diy {gold elephants}

During my HomeGoods, Goodwill, Michael's (etc...) shopping excursions, I've been looking for some sort of animal figurine (preferably a pig or elephant) that I could paint gold and use as decoration on my book shelf.  I spotted these cardboard elephants while at Michael's ($0.99 each!) and decided to give them a try.

Now here's what they look like:

I need to style them up, but for now, I like them!  What do you think??

{countdown} missoni for target

Is anyone else anxiously awaiting the launch of Missoni's line for Target on September 13?!?!  I have been waiting forrrrreeeeevvvveeerrrr (it seems like!).  Today we are only 20 days away!  Here are a few of my fave picks:

I especially love the glasses and shaker in the last picture.  For the full lookbook, go here.

bathroom inspiration

I'll be redoing a bathroom at my parents' house soon, so am trying to gather inspiration.  My budget may be like $50, so I've got to figure out how to make the bathroom chic on a budget!  I'm thinking grey walls with white, purple, and green accents.

(love the chandelier)

And love the idea of the grey subway tiles here, but don't think that is going to be in the budget:

I'll be sure to take before and afters of the bathroom and let you all know how it turns out.  I'm super excited for this since this bathroom has been lime green since they moved in in 2000.  It really is gross.

(all images via Houzz)

happy friday!

Here's some eye candy to start the weekend off right!

traditional bathroom design by atlanta interior designer Niki Papadopoulos

image via Houzz.

love this clean, blue bathroom!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

{inspiration} closets

I think every girl loves her closet, because it is where she stores elements of her personal style.  My closet is so amazingly huge right now, I love it.  Unfortunately, when I move, my closet is going to be quite a bit smaller.  I'm not even sure if all of my stuff will fit! Anyhow, aren't these closets amazing?  I aspire to have a closet like one of these one day...

 

via here.

via here.

via here.

 via here.

And we can't talk about closets without mentioning this infamous closet:

via here.

A girl can dream!

i love treehouses

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I love tree houses.  My dad built one for my brother, sister, and I when we were younger, and we played in it all the time.  Many years later, and I am still enthralled.  While browsing my emails just now, I came across this Jetsetter sale in Sweden for the Treehotel!  How cool.  Anyone who has some extra cash floating around and time off (and I guess the desire!) should GO!  I would if I could!  Look at this sweet tree house!

images via Jetsetter.

Anyone else a fan??  Who needs a vacation?!

all white

image via cococozy.

I just looove this white apartment.  It is so fresh and lovely!  Especially love the exposed brick - definitely gives the room a more warm feel to it.  My only question...

...how do you keep everything so white (even without kids!)??

bedroom style board

So it looks like I'll be moving at the end of October (or sooner).  I'll be able to decorate my bedroom only, so I've already started planning what I'm going to do with it.  Here is my style board:

I'm really excited to actually get to paint the room since I haven't been able to paint in my apartment now!

Inspiration board part II

I finished almost finished my inspiration board this weekend!  After ironing my fabric, I laid it out on the board.  Then, I taped off the black faux wooden border so I wouldn't get spray adhesive on it.

Because the fabric was already lined up where I wanted it on the board, I just folded back sections at a time and spray-adhesived away!  I quickly smoothed out the fabric after laying it back on the board.  

Then, I started putting in the upholstery tacks, spacing them out using my finger.

 

As you can see, because my board is so cheap and thin, the tacks stuck out of the back of the board.  I used fabric paint to cover the sharp edges so I wouldn't cut myself!

And here's the finished almost finished product! (Please ignore the mismatched fabrics on the dresser and the board!)

I say it's almost finished because I ran out of upholstery tacks and couldn't finish the border.  I even went back to the fabric store today, but they still hadn't replenished the ones I bought on Thursday!  I bought smaller ones instead to see if maybe I could make those work, but they didn't look right.  I'm going to use the smaller tacks to pin things to the board.

And I realize that I have to do something about the mismatched fabric.  I guess the board won't be leaning on the dresser...unless I paint the top of the dresser and ditch the toile!!  Now that's an idea!  I'll keep you posted. 

penny wall

So I found this ah-mazing DIY/cool interior idea on Pinterest, originially from House and Home.  And I want to start saving my pennies!  Isn't it awesome??!?!

 image via here.

There are sooo many different things you could do with pennies along this same wavelength - make coasters, backsplashes, floors, table tops, frame them, make a design out of them...

This is such a great idea for me because I personally hate pennies and sometimes actually throw them away (don't judge me).  I'm thinking I need a beautifully-decorated jar or bottle to hold them in.  Perhaps one like this:

Yes, it's another DIY from Pinterest via PS I made this.  I think this would be the perfect little bottle to hold all my pennies!  I'll keep you posted on the penny collecting progress as well as the DIY bottle!  Hope everyone has had a good Tuesday!

another diy {from Martha}

image and diy via martha stewart.

I was actually just thinking of doing this the other day - I found a good-sized, magnetic closure box from staples on sale for $1.00!  The box is hideous - it is covered in an ugly, red-textured design.  Totally in need of a makeover!  I was going to try using decorative paper to recover, then seal it somehow, but fabric may be a good option too!  Oh, Martha, always there to help us out!

living room style board

Today I created my first style board for my living room.  Here it is:

(all pieces from ikea, west elm, target, joss and main, cb2, pottery barn, and restoration hardware.)

Since I'm still learning how to use my mac, I ended up saving all the images, putting them together in word, taking a screen shot, cropping the screen shot, and saving.  Nuts.  I know there has got to be an easier way to do this.  I downloaded gimp but am still trying to figure that out too.  

Anyway, I think I did a pretty good job considering all the crap I went through!  Some of the things I already have in my apartment - the tv/tv stand, the white bookshelf, and a similar blue lamp - but the rest is stuff I'd like to someday decorate with.  Especially the karlsdad couch(es) from ikea.  Love the modern feel to them.  Oh and the amazing peekaboo coffee table from CB2.  Want it.