Hello Coral

Hello y'all! Today I want to share a couple of things that are buzzing around in my head. My mother's birthday is coming up and we have been chatting about doing a few changes to her place. She will be away for a couple of days and I hope to sneak in and do the work while she is away. I love surprises, so I hope she will appreciate it. It is mainly her bedroom that is in dire need of some TLC. She is a very picky lady, so I decided to make a mood board for a "client". And yes, I will be pretending that this is just for the blog so I can get a feel for what she thinks of my ideas. She doesn't read my blog, so I doubt she will see it, but here are my thoughts.

She is not a huge fan of pink, but likes red, so I figured since coral is so hot right now, I would go down that avenue. Here are some of my thoughts for her room redesign.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Number 1 is the paint colour I have chosen for her room - Balboa Mist by Benjamin Moore. I love this colour. It is a combination of a light grey and beige. I am looking to try my hand at a DIY tufted headboard. Here is the fabric (3) I am thinking to use and I will make some diy curtains (4). And last but not least, I will add lots of colour throughout the room with the different accents.

I really like what I pulled together, but most importantly I hope she will like it as well. Will keep you posted, but in the mean time what do you think? Would you like a bedroom that would look like this?

Have a fabulous day!

B

Curtain call

I have been wanting to change the curtains in my son's room for a while, but wasn't really sure what I wanted. There are many and I mean many gorgeous fabrics out there, but my sewing skills are nowhere close to be up for that task. After giving it some thought, I have decided that stripes would be really great. If I would have the skills, I would love to make something similar like Barbara's from Hodge Podge/Markova Design.

You can find the instructions on how to make the drapes, here. They look so fabulous!

You are probably wondering where I am going with this. Well, here is where you come in. I would love your thoughts on my newest idea in home decor. 

I am a huge fan of West Elm and their products and while browsing their site, I came across these. 

Don't they look awesome? So, I had a crazy thought about using these in my son's room. There are two little problems with them though. One, they are shower curtains and two, they are 74"l x 72"w, which means they are not long enough. I could use some grey linen material and just sew it at the bottom. What do you think? Would they look ok? Would love your thoughts and/or ideas.

Have a great day everyone!

B

Style At Home This Summer

Summer is here and what a great opportunity to add some colour and beach feel to your home. I have started to add a couple of touches here and there, but you can always add more. And what better way to learn from, than the amazing team at Style at Home. They have put together a list of the hottest summer trends.

First trend...aegean blue. 

Lonny magazine

Lonny Magazine

Chapters Indigo

 When I think of aegean blue, I think of Greece and the gorgeous water. I think it is the perfect way to freshen up a room and you can do that in different ways. You can do it by adding accents, such as pillows, vases or artwork.

Chapters Indigo

Or,

Lonny Magazine

...you can be bold and add some upholstered pieces to make quite a statement. 

Second trend...Kilim. 

Marion House Book

When I read Kilim, I remembered the picture above from Marion House Book. I love everything about this picture. It is a perfect entryway and the colours are so gorgeous, vibrant, fun and inviting. Love that gorgeous rug! You can achieve a similar look with this Ikea Kilim rug from Ikea. 

Ikea

Third trend... country colours.

Country colours provide a fresh, fun and easy feel to your decor. Style at Home has also partnered with Beauti-Tone and has created some gorgeous country colours. You can read more about it here. 

Hope this has helped a bit with getting your home ready for summer. I know I still have some work to do, but I know it will be much cozier around here with some of these elements.

Have a great day!
B

Crafty Friday

Oops here it is! First of all, I would like to say sorry for not having had a craft every Friday. I will try my hardest to have a craft out for you every Friday, but I think it is best if I don't promise. Whenever I do commit to one day, something happens. So I will try for Friday. Hope that is ok with you all, and here is today's craft.

While browsing the West Elm catalog (love WE), I saw this really cute handmade display they were featuring.

My first impressions were "how cool and neat", and "I will never figure out how to make it". While doing some spring cleaning, I browsed the West Elm catalog again, and  my second impression was "I might be able to make it after all".  I remembered seeing a diagram on how to put together a little paper house in hello sandwich's book, kawaii wrapping materials book. She is an amazing Australian artist and graphic designer living in Japan. It is really cute how she comes up with so many unique and beautiful designs for different things. This is the book.

And here is a little snapshot of the little house diagram.

And from that little diagram, this is the outcome. All you have to do is fold it up and glue it together. 

How cute is this tiny little house?

And before you say it, I will say it here first. Yes, these little houses will be perfect for an advent calendar at Christmas time, which I will be making this year.

 And after making a whole bunch, this is the final display. 

I love it. It looks so unique and different. Definitely worth the time that it took to make. 

Hope you liked today's little craft and will give this a shot. It really wasn't hard to make and you could even add little windows to the houses. 

Hope you have a fantastic long weekend!

B

Textile Love

Giving your living room an uplift sometimes requires a couple of yards of fabric and some sewing. Updating a look with some fun, bright and colored fabric will not only change the look, but the feel and atmosphere of the place. I am a true believer that fabric can make a huge difference and here are some of my favorites.

Designer Fabrics

Designer Fabrics

Tonic Living

Tonic Living, Designer Fabrics

Fabric

Designer Fabrics

The best thing about fabric is that the massive variety can suit anyone's tastes and fit into any decor and color scheme.  You do not have to like my selections; the choices can be very personal.  There is something very liberating about going into a fabric store with 1000's of selections and finding the one fit that will make your house a home.  Happy hunting!

Have a great day!

B

Spring Trends

Spring is a much awaited season and it is with excitement that we welcome it. When I think of spring I think of bright colors and lots of them. Style at Home is my inspiration and "go to" place for the latest home decor trends. And each time, Style at Home doesn't disappoint with fantastic ideas, which are easy to incorporate into your home.

One trend for this spring is florals. You can bring some fresh flowers into your home or decorate with some floral textiles to bring some colour and life into your home. 

Photography by Virginia MacDonald
source

Flowers are always welcome in my house.  However, you might not be ready to reupholster your sofa with some floral fabric, so the easy way to add a floral pattern is through cushions. When I came across these particular ones from Bluebellgray, I fell in love. They have the most gorgeous floral pillows I have come across.

Bluebellgray
source

Bluebellgray
source

The second trend is coloured glass and what better way to add a little subtle colour to your decor, than with some coloured glass. You can display flowers or candles like in this picture.

West Elm

West Elm has a fantastic collection of coloured glass vases, bottles and candleholders. And how gorgeous does the green vase look with the pink flowers. It is the perfect combination to make the flowers stand out.

Not only is this a very cool trend, but it is also a trend, in my opinion, that can carry onto the summer months. Just display the vases with seashells, add some sand to some of your bottles and they will last until fall.

West Elm

And the last trend is very hot, the color orange. As you may know, the Pantone colour of the year is tangerine tango, or orange. So by adding some orange pops of color to your decor will make things truly pop with lots of passion and fun. How stunning are these images. I love the headboard.

Lonny

Lonny

Sometimes you are not too sure if a colour will work for you or with your decor.  If that is the case, I would turn to something that isn't as bold, like a throw or cushion or something in between, which is both a little bold and fun, like these poufs, which are also quite trendy right now.

West Elm

They would look amazing in a family room, or sun room or even in a bedroom. Just a pop of colour and spice to make your place look cozy, warm and super trendy.

I hope you enjoyed my recap of these trends and can add some pops of colour to your lovely home this spring.

Hope you are having a fabulous Sunday!

B

Crafty Friday Time

Hello everyone! It is Friday again and that means it is time for some crafts. Woohoo! The post is a little late, but here it goes. I am a huge fan of Martha Stewart and while browsing her site, I came across some super cute pom pom chicks, that I knew wanted to come over to our place. And they did.

He was super easy to make and so much fun. I made the pom poms by using the tutorial from Ez at Creature Comforts. She has a great tutorial for pom poms and with the video she included, they are super easy to make. Check out her tutorial here. Here is my little pom pom. 

Quick note to mention about the pom pom. For this project, you do not need to cut off the yarn and make it neat like in her video. You can cut off some of the extra yarn, but do not make it into a perfect pom pom. 

The second part was sewing the two pom pom together, which you can do with any thread. 

Next, you choose some black thread and make the eyes. I used a French knot to make the eyes. A French knot is when the yarn goes twice around the needle and then you insert it back to finish your sewing. Here is a picture of what it looks like. Sorry about the picture. My needles were in the other room, baby sleeping etc. You can find more info here. 

And last, you cut some orange felt for the beak and feet if you want. 

This is my quick and simplified version to making pom pom chicks. Martha Stewart has a few more tricks up her sleeve, so you check out her full instructions right here. I am quite happy with mine and my little munchkin likes to play with him anyways. 

This proved to be a very easy Easter craft to make. You could even make this craft with your kids and I love the fact that you could easily make this as a last minute Easter decoration for your home. 

It is just me and my little munchkin around here, so I hope we get around to making some more crafts, otherwise it is train, car, digger play time. And I bet you know which one will win. Oh yes, the train, car play time. Any big plans on your end? 

Hope you have a fabulous weekend everyone! 

B

Washi Stop

Hello there! Thank you so much for your comments yesterday and today. I got teary eyed yesterday when I was reading your sweet comments. Thank you for being there and supporting my blog. It really means a lot to me. I am also looking forward to creating more projects and sharing them with you all. So here is one right now.

I loooove love love washi tape. There I said it. I looove washi tape and I think it is such a great way to decorate different things with it. My go to place for washi goodies is Omiyage.

Omiyage has a ton of super cute paper goodies, washi tape, balloons, paper straw, a ton of things. And while browsing their site, I came across these.

How cute are they? I knew exactly who was going to love playing with these. My little munchkin. We have been playing around the house with it and having so much fun. I also had another thought. I have just painted my little guy's room and have nothing on the walls yet, so while I am taking my time deciding on what to put there, I decided to decorate the walls with the washi tape.

I decided to create a subway/ street display and I am liking it. It started with a couple of strips at first, but then I liked how it looked and kept going until I achieved this. 

It was super easy to do and besides the tape, I used a level to make sure the tape is straight.  I think it is really cute. What do you think?

Have a great day!

B