Curtain of the Week

I'm a sucker for a good curtain. Maybe it's because I like fabrics in general so much. Maybe its because, HELLO, they are awesome!

So I'm going to start doing a curtain of the week. Behold the first installment...

You have also seen this fabulous Schumacer fabric in these fine rooms;

Michelle Adams bedroom from Lonny.

And her lonny office. She really loves this fabric and so do I!

DIY Agate Art

I made this little piece of art last weekend using agate rocks I picked up on our recent trip to Yellowstone National Park.

My husband said it "looked pro". It's a small piece but I love it.

The art wall is really filling out.

All the do-it-yourselfing made Akira really sleepy.

Then I started looking around the house and noticed, apparently, I really like rocks! They're everywhere!

Scott started putting up the tile in the spare bathroom. After he was finished I said it "looked pro". I guess we really are do-it-yourself kind of people!

 Happy Tuesday!

What I've Been Up To

I've mentioned before on this blog how I have been a dancer my whole life. It's something I hope will always be a part of my life.

Earlier this year I made a goal. I get really determined when I set out to do something. That goal was to get into pole dancing and enter a competition. I didn't know if I would make it to the final round, if I could even do it, if I even had the strength.

Last weekend I realized that goal and competed in Miss Texas Pole Star.

I had to work hard, like really hard to get there.

First I had to practice. I practiced 3 or 4 times a week since January. Before then I hadn't done pole in about three years. And even when I did do it before it was very casually.

Then I had to choreograph and perform my first ever routine, film it, and submit it for consideration. I entered in the Fitness category, which was for level 4 and up girls.

                             

It was really hard to gain the strength and stamina, not to mention choreograph, a whole routine.

28 girls submitted videos, 12 were chosen as finalists to ultimately compete and I was one of them!

Since August 1st I have been training almost 6 days a week almost 2 hours a day on my routine. I've suffered multiple injuries, so many doubts in myself and my ability to do this. I had a lot of support from friends and family, without which I would not have made it. But ultimately, I was in the studio alone all those hours. Other competitors had comrades competing alongside them where I did not. I think that was one of the hardest things.

But I did it. I got on stage in front of a ballroom filled with people and did my first ever performance.

I DID IT!

I didn't win and thats ok. I am very happy with my performance but watching the other girls, including the professionals, showed me how far I still have to go.

I also had to completely teach myself how to use a spinner pole in the last month. Fighting against centrifugal force while holding your knees to your face is no easy feat, but I did that too.


So here it is. Almost 10 months, two bruised ribs, a torn lat, a pulled pec, a strained hamstring and countless amounts of bruises later. This is what I worked for!

I hope you like it...

In Case You Were Wondering

About my spare bath. I know you've been frantically checking my blog while screaming "What about the other bathroom Brandi?! You said there was two but I only saw one. Tell meeeeee!"

Well here it is.

I mentioned before that we are renovating it. We have been since January. We are doing all the work ourselves and that means progress is slow. Luckily we have a perfectly beautiful master bath to share and its just the two of us.

So here is what it looked like when we moved in. Texas themed wallpaper and everything. There was no texture on the walls or ceiling. We added that, scraped off the paper, and painted every surface. Oh and we also nixed the texas star toilet paper holder of course.

This is how it looked until January of this year. Except we did find a leak in the wall, AGAIN, and had to tear some tile out. Not as much this time but we couldn't put the tub faucet back in afterwards, so we just had a lovely pipe sticking out of the wall, awesome.

Shortly after starting demo. We ripped out all the tile, the tub, the little half wall between the toilet and sink, and of course the fur downs above the sink and shower areas.

And this is its current state!

Don't worry, that red stuff is a water resistant coating that goes under the shower tile. Doesn't it already look bigger without that half wall and the fur downs? Why did builders ever add those? They suck.

Soon we will tile a simple white subway tile. New countertops, new doors, new marble on the floor. 

I already painted some paint swatches in there. I just couldn't wait. I figure since this room is small with no natural light I'll just go dark. My favorite is the middle one. I like the one on the right, just not for this room.

I'm thinking about doing a stencil in here too. What do you think? Which one of these two do you like better?

This mirror over the sink. It's bone inlay, it will look so pretty on that dark greenish teal wall.

                                                                          Source: designsponge.com via Brandi on Pinterest

I really want to do the shower curtain like the wonderful Naomi from Design Manifest did in a recent project.

I picture an ivory linen edged with this trim.

And the valance above edged with this blue trim.

The vintage rug from the kitchen will come in here too. I've already found a replacement for the kitchen also, just gotta get the funds together.

So what do you think? Anything you love or hate? I'm all ears!

PS Apologies for the long absence. I'm afraid I won't be around much this week as well. I'm working on something VERY important. And before you go guessing it has nothing to do with work or interior design. I'll share next week after its over though!