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Our living room was feeling a bit... cluttered - I have a shamefully bad habit of adding more and more accessories to our space without taking things away.  I feel like a decor pack-rat sometimes.   The side tables in our living room were in need of simplification - the multiple picture frames, candles, books, vases, etc were too cluttered.  It all had to go.  What to put in their place?  Something simple, clean and pretty.... and what could be more simple or more pretty than an orchid?? I've always loved the look of a pretty terrarium, but do not have the expertise to know how to successfully plant one.    Despite my brown thumb, I thought I might try my hand at a more simple version of a terrarium - I had a pretty glass apothecary jar, and it was crying out to be used, so on Saturday morning, I took a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up some breakfast goodies, and came home with a few small orchids.   Bear with me as I scientifically expl...

Sorry for the lag time on the dining-room-turned-office update photos... that room has not gotten any of the other promised updates since I posted about my beloved fiddle leaf fig (which by the way, is absolutely THRIVING so far knock-on-wood ). The original plan was to hang shelves for book storage on the walls flanking the entrance to the living room... three on the left wall, and two on the right wall so there would be room underneath for a nice comfy chair to read in... here's how we I envisioned it working out... Since painting, and rearranging some of the furniture, I hung one of the shelves, but after getting it up, I wasn't convinced that I LOVED it... so I waited a week to see if I wanted to hang the rest, or if I wanted to switch up the plan. The good news is, I do like it, so I want to hang the rest of the shelves... The bad news is, I do not trust our plaster walls to support a heavy load.  After hanging the first one, I'm having visions of these shelves coming...

My old coworker (and fabulous friend) Margot just moved into a Studio (after living in a truly awful situation with roommates for a few years).  One of the BEST things about living alone is being able to make decisions on your own about what YOU want in your space.  You don't need to take other's tastes into consideration, and most importantly, you don't have to worry about your sloppy roommates ruining your new pretty things. Amen to that! Well, Margot already has a few things in place, but I was able to help her out a bit, by creating a few mood boards for how I see her studio coming together.  She has white bedding, neutral walls, and this fabulous, bold, cobalt sofa from Ikea.  With that in mind, I pulled together a few fun accessories, to create several ideas of how I see this space coming together. This first inspiration board was a fan favorite.  This rug (at the time, 75% off from RugsUSA) is the spitting image of  the Souk wool rug from West Elm ...

Happy Friday!  I'm checking out for the weekend since I'll be here... Go on... feel a little jealous... I'll be in Tahoe for one of my best friend's bachelorette parties - going boating on the lake, soaking up lots of sun (and margaritas) and celebrating the impending end of her "single" life... Happy Weekend! xo

How cute / cool does this upcycled wine bottle turned vase look?? My cousin posted this picture on Facebook, and it got me thinking... I've been focused on larger projects recently, but there is something so satisfying about the little DIY projects that you can tackle in a night after work... case in point - this wine bottle made over with a little paint and twine #instantgratification Clearly clever women run in my family... or is it that Pinterest-lovers run in my family... or is it that expert wine-drinkers run in my family??? Or is it all of the above??  Eh, that's neither here nor there. I happen to be QUITE the expert wine drinker, so this is the perfect project for me... in a week's time I could have enough bottles emptied and ready to open an Etsy shop!  I kid... kind of. I took to Pinterest for more bottle inspiration, and these wine bottles doused in chalkboard paint caught my fancy.... they'd make for a cute little centerpiece at a party (or better yet... ma...

Let's talk about paint colors... shall we? Let me start this off by admitting that I had no idea how hard it would be to pick a shade of grey.  I mean, I thought I was going to be all clever with the title of this post, but I literally ended up evaluating just about 50 shades of grey... and that was after I had narrowed it down!! I wanted something light and bright - no yellow undertones, but not too "cool" of a color either.  Just a perfect, clean, true grey.  To cut to the chase, I ended up with Grey Owl, by Benjamin Moore, but ending up with this decision was NOT an easy one... Here's where I started... Yeah... lots of options... too many options... Here's where I narrowed it down to... I decided to do a little Google image search, and found a few that I loved.  Sleigh Bells had been a front runner from the paint chip, but in the pictures it looked really steely and well... silvery.  Just. Like. A. Sligh Bell.  Duh. Coventry Grey really appealed to me as...

Here's a riddle for you... what is alive (but doesn't move on it's own), has gorgeous green waxy leaves, is ridiculously expensive and favored by every contemporary interior designer who ever lived??? If you guessed the fiddle leaf fig, then you'd be correct! I mean look how pretty they are!! Traditional Family Room by Washington Interior Designers & Decorators Haddon Interiors Mediterranean Entry by Los Angeles Interior Designers & Decorators Chris Barrett Design Contemporary Living Room by Round Rock Interior Designers & Decorators Dana Frieling Interiors Contemporary Living Room by Rancho Santa Fe Interior Designers & Decorators Shaw Coates Eclectic Bedroom by San Francisco Interior Designers & Decorators Cecilie Starin Design Inc. Traditional Living Room by Chicago Interior Designers & Decorators Summer Thornton Design, Inc Enough with the inspiration photos you say??  You totally get how amazingly gorgeous these plants are???  An...

Happy Monday all!   Last week, I'd talked about how I'd painted the trim in our dining room, and that from there my plans for this little space spiraled a bit out of control... We'll let's take a look at a few before's and afters from just the trim... BEFORE: AFTER : Nothing earth shattering, but a DEFINITE improvement.  The trim and the ceiling had been the same color, so that really puts into context how much brighter the room felt once the trim got painted out.   Queue: sigh of relief. This weekend, I made some SERIOUS headway on the other updates I'd wanted to make... remember this inspiration board I put together?? Well, I am VERY excited to say that the dining room is looking VERY close to this already - dare I say it, I will be finishing up our newly revamped space this week.  I'm going to hold out for a final room reveal, but I wanted to at least share a few sneak peeks at how it's evolving... Ooh la la... look at those pale grey walls staring b...