Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!

As a kid I loooooooooved Halloween and mostly because I loved dressing up! But isn't Halloween pretty uneventful from the time after you graduate college but before you have kids? I'm excited to someday have kids to do Halloween with.

So since I was hosting book club this week, I decided to do a little Halloween "theme". It was just a fun excuse to use a bunch of ideas on Pinterest.

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The glitter skull was from the $2.50 bin at Target. The pumpkin cooler was really easy!! Just like carving a pumpkin. I used the mixer from my Kitchenaide for the bucket inside, it fit perfectly :)

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Those are pumpkin beers in the pumpkin bucket! (And they are delicious.)

And for dinner we had a mummy calzone. I owe this all to my husband.. he made it for us. Have I mentioned I have the best husband ever!!



Almost too cute to eat! But we did.. and it was delicious! We served it with some tomato sauce on the side to spoon on.

Okay, so I tried to make the vampire cupcakes and it was pretty much a disaster. And unfortunately they didn't quite taste that great either... the bottoms were a little burned

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"A" for effort??

Happy Halloween everyone!!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Christmas in October

This past weekend Matt and I snuggled up to the fire and had a little Christmas in October!


No, we aren't crazy.. we were doing a photoshoot for a Holiday project. I am so excited and honored to be a part of Home Depot's Blogger Style Challenge: Holiday Edition. 

Home Depot Style Challenge

You can check out all the bloggers who are participating here.

I can't wait to share my Holiday mantel with you! I'll let you know when it goes live.

But before then.. I'm switching back to the Halloween mode today. I'm hosting book club tonight and I'm trying out some little projects I found on Pinterest:

Vampire Cupcakes


Pumpkin Ice Bucket


Mummy Calzone
I'll take pictures of my results!

Friday, October 26, 2012

Friday Find

Here is a great little gold and white side table. You know the drill.. it looks much more expensive than it really is :)


Thursday, October 25, 2012

Tripod Lamps

This morning I'm looking for tripod floor lamps and though I would share some of my favorites.

When I told my client "tripod floor lamp", this is what she thought I meant:


I personally do not like this tripod lamp look. Maybe it could be cool in the right setting.. but it's way too literal for me:

Instead, here are some tripod lamps I like:

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And the best of all....

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

My Life in iPhone Pictures

HI! Sorry about my little blogging hiatus.. I've had early morning meetings this week and that usually means I have to skip blogging time. On a side note - I'm not one of those bloggers who can write a bunch of posts all together and then set them to go live in the future. I wish I could but I end up just sitting there not knowing what to say.

Anyway, today is a random pictures-from-my-iPhone type of post.

[ I honestly cannot remember if I shared this with you or not.. so forgive me if it's old news ] A couple weeks ago my husband had a guys night and I stayed home and hung our gallery wall frames! (Lame??)

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I'm going to do a post all about how I hang IKEA frames and fun stuff like that once I get all the artwork in.

I've been loving Instagram lately (my name is brynalexandra on there) and have been doing the One Kings Lane photo challenge. It's fun :)

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Here is my "coffee table" shot:

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"Black and White" (I'm sticking with this LR layout!)

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And "pattern" shot (compliments of Isabella):

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And in work news.. a den was painted dark blue/black:


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And I found these AWESOME gold wings (for the same room) at Slate:

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I am training some drapes this week:

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And I'm starting to brainstorm for a new family room project:

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That's it for now, I'm off to another early meeting!

Friday, October 19, 2012

Marble Remnants

Yesterday I went to a local stone showroom to go through their marble remnants.

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Marble and granite remnants are perfect for coffee table and side table tops! This is a "designer trick" used by many, but before yesterday I've never done this. It was really fun and I was wondering why I haven't done it sooner :)

Here is the piece I found in the pile:


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It's Carrara marble and only $288 for a 26" x 50" piece.. the perfect coffee table size. This is especially great if you already have a base you can use. This piece may become a coffee table for the navy room I shared recently.

I also found this beautiful piece:

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This piece was really long and skinny (about 18" deep). I love the raw edge, too.. This piece would be great cut down for two small side tables. It would also be sooo cool in a kitchen used as a small counter on a long wall with some stools underneath!

I'll definitely be doing this more often, it's really fun "discovering" discarded pieces and imagining how you could use them.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Two Blue Walls

I keep coming back to these two images lately:

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You know what I really like about these two spaces? They both feature a vivid blue wall color that, in a different scenario, could feel juvenile. But the furnishings really make it feel sophisticated.


This delicate balance between "fun" and "sophisticated" is a skill I try to hone in on.. it's my ultimate style goal.

And while writing this post, I discovered both rooms are designed by Antony Todd. I'm officially his newest fan!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Market Finds

Yesterday we banged out a quick and successful market day. We found some great options for clients and some fun things, too!

Here are some of my favorite finds:

I'm a big fan of seating company Sam Moore. They are both budget friendly AND really comfortable! I loved this new chaise lounge:

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And this little chair. It really love the shape!
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These are from NOIR.. this console is sooo cool, I really want to use it for someone :)
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A cool little chest from NOIR:
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I'm looking at this petrified wood side table for a client...
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And this coffee table may work in the room I posted yesterday!
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Some great, affordable art:

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And I loove this really cool lamp - it's so unique looking!
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Monday, October 15, 2012

An Almost Finished Living Room

Last week I had an install and thought I would share some pictures. We're not 100% completely finished, but I don't think you guys will mind!

Here are the before pictures:



And here are the afters:



As you can see, we still need the coffee table. We really want this one from Crate & Barrel . It's so beautiful (especially in person!) but unfortunately it's a bit out of our budget. We're still looking into some other options.


We also need two more pillows for the sofa!

One of my favorite parts of this project are these gorgeous navy blue velvet Lee Industries chairs. They were backordered forever, but the wait was worth it!! The navy velvet is so gorgeous.


 Another favorite part of mine is the breakfast nook. I designed a custom banquette for the nook, and it turned out beautifully! We used indoor/outdoor fabric for easy clean up.


And I also used one of my favorite fabrics, Tulah by Lulu DK (it's in my header) for a cornice and valance in the kitchen. 
 


I haven't yet mentioned it on my blog, but I have a new part time assistant and intern that have been helping me. They are AWESOME and have been such a help! The three of us are off to High Point this morning.. a budget friendly coffee table for this project is on my list of things to look for! 
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