Merry Christmas!

For my birthday my husband gave me a macro lens and one of my gifts from mom was a tripod, so I spent Christmas Eve learning how to do macrophotography!  I have a long ways to go, but for just popping it on and going I did create a few good shots for Christmas.

 



 



 

 





 

 



 

 

 

 





Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

Boutique Project Inspiration

It has felt even longer than it has been since my last post.  Work is busy times 10.  So busy that earlier this week I worked 12 hours straight with hardly a moment away from the computer.  As I was explaining the hectic day to my coworkers via email I said, "I had a hot dog bun for for lunch.  Not a hot dog...just the bun.  No time to heat up the hot dog part."  {Literally, that happened.}  Then woke up the next day to do the same thing.  Of course I'm paying for it now with an incredibly sore and stiff neck.

However I did completely redesign an entire guestroom floor that contained 15 different room types.  The architect loved it, so now I'm waiting for the client to tell me how much they love it, too{hehe}.  Cross your fingers for me.

I've really enjoyed collecting imagery and concepts for this little boutique hotel, so I thought I'd take a moment to share some of the bathrooms and guestrooms I have discovered in my search for inspiration.

Colors and Nightstand | Via Houzz

Large Pendants at Nightstands | Lori Gentile Design Studio via Houzz

Sliding Mirror Doors at Bath | St Regis Atlanta

Bed and Drapery | Chateau Elan Inn

Vanity Design and Frameless Mirrors
{Not sure of source, maybe a Waldorf Astoria}

Vanity Design | St. Regis Atlanta

Wet Room Concept (Tub & Shower in One Room) | Pulp Design Studios

Three Vertical Niches at Tub | Miller Greene Design Studio

Cocktail Table with Ottomans

Well we have a working, but not completed cocktail table AND our ottomans arrived!  I thought about turning our old coffee table into an ottoman, but I preferred two separate than one big one.  Then I saw these guys on Overstock and fell in love.  With free shipping and a discount code they were about $125 for the pair. 

I used more of those wonderful 12x24 white carrara marble tiles that I used on our nightstands. {I may have a slight obsession with white carrara.} The frame is simply 1x2 select pine boards with 2x2's for the legs; most all the joinery is done with pocket screws via a Kreg Jig.  Since staining pine is less than fabulous, I just spray painted. I used Krylon Oil Rubbed Bronze to give more dimension to the finish than just black paint.  It needs another coat, but I'm waiting until I figure out an edge detail.  I have half an idea in my head, but I need to sketch it through to make sure it works before I proceed.

I really tried to do the whole "styled" table, but I just couldn't go through with it.  It is simply not me.  I find that half way through the arranging I can't stop thinking "ugh the dusting will take FOR-EV-ER."  While I could just do it for the photo, it kinda feels like lying, so if you were to come to my house this is what it looks like - well maybe with a glass of wine and an IPA to the side, too.

For those of you wondering the difference between all the table verbiage I use here is how we distinguish it in my day job:
Coffee Tables: Low, usually between 15-19" high
Cocktail Tables: Low-Mid, usually between 20-22" high
Dining Tables: Mid, usually between 28-30" high
Console Tables: High, usually between 31-34" high

The Hubbs is happy about the ottomans, too

Dreamy Dwelling Guest Post

Today you can hop over to It's Overflowing to check out my guest post and snoop around the rest of my house {hehe}.  Aimee is full of wonderful ideas and tips on so many different things.

Crafts & DIY Decor

Simple DIY Candle Holders

Holiday Ideas
 

Anthro Inspired Wreath

Tasty Morsels
 

Crock Pot Sugared Pecans

 

 







Indoor Christmas Decor

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us - time to decorate for Christmas!  We almost completed the outside today, and we have a completed mantle inside.

This will be our first year with a REAL tree, and I have discovered an exciting assortment of light options - so exciting that I just had to share!

White-Irridescent-Clear Tree Lighting

Target has these indoor string lights in several varieties, my favorite being the mixture of opalescent, clear faceted, and sugared.  They are only 25 feet long, but for only $10 I was hoping three sets would be enough when mixed in with more traditional plain lights.  The ones I found are also from Target and look like the clear faceted ones, but are Phillips LED.

I'm fearful of the tree not making it alive to Christmas, so we are going to wait til the 1st to pick one up.  Hopefully next week I can show you what those lights look like on our tree!  We will be setting up the tree in time to watch Georgia maybe somehow miraculously beat Alabama in the SEC championship.  {Come on - with the Irish being the other one in the championship game I'm feeling a little hope that 1980 can happen again!  Go Gurshall!}

Outdoor Christmas Decor

The hope was to show you our new coffee table...but I have spent too much time watching football this weekend, and not enough time constructing!  It was glorious to watch Kansas State and Oregon loose Saturday night, but the hubbs is going to be livid if 'bama wins another National Championship. {He's just angry it took this long for his coach to be fired.}  It may take a miracle, but I am hoping for Georgia to pull this thing out.  We haven't had a championship in my lifetime - I"M READY!

We have slowly started preparations for our first Christmas in our house!  The mailbox is decked out with a battery operated lighted garland, I have painted and glitter "dipped" the letters NOEL for the mantle, and made one cluster of ornaments to suspend from one side of the mantle.  {I'll wait until after Thanksgiving to finish up the mantle for a photo.}

I could easily spend about $1000 on all the different elements I want for decor this holiday season, but I know if I wait until after Christmas I can load up on more for half the price.  So, there is a strategic plan in place here! My dream is garland around all the handrails of the staircase {inside stairs and the back deck}, wreaths on every front facing window, icicle lights from the eaves, snowflake lights at the covered entry, net lights on all our shrubs, big ornaments hanging on our dwarf Japanese Maple, and so much more!

I guess I am a little Christmas crazy.  Perhaps it is because my birthday is the 23rd, maybe it is because it is something I did a lot with my Dad before he passed, or it could just be because it is awesome and you are lame if you don't love it.  {Hehe.}

Clear Sphere

These lighted spheres come in 6" for $39, 8" for $55, and 10" for $85.  I think one of each size suspended as a grouping from the corner of our front entry overhang would be ah-mazing.  However, even at half off after Christmas, I'm not sure I feel great about spending that much.  Maybe that would be too much glow in one spot anyway?

I like all the lighted path lights as well.  The candy canes and lollipops could be great for houses with children, but these little trees or twigs are a little more my style.  I just wish the little swirly trees did not have the star on top.  {Not that I don't like the Biblical reference to the North Star, but it's just a little much on all four trees.}

Philips Warm White Winterberry Twigs

18" Spiral Tree Pathway Lights

There are even a few items I think may could solve a few of our landscape lighting problems throughout the year.  I would love some pathway lighting in the backyard, but the sunlight is spotty depending on the time of year, so solar lights are not an option.  These two options have super long cords and are simply plug into a regular outlet; going all-out with hardwired low voltage lighting is not in our landscaping budget anytime soon.

LED Garden Lights

I'll wait to share all the wondrous indoor discoveries some other day!  Hope your Thanksgiving week is full of delightful family moments.

   

Wood Wall Sculpture Inspired by Talking Dead

The DIY art continues...

This time my inspiration came while watching Talking Dead {the after show for The Walking Dead which I partially watch through my fingers or listen to as I hide under a blanket}.  Last week I showed that the end result does not have to be anything like the initial inspiration. Designers often see something and it sparks an idea that has very loose ties to the original. Personally, I think that's what being a designer is all about.

This time there is definitely a resemblance to my inspiration, but not an exact match.  I did go smaller in scale, and I also choose to leave the wood unfinished. In part because I did not want to put the extra time in, but mostly because I think the family room needed this light natural finish in contrast to all the dark upholstery and stained wood in the other furniture items.  I had the cheap 2x2 pine boards from another project that I changed my mind on {shocker}, and they were perfect for this project.  As I began chopping away with my miter saw I realized "I should plan this out."  I proceeded to cut 3", 2-1/2", 2", 1-1/2" and 1" long pieces.  I should have gone with about a 1/2" and not exceeded 2" because this started becoming heavy pretty quickly - another reason why I stopped at the approximately 13x13 inch overall size.

                 

I started with a completely random pattern...however, considering statistically it is difficult to achieve true randomness I decided why attempt that here?  Vertically the blocks are stacked according to height starting with the shortest, I add the next size on each side of that piece and continue in both directions.  I then shifted that up and down "randomly" as I went across to each column.  I used a 12x24 board I had down in the "craft room" and cut it in half for the back.  Now I have the other half for the other side of my fireplace.  Not sure exactly what I'm going to do yet with it, but ideas are flowing.  I would like it to stay in-keeping with this one, but not matching or even coordinating.  {Did you know there was a difference?}

I toyed with the idea of shifting the grouping of two {wood sculpture and framed print} over to allow for a vertical painted canvas about the same height as the two elements combined.  I really liked the grouping of three and the mixing of mediums; however, it seemed cramped and just too much on this focal wall with the mantle action happening as well.  Given the weight of my little wood guy, I thought it best to find a stud for attaching.  And wouldn't you know?  The stud is centered between the wall and the fireplace.  So, that ended the debate right then.

I used the attachment hardware than came with an old Ikea full length mirror - one centered at top and bottom.  For now, I do not think it will be necessary to add any to the sides.  Hopefully I won't have a heart attack in the middle of the night when it crashes to the floor.

DIY Showoff - Project Parade
Home Stories A to Z
TT&J Weekend Wrap Up
It's Overflowing - ...with creativity

Sunday in Suburbia: Antiquing Mirrors

Today we are in the foyer.  Our foyer is rather small thanks to our angled staircase, but it creates a little corner perfect for a focal element.  My long term plan will include a pedestal with sculpture; however finding a piece of sculpture that evokes the right feeling is not an easy process.  Especially when I want to keep it under $150.  {Too bad I don't have access to welding equipment anymore or I would do it myself!}  So far, everything I find is simply too...pedestrian.  {I laugh just saying that; one of the hotel brands I work with says this all the time!}  So, I decided on a temporary solution that could be used elsewhere in the house when the permanent solution occurs.

Several weeks ago when searching for accessories on a project I came across this wall sculpture from Phillips Collection.

It's a little rustic for me, but it sparked an idea.  Six square mirrors from Ikea no longer had a home when we moved from the apartment...so I was off to Home Depot to purchase muriatic acid to antique those mirrors.

Faithful Fridays

November!? How did you get here so fast?  That means we are just a few short weeks away from our first year of Christmas decorations in the new house! We may have already been eyeing those Christmas aisles at Home Depot and Target...and we may be starting the purchasing this weekend. I mean...what if they run out of the net lights for our shrubs and the icicle lights for the roof line? I would be devastated to say the least.

November also means our zombie friend from the front yard has been packed away for next year.  So {not} sad.

A new month means another first Friday of the month, and I'm going to toot my own horn. That New Year resolution from January?  I'm still on target. At least I am on one of them; however, it was the most important, so double {toot toot} for me.

Our Master Suite

While we are not completely done with our master bedroom, this weekend is Master Suite Link Up at Remodelaholic!

Sunday in Suburbia: Enjoying Patio Weather

The past few week of fall weather have been glorious.  This is the time of year in Georgia where outdoor spaces are enjoyable rather than miserably hot.  Last time the weather was pleasant for outdoor dining we were still in our apartment with our tiny courtyard view patio...and our mosaic tile patio table that started to bite the dust only a few short months after purchase.  The husband was ready to dump this table before we moved into the house...not so fast mister...that metal frame is salvageable!

Sunday in Suburbia: Painting our Doors

I knew before we ever found and bought our home that I wanted something other than white trim + white doors throughout our house. I just was not sure what it was I wanted.

Did I want to keep the trim + panels white, but paint the stiles and rails? Or white trim + colored doors? Or colored trim + white doors? Or walls + trim + doors all the same color?

{See end of post for sources}

Or about a bajillion other options.  Seriously.  A bajillion.  And then, what about the color?  So I waited...and waited...I then I realized what I knew all along. I heart black. Forever and always. White trim + black doors it shall be. Thank you Grayson Manor via Revenge for reminding me.

Hooked on Houses

I almost did not move forward this way because it seems like EVERYONE is doing this. However, I still love it, so I bought a gallon of black paint {satin finish} and began the long, long, long process of prepping, sanding, priming and painting a freaking lot of doors. But, I couldn't just stop there. Thanks to a little inspiration from Martha Stewart {via my former co-worker, Kristin and her lovely blog the Hunted Interior.}

Martha Stewart - Door Projects

Martha Stewart - Door Projects

I am a hint hesitant to do all the doors, but I'm doing a test run in my office. I have the teal for guestroom no. 1 and green for guestroom no. 2, and nearly ready to pull the trigger. I do quite adore it here in my office. {Really, could one ever go wrong with red + black?}

Black Door with Red Accent

Black Door with Red Accent - Office

I also spray painted the door knobs which were 100% shiny brass - think 1990.  Long term I will buy new...long term I will buy new doors, too.  Both the door and the knobs have been beat to death; if we did not already know the previous owners had six kids than the condition of items like doors, door knobs and cabinets made it ever clear.  Good grief; I did not even know you could dent a door knob!

Door Knob in Rustoleum Carbon Mist

How do you like that blurred background?  It is guestroom number 2.  Expect more on that in November!

Sources: 

LDa Architecture & Interiors Via Houzz, 

HERE Design via my former co-worker Lissa at After Adornment,

Martha Stewart, 

Apartment Therapy

Linking Up

DIY Show Off Project Parade