My Perfect Bedroom
On Apartment Therapy today I saw this gorgeous black and white chair by Ethan Allen. First I drooled (we all know how much I love black and white furnishings, right?) and then I headed over to the Ethan Allen website to check out their new lines.
More drolling ensued. Before long I had picked out what my perfect bedroom in the new house should look like.
The master bedroom in our new 1891 house is through a walk-through closet (very cool!) and is then sunken below a couple of steps. There are raw beams overhead, and even a little stained glass window on the wall with a peak. Yes, its very neat.
So, this Ethan Allen room that I spotted had my mind combining my love of shiny black furniture, black and white prints, and raw, rustic wood features. Here she is:
Gorgeous, no? Actually, the Ethan Allen website had a ton of beautiful images, ideas, and products! Check out more of the line here: http://www.ethanallen.com/shop_by_room/bedrooms
(No, I’m not paid or sponsored in any way by Ethan Allen. Although maybe I should be, becuase I’m in love! 🙂
Inspiration and Big News
After being out of town, and a little out of touch, most of last week, I am finally catching up. Reading through a backlog of blogs today I ran across the most gorgeous farm house tour on Apartment Therapy.
The details of this home struck a cord with me, because we happen to have just bought an 1891 farm house. Yes, one more move! We close in about two weeks. We are anxious, nervous, excited, and very busy. This is the first time I will really be moving away, although not far, just to Iowa. This is our dream home, and we are very excited to remodel and decorate once there. Pictures soon to come!
But for now, here are two of my favorite images from Shannan and Cory’s home tour. Check out the rest here.
I love that light fixture! And the pillow is gorgeous! I am so excited to put some of this inspiration to use in the new place!
This was one of my favorite photos because of the crate used to hold towels. We found an old crate of glass bottles at a garage sale for a few dollars, and had planned to use the bottles as wedding decor. Little did we realize that the crate had a Tipton, IA business emblem on the side, which is where we later bought the house! I would love to incorporate our crate in a useful way like this!
What do you think?
A Glamorous Nursery
N, I’m not expecting. But, when I ran across this glamorous nursery, I immediately knew what I’d like my baby’s nursery to look like someday!
Absolutely lovely! The room is from Emily Henson’s home, which was featured at www.anthologymag.com. Check out the rest of her beautiful space!
Bright, Gorgeous Room
I’m a black and white person. Always have been. Just recently I have started to expand my decor colors. I still tend to shy away from bold colors, but when I see a room so bright and gorgeous, there are times that I just can’t help myself!
Two bright colors in one little space and it still works beautifully! And, it doesn’t even scare me off in the slightest! Actually, I feel inspired by this room. Check out the whole lovely home tour here on Apartment Therapy: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/elizabeths-colorful-and-imaginative-house-house-tour-146539
No-Sew Curtains
Every room of my new house has needed curtains. But, wow! Curtains are expensive! I always see other people’s fun curtains and think, “I can do that!” But then I get started and realize, oh yea, I can’t sew. At all. My mom suggested using iron-on fabric hem tape and making faux roman shades. Light bulb!
I have a little mud room, where the dog kennels and laundry live. These blinds were broken and grimy. I thought this was the perfect place to try this experiment out on. Its a small room, so it can take a bright punch, plus we aren’t in there all the time, so if they aren’t prefect on the first try its no big deal.
So, after reminding myself that the situation couldn’t get much worse, I set forth. I bought a few yards of a fun, floral fabric for each window. I used tension rods, and used these to mark the width of each window. Once I had the width I used the hem tape and ironed a hem onto each side. Then ironed a hem to the bottom and a pocket at the top. I hung the curtains, rolled them up, and tied in place with matching ribbon. Viola!
The bright fabric ties in the red antique table I use for folding laundry, and the fun towels I bought for next to the sink. You can see here that the whole little room needs some work, but for now at least the curtains are fun!
What a simple technique with big impact, no?
I love this big old sink, even though it needs some work too. Here you can see the little purple and yellow picture that I hung too. You can also see the antique expandable mirror.
I think this experiment turned out pretty well and will definitely use this to make me braver for my next curtain project!
Sheet Music Table
I have had this little vintage fold-up table sitting in the closet for a while now. My grandma had given it to me, cracked green paint and all. I would stare at it now and then, uninspired, but I knew an idea would eventually come to me.
Finally one day last week the idea did come to me! Sheet music! I happened to have some old sheet music, some Mod Podge, and even some ribbon and scrap book supplies. I, of course, forgot the before picture. And this was one of those that would have been good to have! But, after working on this project all weekend, I am finally finished and I really like the results.
I later read somewhere that in order to keep the ripples and bubbles from occurring you can dampen your paper before adding Mod Podge. I will definitely try that next! But for a first try, I think it turned out super cute! What do you all think?
Our New Buffet
Our new buffet is actually what was once a very old and icky buffet. I saw it at a garage sale for a few dollars and couldn’t resist. I thought it would be fun to see if I could bring life back to this old gem. It was a lot of hard work getting the old veneer top all off and fixing some chunks that were missing from the detailing on the front. Then I sanded, filled, sanded some more and painted with a glossy black paint. It still has some areas that have small flaws, but I am probably the only one who notices now. But, it is sturdy and I have plans for this to one day become a baby changing table once I inherit a piece for the dining room from my grandmother. Here it was before:
And after:
No too bad, eh?
An Awesome DIY Project
This chandelier is completely awesome! I drool everytime I look at this picture. Someday I hope I can work up the courage to attempt this DIY project. For now I call it inspiration and stare longingly at the photo each day.
Antler Hooks
All of the homes that Design Sponge features are simply beautiful! But, today I found one of them to be particularly inspiring!
The home of the owners of Antler&Co is not only beautiful, but I am stealing this antler wall hook idea!
Gorgeous, no? See the rest of the home here: http://www.designsponge.com/2011/06/sneak-peek-greg-grey-of-antlerco.html
Chic Dining Room Inspiration
I immediately fell in love with this gorgeous room! You all know I can’t resist dark, dramatic walls. And when paired with another glamorous rustic chandelier? Well, lets just say I was in heaven!
I can only hope to pull together such a chic room someday! Swoon.
Make Mine Eclectic 