Lacking Lighting

Maybe like most homes build pre-1960s, my house is lacking overhead/ceiling lighting in ALL our bedrooms and in the Living Room.  I love how lamps can add style to your house, but we are in need of some major lighting help, and lamps are just not cutting it.

Have any of you dealt with installing ceiling lighting, fans, etc - anything involving electricity?  My husband wants to do this himself... Which scares me, a little.

But more fun...  Picking out the source of lighting... Hubs wants ceiling fans all around (I draw the line at in the Living room).  I think they are useful, but just hate the way they look.  I am thinking a form of Recessed Lighting for the Living Room and would love a pretty pendant or chandelier light for the bedroom...

What do you guys have in your homes? Ceiling fans or Pendant/Chandelier/Recessed Lighting?

Hippie Chic With New Bedding

My navy blue guest bedroom is coming along! With the completion of the walls, I finally got to put to use the bedding I'd already gotten awhile ago!  So little by little this room is coming along and I'll show you little sneak peaks along the way until the grand finale!

It's all pretty  plain still, as there is nothing else in there yet.  Just a pretty made bed and a little new bench I found at a reclaimed furniture store (Liberty Bell) in Kansas City.  But I love the pop of orange so much!  It'll be fun to start putting the rest of the room together.

My Bedding: West Elm Pin Tucked Duvet & 2 Shams, Orange Sheets, Pillow Cases and Bolster by Isaac Mizrahi via QVC; Orange blanket from Home Goods & Orange Wood Flowers in Clear Vase from Etsy

My Hippie Girl Outfit: Turquoise Necklace by J.Crew via Ebay (last seen here); White Blouse from Forever 21 years ago; Jeans  from Gap & Heels from Target

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Lemon & Lime.

Remember when I was envious for a fabulous green room?   Well, I finally got my own.  My very own pretty green room - kelly green with a touch of chartreuse. The actual paint is by Behr and color is Pepper Grass. The room is my lime.

And I am the Lemon.

{Yellow cardi - J.Crew; Floral dress - Gap; Leopard belt - Target; Black tights - Target; Black wedges - hand me down from friend}

Look at my NEW leopard belt! I love it so much, I wore it with this gray and white dress. I liked the mix of patterns and that it was a bit clashy!  I'll probably be wearing this belt a lot...

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Day 30 {Whooo-Hoo!}

Day 30!  See that.  30 days of wearing the same 6 pairs of shoes, 3 skirts, 3 dresses, 2 pairs of pants, 11 tops, and 5 sweaters.  And seen.

Ending with my brights out in the melting snow.

I started this Remix Challenge out at the beginning of my home remodeling projects.  I had to pack up my entire closet (clean out the whole upstairs - every little thing), so a perfect time to pick out what I needed for the next few weeks, while the rest of my closet got stuffed in various parts of my house.

But 30 days later, and the house is still under hostage by our painter. We're close, I think, to being done... but not close enough.  The wood work in all 3 bedrooms takes awhile.  And that is done.

Next, it is down with the wallpaper (this crazy gross wallpaper) and fresh painted walls!  One room will be navy and the other green.  Our room is already blue, but will be touched up.  So lets hope this will not go on for another 30 days... Now I have to go dig out some more clothes to wear while I burn all these (I mean, wash).

Good Luck to everyone else still remixing!!

Day 27 {At Least My Hair Looks Good}

My day 27 outfit post and home update in one?  I think my face tells you all you need to know about how it's all going...

Those are all our bedroom closet doors.  3 rooms worth of closet doors.  In our hallway.  Still waiting to be painted (a nice pretty white - these are just primed right now).  And that plastic in the background is blocking the entrance into all 3 bedrooms while the brand new beautiful white enamel on all the woodwork (that was once a gross dingy wood color) is drying.  I will all be worth it, I know.

But I'm really ready for my house back.

In other news, I got my hair trimmed.  1 inch off and boy does it make a difference!  Those ratty, devilish little ends be gone!

Envious of Green Rooms

I'm so envious of these beautiful green rooms, that I am just going to go and make myself a green room!  That's right.  I see what I like and I am gonna do it. I have SO many home updates coming up, that I don't know even where to start.  You all have seen my Guest Bedroom mood boards, and how I'm going for Navy Walls with White & Orange accents.  That is still in the works, but we have another room.  One that you've not seen.  You haven't seen because it's hideous.

 Technically, it is a little green - but the sick kind, nothing to be envious over!

Well, we're doing a lot of work all at the same time!  Our floors were recently just finished (more on that to come) as you could see the hanging tarps in my Remix outfit day 1 post, and yet we're still living, breathing, sleeping & eating in our living room.  That's because now our painter is baaaaack to do white trim, doors, window panes (etc) in all 3 of our bedrooms and paint the Guest Bedroom walls Navy (see how it was before) & our 3rd room GREEN (our Master Bedroom already was painted blue - so just need the white trim/woodwork)!

Oh but what color green.  Here are some rooms I'm loving...and considering.

Citrusy Green {Erinn Valencich's room}

Kelly Green {Design Dazzle}

 Moss Green {Best Home Gallery}

Leaf Green {Fresh Design Interior}

What do you think about green rooms?  I think green is a very versatile room and can be transformed throughout the years...

Home Construction Forces Me into Another REMIX CHALLENGE

Hey all! My home is under construction!!  I was forced to pack about 90% of my closets up and store in the attic, basement, stuffed between the couch cushions, on top of the dinning room table, laid over beer pong table, where ever I could find a spot!

My poor clothes hanging from the rafters of my basement!

The top level of our home's (all the bedrooms) floor is getting a major face lift.  All the country colored wood floors are being sanded all the way down and refinished.  This process takes a week and literally kicks us out of our house (horrible smell and no access to shower or beds).

 More clothing draped over stuff in the basement, and a very jammed packed living room.

And then in 2 weeks (after the floors harden) we're finished the white trim make over and getting down the last of the wallpaper, so I can start my guest bedroom trasformation! So much fun ahead. :)

Anyways, having to pack up a couple weeks worth of clothing and stuff - I thought this would be a perfect time to do another Remix Challenge!  30 days, 30 pieces of clothing/shoes.  You'll see all my 30 pieces tomorrow, and my first outfit of the challenge Thursday.  But first, is anyone with me?  Doing it already, or want to start up too?  Let me know!

You can see my first Remix Challenge from this past summer here to get an idea of how on earth I did it.  But here are the basics deets:

Sounds easy right?  Here is what I learned last time...

- About half way you notice the challenge...
- But it forced you me to get creative and try new ways to wear things that I normally wouldn't.
- Last time, I didn't do the whole no shopping thing, but this time I'm on a spending FREEZE.
- When picking your clothing, make sure you can envision at least 2 outfits with each piece you pick.  Pick some fun pieces and basics.

Here is a sneak peek at my 30 pickings:

You'll see it all in more detail tomorrow!

Until then...start picking your 30!

Orange Bedding... Guest Bedroom Transformation Part 1

So after a great response on this post through comments, twitter and email - I chose to go with the Navy and Orange Mood Board for my Guest Bedroom Transformation Project.

It'll be a slower project than anticipated (or hoped for ignorantly), as we have some BIG things to the room that has to be done first:
- Stain and refinish hardwood floors
- Remove wall paper
- Paint trim/woodwork white 
- Then, finally will I get to pain the walls Navy

In the meantime - I'm starting to collect the decor pieces!  Starting with the Orange Bedding.  I have been looking online and at stores for orange bedding for DAYS!  Orange bedding is not easy to come by.  But finally I found the perfect shade of orange (not too faded, not to melon, not to neon)...

ISAAC MIZRAHI LIVE! Solid Hemstitch 400TC Cotton Sheet Set in Burnt Orange, sold at QVC!

ISAAC MIZRAHI LIVE! Zebra Print Quilted 36"x9" Bolster Pillow in Burnt Orange, sold at QVC!

I think this bed set will look fab with the West Elm Duvet I've asked for from Santa for Xmas.... 

And the area rug that I've been drooling over for awhile now from Ballard Designs (and currently on back order...boo). 

Remember as you're making ANY online purchases to use Ebates!  Cash back for purchasing online.  I keep forgetting to sign in first and open the site through it to get credit, so just a reminder to all you. :)

Guest Bedroom Mood Boards (WANTED: Navy Walls)

My guest bedroom is becoming the bane of my existence.  A major hidden embarrassment.  Undecorated, uninspiring and unorganized.  I love having guests and we do quite often...so this is just not going to cut it any longer!  And now I put my embarrassment out there...

Certainly not suited for a Guest...

So first step is developing my design plan - colors and ideas of patterns and textures.  I've been dreaming of doing navy walls ever since I saw this photo:

{Photo found on Bryn Alexanda's blog}

Navy walls with crisp white curtains, furniture and bedding with a pop of an accent color, like orange or lime green (or yellow in this photo's case, but I've got enough yellow going on).  I've been DREAMING about this inspiration for my own room design in my head.

Now I just have to get my husband to let me go for it.  His big objection - in the future it'll be hard to paint over navy walls (anyone know anything about that?).  I think primer has come a long way since the 80s. :)

Anyways, I created two mood boards to start this process and now you all can vote!  Please vote between these two mood boards based on what I should do for my guest bedroom space. Both contain inspiration I'd like to carry into my own space in one way or another...around navy walls of course:

Navy, white and lime green accents:

{Inspiration credits: Bryn Alexandra's own guest room, Navy wall of frames from Bryn's portfolio, RH ottoman, West Elm Mini Parsons Desk, West Elm pin-tucked white duvet, green floor rug, Crate & Barrel green vase, my own island antique maps picked up on my travels}

Navy, white and orange accents:

{Same Bryn Alexandra guest bedroom and Navy Inspiration Room, same West Elm Pin-Tucked white bedding, Ballard Design Eva Orange patterned rug, Target Orange tray, orange wall art and white frame}

So what do you say?  Mood Lime Green or Mood Orange accents with Navy Walls for the Guest Bedroom?  And any thoughts on the navy walls all together?  My ears are open - this is my winter project. :)

Before and After: Big Yellow Wall

As I alluded to yesterday... we finally found something to break up all that yellow behind our couch.  Just a big open wall that desperately needed something.

Before:

It was really stressing me out... but then, we realized we already had something.  Yes...this whole time, we actually already had something PERFECT!

After:

I actually got this big foam wall art from an old job when we were relocating - they let us take whatever we wanted that wasn't being used in the new place.  I got this and little did I know that years later I'd have a yellow room that this would go great in. Score.

Quick Home Accessory DIY Revamp

Do you have an old home accessory that needs a face lift? Or perhaps you found something on super sale, but it just wasn't quite right...?  I know this happens to us all, and I know most of you have already experienced the magic that is spray paint!   But I just had my first time, folks.

With our new leather ottoman...the tray we already had (that I had gotten for $6 on clearance at Target last year) was just to blaaa and blending right in...

 So I headed to Walmart and picked up 2 cheapie cans of spray paint ($2.60ish per can) - One in the color of my choice and a clear coat.


 Here's my one hour home accessory makeover on the cheap DIY:

Before tray & spray paint products:

 Spray Paint: Krylon from Walmart in Leaf green and Clear.

1. I first lightly sanded the tray down and wiped off the sandy particles.
2. I laid out some plastic outside, set the tray on a brick (so paint didn't clump around the bottom edges) on top of the plastic and sprayed on the 1st coat.  Dries in 10 minutes.

3. After about 12 minutes (to be sure) I lightly sanded again, wiped off particles and sprayed 2nd coat on.
4. Repeat for coat 3 - making sure to get those corners and nooks.
5. Light spray of clear coat, final dry.

The final product:

A little more eye catching of a piece.  Now off to find something else to spray paint....

The Ottoman Search has Ended!

Back when we first got our couch, we started looking for a leather ottoman to replace our oval hammy-down coffee table.  We searched for months, and then a couple months ago we found one online that we were 90% sure would work. It was on back order and then a couple weeks ago arrived.  It 100% fits the bill!

We wanted something that wasn't goo bulky, since the space is limited.  We wanted real leather (we as in husband).  We wanted rectangle, to match the couch interior space.  We wanted something simple and modern.  Ideally it would have had storage, but that would leave us with something bulky, and our striped storage bench is serving that purpose just fine.

So the ottoman that took us so long to find?  From Macy's, on sale!

Here it is all moved in and already in use:

A bit closer up:

I'd like to paint that tray on top sometime bright to keep it from just blending in.

Oh and the giant yellow wall you can see part of behind the couch...looking for ideas on what to hang there...

Home projects never do end, do they?  And this room, the Living Room, has already come ALONG way!

Another Photo Canvas...

I'm loving photo canvases as home art for all my blank walls and Groupon (but that's a whole other story).  Together, I've gotten 2 great deals on Gallery-Wrapped Photo Canvases from CanvasonDemand.com, as you may have seen me tweet about.

You might remember my first canvas for my grey hallway wall.  See that beautiful photo here!  And then I saw another Groupon (I follow a few different cities that I visit sometimes, and often times there are online redemption discounts) for Canvas on Demand.

This time I used a photo that a friend of mine took in San Diego.  He is a talented photographer and you can check out his photo collections here (then click on the flickr logo).

I welcomed this pretty thing into my bedroom this week:

It has a surfers - 70s vibe to it.  This photo was taken from my bed.  I love being able to see it, as it's a very calming photo.  I'm lucky to have a talented friend for this new piece of art!