{yellows, blues & grays}

I like the above from Chicago Home Mag which highlighted designers, Summer Thornton & Julia Edelmann. Very nice colors indeed.

At this very second in my life I would compare the color yellow to my very happy boys who happen to be bouncing off the walls in their bedroom as I type. I'm considering breaking them up into 3 seperate bedrooms. I'm such a party pooper.

my contribution to yellow

I am really enjoying my above vintage yellow shoes that I paid a whopping $2.00 for.

Ahh good old sunny yellow.

So fun.

So bright.

So cheery.

When I was in high school I took the personality color test. 50% yellow was I.

Anybody else take that test?

{images Emma's designblogg, this is glamorous, unknown, atlanta homes mag, unknown, house & home, palmer weiss, domino, Steven Gambrel,

Gunnkelmans, Lee Kleinhelter house via Cottage Living, Robert Passal

Chic on a shoestring

I came across Caitlin's blog & when I saw one of her decorating projects she accomplished for $250.00 my jaw dropped. I love it when I see the creation of beautiful things that are done on a budget. I really believe it takes much more creativity to do budget decorating which in return creates an immense amount of satisfaction (at least for me). I thought it would be fun to break down the project to see how Caitlin accomplished this work of beauty. (refer below)

I love the below inspiration board that she put together while trying to meet the objective of the project. For more inspiration visit Caitlin's interior design blog here.

{All images via ccinteriors}

Here is what Caitlin so graciously shared about the project:

1. Headboard- DIY. There are great tutorials all over the internet about making headboards and I do it all the time. The wood was purchased at home depot for about $8. They can cut it to size for you and then I used a skill saw to cut the curves. You can do any design to get a custom look and once you have all the supplies the project only takes about 1-2 hours. All other supplies were bought at Joann's fabric. We used Yellow duck cloth for it's durability and added the nailhead to dress it up. The total for the wood, batting, fabric and nailhead was about $40. Once I had all that I just used my nail gun and hammer and voila!

2. Night stands. The old tv tables were already sitting around. At first I was really against using them but then I thought, hey we are on a budget and in my experience nightstands can be one of the hardest garage sale/thrift store finds. When you turn the tray table on their side you get the more architectural feeling with the x so we bought 2 cans of charcoal gray spray paint for $4 and got to work

3. Bedding. We loved the look of classic white hotel bedding but of course we also wanted pope of color. The Duvet was just from the hotel line at Bed Bath and Beyond for $60. The shams were purchased on clearance at T.J. maxx as a duvet set for $19 I used the duvet on a different project. The throw pillow was custom, sewn by me. I bought 2 yards of fabric for $16 at a quilting store and the insert was $5 at a local fabric store. The same fabric was used to reupholster the seat of the chair.

4. Chair-a thrift store find. $8 plus a can of green spray paint at $4. I love the shape of this chair.

5. Accessories-

art-since these were small we used clip art images off the internet. Vintage printables has some great ones. We spent $20 on frames at Michael's. We loved the look of the metal letters at Anthropologie but of course, way out of the budget so be bought a cardboard version at Joann's for $4 and went to work with the left over spray paint from the tray tables.

Lamps-thrift store find. They were ugly brown and brass but had a great shape. They cost $5 each from a local thrift store. After a $4 can of white spray paint and new lamp shades from target for $10 each they were as good as new. Lamps can easily be spray painted if they have a good shape so that is what I usually look for. I have about 8 lamps sitting in my garage. I think I have an addiction.

Suitcases-thrift store find for $7 for the set. The rain boots and cowboy boots were the clients own.

Green vase with daisies-thrift store $1

Green succulent pot- thrift store $1

In terms of budget I splurged on the rest of the accessories. The butterfly trays were from a store called Alice Lane Interiors. The tray cost $7 and there were actually a pair but we didn't photograph the other one.

The metal boxes were $10.95 at Z Gallerie.

The patterned boxes are actually note cards and matches. The notecards are from target for $7.95 and the matches I got on clearance for $1.50 at a gift shop in upstate New York.

We also purchased a small mirror from Home Goods for $20 that wasn't pictured and a few other accessories that brought the total to $250.

All I have to say is WOW...job well done. A big thank you to Caitlin for taking the time to share her project. I hope it will be as inspiring to everybody else as it was to me on creating a chic space on a shoe string budget. Does anybody else want to attempt creating a custom upholstered headboard now? Oh & does anybody else love those fun happy colors?

not of the masses......

   

I have a love/hate relationship with places such as Wal-Mart. They are accomplishing everything they have set out to do which is to monopolize the market. I always say I am not going to shop there for that very reason but then I some how just end up there time and time again. Besides the great prices and being a one stop shopping place, they are open later than anywhere else and that is working for me. I've become a late night shopper since I've acquired a full house. Well today @ the Wal-Mart I found some of the best flip flops ever. They were all yellow & $2.50...."perfect" I thought, they'll even match my new lamp that was not produced for the masses (my brain works by associating colors you know).  Well sure enough when I got home they were the same exact color.  My daughter (oldest "M" by 2 minutes) has been begging to click the camera so we seized the moment.  Besides, the two yellow items in the above pictures had invoked some thoughts that made me associate my other little girl so they would work perfect for the picture.  I set the camera up on a little table told her to hold it very still and then push the button.  It really wasn't that simple because we had to keep doing a re-do but she did an awesome job (refer above).

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My girls have decided to quit napping.  I made a deal with them & said that they at least had to do quiet time.  Right away little "M" asked if I would get her down some books.  I came back to check on her & this is what I found.  She looked so beautiful in the soft light pouring in on her little body.  I thought to myself, "This girl was not produced for the masses, there is only one of her & she is all mine."  I've had to become fine with not having a monopoly on her because I realize that was not part of the "original Plan". After all she is not really all mine because she was just a gift from above that has been loaned out like a book from the library & I signed my name to check her out for our earthly experience.  I am just in charge of helping her write part of her book.  My biggest hope is when I sign my name to check her book back into the library that it will be in the best shape ever & even better.  I also hope I can teach her as much as she has already taught me.  She sure has learned me a lesson a time or two:-)

I'm looking forward to see how her story goes.

P.S. - Little "M" asked for a purple pencil to show me a surprise.  When she brought what she had been working on I couldn't believe my eyes.  There written very clearly was her name.  She still has another year of preschool and she can write her name...I am AMAZED.

I Love yellow today!