From Inspiration to Reality!

My actual inspiration page, from which I then actually purchased my wants and wishes!

When I first began considering how I wanted my main living area to look, I started by collecting pictures of things that I was drawn to stylistically. As I collected, I came across a rug from IKEA that became the anchor for my design inspiration.

Alvine Ruta rug, measures 5'7" by 7'10"  

Based on this decision, I was then able to focus my planning and inspiration board to fit around my anchor piece. For me, I selected paint colors next because I feel as though that is the actual first step in designing a room, getting color on the walls. The colors I was left with originally were cream, dried blood red, and a pretty but not coordinating aqua.

Living room - Before

Dining room - Before

I selected a yellow that was not the same shade as the mustard in the rug, but instead a light buttery color. And I paired it with a navy in the dining room, which I pulled from the edge of the rug. My personal paint preference is Pratt & Lambert interior latex in an eggshell. I used Eggnog (10-30) and Captivating (24-14) as my wall colors to replace the mismatched combos above...

Pardon the blue tape everywhere, that doesn't exist anymore! 

I then collected the items from my inspiration page, and other items that matched the board. The pillows from the inspiration page were purchased at Target, and the chair was picked up at IKEA.

And in searching for the link for this post, I just discovered that they make the chair in YELLOW now!!! Oh man! I have the urge to own a contrasting set... Good thing the chair doesn't fit in my little Honda, or I'd be on my way to IKEA right now! 

My favorite pillow of delightful feathers was also from Target. 

The couch was custom made by the Best Slipcover Company. Their products can be ordered through Vintage Hardware! I selected a classic shape from the Cindy line and then selected the fabric that I wanted to pull out the gray border on the IKEA rug. The couch was definitely my investment piece, being constructed from solid wood and the cushions are down stuffed. It is made in the U.S.A and can either be slip covered or fully upholstered. I opted for the slip cover so that I can easily wash it if necessary and can potentially change up the cover down the road if I feel like it without having to buy an entirely new couch. Talk with Becky at Vintage Hardware to check out all of the couch, love-seat, chair, and other furniture options.

The yellow throw pillows are inexpensive options from Target's Room Essentials line. And the navy chevron pillows (one not pictured) are Target purchases as well! And so is that snazzy lamp! The lamp was purchased about 3 years prior to ever looking for a house to buy and was meant to be! Although Target sells this base as a set now, they also have a more budget friendly, different lovely yellow lamp. 

The remaining large furniture items including an upright piano, large bookshelf, coffee table, side table, and other miscellaneous things were acquired in my favorite way. From garage sales, inherited, or purchased from local salvage businesses. My style is definitely vintage inspired, with rough edges, but balanced with warm, cheery tones and a variety of textures. 

I've owned this map since high school and finally put it to perfect use! It's a great pop of fun colors!

The concept of creating an inspiration board can seem like a waste of time or overwhelming, but I think it helped keep me organized. Plus, it was definitely not as overwhelming as I think creating a room would be if there was no direction or guide. Obviously everyone tackles projects differently, but I'd recommend creating an inspiration board based on an anchor item. And don't think that anchors have to actually be large items. It could be a pillow, artwork, a rug, a piece of furniture, or even something small like a special memento item. Decide what is important and work from there, selecting coordinating colors, and a variety of textures. My BFF Ali told me during this process that a good room should have at least six different textures, and I am confident that I have well over that number! And I've received Ali's approval on my house so it must be properly textured... :) Love you Ali! I used fabrics, wood, metal, and ceramic to create a large variety of texture. Some are soft, some are hard, some are smooth, some are rough, but all create a cohesive space. And feel free to mix patterns! I used chevrons, stripes, geometric prints, and solids. Oh, and one feather embroidered pillow! 

Mostly, I think the most valuable advice I can give in regards to creating a living space that you love, it means you have to select things you love to be in that space. If you don't LOVE LOVE LOVE it, don't bother. Mediocre is only going to bother you in the end which means spending more time and money to get something you actually want. And if you really LOVE LOVE LOVE it, then sometimes that means you spend some decent money. Shopping at Target and IKEA helped save some money, as did garage sales or fleas, but sometimes perfection is ponying up the cash for a long-lasting, quality piece that you will love for years to come. Prioritize what items you plan on investing in. For me it was the couch. And if you could sit on or nap on my couch, you'd understand why I went big on it. Seriously, it's that awesomely comfortable. If you have to live someplace, then you should love everything you can about it. Especially if it is someplace that you've committed 30 years to!

Cheers! And happy decorating!

Thanks Giving!

Well it's that time of year again! Time to be especially thankful. Not that it should be just one day! One should be thankful for many things every day! 

This year I am specifically thankful for my family, including my extended family members, and especially my grandma who we are celebrating this year at Thanksgiving!

My grandma's 75th birthday is today, one day before Thanksgiving, and so we are having a two in one party this year. This means that we have tables and chairs for 31 people in place at our house! Uff da! I'm so excited to have our extended family gathered together for two wonderful celebrations, but it's been a busy week here as we prepare! This blog is a compilation of the festive decorations that are ready for our fun!

My first decoration location was the giant upright piano in the dining room, the perfect place for a fall vignette. It is full of fall patterns and colors, as well as some fun decorating pieces. Check out the pictures below, captions give quick explanations of each piece.

Pulled a group of vintages books from my parent's and my own collection. They coordinate with the colors that are in my fall inspiration fabrics. The yellow and gray book is especially neat because it's the book my grandpa used to study Brazilian Portuguese when he became a missionary to Brazil. :)

The vintage green vase was left in my parent's house by the previous owners. The matching colored basket is from one of my favorite stores, my friends at Vintage Hardware! Ooh and so is the little berry basket! The eucalyptus is from JoAnn Fabrics.  The pumpkins come from The Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island! 

Snagged these adorable over sized tiles from the harvest bazaar that is held at my school. Thanks to the wonderful Andrea Weaver for making these! They are the perfect message for Thanksgiving!

I'm totally in LOVE with my red canister! (It has a matching short and wide canister, 2 in 1!) This was a find a couple weeks ago from Ikea! My aunt gave me the three tiered baskets as a hand-me-down that she got from a friend. The chocolatey-charcoal color worked perfectly with my color scheme and held all my fall goodies (pumpkins, Indian corn, and pine cones) so snugly.

Not sure where this lovely little gem is from, it's just been in our house for as long as I can remember. :) But it works perfectly with my red canister and fall funk theme.

Final product at the piano! 

My fall fabrics that I have used all over the house! The chocolate fabric is on top of the piano. It is also featured as table runners and one table cloth. The orange check is also a table runner and cloth. And of course... burlap! It's my favorite.

My Aunt Kathy made these ADORABLE place cards for everyone! She used vintage print music, card stock tags, and stamps. The fabric ties are extra scrap from the fall fabric. Told you the fabric is everywhere! The tags turned out so amazingly! Thanks Aunt Kathy for your creativity and time!

Aunt Kathy was tasked with the job of making tags that will fit into pine cones as tag holders.  Now the house smells like eucalyptus and cinnamon pine cones. Oops!

Almost finalized look for the tables! Just need to put the flowers in the jar in the morning.  Centerpieces are simple, leaves that I pressed, and Ball jars with chocolate covered raffia. 

Picked up these beautiful flowers from Costco! They will end up in the Ball jars Thanksgiving morning! 

Now let's hope that our birthday/thanksgiving celebration goes smoothly tomorrow! 

Wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving! Full of blessings, joy, and love! No matter where you are or what you have or have not, take a moment and find one positive for which you are thankful! 

PS: I'm thankful for all my blog readers! Thanks for making this a wonderful year! Stay tuned as the Christmas season approaches! I have decorating, gift making, and present wrapping in store for you!  

Packwood Flea Market ADVENTURES!

OH MY GOODNESS!  Aunt Kathy and I went on a super treasure hunt on Labor Day weekend at the Packwood Flea Market in Packwood, Washington! Talk about some serious shopping and fantastic finds!

We scooted out of Astoria early in the morning and made great time to Packwood.  Upon getting to town, we were greeted by tents as far as your eye could see, and parking options left and right trying to get customers with the best pricing.  We drove through all of the tents and parking to the other end of town, turning left just after the Shell Gas Station. Although we paid $5 to park, which was the highest price on parking, I think the price and the location was well worth it! The guy running the lot was very friendly and was able to answer our questions and give us suggestions since we were new to Packwood! Plus since we were at the end of town, we avoided as much traffic as possible, and it made it easy to walk up one side of the highway and back down the other on our way back to the car.

There were booths selling EVERYTHING under the sun, literally..., and more. Kathy and I are both into vintage items, country chic styling, and good deals! So some of the booths did not apply to us.  But if you're searching for sunglasses and purses that aren't in a car trunk (at least not this weekend), enough Crocs to outfit a football team, or recycled cell phones... Packwood is still for you!

On this adventure, I told Kathy that I was hoping to find an old mailbox for outside my classroom door. You know the thin kind that hang on the wall and have the flip top? So we were eyes peeled!

We found endless amounts of Pyrex, Corning, Blue Willow, and other glassware. Below are a few fun photos that I snapped while exploring! I am a fan of the bright Pyrex colors and the pig tumblers! 

There were also gobs of vintage books, both hardback and paper! I found a couple neat ones at the local thrift store that are 1960's math textbooks for the 4th and 5th grade. Maybe I should supplement this year??

 There were all sorts of odds and ends! I was so excited to snag the Pepsi Cola crate, but was so torn between it and the bright red Coke box! My allegiance to Pepsi won out, but Aunt Kathy decided to the give the Coke box a new home too!

I just loved all the details spotted around the flea. Boxes of padlocks, crocks with quality stamps, pinwheels for the 4th of July, some summer time lawn games, and a secret fave... Edgar. He is just too cool!

 Not only did we shop the vendors and the thrift store, but we also had to check out this cute looking store! I just loved their signage and cheery colors.  The inside could use a bit of this punchy color and fun though!

Outside of the antique store Kathy found an old phone booth. She tried to call for help because we were lost in a world of treasures and weren't sure if we'd make it back to the car. Too bad it didn't have a phone!

Stopped in a booth that was full of many car related finds! Vintage road maps, oil signs, tools, and whatnot. I have to say, although I'm not a collector of these items, there were some very cool things like the RAILROAD two piece sign below! Bonus, the booth was arranged/displayed so well! I appreciated the owners use of burlap and wooden boxes! 

After searching for almost 5 hours for one little mailbox, coming up empty in that department, but striking it rich elsewhere, we came upon a big booth space full of vintage charm! We asked the owners if they happened to have a mailbox and... THEY DID! Kathy and I both celebrated and took pictures of the exciting find, and I was over the moon and giddy about the whole thing! The vendors were the nicest folks and said that I was the most enthusiastic customers they'd seen and were happy they could help! I told them that they made my day! They told us to come back anytime to just say hi because they liked our attitude! Haha! Or they wanted to see if I'd go off the deep end again and hug an old treasure in triumph! 

While at that booth I also found a couple great sets of vintage ornaments! I picked up the brown box below, with the "Made in occupied Japan" label and some fun striped finds! And if you want to get a small glimpse at my mailbox frenzied excitement, just peek below too!

Oh my! I am so excited for my purchases! Not pictured is an awesome old metal bed that I snagged for a low price! It's in need of a little TLC to bring it to real glory, but it's nothing a wire brush and spray paint can't fix! You'll have to stay tuned for that blog in the future! You know I can't let a good project go! Oh and  I hope to get up a picture of my mailbox in place! It may or may not be black in the end, I'm still deciding! 

The Packwood Flea Market takes place twice a year, Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. Check out their site for more information!

Packwood is not for the wimpy shopper who poops out after one garage sale, shoppers come ready! Bring a cart or wagon, pack a bottle of water, dive in and get hunting!

Decorating Ideas from My Space

Here are a few photos of some of the decorating that I use in my bedroom, many items coming from antique shops here in town. Check out Vintage Harware for fantastic pieces of all sizes and purposes. Unfortunately, my favorite store, Farmhouse Funk II, is no longer in operation, but I can still visit Peggy and Kathy at VH!

See and steal policy! See it, steal the idea for yourself!

Bought this awesome file drawer at Vintage and it is now home to CDs! So much better than a regular CD rack, it hides the cases in a clever and unique manner.

These former kitchen cabinet doors are nailed directly into the wall (benefit of having solid wood walls!) I picked these up at the former FF2, washed them off and hung them in a row.  Notice they still have their original handles, I had to remove the latching mechanism in order for them to fit flush on the wall.  The three doors fill the walls nicely, and make for great frames for art work, photos, or other wall art! The center door, shown, have tin wall vases with green leaves that match the wall color. 

Reassigned the job of this old plant stand, and turned it into a bedside photo table. Picked up this treasure for $9 at the original Farmhouse Funk at Miles Crossing, now located on 10th by the river in town.

With a large, white bookshelf, I contrasted the brightness with a collection of black frames.  The frames are from various stores, or people, of all different shapes and sizes.  The only common thread is the color, which makes for an organized and focused array of photos.