home decor – Page 2 – Cherie Mask

nest fest: let it begin

May 4, 2009 7 Comments

it's official. i'm in the nesting phase and nothing in this house is safe. i walk around all day long and dream into the night of how i can alter my surroundings. this is one part of the female psyche that jeff doesn't quite get. i try to explain but the simplest answer–it is an innate desire to create. molding and changing my world brings happiness. and being happy is good.

so welcome to my little series called "nest fest." my head is full of ideas. the pocketbook is not so full, however. but i'm convinced that i can find a happy intersection for the two. it's gonna be fun!

with that…here is my first project.

i purchased this lovely beast off of craigslist a while ago. i have had good intentions for it but i've been oh so afraid of refinishing furniture. good thing the nesting bug has bitten because this weekend it got a facelift.

a sneak peek…

hopefully it will be a happy ending for this baby!

home decor

zee wall o’ love

March 9, 2009 10 Comments

first, many thanks for all the sweet compliments you've showered me with here!! seriously. thank you.
next, just to answer some questions about the wall o' pictures…

this was a great solution for me because i had so many pictures that i loved and wanted to have out so i could see them. i took my cue from tara's brilliant wall she did created last summer. the frames are these from ikea. it is basically just a piece of glass with a thick cork board behind it. you place your print between the glass and cork and clip it back together. of course, canvas prints would be absolutely lovely, but this was a less expensive way to go. $105 a pop vs. $20 was a definite deal breaker for me!

there are tons of different places you can get them printed just depending on the quality of paper you want. i printed mine through on online pro lab. mpix.com or whcc.com are just a couple of good ones.
the size of the frame is 19 3/4" x 19 3/4". that is an odd size for printing so you can do it a couple of ways. either print it out at 20" x 20" and trim it down. or you can size your photo to exactly 19 3/4" x 19 3/4" and then place it on a white background that is 20 x 20 or larger. then all you have to do is trim off the white border instead of losing some of the picture. i did the resizing in photoshop. if you have questions about it, i'm happy to answer them.

hope that's helpful!

home decor, love story

making lemonade

February 25, 2009 8 Comments

so i was thinking about last week's events and how interesting they were. i mean really interesting…rather nuts. basically the whole coccyx incident occurred due to a little throw up. little did we know how much of it was actually coming our way. in an effort to avoid making your stomach queasy i will just say that 4 out of 5 of us were spewing forth. all week long.
and the one of us who wasn't spewing, well, he was on clean up duty.
bless his little argentine heart and stomach.

in the midst of the moment, i was feeling like life was hurling lemons at us with breakneck speed. and at the end of each day, all i wanted was to crawl up inside some impenetrable fortress where the lemons couldn't find me.
sneaky little lemons.

then i realized something amazing. i have been given the gift of a lemonade-maker. a really good lemonade-maker. not just your average every day juicer. no sirree. i've got the glorious, premium, top-of-the line blending culinary appliance.

i call him jeff.

sometimes he gets a bad rap for his seemingly over the top optimism. the thing is…after nine years of some not so easy times, i know there is nothing, absolutely nothing contrived about it. he can't help but see the sunshine. it is more than an attitude. it is part of him. and hard as i try, i can't convince him to come over to the dark side. bwah hah hah.

but i love that.

love that his gift rubs off on me ever so slightly. especially during weeks like these. weeks were i haven't been able to leave the house and i start to hallucinate little green men. 🙂
i've been able to find a little lemonade surrounding me here and there. making me happy.

sunshine pouring in the window wrapping around beautiful pink carnations.

a finally finished family portrait wall. love looking at these sweet faces all day long.

and the miraculous wonder it is to have this spot be free from clutter. and boxes. and disaster. it has been a year since i've walked in without cringing. no joke. my motto: cleanliness is next to….impossible!

and thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and well-wishes. you brought me a little lemonade too!

home decor

we could eat dinner in here

June 30, 2008 12 Comments

i love it that much!

it's a little hard to tell the color of the walls in the pictures. here is the swatch. it's ocean air. i just love how it turned out! it has a little beach house look. and it makes a HUGE difference when we come into our home. i stop and breathe in the fresh feeling instead of ducking and running like mad through the mess!

the bench is awesome for the kids to put on or take off their shoes and store them underneath in the cubbies. the key rack is heaven sent! need i say more?! the rack above the washer makes all the cleaning stuff accessible. and having a laundry basket up there is the best! i have a place to throw dirty stuff without piling it on top of the washer or mixing it with already clean clothes. and the little bowls are fun. i plan to use them for random little things like loose change band-aids, buttons, etc.

the cool thing is that most everything that i added to the room was on sale. gotta love that!

here's the deal: now that it's all nice and organized, ask me again in a month if i can keep the place clean. that will be real test!

home decor

a transformation is coming

June 25, 2008 3 Comments

this is my laundry room. here i am airing my dirty laundry! 😉

yes. this is it. messy. disorganized. a big huge pile of misplaced odds and ends that really don't have a place. either that or they were just thrown there on the way in from the garage. just waiting. hoping. that someday…months down the road, someone will put it away or just put it out of its misery and throw it away!

this is where we enter our home. the back door. this is what i run past closing my eyes every time i come home. it's pretty sad. and scary. and the most unpleasant room in our house. poor thing.

so i've been wanting to make changes to it. somehow organize and beautify it at the same time. but i just haven't done it. it's been a year. and it's time this little puppy became some place i want to go. instead of dreading the "laundry beast" that lives behind its closed doorl.

progress has been made so far. paint. shelves. hooks. oh man, the organization is making me swoon with giddiness. i can't wait to put the finishing touches on it and call it positively happy.

pictures will be coming shortly. mmm….yes.

so take that laundry beast. you are officially evicted. go find someone else to torment!

home decor

eclectic happiness

June 18, 2008 8 Comments

so i've been on an eclectic/vintage/funky kick lately. i'm not sure why. i guess i'm just trying to break out of my current style. it's actually pretty fun. i'm normally a very straight-lined, symmetrical kind of girl. usually nothing to crazy going on. not any more! 🙂

i had a great talk with my sister-in-law, amy, a little bit ago about having a "style crisis." sounds funny, i know. but we both totally related about how we want to break out of our molds but just aren't quite sure how to do it. we had both been feeling the same way and it was so great to talk about our ideas and have someone just get it.

so i've been working on it. little by little. trying to spice my life up with unexpected things. little gems that seem to give energy to the world around me.

here's a peek at where i create stuff. i found this awesome hutch on craigslist for a total bargain, the rug on clearance, and some vintage toy blocks on ebay. (i'm excited to swap the blocks out and create new words whenever i feel like it).

and voila! instant change without breaking the bank. nice!

home decor

5 minute decor update

February 23, 2008 7 Comments

every time i go over to amy’s house, i leave with the “decorating bug.” and yesterday was no different. we were there for just a little while and she was showing me paint colors and looking through mags. she just inspires me to change things up. i love that about her!
so today, i was on a quest to do a little with stuff i have around here. i saw a cool thing that laura kurz made and loved it.
so this took 5 minutes, no joke! i used the butterfly from my Spring wings ‘n’ things brushes and put it on a yellow background printed it out and stuck it in a frame. spring has sprung. nice!!!