Everything is Just Beachy!

Clearwater Beach, Florida (December 2012)

Back in December, my family was blessed to be able to vacation in Florida.  It is a real treat  to take a break from the cold and enjoy some warm fun and sun in the winter.  After the past few weeks of snow, freezing rain, and brrrrrrrr cold here at home I am reminiscing back to last month's warm weather. 

I can't go anywhere without noticing good design. It may be a restaurant, hotel, or even a bathroom that catches my eye. On this trip I spied this little ice cream shop with a very swanky vibe. Shamelessly, I walked in off the sidewalk and asked if I could snap some pictures. I didn't even buy any ice cream, but I definitely think this is a cool place to grab a scoop or two.

We had dinner one night at the "Columbia" restaurant.  They had an interesting tile sink in their restroom.  I think this would be a fairly easy do-it-yourself idea for a reasonably inexpensive vanity and top.

Sink sloped to a square drain in the center.
 

Below are a few more scenes from the trip that caught my eye.

Is anyone else looking forward to spring?

Feeling the LOVE

I have always enjoyed nice Christmas wreaths, but I have never been one to indulge in wreaths for the other "cutesy" holidays. My feelings on this matter have now changed since becoming a mother.  Nothing is more fun for me than passing on the cheer of all the holidays to your kids with some simple and fun holiday themed decor. 

I didn't want to spend much money decorating for Valentine's day, so I simply took the base from my Christmas wreath and added some construction paper hearts ( I already had the construction paper on hand $0).  I attached the hearts to the twigs on the wreath with some  $1 heart clips that I picked up at Target a while back.  Total project investment was $1 + some priceless craft time making this with my boys!

Christmas Wreath 2012

Transformation in Progress

Voila, or should I say oh la la............... A Valentine's Day wreath!

Valentine's Day Wreath 2013

Feeling Blessed

The snow that fell yesterday was absolutely beautiful.  I feel blessed that we are able to enjoy it from a warm home (yeah..no power outages this storm). For those who did lose power, I hope you have it restored soon without too much hardship.  This snowfall really excited my two boys.  The flakes were huge and came down so fast.  This morning we bundled up and ventured out to make their first snowman.

I had to improvise with some blocks and toy hooks for the eyes, nose, mouth, and buttons. 

Back inside the paperwhite bulbs that I wrote about in a post last week, click here for full post , have really taken off.  They have already put out some blooms.  These are the fatest growing paperwhite bulbs that I have ever seen, thanks for the Christmas gift brother Steve.

 

It may be snowing outside, but it is still feeling spring-like indoors.  I am really really blessed.

 

I hope you all are enjoying whatever the weather is bringing to your door.

Some Touches of Spring

I know this is just the middle of January, but with a day like today where the temperature was in the seventies it is hard not to think about Spring.  I am sure we have several cold and dreary days of winter ahead, but the following things can see me through:

I.  Tulips from my husband.  We were grocery shopping the other day and he caught me admiring these yellow lovelies and picked them up for me.  For now, these are on display at my entry table. You can read more about my recent entry table design by clicking here.  I replaced the Christmas decorations I had in my wood bowl with some "faux moss stones" that I picked up at Target ($2.48 clearance).

II.  Some new art (this print called "Blossoming Trees" is by the artist Seth Winegar).  This picture was custom framed for me by my friend Mike Morefield with "The Final Touch" in Mountain City, TN.

 

III.  Some flowering bulbs.  My brother gave me some Paper White bulbs and this glass bowl for Christmas.  I didn't start these until New Year's eve.  I can't believe how fast they are growing.

 

 

IV.  Last but not least, I picked up a mini-watermelon at the store.  I usually don't buy these in the winter because I have found they are not often very tasty.  I gave it a try and I am pleased to say this one is delicious.  My boys love this treat.

 



 

I hope everyone has enjoyed the nice weather this weekend!

Sharing Some Of My Commercial Design Work



Newly Renovated Lobby at Pine Oaks Assisted Living, Johnson City, TN

The work I do as a commercial interior designer is usually quite different from my residential projects.  Even the nicest office or educational facility just has different forms and functions.  One case where that isn't true is the public spaces in healthcare projects.  These spaces should feel like home.  I recently had the pleasure of helping the local assisted living facility, Pine Oaks, renovate their public spaces.  Below are some before and after pictures.  This client has been great to work for.  They really wanted the residents to have a bright and inviting living space to enjoy.  Credit is due to Michelle Merrick for selecting the main wall paint color on either side of the fireplace.  Michelle moved to Nashville back in June and is truly missed at my firm.

"Before" This picture was taken a bit further back in the entry hall, but this is the same space.

The renovation upgrades are listed below:

1. Carpet is gone and replaced with new vinyl flooring
designed to look like wood.
2.  Wallcovering is removed and replaced with new two tone paint above and below the chair rail.
2. Dark wood trim is lightened up with some fresh paint
3. New furniture specially designed for healthcare.
4. New accessories_ a mix from (Ballard Designs, TJ Maxx, and some Custom Framed Art from "The Final Touch" in Mountain City, TN)
5.  New 2'x2' ceiling tiles to replace the old 2'x4'.
6.  The  brass trim around the fireplace was painted black.

Silhouettes & Shadow Boxes

 

My family art wall.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, my house needs ART on the walls. Slowly but surely I am making progress.

 

 I was inspired to create silhouettes of my boys for wall art after viewing this "house crashing" post on Young House Love's blog  click here for full blog post.  The hardest part to making these silhouettes was getting a good profile picture of my boys.  Getting a 1 and 2 year old to stand still long enough for a profile picture can be tricky.  My secret weapon was a lollipop that I held out in front of them to hold their gaze for that nanosecond  I needed them to be still for the picture.  After the profile pictures were taken, I put them in Photoshop Elements for a little line darkening.  I did this by darkening the contrast/exposure.  I then scaled the pictures to print out for an 8"x 10" frame. I cut out the boys' profiles from my photo print and then I traced this outline onto some heavy linen card stock that I found in a slate blue.  Some careful trimming with sharp scissors and voila silhouettes were done.  I used a light blue/grey/black checked paper for the background.  I found both the papers I used in the scrapbook aisle at Micheal's.

I took the blank angled wall in my entry hall and first filled it with a table that my husband made for our last house.  The table is made from walnut and sycamore.  My husband left the wood natural/unfinished to highlight the  beauty of the wood.  This table was beautiful in the narrow hall of our last house, but I had yet to find a good home for it in our current house.  After much playing around I thought it worked best on this angled wall, which made a perfect home for the silhouettes of the boys.

 

My other art project for this wall was a shadow box of keys.  I had been eyeing these "vintage" keys from Pottery Barn for several months and had pinned them to my "front door ideas" board on Pinterest click here for pinterest inspiration board.  In another inspiration from a Young House Love blog post, I arranged the keys to represent our "family" in the shadow box.  The large key on the left is Dad, Mom is next, then our two sons, and finally our dog (who has to be turned sideways since he doesn't walk upright). The vintage keys came as a set of seven, so I had a couple of spare keys to display flat on the table. The frames and shadow boxes were purchased on sale at Michaels.  I used "Gorilla" glue to adhere the keys to the back of the shadow box.   All in all I love the personal touches this art adds to this space.  Has anyone else done some family inspired art lately?

 

 

DIY Christmas Wreath

Today I am excited to be linking up to the "Crafts" projects over at http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2012/12/clay-filigree-ornaments-link-party/
 

I made the above wreath by adding some fresh greenery to an old "has been" wreath.  Below is the old "has been".

 

Two coats of white spray paint later.

 

 

 

Add in some fresh greenery left over from my $5 "Black Friday" door garland from Home Depot.

 

Last but not least, I added a monogram "B" antique glass ornament that I found on a super sale at "Kohl's" for a little personalization.