Tag Archives: decor

Bit by Bit

Let me tell you a story. A beautiful little love story.
Girl meets Fabric (it just so happens that they meet on the Internet).

Swavelle:Mill Creek Gunnison Grasshopper

Girl falls head over heels for Fabric. She thinks it might be a passing fancy, since Fabric is on clearance. You know how those clearance types are.

Girl wakes up one day and realizes her undying love for Fabric. She and Fabric exchange Orders (that’s fabric for vows), and they live happily ever after in Home Decor Haven.

Did that get weird? Sorry. But, I really, really, REALLY love this fabric. It’s by Swavelle / Mill Creek. And it’s on Last Chance clearance at Fabric.com. So if you think you love it to, go get her before she’s gone!

With this swatch, I’m starting to decorate our bonus room upstairs. Now that we’ve got some furniture, we need some accessories (my favorite part!). I don’t love the fabric on the throw pillows that came with our sofa, but I lurrrrve this fabric (have I said that already?), and I know it will look amaze-balls against the charcoal grey upholstery! Is it out of style to match your pillows and your drapes? Because I would LOVE to make drapes out of this fabric, too. Come to think of it, I would love a floor-to-ceiling room made out of this fabric. Too much? Probably.

side table

Anyway, with this color palette in mind, I’m starting to collect accessories. I’ve been assuming I’d put the Satchel & Sage feather print in my office, since everything that doesn’t have a place will probably end up in my office, but doesn’t it work great with this tealy-turquoisey glass candle holder? And the other print is a postcard that I received as a bonus for an order I placed with Mary Elizabeth Arts through Etsy a number of years ago.

So while this is just one tiny, tiny corner of our room (clearly)…

family room bonus room

it’s a start!

How do you start decorating a room? Do you go all in at once, or bit-by-bit?

Summer Entryway

summer entryway

Our entryway table needed a bit of sprucing up for the summer. So I gathered up some knick-knackery and some prints I’ve been meaning to frame and got to work. I thought a loose travel theme might be nice, given that it’s “vacation season.”

summer entryway

The postcard is of the Grand Floridian Resort in Walt Disney World. We stayed there in January (and it was amaze-balls!); these postcards were free in our room! Score! The owl is also from our Disney trip, from a shop in Mexico at Epcot. I wish I could tell you that I purchased this set of Matryoshka dolls during my trip to Moscow a few years ago. But I can’t. I didn’t have time to shop. Or sightsee. I was there for work. My parents were traveling Alaska later that year, though, and my mom picked these up in a Russian boutique. To make up for my lack of authentic Matryoshka purchasing whilst in the real Russia.

summer entryway

The “Bon Voyage” postcard was in an Umbabox I received a few months ago. It seemed fitting for the theme. The wooden ball, the terrarium/cloche thing, and the thing inside the terrarium/cloche thing are from Kohls.

So, there you have it! An entryway with some summertime flair. What’s in your entryway? Do you have an authentic set of Matryoshka dolls? Have you ever been to Moscow?

Summery Mantel

summertime mantel

Ever since I took down our Easter decor, I’ve been completely stuck on how to decorate our mantel. And it’s been pretty vacant for the past couple months, save for the white lantern full of potpourri. I decided last week that this needed to change. I was tired of looking at nothing, plus, we were hosting a dinner party over the weekend. And I couldn’t have a naked mantel in front of our guests!

So I turned to trusty Pinterest for inspiration… and found mostly beach-inspired decor. I like the beach. I like walks on the beach and seaside-inspired beverages. But… we’re not beach decor people. I know a lot of people are, and I always admire the calm, casual feel it puts out. But, it’s just not our style.

Which begs the question… what’s a girl gotta do to get a summery mantel up in here?

Answer… go to Pier 1!

summertime mantel

Where one will find oodles of options. Like hydrangeas and more lanterns.

summertime mantel

And lemons. Not sure if we’re fake-fruit people, either… but we got ’em!

What does your summer mantel look like? Are you a beach decor person? Or a fake-fruit decor person? Or something else entirely?

Brika Lovelies

brika purchases

The items from my first Brika order arrived this week! (Remember that Joss and Main meets Etsy site I told you about last week?)

brika purchase_satchelandsage

These two prints are by Satchel & Sage (you can find their Etsy shop here). I loved the colors in the feather print. The other print is part of their Artifact series and is titled “The Writer.” So of course, I needed it. And the prices were very reasonable. I love reasonably-priced art!

brika purchase_maelu designs

The other item I purchased is this hand block printed scarf by Maelu Designs. Maelu’s shop/art has a pretty cool story; she uses sustainable textiles and hand-prints each item. You can read more on her website. It’s just as lovely in person!

Have you discovered Brika yet? Have you ordered any awesome curated handmade goods yet?

*I solemnly swear I am in no way affiliated with this site, nor was I paid to write this post. The opinions above are my own, about an awesome site/brand/product/artist that I want to share with you*

Color & Character(s)

Remember my color conundrum in our family room? Well, I/we (Tom sort of voted) have made a decision! And the winner is… (drum roll please)…

lemony yellow!

In addition to bringing some pops of yellow into the gallery wall I’m planning, I think a few sunny accessories will help to round things out. So, when Saturday rolled around without any plans on the books, I headed straight for the nearest home stores!

My first stop was HomeGoods. I was initially distracted by some other fabulous finds – namely a grey ikat chair that I wish I had a need for, and an adorable little pierced porcelain lamp that I nearly brought home. Apologies for the lack of covert photos – next time I will try to capture a few peeks to share! I finally made my way to the accessories section, where I found a color-coded wall of glasswares and vases. I am a sucker for blown glass – I’ve notice lately that I have quite a few pieces around the house. Anyway, I spotted the yellow section, and this vase immediately popped out at me:

And for only $12.99, I couldn’t pass it up! There’s a nice variation of yellow, from pale to bright, and the waves at the top give it a funky look.

A few shelves down from the yellow section was the purple section, so you know I had to take a look! And there I found the cutest, quirkiest piece: a purple blown-glass chicken!

I couldn’t resist. I’ve named her Henrietta, and she looks lovely sitting next to the yellow vase on our accent table!

Next stop – Pier 1. I love exploring the aisles at Pier 1 – there is always something interesting, or embellished, that catches my eye! And this trip was no different. Apparently, I am on an animal kick right now, because I left with this little character…

Well, he’s not really that little – he’s about 2 ft. tall! And his name is Edgar. He adds a fun “safari” touch to our fireplace.

I’m loving the new touches to our family room! Still on the hunt for some other yellow pieces, but I have some things in mind. Did you add any fun pieces to your home decor family over the weekend?