Tulips & Lions

Lately I'm inspired by so many things and have so much on my mind .. but I can't seem to get anything straightened out enough to actually get any work done around the house.  After finally finishing the touch ups in our stripped eating nook ... I've been stuck trying to figure out what to tackle next.  At this point there seems to be too much to do and I need to just settle down and concentrate on a couple of major things instead of trying to do everything at once!

So instead of tackling the big things I keep distracting myself with cute little treasures that I seem to be finding so easily.  Like these vintage tulip bowls I found at an antique store ... which by the way pier 1 now carries almost an exact version of.

And these adorable lions head soup bowls that I found at Home Goods for a steal

I really wanted to get at least 6 of these but sadly with Home Goods every thing is in limited supply and unless you get there 1st you end up getting the left overs.  Luckily after a little research, I was able to find almost identical bowls at shopko.com and ordered 4 more ... they should be arriving sometime early this week so fingers crossed that they'll be a match!

Stripped Sophistication

I knew I wanted to add beautiful bold but still sophisticated stripes somewhere in my new house ... just a little something to make me smile every time I walked by.  My choice for white & grey stripes in our kitchen nook became obvious after falling in L-O-V-E with these gorgeously understated inspiration pics quite some time ago

These stripes are the super start of the room for me and create a really interesting layer in the room!  And then the dilemma began ... should I do horizontal or vertical stripes?

 

 

Should I go for a bright bold color ....

Or create a neutral relaxing palette to which I can later add bold colors and fun patterns!

Overtime I noticed that I really gravitated more towards the grey stripes for everyday home living ... especially in the kitchen ... I room that I frequent the most often in our house .. so here is my creation {with the help of my wonderful hubby and a new laser projector from home depot of course}

This project has been in the works since at least we purchased our house in December so glad we finally got it accomplished {still need to do a few touch-ups here and there, but you get the overall picture}  Ohh and by the way we got this beauty of a chandelier from craiglist ... I happen to LOVE capiz chandeliers and can't wait to order a huge 6-footer from the Philippines for our entry way!

Now I definitely need to go a little more industrial with our pendant lighting in the kitchen ... otherwise the space seems a little too feminine and polished ... open to suggestions ... we've been looking but haven't found the right pieces yet!

Gold & White

I may or may have not went shopping after work and my hubby may or may not be mad when he checks our bank account today {which by the way he has an iphone app for & checks like its second nature to him}

I guess I'm willing to face the consequences cuz today I walked off with a shopping cart full of gorgeous goodies from HomeGoods ...

 Seriously that store is messing with my budget ... yeah I know it's supposed to be great design accessories for bargain prices, but that's exactly the issue that I have with this place... everything looks great and everything is a super good bargain!

...Like these white quatrefoil vases ... they're neutral in color while screaming of gorgeousness in design ... how can you take just one, why not two?  and at $30 a piece how can I wait until next week or until I know for sure I will use them ... somebody will snatch them up within a day if I don't buy them.

...or these Gold garden stools ... I was planning to wait on accessories until I bought all of my larger scale items first ... but how can I resist and at such great prices?

And of course what else is a girl to do when she comes home with tons of fabulous accessories ....

These books by the way I bought at an estate sale for 50 cents each ... I was completely intrigued by the beautiful hard covers.

After having so much luck the 1st time, I am tempted to start a colorful vintage book collection ... just imagine the possibilities!

I'm happy that my lonely Lucite table finally found some friends ... although the look is not complete and still lacking some art work ... I'm thinking it looks pretty good so far ... by the way the orange tulips were an accident, but I'm starting to really like it there now ... maybe I just need a little inspiration for my orange console table...

Either way I'm in no hurry to finish my foyer, so this will have to do for now!