A Hotel with Style???

Part of our Christmas was to go up to see Jon in Northern Utah, and to stay in a hotel. Noah LOVES hotels, and had asked to stay in one as part of his Christmas (yes, I realize that is an odd request for a 12 year old...but we went with it). Being that we have very little money to spend on something like a hotel, I really looked around for a good deal, but I also wanted something nice. It was a dilema...until...I found the SpringHill Suites in Provo. They were having a holiday special where if you booked a stay sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas the room was only $79 a night (usually $139) and that included a king sized bed, couch with a pull out bed for Noah, large flat screen TV, a kitchenette, wonderful breakfast each morning (like not just fruit and a bagel, but eggs, sausage, waffles ect. ect.) and coupons for restaurants that were near the hotel. The added bonus, it wasn't just a 1970's decorated room with a lumpy bed like most of the hotels that were in that price range....it was new, clean and (gasp) stylish. Now while Jon thought it was "too modern" for his taste, he didn't complain while he was in the shower with the body jets. ;)

Got Brass (And Very Little Else), In Pocket

Here was a project I did for Noah's room for VERY little money and using some things I already had around the house. I had some canvases that I had used in another room that had been covered in fabric. That room is in the process of being made over into something new and the canvases would no longer be needed. I removed the fabric from the canvases, and bought cheap acrylic paint from a craft store. I also got some cheap wooden letters that spelled out Noah's name to paint. I got some painters tape and went to work painting the canvases to match Noah's bedding. This project probably cost less then $10 and it helps make the room look more complete for the new listing pictures of our house.

And The Others Gold

I know I have been a major slacker when it comes to blogging lately. I know I need to get you all up to speed on some of my projects. As most of you know I have been trying to sell my house so that Noah and I can move up to Northern Utah were my husband has already moved to take a job. We recently took the house off the market so that I could get a few projects done and take new pictures before relisting. On of those projects was a niche’ we have on the main floor living room. I am not always the biggest fan of painting only one wall in a room, but because this was a separate space…I decided to make an exception.

I chose the gold color because it is a warm neutral, and because we have this gold in an area rug in the living room that was already there. (The upstairs space mainly belongs to Anne and Rich so I have to work with the furnishings they already have in the room) I love the round mirror I added. I had looked all over online for a round mirror with a dark wood boarder and they were all way out of my small budget, and then I found this beauty at Lowes for only $88. The candle sticks and candles I found at Target. I still want to find four (two for each side) small items to put on each side of the mirror…but haven’t found those “just right” items yet. Until I do, I still like the warmth the new wall brings to the space.

The Lowe's Down

I am desperate to sell my house and get my family together, so I went to Lowe's to look around for some deals for staging and get some inspiration. I forgot how much I love doing this. As a "single parent" right now, my time is not my own and I haven't made much time to do things for myself. I took Noah with me and enjoyed this little bit of time in Lowe's SO MUCH! Not only did I find some GREAT deals (clearance throw pillows for under $6), but I did get inspired. I even snagged some of those free paint sample books, and the new ones by Valspar and Olympic have some gorgeous pictures in them. I got so many ideas for the new home I will have SOMEDAY. I highly recommend a little trip to your local Lowe's when you have some time to just walk around...so worth it!

I hope to add some of my staging before and after pictures once I get some work done this weekend. We shall see.

Thinking Outside The Box

I love some great inspiration! I got these pictures in an email from a fellow Realtor and thought they were amazing. Sometimes we just see things at face value and don't take the time to see the possibilities. These picture should help us all remember that it's what's on the inside that counts... and that we can make amazing things happen with a little elbow grease, and a vision. This looks like a great little 1 bedroom loft apartment, right. A little upscale even? You would totally live in this place if you were a chic' single gal, or guy, right??







It's pretty amazing right? Well what if you knew this apartment was originally a 1940's grain bin?? Isn't that the freakin' coolest thing ever?? I am so impressed with whoever saw that bin, and said, "I can make that into something amazing!" and the did it!! Let's all remember to let things inspire us, and then believe we have it in us to see that inspiration come to be.

A Door For Mom

While reading all of the interior design blogs that I try to keep up on I saw the this picture on La La Lovely and fell in love with it. What a perfect door for summer. I so want it. I know it would be a no-go with my husband.... but I still think it is lovely! It also made me think that my mother would love this door!! (her favorite color is yellow)

Outdoor Dining

It's that time of year when we fire up the BBQ and dine outside with family and friends. Instead of making your guest balance there food on flimsy (and not good for the environment) paper or (worse for the environment) Styrofoam plates, why not give them some style with substance? My suggestion would be to use melamine dinnerware. There are lots of reasons why I would choose melamine. In most cases it is made from organic substances, it's cheap, and comes in all kinds of fun designs. Some of my current favorites would be the floral chintz plates and cups (set of 4 for $19.95) from victoriantradingco.com.







Or these fun chintz and dots prints available from cspost.com.








There are also fun choices from pier1.com and target.com. (The bright colored ones are from Pier1)

I just think our outdoor events could be so much more friendly to the environment, and stylish with any of these great choices. There is no one time use (and then the trash), they are super cute, and if you are a klutz like me... you can drop them all you want without the worry of shattering glass. Happy grillin' everybody!!

Stupid England

Sorry, but this one is a long time coming...I was browsing at Barnes and Noble a few months back (which I must admit is a place Noah and I like too frequent) when a magazine caught my eye. Country Homes and Interiors looked like it might be some pages of pure bliss for me, so I picked it up, opened it, and was thrilled to realize I was right. It was pure bliss!! So, I grabbed it and took it to the register to make it mine. When I got it home I enjoyed each and every page and thought I would have to get a subscription... so I started to flip through it for one of those card thingys (you know, the ones that are always falling out in droves until you need one and then they are no where to be found). I finally found one and then to my dismay saw that it was an English magazine that was only available for subscription in England. LAME. Oh well, I guess the next time I get some change in my pocket (which seems to happen less and less frequently lately) I will just have to drive on over to B&N to get me a future issue, because who wants to miss pure bliss???

California Dreamin'

I am currently living in Southern Utah, and I love where I live. The desert here really is beautiful, and the red rock views sometimes take my breath away. Even though I consider myself a Utah girl now, I was born and raised in Southern California. While there are some thing I don't miss...graffiti, traffic, crazy house prices... there are some things I do miss. Besides my friends and family and the great weather, the thing I miss about Cali the most... THE BEACH!! I have always loved the beach and the ocean. My parents took us there often in the summer and we even camped on the beach for a week every year! It was amazing.

One thing I don't like about Southern Utah is the trend to go desert style with EVERYTHING including the decorating. I am much more a beach cottage girl then a desert adobe girl when it comes to the things I want in my living space. That is why I am SO HAPPY that Stanley Furniture has now come out with a Coastal Living line of furniture. I can bring the beach to me!! Mind you I know I need to sell my current house and buy a new one before I should worry about furniture, but this new line of furniture makes me soooo happy I can't help daydreaming about it. I can almost feel the ocean breeze now!

Old Hollywood!

Oh how I wish I was 100 lbs thinner and made a whole lot more money because I have fallen in love with the Anthropologie swimwear line yet again this year, but I especially love this little number for $198. Isn't it ta-die-for-retro-cute??? Hope everyone is having a happy stylish summer so far.

Lonny

Inspiration at your fingertips! I love Lonny magazine. It is an online decorating magazine that is full of bright pictures and great inspiration and ideas. What is even better is since it is online it is pretty "green". No paper wasted, or gas used to deliver it to you. Check it out at lonnymag.com or follow it on facebook.

Hmmmm....

I'm trying to figure out how to get a table and view like this even though I live in the desert. Any ideas?? LOL
I love this picture. It makes me want to be the hostess of a fun brunch with girlfriends.
I love where I live... truly... but every once in awhile I miss GREEN. Guess this picture will give me my fix for the day.
* photo from Pottery Barn

Style and Substance?!?!

So, I have already mentioned that I am a "bit" of a "greenie", well I really am trying to slowly-but-surly make my life more and more earth friendly every day and have found a product that I love. They are toothbrushes. Toothbrushes in a style blog??? You might ask. Why, yes. I once heard a famous decorator say you should never buy paper towels with a pattern on them. "Why let someone else pick your style for you?" was the reasoning. Well, that can be true with your toothbrush too. The toothbrush is called Preserve. It is made from recycled yogurt cups, and when you get at least 4 old ones together you can reqest a postage paid envelope from the company and mail them back to be recycled again. A yogurt cup today, a toothbrush tomorrow, and a shopping basket in the future. Another reason why I love them is they come in plain colors. No design, no little goofy characters, nothing to take away from the design of my bathroom. They come in red, green, blue, pink, purple, teal, and plain white... so you can choose a color that is just right for you and your bathroom.

The Preserve toothbrush also goes againt the traditional toothbrush in that instead of being angeled forward, they are angled backward. I can attest to you that this has improved the teeth and gum health of our family and made the bi-yearly cleaning visit to the dentist much more pleasant.

You can find thses amazing toothbrushes at stores that carry green products or you can get them online at www.recycline.com. And hey being green and having a healthy smile are always in-style.

A Little Somein' Somein'

Don't you just love it when a little accessory can brighten up your whole room? I needed a small change in my living room. Just a little something to keep me from going into shock from sheer boredom, and I needed to do it with very little money. I had a thought-throw pillows... a cheap change for minimal moo la. I went in search of the perfect pillows to perk up my couch and I got two new throw pillows at Target (one of my favorite places to spend an hour, and some hard earned cash) and they have brightened my whole outlook on my room and my current funk with it. I needed something that would bring my room out of Winter and into Spring and these did the trick. Gotta love a small change with big impact.

That is your homework for this week my few followers; (yes, I randomly decided I would give you homework) find the room in your house that is currently bugging you and find a small way to change it. Maybe even make it into a game... like I will find a way to change my ________room for under ________ bucks. I promise a little change for a "little change" can go a long way. Then once you have done the challenge post a comment on this post telling us all about it, or you can tell us all about a time in the past when you made a little change that made a big difference. Who knows I might even pick a favorite comment and give that follower a prize. We shall see.

Welcome to spring everyone!!

I See the Light!

I am kinda a "greenie". I try to live a life that is as kind to Mother Nature as possible. Being that the month of April is when we celebrate Earth Day, I decided to write a post that brings design and green living together. I love candles, but came to find out that my love of candles could be a very non-earth friendly practice unless I changed my burnin' ways. Did you know that the traditional candles we buy today are made with a form of oil and not a healthy kind, the petroleum kind. Also, a lot of traditional candles use lead in there wicks and have a very "dirty burn". So, how was a green girl like me going to continue on with her candle love affair? I had to find a "green" candle. To the rescue came a site I love www.khalldesign.com. They have beautiful candles that are petroleum and lead free, but still smell divine. They come in lots of scents and designs and are very reasonably priced. The one I have in the picture is there "Milk" scent. It burns for up to 100 hours and only cost me $20 bucks. It shipped to me faster then I ever thought possible, and the scent really does fill the room. I love it, and can't wait to try other scents. They have designs to fit in with lots of different decor, and you can feel good knowing that your candle is not just beautiful, but that it is not filling your house up with nasty chemicals. It's a win-win!

You're The Inspiration

I must admit that I didn't start this blog because I had some great epiphany, I started it because I was inspired by a beautiful blog makingitlovely.com. It is a little piece of heaven for me every time I read it. You all really must check it out. The writer is this lovely working mom who has a great sense of style. She has inspired me to try to make more things in my life lovely instead of just so-so. I decided to start this blog after reading her words and enjoying them so much. If I can inspire anyone the way she inspired me, that would be amazing... but really I hope to keep myself motivated and inspired and anything else that comes from this whole experience is just gravy. The shoes pictured to the left are just one of the many finds that I got from reading makingitlovely.com. The blog author does a style post once a month, and these were on one of them. I feel in retro love. You really must check out this blog. I hope it will bring you some of the "magic" it has brought to me.

It's In The Bag

I have already told you of my love for the great store that is IKEA. Well, here is another find that combines two of my loves... deals at IKEA, and green living. I am a girl who recycles, but I was having a hard time finding the best way to do that without letting the clutter drive me up the wall. Then I found these great bags at IKEA. They are cute, big, and have a great price for how durable they are. They come in lots of great designs and usually run about $2 a piece. I recently had my sister pick some up for me on her last trip to IKEA, and they ended up being on sale for $1.50. I originally bought them just as "green bags" to keep in my car for shopping, but then I discovered a great second use... a wonderful recycling bag! They are made of a durable plastic which makes them easy to clean, and they hold quite a bit. I have 4 of them. One for glass, plastic, paper, and metal. When I fill one up, I pick it up by the handle, put it in my car, and it's off to the community recycling bin we go. It makes it easy and stylish all in one, and who doesn't like that?

A Homegrown Education

This is one of the sources of my love, and any knowledge I do have, for decorating... my prized collection of decorating books. I love them so. This is not near my entire collection either, but this is what I could get on my shelves without it looking like a cluttered mess. I need to get another bookshelf, but that is another issue entirely. If you ever need inspiration, a great design book or magazine can do wonders. Happy reading everybody. If you need a good book to borrow, you know where to find one.

Let Me Count the Ways

How much do I love IKEA... let me tell you... A WHOLE LOT! The only problem with this love affair that I have, is that we don't have one near us. If I ever get to go there any more, it is when we are traveling, and we already have a car full of luggage and not much room for the treasures I am sure to find at this designing mecca. One find that I did bring home (on my lap) a few trips ago was the KNUBBIG table lamp. I got the small one with the white cherry-blossoms, but it comes in another size, and lots of other colors and designs. My husband and I both love this little lamp that could. It looks good off or on, and when it is on at night it is the perfect amount of light for when you are watching a movie a movie, and don't want to do it in total darkness. It is easily one of the best purchases I have ever made because of the low cost (the small one was only $8.99 at the time I purchased it) vs. the amount of immense joy and satisfaction I get from it.

The Picture Project

I live in a basement! There, I said it. During a crazy time in the Real Estate market (you know, when it was good) my husband and I bought a home with his parents. Yes, I know that sounds crazy... but at the time it made sense. Now, don't get me wrong... it served it's purposes at the time, but that time has past. So, we (my husband, son and I) would like to sell this home and get back into a place of our own. What is the problem with that you ask? Nothing. Well, except for that pesky Real Estate market that is not in the shape it was when we bought this place... so yes, almost 6 YEARS LATER, I am still living in a basement. The problem with me living in a basement when I want to live somewhere else is that I keep not doing things I would like to to improve our living situation because I don't want to put time and energy into a place I am deciding I am bitter at. :) Then I realized I need to live in the moment and stop putting off at least little projects, because we could be here a LONG TIME at this rate.

So, where is this all going? I did a project. My husband and I liked lots of things about our bedroom; the bedding, our bedroom set, how comfy our bed is... but there was this problem with a big, blank, white wall. Also, our colors in our bedroom are black, red, and white so it can be hard to find art for our room that doesn't look too modern or contemporary. We still wanted it to fit in with the more cottage style furnishings we have in there.

I was walking through this FABULOUS consignment shop we have here in Southern Utah called Urban Renewal. I LOVE IT SO MUCH!! Well I walk in and start looking at the art and I find this piece.

I like that picture, but I think the fame is hideous and doesn't help the picture at all... but I buy it and bring it home. I bought 2 cans of spray paint. One, a super bonding black paint, and the other is a matte finishing paint. With the super bonding black paint the finish comes out SUPER glossy and I wanted a more natural looking frame. I took the picture out of the frame and went to town.

Then, I put the picture back in and loved it! I think the black helped all the colors in the picture pop so much more then they did in that ugly frame. Then I hung it on my bedroom wall. Now let me tell you my husband hated the picture when I brought it home, as I painted it, and even when I hung it up... after only 24 hours..., "I'm not saying I love the picture now, but it is nice to have something on that wall". From my husband...I'll take it. So here it is on the wall in our bedroom.

I love a good design blog. It's like crack to me! I feel a surging sense of joy when I read an idea that I love, or see someone else have success in their journey. I have lots of ideas running through this crazy brain of mine, and while I do not promise that any of them are any good... I have hope that some of them might be. I have no formal training in any type of design, but I love to put together a room or outfit. I also love living green, so don't be too surprised if my blog tends to have some green suggestions thrown in from time to time. What this all comes down to is, I hope to give some joy back to the blogging world that has given so much to me. Here is hoping we all make this world a lovely place!