Blog Page 276

Closet organizing inspiration!

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I have 3 closets in my small apartment, which is great. The problem is that Chris and I have way more than three closets worth of stuff. So, I’ve been scouting out some good ideas to maximize that space. Here’s what I’ve found:

I don’t know who only has 15 items hanging in the closet, but there are some good ideas here. Install two bars one underneath the other to maximize vertical space while providing double the space for shirts, shorts, and skirts.  I am also soooo coveting shoe cubbies.  I don’t know if they’re in my immediate future because of my budget…

It’s smart to combine a few different storage options in your closet: drawers, cabinets, wall hooks, and shelving.

I’ve yet to find a belt or scarf hanger that does the job, I always go for hooks like these hanging beside my clothes rack or a full length mirror.

awesome utility closet – I need to find hooks like that to hang my mops and brooms…

Stunning – and check out how the curtains can go all the way around the room!

I have been looking for an over the door rack like this for so long!  You can find it here – Chef’s

pegboard on the inside of a door is a great organization tool if you have no wall space! You could do this in the bathroom and store cosmetics and other beauty tools

Oh my goodness… heaven’s pantry…this is great to aspire to…and I do have glass canisters in mine like they show here.  I cut out the label on the packaging and tape it to the inside of the canister if it’s something that might not be easily recognizable – but all those little canisters and tins?   Have any of you done this with your pantry?

via BHG

Hopefully I’ve inspired you to maybe do a little closet makeover this weekend!  Does anyone have some closet organizing secrets to share with us?

Have a great weekend!

The home office/studio of one of my favorite graphic designers/bloggers

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Designer Fabien Barral’s blog, Graphic Exchange, is always my go-to site for design inspiration when I’m starting a new project and feel a little bit of designer’s block. He has a way of finding the most stunning work being produced in the graphic design world – especially when it comes to typography. It was no surprise really that his home office, which he shares with his wife in the countryside of France, is as equally inspiring.

Separate work stations provide lots of work surfaces, and in my humble opinion, one can never have too much surface area…

The plants are a nice touch… I have three in my space

One day I’ll have space to have a separate table for pencil/ink/and paint, and a separate desk for my computer…

Make organizational tools like filing/storage that are out in the open pretty, and somehow visually cohesive – love these.

Lovely office right? I know I’m a bit jealous.  You may also know Barral from Harmonie-Intérieure, a home-decor stencil company that does some really unique wall stencils.  I did a post on them years ago.

images via Graphic Exchange

It’s beginning to look a lot like fall…

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I do not like cold weather. I’d pick 90 degrees and humid over 30 degrees any day. However, I LOVE autumn. Hands down the best season for fashion, a number of outdoor activities, and the return of the sense of coziness.

via Artessen via The City Sage

2 above via Habitually Chic

3 above via Artessen via Automatism

I love to bake….well, I love to eat baked goods..and autumn is the season for warm breads and muffins
via Pinterest

lovely


via Artessen via Saipua

A Vermont home – full of nature and autumn inspiration

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This home is featured in the most recent issue of Country Living – and I really like it.  It’s country but not too sweet, and nature-inspired, but does it in a unique way.  See below-

What initially attracted me to this story was the homeowner – Laura Zindel’s amazing earthy ceramics. Perfect for Halloween! You can purchase and/or read more about her ceramics on her site.

Laura and her husband commissioned Amish craftsmen to make all the furniture in their dining room

The home has a an interesting history. The original owner supposedly turned down many potential buyers.  He kept meticulous records of the home, and wanted the new owners to respect it’s history.  One such example is the wallpaper in the master bedroom, which was installed by the original owner’s (an elderly man) mother.  Laura livened up the wallpaper with sunny curtains from Anthropologie.

via Country Living

A love affair: tribal rugs – and where to find them on sale…

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Oriental rugs are a classic that are seeing a big revival as of late. We’re seeing them everywhere, and modern interiors and traditional interiors are sporting these tribal beauties.

Oriental rugs as seen in Amanda Peet’s popular Domino house tour.
2 images above via Domino

via Trad Home

Luckily you don’t need to have tons of money to get your own – I’ve been seeing them regularly on sale and at a big discount.  Below are a sample of some of what you can find on sale and where to snag them…

Can’t swing a carpet right now?  Grab a pillow made from antique rugs for about $100

The above are all on sale right now at Gilt. To shop the Gilt sales – you have to be a member – but it’s free and fast – gilt.com

One Kings Lane is another flash sale site that seems to have regular sales on tribal rugs..

This beauty is listed at $1,950 – but they have it for sale at $599!

I didn’t hear about “Beyond on Rack” until recently – but they seem to have regular sales on rugs like these..(and also lots of great home organization stuff!)

 This 7’7″ x 1’9″ runner is on sale for $129.99!

 so gorgeous..

One bad thing about these flash sale sites is that they only last a couple of days – and the good stuff sells out fast…

I got my pride and joy – below – from the sale site Ideeli.

Pretty Swedish interiors that will take your breath away

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I don’t know if I’ve seen a Swedish home I don’t like – look at how pretty these are!

Great lighting in this room…pretty sure that pendant is Ikea.

How great would it be to walk into your home to a fire like this?

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

via Alvhem Makleri

Small kitchens that still get the job done…

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Chris and I don’t have a very large kitchen in our new apartment. It has no windows, but a decent sized pantry – which really helps. Counter space is scant – so we purchased a long, narrow baker’s cart at ikea – which was worth every penny. I’m about to stencil the kitchen with a sheen effect – high gloss and matte – in a lovely navy indigo to contrast our beige-pink backsplash and white cabinets. I’ve been searching through a lot of kitchen inspiration lately and thought I’d share some of my favorite finds…

This painted wallpaper looks stunning.  Our kitchen is going to be painted a very dark indigo – so I like finding other dark kitchens.
via Design Sponge

 Our kitchen absolutely wouldn’t work with out our baker’s cart.  They are essential for small kitchens.
via Apartment Therapy

via BHG

 Lots of shelving make up for a lack of cabinets.
via Country Living

a puppy in a basket – what else does a kitchen need?
via Rue Mag

oh my…the organization junkie in me gets a bit too excited by this armoire of canisters…
 via Pinterest

love, love, love, love a rug like this in the kitchen. beautiful.  It would look great in our navy/indigo kitchen, too.
via Little Green Notebook

Do you have a little kitchen? How do you make the most of your space?

One of my favorite cities from my European backpacking trip – Germany’s charming Ulm

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Aside from seeing the sites, Chris and I chose Ulm as one of our destination cities in Germany because his good friend Ruth was living and grew up there.  We had heard it was a great town – but it ended up being one of our favorite cities from our entire trip.  You’ll see why from the pics below:

Ulm Münster, the world’s tallest steeple (161,53 m)

The very cute – and tilting – Schiefes Haus (crooked house)

So beautiful!

Ulm was the birthplace of Albert Einstein.  There is a memorial where his house stood.

The three images above are of the beautiful town hall

We arrived during the Nabada Festival, where citizens build elaborate floats and make their way down the Danube…it was really fun to watch

A pretty view from our train from Switzerland going to Ulm.

Here’s that list again of all my posts from our travels that I’ve posted –

Spain

•Introduction to my European backpacking trip and a list of places we visited
Galicia – Baiona and Isle de Cies
Galicia – the coast, some charming vineyards, and Pontevedra
Santiago de Compostela and gorgeous hidden beaches
Gorgeous mountain lakes of Picos de Europa
Stunning mountains – Picos de Europa
Bilbao and San Sebastian
Beautiful Barcelona
The amazing Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona
Art Nouveau dream house by Gaudi in Barcelona

Italy

Not to miss – the gorgeous rocky coast of Italy’s Cinque Terre
More from my summer traveling Europe – amazing Rome
From my summer in Europe – amazing Pompeii
Turquoise ocean and vineyards on cliffs – the amazingly stunning Amalfi coast
My Summer in Europe: Pictures from lovely Florence, Italy
Enchanting Siena
Venice
Lake Como, Italy

Switzerland
Jungfrau region, Switzerland, Part 1
Jungfrau region, Switzerland, Part 2

An amazing Etsy artist – the evocative nature photography of Nicholas Bell

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I don’t feature independent artists as much as I would like to.  But there’s no time like the present, and I was fortunate enough to be introduced to the talented Nicholas Bell from Knoxville, TN.

His work really speaks to me because of it’s sense of peace, isolation, and connectedness to our natural surroundings.  Check it out below:

I love the sense of quiet

These last two are my favorite – so beautiful

Pretty fantastic right?
Check out all of his work at his Etsy shop- Nicholas Bell Fine Art Photography.

My curtain conundrum – part two…

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So a HUGE shout-out and thank you to Christine of Design with Christine. She’s a CA based interior designer, and I’m in the process of designing her website for her. Last week she was kind enough to come up with an AMAZING solution for my little living room, in my little apartment, which I moved into about a month ago.

First, here’s what we’re dealing with.

Current living room situation. The couch with the tan curtains.  yuck. The couch is nice because it’s a color that can look olive green in certain lighting, gray in others, and sometimes tan in others.
The rug is from Iran.  I really love it, but am thinking maybe a larger rug would fit this area better.  I love sisal, so I have my eye out for one I’d like – preferably with a black border. Behind the couch is a nook for my home office, and at the opposite end of the couch is our dining nook. The couch faces a wall with our TV and a bookshelf.

It’s hard to tell, but the walls are actually a light aqua/robin’s egg blue. (please pardon my currently untamed cords)

Last week, I published a post asking for some suggestions for a better curtain color.  My natural inclination was to turn to white – and some of you agreed.  The below is my curtains which I photoshopped white.  I liked it, but I did think something was missing.  I didn’t get that “yes” moment from this image.

Without further ado here’s what Christine suggests:

“Ashley,
First of all I want to say how super amazed I am at the photoshop job. That is pretty cool! I wish I could do that. I had two semesters of photoshop in college- but it didn’t stick. However- the solid white curtains are not so cool. Why?
1. There is a disconnect between the rug, furnishings and curtains. Nothing is bringing them together. You need a unifier.
2. You need more pattern in the room. The strong pattern in the rug is off balance when it is the only pattern around.
3. You need more color in the room. Add color in the curtains, and also some throw pillows. There needs to be repetition of color here and there.
The good news? You can be done by this afternoon. I selected everything form West Elm.
You can still have your drapes light and airy- but add pattern and color.”

Christine’s West Elm picks: 


love these ikat curtains…

Christine continued 

“I would add to these a black canvas tape on the edge.  Keep in mind that when I say “color” beige is a color.  😉  Your window treatments should also be layered.  Add some black woven blinds to be the first layer.

Another exercise you can do is visually draw a horizontal line across the room.  Do you have balance?  Balance with color?  Balance with pattern?  Notice how in the room shot above, (and I know there are many angles we don’t see)- there is a lack of balance.  All of the color and pattern are on the bottom of your horizontal line.  Another good reason to use patterned drapes.  The black woven shades will also bring more visual weight into the upper portion of the room, improving your currently bottom heavy lack of balance.  (awesome tip!)

Now- bring in more of your rug colors in some throw pillows.”

and love the quilted pillows!!! Christine continued:

“Use one of these.  See the one on the right that is cut off that has the red and black in it?  I thought that would go great with your rug. 

You have white walls and that white needs to be brought into your room more.  (Except not in solid white drapes.  😉

Add a white pillow to the mix.

Didn’t she come up with some awesome suggestions?!?
Definitely check out her blog – Design with Christine, where you can see the original post.

So, I did a quick photoshopping of what the curtains will look like…

I even added one of the quilted pillows.  I’ll add lots more pillows to the couch, but I’m going to sew covers for them after I have new curtains.

I also originally planned to sew curtains – but I’m not sure if I’ll beable to find an affordable fabric that’s less expensive than just buying West Elm’s.  The windows are quite large.  I’ll need about 3 yards for each panel (3 panels).

I though this fabric was pretty close…and it’s only $11/yd. on etsy.  What do you guys think?

It’s definitely more gray, and has a higher percentage of white – but I think it will go well.

I had some other great suggestions from readers  (thanks!!).  One reader suggested a blue ikat – see below

via 6th Street Design School
I really like this as well – but as $23.99 a yard (from Calico Corners) it would be more expensive to make these than to buy the West Elm curtains. I’m also a bit afraid of so much contrast..hmmm..it’s so pretty though..

So, again – a HUGE thanks to Christine – you’re suggestions are spot on.  I will definitely post pictures when I’ve either made or bought curtains.

Thanks all and more suggestions/ideas are welcome!