Tag Archives: home decor

Cheers to Art, No. 3

I’ve done landmarks and footwear at Cheers to Art. Now it’s time for vases and flowers.

This was my third trip to Cheers to Art in Madeira, Ohio, and it continues to be a blast! Seriously, you must try this, or something like it, if you can. I also planned ahead for this one, and decided to go outside of the “advertised” color palette. I’m planning teals and limes for our bonus room (more on that later this week), so I figured I might as well create some art to hang in the space!

My friend Kris painted with me (thanks Kris!) I love how hers turned out! I’m sort of wishing I’d thrown in some orange or maybe just a smidge of purpley red for the flowers.

Summery 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!

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

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?

Progress Is Progress

I don’t have anything exciting to share with you today (cue disappointed “awww”), but I feel I owe you all a post explaining my recent absence. The reason for this absence is twofold: too many projects underway at one time, and limited time to actually make progress on any of them.

This is what I mean:

We purchased crown moulding (yea!) But… we have yet to patch it, paint it, and install it. So now it’s hanging out in our dining room with my makeshift growing table.

We finished painting the small hallway between our kitchen and powder room (yea!) and started on the powder room (another yea!). But… we haven’t even cut in around all the baseboards yet. Last weekend was our anniversary (6 years!), and hanging out together sounded a lot better than painting!

And in the midst of all these started projects, we still have our day jobs, our dog, our somewhat neglected workout schedule, and all the other joys of daily life to juggle.

One step at a time, right?

BUT I did not forget about my blogiversary this week! Please stop back on Thursday for a special post and my first giveaway!

Paint-Your-Own Pottery

If you follow me on Instagram (@twopurplecouches), you may have seen this pic pop up a few weeks ago:

As part of my friend Katie’s recent bachelorette festivities, we painted our own pottery at a place called Color Me Mine. (I think it’s a national chain, so you may be able to find a location near you.)

It’s a pretty cool concept. The studio is stocked with all the supplies you need: pre-made pottery, paints, etc. You select whatever piece you’d like, paint it, and they fire it for you.

I was super-overwhelmed by all of the options offered, from plates and serving platters to teapots, bowls, vases, mugs, and more. And then there was a whole palette of paint colors, plus fancy techniques and accents you could add to your piece. I don’t think it helped that I consumed a large glass of champagne before we arrive. But just to be safe, I’d recommend going stone-cold sober. It would probably help you make decisions 🙂

I was originally going for a vase, but I have tons of vases and don’t really need another one. That’s when the bride-to-be pointed out the OWL options.

Sold. Give me one of those guys. Love ’em.

I like that he is 1) adorable, 2) colorful and 3) hidden storage!

I agree completely, Chip! (his name is Chip, btw)

Photog in the Making

That’s right, folks! The picture quality here on Two Purple Couches is getting an upgrade! Tom surprised me earlier this week with a Sony NEX-F3K. Now, I truly know nothing about cameras, but I do know that I LOVE the clarity and crispness I’m getting out of the practice shots I’ve been taking around the house.

The iPhone 4s camera just wasn’t cutting it anymore. I mean, you can’t be a real blogger with a iPhone-quality photos. That schtuff is grainy!

The Sony has lots of fancy-sounding features. It took me 5 days to figure out how to delete a photo from playback mode. So… it’s going to a long road to fancy-camera-mastery. And clearly I could use a Lighting 101 course.

But so far? I’m obsessed.