Statement Chairs & One Kings Lane

Hey Everyone!  Hope you had a fabulous Christmas and Happy New Year!!  I have been on vacation all week and I am getting a ton of stuff done around the house! It feels so great to be able to check off task at a new year!
Right before Christmas I was contacted by One Kings Lane to write a post on my favorite statement chair by picking one that reflects my personal style.  I was also asked to introduce to you One Kings Lane’s new Home Décor Resource Guide.  I was excited to check out the resource guide for myself and wow, I really wish I had access to this type of information when I was in design school!  It’s a fantastic resource for information and knowledge on furniture types and offers guides to learning styles and time periods of furniture as well as decorating tips.  You can find the Resource Guide HERE. 
I immediately knew which chair I would feature but thought I would check out the resource guide first and they had a great article on Statement Chairs and how to select just what you are looking for, you can find that link HERE.
I choose the side chair I use in our bedroom.  When I was decorating our bedroom I choose this chair for the room because it added a pop of color and it’s a nice size, not to big, not to small.  I think the style fits my personality well in that it’s simple in design but the cane sides are a bit delicate and the upholstery is a bold color.  I painted this chair white as you know and it fits better in our room with the contrast of painted white wood against our espresso colored bedroom suite.

I love having a statement chair like mine that is simple enough to play around with pillows and blankets as the seasons change.

Do you have a favorite statement chair? 
Be sure to check out the Home Décor Resource Guide over at One Kings Lane!  It is a great source for finding styles of furniture along with great tips like How to Decorate a Rental.  I know it will be a go to for me when choosing new furniture like my next piece, a new sofa. 
If you are not familiar with One Kings Lane you will love the original site and you should  become a member, It’s free and you’ll find all kinds of great deals on home accessories, furniture, antiques, etc. 

April

Christmas Décor Tour

Hi There! Merry Christmas Time!!  I’m jumping on the blog band wagon today to share my Christmas decorating this year.  I would say it’s simple & eclectic this year, our new house is really challenging me in my holiday decorating.  I don’t have much room for a lot of stuff and I don’t like clutter so I kept things to a minimum. 
I simply put up a tree in our living room and added a few other touches to that room, the dining area and office.  I showed you all the bedroom here.  I’ve had the decorations up since after Thanksgiving but I’ve been so busy I just haven't’ had the time to post. 

Living Room

Dining Area

Home Office

You noticed even my wrapping paper is eclectic this year, Ha!  I bought several fine paper rolls from The Container Store two years ago after Christmas and just had to use a few this year.  The plain brown paper and reindeer paper came from Target this season and that reindeer paper is my FAVORITE!  I have used my gifts as décor and they are not under the tree to keep big chocolate paws off of them!
Only 7 days til Christmas!  Hope you enjoyed the little tour and I hope you are all having a great Holiday Season.  I am looking forward to some family time and get togethers this weekend with great friends!

April

Snow Scenes

I’ve been seeing little snow globe décor everywhere this season.  I just love miniature worlds like diorama's, snow globes, & fairy gardens so I decided to have a little fun and make a few snow scenes in jars and bottles I had around the house.  I picked up all the other supplies at the craft store, a great area to look is where they keep the Christmas village trees. 


These two are in my bedroom so I added a little reindeer pillow for a little more Christmas cheer here. 



I’m planning on keeping my Christmas decorating really simple this year.  I like how in this room I have just a few touches and it is enough. 

Here is the last scene, it was a bit hard to photograph but it’s a little sleigh with ornaments and trees stacked inside. 
These were so simple to make, I simply added the parts and then the snow.  I put a small amount of hot glue to the bottom or the trees to hold them in place and that was it!
I have been doing a little more decorating today and we went out to buy our Christmas tree today!  It seems so early to me but I want to get the tree up next weekend and have time to enjoy it this season. 
Have you started decorating yet?

April

Shiny Brite Wreath

Two years ago I rushed into TJ Maxx on Christmas Eve to buy these beautiful Shiny Brite ornaments I had been eyeing all season.  I felt like waiting until after Christmas may be too big of a chance so I snagged them for 25% off and bought 5 boxes of green and red ornaments. 
I typically don’t decorate with much green and red for Christmas, I like more jewel toned colors but these were so pretty…no worries, I picked up plenty of pink, purple, blue, and silver too.  I had planned to make a wreath out of the green and red from the day I bought them, however, last year we were still living with Will’s parents so I didn’t decorate. 
Traditionally I will not pull the first Christmas item out until Thanksgiving weekend but I wanted to start early on my wreath and I love it!  I am ready to start the decorating!!

This was so easy to make and it looks like it is really expensive.  To make one yourself  you will need a foam wreath, hot glue gun and glue sticks, PLENTY of ornaments (I used some cheap filler ones from the craft store), and ribbon to hang. 

I tied the ribbon on the wreath and picked a spot and just started gluing, placing ornaments  together like a puzzle. 

When you are all done you will have hot glue strands all over so I just used a hairdryer to melt them away. 
I love this finished wreath and it has inspired me to use a little more traditional colors this season!


Have you started your Christmas decorating yet?!?

April

Mirror Mirror

Happy Fall Y’all, it officially feels like cooler weather is going to stick around here.  I’ve taken down all my Halloween decorations and I am kind of of excited about Christmas decorating.  No grand plans but I am looking forward to decorating this year and setting it all up in our new house. 
I wanted to share with you this really awesome mirror that I recently painted.  It’s a bit different from my normal paint projects and it rocks!  It kind of makes me happy every time I look at it.
I don’t know which picture to start with on this, #1 because mirrors are hard to photograph, #2 the details are the best on this one…so I’ll start there.


Before this mirror was gold and it was beautiful as is but the gold was flaking and there was this reddish hue left behind that cheapened it a little.  


Once I started painting I wondered I started to regret it, the gold was very regal…the white was so bright next to the gold.

Little action shot for you…It must have still been warm out this night
Once I got all the white paint on I felt better, it really looked great.  I used the new Amy Howard One Step Paint in Ballet White and then I applied a product from her line called Dust of Ages.  I had seen a similar product to this a while back and was eager to try.  A detailed piece like this one is perfect for this finish. 
With the dust, you paint, wax then sprinkle the Dust of Ages on just before the wax dries and then buff to a beautiful finish.  Since this was the first time I had used it, it took a little getting used to and the first try I think I let the wax dry to much and I applied too little dust.  I tried again right over by applying a little more wax and then adding the dust liberally, then buffed. 
Here is a shot of my first attempt.  Dust on the left, none on the right. This looked good but I really wanted that aged antique look.

My final product.


I loved trying something new with this piece and that I was able to recreate the aged antique look of the original in a painted version. 

What do you guys think?  Is it a beauty or what! 
Hope everyone has a great week!  I’m fighting the urge to decorate for Christmas!!

April