My New Thrifted Chair (love)

I was at home this weekend and dragged my bf around to all of the local thrift shops to see what I could hoard purchase. And my friends, I was in luck.

I happened across this beauty of a chair hidden under a pile of misfit toys.

I scooped it up for $25 dollars, no tax, and here she sits in my 'at home' bedroom:

Excuse the poor quality photos above.

Am I crazy to love the upholstery? Because I do love it! I'm crazy about it..... The birds and the modern floral and the moody hues.

And it's in pretty much perfect condition.

I'm curious though, What do you think of the fabric?
(be honest now)
xox

Photomontage and Lulu & Georgia

In my color theory class, we were asked to put together a little photomontage of a room to help us learn some photoshop skills. It was so fun! Here is the room I did before:

 And after:

My color scheme for the room was inspired by this Wink of Pink painting

And this one by Cocoa&Hearts:

One of my fave pieces of furniture that I put in the room was this adorable little tangerine ottoman from Lulu & Georgia.

I think it really helped tie the orange and blue (complimentary) scheme together.

Have you guys checked out Lulu & Georgia yet? Today is the day you should, because they are offering 26% off every order with the code 'L&GHOLIDAY'.

Happy Cyber Monday my friends xo

Favourite Furniture Fridays: Five Kinds of Happy

Hello Tiffany Leigh fans!

I'm Amy from Five Kinds of Happy and I'm here today sharing my favourite piece of furniture. I had to debate whether a mirror counts as a piece of furniture, but Tiffany assures me that for this series, it does ;) 

When we first moved into this house early this year I bought the mirror (second-hand) to go over the mantel, but what do you know, the thing was so heavy it ended up here on the hearth instead, and here it stayed...

It really grounds the whole room and adds so much interest to the fireplace, which is the focal point of the living room and can be seen from the front door. Plus it visually extends the room and tricks your eye into thinking there is more floorspace than there actually is.

It's a sweet spot for some mood lighting and, bonus: it hides the empty old fireplace with all it's not-so-pretty sootiness.

Mirrors are such an important part of decor, in my opinion, because they can do so much with the light and spacial aspects of any room. The only reason I don't have one on every wall is because I secretly fear people thinking I'm too vain. ;)

Anyone else got a thing for mirrors?

Thank you so much for having me here Tiffany! I love this blog series - it's so interesting getting a peek into other people's creative homes. 

 Although 'technically' more of an accessory, Amy's mirror is too pretty not to share, so when she asked if it passed, of course I said yes! I just love the way it spruces up the fire place. Check out the before pics here. Thanks for sharing Amy!

ps. Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American followers! I hope your weekend is full of great time and gratefulness.

Bathroom Project

This week in Space Planning, we had a bathroom layout assigned to us.
The dimensions of the base plan given to us were huge! 20' x 14'.
I decided to use part of the space to include a fabulous dressing room/walk in closet for the client. Here are the plans *almost* near completion.

Even though it's not a requirement of the assignment, I like to throw together a quick moodboard before I start the floor plan so I know the vibe of the space and the furniture I wish to use:

 

xo

I Love Landscapes

via Matchbook Mag

via little green notebook

via little green notebook

I love  good landscape oil painting. It adds such a traditional element that seems to blend seamlessly with most styles of decor. I'm on the hunt at local thrift shops and flea markets for the perfect one!
Do you have a landscape hanging on your wall?

DIY Leopard Acrylic Tray

After last week's one dollar dino post, I had a couple of e-mails asking about my leopard lucite tray.

It's actually a fantastically simple DIY inspired by the lovely Eileen of A Creative Day.
 Eileen's tray was inspired by the 'les touches' fabric and was created very simply with a gold leaf pen.

via A Creative Day

I was in love, and knew I had a small lucite tray that needed some leopard loving of it's own (I purchased it at Home Sense for around $5). AND it just so happened that I had the same gold leaf pen, so how could I not?
I went with a more traditional leopard design.

Now it's a perfection place for jewelry:

 Sunnies:

Every day beautify products:

Or even office supplies:

I just love it!
Hope you had a great weekend dolls xo

Favourite Furniture Fridays: Sadie + Stella

Hello you Tiffany Leigh loving fans, you. I guess that would be me talking to myself as well...I am Lindsay from Sadie + Stella Design. When Tiffany asked me to be here with you today, saying I was flattered would be quite the understatement. I think TL is so incredibly talented and definitely a star on the rise. I know this feature is about a favorite piece of furniture in your home, and honestly I did not have a hard time choosing. It has to be, none other, than our Stanley credenza. Taaaaa daaaaa. 

 Let me tell you. Finding this red beauty was not an easy task. Peeps would think we were looking for Osama bin Laden or something. When we first moved into our loft, not seen here, we had a 50' flat screen residing on top of a safe. Tres chic. I told the boy we would not be having any house guests unless that baby was replaced. My vision? Something red and something unique. After about 4 months of searching high and low, the boy found this Stanley credenza about 30 minutes from where we were living. Now here is the kicker. This beauty retails for close to $3,000. We got it for $500 from a private seller. I will not tell you my address, for fear that you all will come and loot this. Deal of the century and all of the credit goes to the boy on this one. 

Here is a little side view. You can also see our dining room rearing its beautiful head in the reflection of the TV. Thanks to my late working schedule and this damn Daylight's savings, the lighting was not working in my favor. Please accept my sincerest apologies. Thank you so much TL and TL readers for peeking at my favorite piece of furniture in our home. Make sure to come and visit me at S+S Design. Loves!

You guys all know what I'm eyeing in this photo...that foo dog! Jealousy ensues. The credenza is so glam too, and the perfect compliment to her dining room (which is a must see). Lindsay is another gal who knows how to use red right. It's my goal to learn her skills. So thrilled and honored to have you here today Lindsay! Thank you.

Green Leopard

Alright alright, I know what you're thinking. Green lep? Really? But trust me my friends.
Remember when I posted this amazing living room designed by Sarah Richardson:

via

Well, needless to say I'm still obsessed. You just don't tire of a room that gorgeous and classic. And what, may I ask, do you  spot on that couch? GREEN LEOPARD of course. It's amazing, but sadly any time I've hunted for green leopard print I've only found some tacky-tack neon lime number.
UNTIL TODAY.
Enter this most gorgeous pillow by Arianna Belle's etsy shop:

via Arianna Belle

The moss and aqua combo is perfection. While it's not an exact match to Sarah's pillows, I think it's a great alternative!
UPDATE: I have the most amazing followers. Elizabeth of The Little Black Door just alerted me to another even closer match to the fabric Sarah uses:

via House Beautiful

Goodness the blogging community is an amazing resource. Thanks so much Elizabeth!

Hope you are all having a great week.

Kitchen Floor Plans and Elevations

It's not your typical Wednesday Doodle (which I'm sorry have been lacking lately, so busy with school!), but it is something that I drew by hand!

Introducing my kitchen floor plan and elevations for my Space Planning class:

 One mistake here is that I should have either not included the range hood in my floor plan and assumed the ceiling is cut at half height, OR represented the range hood with dashed lines and shown the details of the range. But I'm learning!

Drawing Elevations is so fun! It really lets you see your design concept come to life.

And I'm happy to report that I received a 100% on my first floor plan ever, the living and dining room! Happy to have started off on the right foot.

DIY Ribbon and Linen Pinboard

Inspired by this image...

via

Yes that's right, inspired by an inspiration board...
by a pinboard I found on Pinterest.
Obviously I'm still collecting lovely things to add to my board, but the base looks pretty close!

Supplies: 
-Large Cork Board
-5/8'' White Gros Grain Ribbon (here)
-1 Yard of Neutral Linen (here)
-Cotton Batting
-Regular Stapler
-Staple Gun
-White out Pen
-SprayAdhesive
-Glue Gun
-Buttons
We know that linen pinboards can cost a bundle...like this $200 one from Pottery Barn.
This one comes up at around $40, a great price I think!

Here are the steps (and poor quality photos..)
 
1. Cover the cork side of your board with spray adhesive.

 2. Apply a thin layer of cotton batting.

3.  Lay your linen out face down on a smooth flat surface and place your board cotton side down on top. Cut to size, leaving extra around the edges (Sorry about this blurry picture!).

4. Begin to staple (I used a regular stapler) your fabric to the back of the board. Begin in the middle of each side and work your way out to the corners. Fold the corners as neatly as possible!

5. Time to add ribbon! This part takes a bit of playing around to get the angles and measurements right.  Once you've got it laid out, staple the ribbon in place on the back side.

6. To slightly tuft the board, add a staple using the staple gun in the middle of each x of ribbon.

 (I started with upholstery tacks but they kept popping out, the staple gun worked much better. Also, use the white out pen to cover the staples so they blend with the ribbon better).

6. Add buttons of your choosing using a glue gun! (I used pink and white like the inspiration picture)

7. Hang and Enjoy!

 ^My fave buttons are these adorable little hearts!

xox