On New Year's

My motto for 2010. New things are on the horizon, wish me luck...

Oooh the Wheels in My Brain are Spinning

I came across this image of a gilded ceiling and I feel that our dining room may be the perfect place for this. Scott and I have been considering doing some type of treatment to the ceiling for a while and this seems perfect! See the directions and how to order the silver leafing here. You can't really see our ceiling in this picture but it has a slight slope and then the flat ceiling after that.

                                       

I cam across the site after seeing this post on The Little Green Notebook. I'm also feeling very inspired to do this to some little nightstands for our bedroom. Luckily Canton is this weekend so I will be scouting for furniture to experiment on. Yay!

Bathroom Remodel

You may remember my pleas for help on renovating our bathroom so I have finally decided what to do. We will begin demo on the bathroom very soon and use a generous Lowe's gift card from the in-laws to begin tackling one project at a time. As a christmas gift we asked all our family members to come for a day to help us work on the house, truly the best gift of all is time!



Here is the view looking at my vanity with the shower on the right (please excuse dark picture). We will be knocking out the inner shower walls and relocating the shower head to the back wall. Then we will glass it in and re-tile the inside shower to open up the space and have a nice view from the shower overlooking the tub.

We will also remove the fur-downs over the sink and install a wall mounted light fixture. What the eff is a fur-down you may be thinking? Good question, it's new to me too. It's the drop down with the recessed lights over the vanity near the cieling. It also extends over the shower and will be removed from there as well. I'm hoping all these things really open up the space.

This is the view of my husband's vanity and the toilet area is on the left (my vanity would be to your back, if you need orientation). I think I will make the walls to this area a sort of half wall and take the cabinet (not pictured) over the toilet out and put in open shelving from Ikea. I had already painted the cabinetry bright white and replaced the knobs and hinges with brushed nickel to make it at least a little better. See the before pictures of the bathroom monstrousity here (along with the rest of the horror).

These were things I already knew we wanted to do. My problem was with the design aspect of it. If this were my permanent home I would have mosaic tiles and all kinds of ethnic details but we only plan to live here for about 5 years-ish. So I decided to go with something simple, clean, and classic with a touch of vintage glamour.



I really love the cabinets in this one. Since the bathroom has no true windows and only a skylight I think mirrors would be so nice on the cabinets. I plan on doing white cabinets with glass knobs that I will source from ebay because I think dark cabinets would be too dark in our small-ish space.

Another great example of mirrored cabinets in white this time. So pretty! Now only to find cabinets like this...oy paco! We plan to get one of those self standing vanities rather than go custom because it will be way cheaper. I will get mirrors cut if I have to I guess.

I saved this picture because I love the idea of a border around the floor, so that's in!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this blue in here. I will probably do a shade lighter just to be safe in our small bathroom but I think it will look great.

Did you happen to notice another common theme in these pictures? If you said white marble you would be correctamundo!

So we will be doing this tile on the floor with some type of yet-to-be seen border with the same color marble countertops.

And we will have this tile as the backsplash on the sinks, surrounding the new jetted tub (ooh la la!) and as the floor in the new shower.

I think it will look great with this cabinet I'm using as our linen closet. I'm going to wallpaper the back with something fun and bohemian.


We will also be using glossy white subway tiles to do most of the shower with and I'm currently on the hunt for a fabulous vintage chandelier to hang over the tub.

My hall bath will be getting a similar but less fancy update later as well. We will be doing a lot of work ourselves so wish us luck!

So...what do you think?

Need a Laugh?

Go here!

Enjoy

Introducing Bombshell Burlesque!

I am on the back row fourth from the left, near the center, not the greatest picture but whatevs. Oh the perils of being tall, you are always in the back...

Introducing the largest burlesque dance troupe in Texas, Bombshell Burlesque! Our first performance will be New Year's Eve at the Cavern on Lower Greenville Avenue. What a way to ring in the new year eh?

Also, mark your calendars for The 2nd Annual Dallas Burlesque Festival on February 6th at the Texas Theater. Deemed the sexiest show in Big D!

If you are an artist and would like to have a booth at the burlesque festival please contact me for info!

Can I Just Brag a Little?

Because I've had a really great month of vintage shopping. I'm just going to show off my new purchases 'kay?!

This great silverware tray with utensils from Anthropologie, they were a wedding gift.

Classic metal school clock in the perfect shade of blue and it still works! This clock is pretty large and I have no idea where to hang it or how to make it look good hanging. Any suggestions?

Metal cake stand

Purchased several vintage tablecloths for $4 each. My linen collection is growing wonderfully!

A vintage Holiday tablecloth

This beautiful metal tray.

I just love the finish and the handles

And something I've been searching for, a bread box! It was a great find at only $18. I did a lot of jumping and a happy dance when I found it.

Reminder! Send your handmade gifts this Friday!

Just a quick reminder for everyone to send out their handmade gifts by this friday. If you wanted to participate but didn't get in on time never fear! I'm thinking of doing a Valentine's Day Handmade card swap to satisfy your craft appetite!

My Favorite Magazine Tears

I have begun the process of cleaning out my office (okay it's a cubicle) to start my new position on the other side of the building in women's acessories. It's a lateral move but I'm very excited to be working not only in women's but in accessories, footwear and handbags, which are really my passion. I thought I would share with you some of my all time favorite magazine tears.

I love the collection of lanterns and jewel tones in this one. I would love to cover the cieling of a room this way.
This was a feature in Country Home sometime in 2008. I'm a sucker for purple glass. My mom has a whole collection that I adore.

I love the look of this grouping of flowers, the different vases, the rustic looking boards, swoon!

I'm not sure why I was so drawn to this page. Maybe it's the saturated pink of the linen like fabric on the background, or the cute postcard. I just like it!

These next three photos are from artist Anne Becker's apartment in NYC I believe. There are several things I like about it.

1) She has suzani in every room. I LOVE Suzani! I've been looking for pieces to incorporate in my home but they continue to allude me. Oh suzani I promise to give you a good home!

2) It feels a little, what's the best way to call it...Bohemian Chic. Which is totally my style. I don't like things to look totally thrown together in the true bohemian fashion. But rather, intentionally thrown together, if you can say that. I want unusual style but still with a level of sophistication and order.

3) It says she used an interior designer in her home but I don't think the home looks designer-y. Most of the time I find styled rooms pretty to look at but I could never live in them and they often don't feel very personal. I look at those rooms and think, where would I put my keys? My dog bowl? My stack of bills, bills, bills? These rooms just feel like I could actually live in them.

The painting in the back is hard to see but it was done by the artist herself. I wish I could make something like it. I've been contemplating it....

So there are some of my favorites. I'm sure in my new area I will come across more great accessories based magazine tears to share with you as I start a new chapter!

Past + Present

I recently came across this Photographer Jason Powell. He digs up old photos and photographs them in front of the location as it is currently. It's a wonderful illustration of the passing of time.

Also, just a quick apology for my absence on my blog and all of yours as well. It's a crazy time of year and things have calmed a bit so you should see me around again. Thanks friends!

I Can't Wait

I hope it's awesome.

Gift Swap Update!

Image from Selina Lake

Ok the gift swap is on! We have about 5 people interested so far so we will do a circular swap of sorts (does that make sense?). I will be emailing everyone who commented tonight to ask for your addresses then after everyone responds I will send an email with who you will send your gift too and their website or blog if available to help you get to know them. The person who is sending you a gift will be a surprise, ooh la la!!!

It's not too late to join in! Leave a comment if you'd like to participate!

It Snowed Today!

Unfortunately I only got to enjoy it from the window of my office building. Hopefully next time I will get to have a good play with the dogs in some snow. Lovely!

Sale! Sale! Sale!

One of my favorite websites is having a sale to kick off the holiday season! Go Shop!

Project Plant Stand

One of my purchases from the Round Top antique fair was this metal shelf for $15. It has a nice oriental feel to it and I thought all the different levels would make it perfect for my potted plants. It was a brassy gold color with minor rust areas but I knew it could be really cute. Last weekend it was finally warm and sunny enough to repaint!

Before:

After!

I'm not really sure what's up with the plant in upper right, it looks sad and I haven't been able to get it to perk up...

This was my first redo-type project so now I'm really looking forward to more! I will have my eye out for some things that need a little TLC next month at Canton Flea Market.

Flash Mob

Have you heard of a Flash Mob Dance before? It's quite possibly the most exciting thing since sliced bread. Apparently it's happening all over the country now and I may have the chance to be in one! My dance group has one tentatively scheduled and I can't wait to see what the director has up her sleeve!

Just click to watch a larger video on YouTube.

Are you a Gypsetter?

Have you heard of this new thing called a gypsetter? It's a gypsy+jetsetter= gypset. Inspired by a new movement of bohemian chic gypsies with nothing but time to kill and money to blow. Yeah I hate them whatevs. There's even a book about living a life described as "experimental luxury". Anyhoos, the fashion this trend is spawning is to die for!

Designers such as Proenza Schouler, Marc Jacobs, and Joseph Altuzarra have lines inspired by this lifestyle.

Missoni has also credited gypset as the main inspiration behind their spring 2010 collection.

All images from www.style.com & www.gypset.com

What do you guys think? Love it or hate it? Hate them because their beautiful? Hate it because you love it?