A Moment's Swoon

My idea of heaven involves many beautiful lamps, and I've stumbled upon it here on earth! Check out these adorable giclee print shades. These are just a few of the huge collection at Lamps Plus.

 

You can even design your own shade. Here is one I designed while just playing around. Isn't she a beaut!

I Heart Yellow

I am finally inspired to get off my butt and paint something. And today, that something is a chair. While sitting on the couch in my sweaty gym clothes, surfing blogs, I stumbled upon this from Nuestra Vida Dolce:

 

Now I know this is not everyone's cup of tea, but it couldn't be more my flavor. This yellow is haunting my dreams at the moment. My fave catalogs, mags, and blogs are flooded with saturated, lemony hues, and it's makin me happy.

So here's the plan. I have this folding black chair left over from one of my mom's events (she's an amazing floral/event designer).

  

The paint is chipping on it, and I'm sure she won't mind if I paint it (she won't know till it's done anyway). I'm thinking of putting it in my living room next to my antique... uh, I don't know what you call this piece, but I use it as a pseudo office desk. Then I'm going to recover the black cushion with some chic black and white fabric.

So here it is. I wasn't sure at first about the color. It's brighter than I wanted, but I think it's growing on me. And the black and white cushion was just too much. I like the plain black. I know this is a terrible photo. I'll try to take a better one and post tonight.

I have to add some glossy white knobs to the "desk," and imagine the black and white blanket I used as a rug in the picture is a faux zebra rug like this one (my next purchase). This one is from an ebay store, Shine Rugs.

Bedroom Gone Wrong

Although I have yet to “finish” any other room thus far in my crazy house, I decided to begin work on decorating our master bedroom right after Christmas. I think I was just too jealous of Rosa’s fabulous big-girl room. Three full months later, and maybe halfway through, I’m already swooning over ideas for the playroom. Dammit I need to focus. So instead of posting about the playroom wall project I’m dying to tell you about, I’m gonna post about the frustrating state of my marital bed (a weird term I’ve grown to love from my recent John Rosemond reads).

It took me a long time to decide what direction to go with this room. I wanted an oxymoronic scheme that was both bright and cheery and dark and sexy. I finally found my inspiration while on a romantic getaway with Josh in Asheville, NC. The b&b we stayed at was luckily managed by a gamut of gay men, and there were many home décor mags on site. While thumbing through a House Beautiful issue, I discovered THE perfect boudoir. I don’t know if I was high on the claw-foot antiquity of the b&b or the ornate gorgeousness of the Biltmore Mansion we had toured that morning, but I fell head over heels with this:

 

Oh yes, the bright blue-green walls with those sexy red curtains just hit me right in the spot. So I began my reno as soon as we returned home. First I hurried over to Benjamin Moore to get the exact color the article suggested, Blue Diamond, but in person the swatch looked way too bright. After testing a few sample pots on the wall, I ended up going with Forget Me Not

Next, I needed the perfect red curtains. I scoured the Internet for red velvet ones, but everything I found was either too porn-set or too darn expensive (oh how I woulda loved to order PB velvet drapes, but whatever. I’m poor). I finally found these blackout drapes from Overstock.com and couldn’t resist. They were the perfect price, length, and color, and they had amazing reviews.
So here is where I’m at so far. Ugh:

I know it's not that bad, but I hate it. One major problem is the mirror. It’s a FABULOUS mirror that my mom gave me many years back as a birthday present, but it’s just not working. It’s too round, too silvery, and too… I don’t know. Anyway, it’s gotta go.

The whole thing is too much bright-and-cheery and not enough swank. Maybe I need to French it up a bit. I’m dying to try an ornate, gilt mantel mirror, echoing the headboard in the mag feature. I’ve been searching ebay, and I really want to get this, but I can’t afford it.

 

In my wildest dreams I'd get this thing and gold leaf it in a hurry, but It’s listed for $495. Aint happnin. Maybe I need to support my local antique shops and get off of my butt to go shopping instead of surfing websites. I'm hoping to find something that may need some gold leafing. I’ve been dying to gild something! Rosa is too wiggly and Josh is too resistant. A mirror’s the next best thing. Stay tuned.

Feeeel the inspiration.

From This:

 

To this:

I could only ever hope to be as clever as Jenny Komenda, who writes one of my favorite blogs, Little Green Notebook. Here is another one of her amazing re-creations. And she's even so kind as to tell you how she did it. I love you, Jenny. Please send me one of those cabinets. Just one. I don't ask for much.

Cloudy With a Chance of Glitter

I am in love with this Holly Fulton dress featured in one of my back issues of Lucky Magazine. I could never hope to bask in the sparkle of this shimmery getup, for it costs, um, two thousand some odd dollars. Buuuut how awesome would this design be painted on something! I don't know, maybe a flee market chest of drawers in the bathroom or a plank of wood on the wall with glossy grain filling the background. I'll get to it one day. No really, I will.

More cloudy digs *sigh*: