DIY Outdoor Table & Shade for 2

from Martha Stewart Living

This is one of those “duh” ideas, but I have to admit that it didn’t cross my mind until I saw it on Martha Stewart Living. I am really enjoying having a deck. We have a small table with a small umbrella that we use for dining. We usually eat outdoors in the evening when there is no need for the umbrella. If we are out during the day, we are usually relaxing with a glass of tea. No shade. This is a bummer, especially with a hot weekend coming up. I want to be out enjoying it before the rainy season. I think if I did something like this, the umbrella would get much more use. It’s an easy project. I can find a small wood table at a thrift store or yard sale. I’ll slap some of my exterior mistint paint on it. I

Here’s the tutorial.

I’ve been very busy this week wrapping up some loose ends while I still have the time. I’m still working on before and after pictures. This helps me see how much work we’ve actually done. It’s easy to get obsessed with the “what’s left to do” stuff and ignore everything that you did. It’s supposed to be near 90° this weekend. I doubt anything will be getting finished on this house. Time to hit the coast!

-Victoria

Read Full Post »

2 Serene Powder Blue Farmhouse Style Guest Bedrooms

Powder blue, robin’s egg blue, whatever you choose to call it, is a beautiful color for any room. People love it. It’s light and airy. It fits so many different design styles. It is one of those colors that I have liked for decor my entire life. It seems to always change. It’s a classy color. It goes with mid-century modern walnut furniture to frou-frou Marie Antoinette styles. Here are 2 robin’s egg blue guest bedrooms that I swoon over.

Guest bedroom found at Design * Sponge

The first one is from Design Sponge. I came across this picture a long time ago. This is the direction I wanted my house to go. I still love it. It is very dreamy. There is nothing I would change about this room. That’s rare for me. They even made me want to go to Ikea and purchase that pendant lamp (again, had it in my 1st apartment)* But, I think this lamp is the real deal, I’d settle for the Ikea. I love all of the elements here from the modern lighting  to the farmhouse prints. It’s all looks amazing against those powder blue walls. The white trim pops, the dark frames pop, and the natural wood tone of the beds is delicious. The light blue paint changes the feel of this otherwise ho-hum country styled room. (Well, that and the lighting). I love the mixing going on in this room. This room makes me want to completely re-do our bedroom.

The other room I found on Martha Stewart’s website. It is another guest bedroom painted in a light as clouds light blue. This entire room is much “fluffier” than the other. I love the white accents. It’s all so dreamy. Of course the room appears light and airy because of the awesome natural lighting. The windows are stunning, especially when draped in barely there white curtains letting the light in. I would change the textiles to something younger and funkier. I don’t want it to look too traditional. Oh, and don’t you love those hydrangeas in that robin’s egg blue porcelain vase? I need to get one of those. I love hydrangeas.

We didn’t get much done around the house this long weekend (well, we did paint the bathroom and get the studio mostly in order, we did work). We are enamored by seasonal produce and spent most of the time at various markets.

Martha Stewart Living powder blue guest bedroom

This took me to Williams Sonoma and Sur La Table where I didn’t see anything I needed. (I’m waiting for my food processor in the mail, so stoked!) We went to a  few antique shops and didn’t see anything worth buying. We had lots of great food, that’s why I love Seattle! I think all we needed was time off and a little sunshine. Hope everyone had a great weekend and a 4th of July! I’m now planning for Bastille Day…

-Victoria

Read Full Post »

More Cute Jewelry Storage

I have such a jewelry storage issue. I have many cute things that I often forget about. My jewelry storage solution that I have had for the past 5 years is a cardboard liquor box with different plastic baggies filled with vintage brooches, Etsy finds, and silly costume jewelry. This is a mess. I never wear any of it and I don’t even know what I have. I’ve been on a jewelry storage expedition. Since my life is a bit more permanent now that I’m not renting, I feel it is time to unpack the accessories. I’ve looked at jewelry armoires. They seem to be very practical with spaces for everything. However, I don’t wear earrings and the craftsmanship of such armoires seem to vary. I’ve missed all of Target’s mega jewelry armoire blow-outs after Christmas. Argh! I could of got a decent one for $30! Oh, well. I also want something cuter than the generic mass retailer jewelry storage solution. I would love to have an old piece of storage furniture from a pharmacy or something. That will take some time to find and it is costly. I really like this jewelry medicine cabinet that I found on marthastewart.com. This idea doesn’t hold too much but it would be nice for necklaces and brooches and hat pins. I always find cute 30s era medicine cabinets at our local Habitat for Humanity salvage outlet. I always want to pick them up but I can’t think of anything to do with them. Now I can. I could line it with a luxurious fabric and use adorable fleur de lys pin hooks to hold necklaces. I also come across metal cabinets. All I would need for those are magnetic hooks. This would also be a cute storage option for delicate fragrance oils. I would say that I could easily do this project for under $30 sans my valuable time.

-Victoria

Oh, and Happy Nowruz! We’ve had a great sunny, Saturday!

Read Full Post »

Red & Blue Valentine’s Table Setting

Happy Valentine’s day!

I am very happy that the dining nook is 90% finished. We still need to finish one side of the room with shoe molding and to put one of the built-in’s doors on. David says we don’t have hinges, umm, buy some. So, I’m closer to living like a normal person.

A few weeks ago my Martha Stewart wannabe self went out and purchased stuff for our Valentine’s place setting after seeing this setting from marthastewart.com. I love aqua and red together. It is such a retro color combo, very 50’s diner in my mind. I headed out to Target, purchased adorable Greek key printed aqua melamine plates and red melamine bowls (on sale for under $1 a piece). I paired these with my French pink table runner and antique white hobnail milk glasses and vase and candle sticks, and red heart demitasse set. I’m quite the party planner now 🙂 However, I am lacking with the napkins and napkin rings. I never got around to that. I was too busy doing other important things around the house like getting my bathroom in working order and cleaning up plaster dust.

For those of you up to your eyeballs in home renovations, I just want you to know that a table setting may seem like the most useless thing to be putting energy into, but it did make me feel a bit more sane. It made me forget that most of my house is a construction zone. The aqua and red combo districts my eyes from the unfinished portions in the dining nook. I should be gazing into my hubby’s eyes anyways 🙂

-Victoria

Read Full Post »

Paintbrush Storage

This is a “duh” idea that I found on marthastewart.com after I have finished most of the painting in the house. Finding a place for brushes to dry is always difficult for us. With these magnetic strips, the brushes can hang down so that the water doesn’t cause the metal to rust and loosen any adhesive. It’s simple and I will have to add one of these down in the basement. It should be very easy to do since magnetic strips are self-adhesive and cheap. It had me thinking of a few other things…such as doing this for cosmetic brush storage or even pencils. I don’t think I will do the last 2 mentioned but it is a thought.

-Victoria

Read Full Post »

Welcome Fall: 2 Harvest Orange Interior Spaces

I don’t really do “color”. Just look in my closet. It is a collection of black and gray; however, you will see some orange and coral peeping out of that abyss. I have a thing for orange. I would love to have an orange room but it isn’t really fitting with the scheme of things right now. But, I can admire it and plan for the future, right?

foyer from Martha Stewart

This first little space if from Martha Stewart’s website. I love the bold harvest orange with the crisp white millwork. This really pops. I love it against the deep wood tones. (That being said, I love anything against deep, rich wood tones). But, yes. This is a great space. I adore the curiosities displayed on the walls and love their bold, graphic, and simple frames. What is that black/espresso stuff lining each edge? I think the website said it was ribbon. That’s a bit odd and time consuming, I imagine. I’m sure it would look silly in real life but it takes a great picture. I would personally just painted it. This is a nice small foyer, about the same size and layout of the one that we have. Currently, it is housing a dark ladder back chair until I find that perfect something. I still do not what that something is.

The other room is a living room from Southern Accents (RIP). This room has that colonial feel but it is really fun and vivid with the walls that harvest orange shade. This is another example of how nice this color goes with white millwork (doesn’t everything). I like to see orange look this formal and not like an Ikea show floor. Orange has the potential to really look elegant without being too immature or “modern” a.k.a Target’s “dorm” collections. It works nicely with deep woods and some rustic pieces. I must mention that this chair in this room is very weak. I am not fond of “skirts” but the chair could of benefited from a print or even another bold color such as ochre or brick. However, that’s my opinion.I can never look at a room and think that is perfect and to my liking. I do the same to my own space. Perhaps that is one of the many reasons why this is taking so long.

Southern Accents harvest orange living room

-Victoria

Read Full Post »

2 Elegant Powder Blue Dining Rooms

Powder blue paint is not going to work with my house in its current state. We have too much Fender Strat aqua elsewhere. I do love powder blue because it is soft, light and it’s a bit conservative but still fun. It works with any style. These are 2 dining rooms that I like. I haven’t worked on our dining room in a very long time. It still has wallpaper patches. I’m trying to get motivated here.

Domino (RIP) dining room

This first one is from Domino. It’s formal but a bit fun. The powder blue looks so sophisticated and fresh. It works so nicely with that pure, true white trim. Of course that trim would work with anything; it’s wonderful. I like this dining room because it has a bit of that “French” style with attainable accessories. That crystal ship light fixture is available at Z Gallerie. It goes for under $800 and really adds so much to the room. You can find a table very similar to this at a junk store and paint it white and distress it. You could do the same with the chairs and you could use a metallic finish paint to fake a galvanized look. Portraits like that are available on Jayson Home & Garden website for under $1000. I’m sure you could go antiquing and find something you like for cheaper. I love the hobnail glasswear.All of these things can be found but it does take time. I don’t have enough of that. Since we are in this new house, we have no furniture that works. I know exactly what I want and since I refuse to purcahse anything not well made, it will take some time. Until then, we are living out of boxes and sitting on painfully uncomfortable chairs that I have refinished.

This other dining room is courtesy of Martha Stewart. I am in love with most of the colors that she uses.

Martha Stewart dining room

You can take any color and mix it with some rustic, rugged wood and I’m pleased. Oh, and brass doesn’t hurt. I want that light fixture badly. This is another powder blue room with amazing millwork and large, light plank wood floors. This color appears so light and airy with the pairing of bleached out wood, crisp white, and taupes. But, I feel it could also look amazing paired with darker woods and fabrics.

I do love this color. I used to be scared of it because I thought it was too childish. Obviously this is not so. It is very regal, formal, and classy.

-Victoria

Read Full Post »

The Brown Gray That I Want

I apologize for the infrequent updates. Life is happening and we are keeping busy. We have completed so much and I hope to share that with you guys soon.

"Frame Collage" featured in Martha Stewart magazine.

The “great” room or that formal living room that I long for, is not finished. We’ve ignored it because we have had so much to prioritize and work on. I mean what is more important a kitchen or a stuffy room that only houses books? There are a few things we need to do to this room. We have removed the carpet, staples, and some crazy thing covering the original mantel. We now need to trim down the built-ins because they are a bit goofy, replace the mantel since it was removed and covered up with some ugly 70’s thing, and prime/paint the walls. I want this room to be formal, stuffy, and a bit menacing. I want a shade that reminds me of forest mushroom of the rocky coasts of Washington. I guess what I am looking for a is gray brown or maybe more of a brown gray.

While browsing on marthastewart.com, looking at Frenchies and admiring color combos, I came across these 2 rooms. I love both of these mushroomy, putty, seashore brown grays. This first one is a bit lighter. I can’t tell if it is from the lighting. I really didn’t expect this shade to pair nicely with a pale floor and it does. Despite the boring frame collage, I like what I can see of this room. This shade is a great neutral. It mixes well with crisp white, wood tones, and espresso. It’s a bit lighter than I want to go for the big room we have to work with, but I do like it. I would of loved to have this elsewhere in the house.

The second room is quite dreamy. This is the exact color that I want for the formal living room. It’s moody, dark, formal, and slightly rustic. I want to find this color. I’ve been mistint searching again and I haven’t found it yet.

Perfect brown gray shade.

I guess I am going to have to give in and actually get a shade mixed. I may just have to give up on my dreams of painting the entire house in mistints. Anyways, back to this perfect color. Look at how nicely it pairs with pewter, white, tea stained white, and black! This is the exact color I want. I haven’t’ decided if I’ll paint the built-ins putty or the too bright white trim paint that David chose. I guess I should get the room color first.

-Victoria

Read Full Post »

An Office Chest

While I was wasting time looking at cute things on the internet instead of renovating a house, I found this pretty cool “home office” on marthastewart.com. It is a chest turned into an office or really just a nice storage place for your important paperwork. I like it because it is unsuspecting unlike a file cabinet. We all have paperwork we must keep but I find that it is hard to organize. I would love to transform an old steamer trunk into something like this. You could have the paperwork on the bottom of the trunk, hanging, and well organized, have other important stuff on the tray above. For me this would include the random stuff that I keep such as empty MAC cosmetic’s containers for the Back To MAC program or those monogrammed napkins from our wedding reception. The corkboard on top isn’t a bad idea. I just don’t know if I find it necessary for my use. Maybe you could paste important #’s and contacts up there. I don’t know, that’s why I carry a planner.

Anyways, I like this idea and would love to convert a beat up steamer into one someday. I used to love little projects like this but now I have a huge project to consume every last minute of my life…

Oh, and BTW, so happy to have the Internet back despite the holes in the plaster.

-Victoria

Read Full Post »

The Boudoir Is Now Pretty, Pretty Princess Pink.

Pink room, different view

OK, so I call this freakishly tiny room in the house my boudoir. I want it to house my girly stuff and all of my favorite curiosities. At one time this room was a super tiny nursery with a built-in crib. Then it became a sewing room and has a great built-in desk with crystal pulls. Then mama left and it became a dark room to start somebody’s amateur photography of local mountain ranges and soft porn.

I am so super siked about having this tiny space as my own. Everybody that comes in says that I should knock it out and make the bathroom larger. That’s a good idea if they want to start the fund to do that. Plus, that sounds like a complicated project and I am not interested in that right now, too overwhelming. I just want to make my space livable.

Anyways, I painted this boudoir a mistint pink. The color is a little more Pretty, Pretty Princess with a cotton candy cupcake on top than I had anticipated. I wanted pink in there, it does so much for my complexion 🙂 But, I didn’t account other factors such as this is a small space with 2 windows. Also, the plaster lacks texture and really makes the paint shine. I don’t fret over color. Any color will do. While painting and seeing David’s testosterone levels plummet to all time lows (lower than trips to the Deco light museum, Barney’s cosmetic counter, or trips to fabric shops), I decide to only have neutral shades in the room ranging from gray to putty to espresso. I will accent with gold metals (much like the room pictured). Pretty, Pretty Princesses don’t accessorize with those things. I really have faith in this color combo with antlers and things from the sea.

View of room from marthastewart.com

While poking around last night I found this great house featured on marthastewart.com (I don’t care what anybody says, I love her). I found the golden ticket! This is my pink shade. It’s paired with grown-up neutrals and curiosities. The trim is painted the shade that I painted the bedroom (a mistint with 2.5 gallons left). David thinks I should paint the trim and windows in there this color to make it look more grown-up but leave the doors white. I’m game but I do have a few worries. Shouldn’t trim flow throughout the house even if this space is smaller than most new houses’ closets? I’m not worried about painting over it because I am painting over black and every other color of the rainbow trim right now. That is what primer, patience, and a paint shield are for. Also, shouldn’t I go all out and paint the doors that putty shade as well to match the trim?

I’m keeping the original light fixture in there that is barren but cute. The built-in is painted to match the walls. It has crystal pulls and the doors have crystal hardware. I will use this desk most likely for applying lipstick or setting waves. I have a putty chair which I have posted on here before. I want a dark wood chair with linen and I’ll pair this with gothic mirrors and other curiosities. I’m on the prowl for a dark wood cabinent with glass doors. I found one for $400 that I want with wavy glass. This is perfect for perfumes, powders, etc. Or at least the ones that I am using at the time. Perfume should not get that much sunlight.

Light fixture in there, before, new color "prettier"

Well, off I go to hang out at the construction site all day while people come over to fix and inspect and I slap another coat of Pretty, Pretty Princess pink on the walls and think about this trim some more. I’ll be sure to share pretty, pretty pictures with you.

-Victoria

Read Full Post »