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!

raspberry mango lemonade

Mother's Day came and went very fast this year, but the memories of gorgeous spring flowers will last forever!  I went with a raspberry mango lemonade theme this year ... Loved those couple of days right before Mother's Day ... when every corner of my house was filled with colorful spring flowers {by the way I volunteered to buy flowers for all the mothers at our church this year so I had over 100 roses scattered throughout my house}

 

And of course my hubby knows about my love affair with spring roses ... & has learned after 3 wonderful years of marriage exactly what will make me happy on a random spring afternoon!

5.23.11

It's been a busy month ... I'd say a little too busy for my liking ...This whole month just feels like a big blur ... time keeps flying away and we're still so behind on our remodel!  Just been feeling so tired lately and wish I could just take a whole week off from everything and concentrate on our house and nothing else ... Just imagine ....

not waking up at 5am every morning

not driving 35-55 min {depending on traffic} to work and back everyday

not working overtime for the next 2 months to save enough money for a professional new camera

not coming home tired and cooking dinner at 4pm

no church events or family obligations in the evening

and definitely not trying to be in bed by 10pm {while still somehow dragging it out till at least 12am}

ok so I think that was more than enough venting for one blog post ... now back to what's really important ... the kitchen remodel ... I think that's probably the only room we've really been concentrating on and its definitely the closest one to completion.  I even finally got around to taking some updated pics



As you can tell we're still missing a vent hood .. and the backsplash is no where to be found

I love how our extra chunky moldings turned out ... it took 3 separate molding pieces to accomplish this look ... it originally started as a diy project but after hours and hours of suffering with the baseboards, we decided it would be much more cost effective to hire someone who actually knew what they were doing and could knock the project out in a day!

When we first started our kitchen remodel I didn't really think a pot filler was needed ... plus it would probably be in the way of my backsplash tiles and mess with my design .... or so I thought

I'm glad my hubby has been persistent, and we still ended up ordering one online from Lowes ... we just got it a few days ago and it should be going in today ... although the sink is not extremely far away from the stove, I know it will save me a lot of time and potential disasters in the future :)

Now if only I could decide whether I want it exactly in the middle or maybe a little more to the right and so on ... decisions decisions .. so tired of them ... And speaking of decisions ... we still haven't decided on the cabinet color size or anything else for the matter regarding the built-in seating we will be doing in front of our window ... I have a ton of inspiration pics that I'll be posting soon so hopefully that'll help me make up my mind faster.

la vintage

Our home remodel has lately been taking a huge toll on my blogging and I definitely have been slacking more than usual.  We finally moved into our new house a few weeks back {which by the way doesn't necessarily mean we are anywhere close to being done with the remodel}  We still have so much left to do, but it's definitely starting to at least feel somewhat like a home now.

Our kitchen is the closest to being done at this point, with only the 1. backsplash 2. knobs & handles 3. vent hood and 4. built-in banquet left to do ... we are at least 80% done at this point or so it seems.  I'm waiting for a good sunny day to take updated pictures and will post as soon as possible!

On another note, last week we went on a much needed vacation to Los Angeles ... nothing particularly special planned, just a week of beach football, tanning, and eating out!

and the fun continued with a large dose of antique shopping ... I went a little crazy with the accessories and bought this adorable vintage gold-rimmed mirror platter to display all of my perfumes on

I really wasn't too sure about these lamps when I first spotted them... but at only $7 a piece, I couldn't pass these lovelies up ... Navy blue makes my heart flutter & with a pair of new drum lampshades these babies will sparkle in no time!

Some additional vintage finds and a couple of not-so-antique accessories found at an awesome lamp store!

Now on to some of the bigger finds ... & by bigger I really do mean BIGGER .. .big enough to have to rent a Uhaul truck and drive it all of the way from LA to Sacramento

I'm mostly referring to this amazing Victorian mantel we found on Craigslist which I absolutely had to have despite the additional $350 we had to pay in hauling fees just to get it home!  It's not in perfect condition since it was originally removed from an older Victorian home, but with a few touch-ups from a pro it will be restored to its original glory!

I purchased this unique Lucite X base console from a local LA interior decorator {also off Craigslist} ... he had an amazing home full of beautifully unique furniture and accessories!

And finally my last Craigslist purchase of the week was a pair of early 1920s or 30s antique armchairs!  The frame itself is in excellent condition, but the upholstering can definitely use a little help!  I have big  plans for these chairs once I actually settle on a pattern and color.

And that was the end of my relaxing vacation ... now back to reality and back to a full 40 hour work week ...