Southern Living in My Living Room

Ok, so the title of this post is a little misleading. Southern Living was not doing a photo shoot of my magnificent living room....in my dreams. But for those of you who don't know, the magazine has it's own line of home decor. It's set up a little like Mary Kay in that you can host a party in your own home. A rep/consultant will bring some samples of the product and it gives you and your friends an excuse to (in the case of my party) eat pasta, drink wine, and buy lots of pretty things! As a hostess you earn discounts and credits! I used mine to get a few new things.

Like this Santorini Urn for my living room....

The color is beautiful and really blends well with our Rocky Mountain Sky painted living room. And my husband is Greek, so I like the name.

I paired it on our TV console with some chippy candleholders I was given as a wedding gift...

And the verdict is....I love it!

I also found a few things to dress up my fireplace. You may remember that I've pointed this fireplace out as a major design dillema before. The mantle is too high and it just looks bare no matter what I do. Well, I got a beautiful firescreen to dress it up a bit.

The screen was a "hostess special" and you wouldn't believe the deal I got! It's got feet (which you can't see in the photo...should really pay more attention to detail when taking those), and the middle portion is actually a door that opens so you don't have to move the entire screen to poke the fire or throw on a log. I love love love the acorn finial on the top!

The hurricanes up top are new from the Southern Living at Home line as well. They're a coppery bronze color with a georgous turqoise patina on them. I used them to flank a bronze mirror I already owned and a "G" that plays musical rooms around our house...he just goes wherever I need him! I haven't decided what to put inside them yet. I'm thinking some creamy white candles on moss to bring some springtime cheeriness into the room...maybe easter eggs in April...and I can already see gold & silver ornaments for next December!

All in all, the SLAH party was a success! I got few more things for the house, but I'll save those for a later post!

~Katie

Want It Wednesdays

It seems like the only thing I can manage lately is the weekly Want It Wednesdays posts. I apologize for the sparsity in my blogging lately, but life has taken a turn for the busy if you know what I mean. Not only is it hard to find the time to post...it's hard to find the time to finish all of my projects to even post about! A vicious cycle, it tell you...

Now moving on to the wants! My last few "wants" have been pretty major things...new furniture and lighting. And let's just be honest with ourselves, those kind of large purhases just aren't a daily occurence in my house...if they are in your house...you're probably reading the wrong blog, honey. Either way, I decided to tone it down a little this week with a few smaller wants.

I've been dreaming of French toile lately. Now I firmly believe it can look outdated and stuffy if you put it on every chair, couch, and curtain rod you own...but in well proportioned doses, it is quite elegant and pretty. And where else do I want to put it but the LEAST elegant room in the house....THE BATHROOM! I know, I know- first the mirrors, now the toile! But take a look at this...via www.potterybarn.com

Pretty foliage and sweet little birds in my teeny tiny bathroom sounds delightful! So, yes please, Pottery Barn...I'll have that. K thanks.

And speaking of sweet little birds...I LOVE ALL THINGS BIRDS....nests? love 'em....eggs? love 'em... And check out this pretty Thomas Paul pillow from www.allmodern.com.

Love it too! So that's it...I will not allow myself to want any large things this week (yeah right....I'm just not admitting them). So here are my watered-down Want Its! Hope you enjoy! What do you want????

~Katie

Want It Wednesdays (Even Though It's Thursday)

For this (late) installment of "Want It Wednesdays", I'll recap a little from last week's post and talk about what I'm lusting over this week!

So last week I posted about my burning desire for a new dining room table. Well, the round table didn't happen, BUT I did snag a large rectangular dining room table for a sweet deal. It seats 6 comfortably and could probably fit eight if I really tried. It needs to be sanded down and stained (as almost every piece of furniture I bring in does), but I was waiting until I decided on chairs befored I chose the stain. Well, I decided to go with white upholstered, skirted parsons chairs. They'll be coming in any day now and then the slipcovers will be off to get monogrammed. I should be able to post a whole new dining room in the next two weeks or so!

Now that I've got the furniture (and a newly redecorated wall and buffet that you will see in my next post), I'm moving on to....what else?! THE CEILING! Currently this thing is hanging above the table....

And for those of you who are giving it the benefit of the doubt thinking "oh, well that could be cute country cottage-ish"....no, not so much. This thing is straight up 1995 Home Depot clearance rack. I think the previous owner of the home "thought" they were updating by putting this in.

So isntead I would love to grace my ceiling with the presence of THIS BEAUTY!

via www.overstock.com

Just imagine it hanging over my new table and chairs (that you'll also need to imagine for the time being). Perfection.

I've also been thinking about what to put on the empty wall of my bathroom. I'm not really into the bathroom-themed stuff and our bathroom is very neautral...white and khaki. So at first I wanted to add something with a little color. But alas, bold colors just are really for me. Then I ran across this photo on www.inthefunlane.com and I think it's originally from Martha Stewart.

I love how bright and open the room looks with all of the mirrors. And I love the eclectic collection inthis photo....

And considering how small our bathroom is, all that reflection can only be a good thing!
So it looks like this week I'll be off scavenging for vintage, frameless mirrors to create a collection for the bathroom wall. And I'll be purchasing the dining room fixture in the next few weeks as well. (I'm still working on the patio furniture...using my birthday as an excuse to get it and I think it's starting to work on the husband)!

By the way, how do you like the new look for my blog? It's fun right?! Props to www.backgrounfairy.com for the design!

Go forth, followers, and WANT! (Even though it's Thursday...and wanting is only allowed on Wednsedays.....yeah right).

~Katie

Wow! That's a Green Wall: Pottery Barn Bedroom Makeover

Warning: There is not a final "after" of this Before & After post yet, but there will be soon.

I spend a good bit of the weekend making over a friends bedroom. It's been a while since I've done a major overhaul on a room and it was so fun to watch the progress! Here is her room before....

There is absolutely nothing wrong with it...she's got all the essentials: pretty bed, seating, night stand, dresser/mirror, even a media center (that you can partially see on the right side of the photo). The furniture is really pretty in a dark mahogany color and the cute chair adds a little vintage touch to the room. You almost can't tell in the photo but her bedding is a very, VERY light robin's egg blue. It's a very pretty color, but up against the almost empty beige wall, and the beige ceiling, and the beige carpet....well you get the point...it's a little, dare I say, drab.

Haley was looking forward to creating a bedroom she could really enjoy! Something bright, and cheerful! When she she told me she wanted me to help, I was definitely excited. But when she told me she wanted to paint an entire wall green.....well, that's when I really got into it.

This lovely Pottery Barn bedding was her inspiration...

via www.potterybarn.com

So, first stop was to order the bedding. Since she had a 10% discount for in-store purchases only, we went into the store and had them order it there. Even though it was ordered online, because we were "in the store", the discount still applied! YAY! Also, if you live in the Birmingham area and need assistance at the Summit Pottery Barn, ask for Holly...she was awesome!

Using the bedding as inspiration, we headed to Home Depot for paint. She chose Behr's "Granny Smith Apple Green".

With my super-fly paint rolling skills...

We really made some progress....

And it finally turned into this....

The photo shows the wall looking a little on the lime side, but the paint dried to be a nice mossy, peridot color. And remember, that the new bedding will be here in just a few days. Then I will post the final "after"! Once the bedding is on, the room is going to have a fun, cohesive look! I'll post the final results soon!

Cheers to Haley and her almost made-over, cheerful bedroom!

~Katie