Having Fun with Spring Mood Boards

How was your weekend? I tried to minimize my computer and iPhone usage this weekend and it was quite enjoyable! Yesterday I spent my afternoon at my kids soccer games and it feels so good to sit outside again and not in a stuffy gym for wrestling. I hate sitting on those bleachers all day, they really kill my back.
I will try to catch up on some blog reading today again.

So today I'm doing something different. I've met some great ladies on the blogosphere two weeks ago. Or wait, I met Amy from "The Blissful Bee" a while ago on Hometalk and we found mutual interest with our kitties. She invited me to have some mood board fun with a group of other bloggers.

So lets see if you guys like this type of post since it's not my usual thing. Let me know!

We each designed a mood board that was inspired by this, 

isn't it pretty?

This inspiration was picked by Carissa from carissa miss

Do you want to see all the pretty stuff we came up with?

This is my board:

I love every single thing on it 

1. York Wallcoverings Oriental Spring Blossoms (Pattern #: GG4717)
2. Pier1 Radiant Mirror
3. Chive Inc: Gideon Planet Moon
4. Target Threshold Brass Lamp Base
5. ZGallerie Pierre Sofa

6. Rugs USA: Serendipity Rug

7. Chive Inc:  Pooley 2 8-Tube Classic Vase
8. West Elm Branch Side Table

Wouldn't this be a great living or family room?
I certainly would be happy with it.

Let's move on to the rest of the ladies!!

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 

Meet Carissa from carissa miss 
who is also having a giveaway on her blog today:

"I'm Carissa from carissamiss! I blog mostly about design and my DIY projects in my house, but I love sharing my menu planning ideas and easy recipes I make too.

My most popular DIY projects have been my DIY Restoration Hardware Trestle Table {recently featured on knockoffdecor.com} and my DIY Entry Way Board and Batten. I like to tackle whatever creative project I can!"

print/pillow/flower art/

green striped bow/round rug/fabric

print/swimsuit/vase

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 

Meet Samantha from Designer in Teal

"I'm Samantha and I blog over at Designer in Teal! I mostly blog about Interior design but lately I have been sharing more of my everyday life, wedding inspiration and anything in between.

My latest project is Design in Your Home (a link-up for other bloggers to share their homes and maybe even get featured)."

Resources

Casbah chair- Pier One

Gold Ceramic garden stool- World Market

Golden Yellow Pillows- Target

Multicolored Pillows- Etsy

Outdoor Dining Table- World Market

Hanging Lanterns- World Market

Green Stripe Outdoor Rug- Pier One

Plates: West Elm

Tray: World Market

Planter: Ikea

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 

Meet Amy from The Blissful Bee

Hey guys - I'm Amy from The Blissful Bee! I am a graphic designer and photographer by trade, but seriously love {all things design}. I'm kind of obsessed with interior design and dream of living in a 100 year old craftsman one day:) If I had to choose, I think my favorite project of all time would have to be my DIY Factory Cart Table that my hubby and I built together. I would love it if you would stop by to visit me sometime over at The Blissful Bee!

To see my items from this set, click through [here].

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Meet Melissa from Eleven Sixty

I'm Melissa and I blog at Eleven Sixty

I have a passion for interior decorating,
but I also write about life's happenings and everything that make it so lovely.

frame around inspiration photo // mirror // succulent pencil cup // desk // desk chair // wastebasket // lamp base // lamp shade accent table // bamboo blinds (no link) // chevron curtains // pillow lounge chair // ottoman // magazine rack // knob // animal figurines // rug

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 

Meet Beth from Design Your Dwelling

Hi, I'm Beth, the author blogger behind Design Your Dwelling, an interior design and lifestyle blog, looking to inspire people to lead a beautiful life! I love home decor, fashion, and a splash of inspiration on a regular basis as well as working with interior design clients to design a space they love to live in!

So that's that my friends. It was fun designing a mood board with some other fabulous ladies but I will go back to my regular posts on Wednesday with a barstool makeover that I just finished.
Don't forget to stop by.

Remember, you can still enter in my Jonathan Alder earbud giveaway (click HERE) until tomorrow evening and Carissa is also having a giveaway (click HERE to go to her blog).

Guten Tag!

(Youleeya)

The Powder Room!

Hey, so...guess what? I'm about done for now with the powder room. Well, the marble vanity top is still in the works but that might still take a while.

I'm happy with it for now.

Do you want to see?

Let's look at this picture first:

Can you guess what I did? 

I changed my mind a little again!

Yup, the dots are on the ceiling

And I love it. I really do!

Sorry Mom!

She told me not to do it because she thought it was stupid.

I didn't listen. 

The reason is that I felt it was too busy next to the mirror. But on the ceiling, it draws your eyes up. Thin stripes on the walls and polka dots on the ceiling. Perfect combo in my book.

{UPDATE: The dots are now available in my Etsy store! 
Click HERE to see}

Some people might share my mom's opinion but I don't really care because I'm happy with it.

I think next week I will have a post about what she all doesn't like, haha! 

She is my toughest critic and I love her for that because nobody else would tell me their opinion as blunt as she does. It'll be a funny post

My Lowes mirror makeover (click on link or picture to see the post)

It is really hard to take good pictures in this tiny room that doesn't have any windows. 

So cut me some slack, ok?

my medicine cabinet makeover

I'm going to call it my sharpie room because the lines are Sharpie as well. For the mirror and the walls I only needed two water-based Sharpies! After reading Mandy's (Vintage Revivals) post about her Sharpie wallpaper where she recommends using water based Sharpies so you wouldn't have to prime over it with oil-based primer later, I decided to use water-based as well.
This was so CHEAP, really! Remember the gold paint from Lowes would have cost me around $80.

And here is a before picture. Remember this?

I like it so much better now.

And if you are asking me how I figured out the spacing for the dots, then I have to tell you that after trying to figure it out with my pathetic math skills and failing miserably, I decided to just jump right in and mostly eyeball them.
All I did is place them on each side, measured the middle between the dots...placed the next dot... then measured the middle again, placed another dot... And so on. That's it.
The rest was eyeballed. For real! I did and they turned out great. I'm sure nobody will ever be able to tell that they aren't perfect.
The vinyl was gold metallic (091) Oracal 631 (which is the wall vinyl). I didn't need any transfer paper either. Simple stick and peel!

I love the polka dots so much that I'd like to make another polka dot wall somewhere else! How do you like them?

Stop back on Friday ok, because I have something exciting to share with you!

{Update: I'm planning on selling these gold dots in my Etsy store starting at the beginning of April}

Guten Tag,

(Youleeya)

Backsplash Options

First of all is it just me or do any of you other mom's think school portraits are ugly? While I, of course, do get my kids year book portrait every year, they also have spring pictures every year and I have been refusing to get them done. I have even written to the photography company to ask them to stop putting the kids in front of hideous backgrounds. The fake gardens, fake porches and fake brick walls are just not doing it for me. But it must be just me since my son was the only one in his class not taking any photos. I take lots of pictures of my kids during the year and they turn out way better than anything the photographers do at school. Now, tell me does anybody share this dislike for the school photography companies? And the prices are complete ripoffs too! I wish I would have a picture to show you but the papers went straight into the garbage

Well anyway, I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, the kitchen tunnel! I moved the outlets from the half wall, switched out all the old beige electrical outlets to white, patched up the hole in the wall.

If you follow me on Instagram,
then you have seen these photos already.

Now I'm somewhat undecided on what to do with the backsplash. The window in the kitchen makes it a little difficult. That is exactly the reason why I have never placed tile in the kitchen before. I liked the plain look of the painted wall. This time I want to get away from the 4" backsplash though and have something different.

I'm pretty sure that I want to go with honed carrara marble subway tiles, since I wasn't able to use the marble as a countertop. Or lets say I was too scared to use it as a countertop. Using it as a backsplash would still allow me to have it in the kitchen anyway.

I want to share some different options with you. Now pardon me but the pictures aren't my best photoshop work, but I was simply to lazy to cut around the faucet and fix some other things. I'm sure that I get my point across anyway, right?

This is what I'm thinking and YES THE BACKSPLASH GOES ALL THE WAY THE LENGTH OF THE COUNTERTOP, which it might not look like in the photo:

subway tile all the way through

subway tile standing up under the window

subway tile cut off at cabinet

subway tile to the window

Centsational Girl had option 2 in her post "Spicing up Subway tile" and I kind of really like it. It would be perfect to run under the window.

My least favorite is option 1, because it would take a lot of wall space from our dining area and I feel like it would dwarf the space. I also don't like the corner sticking out like that. But it does look more symmetrical, doesn't it?

Here are the before posts (click here and here) with the wall just as a reminder.

Now this might all look different when the countertop is finally installed but for now, what do you think?
Which one is your favorite? Or do you have any other ideas? Please do share!

I wish you all a great weekend.

(Youleeya)

Powder Room Wall Inspirations

So I have been browsing the web for some inspiration for our powder room the past week and I have to tell you that I am severely drawn to the white walls with gold accents. Especially after I applied two coats of white primer over the diamond pattern. It was kind of on the darker side previously and the white is so fresh! Can you believe the pattern is still showing through 2 coats of the primer though?

If you follow me on Instagram then you saw that my kiddos got a hold of the sharpie. It is funny, thank God it's only primer ;)

Thanks for pointing out where the pee and poop goes, Lilly!

And what's up with the faces and their tongue sticking out, LOL!
Can you see the diamonds peeking through?

I guess I have to prime it white one more time. And I think I have to sand a little more on some spots too. What a pain!

Speaking of painting white. It appears such an easy task but when you stark painting something white, everything starts looking dirty. You can't just stop, at least I can't. I have to paint everything, meaning trim, moldings and cabinetry. Ugh! And then my ivory outlets are bugging me too. So I have to replace those as well. That said...this powder room will take way longer again than I originally anticipated.

Back to the wall inspirations. I really love gold polka dot walls. I was thinking white walls with gold polka dots and a bright colored ceiling. I have seen them in nurseries but I think I would love having it in my powder room.

Take a look at these photos:

image via Land of Nod

image via zazzle 

image via indulgy

Gold Ikat dots (image via West Elm)

And I was thinking about what would be the cheaper or better approach. Stencil or wall stickers?
The stencil is $29 at Cutting Edge Stencils (click here) and the gold wall stickers that I found at Polka Dot Wall Stickers  (click here) are $8.98 for 24 dots for the 3" size. Now I don't know how many dots I would need, but if you calculate buying the stencil, gold paint (which is always a little pricey) and stencil brushes, then I will probably end up in the same price range as the dots. And the dots are so much easier than the stencil.

image via Polka Dot Wall Stickers

Hey, or I could try making my own sticker dots with my silhouette cameo, but I'm not sure which vinyl to use, so I won't damage the walls. I'm kind of too new for this.

Another idea that has been floating in my head is a gold on white fish scale wall and I should be able to draw this with a a sharpie. Or maybe not ;)

image via design sponge

image via design sponge

Or diagonal stripes!! I've been working on a small project with diagonal stripes and I'm liking it. I'll show you on Monday!

So what's your take on the vinyl versus stencil subject. Have you made your own wall decals yet and if so, which vinyl did you use?
And how about those dots, fish scale pattern and diagonal stripes? I know I love them all

Let's see.
Have a great weekend and talk to you on Monday.

It's time for some old photos

I told you that I would share some old before photos with you.
Now brace yourself, ok? I almost couldn't believe it myself. Was I really ever that much into brown and beige? The photos remind me of cat vomit now. Yuck!

Before I show you these old pictures I have to tell you that I didn't like the sofa on those photos to begin with. I was forced into getting them. Yes, totally forced. I had bought a different sofa from a local furniture store and right after they arrived we went to Germany for two weeks, when I came back, one of the metal rods in the sofa had started to poke through the fabric and created a hole. WITHOUT ANYBODY EVER REALLY SITTING ON IT. So I told the store I wanted a new one and I was told that they wouldn't give me the same Rowe sofa again because there was a chance it might happen again. How pathetic is that? The only way I would get a new couch was if I picked one from a different brand. I didn't like any of the other brands but had to pick one, so I picked this one and I cried when it came. To top it all off my mom confirmed it and told me she didn't like it either. Needless to say that this store went out of business by now.

Well enough said, here are some before and afters:

Before

Didn't I say a lot of beige and brown? CAT VOMIT!?

After

I guess I really like round mirror's over the couch.
And I'm working on replacing those four pieces of artwork in the corner.

Before

Cringe!

After

The only thing remaining are the chairs (I'd love to change out the fabric) and the end tables.
A lot of people tell me to lay the rug the other direction but there is an air vent 
which makes it impossible

Before

These pictures are all pretty old. This is my son's highchair and he is 10 years old now. So outdated!

After

I still have the same table, chairs, and painting. I'd love to get new chairs or paint these but they are just so durable with 2 kids, 4 cats and 1 husband!

Before

Oh my!

After

I just noticed that this isn't the latest picture either, my Strandmon chair isn't in the picture yet and I must have just been working on my Fornasetti plates, because they are stuck on the kitchen wall.
I'm so itching to replace those countertops. Let's see if we move or not!

I don't even know what else to say after this, do you?

I guess "Have a great weekend" is enough.

Oh wait! Maybe you have a blog post where you show your old photos. Just post it into your comment. I'd love to check it out!

Talk to you on Monday.