I Had A Very Serious Talk With Myself Today

About spending. Then the doorbell rang…

I guess it’s lucky for my feet that I didn’t have that talk last week. 😉

Beautious

I think I have finally found the fabrics I have been hunting for. One of my guest rooms along with the living and dining rooms are in need of new window treatments. Yadda, yadda, yadda… Yes I know this fabric search has gone on for a ridiculous amount of time!

For nearly the entire time I have been searching, I was awaiting the release of Lauren’s fabric line over at Pure Style Home. And it turns out that my instincts were correct.

This for the living and dining rooms:

And this for the green guest room:

All of her fabrics are a beautiful 100% linen. Now I just have to find someone to make everything… If that takes another six months, maybe I’ll have window treatments by Christmas 2012. 😉

Both fabric photos taken from the Pure Style Home website.

Better But Not Quite There Yet

I (meaning we) got enough of the the new room loaded in for three of my nieces to sleep there over the Thanksgiving holiday. It’s not finished. It still needs lamps, a rug, shades for the windows, and possibly an armoire. I also plan on having a couple of throw pillows made for the bed and to recover an existing bench I own. The most annoying thing is that I have to have the curtains shortened! Ahhhh! I can’t figure out if I just ordered the wrong ones or if I forgot to account for the new crown molding when I measured. I’m very seriously annoyed with myself about that. Oh well, here’s a peak at it so far:

from the hallway

I love how the map turned out!

need artwork and lamps and more pillows. Always more pillows!

this wall will definitely change

So, that’s what I have so far. I hope it doesn’t take me too long to finish. I don’t want it to be added to my never ending list of projects that aren’t done.

Stick To Your Guns

The Room of No Purpose / The Land of Lost Clothes finally got painted yesterday. After much consternation and indecision on my part, and concern on the part of friends and loved ones – I did what I wanted. The walls are a very dark navy blue and the ceiling is a gray that reads as light blue. All the trim and new crown molding is white. I LOOOOOOOVE IT! I’m glad I went with my gut instinct, even though my gut has been wrong on paint color before. Hello! Remember the green bathroom catastrophe? So not good!

this room definitely needs a new name 🙂

Hopefully, I will have some better pictures later this week. I don’t have everything that I put on my Polyvore board purchased yet, but I do have some of it. Even the Wisteria chest that I thought was going t o be too expensive. I have the best luck in the scratch and dent section at Wisteria Outlet! Gotta go! People coming tomorrow and the house is still messy, of course. 😉

****Paint Colors****
Walls – Benjamin Moore Van Deusen Blue
Ceiling – Benjamin Moore Mt. Ranier Gray
Trim – custom matched at Ace Hardware

A Little Early Holiday Decor

I got some Christmas pillows yesterday from a local shop. I was really excited to order them because my entryway can’t handle too much red, due to all the blue and green in the painting.

the usual look

Christmas look

I really like them. The husband was not so impressed. But I have explained before that it’s difficult to take his opinions to heart, since they are always tempered with his cheapness. 😉 Check out ShopTen 25 for more great accessories.

Be Not Afraid

It may seem to you, after you see the upcoming picture, that I have wholeheartedly jumped on the short curtains bandwagon. I have not. I don’t care how many movies I see them in. How many magazine spreads. I will not.

This is not what it looks like. I promise!

The thing is, we’re having a full house for Thanksgiving. So bare windows in one of the guest rooms just isn’t going to cut it right now. I haven’t found the “perfect” fabric for the windows in the green guest room. So, Target to the rescue. I bought three tension rods and four 84″ curtain panels for just over $50.00. Not bad for a temporary solution right? Of course, the husband thinks this temporary solution should be good for the next two to three years. I guess we’re lucky that after 15 years of marriage, I still find his delusions to be entertaining. 😉

The Room Of No Purpose

There is a room in my house that was known for many years as The Room Of No Purpose. I blogged about it for the first time here. It has gone through a couple of big cleanups since then. But in the last couple of months, my ability to stash has ramped up to epic levels. The room has now been renamed The Land of Lost Clothes. I’ve even theorized that when the door is closed, they complain to each other about their ill treatment and banishment. Sort of like the old, forgotten toys in Toy Story. 🙂

One thing that I have noticed about myself, is that if a room is furnished and decorated, it stays clean the vast majority of the time. To that end, I have decided to decorate and furnish The Land of Lost Clothes. Here is my plan:

new design for The Land of Lost Clothes 😉 by nichtuck on polyvore.com

Vernal Cusp Curtain, $120
Ikea Aspelund, $199
Camden Stripe Handwoven Rug | west elm, 67 SGD
Dual Drawer Dresser | Chests | Wisteria, $1,399
Possini Euro Pod 30″ Wide Ceiling Light Fixture | LampsPlus.com, $300
Sussex Rose Knob, $2.95
Skyline Furniture Arc Slipcover Headboard in Twill White | Wayfair, $236
Robert Abbey Natural Brass Pharmacy Desk Lamp | LampsPlus.com, $175

Confessions Of A Bad Blogger

I’ve had a lot going on lately. But I haven’t been blogging. I find this to be very odd, since I get annoyed when the blogs I read don’t have a new post nearly every day. Don’t you just love a double standard?!

Here’s what I’ve been up to in the last couple of days:
1. I’m considering this Dwell Studio fabric for curtains in the dining room:

2. I picked up this shelving unit at a consignment store last week. It won’t be staying in the dining room. I have some ideas for where to put it upstairs.

3. Mr. Bingley decided that today was the day to christen the living room. He threw up in two spots! At least it wasn’t on the area rug. 🙂

4. I finally styled the built in cabinets in the living room. I actually did it over a month ago, but since I’m a bad blogger…

5. I spent some time and money today making all the under sink cabinets in my full bathrooms look like this:

So that’s a little slice of what’s going on here. What’s going on with you?

PS I have absolutely no Halloween decorations up, or even fall stuff. I’m kind of a loser on that score. On the other hand, less crap to store the rest of the year.

Evil Genius

I’ve been running into quite a few things lately that strike me as genius, but with an evil twist. It seems to be a phrase that has entered my vocabulary and isn’t leaving any time soon. This could be to the annoyance of my friends and family. 🙂

1. The tollway below 635. One of the busiest roads in Dallas and surrounding burbs is 635. The NTTA has embarked upon an ambitious plan to dig below the road and create a toll road. Here comes the evil part: the cost to drive on this road will be ever changing, and will be directly linked to how busy the free road up above is. So the busier the free road, the more expensive the toll road. I told you – evil genius! There is also the slight risk that this could turn into Dallas’ own version of The Big Dig. Which would be a total nightmare and I probably shouldn’t have even mentioned it.

2. The Shelter Pet Project commercials. Have you seen these? They are killing me! Any commercial that could make a committed dog person like me want a cat, is most definitely evil genius. Well done Jennifer Tilly, well done!

3. All of those subscription sale sites. One Kings Lane, Joss & Main, My Habit. They send an email to your inbox full of pretty things every day. But there’s only so many and the sale is only for a limited time. Hurry, hurry, hurry! I must buy it before someone else gets it! It’s mine, all mine! Pure evil genius of marketing.

Am I the only one who sees evil genius in these things? Do you see it too? Evil geniuses are everywhere! Maybe I’m just jealous…

Fireplace Tuesday

So I decided to ditch Fat Tuesday this week, because my new fireplace screen came yesterday. I love it. I do wish that the granite tile on the fireplace had a lot less movement in it. And I also wish the grout was black instead of white. I actually didn’t realize how much it bugged me until I got the screen. At least the grout is easier to change than the tile. So that may go on my project list. Don’t tell the husband!

Fireplace before

I got the screen from Grandin Road. You can find it here. I’ve been looking for a screen for almost two years. I’m pretty happy with the price. It’s solid and heavy, not cheapy steel tubing. By the way, see that tall white vase on the mantle? That’s by Polly George. If anyone knows where I can buy her china in the U.S., please share! I’m a big fan and would like a couple more pieces.

Happy Tuesday, everyone! And may the ragweed not be as plentiful where you are, as it is here.