it’s going to turn out superbly.

What are your big plans for the weekend? Make sure to check out these things I’m loving from around the Web!

1. How genius are these thrift store plate mirrors? They look like they’d be so easy to do!

2. This is such an easy way to decorate the walls in your kitchen or dining room.

3. I want to frame a series of these Women’s Wear Daily sketches by famous designers. They’d be beautiful in a bedroom or bathroom.

4. I’m not one for camping, but I think this would be a fun place to spend the weekend. It’s glamorous and comfortable.

Photo from Pinterest

I’m Dreaming Of…

Revamping this amazing dresser! I found it at my local Humane Society Thrift Store for $175. Though I don’t think it’s a real campaign dresser, it has great potential to look exactly like one!

Faux Campaign Dresser

I would paint the yellow a gorgeous Kelly green (like this dresser here). I’d try to spray paint the hardware gold, but I’m not sure if it’s easily removable. I think this dresser would look great as a console table in a dining room with a pretty mirror above it and flanked by wall sconces. It could store a lot of dishes, tablecloths, and other entertaining necessities.

I’m dying for a project, so I might just buy this and redo it. What do y’all think?

Four Things Friday

It’s been such a long week, y’all! Though we had Labor Day off, it still felt like the week was dragging on. But no more complaining…the weekend is here! I’m going swimming with the manatees tomorrow and I can’t wait! I’m a native Floridian, but I’ve never swam with the manatees, can you believe it? Do you have any big weekend plans?

Check out this stuff that I’m loving!

1. Umm, this is genius. I would have never thought to repurpose a tire in this way. So durable!

2. I’m  co-hosting a Halloween party and I’m dying to do this to the chandelier. So creepy, but so creative!

3. Using an old dining room table as a desk. This would be the perfect place to spread out all of my design books!

4. My love for Hobby Lobby has been well-documented. While I greatly admire that they are closed on Sundays for religious purposes, I always feel I’m most inspired on Sundays and can’t put my great ideas into action because they’re closed! So this eCard made me laugh out loud.

Photo from Pinterest

It’s Almost Fall, Y’all!

September is here, y’all, and with it, my favorite season: fall! To me, fall means Starbucks pumpkin lattes, SEC football, boots tucked into jeans, and beautiful décor in lovely autumn hues.

Photo from Home Stories A2Z

I went to college in South Carolina, and it was there that I came to fully love fall. It was the first time I saw the leaves of trees go from green to red to yellow to orange. Some trees were so beautifully orange that they looked like they had been set on fire. The gorgeous orange hue of the leaves next to the chocolate brown of the tree branches has to be one of my favorite color combinations.

Photo from Tiny White Daisies

I’m so excited to start decorating for fall. Every year, my mom purchases gourds, squash, maize, and pumpkins with which to decorate our mantel. The cream, green, brown, burgundy, and orange colors combine beautifully to create a fall mantelscape.

I’ve made it my goal this fall to be a bit more DIY when creating my autumn décor. Last year, I made a monogrammed pumpkin (still obsessed with that project…it was so easy and turned out beautifully!), but I want to get a little more hands-on this time around.

Photo from Midwest Living

These autumn décor front porch DIY tutorials from Pinterest look amazing. This chevron-striped pumpkin is perfection!

Whenever you’re decorating for any season, I always think it’s best to air on the side of minimalism. Your home shouldn’t look like a pumpkin patch exploded, but rather appear as if fall has gently landed on your table (with a centerpiece like this one), on your door (with a pretty wreath), or on your mantel.

Photo from Compost and Cupcakes

Stay tuned for updates on the DIY fall décor projects I create! Let me know if you have any great project ideas that you’d like me to try out!

Apartment Tour, Part Three

It’s now time to show y’all my favorite part of my apartment…my bedroom! I think every bedroom should serve as a restful, calming place where one can escape the hustle and bustle of every day life. I had an idea of what I wanted my bedding to look like (sumptuous sheets, fluffy pillows) and I worked tirelessly to make my idea come to fruition!

My headboard was made by the same amazing upholsterer who re-upholstered my seat cushions and armchairs. This green fabric was used to make slipcovers for my couches in college, and I knew I wanted to have green and white as the main color scheme in my room.

Headboard and Bedding

The bedding was purchased from Pottery Barn and it was actually not at all as expensive as I thought it would be. I found the bedding in the clearance section on PB’s website, but I was having difficulty purchasing it online. I called the Customer Service number and spoke with a lovely woman who told me that bedding was a part of their “call in” specials, and I would get an additional 15% off my order for calling in! I had no idea that Pottery Barn did this…they do it every day on various items (furniture, bedding, wall decor, etc.). The duvet cover, two standard shams, and two European shams were all purchased for just under $200.00, including shipping.

My lamps were a Christmas gift from my mom. She found them at a funky thrift store in Tampa. The lampshades were purchased at Lowe’s (their selection of lamp shades is great!) The side tables were found in my grandfather’s storage unit and were carefully restored by a furniture restorer in Tampa.

Side table and Lamp

The trunk at the end of my bed served as my coffee table for three years of college and now holds all of my old issues of the New Yorker. The rug is very special to me because it was in my mom’s first apartment that she lived in after graduating from college. It was then used in my nursery when I was a baby, and has now become a part of my first apartment. Though my bedroom is carpeted, I think the rug adds great color and texture to the space.

Chair, Rug, and Trunk Area

The chair was a part of my patio set during college, but I wanted a chair on which I could place dresses and clothes when I was getting dressed. I spray painted the chair a soft lime green and had a yellow and white striped cushion made to fit. The painting above the chair is of women walking in high heels and it says, “Fashion.” It was purchased at Hobby Lobby.

The Big Reveal: Part One

The moment is finally here, y’all! After almost four months of planning, painting, reupholstering, and laboring, my five rooms at the Ocala Ritz Veterans’ Village are finally finished!

This is a bittersweet moment for me because it’s been such a labor of love. I’m thrilled to be finished, but I’m going to miss going to the Home every day to tinker away. I’m sure I won’t be idle for long, though. My best friend is having a baby in August and I’m helping her with the nursery, so that should provide me with plenty of things to paint and reupholster!

Thank you for being such a huge part of this project! I loved hearing from y’all about paint colors and solutions to various design problems. It was so helpful to get encouraging feedback from all of you as I plugged away. Enjoy the tour!

This is Part One of a five-part video series I’ve completed to give you a detailed tour of each room I decorated. Let’s start first with the Monochromatic Room.

The Monochromatic Room’s calming color scheme might make it my favorite of the five I decorated. The mid-century style dresser, along with the headboard, are my favorite aspects of the room. Enjoy the tour!

What’s Your Home Decor Style?

I found this fun home decor style quiz in Real Simple and I knew I had to share it with y’all. I think it provides a fun way for you to narrow down what kind of styles you like and what your overall design preferences say about you.

Take the quiz here and then start planning the decor for your new room!

Side note: The quiz said that my style was Sophisticated Classic with a touch of Vintage Eclectic. So exciting!

Photo from Real Simple

Jazz Hands for This Snappy Jazz Dresser Re-Do!

It seems this dresser has served as the bane of my existence for the last three months. My mama purchased this dresser (decrepit and in dire need of some love) at a yard sale for $15.00. It had such great lines and a solid shape that I knew I had to take the time to give it some lovin’. Little did I know that it would become a three-month process!

Original Dresser and Mirror

First, I took out all the drawers and took off their hardware (charming white porcelain drawer pulls with flowers on them…yuck). I then taped over the edges because I knew I wanted those to be a different color.

Dresser Drawer with Original Hardware

I spray painted the drawers bright red (paint by Valspar, duh). The edges were trimmed in black (a pint of Valspar’s Tuxedo Jacket…love the name!) and I purchased new silver hardware for $2.47 each (6 total).

Dresser Drawer Painted and Sans Hardware

Painting the edges and the nooks and crannies of the dresser took the most amount of time. I did the opposite color layout on the mirror that went with it.

Voila! The finished product.

I think it turned out really well! Definitely jazzy and sassy. All that hard work and time was well worth it for this masterpiece!

Completed Jazz Dresser with Mirror

Valspar Red Spray Paint: $3.98

Pint of Valspar Paint: $4.50

Dresser: $15.00

Hardware: $2.47 each (6 total): $14.82

Total Cost of Project: $38.30

Island Chic: A West Indies Design Scheme for Bedroom Four

There’s been one room at the veterans’ home that has been driving me nuts because it was definitely lacking direction as far as a design scheme goes.

I had pillows and a headboard (purchased for $20.00 at my favorite resale store), but no real idea what I wanted to do. I scoured Pinterest and some of my favorite home décor magazines for ideas, and finally came up with the idea of using a British Colonial/West Indies theme.

The West Indies design look consists of breezy bed linens, wooden furniture (think bamboo and cane), and bright accent pieces. This article in Coastal Living definitely inspired me to try out this look!

This wooden table was rescued from a Dumpster, painted turquoise, and will serve as the table at the end of the bed. Its narrow top and unique shape makes it perfect for the end of the full size bed.

"Before" Image of Brown Table

"After" Image of Brown Table

I like to have one statement piece in each room I decorate and this elephant definitely makes an impression. She was originally a cherry wood color, but I wanted to tie in more turquoise, so she got a nice coat of the spray paint I used on the end table. “Ellie” the Elephant now serves as the room’s statement piece and mascot.

"Before" Image of "Ellie" the Elephant

"Ellie" Re-Done!

I plan on finding some funky bamboo lamps to use for lighting and I think making some abstract art with palm fronds could be really cool. I’m excited about the potential for this room now that it finally has a direction!

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 699 other followers

%d bloggers like this: