[so cheap, so easy]: Outdoor Mason Jar Chandelier

Ok, so here's the disclaimer: I don't sew, and I don't know how to use power tools. So, when I say that something's easy, I mean that it may be easy(ish) for someone who knows what he or she is doing. I may or may not be correct. With that being said, this project looks like it is totally doable...with the right tools (and person). In other words, I bet I could find someone to make this for me.

image source unknown

[color kreyv]: Gold Pendants

How fabulous are these gold pendants? I definitely feel the need to say fabulous (I'd even go as far as fab) when describing the lighting in these spaces. I think I kind of need them as soon as I get a house. And a white kitchen. And, of course, space for two or three gold pendants.  I've got goals, people.

image from Dunlin Home

image from Apartment 34

image from Design Sponge

[kreyv of the day]

image from Marius Haverkamp

Rooms (and Lights) for Two

Hey there! How was your long weekend (if you had one)? Ours was fun and busy; although, yesterday, I had major headaches and nausea. Don't feel bad for me, though, I'm afraid I did it to myself. Hubs and I had this bright idea of staying up into all hours of the night/morning finishing season one of The Following. Have you seen it? It's intense…and Netflix is bad news for intense shows. I mean, why stop at one episode when you have the entire season at your disposal? Who cares about real life? Just keep watching. All fun and games until you have to wake up and be Mommy the next day. You guys, I'm getting too old for these shenanigans and by shenanigans, I mean staying up past 10. But anyway…

You know I just love a room with two twin beds, and these, well, these are just another level of design yumminess. I mean really, two beds AND two lights? I'm in love.

image from Serena & Lily

image from Decor Pad

image source unknown

[color kreyv]: A Touch of Gold

I love me a little touch of gold here and there…unless it's real gold. I'm pretty sure I would like big touches of that.  That's all--just a few pretty pictures and one big deep thought for the day. 

image source unknown

image from Stephen Knollenberg

image from Every Girl

Beautiful Lighting and My Love for Electricity

One thing I've missed out on by renting for so many years is beautiful lighting. And trust me, I would really love a beautiful dining room fixture right about now. Ours is definitely not beautiful, in fact it's ugly--as in purchased from the rejected clearance section ugly. I digress...my point is, these lighting fixtures are beautiful, and I love beautiful. 

Guess what else I love? Electricity. On Friday, ours was out for about 12 hours. Now, before I continue, I know it could be a lot worse (a lot), and in the grand scheme of things, 12 hours isn't really that long...if you like to camp. I don't. I mean, it's not like I'm one of those people who just can't live without the internet or heat, but, I really do like both of those things. Sorry, but I'm not sorry. 

The best part of the day (and by best, I really don't mean best at all) was when Mr. Hubs told me about a work party. Yes, he told me that day--post working electricity. My hair, oh my hair...it was in dire need of a hair wash. In fact, it was in dire need of a hair wash two days prior to Friday, but all I thought I had planned was a play date at McD's, so I wore a beanie. I went to the work party anyway, with greasy hair and make up that was applied with no lights. Four words: Wife. Of. The. Year. 

image from La Grange Interiors

image from M. Frederick Interiors

image from Decor Pad

Round & Around We Go | Round Dining Tables

I don't know that I would ever buy a round table only because they don't seem to fit as many people as a rectangular table. Yes, I have a practical side. It's very small, but it still exists. (Plus, I have big dreams of big dinner parties--remember the whole upholstered seating situation, the one with my RH table and pizza?) BUT, practical or not, I love them. Something about them is so glamorous and chic. In fact, I think I just talked myself into a round table--maybe in the basement as a game table. Perfect. See how practical I am? 

image from Bruno Frisoni via Vogue

image from Style at Home

image from Nuevo Estilo

My Top 3 Design Tips

You know how you sometimes hear that there are no rules in design--that you should just do what you like? Well, it's kind of not true. There are rules, it's just that you're not going to get in trouble if you break them (unless you are in my family, then you'll definitely get in trouble). If you follow these "rules", your house, your eyes, and myself will thank you. Most design "rules" are all about scale and space and have nothing to do with style or taste. It's all about taking your home to the next level, which we all want to do, right?  Here are my top three design tips:

1| Rethink Furniture Placement: Try floating your furniture instead of pushing it up against the walls. This creates a more intimate setting and puts you in control of your room layout. Even in a small room, where the size is conducive to  creating an appropriately sized conversation area, pull your furniture slightly away from the walls and/or (especially) windows. Remember, the whole purpose behind your furniture layout is to create a comfortable gathering area.

image from Caldwell Flake

2| Buy Long(er) Curtains: The length of your curtains is SO important! Unfortunately, most "off the rack" curtains are 84 inches. I hate to break it to you, but 84 inches is never long enough. How curtains hang on the floor depends on fabric, style, and preference. But, how HIGH the curtains hang should always be well above the window. Additionally, curtains should always flank the windows as much as possible. The illustration below does a perfect job of showing what a HUGE difference curtain placement makes. Let the light in and maximize the height of your rooms!

image from Me Oh My

image from Real Simple

3| Use the Right Size Rug: There's not just one rug size that works for every room, just make sure your rug is BIG enough. Using a rug that is too small can make the room look closed in and make the scale all wrong. Ideally, the rug is either big enough for all of your furniture to fit on (which can be super pricey), or the outside perimeter of the rug follows closely to the inside perimeter of your furniture. Remember, rugs should anchor the room. There you have it, my top three tips that will make a HUGE difference! Now, let's go buy new rugs, curtains, and, what the heck, new furniture!

image form Alice Lane

Linking up at 
The Dedicated House
Mom on Timeout
The Jenny Evolution

Neutral. With a Pop of...Neutral.

I can't do it. I can't make believe that I love lots of color all over the place. It's like we're right back to the red lipstick saga: I love it on other people, but I just can't pull it off! Do I design rooms with color? Of course. I love it (for other people). Do I add color to Stella's room? Yes, it's the only room with color.  Do I dress her in color? Yes. My room? Neutral. My closet? Ninety-five percent neutral--five percent is me going through phases of, "I should probably add some color to my wardrobe."  One thing I'm not neutral about: My love for neutral colors. And I don't feel one bit bad about it. 

image source unknown

image from Decor Pad

image from The Designer Pad

Some Advice...

This morning I ran all of my errands. I dropped off a package at the UPS Store; I returned a pair of shoes; I went to the dollar store; I went to Costco; I went to the grocery store; And THEN I noticed that my zipper was down. Awesome. Maybe I should just stay inside on Mondays. In a tub. With a beautiful chandelier. By the way, don't forget to enter my Cutting Edge Stencil Giveaway, and ALWAYS check your zipper.

image from White House Daylesford

image from Indulgy

image from House Beautiful

[kreyv of the day]

image from At Home

[so cheap, so easy]: UO Spectrum Pendant Light

How freaking amazing is this Urban Outfitters light? I came across this beaut on Pinterest, and it totally spoke to me. That's right, I hear voices--the voices of the interior design Gods. So, of course I said to my self, "Self, how hard could this be?" (Hear voices, talk to myself, I'm a whole crazy mess.)

image from Urban Outfitters

So, here's what I'm thinking: What if I painted stir sticks, and glued them to the perimeter of the ugly light in my dining room? It could work, maybe right? Hot glue is super easy to remove (as long as you don't care about your fingernails or having sensation in your fingers for a few days), and stir sticks are free. I really don't have a lot to lose--except for light. And that's exactly why I will not be discussing this project with the hubs. His practicality can be super lame sometimes. Wish me luck!

My Dining Room

[color kreyv]: Ombre

Oh my goodness. I have had so much fun the last two weeks, but I'll be honest,I am wiped. Out (yes, still). People, the days of staying up late (as in after 10:00pm) are oh-ver. I know. I'm crazy like that. But, let's talk about something almost as fun as sleep: ombre. Love it...especially in pinks and corals. I'm thinking of doing a big ombre statement piece in Stella's room, which is moving along pretty slowly, and by pretty slowly, I mean not so much at all. But, trust me, her room is super amazing in my brain. Give me a week or so to recover, and then I'm totally on it.

image source unknown

image from Livet Hemma

image from Martha Stewart

[so cheap, so easy]: Stir Stick Shade

Remember all those great diy lights I posted about on Monday? (Please say yes. Please say that of course you read my blog every day. First thing in the morning. Before you do anything else. Because in my mind, that's what you all do. Don't burst my bubble. Just play along. Thanks.) Anyway, check out this awesome shade made from stir sticks. The full tutorial AND the finished product can be found on Enjoying the Simple Things.  

image from Enjoying the Simple Things

How Hard Could it Be?

I like to say, "How hard could it be," because to naive, little me,a lot of things look like they would be easy to make. This is coming from someone who can't sew, can't use power tools, can't build things...you get the point. If not, here it is: sometimes I don't know what I'm talking about, and things are actually hard to make. But, I have to say, I really do think I'm right on this one. How hard could it be to make these lights? 

I would SO be all over this if I wasn't renting. I've changed out lights before while renting, but I don't have anywhere to store the massive glass lights in this place, so I'm asking for you to make the lights, and I can live vicariously through you. 

First up, is the Martha Stewart ombre light. SO gorg. Lampshade, light kit, and voile...oh and something to stick the voile on the lampshade with.  Here's the tutorial. I'm quite jealous that someone else gets to have this in her home. I love it.

image from Martha Stewart

I'm kind of doubting that this next one was a diy, but same idea: lampshade, light kit, glue some circle thingies...voila! It is kind of similar to what I did with Stella's lamp, but it's done with wood or vinyl or something stiffer than fabric. I'm sure they totally copy catted me, but made theirs even better. That's the worst kind of copy cat. Just sayin'.

image from Rees Roberts & Partners

Again, may or may not be a diy, but seriously friends, go get some tumble weeds out of your backyard, spray paint them, and you have designer lights. Uber cool. So, I've given you three options. Can't wait to hear how your projects went. Now, run along and go make some lights for me yourselves. 

image from House of Turquoise

[kreyv of the day]

image from Traditional Home

Manly Chandeliers

I long for the day when I can have chandeliers in my home. They are so major in setting the tone in a room, and poor me, I am without. You may think manly chandeliers is an oxymoron, but check these out. Ok, so the antler one is a no brainer, but the other two are definitely striking a good balance between masculine and feminine. 

On another note, I need to make fun of the hubs for a minute. He somehow hurt his neck by sleeping on it wrong. He can't move it, he can't really do anything without a spasm. He's in a lot of pain, and you're probably thinking, "Why is this funny?" It's really not. It's just that I kind of get the giggles when I see him traipsing around the house like he's 95 years old, and then I smell the Icy Hot, and I just can't contain myself. It's not like back in the day when he used to get hurt playing lacrosse. That's legit. It's that ever since he turned the ripe old age of 34, he's been hurting himself in the weirdest ways. First there was the picking up of the weight/back injury, then the neck. The worst part is what is he going to do tomorrow at work if a patient codes or something? Do you really want someone who can hardly move trying to save your life? I have a sick sense of humor, and I'm realizing that as I write this. In my defense, I have been taking good care of him, and I only laugh behind his back.

image from Material Girls

image from Restoration Hardware

image from Traditional Home

Where in the World?

I am loving all of the map decor I am seeing. You know, it really might do me some good to have some of this in my home. I shouldn't admit this, but I don't know where anything is anymore. It's like I had to take the "End of the World Test" (identifying every country in the world)at the end of freshman year, and then I never needed to know it again. Don't get me wrong, I usually know the continent the country is located in, but that's about it. Totally embarrassing. I blame it on my lack of traveling. Yes, that is why I am geographically challenged. I need to go on more vacations, and no, as exotic as it is, Salt Lake City, Utah does not count.

image from Country Living

image from New England Prepster

image from Ohdeedoh

image from Rosebud's Cottage via Pinterest

[kreyv of the day]

image from Sarah Richardson

[kreyv of the day]

image from Decor Pad