Sprucing up the Bookcase

I am always switching things up in our home.  I love change and I love improving the way certain spaces in the house look and feel. 

Example 1: The Bookcase.

This is how it looked before... Not a whole lot of color and disappearing into the far side of the living room.

I wanted to spruce it up and add color to draw the eye.  My in-laws gave me this awesome orange retro lamp that fits perfect with the eclectic decor in our place.

I painted all the dull frames I had with marigold and light sage colors I already had!

I moved existing pieces on the shelf around and added more brightly colored hardback books to give it a fresh look.

Much better! Now the shelf really stands out!

Cones go Bye Bye...

For the past two weeks our pups have been wearing cones. I cannot stand them and am counting down to the cones going buh-bye.

Friday at 8am we get to go have their stitches removed and the cones returned... Hallelujah!!!

Here is our life the past two weeks documented in photo. :]

A New Collection? I'm Thinking So!

One thing I forgot to share with you is the little souvenir that made it home with me from California! A Salt'n'Pepper shaker!

I love it so much because it's A. Disney and B. Old School.
It's adorable, Mickey and Minnie come out of the car to make your food taste better. Isn't that nice of them!

Now, to completely shift subjects, you may have noticed the little wish list that is to the right of my computer.  Yesterday, one of my best little buds Miss Stacy Jackson, dropped off a little present for me.  A just because present :]

She got me the Salt'n'Pepper shakers I wanted from Anthropologie! Looks like I have a new collection :]

Thanks again Stacy!  I love ya girl!!



Guest Room Inspiration

As you know, we decided to paint the guest room a bold blue!

I wanted to share with you the inspiration that I found when we decided that blue was the right way to go. This photos are amazing and I love how even though the rooms are the same color, they all have completely different looks to them.

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So now you know what I'm thinking for the upstairs guest room.  I love the boldness of a color and how it really makes a statement for each room.  It is also breath of fresh air from the neutral main floor of the house.  I already know that once we finish the upstairs, I will most likely be repainting a couple of the rooms on that level :]

Gotta love paint, it is the cheapest and can be the most dramatic change to a space!

Decked Out Living.

A few months back, one of my best friends, Marcia Deck asked for my assistance in decorating her home.  She had the idea right but wasn't quite sure how to get everything to go together.  She wanted to keep the paint color that was already on the walls, work with the furniture she had and only wanted to spend money on new accessories.

All I did for her was find a good color palate and act as her shopping buddy. All the hard work was done by her and her hubby Josh.

Excuse the before pictures, my camera was not working well that day.  Operator error? Possibly.

Any who, here is the living room before...

The paint color, "Cavern" by Martha Stewart, has a purple tone to it that was making the couch look green when it was actually more of a tan. The modern glass tables clashed with the traditional style couch and Marcia wanted to space to feel more "warm" and "inviting.

The beautiful window needed to be showcased and Marcia wanted to get rid of the blue chairs and again, the glass tables seemed to be a little stark for the look we were going for.

I knew with the darker paint color, we needed to choose accent colors that would add softness to the space. I instantly thought a light teal, ivory and rose pink would do the trick.  To see if I was correct I did a little inspiration shopping and found this rug.

It has the purplely color of the walls and the teal and subtle pink colors. Doesn't it look more like art than a rug?!

Once the colors were chosen, I made a few suggestions for the space.

My first suggestion for the space was to trade out the glass tables in this room for the wood ones that resided in the family room and to give them all a couple coats of black paint. The dark pieces would anchor the space and give it more of a traditional feel that the Deck's were looking for.

We switched up the artwork above the sofa and Marcia picked up some great table lamps, candles and other little accessories.

Hanging curtains added lots of drama to the window and the two blue chairs were replaced with a black faux leather bench. Adding a rose colored pillow made the pink in the sconces and picture above the couch really stand out.

We added a potted plant to the corner right of the window. (Have a green in every room, it add such a homey touch :] )

We switched out the glass sofa table with a newly painted black plant stand and some ivory, beautiful, dramatic flowers.

Before they were black, all of the tables in this room were the same brown as the dining table you can see in the background!

 The sconces and artwork above the sofa...

A gorgeous wedding picture with opal frame that had a touch of the rose color and a lavenderish pinkish LOVE Bella Ball.

And of course, my adorable nieces, Bailey and Lexi <3

The room looks amazing!  After showing her the colors, Marcia knew exactly what to go for.  It was a lot of fun to watch her add pieces to the space and really make it her own. I'm so thankful she's taking me along for the ride, it is so much fun!

Stay tuned for the Decked out Dining and Family Rooms!

My life right Now...

It makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time...

The A-Team was neutered last Friday and now get to sport these awesome cones for two weeks.  I understand the need for the cones but I hate them. With a passion.

It is impossible to snuggle, the back of my legs are black and blue and I am going to have to repaint scratched up walls.

On the flip side, it is so funny watching them try to walk up the stairs, turn around in their crates and attempt to eat or drink.

10 more days...

Little Touches that Touch my Heart

The one thing that I absolutely love about Disneyland is the detail that goes into everything.  When you visit the park you will find everything in immaculate condition.  There is not one piece of trash on the ground and every square inch is decorated to the theme of the ride or land it resides on. Disney doesn't mess around and I think that it's a large reason for its long standing success.

The attention to detail is the same in Disney's Hotels.  I knew I wanted to create a separate post just to show our hotel room and the magic it holds. :)

As I mentioned, we had the privilege of staying at the Disneyland Hotel on our girls trip to CA. Here is where we got to rest our weary little heads...

 
The lobby is filled with pictures of Celebrities and Royals that have stayed at the hotel...

Not even the carpet lacks detail!

This AMAZING headboard canvases the two guest beds and has a special feature we didn't find until later that evening.

These pillows made my heart melt, just a teeny tiny little bit.

The pool outside our window was all Peter Pan themed complete with a pirate ship!

The wall art played tribute to the Master Mind himself, Mr. Walt.

The bathroom vanity was adorned with sconces held in Mickey's hands.

and all the faucets had that famous little three circled head on them.

Here is the "special feature" headboard I mentioned earlier! The fireworks above the castle light up and a lullaby rendition of "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" plays out of the room speakers.

Ahhhh, so simple yet so Disney.  The color scheme of the room was rather plain consisting of white bed and bathroom linens, chocolate furniture pieces and and stainless fixtures but all the things touched on in this post makes the room just as special and magical as the Disney Parks themselves.

Can't wait to go back!