Inspired by RH Baby & Child

Loving the entire yummy catalog at Restoration Hardware Baby & Child that came in the mail last week! The paint finishes are so inspiring when I need some new ideas!
I’m just finishing up a dresser I couldn’t decide what to do with until I saw the catalog.

Can’t get enough of the Jourdan Dresser, with the subtle gray blue trim around the drawers.

Stay tuned as I bring you my version of this finish on a vintage dresser…for half the price, for sale tomorrow!

Fall is in the Air!

Okay, maybe not judging this week’s weather in Dallas, which is still reaching temps in the triple digits, but its definitely around the corner!
Thought I’d share some inspiration for easy decorating ideas!
This is a picture I posted last year from Pottery Barn, but I didn’t mention where you can snag all of the look-alike accessories below for a big bargain! The grapevine pumpkins and wooden pumpkins are at Hobby Lobby this year. The big urns can be found at Garden Ridge and spray painted brown for a rusty look. The garland, orange pumpkins and black crows are at the Dollar Tree. The lanterns are always at T.J. Maxx or Ross. Might be trying this look out myself this fall! Stay tuned for my version!



This next one I snapped a picture of outside a local restaurant. Check out my easy and cheap tutorial on how to do this. It would also be super cute with a grapevine pumpkin as the bottom one.



Here’s a picture of my mantel from last fall. I always try and take pictures of how I decorate for the seasons so that I can build on the look from year to year.



Oh, and the battery powered candles below are from CVS….3 pack, can’t remember the price but it was really cheap compared to all the other stores around town.




The black cat resin treat bucket was a find a couple of years back at Ross.


I try to incorporate accessories that I already have in the house, just giving them a different purpose. This old wooden box is in my office, usually as a catch-all basket. It makes the perfect coffee table container when filled with varying pumpkins and scraps of burlap. The yellow flower stems were just plucked from the arrangement that usually sits on my coffee table, adding a little color.


Hope this has inspired you to look around and see what you can use to add some “fall” to your home! I’ll be sure to show you what I come up with this year in a later post!

Nikolas’ Mini Cooper Party

Where did the time go? My sweet boy just had his 5th birthday celebration this weekend! Nikolas has always been a car kid. From the time he started talking, he could name almost every car on the road.
So this year, he decided he wanted his birthday to be none other than car themed. So to make it easy on his mom, he told me it couldn’t be just plain ol’ cars, but specifically Mini Coopers.



The vision, if you will, started with some cute model cars I happened upon at CVS of all places! They had these great little diecast Mini Coopers on an end cap near the candy aisle for $4.99 each. I swooped up as many as I could and decided to use them on the kids table, where I printed out a road as a table runner.



Then the inspiration for the British Invasion theme came about for the cake. I knew I wanted to incorporate the British flag somehow, but it still had to stick to our Mini Cooper theme, per The Boss’ orders! Big props to my girl, Ashley, for seeing my vision and creating this amazing cake!!!

 

I had so much fun making the rest of the dessert table decorations! Chocolate sandwich cookies transformed into “Spare Tires” and donut holes became cake pops, while giant marshmallows got their own personalized cupcake toppers.



 

We had the party at Pump It Up, per The Boss’ request, where can you believe we had less than 15 minutes to get all the decorations up before the kids came in? Whew! I enlisted both grandmas and a handful of moms to be my work crew. Huge thank you, ladies!!!



Overall, the day was a success, and Nikolas got his Mini Cooper Party, and lots of other fun cars to play with!
 

Happy 5th Birthday, Sweet Boy!



DIY: Seahorse Wall Art

So remember how much I fell head over heels in love with the Aidan Gray Seahorse Wall Art?


Seahorse Wall Art: $306



Well….here’s my version I finished last night. Costing me a whopping $8.00 in printer ink to make.





I already had the MDF Planked Board that I cut to size. Then using an editing program on my computer, I made the seahorse graphic and filled it in with the names of beaches my family and I have vacationed at, along with that great saying, “Follow the River and You Will Find the Sea.”





I painted the board in a weathered gray and then dry brushed it in cream. Then I cut out my seahorse and Mod Podged him to the board. This morning I hung him up and love how he has become the focal point of my dining room!


I found the Driftwood Runner at T.J. Maxx last week. I had been wanting one from Crate and Barrel, but they were so expensive. I paid $15 for the T.J. Maxx version.





Happy Monday!!!

Weathered Wood Buffet Transformation

After a week in the Texas Hill Country (and another week trying to get back on track with life!), I’ve taken on some more painting projects. I timed it perfectly to coincide with the record-breaking 110 degree heat wave! One of these days, I’ll spring for a portable AC Unit, but until then, it’s late nights and early mornings!
Here’s a piece I finished for a client last week. I love the way the driftwood finish compliments the lines of this stately piece. It changes the entire look and brings it into modern day!

(of course, it will look so much better in the room, accessorized and out of my garage!)
 
If you have a piece you would like refinished, send me an email with a picture of the piece and some idea of what you’d like done to it. I’ll send you a quote back shortly!
And….just for fun…thought I’d share some pictures of our incredible stay at the J.W. Marriott Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio. It was so beautiful and peaceful that it was hard to come back! (also very eco-friendly…so impressed!)



 


 

Updating Sentimental Pieces

I have a pair of leather chairs in my front sitting room that I can’t part with. These were my dad’s chairs and having them in my house makes me feel a little closer to him now that he’s gone. The only problem is that, while I love having them with me, they don’t blend so well with my furniture.
So, after a lot of internal struggle I decided to go for it! They got a little make-under I guess you could say.
Before: I covered and taped off the distressed leather before tackling the wood.

With some paint and glaze, they look much more like the French Provincial look I have going on in this room and not so dark and heavy anymore.
After
 
I was really nervous to refinish these chairs or any of his furniture I’ve inherited because of the sentiment they hold for me… but I absolutely love the results. It was kind of a therapeutic moment for me…keeping the memory of my dad alive but also making them my own in a way.

Loving Restoration Hardware Lately!

If you haven’t flipped through a Restoration Hardware catalog in a few months, it’s worth a peek! Of course you’ll still find the beautiful Swedish-style weathered wood furniture, but there are some new arrivals that got my creative juices flowing!
I’m a little obsessed with what I like to call “the egg chair”. I have absolutely no place for this in my house, but I just love the opulence of it!

Inspired by World War II fighter planes, the Aviator Collection was what really caught my eye. It’s borderline “too masculine” for me, but I’m kind of fascinated by it at the same time!

check out the Aviator desk! Love how it looks like the wing of a fighter plane! The bookcase is pretty cool, too.

I love this rusty metal media console. It screams…”get a tetanus shot before coming near me!”