Beautiful Bedrooms

all images house beautiful

Just browsing the house beautiful website and came across some beautiful bedrooms that caught by eye. The last I liked because we have something similar in our bedroom. In college I found some vintage old suitcases I bought for $10 and they now serve as a bedside table. Such an easy idea with some character :)

Holiday Decor on a Budget

all items target.com Smith and Hawken Mistletoe Garland-$19.99, Smith and Hawken Welcome Matt- $19.99, Star wall decor-$9.99, Reindeer figures $9.99,

With the holidays coming up everyone is starting to think about decorating their homes for the holidays. Every store I go in is full of Christmas decorations even though its over a month away. I'm so excited and love that there is Christmas music playing in the mall! I was in Pottery Barn wishing I could buy everything and getting ideas for the holiday decor. I then went to Target and was pleased to see that they have so many really affordable classy Christmas decor that is totally within my budget! Here are just a few items that would be great if you are looking to decorate your home this holiday season.

Patti Johnston Designs

I thought I would post about my very talented Aunt Patti who lives in Long Island, NY and has her own interior design business. She is so very talented and recently created a new website with images of her amazing work! A lot of the images in her portfolio are her own home which is absolutely gorgeous! I'm so very proud to have such a talented aunt! Check her out at www.pattijohnstondesigns.com.

all girl...

images target.com

So from the pictures you can probably tell that I'm leaning a little more to the pink with a little green and then I might throw some splashes of yellow in there. I came across the first image on Target.com and love the damask pattern with the polka dot sheet. The reviews say the pink is a little darker, more of a raspberry pink which I think I like better. Since we are not painting the room I think having bright splashes of color opposed to the pale pink and yellow will be nice and not so boring. I love the green wall pattern on the second image. So fun!

Lonny Premiere

Deborah Needleman's garden as photographed by Patrick Cline for Lonny magazine

So yesterday with high hopes I headed over to M.A. Belle to find the premiere of the new online magazine Lonny! In June Michelle Adams of Rubie Green fabric and photographer Patrick Cline came up with the idea to create an online magazine full of amazing design paired with gorgeous photography. After coming together with a team of fellow Domino buddies their dream has become a reality! I opened it and was floored! The design tips are amazing and the real home tours are beautiful! Please check out the new Lonny magazine and M.A. Belle's blog for more updates on the magazine!

tickled pink!

Once again I apologize for the lack of posts......I'm totally going to blame it on the two little ones in my belly who have been keeping me busy busy with eating and sleeping :) Speaking of the little ones I wanted to announce that we found out we are having 2 beautiful little girls! So it looks like maybe pink and yellow for the nursery??? I'm still deciding on colors...but for now I can start looking for real and begin decorating! I was looking through inspiration boards on the amazing style me pretty blog and these two caught my eye! I'm in the process of working up my own "baby" room inspiration board so check back.

Baby Decor!

both images potterybarnkids

So sorry I've been totally MIA for the past month but we have some exciting news that has been keeping me a little preoccupied. We are having twins! We are so so excited and can't wait to meet the two little ones! As far as decorating goes, we now have a two bedroom apartment which is just in time because we will definitely be needing the space! A whole new world of decorating is now to be explored as I look for ways to decorate the nursery. We will be needing two cribs so I'll have to get creative with the space because I would also love to put a guest day bed in the room for me and guests when they come. These are a few images that I love but am waiting to make any decisions until we find out the sex of them both which will be in about 3 weeks. So now that I'm in the 2nd trimester please stay tuned for more baby info as well as design eye candy as I'm starting to get my energy back!

blank canvas!

Tomorrow we are moving into a new apartment! Not far, just half a building over but it's a two bedroom instead of a one so we will have a lot more space! We had a great time a couple of weekends ago traveling to Ikea in Charlotte, NC with my husbands parents! We purchased some of the Billy bookshelves as well as some little things here and there. Sadly, the daybed we mainly went to get has been discontinued :(! I was so sad but have found a great alternative that I am going to spray paint white. I'll post pictures of the finished product! Goodbye old apartment, hello blank canvas!

new design magazine!

Michelle Adams of M.A. Belle announced some exciting news the other day on her blog. Michelle and business partner photographer Patrick Cline are releasing a new online decorating and lifestyle magazine. I am very excited considering so many great magazines have been going under lately. I'm not sure when it will be released so be sure to check back here or her amazing blog and store Rubie Green for more details!

chris and marie living ideas

please click image to enlarge

The other night our sweet friends Chris and Marie had us over to their beautiful home for a wonderful dinner and really fun night! Marie has been pulling together ideas for decorating their home and it was so fun looking through photos with her and coming up with ideas. They have an awesome living room that is a neutral color similar to above which is next to the dining room which they've painted an awesome cherry red! It was so perfect because Marie has had 3 yards of this fabric that she loves which has splashes of red, green, blue and yellow with the neutral tan in the background. It's similar to the pottery barn fabric above just a little more saturated. So we talked about adding color and thought that with the bright dining room in view it's probably a good idea to leave the neutral wall color and add color into the window treatments, rug and pillows. I suggested we pull in the blue because ikea has some awesome curtains right now that are a grayish blue that would look awesome with the floral fabric. I then went on a rug search and was so surprised to find so many blue, red and tan combinations at PB, so I picked one from each price category. Depending on how much they want to spend and also how formal they want the area...I think all would work great! Some accent pillows to tie it all together on the amazing PB pierce couch which they just purchased on craigslist for an amazing price! It's so comfortable and fits the space so well. She had the great idea to put a console table against the wall in the entry and do a photo montage with different sized frames on the wall above and have a table lamp to one side of the table. I also thought a similar floor lamp would look great on one side of the couch or beside a chair near the fireplace. PB lamps can be pretty pricey so I would go somewhere like Target or Home Goods where you can find some awesome lamps for half the price! They already have some great brown wood frames above the couch with white mats that would look great with some type of artwork. Chris loves history so we thought maybe something like architectural prints from Washington DC or something similar. James and I love the idea of framing some old hymns and thought that would look great as well..and pair the three frames over the couch. They already have a great tv table Marie's dad built them and a great mirror over the mantle as well as a cool vintage looking coffee table. Now all that's left is to accessorize a few things like some books on the coffee table and some flowers next to the lamp on the console.

handmade lampshades

So I was browsing through the amazing handmade market that is Etsy and came across so many talented artists one of which is Jeanne Mcgee who hand prints lampshades from her very own hand carved designs! I love these and the idea of having a fun lampshade in a room. In our guestroom I'm wanting to have all yellow and white and throw in a fun yellow patterned lampshade like the first image. Check out her Etsy store here.

a splash of color

Indigo Stripe Dhurrie Rug

So for those of you who have never been to our apartment we have an amazingly comfortable couch that we are so very grateful to my parents for! I grew up with this couch and it is still in wonderful shape and we are so thankful for it. The only thing is I've been having a hard time bringing color into our living room because of the color of the couch which is a dark forest green. So I'm flipping through a new "Summer Sale" Pottery Barn catalog yesterday and I come across a beautiful rug with blues, tans and low and behold the exact green of our couch! This never happens....and it's on sale! So I call and have the last one put on hold at the mall and when my sweet husband got home we went and got it! It was one of the quickest purchases I've ever made and I'm so happy we did. Thankfully I was able to use some PB gift cards I've been saving (thank you aunt jane) so it wasn't much at all:) We are very happy with the new addition to our living room!

ikea wish list

So if you can't tell by now I've been thinking quite a bit about what to get when we take our trip to ikea. The closest one to us is Charlotte and then Atlanta, so when we go I want to be sure our purchases are smart! As you know from months ago I love the daybed above which reminds me of the pottery barn one several posts back. The blue curtains I'm thinking for the living room to add a splash of color. I love the iron white side table for beside the daybed in our guest room and the sweet reading light to go on either side of the master bed. I'm not sure where we would put a floating shelf but I figure we are bound to find a place for them! I'm also wanting to get a hold on our closet by organizing with some hanging shelves like the one above. I really want a metal shoe rack for the back of our door like M.A. Belle uses. And last, the wood folding chair I thought would be nice for our porch area. We have some rocking chairs out there right now I either want to paint or get rid of. The weather has really worn them out so I thought something you could fold up and put away would last longer and remain clean for entertaining! So hopefully we will be heading to ikea one of the coming weekends! We'll be sure to take pictures and let you know how amazing is!

entryway rugs!

Just a few more entryways! In looking for these I was mainly focusing on the positioning of the rugs and whether or not runners are used. It seems like in most entryways where they are able to be used they are. I love the stripes and patterns in all the rugs! Rugs are such a fun way to play with space and create depth and a sense of space. Horizontal stripes definitely make a hallway look larger while vertical strips draw you in. Patterns add such an element of interest to the home as well!

the sweet smell of leather

I was in restoration hardware the other day and decided to plop down on one of their oh so comfortable leather sectional couches! I've never envisioned myself having a leather couch but I'm beginning to warm up to the idea a little bit.  I love the idea that they just get softer with time and if I'm going to have a dark couch it might as well be leather. If I'm going the upholstered route I love the light whites and creams which lets face it, are going to eventually get dirty! This one above is the Austin Leather Sofa by Pottery Barn which I absolutely love!

rain rain go away

Oh how I wish I were at the beach right now using my umbrella to shield the sun rather than the rain. All last night the rain poured outside my window and continues to pour! It's actually rather soothing but not so fun when you have to go out and drive in it :( Anyway, hope it's sunny and warm wherever you might be!

dining ideas

A few ideas for their dining room! They have an awesome dark wood dining table that would look so amazing and classy paired with neutrals and some splashes of yellow/golds like in some artwork and flowers centered on the table.  I love this chandelier which you could go with or without the shades to hang over the dining room table which I found on overstock.com an awesome source for home decor! This beautiful jute rug is also from overstock with an amazing border that would frame the table.  I love the pottery barn curtains above which were pretty much my inspiration for this room.  Hopefully they will go on sale or I can find some similar! 

more ideas...

So the idea for a guest room is yellow and white with a feminine touch. We were thinking a fabric covered headboard and although the one above is crazy expensive you can get fabric, batting and plywood and create something so similar! James and I found an awesome fabric shower curtain and did this to our headboard and we love it. I was in macy's the other day and saw the martha stewart shower curtain in the bottom right corner above. I think it's perfect and has just the right amount of yellow with some greens and blues mixed in!  Instead of a dresser, which guest don't really need, we thought a linen covered table with flowers and glass jars full of useful things guests might need, like cotton balls, qtipps etc... With the floral headboard paired with white bedding and accent pillows a calming and soothing retreat is created!

design idea night!

click to enlarge photo

Last night I got to go over to James' parents house and hang out with my sweet mother-in-law to help come up with some design ideas for their house.  We had such a great time flipping though magazines and books dreaming up ideas. I came home and searched for some less expensive alternatives for what we discussed and found some amazing finds. With Ikea curtains, Crate and Barrels rug runner and white accessories I think we can achieve this look in no time! I'm going to keep coming up with some ideas for the rest of the house...so stay tuned!

eco-friendly living!

Michelle Adams of the blog M.A. Belle and the organic fabric line Rubie Green just recently posted on her newly decorated apartment featured in Australia's Real Living magazine. She took on the project of creating "a low budget home makeover featuring eco-friendly paints, vintage finds and sustainable materials!" I think she did a beautiful job! Check out more photos on her blog here.