I Want That Room! {3.14}

Yikes! I've been woefully absent from my blog this week. Craziness ensues in my family at the moment, but I was determined to make time for my favorite post of the week!

Here's the room I'm lusting for this week:

Via Pinterest

Obviously, the gorgeous inky blue on the walls is the biggest draw for me. I just love this color to begin with, but I'd never have thought to use it in a dining room. It helps that there is plenty of natural light and white surfaces and fabrics to offset the darkness. The relative simplicity of the room allows the walls to stand out.

I also love the dining room table and chairs. They look antique and a little worn, which just adds to the charm. Except the two head chairs, of course, which look very comfortable. Can't you imagine lingering over a nice dinner with family or friends? Everything else in this room is just the perfect eclectic mix of traditional and modern. There's a pretty tea set resting on a traditional credenza, but a modern painting hangs over it. You have an antique dining table, but it is paired with some unexpected chairs and graphic pillows.

Just fantastic, isn't it? 

I Want That Room! {3.07}

This week's room is designed by the famous Phoebe Howard. This one is pink and fabulous and girly, but it's not TOO sickeningly sweet. Some pink rooms are a bit froo-froo for me, but this one has just the right combination of femininity and class. I would have adored a room like this as a teenager or a young woman. I wouldn't mind it even now, although I'm sure my husband would protest. Very loudly.

In this room, I'm loving all the pale pink with touches of darker pink, especially those gorgeous peonies (my favorite flower.) I also like all the contemporary touches that keep this room from being too cutesy: the mirrored dresser, the glass drink cart, the lucite coffee table, the sleek silver lamps, and that gray modern painting.

Loeffler Randall Spring Collection

I love pretty much all shoes, but my very favorite shoe designer is undoubtedly Loeffler Randall. I purchased my first pair of Loeffler Randall heels several years ago, and I'm still wearing them. Like literally, I'm wearing them as I write this. I'm super excited about LR's spring line. Here's a few of my faves this season:

Dita Platform Pump

Paloma Espadrille Stiletto Sandal

Tasmin Classic Pump

 

Anja Mignon Wedge

Francie Knot Sandal

Willow Mignon Knot Flat

Filippa Mignon Flat Sandal

See why I'm excited? I have a feeling I will have a new pair of shoes to share with you all in the coming weeks!

DIY Jewelry Holder

As I mentioned on Monday, one of my project over the weekend was to create a jewelry holder out of some old CD racks I had. It goes along with my mission of redesigning my closet without spending too much money. So instead of buying a new jewelry organizer (which is what I really wanted to do) I made one instead.

I started with two CD racks that were just gathering dust in my garage. These were well suited to the project because they had slats running down the sides.

I took stock of all my jewelry and decided how many space to dedicate to long necklaces, short necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. I split the slots pretty evenly between long necklaces, short necklaces, and earrings (I don't wear bracelets.)

I used pencil to draw lines along the slats to indicate where I was going to nail. Since I'm not that great with a hammer, I spent a lot of time drawing out lines in both directions so that there was a nice "X" where I needed to put the nail.

I went through and used an awl to punch starter holes at each intersection. Then I erased all the lines so that I was left with a bunch of holes:

I hammered small finishing nails into each starter hole, only going about halfway in so that each nail acts as a hook for the jewelry.

Then all that was left was to arrange all my jewelry on the hooks. I decided to use the shelves to store my favorite scarves. Not only does this allow me easy access to my scarves, but it also looks really pretty!

 

 

It was a pretty quick project, about 2 hours altogether. Of course, I had 2 racks and spent a bunch of time figuring out how exactly to proceed. This was so much fun. I've never been much of a DIY girl, but I'm learning that it's a lot more satisfying than buying everything!

I Want That Room! {2.29}

As a musician, this living room/conservatory is a dream come true. I would LOVE to have something like this in my house. The music room is so light and airy, with all the windows and that amazing ceiling. The grand piano is the focal point of this room, as it should be. I love the great contrast between the high shine of the piano and the worn-in, well-used look of the wood floor. In this room, the wood is laid in a chevron pattern, and that makes it perfect to me.

But I also love the adjacent living room. The color palette is fantastic: calm and soothing but still colorful. Again, I love the ceiling and the floors of this room. There's a great comfortable, lived-in feel to both these rooms. On a lot of home tours, while the homes are gorgeous, they aren't that practical. That's not the case here. I can totally imagine living here, using the rooms every day.

See the rest of this home on House of Turquoise. It's all just gorgeous!

First Outfit Post

This may seem like just another outfit post, but for me, it's conquering a fear. See, when I was 14, my grandmother told me that I am much uglier in pictures than in person. Ouch! What she actually meant is that I'm not that photogenic, which is true. She just said it in a way that pretty much scarred me for life. It took me about 10 years to figure out that I in fact am not ugly, but still, I shy away from the camera whenever possible.

So you see, posting outfit pictures takes a lot of courage for me, so please be kind =)

 

 

Tank: Rebecca Taylor | Cardigan: Zara | Jeans: Citizens of Humanity (old color)

Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell (old) | Clutch: Marc Jacobs (Similar) | Necklace: Similar

Weekend Fun

This was the best weekend I'd had in a long time! Mostly because I have a new project, and nothing excites me like a new project.

Like I mentioned on Friday, I randomly decided that I really needed to spruce up my closet. It's a nice sized closet and it has a lot of great built-ins and drawers and things, but it just looks really boring. I'm not quite done yet, so I'm not going to post any pictures, but I'll give you a hint. It involved paint in this beautiful shade of blue:

Harmony Interior Paint in Spa

So I spent most of Saturday afternoon and evening doing some painting. I've never used paint from Sherwin-Williams before, but I happened to pass one as I was running errands. I ended up paying $50 for a gallon of their Harmony paint, which is undoubtedly the best paint I have ever used. It's Zero-VOC, almost odorless, dries quickly, and is made from acrylic latex. Which means I didn't have to use turpentine or paint thinner for clean-up. I'm really sensitive to smell, though, and most paint gives me a headache that lasts for days. It was definitely worth the extra money to me. (By the way, that wasn't sponsored or anything; I just really loved this paint.)

I also did a little DIY project converting some old CD towers (remember those?) into a jewelry holder/organizer.

I'll probably post a tutorial later this week, just because it was an incredibly fast and easy project and I think it looks pretty good!

I Need a Pretty Closet

Yesterday, I was inspired to do some major spring cleaning on my closet. While my closet is already organized by garment type, sleeve/hem length, and color, I really needed to get rid of some things. I can't bear to give something away if I paid a lot of money for it, even though I never wear it and probably never will. It seems less of a waste of money if I keep it in my closet unworn rather than donate it. When I had a rare afternoon off yesterday, I went through my closet and took out a bunch of pieces to donate.

Only now I'm not satisfied because I know my closet could look a lot better than it does. It's a pretty large walk-in closet, and there's no reason why I should have so little room. So over the weekend, I'm going to attempt to do something so that my closet looks more like this:

 

 

All images via Pinterest

Any ideas or advice? They'd be welcome!

I Want That Room! {2.22}

Via

There are so many things I love about this room. The beautiful turquoise blue paint on the walls, and the contrast of that glossy black mirror against it. The shocking pink velvet armchairs with the zebra striped pillows. And speaking of black and white, that striped sofa has me practically drooling. Not only is it black-and-white-striped, but it also has an amazing shape. I like the splash of traditional furniture in this contemporary room in the form of that tufted bench. It looks like it's made out of inlaid wood, and it looks particularly awesome against that shaggy white rug. There's just the right combination of black, white, chrome, and glass accents to make everything cohesive, but it doesn't go overboard. I couldn't find much information on where this room is, or who designed it, but it is fantastic and SO my style.

Rose Gold Jewelry

One trend that I really love is rose gold jewelry. I don't know if trend is the right word, since rose gold has been used in jewelry for a long time. It just seems that it's become a lot more popular in the last few years than in years past. While I love rose gold, I don't think I look very good in it, so usually I just ooh and aah over jewelry I find. That's okay. Saves me money! Which  of these do you like? Do you partake in this trend or do you stick to more traditional metals?

1 | Jules Smith Boho Necklace | Pink Mascara | $130
2 | Frank Gehry Orchid Drop Pendant | Tiffany & Co. | $325
3 | House of Harlow 1960 Arrow Drop Necklace | The Trend Boutique | $129
4 | OliveYewJewels Rose Gold Bar Necklace | Etsy | $31
5 | KelkaJewelry Rose Gold Plated Cuff Central Circles | Etsy | $135
6 | Gorjana Ava Bracelet | Gorjana | $65
7 | Elizabeth and James Rose Gold Geodesic Band Ring | Bloomingdale's | $145
8 | TinyArmour Pyramid Stud Earrings | Etsy | $45
9 | Dogeared Always Beautiful Swing Rose Gold Dipped Earrings | Dogeared | $68

I've Always Wanted To Go To...

Liechtenstein!

I know, it's weird, right? Honestly, I'm not sure why I'm so fascinated by this country. I guess I think visiting there would be kind of like going back in time. Liechtenstein is a very small country in between Switzerland and Austria. It is one of the few countries in the world to still uphold a monarchy, and quality of life there is extremely high. They have a high literacy rate, a long life expectancy, a low crime rate, and a low unemployment rate. But most of all, it is supposed to be perfectly beautiful.

Sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Design Your Own...From Jonathan Adler

I just love Jonathan Adler and stop by his website periodically to check out what's new. The other day, I discovered a feature that I hadn't seen before. The website now allows you to design your own pillow, throw, tote, or rug! There are a ton of patterns and colors to choose from. Even though some of the items are kind of expensive, it doesn't cost anything to play around with the feature! Here are some of the things I created, but I'm sure you design-type people could do much better!
Click here to begin the fun.

Have a great weekend and see you Monday!

What I Read Last Week...{2.16}

In honor of Valentine's Day, I originally wanted to read Love In the Time of Cholera, one of my all-time favorite books. But because I was completely unmotivated to do much reading, I settled on reading Leaf Storm, also by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, instead. This small collection of novellas has been sitting on my book shelf for a very long time, and I'm glad I finally got around to it.

Leaf Storm by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

 Note: I couldn't find a publisher summary, so I had to use this summary.
In a South American town during the early years of this century, a retired doctor long known as an eccentric flatly refuses treatment to victims of a riot. Years later, the doctor hangs himself. For the vengeful town, the issue becomes whether he will receive a proper burial or be allowed to rot in the house where he had lately secluded himself.
This issue becomes the focal point of recollections, from many points of view, of fragments of the doctor's bizarre history. An old military man, who was originally the doctor's sponsor and host, braves the town's anger and forces his family members to help him carry out the burial. As it turns out, no one remembers the outrage apart from a few town officials, and the burial takes place without incident. 

My Take: I've read almost everything Gabriel Garcia Marquez has written, and I've loved practically all of it. I did not, however, particularly enjoy this book. It has all the essential elements of a Marquez story. It has the magical realism that Marquez is known for. Something just didn't click for me, though. It was just kind of boring and the magical realism was a little too strange. I found out later that this was actually one of Marquez's first books, so maybe it's just that he was still starting out as an author.

My Recommendation: Unless you have a burning desire to read every single thing Marquez has written, I wouldn't bother with this book. Especially when there are so many other fantastic Marquez novels to choose from.

Your Recommendation: I'm always looking for book recommendations. Are there any books that you've read and loved recently? Or if you've actually read Leaf Storm, I'd love to hear your opinion!

I Want That Room! {2.15}

I hope you all had a very nice Valentine's Day. I know I did!

This week's I Want That Room! is a perfectly gorgeous kitchen that was featured in Veranda Magazine last year.

Where do I start? I just love the blueish-gray color of the cabinets, and how it is the main pop of color in the room. Everything else is very neutral, either dove gray, white, or glass. The glossy black of that amazing stove and the breakfast table stand out against all the neutrals, and is a striking combination with the blue. The chandelier above the breakfast table is pretty awesome, too.

It's all so peaceful! I can imagine making myself breakfast in that bright airy kitchen and then eating it in the breakfast nook while enjoying a good book. That's my idea of a perfect morning. 

Interestingly, this kitchen is Jennifer Lopez's home in California. I don't know why, but I didn't expect something quite so subdued from her. I rather expected something more colorful. Is it just me? Whatever.  The rest of her home is beautiful, too, and is worth a view.

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

Via Pinterest

See? It truly is!

Even though a lot of these images are wedding inspiration photos, they're pink, and pink symbolizes Valentine's Day to me. I hope you have a great Valentine's Day and can spend some time with someone you love, whether that person is a friend, boyfriend, husband, sister, or heck, even your dog!

Weekend Baking

This weekend, I had planned to continue my ongoing cake-making attempts (see the whole story here and here) but then I realized I needed to do some Valentine's Day themed baking. I let my husband choose what he wanted me to make and not surprisingly, he chose brownies. My husband doesn't like fancy desserts...give him a good old brownie over mille-feuilles any day.

In order to make the brownies somewhat Valentine's Day appropriate, I cut them out into heart shapes and sprinkled them with powdered sugar. I'm pretty pleased with the effect! It kind of works with the low-key, simple night we have planned. And I have to admit, I like me some brownies, too.