Showing posts with label Interiors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Interiors. Show all posts

Nursery {inspiration}

0
COM
Labels: , , , , , , , , ·
Lately, I have been obsessing over "peanut's" soon to be nursery.  After a trip to market in Atlanta with all the women of the family (Yes! we had a wonderful time and plan to go back annually!), I have a much better idea of what's to come.

After dinner at the Ritz in Buckhead 
Isn't my family beautiful ;)


....back to the nursery!  Here are some pictures that inspired my ideas:

I started at restoration hardware baby and child because I basically love every room that they do.  I love this color blue!!!!!! It is just so dreamy.

rhbabyandchild.com

rhbabyandchild.com

Then, I became obsessed with hot air balloons and globes! The colors in this picture are not exactly what I am going for, but I love! the globe mobile, giraffe lamp, and the hot air balloon model.



And, of course, I have to have animals for a little boy! Here are some of the prints that I liked....


To add a bit of a vintage feel, I decided to go with a Jinny Lind style crib similar to this picture:


Although I am not much of a "theme" person, going to market really helped me narrow down some of the items that I wanted to include in the nursery and the overall look that I am going for. The best description that I can come up with is a baby safari adventure/travel theme in a pastel colorway. 

Now, I am on to paint colors! Here are some ideas I already have for the walls:


I am looking for a light greige, but I have to decide whether to go more brown or more grey. 

I can't wait to share some of my purchases with everyone!....and, to post some before and afters.  I would love to hear what you think.

{all pictures not linked are courtesy of Pinterst}


Enjoy!
Sarah





Black and white

0
COM
Labels: , , , , ·
I have been really drawn to the Black and White trend recently. Of course I love wearing the combo, but I am considering the clean palette for the guest bathroom as well. Here are a few inspiration pics I have found so far. (Click the picture to get to the original source.) These are all beautiful pictures, but I will need to be very creative since I am in a rented space where installing black and white tile or wallpaper is not a practical option currently.










Let me know if you have recently updated your bathroom or have creative design ideas for rented apartments.


XO,
Nicole

Vanity {Inspiration}

0
COM
Labels: , , , , ·
I have always had a thing for vintage vanities. Here are a few of my favorites:









{via Pinterest}

With these lovlies as my inspiration, I am on a mission to create a functional make up station while maintaining a glamorous, vintage feel. And...

In celebration of our first anniversary, my parents gave me and Carey a piece of furniture that has been in my mother's family for over 100 years.  Her grandfather originally made the piece as a sewing table and over the years it has been handed down, adapted into a desk, and restored as necessary.  I grew up with it in my bedroom, and now it is back in my life!  



Mom picked up the mirror with drawers {on top} at an estate sale.  I do not have much wall space in my bedroom, so I decided to stick it in a corner.  The next step is to decide whether to use the mirror {which would have to be replaced since the current one is antiqued and not clear} or to use a smaller lighted mirror {for functionality}.

More to come...

Enjoy,
Sarah



Let's get organized...

0
COM
Labels: , , ·

Since being organized in my personal life does not come naturally to me like it does Sarah, I decided to make this my new year’s resolution… GET ORGANIZED. Yes, I know that is very vague, but I do want to get organized in as many ways as possible. I began cleaning things out in January when the rest of the world was also still working strongly toward their resolutions and just like most of those people with new gym memberships, I started to lose focus on my goal. Well now I am finally getting back on track and excited to share it with you {please don’t judge the before pics that you may see on some posts}.

When we moved in several months ago, there were boxes stacked everywhere. We quickly realized that we needed to pick up a few things before we would be able to completely unpack. One of our first purchases{after living room curtains- more about those later} was a bookshelf to store lots of books and also personal/sentimental items that would help warm the place up since we had to deal with lovely “apartment beige” walls. We were not wanting to spend a lot of money on this- we just wanted something functional for now. Well, I would say that is exactly what we got. The BF came back from Ikea with what might be the best bargain EVER and it is the perfect size for an apartment {also I told him I wanted a back to the book case so he thought this was a good compromise}. He did good!

 
Ikea LAIVA Bookcase $25

Lucky for me, I did not take pics of all of the boxes before unpacking, but here is what the bookcase looks like today.



We already owned most of the items on the bookshelf: the beautiful Fearless Entertaining books on the third shelf were gifts from my mom over the years, as well as many of the pretty cook books on the top shelf that used to be hidden inside cabinets, the white owl book ends were a Christmas present to ourselves from Z Gallerie, the pottery bowl on the third shelf-that happened to match the living room colors perfectly-came from my grandmother's house, the painting on the top shelf was a Christmas gift several years back from two of the cutest little girls-Addy and Aubrey, and if you look closely at the books on the selves, most of them are a funny assortment- everything from Psychology for Dummies to Mathematics for the Nonmathematician. The book case really helped bring some personality to our new apartment while avoiding taking up much space.

A couple of months ago, I managed to find a new home for the bobble heads that once lived on the top shelf :-/ I really hate that I didn't get a picture of the shelf back then. Needless to say, this has been a work in progress. If you are trying to decorate your own bookshelves, just remember to aim for a good balance between pretty pieces and personal items{and in our case, we also chose some funny things as well}.

Let me know what you think and if you have tried something similar in your home.

~Nicole

Chalk paint transformation {part 1}

1
COM
Labels: , , , ·
When my good friend, Jane, asked me to help her paint a piece of furniture for her little girl's "big girl room", I jumped at the opportunity!  She told me that she wanted a "chalk paint look", and I knew this would be super fun and easy :) 

After talking with her I realized that Jane did not know of Annie Sloan Chalk paint and all of its glory.  So, we talked about colors, and I dropped by an Annie Sloan dealer in Jackson, MS for a can of "Pure" and "Clear Wax".



Here is a picture of the inspiration of Ava Montgomery's "big girl room"....


...We thought a big white chest of drawers would fit in perfectly.

Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take a before picture of the chest, but just try to use your imagination.  First I had Jane, with some help from her sweet husband Richard, remove the handles and knobs and fill the  holes from the hardware with wood putty.  After Jane's husband and dad moved the piece out to their lake house and set us up in the basement/garage, we started painting.  We started with a quick thin coat of paint, no sanding involved! {This is the greatest part about using chalk paint}


                               

Then, we let that coat dry over night.  Next we sanded the spots where the holes had been filled.  This could have been done first, but we did not have the sandpaper until the next morning.  Then, we continued with a second coat, and, in some places we even added a third.  We were shocked at how quickly the entire job went, and Ms. Ava Montgomery even got to "help" transform this piece of furniture for her room!



Lastly, we decided we could not wait on hardware to be ordered/shipped so we headed into Oxford to find some knobs.  After some debate with the store owner about whether or not they would work correctly, we decided to purchase some beautiful glass knobs from AC's.  The knobs were originally made to be used as door knobs (not pulls), so we made a quick trip to the hardware store to purchase some nuts.  With the minor adjustments the knobs worked perfectly! We couldn't be happier! 


The last steps are to wax the chalk paint using clear wax for a more finished, matte result and to add some knobs or handles to the doors (the ones we purchased were too big and bumped together).  

Stay tuned for pictures of the the final product in Ava Montgomery's finished "big girl room"!  

Enjoy,
Sarah 

Sun room redo...

6
COM
Labels: , , , , , ·

For the love of stenciling....

Since buying a house in February 2011 I have learned many new DIY tricks and experimenting with new things is one of my favorite things to do.  Most recently, I decided to try an all over wall stencil in my sun-room.  Here is the before...


This is actually what the room looked like when we bought the house, so the previous resident had actually taken all of the items.  It was first carpeted and we had the floor tiled when we did some work in the bathroom across the hall.

This project was inspired by a beautiful wall covering that I found from the  Thibaut Geometric collections. 

After I figured out how much the wall covering would cost (approximately $400), I started looking into less expensive options.  My mother-in-law (who also happens to be an interior decorator) told me to look into wall stencils.  After researching a few places online, I decided to go with an all over wall stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils since they had one that looked very similar to the lattice design that I liked. I also had to decide on a color that looked similar to my original inspiration. After debating for a long time, I decided I just needed to pick.  After trying my first sample pick, I decided on Sherwin Williams "Aviary Blue".

Directions....

First, I had to prime the walls, and I chose to use a plain latex Kilz.  

Next, I painted the entire room bright white with a latex paint. And, finally, after two coats of boring white, I got to start stenciling!!!! 

Unfortunately, I decided to start at the bottom (just because it was easier), but after the project  I learned that it would have been a much better idea to start at the top.  The stencil company sends a straight edge stencil that is smaller and easier to navigate the ceiling line.  Since I started at the bottom the repeat did not end at the correct part of the design to be able to use the small stencil. 

After one (or a few) mess ups I quickly learned how to line up the stencil quickly and easily.  I simply followed the directions provided by Cutting Edge Stencil which can be found here.

Lastly, I decided to just do the one "plain" wall in the room and finished it by painting the rest of the room blue.  And, here is the finished job.  


I would love to know what you think!!  

Enjoy,
Sarah
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)