Another Bully

Remember all my big ideas for what to put over the bed? Decals? Painted hoops? Others that I can't even recall? Well, let's just say I never got around to those. I had the day off last Thursday, so I decided it was finally time to do something with big plain white wall. Come hell or high water, I was bound and determined. I spent hours scouring resale shops looking for something "blah" that I could turn into something "wow." And just when I was about to give up, I found a 3-foot square frame in white, just sitting hidden in the corner of this huge resale warehouse. I had no idea what I would put into it, but for $2.50, I couldn't pass it up.

When I got it home, I considered framing a piece of fabric or even just a cool piece of scrapbook paper. But really, I had no clue.

I was surprised to find all these messages on the matte when I opened up the frame. From what I can gather from the little notes, a teacher was leaving and the students were saying good-bye.

Shane said we should put a picture of a bulldog in there, and then it dawned on me. I had ripped out the above picture from W magazine months ago for the very reason of one day framing it. However, it had completely slipped my mind. The picture, which is of Angelina Jolie's legs and her bulldog and was taken by Brad Pitt, fit perfectly. I framed the outside of the picture with some scrapbook paper I bought months ago (also for use in the bedroom).

I wasn't planning on painting the frame at all, but the white on white on white, was too much, well, white. So I spray painted it orange to match the quilt. I threw yesterday's bully pillow on the bed and called it a day.

Spring Makeover for the Bedroom

...sans wall art, though. =(

The bedroom had a bad case of the blahs going on, and with the wonderful feeling that comes along with spring, it was time for a makeover. I didn't have to do too much beyond unpacking and moving around a few more items, but it's still a fresh look since I never used any of this stuff in the bedroom before.

Here's the room...but badly needing something on the walls still! I can't decide what to do. I like the vinyl clings, but I can't decide which one is right and in which color. I also had some ideas of hanging painted embroidery hoops (empty) on the wall. There's a restaurant around the corner from where I live that has that, and it's so simple, yet so pretty. And not to mention cheap! Then there is another part of me that wants a painting for back there. Guess I need to think about it more.

Here are the curtains. I love these curtains for so many reasons. One, I found them at Goodwill for $1.75. Two, they're actually just a king size sheet that I tore in two...not one bit of sewing was required. And three (and the best reason), this fabric was actually used as the backing to the butterfly quilt that's on my bed. What the heck are the chances of finding something like that?

Here are my Anthropologie cabinet knobs turned tie-backs. Ahh....beautiful. And the ribbon was leftover from Patty's belt. Look at me being resourceful!

I got this vase/urn as a wedding (bridal shower) gift. It used to be a golden yellow color until I started using it on my balcony at our old condo. The sun turned it green (or something did). Now it matches the greens in my room perfectly. The silk leaves were used in my wedding. And you may recognize the bunny from Stacey, the Sally the dolly from Jessica, and the owl twins from Barbara.

Here's a better picture of the quilt. My mom found this at a resale shop about 12 years ago. She bought it for me because I love butterflies and the color orange. All of the butterflies are hand-stitched. There is machine stitch over the top of the whole quilt, but the binding what done by hand. I can't believe someone would just give away something this beautiful. And I think my mom only paid about $25 for it. Plus it's huge....perfect for our king size bed.

Living Room Decor

Here's my dilemma. I told you we sold our condo and are now living in an apartment. We couldn't find a house in time, so the apartment is a one-year (or possibly less) temporary thing. While I don't want to go nuts decorating or anything, I still want to be comfortable where I live and make it feel homey. At this point, I don't know how much is too much for a short-term space. We have blinds, but the place feels bare without curtains, especially since we have 10-foot ceilings. We're also finding that being on the first floor is an invasion of privacy, so curtains will help in that respect, too. So I think curtains are a must (but, dang I've got huge windows now to cover). If I put up new curtains, I think I want to go in a new color direction, which means a few new throw pillows and lamp shades, most of which I can make myself. Sounds like this could spiral out of control, but I'm going to do my best to keep my decorating to a minimum. Here's the direction I'm thinking for my space:
The couch is mine (ignore the burgundy stuff on the couch. I was too lazy to Photoshop the whole thing). The buffet is also mine (well, close to it). We use it for our TV. The big mural thingy is a decal from Etsy. Pretty cool...temporary, and easily movable. The pillow fabric is Amy Butler's August Fields. The curtains are from Target. I used red as an accent color, because I have a lot of red stuff from our old place to use in the kitchen and dining room, which is right next to the Living Room. Since the three rooms really are almost like one big room, I need something that works together.

That's it. I'm open to critiques and suggestions!

Happy Spaces

Sometimes random links on people's blogs can lead to such happy places. From the Decor8 site, I saw a link to All the Luck in the World. It's in another language, but the pictures were worth clicking through. I wish I would've found this site prior to the Mood Board Contest. I definitely could've used some of the images to inspire a room design. For now, I'll dream about one day using them to create a happy space in my own home.