Brought to You by the Letter "N"

Mission accomplished. A while ago, I found this really fun letter artwork on one of the house blogs I haunt.

via Eighteen25

You know how close Hobby Lobby is, and with all of the frames I've got just laying around, this was the cheapest/easiest project imaginable. Mine (below) doesn't look as pretty as the vignette, but it still does the job. I'm still not sure where I'm going to put this or what I'll do with it... maybe gallery wall?

Ingredients:
1 - can of white spray paint
1 - box of wooden letters from Hobby Lobby
1 - picture frame
1 - bottle of acrylic paint, any color
1- piece of scrapbook paper, any color

Instructions:
Spray paint the letters (which takes a lot more paint than you'd expect...), then paint the heart. Let dry, arrange in the frame with scrapbook paper behind it. Voila!

Compared to the top photo, my frame looks a little empty. That's because it is -I didn't even notice until after everything was painted! Take a closer look, because this so-called full alphabet set includes ZERO letter "N"s. Huh? In doing a more thorough count, it turns out this 60-piece set is missing 4 letters in total. Product QC much? Inspector #31, you're fired! (Just kidding - there's clearly no inspection sticker on this!)

Ohio, the Heart of It All!

I have a new lust. State love art and prints. Artwork is such a personal decision, and I love that I can represent O-h-i-o, even here in Indiana--- without being tacky. These would be perfect for a gallery wall or picture ledge!

Here are some of my Etsy faves featuring state art (and other good stuff). They're super original and affordable... enjoy!

1. LilyGene. I love these prints. They're clean, fun and graphic, and come in all sorts of fun colors. Or, you can customize your own! Her shop features all sorts of playful graphic items, in addition to state prints. Look how awesome they look in a simple Ikea-style frame; it's so very West Elm.

by LilyGene

2. PoppyandPinecone. What a cool name! She is also a Hoosier....need I say more? Her watercolor state paintings are gorgeous. Amanda at A Humbled A{Bow}ed recent featured Elisabeth's artwork in a post about her new artwork for her master bedroom:

by PoppyandPinecone

3. Zavalick Designs. Cool and graphic - she also has tons of other creative prints, $14.50 for an 8"x10". Wow!

by Zavalick Designs

4. RootedInPaper. She creates all sorts of paper prints and products, like wedding invitations and art prints. She had me at chevron.

by RootedInPaper

Front Room Color Splash

Thanks to Pinterest, which I wrote about here, I've found some amazing inspiration rooms and colors. For the time being, we're stuck with the dark brown sofa we chose, but now there is hope!

Here are some of the inspiration rooms and color palettes I've pulled out of them - I think we can make this work!

Via Pinterest

via Pinterest

(above) I love the unexpected combination of colors in this room! The chevron artwork, display shelves, grey pillows... mmm!

via Design Seeds

 (Above) If you're interested in color, Design Seeds is another blog with some fun color palettes inspired by everyday objects, like this:

Mirror Fetish

Hello, my name is Steph and I have a mirror fixation. Some people love shoes, and others choose food. I love mirrors.

I almost did a happy dance in the aisle when I spotted this mirror at HomeGoods the other day:

(Sorry, it's still wrapped up - read on to find out why.)

For $99!!!! If you look closely you can see that it has beveled edges on each of the "rays" that stick out.

Maybe $99 seems like a lot for a mirror, but compare it to this nearly identical one that I've been lusting for from ZGallerie:

And by the way, the ZGallerie Devon mirror is $199 + $25 handling fee + shipping costs. You won't get that thing for less than $250.

But I can't keep it. You know how everything looks smaller in the store? At 35 inches across, it's just a little too big for any of our spaces, and boy did I try... So amazing, but so disappointing.

Here's the other mirror I found that I looooove. It felt so wrong paying only 40 bucks for it - but I'm not complaining!

Strangely, it's meant to hang portait-style, and there are no hooks to hang it landscape like I photographed it. That can be easily changed, and I'm thinking this guy's going over our bed!

What's your fixation?

Dear Pinterest

Dear Pinterest:

Give me my life back. Sure, I love to see pictures of great rooms and enjoy an endless supply of design inspiration, but you are way too addicting. Facebook has nothing on you.

The way you let me pin, like, follow, and comment on photos by my friends or even other strangers is too easy. Every time I stumble across an inspiration photo or am looking for ideas - organization, food, amazing DIY projects, you name it - it's so hard not to hit the "Pin" button on my browser and grab the photo to create an online scrapbook all in one place. I can't stand that I'm losing valuable productive time just wondering who's going to comment or pin something fun next (and checking it out when they do).

I mean, Jaz and I are figuring out her wedding details, and it's just too easy to spot things we want to do for her in October. Before you came along, our heads were spinning and we weren't sure where to start. Maybe we wanted it that way.

We could easily spend (or have spent) hours looking at other popular or recent photos that have been pinned by other users. Before you came along, I would find an inspiration photo, click "Save As," and store them on my computer hard drive... what if I wanted to use all that computer storage space?

Going onto Pinterest.com for the first time was like trying a gateway drug... one chair led to another and next thing I knew, I  hadcreated a "Cane Chair" board for all the interesting ideas I found for my own makeover.

And then, those photos led me to other design ideas For The House, and now I have so many other ideas flying through my head. Ones that I had never thought or seen before. It's a completely crazy and scary notion; I had no clue that these things were even out there:

So thanks a lot, Pinterest.
...you're not so bad after all.

Love,
Steph

The Experiment

It is done!

This pillow was an experiment in preparation for finishing my cane chairs... Design*Sponge has a GREAT tutorial and photos on how to make a pillow with piping. [Read: anybody can do it, including me!!] All you need is fabric you loooove, sewing machine, and the ability to measure fabric.

This fabric stops me in my tracks every time I walk by! I knew if I could get this experimental pillow done, there is a chance I can make the square chair cushions on my own, which are more like sofa cushions.

This pillow is a simple version of the cushions I'm about to make for the chairs with piping. The zipper I bought was a little too small, so I had to improvise and turn it into an envelope pillow. Don't underestimate measuring! I say this only from experience... I never listened when they said "measure twice, cut once" (or, "read the directions"). Anyway, I had to cut not twice, but four times.  Look closely above the envelope and at the bottom of the pillow and you'll see that I had to sew a few pieces of fabric together to make the back. Oops.

Close-up of the piping, which I'm extremely proud of:

 Mission accomplished! On to cushions!

New Bathroom!

Hallelujah! I've finally finished the FIRST room in the house! It is DONE!

Check out the upstairs bathroom before and afters.

BEFORE:
Beige walls, old Ikea shower curtain from college, not much else.

Here's another view:

I was obviously testing paint when I had the thought to take a before picture, so you're lucky!

I chose this color paint for the bathroom, a clean slate-blue-grey color... there's a lot more blue it in than this swatch lets on.

I couldn't decide if I wanted to keep it clean and "normal" looking, or add some fun color to it.
For Option A, "Normal," I would've chosen all white accessories, white flowers, white frames, white towels, etc.
For Option B - Fun, it was a tough choice between yellow and magenta/pink. From reading this earlier post, you obviously know that I am in love with yellows and greys together, but the magenta pop seemed like the natural thing to do.

But everybody appreciates a little personality, right?

Afters (sorry for the low light, there are no skylights or windows!):

Here's a close-up of the artwork, my favorite part. All it took was an image of a bird and branches, which I cut out on magenta cardstock. The grey zigzags were just created in Photoshop and printed out on white cardstock. I used one of my many many many brand spankin' new Ikea frames!

As a sidenote, I have an addiction that needs to be dealt with-- it's birds. I flippin' love birds. I can't help it.

Someday in the near future I'm going to become the bird lady, 'cause I've already started a collection. Don't believe me? This is only the beginning of a veeeery slippery slope:

It all began with this guy, a patio accessory from Lowe's a couple summers ago.

This chick's not alone, either. He has a red buddy named "Roundy."

...My two round birds were so silly, I even have a birdhouse mantle decoration to go with them. [cah-ray-zee!]

Then I graduated to the hard stuff, the glass bird paperweight from Pier 1. It was tempting not to buy the glass octopus they had too, but that would've just launched me into more seascape madness.

And obviously, the latest paper addition, bathroom birdies.

So those are my bird buddies. I'm expecting it'll only get worse from here - but admitting it is the first step to recovery...?!?!

ps- My friend Mandy just shared this website with me: www.putabirdonit.com. Put a bird on it, and call it art. Hilarious but true!

Psst --  3/5/2013 -- Bathroom update! If you liked the bird art, check out the latest bathroom artwork update. I shared it as a free printable!