deep dark blue in the kitchen

Today I have kitchens on the brain.  I love white kitchens but dark deep blue cabinets have been making special appearances in my thoughts.  Even if a deep dark blue does not make it into my next home don't worry because you can almost 100% count on cement tiles making the cut.  I am so loving cement tiles..we can save that for another post though.

above tiles found here.
above paint colors are BM Hale Navy and RL Lancaster Blue

redneck tendancies

Every Fall I like to display a big elk antler that we dragged home from the in-laws elk ranch...yes they used to ranch these elk when there was a market for their antlers in Asia.  Supposedly there are some medicinal properties in the antlers when they are in the velvet.  If you didn't know this already, elk naturally shed their antlers every single year and grow new ones.  Anyway the in-laws ranch is stocked with more antlers than one knows what to do with.  As I placed the large antler upon the piano I was pondering my home.  I was thinking such things as "does my home represent my design aesthetic or how much am I influenced by what I see online or in magazines but don't really love the look?"  I started feeling bad because when I looked around it wasn't exactly how I wanted it to look...AND then I thought "bad Christina".  I do not want to ever fall victim of not being grateful for what I have or feeling like things have to be a certain perfect.  Every time I think I have mastered the concept of replacing gratitude for negative thoughts or feelings, I really haven't completely.  I'm afraid it will always be something I will have to work on.  I feel like I am much better at it in my more experienced life but still....Besides I should feel happy that I have worked over my home on one of the tightest budgets and that is something to mention.  In fact my husband should thank me profusely.

Speaking of mentionables and husband and a budget I may also need to discuss the time I decided to buy a toilet tattoo.  Have you seen 'em?  Seriously why would one ever put one up on the check out stand right next to the latest Elle Decor and feel good about it.  Oh I had big plans I tell you.  I snuck that thing into the home, placed it on husbands toilet (which happens to be mine as well) and waited.  I only wish I could have seen his face when he went to use the restroom that fine evening. I didn't hear him laugh and he didn't give me any kind of reaction but I am convinced that he must have been amused on the inside..he just had to have been.  I finally couldn't handle it anymore so I said to him, "did you um like the new toilet tattoo..I was thinking about you and your love for nature".

Always thinking of him and not me.



P.S. - My home is looking a little too traditional.  Time to mix it up.
P.S.S - If you are thinking of a toilet tattoo I must mention that it is best to have one of them small kind of toilets.

trimmed out walls {Carolina Herrera Baez's apartment in Spain}

Well hello there folks.  I'm thinking that I may hit up a discount trim store today and see what I can find in the .65 a yard and below range.  I have always wanted to trim out a small space and I think this will be the year to actually do it.  I've saved images before of trimmed out walls but when I saw Carolina Herrera Baez's space in this months Elle Decor I was reminded of how cool it could be.

Here are some other spots in her home.  I am especially drawn to her bedroom with the canopy and striped fabric.

{Kubus and a fun bargain find}

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I have loved Pierre Frey Kubus ever since I first laid my eyes upon it. In fact I immediately sent out for a sample. I thought that with my budget I could stretch and someday make a small pillow..but probably not until Christmas 2016:-) Unlike my budget Lauren Santo Domingo was able to make a whole lot of Kubus yardage happen when there were multi panels that were necessary to drape her home..(necessary is the key word..and I don't disagree..except for if it were in my home...because I am sure Pierre Frey found all of my extra coins needed to buy the before said fabric and had them melted down to use in his dear Kubus fabric...there is some metallic action going on in the fabric..
Once I got over not having any metallic action in my fabric then I found out that it made much more sense to use Annex by Robert Allen for Dwell Studio. Besides I had in my mind that it would work best for my little boys room and the least expensive the better for a space like that (as a side note I'm still trying to get smashed cereal bar out of their fairly new rug). After seeing the fabric in person I made a deal and placed an order but then cancelled because at my local fabric retailer they still wanted a pretty penny plus $25 for shipping and in the interim figured out that I could go here and get it for $18.95 plus $4.99 shipping.  It still is not quite the fabic of the Kubus but thought that it gave me a similar look, BARGAIN!!

Have you found any bargains you feel the need to share? If so I would love to hear.


(The above space was designed by Francois Catroux for Lauren Santo Domingo and was just featured in the Sept. issue of Vogue. Photos courtesy of enterloop.)

{local love} A Sonoran Desert Beauty

I think one of the reasons this home makes it to the blog is the fact that the designer made sure to off-set or balance such a rustic farmhouse style with things that are straight and modern. If you notice many of the lines on the light fixtures and cabinets are on the modern side. Secondly I love to find designers that don't have the typical "Sonoran Desert Style". To see more of this home go take a look at David Michael Miller's portfolio.

On my color radar {BORDEAUX}

Hello there..with being on the cusp of September I find my mind wandering to deeper and richer colors for fall. I really think things can be a little heavier and deeper when the temps start to cool down. That is why I think I am currently attracted to shades of bordeaux, maroon and burgundy. I think this season I wished I had saved my classic bordeaux colored penny loafers from the 7th grade.

{large image 1 via Lonny (JK Capri), 2 - Rita Konig home, 3 - AD France}

Get some trim and then do the splits

Today is your lucky day if you happen to be as obsessed with trims as I do.  If you are savvy with your trims then you know that great trims can be pricey.  Well being that in my mind everything needs to be trimmed out then you can imagine my joy when I found a little shop that sold pretty trims at $4.00 or less per yard.  The last few years I have slowed down on buying things even if they are a good deal because I don't want a repeat of 2006 when I was almost borderline trim hoarder...

Anyway I have been mixing a ton of blacks with blues and so when I found the above trim for drapes then I felt quite satisfied.  In case you were wondering..one time in junior high a girl told me that her biggest pet peeve was when people mixed blue and black.  Funny how that always stuck out in my mind all these years.  Seriously 20 years later I have this inner thing inside of me that wants to deny mixing those two colors.  Well I am happy to report that after intense therapy I am finally ok..ok to mix blue and black that is.  Seriously though Windsor Smith said it was ok..I asked her..and I really like her design eye.

Speaking of eyes I've heard another good way to to mix blacks and blues is to punch someone.....or have killer dance moves like me and somehow knock you eye on your knee..I know weird.

So I wasn't planning on sharing this but I just felt I needed to illustrate that fact that my body moves.  Something about a girls weekend creates this intense desire to do the jump splits even if it has been probably 20 years since the last attempt.   Did I just share that..well yes I did.



Oh and back to the trims.  You can find them here.

messing around

So a while ago we sold the girls beds and ripped down their wallpapered scrapbook paper pieces..remember those??  I needed a fun distraction so it was the easiest space to focus on for some inexpensive & quick results.  The room has always been a little too pink so I repainted. I used a color by Valspar called Apricot Ice. It has more peachy nude tones to the pink than the original color. Anyway I wanted to go for something a little more neutral and soft but the bedding I ordered is on back order until Oct.  So while cruising the bedding isle in IKEA I came across a fun duvet cover with an orangy-red border. It went perfectly with some fabrics that I already had. We will see how this all unfolds but for now a fun duvet cover $29.99 isn't too bad...plus that orangy-red color is so great.  Have you found any good little treasures lately?  I'd love to hear.

I drank a v-8 so I'm not as tippy over. (photo overload alert)

Well hi there..is anybody even still here?? Are you feeling a little awkward for me that I just up and abandoned this little blog without any exclamation? I'm sorry!!

Well here is the deal really..the day before I left for all of our summer extravaganzas my little boy from the back seat of the car said, "Mom, it's going to be the best day ever". I waited for him to expand upon why it was going to best day ever but only silence ensued so naturally I asked him why it was going to be such a good day and he simply said, "because the sunset", in which he clearly meant sunrise. I wanted that feeling..you know..to think this was the best day ever because of the sunrise. One of my favorite times of the day usually is when I open up the blinds in the morning and I don't think I had really opened up those blinds for a while (ok I really did open up the blinds but as a matter a speaking was not quite feeling the joy). Anyway just that simple exchange of words got me to think about where I was at in the present. Was I missing something? Because if I were I didn't want to be. I just plain felt burned out and not so much quality at anything because I had spread myself out so thin. So I devised a plan and it was called operation regroup and drop everything that didn't have to do with kids, summer and good health. It was just what I needed to do in the moment so I could reevaluate my life's plan. Feeling unbalanced is just the pits..ya know??

Summer was great. I had a brother get married, a family reunion and lots of swimming dates. We also got to spend a chunk of time in a place that in my opinion would stage a good reality show series for Survivor. I think on more than one occasion my husband and I fantasized about living the simple life in a cabin. We also think that if life offers us an opportunity for our family to own and work a cute shop during the summers in an apple orchard that we'd take it. I love how even in the most desolate of places there is beauty to be found...almost more sometimes. One of the highlights for the kids happened when we took them to the middle of no where desert to hunt for arrowheads and sharks teeth (crazy that there are sharks teeth in the desert). We didn't find either of those but we did stumble upon banks of fossilized clams...probably courtesy of the ancient Lake Bonneville. Truly it was a sight to behold.

Talk soon.

P.S. - A few additional pics of the family reunion, my brother and his new wife, my boyfriend (aka as my nephew) and goofiness found in a family. (below photos by my sister Annie who also happens to be the mother of the before said boyfriend)