My favorite things about spending the winter at home! Winter bouquets from Trader Joe's, firewood, a faux fur throw, pinecones, last year's Christmas decor and all the other little things that make spending the holidays at home so great!
Posts filed under Design + DIY
It's Fall (Y'all?)
Even if it is a toasty 84°F (29°C) outside!
Yet, despite this warm weather and my general lack of love for seasonal decor, I thought these beauties were hard to resist! Trader Joe's has stocked a lovely collection of fall bouquets right now for a fairly reasonable price. Yet, one bouquet usually runs a good $9.99 with hardly enough flowers to make one vase look full.
So, I have learned a trick - don't go for the pre-assembled bouquets but rather, go for the "filler" flowers and make your own bouquet. Today, I got a bunch of Cattail, Safari Sunset, and Mums for the total price of $12.99 and got myself three vases instead of one! And now, my living room has officially caught up to the proper season! Happy Sunday!
So I Got this Idea...
Have you struggled with wanting a few necklaces (especially with the current layering trend) but having to go broke to afford it? A typical "dainty" necklace would run a good $24.99 or more and if you want to layer 3? Well, you have yourself a price tag of $75.00 or more and you are stuck with having three necklaces that are just that - three necklaces. So I thought - there has to be a more versatile way of enjoying different designs made of pieces you can mix and match to go with whatever outfit you need for the day.
And here is the little magnet system I came up with that will give us all a way of customizing our jewelry on a daily basis...
Introducing: the Lodestone Jewelry System
The magnets are exceptionally strong and you can see them in action below:
Why I love the Lodestone Jewelry System:
- I can interchange the middle piece with all kinds of designs
- I can double or triple the length of any necklace by combining two or more chains
- I can easily switch from necklace to bracelet and vice versa
- I have an unlimited amount of design options I can add on for a fraction of the price of a new necklace
Do you like this idea?
I will be publishing my first collection of the Lodestone Jewelry System in the next two weeks on Etsy and sharing with you. From there? Who knows. Either way, I know I am already a fan!
Design on a Budget | DIY Magazine Ladder
I had been wanting to create something to hold the tons of magazines I have accumulated over the years that I would like to keep (one of the VERY few things I tend to hoard). Read on to find out what I made and instructions on hwo to make it yourself!
Design on a Budget | Living Room Reinvention
Since I was a Little Girl...
I used to rearrange my room very often (my parents may argue too often mostly because of the obscene amount of holes in the wall from rearranging of the artwork). With time, I seem to have upgraded to rearranging my house instead (the bigger the playground, the better!). And recently, I had another one of those moments with my living room. I had been struggling with not feeling cozy at home since my last rearrangement exercise. Here is a shot of the before:
Even though it seemed like a great arrangement for photographs, it proved not practical because:
- The couch was under the stairs: good idea at first and not so good of an idea as time went by. It was a good idea from a floor plan and space perspective because the couch is the bulkiest piece of furniture in a living room and fitting it under an otherwise unusable space is practical and makes the room feel bigger. It was not a good idea because being under the stairs, you are under undeniable foot traffic and therefore constant source of dust.
- The couch was perpendicular to the TV: even though I am not a TV person, I stream a lot of content via my Smart TV and having to keep your head turned to watch or having to lie down to be comfortable was simply too limiting. And it excluded the option of having anyone else sit and watch with you.
The solution? Move the couch away from under the stairs and turn it to face the TV! The only implication to doing so was that due to the layout of my living room, you ended up walking in and facing the back of a couch. And as much as I love my couch and it's pretty lines, it just didn't feel welcoming.
Console table comes to the rescue!
I knew I wanted to put something behind the sofa and I started researching online. There are a few online stores I frequent, such as West Elm, CB2, Crate and Barrel, etc. but they all tend to be rather pricey (and I tend to be rather cheap). They are great for inspiration, just not for execution. So, I directed my attention to a great value site that I hadn't visited in a while: Cost Plus World Market. There, I came across their Lawrence console table which also happened to be on sale from $379.99 to $179.99 - score!
When the table arrived, I have to admit, I was surprised by how big it was (who knew 30" was that tall?). But I am always up for a challenge and saw the opportunity instantly - console table or work desk? I had been wanting a place where I can sit and work while watching TV, and now I got it (albeit accidentally)! By recycling my chair from the upstairs office and adding two stunning (-ly affordable at $24.99 each) lamps from Target (you can find them here), my unexpected furniture challenge became an awesome functional solution.
Cheers to reinventing a living room on a budget!
Spicing Up a Dull Office | Update
The Struggle Continues
Slowly but steadily, I have been adding little touches to the office project and I wanted to share the progress so far! You will probably notice it isn't much. But it is a very solid start! I added pictures of the things that are dearest to my heart (and got a chance to play around with selecting the frames - more on that later!). I also took an opportunity to do some team bonding via an improvised photo session with a VERY important go-live date plastered on our custom t-shirts. And finally, I added some good books I recently finished and found relevant to my line of work.
Now, more on those frames - I love how they turned out! I will probably add some more over time because I have very key people still missing. And I say over time because I was surprised at how hard it was to find frames I liked for a reasonable price. These took a good two weeks worth of visiting every Marshall's and TJ Maxx in my area on an every-other-day basis to select (which makes me wonder - am I too picky or are good frames just hard to come by?).
The final four that made it so far I am very happy with. The color palette was an inspiration from the Birthday surprise decor I got from my team (via teal balloons and banners) and all I did was pick frames that had different textures and patterns to make them work together!
Things left to do still?
- Show you the already purchased and installed arc lamp over my table
- Install and photograph the art piece I completed a few months ago that will go on a wall crowded by some unwanted bookshelves right now.
More updates coming soon!
Crisp & Bright | Urban Chic, the DIY Way
For months now, I had been scouring Etsy to find delicate, yet modern jewelry to purchase. Yet somehow, I was never able to pull the trigger (mostly because of my sticker shock... $135 for a necklace, especially when you want more than one, like me, can get a bit expensive!).
Well, when something is cost-prohibitive, what do you do? Go the DIY route, of course! While wandering the streets of the West U area, I came across the Gem & Bead Gallery and purchased materials for the necklace above. It took me less than $30 and about 30 minutes to put it together and I couldn't be happier! Cheers to looking on-trend and on a budget!
A few months back, a co-worker of mine convinced me to join my company's Spartan Race team. He didn't talk it up much: he mentioned it's a long-ish run with a few fun obstacles. You know, no big deal. Something someone who runs as much as me should complete more than easily (read, you don't really need to train for it). Ha ha ha.