For my first “Tutorial Tuesday” back I wanted to share this recent life changing hair tutorial that I found about a month ago on pinterest. It is truly easy and fast which is extremely important to a new mom. Not only do I spend less time doing my hair now because I like it so much better after doing this that I don’t waste time fiddling with it and then giving up, I also save money on product because I only use hairspray.

P.S. You can currently follow me on Pinterest, to keep up with my collection of ideas for my home and the nursery.

Check out Abode Love!

I first found this blog via Pinterest where I fell in love with these striped walls.

From there I ventured to this lovely blog and fell in more in love with her entire home!

I love the Anthropologie look of the living room. I always hesitate to add pretty “clutter” like this and like the fabulous Anthropologie stores but when I see it, I always want to do it.

Can’t wait to dive further into this blog for more and more inspiration. THANKS ABODE HOME!

 via Home Styling

These river rocks painted with black chalkboard paint can be changed from season to season to give any message you want. Here in white chalk are spooky themed words. Such a quick and simple idea via Pinterest.

Frame a doily in a cross-stitch ring and place a fake spider on it for a cute and shabby chic version of a spider web.

via Betzwhite

Fill vases and jars you already have with fake spiders, snakes, etc. I’m not really down with the skulls but that’s just me. You can fill jars with anything you like and change them for each holiday. I think it would be fun to fill one with dirt and a fake zombie hand emerging from the dirt. The ideas are endless.

via Pottery Barn

Print out some spooky pictures and wrap your glass candle holders. Again, this couldn’t be quicker and more simple while not being gross and overdone.

via TheCraftedSparrow

Another quick print out can give you this simply chic Halloween decor in a jiffy. You could even whip this project out in minutes before your Halloween party that you meant to plan for but just didn’t because you were busy and ran out of time.

via SouthernMomentum

If nothing else than a can of spray paint and a some hand painted art or stencils if you don’t have an artistic hand can turn ordinary pumpkins into fab. Paint a festive motif for pumpkins that are fall decor rather than Halloween specific.

via SouthernMomentum

Here is an added bonus via Pinterest of some creative Halloween party foods.

A Halloween cupcake:

Spider web cookies

Frankenstein Marshmallows

That is just a small glimpse of all the fun ideas that are waiting for you to discover on Pinterest. If you haven’t checked it out yet click on the link to go immediately before you waste another second wondering what you are going to make for dinner tonight, what you are going to wear tomorrow, how you make a cheap and creative costume for your kids, and tons of other things you haven’t even thought of yet.

As you can see, if have already changed some things around. I replaced the cherry blossom sprays that were on top of the side tables with my lovely new lamps.

The new lamps are in beautiful polished nickel and clamp to the back of the side tables. They swing in or out and direct the light just where I need it. They also have two light settings for mood lighting or high reading light! I really love the masculine/industrial feel they add to the space.

As you can see above I also added some pretty “street scene” prints simply leaning against the arm of the lamps.

Here’s a look from the other side of the sofa.

Here are two wider angles to give some perspective of the entire room. I saved the chaise from our previous sectional sofa (it was the best part of the sofa!!) I plan on slipcovering it but am still deciding on fabric. Behind the chaise you can see my DIY art. It is simply an old frame I have had for years with some discount fabric I picked up stapled to the back. It took me awhile to find something to fill the “hole” behind the chaise but my patience paid off! I didn’t have to spend much money and got the big impact I wanted. Sometimes I just pays to wait. I am also on the hunt for a tufted ottoman for the center of the room. Again I am waiting for the right deal at the right time!

Here is my favorite part of the room, the white chairs in front of my huge window! The area of the living room really makes the space feel crisp and fresh while also being inviting! Haha, don’t you just love my shabby rug! Some people (like my husband, who is more of a clean and simple kinda guy but I love him for letting me have my way with the decor) don’t really “get it” but I do! I love the worn shabby look to death!! I have also temporarily thrown a salvage architectural find behind the chairs against the wall for now till I find it a home. I fell in love with this piece of old cornice from a porch and had to have it! I am thinking I will use it for a “crown canopy” above my bed soon but for now it rest happily in my living room adding character to the space!

Here is where my cherry blossom sprays landed. They flank the fireplace now. You thought I had gotten rid of them huh?!? Nope just a quick move to a new home freshened the space up! I am constantly tweaking and revising.

Here is my fireplace and “butterfly art” as you have seen before but now I have added the cherry blossom sprays and the vintage suit case table beside. I picked this old suitcase up at a local antique shop for $12. I simply put it on table I already had.

Now I know what you are wondering, “where is the TV?” Why it is where are the furniture is facing of course!

Do I want it to be the center of attention? Not really. Is it ok for now? Yeah because I get to watch Big Brother from the comfort of my chaise! Again I am waiting patiently for the right housing for this monster.

So to refresh, here is the living room before.

and after…

Before below, yuck! As you can see from the chandelier hanging, this room was meant to be a living room/dining room combo. What could have been a large room is cut into two too-small spaces that are not really functional. So I pulled up my handy-dandy Ikea planner and reconfigured the kitchen to fit a dining nook and turned a poorly designed floor plan into a beautiful space. 

After…

Much more to come, so stay tuned to see kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom makeovers.

Until next time!

As you can see below my basic builder cabinets in warm honey oak aren’t really cutting it mixed in with my cool color palette of gray and white.

I have finally found my inspiration though from a newly found blog called Me and Jilly.

 Here is Mia’s kitchen before. Looks somewhat like mine with basic builder cabinets and linoleum countertops.

Now here is Mia’s kitchen after…

Wow what a transformation and so inspiring!

Mia added molding to her plain cabinet fronts, added glass panels to some of the upper cabinet doors, and did some finishing touches with a brick veneer backsplash and unique concrete countertop.

I am thinking, if her kitchen can look this good with some sweat and tears, mine can too! Now that I have the inspiration I just have to find the time. If I ever get the two together I’ll be unstoppable! Ya feelin me?!?

The color is Sherwin Williams Animated Coral

They call it coral but to me it is much softer and peachy than coral so I refer to it as Apricot. Color names are all relative to the viewer though and I could preach a sermon on that (but I won’t)!

This will be a nice way to remember what color this is for myself because I am sure that paint can will get chucked some day. So thanks for asking about the color so I can remember myself!

]]> http://designfabulous.com/2011/09/02/paint-color/feed/ 0 designfabulous SW6878 http://designfabulous.com/2011/09/01/my-space/ http://designfabulous.com/2011/09/01/my-space/#comments Thu, 01 Sep 2011 02:38:22 +0000 designfabulous http://designfabulous.com/?p=3756 ]]> I finally have pictures of my fresh new office. I designed the space for blogging and sewing/crafting. I wanted a space that was cheerful and inspirational and that really said KATIE! Well I think I nailed it. Here is the big reveal.

The room before was a plan blank canvas, white walls, beige carpet, etc… Your typical builder grade small bedroom. I don’t seem to have a before picture which saddens me but here is a picture I snapped with my phone right after painting.

Of course from this pictures lighting and without anything else in the room the walls felt a little bit neon. I knew that it would all come together in the end though.

I had a simple white desk from Ikea already so I added 2 Expedit bookcases to the mix.

One I put on its side on casters for a sewing table with storage. I can pull this out to the middle of the room when sewing so the fabric has somewhere to spread out. I picked up these fabulous new vintage “linen-look” file boxes from Ikea as well to store “do-dads” and stored all my fabric swatches, remnants, etc below.

Then there was artwork. I used remnants of Thibaut wallpaper inside Ikea frames. They were the perfect color combo of Apricot, Aqua, and Green all softened by the yellow background. I loved the Pagoda lanterns in this wallpaper which is why I picked it.

Then not to be left out, the other side of the room I framed some typography art and added some accessories to the top of the bookcase. I also picked up a fabulous pinboard framed in gray (seen below again) from Home Goods for just $24.

Then some finishing touches from things I already owned (always a good thing!).

First my favorite Thrift find chair.

My fav chair, shown here in true “Glamour Shot” style with a cute pillow made by yours truly, has bits of coral and aqua throughout this traditional needlepoint toile fabric. I heart this chair for real and it only cost $25!

Then finally one of my favorite lamps, one because it is fabulous and two because it was free, pulls the color scheme together.

I will be adding curtains soon in this Thibaut plaid.

I will show you the curtains when they are up. Until then I hope you liked my inspiration space and were inspired yourself.

Until next time!