Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Now that’s a Garden!

Just a little Garden update here, and WOW, I can’t believe how big it is now!  Vegetable gardening is such a rewarding project, it always amazes me how quickly it can grow and all the fruit it can produce in such a short time.
This was two weeks ago…
Two Weeks AGO
two weeks ago 2

Today it looks like this!
garden today
The tomatoes are looking great, I even have a few that have started to grow.
tomato
Squash galore…
squash
I had a bit of trouble with my cauliflower and eggplant with bugs but after treating them with Ortho bug killer we have a healthy plants.
bug Killer
cauliflower
eggplants
We have some baby beets that are ready….
beets
beets harvest
Fresh out of the garden!
This is my first time planting beets, I oven roasted these and added them to a salad with a little honey vinaigrette to add to the sweetness.  They would be great with a little blue cheese on a salad.
The only thing that is not growing as well as I’d like are the tomatoes in the pots.  They are healthy, but on the smaller side.  I purposely planted these in pots this year in case we did move while they were growing…house is still not on the market yet, so I don’t think we will have that issue. 
Two weeks ago
tomato in pots, 2 weeks
Today
tomato pots
Not much difference.  :-/
Did anyone else start a garden this year?  What did you grow?
April

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Summer Mantle

Time for a season change on the mantle.  Since I’m in the mood for the beach I freshened up the look with shells and glass. 

We have the lovely TV opening right in the middle of our mantle so I have to limit what can be done here to keep it from looking too busy.  Even with the TV there I still like dressing up the mantle a bit. 

 

This is the before picture, never really changed my winter set up through the spring.  Notice the heart from Valentines Day!  Then I added the bunny before Easter.  Sad that I’m just changing this now.

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Here is the new seascape mantle

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Up-close on one side

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Love these pink and green sea urchins I picked up in Nags Head, they really go nice with the colors in my living room

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Other side

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I’m linked up to Layla's Mantle Link Party today…stop by The Lettered Cottage for more mantle inspiration!

Spring_Summer_Link_Party_Layla

 

April

Inspiring Interiors on Thursday

Back this week with some photos of Bedrooms.  Found all these loves on Pinterest. 

Lets just start with the most stunning, I LOVE this headboard! Wow, what an impact! All the other elements are simple and neutral allowing the show piece to really pop.

headboardImage from knightmovesblog.blogspot.com 

This room looks so comfortable and relaxing.  I love the wall paint and the mixture of colors in the pillows and fabrics.

blue walls Image from houzz.com

This is such a sophisticated room, very tailored.  My favorite part is the photograph of the horse, it feels unexpected in this room.

horse Image from apartmenttherapy.com

Love the rustic charm in this room with the wood beams and the shutters re used in a new way for the headboard.

shutter Image from housebeautiful.com

This photo caught my eye because I love the chair & desk idea, this would be great for small spaces.  I also like the unique use of the shelf with the pillow hanging from it for a headboard.  What a great idea for an inexpensive headboard.

country Image from beds-headboards.net

Do you have a lovely bedroom to share?  Hope you are inspired!

April

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Linked Up

Please go visit Rhonda's blog today. Lots of great recipes to scoop up :)



Monday, May 23, 2011

Fun Night Out

This past weekend I went to a “Wine & Design”, a local art party.  This was my second and I wanted to take some friends and my mom, it’s such a fun night out. 

It is is a group of people all being led by an art instructor to paint the same painting.  You bring your wine and all other supplies are provided for $35.  The more you drink the better you paint :)

Here are a few photos from our paint night….

These are the example paintings

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Getting Started

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Halfway there (me and my Mom)

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My friend Misti and Charity and their paintings at the halfway point

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 Almost Done

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All Done, It’s great how they all look different!

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Check to see if a city near you has a party, it’s a great girls night out kinda of thing to do! 

April

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Inspiring Interiors on Thursday, a Nursery

I’d like to start a weekly feature to focus on design inspiration found on the internet.  I am hoping to keep it room specific.  To kick it off I’d like to start with Nurseries.  I was recently asked by a friend to help her with nursery decor for her little baby boy on the way and so I’ve been saving pictures of cute nurseries. 

Just to be clear to all friends and family reading this…I am not “the friend” and I’m not planning a nursery for myself anytime soon :)

Who can resist these adorable rooms!

 

This room has to be my favorite in the line up.  I really like the neutral colors.  For those that don’t know the sex of the baby this is a great for both.  It’s clean and neat with touches of whimsy. 

babyroomImage from blissfulb.blogspot.com

 

This is a really great boy room.  I love that the planes are used as a decorative element and can also act as visual stimulation for a baby with bright colors hanging from the ceiling.

pbplanes Image from potterybarnkids.com

 

This is another great unisex room.  It is very sweet.   Clean white furniture with just a small amount of color on the drapes and bedding.  I also love the whimsical tree. 

simple Image from spearmintbaby.com

 

This is such a calming color.  Soothing for baby and Mom.  The gallery wall of art on both sides of the room fill the space and create balance. 

two tone Image from familyoffarmers.blogspot.com

 

This one is super cozy.  It feels warm with the dark wainscoting yet bright with the light blue walls.  The bedding is traditional and kid friendly.

waincotting Image from roomdecoratingideas.net

 

You all know I love painted furniture, so I had to share this image.  How cute would something like this be in a nursery!  Also that cute “B” and the butterfly mobile would be perfect for a baby. 

baby furniture Image from norskeinteriorblogger.blogspot.com

 

This image is just for my friend, we both share a love for Dr. Pepper and I love this color dresser with the baskets for storage and the Dr. Pepper crate as a decorative element and storage. 

dr.pepper Image from hollymathisinteriors.com

 

I do not have kids so I have no knowledge on the needs of a nursery but I think a nursery should be a space for Mother and Child, it should be soothing, sweet, and functional for the baby and calming and comfortable for the mother. 

These spaces all achieve those ideals but they are all very different.  Hope you enjoyed seeing these sweet little havens.

 April

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Pinterest, My Latest Addiction

I feel like I am late to the ballgame on this one.  I read about Pinterest over at Young House Love a month or so ago.  And I love it!!!!  It is a total time suck, worse than facebook because it’s pictures!!! 

Adri over at Dream Book Design wrote about Pinterest the same week as Young House Love and I decided I should just check it out and join the club.

Both of the blogs above give you the scoop, so I won’t repeat.  Just know you have to wait to be invited, so sign up today! It is totally addicting!  It’s full of inspiration on anything from decorating, cooking, fashion, paper art, and much more! 

It’s like having my binder full of magazine clipping inspiration all stored on the web.  The neat part is you can “pin” pictures from other websites and save them all in one spot. 

I am new at the game but I would love for you to "follow me"  on Pinterest. 

In just a few short weeks I have been inspired to start new creative projects.  I have also decided with all the inspiration I should start a weekly blog post on interiors that inspire me.  Stay tuned for my first series later this week! 

Here is one of my first “pins” and a must do project SOON :)  Start pinning away! 

Shutter Idea

April

Friday, May 13, 2011

Chalk Paint Project #2

As you all know I have been reading about Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint all over blog world and decided to purchase some paints and waxes to try, it’s not cheap! However, the time saving is priceless. 
I love painting wood and giving furniture new life and I had just the piece sitting at home. 
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My Mom picked up this armoire at an estate sell years ago.  I loved it as soon as I saw it!  We decided to paint it white, I wanted to take it with me to my new college apartment and white would match with anything.  It was a lot of work to refinish, we had to strip previous paint and stain off, re-sand and paint.  It looked great when we were done and I’ve held on to it.  Since then it has moved with me four or five times so it’s seen better days. 
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I’ve always loved that it has a skeleton key and the simple details and just can’t let it go even though it’s really not a functioning piece for me now, I’m sure I’ll find it a spot one day.  
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With the chalk paint, no prep work is needed but I wanted to shine up the hardware a bit and just used some brass cleaner to give it a little sparkle. 
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Before

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After
For the armoire I used color “Provence Blue” and finished the piece with the soft wax in dark.  Just to see the difference between the paint color and the color transformation after being waxed take a look at these two drawer fronts, the top is paint only, the bottom is waxed. 
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In case you are wondering about the “how to”, it’s so easy with chalk paint.  No prep work is necessary. 
Step 1 – Paint
Step 2- Wax in clear paint
Step 3 – I sanded to distress where I wanted to see a pop of white paint and wood
Step 4- Waxed in dark wax
SUPER EASY!!! I love this paint!
And here is the after in all its glory!
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Even Nipper really loved it :)
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April

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