Cozy?

I have been loving these past few Saturdays! I've been at home with no major plans! A couple weekends ago I spent some time trying to make our family room look a little cozier. Usually any room in our house is crowded with clutter, and we're working to fix that! So, having kept the room clean for a week, I decided it was worth the time to add...something...to make the room more enjoyable.

Here are the before's...

This was the very beginning, right after we bought the house. Notice the dingy walls, sickening carpet, and mantel-less fireplace.

Now these are the before pictures from the other day...The place was at least cleaner than when we bought it! It just felt a little empty.

Blah.

Boring.

See? Clutter.

And After's...

A black kitty-cat will make any room more enjoyable!




Sometimes putting something on the walls makes such a huge difference!
(Not to mention odor blocking primer/paint, new carpet, and a one of a kind mantel;)

Spring=Yellow

A pretty placemat from Target

Perfect for the season's simple centerpiece

Lemon Scones

I just added a lemon's worth of zest to Betty Crocker's basic scone recipe.

The glaze has just a hint of lavender...

And, of course, no season would be complete without an appropriate apron!

The Laundry Room

My Dad bought me these adorable prints as a housewarming gift. I love them! They were the inspiration for my lovely laundry room decor.

I hung them right above my convenient drying pegs...drying rack? It's difficult to take pictures in a narrow room...

The shelf above the washer and dryer. My favorite lamp, my Japanese doll from the Big Brother, and some gorgeous spring blossoms (silk to last all year!).

I've always dreamed of a laundry room! And here it is in all it's glory!

Design Update

Since January when we painted our bedroom, I've been trying to make it look a little more finished and put together. I've been missing a crucial piece though--nightstands! El maestro had an inspiration and was going to build them...but it hasn't happened yet.

This past weekend when I had the house to myself, I found him a nightstand (compliments of Grandpa V. who gave it to us when he moved), hung some pictures, and tried to see if things were finished.

As you look at this picture, keep a few things in mind...the Tasmanian Devil alarm clock isn't going anywhere. The goal would be to have matching nightstands someday. And if you look at the lamps you'll see that they don't match each other. I was feeling a little overwhelmed with all the silver, so I switched my lamp base over to a white one. Which lamp do you like better?

(FYI: the lamps were a little too short when they were just sitting on the bedside tables. Mine is now placed on a stack of Real Simple magazines, and el maestro's in on a stack of Shel Silverstein books. Perhaps close up pictures if you want them later.)

Why doesn't this look finished to me? Is it just because I'm not a real designer? Is it the mismatched nightstands? The lack of curtains? (My white, flowing curtains did not become a reality because I have a cat-child who would most likely try to climb them and rip them to shreds in the process.)

Any suggestions?

Recent Events

It's been awhile since I've posted anything...and that's because I've been distracted and busy! Let me fill you in on some of the activities that have been going on in my life lately...

On Sunday we drove a couple hours to pick up our niece, Miss M. She'll be in town for two weeks! We spent a lovely afternoon with my sister-in-law Mamapua and her wonderful kids. Then we headed back home with lovely 13 year old M.

Monday I had a day off, (Thank you, Presidents) and so Miss M. and I were pampered with a lovely gift from Beanball. We got manicures and pedicures at a local nail salon.

Our lovely mani's....

And pedi's...

Look at the artwork on my big toe!

Ugh. And I will never post foot pictures again.

I promise.

Sorry.

Moving along. Later on Monday, we did a little window shopping. And then I bought something instead of just looking at it. But guess what I found?! The perfect THROW PILLOW! Hurray! (Hooray?)

What do you think? I need to get some pictures on the walls! I have a big black and white picture from our wedding that will go above the lamp between the wall and the window. Also, the nightstand is not an official part of our decor, but it works for now. I played with a few different pillow arrangements...I think I like this one best.

Ok. Guess what else has been going on. Remember this guy?

Yeah, well, guess who came to visit me last night?!

Oh, the fun we had! We went out for pizza and then played MarioKart with the Wii steering wheels. It was so wonderful to be together...we laughed a lot!

Yay for two of my very favorite boys!

I hope your week has been going well. Tomorrow is already Thursday!

BS Design Inc.

The BS in the title of the post is for our names, of course.

I'd like to talk about something that they didn't prepare us for in pre-marital counseling. El Maestro and I read a book with a bazillion questions to ask your future spouse before the wedding, and I've discovered that they skipped over an important topic. Among the questions like, "How many children do you want? Describe a marriage that you respect, and How will the housework be divided?" they forgot to ask, "What is your personal decorating style? and, Who will be in charge of decorating your home?"

You see, my husband is quite vocal about his style beliefs. And many times, I disagree. I never imagined that my husband would have an interest in the way I choose to make our apartment a home...and I certainly never thought it would be difficult to compromise! And here we have Problemo Numero Uno: different style preferences.



He leans toward a very modern decorating style. He likes clean, straight lines and very simple decor. I think his knowledge and opinions about home decor stem from his carpentry and construction experience. It's good to know what looks nice if you're building it!

However, I lean toward the more traditional decor. I like warm and inviting rooms. I don't have a problem with my husband's more sterile choices in furniture, but I'd like to warm it up with some colors and accessories that make our place feel like a home.

Yesterday we went shopping to find some new bedding for our room. I was looking for something in the silver/grey color scheme that is found in the inspiration room.



When you look at the room above (NOT my room, but the general look I'm going for), you see that a mix of white, dark grey, and light grey bedding is used to achieve the calm look that goes so well with the walls. In this picture, decorative pillows are used to make this bed look cozy and inviting. And here we encounter problemo numero dos: My husband HATES throw pillows. Please don't ask me why. But we have exchanged heated words on more than one occasion over this decorative staple.

As we were shopping, we found a bedding set that we thought might work. It was a dark, charcoal grey. We also easily agreed on some silver/grey sheets (with a great thread count) that were on sale. I found a beautiful throw pillow that would nicely pull together the silver and the charcoal, which my husband refused to allow in the house. Is he allowed to do that? Knowing that we still had other things to talk about, I decided not to completely ruin the whole shopping experience by fighting him. I put the pillow back on the shelf, letting him know that he couldn't stop me from returning to the store to buy it later.

We moved on to lamps. I chose the lamp shades, a nice traditional, warm look, and my husband chose the lamp stands. A cool, modern look. That's a good compromise. I think.

When we got home, we put the new bedding on and discovered that it looked almost navy blue or purple when it was in the blue room. El Maestro liked it. I did not. Luckily my friend K was just getting off of work at this point, so she came over and confirmed my case. It was too dark. Either we needed some throw pillows to contrast with the charcoal, or we needed lighter bedding.

K and I went back to the fashionable boutique (Tarjay) where we bought our original bedding, and chose a different set that was in a much lighter silver. We also purchased the light throw pillow that my husband had tried to burn with his eyes earlier in the day. We took them home and tried out our different options.

This is what we've decided on so far...El Maestro still proclaimed his hatred for throw pillows, but eventually I want to show him what is possible by adding a little contrast to our bed. I think we need some black or charcoal and white to make it stand out from the wall color...Hopefully once we get some nightstands and some pictures on the wall it will look a little more put together.

Close up of the lamps...I know the lamp shade is not white like in the inspiration room...but I just loved this shade! I need something like this to add a feminine touch;)

Our next move is to bring in some simple nightstands. El Maestro is in charge of design and construction. I'll let you know how it goes....

Thanks for listening.