adventures in art & design
Posts tagged Decor
Where I Blog
Aug 30th
Today I’m participating in Kate’s blog party, “Where I Blog” over at Centsational Girl. Right now, my little blogging oasis isn’t much to get excited about. However, that’s all about to change as we put the finishing touches on our home office redo which I blogged about here. Just to highlight a couple things on my desk that make me smile…
There’s a milk glass vase my Mom gave me recently. Bless her heart, she’s always bringing me milk glass goodies from her yard sale trips! So when I was looking for something to hold my pens and such, I quickly brought this gal into the office. She’ll look great with the other black and white accents we bring into the room!
And of course there’s my pet Octopus, Mr. Octavius!!! He makes me VERY happy because if you know me, you know I have an undying obsession with the Octopus! I found him at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island on our recent family vacation. He’ll fit in great with the color scheme we have planned for the office too!!! He’ll inspire lots of artwork and many a post I’m sure. YAY!
That’s it for now. Please visit again soon to see the progress on our home office and other projects around AB! Also be sure to stop by Kate’s place and see all the inspirational spaces where bloggers get their blog on!
Home Office Inspiration
Aug 25th
The hubby and I are in the midst of a home office redo. The home office was originally our formal dining room then used solely for his office space. However, with us doing a lot of collaborating, we figured it would be better for us to share the space instead of me in the studio and him in the office.
This is kind of where we started. B-O-R-I-N-G! It hadn’t been painted or really updated at all since then. So we started there.
About a month ago, Tim and I attended one of those free workshops offered by our local Pottery Barn store. The topic was decorating with color and pattern. Great workshop by the way! We highly recommended it. And…not just because Tim won a FREE gallon of Benjamin Moore’s new Natura paint! The perfect motivator for starting our office redo.
We selected their Glade Green which really lightened up the room and has a soft green tint to it (hard to tell from the computer display here). Tim says it reminds him of Keylime Pie! YUM! But after painting the room, we were stumped. Where to go next? So we got busy and created our first mood board!
So what do you think?! Drastically different, huh?! Which we are totally not opposed to. My favorite color is ORANGE so I’m loving the popped of orange in there. The green chair? Not my fav but Tim has an office chair we found at an estate sale in that color. It may have to go!
We found this credenza at a thrift store for $18.00!!! Yes! Just 18 bucks! But that story deserves it’s own post. Anywho, this fella will be painted black and get some new hardware to go with our mood board look.
Guess what this means…
Another trip to Ikea to pick out desks and accessories! YAY!
I can’t wait to share pics of the finished space. I’ll also be sharing posts on:
-how we determined desks placement
-our frustrating adventure in painting the space
-a review of the new Benjamin Moore Natura paint
and the accessories and decor we select
And you’ll have to come back to see how close we get to our inspiration mood board!
Check out blog parties I’ve linked to here.
White House/Black Planters
Aug 19th
I posted last month about some front porch makeovers we were doing around here.
Part of the makeover included those white planters on either side of the door. As much as I was digging having the colorful flowers at the entryway, I was not digging the boring, blah, white planters.
So I emptied out the died flowers (ummm….yeh….forgot to ask the house/pet sitter to water them while we were on vacation. Oops!) and gave those puppies a thorough scrubbing. Then I whipped out the spray paint and got busy.
And voila!!! Much better.
I can’t wait to add some other fall accents! My favorite season of all!!!
Click here to see the parties I’m linking to and join in the fun.
This Week’s Thrifty Finds
Jul 30th
So, after working on getting the house straight before we leave for vacation, I decided I just HAD to get out of the house. And where else would I go but thrifting! The only kiddo that was willing to go on this adventure with me was Kinley, my (step)daughter. She’s a great shopping companion!
We found this antique brass umbrella holder. I think he’ll be cleaned up and added to our eclectic finds store.
We also found these beauties! Hand-blown glass vases for $4.25 each. Having seen the kilnworking students creating such unique pieces at VCU, I’ve definitely gained appreciation for the work that goes into it. Such a steal at that price! I had to bring these guys home. Besides, they’ll look great when we re-do our master bedroom this fall.
Then we headed over to the book section…
This was Kinley’s find of the day! She is trying to be an exchange student to France this coming spring so this will definitely come in handy. Fortunately she’s a thrifty little lady too and refused to pay for a new one. $1.00! Love it.
I picked up this book, The Healthy Home Workshop, by Kimberly Rider. I’m always looking for tips on creating an environmentally friendly home. It’s chocked full of helpful tips on creating a toxin-free home and using natural materials.
And last but not least I added Real Simple, The Organized Home to our loot. The book goes space by space (closets, drawers, pantries, rooms, etc.) giving helpful organization tips.
I would say we had a successful thrifting day and lots of fun together, just us girls!
I’m linking up to the following partys. Come join the fun!
Leigh’s Thrifty Thursday party over at Tales From Bloggeritaville
A Welcoming Sign-Literally
Jul 19th
One more addition to our front porch makeover!
I decided to add a vinyl decal to the front door for the final touch! I’m just giddy over how awesome it turned out! It really is all the little touches that make the entrance more inviting and welcoming don’t you think?
I ordered the decal from Household Words. Mandie was wonderful to work with, even answering my silly questions prior to my order! She even provided quick delivery and great installation instructions (especially for a timid DIYer like myself!). Mandie offers a wide variety of decals for every area of your home.
From mailbox monograms…
to children’s room decals…
and spaces between!
Something to consider when you’re adding those personal touches to your home. Happy decorating!
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