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!