Decisions Decisions

My peacock artwork just came in the mail last Friday! My uncle owns his own printing company and he printed this piece on a canvas-like material and I am in LOVE. He did such a great job! I have some decisions to make now. I think I've pretty much ruled out getting it wrapped onto a canvas framing because I love how the golden frame makes the bright colors pop. We had a free night so we went shopping! Of course the custom frame I loved was 730 dollars. What a rip. So here were some other options we came up with so far.

I love the yellow gold for bringing out the yellows and greens.
($110 Aaron Brothers)

Then we found a frame that brought out the orange and some of the warm colors. ($49 TJ Max)

It's such a dynamic piece, it looks awesome in almost everything. Now it's about what looks best with the rest of my decor! I'm still going to try Goodwill for something to spray the right color.

Has anyone seen an awesome frame online that would look great with this art piece??

Refashion Galore!

So my great friend and college buddy, Ashley, has been visiting for the past week. Today we went to "My Best Friend's Closet," the service project the church put on today. Basically everyone donated their old clothes and gave anyone free reign to take anything they wanted, and as much as they wanted. It gave Ashley and me the perfect opportunity to find some refashion projects for FREE!

We found some great finds and some great finds...who could say no to THIS?

Okay, so those were the not so great finds but here's a little sneak peek of some designer fabric samples I picked up while I was there. There was an entire box up for grabs!

Any ideas of what to do with these? I'm thinking pillows? Purse? What do you think? They're all pretty big pieces.

...more to come of the clothing finds which luckily have nothing to do with Christmas dresses or 80's warm ups.

Fabric Has Arrived!

Remember this?

These are the samples I ordered for my couch the other day.

I'm dying to upholster my couch in something new. While I know it will look great in a solid color, I have the inkling to do something totally out there and fun. I mean, you can get a plain couch any day! These are from fabricdesignstore.com which has AWESOME prices and designer quality. I love them all! My favorite is the honeycomb pattern. Guess how much it is per yard...$3.92/yd-That's right-and the print is woven, not some cheap print on canvas! blah blah blah I could go on. It's awesome. They're all awesome

Chances are, I'll upholster my couch in a solid fabric with a good texture and put some fun pillows on it. That way, I can switch up pillows when my style changes. We will see! Still tempted!

Organized Bliss

Apparently, I missed the boat on this...
It's about to make me a domestic goddess. Now instead of my jumbled files of copy paste documents I will have an array of organized BLISS. I'll have my recipes, DIY ideas, decorating tips and inspirations all in one place. Why didn't I find this earlier??? Luckily, I have a good friend named Ashley who wouldn't let me go long without discovering such genius.

Visitors

As of Thursday night we are IN San Francisco. We are in temporary housing and living the city life. In fact, we just had our first visitors! It gave us a great excuse to tour the city this weekend and we had SUCH a blast! I think San Franciscans can rate their weekend on how sore their calves get and mine needed much recovery! Here it goes...

1.Baker's Beach

Zach and Leisle-You are troopers!2. Visited our future apartment...here's the rooftop view3. Ghiridelli Square4. of course, the Bushman-my personal favorite attraction
5. Lombard Street
and to end a great day...sushi for dinner:) I don't think we could have packed it in any better! So come visit us!

Refashioned Blazer

I thought it was about time for me to crack out my sewing machine. I haven't done much with it since moving back to California. I needed a small project so I headed to Goodwill where found this Jacket at goodwill for 9 dollars. As soon as a saw it, the wheels in my head started turning. There were many ideas of what to change this baggy piece into but this is what I came up with...I call it the tailored poncho

BEFORE: The Tailored Tent

The two things I loved were the stripes and the kimono sleeves.
AFTER: The Tailored Poncho...I kept the kimono sleeves for a poncho look but took them up a tad so I wasn't drowning.

I cinched the back waist with elastic and took in the side seams to make the blazer a little more feminine.

Lastly, I cut off the sleeves and cinched them as well to tie the whole look together.
There it is, the tailored poncho.

Let the Crafting Begin!

We have finally found a place! ...It will hopefully be OFFICIAL next week. It won't be available until September because it is being renovated but I already have ideas brewing of how I want to decorate.

Lamp:Anthropologie $498

I love this lamp from Anthropologie. It would be great for the living room. I went to TJ Max to see what kind of unique vase I could turn into a lamp. They had so many and they were all under $30. There were way too many choices, I couldn't even decide!
Looking back, I think I still like the idea of having a perfectly clear lamp so I'm not sure I found the right thing yet.

Project #2
This is a watercolor my mother-in-law, Deborah painted when she was in college. I love the idea of having a piece of meaningful artwork in my house, other than photos. Not only that, but I LOVE all of the colors! I've been fighting back and forth with the decision to have it gallery wrapped or put it into a unique golden frame...I have a feeling that either way it will be expensive if I want it done right...any thoughts?

Project #3I found these dressers on KSL when I was in Utah. I bought them for $65 but they need some work before we actually use them.

Have I taken on too much?? Is it bad that I actually have many more ideas than I just posted?? All I have to say is that I have until September and none of my time will include apartment hunting! Let the crafting begin!

It's All About the 80's

How could anyone turn their back on this?!
Truth is, they CAN'T...Remnants of the 80's are everywhere right now... cropped tops, sun glasses, high waist-ed pants and shorts, even furniture...

I found these chrome chairs at D.I. for $10. They were from the 80's, in outstanding condition, super sturdy, and most of all, comfortable.
They had some cool angles when you looked from the side but I mostly liked how the seat backs were two separate cushions, opposed to just one.
If I hadn't sold them, I would have reupholstered them in fabric like this, by Ty Pennington. I might have even mixed and matched the seats to make them a little more unique from each other.
Bamboo Striped SpiceBamboo Striped Chartreuse

"Thank you everyone, you've been a wonderful crowd. This song is one of my personal favorites, and it goes out to a man who doesn't think he's seen anything good today. Cameron Fry, this is for you."

-Ferris Beuler

Attention Future Thrifters

We just got back from Utah with a truck load of stuff, including this room of furniture. Almost all of my furniture is second hand or from IKEA...Here is a picture of our old place in Provo. We created this room for less than $300. You can't even get a new couch for much less than that, let alone an entire family room. I bet you could do it too...
If you plan on finding anything second hand, I have a few suggestions...
1. Be patient. It takes a number of trips to each store over a period of time to find just the right pieces.

2. Define your style. Chances are you won't find the exact piece you are looking for but if you understand your overall style, the combination of pieces will add up to an awesome room.

3. Keep an open mind. There are a lot of pieces that look really junky at first but all they need is a little love and they'll be good as new. Most pieces just need some cleaning or a little paint.

Not bad for starving students, I'd say!

Before and After

This buffet has been one of my favorite purchases EVER. This piece is from the waterfall era and probably made in the 30's or 40's. Sadly, but gladly I sold it. Parting with it was bitter sweet. Here's a little before and after.
I bought the buffet for $25
sold it for $365...I had a little bit of sellers remorse but I made a sweet lady very happy that day.

I'm a 60's Girl

I found this retro coffee table at Salvation Army a while back for 10 dollars! Originally, I bought it to sell but as soon as I put it in my house I couldn't part with it! Unfortunately for my bank account, that's what happens half of the time. I just loved how the glass top opened up the room and made it look larger than before.
I love the unique shape of the glass top and the brass inlay which separates the stone and marble.
When I first saw this table I knew it was a quality piece- one, the glass is extremely thick and two, it's super heavy. The base is made of real stone and marble. I'm sure someone paid a lot of money for this table at one point. It's survived many years and will last many more.

Little Fashionista

Meet my new niece, Jade. Since I don't have kids of my own, this little lady will be getting all of my baby creations.
Here is your first gift my little fashioinista...
I know I'm going to be a huge sucker for baby shoes when I have kids. Let's face it, I already am. I'm ready to convert my living room into a baby shoe factory for goodness sake.

You can thank me later, little lady.

Hello from Utah! We got here late morning and didn't waste any time to start vacationing. The guys went golfing today so my lovely Steed sisters and I went here...
The kids collected rocks...for hours...
Now that I know how obsessed they are, I'm getting them all rocks for their birthdays. While the kids collected, we chatted in the sun.
Great day.