marker on the wall

I've been planning on stenciling a design on the walls of our new half bath.
It's a pretty small room, but the joke may end up  being on me, since the stencil will have to work around a doorway, window, toilet, pedastal sink, light fixture, mirror, and switches/outlets.  hmmm...rethinking...

Here's my hall bath inspiration photo again. 

via decorpad.  photo by Tria Giovan.

Our bath will be painted a base coat of a taupe-y gray.  The color swatch I've been carrying around is from Wal-Mart.  Dutch Boy/Better Homes in the color Creamy Pebbles.  No photo.  I still have a few weeks to decide.  Anyone know the perfect taupey-gray color?

But then what?  Do I buy a stencil, make one?  What pattern?  Geometric?  Intricate?
Here are some of the photos floating around my desktop:

(from centsational girl, jones design company, Graciela Rutkowski Interiors, houseandhome.com, and the rest are from pinterest)

But I have since stumbled upon the idea of DRAWING my pattern on the wall.  A quick search on the interweb shows that several people have had great success using paint pens or Sharpies to add a pattern to their walls without all the hastle of paint, brushes, cleanup, messy patterns, etc..

No mess, count me in!

 gusandlula.com

apennysavedblog.com



See Cate Create

Here are some links to lovelies that have tried it with much success.  Hope to add my name to the list soon!

Sharpies from A Penny Saved



DIY Stenciled Wallpaper from The Lovely Cupboard

Easy Paint Pen Wallpaper from See Cate Create

Painted Wallpaper from Mal-licious

Sharpie Wallpaper from Gus and Lula

dream house (with a dose of reality)

You've seen those blog posts, where the writer posts photos of their Dream House room-by-room.

We'll here's my version.  It's not quite a Dream House post, but rather how I most desire my current (under construction) house to look.  I've limited myself to one photo per room, just for the challenge!

Through the front door, you'll find this entry.  Panelling, stair treads, wall color...perfection.

 The powder room on the first floor.  I'm planning to stencil a more geometric pattern.

 John's study.  The least "concrete" room in my mind.  I just can't wrap my mind around it.  Although, I HAVE purchased a light fixture!

 Kitchen.  Our cabinets will be creamy white, dark brown island, and a HUGE lantern.

 Dining.

 Living.  Hope to have my red chairs recovered to look like these.

 Laundry.  We'll have to add some cabinets.

Moving upstairs, we have Grayson's Flag themed room.  He'll have 2 twin beds, which is more fun to plan for than you can imagine.

 Caroline's room.  Will be based from Joel Dewberry's Dogwood Bloom fabric in pink.

 Guest Room.  Where can I get my hands on a blanket like that??!

 Master bedroom.  Killer Colleen McGill curtains.

 Master Bath.  Dark Cabinets, but our floors will be white.

The kids bathroom is the only room I have NOTHING for.  But seeing as they just use ours, maybe I can keep putting that off for a bit longer.

And, obviously, I desire NO color in this house.  Wonder how that will turn out?

After we move in, and slowly make some changes I'll photograph the actual spaces, and see how well I did.  Or didn't!

lighting

I have unrealistic ideas about lighting.  Like for 1:  I think it should be free (or practically).  I cannot stomach the idea of paying $1500 for a light fixture, no matter how beautiful and perfect it is.  Honestly, even $300 makes my tummy quiver.  I look at that money and see a summer's worth of swimming lessons, or a week of summer camp for my kids.  But I guess that's just the reality of being a mama!

In our new home, several rooms will come with lighting (recessed lights in the kitchen, living room and basement), and quite a few builder-grade, oil rubbed bronze fixtures for the hallways, kids rooms, laundry, dining room, bathrooms, and entry way.  I will probably want to change most of these out over time.  Some sooner (kids rooms) and some over time (dining room, bathrooms).  For most of these I'm just waiting to see exactly what they put in the house, and see how it looks before I spend more to change 'er up.

But there are a few spaces where there won't be a light fixture (only a ceiling rough-in) and we will have to put a light in in order to SEE!  These 3 immediate places are the master bedroom, which will get a ceiling fan, and John's office/study/library, which will get a hanging fixture, and the kitchen island, which will get a hanging lantern.

I'm most excited about the lantern, so let's start there.  I'll cover the other choices later.

Here are my kitchen inspiration photos.  At least the ones with lanterns.

by Tommy Smythe, via Heidi Claire

 by Healing Barsanti, via House Beautiful

 via decorpad

by Tracy Morris

These lanterns are all so wonderful!  The top image, by Tommy Smythe, is my favorite.

In my space, I only have room for one hanging lantern, which is due more to budget than style or space.   I'd love to keep the budget less than $500 (realistically)  Truthfully, I'd be ecstatic to see something closer to $100..  Although, this is the fixture I'd be willing to spend the most on in the whole house. So, here are some lantern options:

The leader: Cambridge Pendant from Restoration Hardware ($399)

 $240

 $150 

$439

$319

Who knows where we'll end up, but it's fun to plan ahead!

bedroom chair

Many years ago, my husband gave me this blue chair as a birthday gift.

We had seen it at Storehouse Furniture in New Orleans, and I must have commented about it.

And, of course, I was thrilled to receive it as a gift.  It was certainly a gift I wouldn't have talked myself into.

Anyway, it's kind of been the inspiration for our master bedroom for the past 6 years or more.  I mean, it's not the kind of chair you just stick in any room and hope it fits!

But now, the light blue decor is being moved to the guest room, in order to have a more glamorous master bedroom.  {I posted some ideas here.}

And the blue chair might not make the move.  Although the new guest room hasn't even begun construction, I can tell that it might just be too small for a chair in the corner.

 So here is my idea for keeping the blue chair in the master bedroom....a slipcover.

 Not typically my style, but I think it might work.

 Now, only to decide to attempt it myself, or get an expert involved?

Colette, nay, Lauren

Could this be my jumping off point for our master bedroom?

I know my inspiration room for our master has that beautiful tufted headboard, but I'm afraid I would tire of the tufts before long.

This bed, Lauren from Urban Home is a nice consolation, though.  It has a feminine shape with the masculine nailhead trim.  At $699 for a California King, the price is certainly better than most beds.  It's a almost perfect match for the more expensive Crate and Barrel Colette bed ($1899+).  And I'm always up for saving a little dough with a knock off!

Thanks to Reichel at Copy Cat Chic for the "chic find"!

Master Bedroom

I have this bedroom photo saved 3 different times on my computer. 

I guess it's safe to say I like it. 

I guess it's also safe to say lots of others love it too, given the number of times I've found it on the internet.

I've saved the picture for the large mirror.

I've saved the picture for the wall color.

I've saved the picture for the curtains.  Fabric.  Style.  Rod.  Pleat

For the solid color bedding.

For the upholstered headboard.  And that it's tufted.

For the chandelier.

Here's another bedroom by Colleen McGill that I also like.

In fact...I seem to LOVE a lot of Ms. McGill's work.  Here are several more.

I see a definite color trend, creamy white walls, minimal dark accents, large mirrors, round convex mirrors...love it all.

my little boy's not a baby, anymore!

My little boy is 3 and 1/2 (or closer to 3 and 3/4!).

We've decided, that in our next home, he deserves a real, big boy room.

So we'll ditch the crib and changing table/dresser, and start from scratch.

Except

I have NO IDEA what I want it to look like.  And if you ask HIM, he'll probably say "spiderman" or "batman" or "ironman" or something else he knows equally little about. 

So here are the images I've found looking around the internet.   Looks like I'm leaning towards navy, red, light blue and black.

Or maybe light brown or off white walls with the navy, red, blue accents?

But no boat bed...I draw the line at that!

Entry stairs

We've all heard "First impressions are lasting impressions" right?

So, I'm now drawing inspiration for a grand entry area in our new house. 

{We all know this house does not yet exist, right}

Our house in Colorado does not really have an entry to speak of.  Oh, it has a front door, and a little patch of wood flooring before you're thrust into the formal living area.  But in my dream house, there would be a nice space dedicated to entering! 

There would be, or course, a staircase.  Preferably one with a modern, metal railing.

Also, a table.  Displaying things kids aren't allowed to touch! (or books and mail.  Let's be realistic!)

Maybe a picture gallery up the wall...or down the hall.

 White walls, brown wood flooring

 and plenty of gorgeous moldings!

Of course, since we mostly enter our home through the garage, maybe I should be focusing on the mudroom instead!