Christina! Congrats! Thanks to all who entered. I will have another great giveaway coming up soon!
If you love a beautiful beach you’ll love this post
More pictures from my Europe trip! These are still from our first week in Galicia, Spain.
The first few are from Santiago de Compostela, famous for it’s lichen covered cathedral and the hordes of pilgrims that arrive to the site via the Way of Saint James.
You can see a bigger version of each image just by clicking on them.
The amazing cathedral is the main attraction of Santiago de Compostela.
I hadn’t ever seen a cathedral so covered in moss and lichen, it made the building even more interesting and steeped in history.
The other side of the cathedral.
The interior of the Cathedral. The interior wasn’t any different than most Roman Catholic interiors of the time. What’s really cool is the censer – see it hanging from the rope? It’s now only brought out for high days – but one of it’s original uses was to help mask the smell from hundreds of unwashed pilgrims. It’s the largest of it’s kind in the world.
An entrance to a charming garden cafe where we enjoyed a cafe con leche after touring the cathedral.
This map shows Santiago de Compostela on the coast, and the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James)
Read more about Santiago de Compostela and the Way of Saint James.
map via World Nomads
Now for those gorgeous beaches! On our way from Santiago de Compostela to Oveido to drop off our rental car, we stopped by some of the most beautiful, remote beaches in the country. They were simply gorgeous. See for yourself –
Can you imagine living in that house at the bottom right?
Beautiful beach two –
Isn’t it stunning?
You can tell how off the beaten path this is just by looking at the “Vehicle Exit” sign.
Looking at pictures from this beach always makes me think of Maxfield Parrish’s “Ecstasy”
via Print Mag
Thanks to my sweetums for taking all these gorgeous pictures
Check out my interview with HGTV designer Martin Amado!
I always like it when I get to ask the experts design questions that seem basic enough, but we tend to forget. They always leave me saying “ohhhh yeahh…” Well I was offered the opportunity to ask Martin a few questions and came up with a few that either I always seem to need help with or that I get a lot from readers. Here are my questions…
1. For those who love to rearrange and change things around in their home a lot, what’s the most cost efficient way to “change” up your décor? In other words, what décor change gets you the most bang for your buck?
2. If one can only make one purchase or change to improve the eco-friendliness or green rating of their home, what singular purchase/installment would you suggest?
3. What is the most valuable lesson learned from a renovation/redecorating “mistake” you made in the beginning of your career that others can learn from?
4. This is one I get a lot – a young family moves into an old home with great original architectural elements – for example – dark wood paneling, floors, and molding. If painting or altering the wood in anyway is 100% out of the question, what design tips and tricks do you suggest for adding some youth, funk, style, and modern flair? How do you lighten up the space and “ungrannify” it with decorating elements other than paint?
Watch to hear me ask Martin these questions and to hear his really great answers:
Thanks again to Martin for his wise words of wisdom! To see some of Martin’s fab work or to learn more about him, go to his website.
Blissful bedrooms
I’m sure I’m not alone when I say – Mondays are tough. Getting out of bed is even tougher than usual. And, forgive me if this is torturous, but maybe some blissful bedrooms will a tleast give you the warm fuzzies.
via House Beautiful
via Home Designing
I really like this headboard.
via House Beautiful
via LivingEtc
via Ochs Design
via The Nest
Do you have a tough time on Mondays? Do you have any “tricks” to pep yourself up?
Happy Friday! An artsy, chic NYC loft
Isn’t the cork refrigerator front genius?
I like artsy, natural object displaysAutumn is here! Fireplace decorating ideas
Fall is officially here. Though I would pick warm weather over cold weather any day, I still think fall is my favorite season. I love a fireplace, a chunky knit throw, and just the general “coziness” of the season. So I thought it’d be a good time to bring on the fall decorating inspiration!
Try holding on to a little bit of nature even when it’s receding outside, by decorating the mantel with display boxes of interesting branches, pods, and other natural objects.
via BHG
I really like the dramatic look of branches in a vase.
via Home Life
We have a wood burning insert, a pellet stove, and an electric fireplace in our house. Between the three of them they really keep the place cozy. I have to say the electric fireplace is the easiest to keep clean – no ashes!
I like the look of bookshelves framing a fireplace. Just add a chaise and or a comfy chair and you have a reading nook.
this post sponsored by Fireplace Mantels 123
An eco-friendly, US-made friendly new store with absolutely gorgeous home decor!
I was introduced to this store by the owners and I was really, really impressed when I looked at the website. They obviously have really great taste as anyone can see by their collection of found and vintage pieces – and some of their own designs! (Talented hubby even builds some of the furniture!}
Their philosophy is one I like as well – “We believe that homes should be a cultivation of things you love and need and we take that approach in finding our products. Our focus is on community and sustainability so we try to source as much as possible from small, u.s. companies and many of our furniture pieces are made from salvaged wood or repurposed pieces.”
Below I’ve pulled a few of my favs. They also carry a lot of smaller home goods – candles, pottery, tea towels, etc.
What do you think?
Go see more at Redefine Home.
More Pictures from my summer in Europe!
To help you over hump day, I thought I’d share some images from my very awesome summer backpacking around Europe for 9 weeks. These are all from the first week of our trip, where we rented a car and drove around the northwest region of Spain, Galicia.
We drove around Galicia on this day stopping at little coastal towns that were recommended to us.
The four images above are from a beautiful estuary called, Ría de Arousa.
The five images below are just one reason it’s a good idea to rent a car and drive around the countryside if you’re able to. We ended up driving past a couple of little vineyards and drove down side streets to get a better look. It was so pretty- images don’t do it justice.
Finally we made it to our destination city of the day, Pontevedra. Unfortunately we got there in the evening, and that meant not a whole lot of time to take photos. This also ended up being one of our favorite medieval towns in all of Europe, so hopefully one day we’ll make it back so we can explore more. Sidenote: A cafe in Pontevedra served the best tortilla in Spain the Chris and I have ever tasted!
all images property of my boyfriend, Chris 🙂
Since we didn’t have much daylight to snap photos, I was naughty and grabbed some photos from another site so you can get a better sense of how amazing this town is.
images property of Jorge Tutor
A great giveaway – especially for the changing season
I have a really great giveaway for you guys this week – a free window shade. It may sound a bit of an odd thing to giveaway but these shades are different because they are super, super easy to install. I can say this from first hand experience – also that the quality is first rate.
All I had to do was enter the width of the window in which I was going to install the shade, pick between white and blackout, and then wait for it to be shipped! The lucky window is one that is above the kitchen sink in the in law apartment. For some reason, all the other windows in the apartment had shades except this one.
The pictures below illustrate my process:
the window
the shade comes with an extra spacer if your shade is just a tad bit small, to extra adhesive ends, and a clear clasp for holding up the shade.
I prepped the window by cleaning the surface where the shade would be installed, and tested that the shade fit, which it did.
I peeled off the film from the adhesives. What’s hard to show here is that the shade actually has a spring lock mechanism, which you press in while installing the shade and then release after the shade is in place. It aids the adhesives in keeping the shade in place. I followed the instructions provided and it all worked as promised.
To see what I mean about the spring lock – watch how quick and easy the installation is
Voila! The shade is installed. No drills, screws, hammers, holes, nails… you name it.
Close up.
This view is from the top. One of the things I really like about the shade is that there are no strings – you just pull the shade down to the length you want and then pull down and release quickly and the shade goes back up.
So how do you enter to win? Just leave a comment on this post saying what window in your home could really use a new shade, or email me at ashley[at]decorologyblog[dot]com .
Your window must meet these requirements:
Simple Fit Custom Shades
• install only inside a window frame.
• Select a window that includes a frame with a minimum depth of 2 inches.
• Minimum width of 19 inches.
• Maximum width of 64 inches.
• Maximum length of 72 inches.
If you want to read/see more about the shades go to Simple Fit
Best of luck to everyone! Entry to the giveaway closes Tuesday, October 12th at 5PM EST. A winner will be selected by a random draw.
Restful, glam bedrooms
It’s gloomy out and I have quite the headache. ugh. It’s just one of those days where all I want to do is lay in bed with fluffy covers and sleep. Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I thought the better option would be to drool over some super comfy, welcoming looking bedrooms.
via Benjamin Moore
I love white and grays.
via Apartment Therapy
adore
via Kitchen Details and Design
While I like the glam look, I also really like simple and clean – it instantly makes me feel better
via KML Design
The billowy white curtains soften up all the hard edges in the furniture
so cozy…and tea in bed!
via Styleometry