Carla's Campaign

Carla, one of my readers, recently emailed me these pictures. She said in the email she found this campaign style desk on Craigslist and decided to follow my instructions to paint it. I love the color she chose.. check out the before and after:

before:


after:


She painted the hardware oil rubbed bronze. I've never seen this before; I like the graphic touch it adds with the contrast.



I thought it'd be fun to post readers pics more often, so if you have any cool before and after's you'd like to share shoot me an email!

bryn alexandra interiors: Little Girls Room

I'm getting my website and portfolio ready and thought it'd be fun to show you the little girl's room I did. I just adore this little girl and miss her lots (she's back in California). She was my little partner in crime while I would be busy decorating. And she was Charlotte's favorite babysitter!



I painted the dresser pink and the chair to match. The dresser was a $30 find on Craigslist and the chair was on clearance at Home Goods.




The detailing on the dresser was perfect. Believe it or not, but the top was bubbly, peeling laminate. I just sanded that sucker down until it was smooth.




One of my favorite finds. A girl scout manual from the 60's found at Salvation Army. My client's daughter got such a kick out of owning something that was older than her mom.


I love doing kid's rooms! I wish I got more of them, they are just so fun. :)

Back, but busy.

First, a big THANK YOU for all of your great feedback on my house hunting post below! I took every bit of it to heart.

Second, sorry I left you hanging at the end of last week. I went to Atlanta for a wedding but I am back in full force.

It's a rainy Monday here in Charlotte, but I don't mind at all. I like the rain. We're seeing more houses tonight. I'm very busy. But as always, I'll leave you with pretty pictures and random thoughts :)


I love this fridge, but it's like $4,000.


I'm starting to think about guest bedrooms.. maybe one will have two twin beds? Husband and I both have two brothers.


Love this room. Just bought a somewhat similar pillow from Target, will show you later.


I've shared this pic before, it's Windsor Smith's kitchen. I'm holding it near and dear to my heart because if we go with a smaller home, then the dining room will become my "office" and the dining room table will be in the kitchen. I'd actually prefer this, since we are not formal entertaining type people. It's not a faux pas.. I think it's genius and gorgeous.

Speaking of offices, I love this:



console behind settee.. smart.


I'd love to have one really long desk. One end I can have my computer, the other end I can use for crafting, and just wheel my chair back and forth... :)


Charlotte had a wild weekend at the pet hotel and this is how I found her. No staging was involved.

Tales from House Hunting

You may have seen on my Twitter husband and I have been house hunting. We always planned on waiting until the fall, but the 8k tax credit is very enticing, so we started a bit early.

Truthfully, I've been "house hunting" for years now. One of my favorite past times during a slow day at work would be looking at all the houses I would buy on Realtor websites. So naturally I thought the real thing would be thrilling. Sooo wrong.

It's exhausting and discouraging. This week we went out to see 7 homes and they all were eye-opening disappointments. I learned I never have lived in an older home so looking at older homes was very weird and unnatural. We also learned as much as I say I want a fixer-upper, we just cannot afford that. Maybe our second house?

I think round two will be much better. We're traveling to a different part of town that is a bit newer and probably more realistic for us. I do still want something I can "fix up" even if that just means new paint, granite, tile and floors. I just don't want to pay for someone else's taste in "upgrades". (Spoken like a true decorator). Oh and I also want a bit of charm, even if it's a little bit. My husband is ready to strangle me. I also have learned during this process that you can't have it all in your first home. I'm okay with that.

Are you still with me?

There are a couple contenders right now that we have yet to see in person but love online. But my husband and I have differing opinions on size. I'd like an 1800 sq footer, where he advocates for above 2000. Obv the bigger we go, the more expensive and more work we'd need to do.

Do you have an opinion on this issue? I'd love to hear.

Wow, I usually don't like my posts this wordy but as you all know, this is a very big decision. Truth is, if we don't love anything we'll forgo the tax credit and wait till the fall.

To make this post a bit more fun, I'll share with you some pictures from my "future home ideas" inspiration folder..

I loove these floors; the color, the grain:





I would love to paint my cabinets dual toned, like Anne Turner Carroll:


And like I posted earlier, definitely some black windows:



Simple (and cheap) white subway tile for kitchen backsplash with gray grout, like this:



If we are lucky enough to get a sunroom, some bright floors are definitely in order:



And definitely wallpaper somewhere...





Okay now that I think about it, maybe bigger and lots of upgrades needed would be way more fun. ;)

Flea Market Finds & More Black Bedroom

When I went to the Raleigh flea market with Jamie and Nick, I picked up some small little things.

Those things included a small pen drawing of Mozart or Bach's silouhette (can't tell which), two little copper buffaloes* and a small stone votive holder. Oh, and a Pokemon Charizard card (for free).. it makes me smile because we sometimes call Charlotte Charizard (and Sharpie). I have a feeling our future kids are going to have silly nicknames, too.

Anyway, yesterday I added my little buffalo and stone votive holder to a chair I have in our master bedroom and snapped some pictures.






This is the extent of decorating in our master bedroom to those of you asking for more.

* I love buffaloes. I was born in Boulder, CO home of the CU Buffaloes. My parents had this CU padded stool in our home growing up with a buffalo on it and I loved it. My grandfather also did his undergrad at CU (the cool desk one). So anyway, that's why I love buffalo.

Covert Operation : Mission Accomplished!

It was a little risky doing this during the day, but mission was accomplished and Char and I had a great nature walk. I loove them. :)











What kind of tree are these branches from?

Side note: When I originally asked about the Docksta table, many of you mentioned it's very wobbly. I learned if you screw in every single bolt and screw with an electric drill, it will not wobble. I also sprayed the bottom with a protective clear spray paint so it won't get dirty.

Covert Operation

I have three bottles ready to be filled.

During one of Charlotte's walks, we are casually going to stroll down to the front of our apartment complex and snip three huge branches off the gorgeous pink blooming trees.

Mission may or may not be accomplished. I'll keep you updated.


ps- I love my new Docksta table. Will feature later.
pps- I swear I do work during the day. In fact, I'm very blessed to be quite busy with new Charlotte clients.

Genetics

Sometimes family can be surprising.

My grandpa is a full blown, genius-if-I-do-say-so-myself scientist, but recently posted this on Facebook with the title: "top this for a desk photo".



I even spot some Lucite. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

In response, I sent him a current picture of my desk:


I think he wins.

The Settee Poll

As I wrote earlier, I have a settee ready to be upholstered. Although I have a thousand ideas in my head of what to do, I'm curious to see what you guys out there would like to see. I created a little poll!

Here is the settee:

Raleigh

I had such a great time in Raleigh this weekend. Jamie and Nick are both hilarious and insanely talented. It's ironic that while I was there to help teach the class, I, too, learned so much this past weekend from those two.

Some fun pictures...

Furbish is AMAZING. It is worth the drive, if you live within driving distance. Amazing. One of a kind.





I want...





We also got to sneak away to a flea market, which was so fun!





I also had a great time with Maria Fe and chevron-painting hubby Brad. The blog world is awesome.

Thanks again, Jamie and Nick and everyone who came to the class!

Fashion Friday

Today's fashion Friday is coming to you live from the train! I'm on my way to Raleigh for the Furbish class. My first time on a train.. It's fun!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Passion

Obviously you guys know I have a passion for interior design and decorating. But related to that, I have a passion of "upcycling".

Take this Salvation Army chair for instance:

before


after


And this desk:

before


after



I have many more pieces that I've redone but I need to scrounge up the before's!

Anyway, I've decided now that I work from home I have time to start doing more of these projects. Yesterday I picked up this amazing settee:



It is in perfect shape, amazingly comfortable and the perfect size for a round dining room table or an entryway.

I really don't know what I'm going to do with it just yet (obviously reupholster and paint), but once I'm finished with it, it will be for sale! I'm excited to flex my creative muscles in this new way.

If you might be interested, feel free to email me. Especially now that I haven't done anything with it... we could work together to make something fit for your home.

I love.. black painted windows

Black painted windows with white walls are something I have saved away in my "future home" folder. I love this look!









It wouldn't be a hard change - just a Saturday and Sunday with a can of glossy black paint and some Frog's tape.

If this look is a bit intimidating for you, adding black shutters or blinds is another option to create a similar look: