Wallpaper Stencils

Right now I'm helping (i.e. watching & providing wonderful & lively conversation for) my husband paint this wallpaper stencil all over our living room wall:

A very sweet reader, Mary, gave me the idea to try stenciling after learning that I lusted after wallpaper for my living room & entry. (It's a RL stencil from here and reminds of a henna tattoo & I just LOVE it!! ) It's INSANELY intricate and will most likely take years to complete... No really, it's baaaaaad. It's taking FOREVER. The ceiling is high and the wall continues into the entryway...

Stenciling is for the extremely patient, crafty or BROKE person. (And I'll give you a hint, I'm not patient or crafty... ;) Can you guess what color I chose for the stenciling? The Color Queen from Colour Me Happy (AKA Maria) recommended it to me & it's prefect!!

Have a great weekend & we (he) will be meticulously painting away-- ahhhhhhhhhhhh

xoxo,

lauren

Arranging Accessories & Books on Shelves: Before & After

Like most people, we have a TON of books. Since we moved into our new house last May, they've been in boxes in our downstairs hallway... NOT PRETTY. or organized. or easy. So, yesterday, we headed over to Ikea and purchased this bad boy for our living room: To go in this spot:

We'll still need some more bookshelves somewhere else in the house but I'm really happy with this start:

I mixed in lots of flea market/ thrift finds with the books:

I did a horizontal stack of books (these turquoise ones are some of my favorites- haha although I've only read one of them... it's just the color!!! but The Golden Fleece is on my 'to read" list) to make a little pedestal for my wedgewood bowl. The spot was looking really bare (and we need the space for books!) so I opened a pretty book behind the "pedestal."

I love this fun monkey "see no evil, hear no eveil, speak no evil" vase (and some more pretty blue books!) that I recently found in Volo, IL for $8.

I did a combination of junky paperbacks turned page-side out (I still have all of my Christopher Pike & LJ Smith books) and beautiful leatherbounds. My grandfather has been giving the grandkids a leatherbound classic every year for Thanksgiving since we were kids. (I think my English-teacher-husband was sealed on marrying me when he found this out! ;) ;) I also layered in a flea market painting & some prints to add some interest in the background...

And since I've got lots of green in my living room, I made this fun horizontal stack of green design books. I'm sure you recognize a few! ;) I topped it with tis crazy vintage peacock soap dish ($4) that I found in Volo this summer. Again, I opened up a book to go behind it because the space was feeling bare and I loved the etchings from The Aeneid. I also tucked in a few family photos:

The two bottom shelves are for (you guessed it!) toys!!! I'm using those old wooden wine boxes again & they're smashed in between more books. Even though it's the living room, I like to have toys in every area (as long as they look okay when put away) so that we can all enjoy all the rooms in the house.

And I know how weird & creepy this alligator head is, but we found it at one of my favorite shops at the beach & for some odd reason, we just loved it. (This is the first time my husband actually wanted an accessory MORE than me so I was really happy to get something he was so excited about.) We haven't named him yet...

Below is a bust that I got for around $2 at Unique Thrift Store in Merrifield (AMAZING if you havenm't been... He was made of black-reddish-bronzey glass. Really one of the scariest/ ugliest busts I'd ever seen but I painted him white & then tea stained him. He's been outside too & only gets better-looking with age ;) (Ignore the blue painter's tape!!) He's on top of one of my favorite series of books.

I was able to stack 3 columns of paperbacks in this space above the bookshelf. It will definitely be a pain when I am looking for something but this is the price of beauty ;) ;) I layered in a huge hurricane glass & candle because I needed items of large-scale up there:

And one last look at the new bookshelf. It practically looks built-in & I was so excited when the shelf was only 2.5" smaller than the wall.

If you didn't get the chance, check out this post because it explains a lot of the principles behind what I did here.

xoxo,

lauren

ps- did you notice that the baseboard is in around the floors too?!!! wahooooooooo (we have a little more to finish tonight ;)

Accessorizing with Ferns

I love fern. Whenever I see a photo of a room with it in it, I take a second look. It just gives this awesome fresh jolt of green & energy to a space. It has a classic feel yet it's a bit wild & untamed & perfect for any modern space. (And they're so inexpensive & available!!!)

When I saw this room by Carlton Varney (in HB), it was the fern that got me. How beautiful is it against all that white?!!


I've always wanted a house with a front porch & hanging ferns on it. Something about it is so romantic & nostalgic. (2 images below from Martha Stewart)

How perfect is this porch?!! (below)

Eddie & Jaithan had a fern in their apartment:


And Eddie used one as the centerpiece for his New Orleans Showhouse dining room:



Below is a fern I used at my old townhouse a couple of years ago... (I killed it pretty quickly though--- eeeeek!!) I loved sitting in here with my fan going (this was the old big square plastic one that broke) and the windows open, blowing in the white curtains... Something about the fern and all these elements really relaxed me. Great place to read a book or take a nap...

Love how the fern below (BHG) is just sitting casually on the stairs. (It's much better than my pile of stuff that needs to go either up or down!!!)

Below is a pretty little fern in a bucket in the kitchen of the Ruthie Sommers house we all love so much: (Also, Things That Inspire let me know that the adorable crab painting is actually by a very talented artist friend of hers!!!!)

Here's a simple fern arrangement accompanied by fern plates (Country Living):

LOVE LOVE LOVE the table setting below from one of my favorite houses, Rice Cottage.

The plant below isn't a fern but I included it because it's so fern-esque ;) (BHG):

The fern in the corner gives just the hit of life this room needs (below, BHG):

Here's another pretty little fern from BHG in a shabby chic dining room:

And finally, this fern in a room done by Carrier and Company is one of my favorites. I LOVE what it does in this room (again, a white background) and it looks so perfect next to the turquoise gourd lamp. So much life!!! love it!!!

I've been waiting to get my ferns this year because we're going away for another 2 weeks and I don't want them to die while I'm gone!! (I've pledged to take better care of the next ones ;) I'm putting one in my dining room in an urn I just found. Home Depot and K-Mart have a ton for under $15. Also, if you plant them in the grount just before it gets too cold, they'll come up next Spring!! (I did this when I started to kill my indoor ferns and the ones that made it were beautiful in the Spring!!)

We'll be in the Outer Banks (North Carolina) and I'll be posting from there for the next 2 weeks!!! The house we rented is so pretty and I can't wait to show pics!!! (hahaha totally picked it because of how it was decorated ;)

xoxo,

lauren

How to "Upgrade" Decorate

When you're just starting out in a space that you plan on redesigning or decorating from scratch, there's what I call "Damage Control" to be done. (pic below is a before of my aunt's house, who I helped/ advised during her redecoration.)

These are the obvious things that need to be done and that can be done fairly quickly & fairly cheaply. Things like: painting, tearing up carpet to reveal pre-existing hardwood floors, replacing 80s window treatments or rugs with up-to-dateones, replacing an ugly chandelier, ditching outdated accessories, finding a solution for the worn sofa, creating a focal point, etc. Basically getting rid of anything that disgusts you (yes, strong word, but we know how it can be) and can be fixed easily. (In my aunt's room below, I helped her pick out the sofa- the "before" was taken just after the sofa arrived... the old one was a worn patterned piece- advised on a new rug and recommended she purchase some pillows and curtains with colors from the rugs in them and of course came over and rearranged & reaccessorized using what she already had.)

Now, most of us have what we truly want and what we can actually afford. There are items that we just simply have to save up for, but if we waited until we could actually afford them, our room would look terrible until then. (For example, with the 80s window treatments... If you left them in your room, the space would remain dated no matter what you did. Maybe you can't afford the custom lined linen beauties you want, but you can pick up something more inexpensive from a place like West Elm or Ikea until you can afford your "dream curtains.") Basically you plan on upgrading later. .)

A lot of us can't afford what we want right now but there's no reason our places should suffer style-wise. It's almost always possible to "get the look" for less. We may want the original Saarineen tulip table but if we use a knock-off with good lines, we can still have the same look for less. Eventually, if it's still bothering you, when you can afford the real thing, sell the old piece and buy the "dream item." (The blog Copy Cat Chic recreates looks for less and she's awesome at it!!! I get inspired every time I'm there, so check it out if you're looking for less expensive alternatives.)

(above is the real saarinen tulip table and below is my vintage ebay knock-off)

There are places to save and there are places to splurge. Some things you just might not be okay with skimping on and that's SO important too. If you have some high-quality basic pieces, then your stand-in cheapies will get pulled up to another level and look awesome. We hear it all the time: "A mix of high & low." Big ticket items like sofas and tables can often be expensive to replace, so these are often items I like to splurge on (relative term I know-- I STILL craigslist it haha!) or get right the first time so I don't have to rebuy. (below is a quick pic of my very-unfinshed living room right now --sorry, Christian did the photo styling for this one! toy trucks!!-- the sofa is a Lee Industries sofa (so OUT of my price range) that I found on craigslist & had reupholstered in green velvet... It's a high-quality basic piece that we'll have for a long time. (It's our splurge.) My $30 tool box coffee table looks okay with it for now and I can upgrade it later when the time's right.)

Lighting can also take spaces to another level of beautiful. Splurges here give you a lot of bang for your buck... But there are also some great sources for more inexpensive stylish lighting... It's toally up to you as to what you splurge & save on. We each prioritize differently. (image below from here)

We all have our own things that we wouldn't skimp on. Figure out which items those are and buy high-quality/ buy your dream item up front. Then figure out which items you can upgrade later. We're doing this a LOT right now. I want my house to feel great when I walk in the door, but I can't afford everything I want. I sewed my own curtains and am using all off-the-rack roman shades. (white cotton from Sears and matchstick from Home Depot. I ADORE custom roman shades. LOVE LOVE LOVE them. My clients always get them... but I will have to wait. We need the privacy now and custom shades just aren't in the budget and I'm okay with it because they'll be a great upgrade in the future. :) (hahahah can you just see me twitching & talking to myself right now, "Calm yourself, they'll be upgraded in the future." hahahah)

(image above from Cote de Texas and image below of the Sears shades in our bedroom.)

All of this comes down to being okay with a home that's constantly changing. I think most of us bloggers & readers realize that we're never truly "finished" with our homes. If we were, it would begin to feel stagnant and let's be honest, we decorate because we love it!! ... And I don't mean going out and buying new chairs one month and a new sofa the next, I mean little things: switching out pillows & accents, rearranging and pulling furniture from one room into another, picking up a beautiful vase you find on sale, just keeping it fresh. (Just like a wardrobe... buy some good basic pieces and then accessorize and flush out and keep updated) Allotting a small & very realistic decorating budget to yourself. (Oh please husbands! don't hate me! ;)

Here's my list of things to be upgraded: bedroom curtains, roman shades throughout house, end tables, club chairs, kitchen island, appliances & countertops, coffee table, DR chairs, carpet, doors and hardware, trim, windows, SO MANY aspects of my bathrooms!!! (keeping the green fiberglass shower and hiding it with a curtain until we can afford to redo it, etc.) and much- much more...


So, what are your thoughts on upgrading vs. waiting? Do you have anything you plan on upgrading in the future?

xoxo,

lauren

Cheap "Vintage" Fans!

I love fans. Especially at night when I sleep. But I also love a chandelier in my bedroom and don't want to sacrifice it for a ceiling fan.

SO, I've been dying for a vintage floor fan or vintage look-alike fan. (check out Haskell Harris's bedroom below. You can see her whole house here.)


When we were visiting my dad (we're home!) I went to my FAVORITE antique mall, Volo, and saw so many beautiful vintage fans (below found at retro.net)


However, I really didn't like the visual I got when I pictured Christian's arm in the fan. (The slats are so far away!!!) I've also been wanting Restorations Hardware's Allaire Telesoping fans (below) but was having trouble justifying forking over $200+ for a floor fan when the ugly ones are so cheap. So, you know me... I went almost a whole summer without a fan because I wasn't willing to spend the dough or buy an ugly one. haha



Ahhhh, so pretty!!!






Anyway... Enter Walmart. Oh wow. We never go because we don't have one near us at home. But we love that place. My eagle-eye husband saw fan boxes labeled "vintage" and we snapped them up right away!! At only $38 and $25 (?I forget exactly?) I couldn't have been happier!!! Below is the desk on and it's almost identical to RH's desk fan.

(hahah like my vintage map styling? ;) ;)

And here's a closeup of the floor fan in my bedroom. (The top pic in this post is also of my walmart fan):

a bit more of a gunmetal finish in some places (why there would be more than one finish, I have no idea) but for $38, I'm ok with it... Actually I should say THRILLED with it! :)

(I'm almost ready to show you some after pics of the bedroom- just waiting on a couple of items to arrive!) We found some more amazing deals this past week & can't wait to show you!!!

xoxo,

lauren