Day 655's inspiring project

Reader Brooke sent us some pictures of a headboard she and her boyfriend made from wooden doors they bought at Home Depot. She was inspired by a Martha Stewart project (find it here and here). I love this project! The end result is a great-looking piece of furniture they will certainly hang on to for many years.


Brooke says, "The doors come in different widths, and so in order to figure out what size you need, see what size your bed is and then divide by two. We cut the doors off at about 36 inches and plan to make a foot board with the bottom part of the doors. We screwed three flat boards across the back to hold the doors together and used the top one to hang it from. You can find the trim to go around the edges and to cover up the center seam in the same area as the crown molding at Home Depot. I think the whole project was around $175."


It looks so great, Brooke!

Day 654's first house love

Much ado has been made in blogland over the Georgetown townhouse of Alexandra Wentworth and George Stephanopolous, published in the current issue of Elle Decor. While it is quite lovely, I am reminded of my love for their East Hampton home, which was published a few years ago (by either Elle Decor or InStyle Home, I can't remember which). Designer Elizabeth Martin is responsible for the interiors in both homes.

In the living room, every shade of blue imaginable is paired with wicker furnishing for a decidedly -- but not literal -- beachy feeling.


This kitchen spurred my love of white kitchens, if I recall correctly. I still love the pale blue walls, that gorgeous antique piece used as an island and all of the cottage details. I also find it interesting that the ceiling is a sand color, instead of the usual white.


The walls of stairwell are filled with mirrors of every shape and size. I imagine this is a pretty simple and budget-friendly decorating trick, to gather old frames at thrift stores and the like, and have mirrors cut to fit.


The bedroom walls are the perfect shade of blue-green. I've got to track this color down!


And their daughters' room is perfectly sweet. I thought this was too funny: It is a well-known fact that our first daughter's (should we have one) name will be Elliot (family and friends already refer to her by name) and I've recently added her fictional sister, Harper, to the line-up. I just read that George and Alexandra's daughters' names are ... Elliot and Harper! Did I subconsciously retain that information from the Elle Decor/InStyle Home spread that I so loved? Who knows, but so much for originality!

Day 653: mostly unrelated things

Photo by House to Home

Whew, Monday already? Again? Spring is in full-swing and from the looks of my calendar, so is our social life. I always think I'll take the few winter months we do have to get some things done in the house (summer's no good, and fall is all about football) but it didn't really happen this year. I need to get my act together and get a few things done, though.

Interior by Jeffrey Bilhuber

Brooke of Blueprint Bliss is helping me get motivated to get the guest bedroom going. A friend of her's is making a guest room into a nursery and offered her set of mattresses to us for next-to-nothing. Thanks again, Brooke!

Even though I'm up to my ears in projects, I couldn't help but add a couple more to my list after flipping through the office copy of Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts. Have you seen it? It's good. Filled with all of those great projects from the magazine that I can't ever remember came from which issue. All of the templates are online, too.

And we had a lovely Easter weekend!

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Luke 19:10

Day 650's pretty

Erin of Elements of Style led us to a story in New York Spaces on the home of Frank Faulkner of the Hudson gallery Smoke and Mirrors (best name ever!). Before I knew it, my face was two inches from my screen as I tried to get a better look at all of the crazy/genius furniture and accessories in his home.

In this photo, I'm especially loving the wide-plank floors and the molding. See the rest of the classical-but-kind-of-crazy house here. And then see if you can guess my favorite word in the English language -- it's in the article. Ha.

Happy Weekend.

Day 649's sink inspiration

Remember this vanity? Spotted at Blackberry Farm by Granny Smith Green? And how I thought that I Wes and I could make it?


Here is further proof that it can be done, thanks to a Decorno reader who offered it as an alternative to pricey washstand-style vanities (love those, too). This is the Hollviken sink from Ikea, and a base built and stained by the architect who helped the homeowner with the renovation. I prefer the deeper apron and addition of the stone base on the version at Blackberry Farm, but the basic idea is the same.

For a stone remnant, I'd try a salvage yard. Locally, we have Southeastern Salvage, which specializes in close-out and liquidation building materials. What do you think? Worth the trouble?

Day 648's color commitment

I have been loving, loving the colors in the spring collection at J.Crew this year. Loving them. They are so light and sweet, but still sophisticated. And since I can't exactly makeover my entire wardrobe (unfortunately), I've decided to apply what I've seen to the guest bedroom, which is slated for a makeover as it is. Or rather, a "make," since there is really nothing in there to be made-over. Here is the plan (hold me to it!).


First of all, we need a bed. We have a bed frame, and that's it. I'm keeping an eye on Craig's List hoping a set of matresses will magically appear between now and July, when we have weekend guests coming. I'm determined that I can make an upholstered headboard (the Collins Headboard at Pottery Barn is my inspiration) and my friend Caroline has offered to help me make a slipcover (hi, Caro!) in gray linen.


On the walls, I want to do a soft gray-green-blue (this is not news, I know) like in Katie Lee Joel's guest bedroom. Anyone have a color they love that might work? This one has been tricky to nail down, so far. On the bed, I'll probably do mostly white, and it will probably all come from TJ Maxx/HomeGoods. Love those places. I'll spice up all of the white-ness with a lumbar pillow in a pretty pale peach/orange fabric that is TBD.

We will something to serve as a bedside table, and at least one lamp. I'll be scouring my favorite flea mall and local garage sales for these items. And speaking of garage sales, that's exactly how we plan to pay for all of this. We cleaned out most of our closets a few weeks ago, and made a gigantic pile of stuff in the guest bedroom. The first item on the agenda is to get rid of it! Any Birmingham girls want to get in on the yard sale action? You know where to find me.

And by the way, thanks for all of the well-wishes and kind words about our cat. Good news! I found him last night -- he had been hanging out under the neighbor's house since Saturday! He's a little skinny, but is just fine. Maddie was barking toward their house late last night and when I went to get her, I heard a faint meow. I was able to pull a little vent off the foundation and free him (need to go apologize for that today!). I still can't believe he'd been only 20 feet away the whole time! The little stinker wanted to go outside this morning, but I think he'll be spending some time in the house for a little while. Sheesh.

Day 646's weekend recap

We had a weekend of ups and downs, first the up. Since we're old people now (ha!) and unable to sleep in, we were up and going at 7am on Saturday morning. I had seen a sign for an estate/garage sale close to our house, so we checked it out. It was kind of a bust, but it led to a treasure hunt of 7 or so other sales around town. We just followed the signs!

We spent about $14, and came home with two old books (a 1937 edition of Gone With the Wind and a 1914 book on etiquette), a cute copper urn (for 50 cents!) and a really pretty turquoise ceramic lamp with a neat wooden neck. It works, but I'm going to rewire it and get a shade and give it my sister, who's getting married this summer (don't worry, she already knows about it. I was so excited about my $3 find that I took a camera phone pic and sent it to her as soon as my transaction was complete).


While we were out running errands, I convinced Wes to stop into an antique store I recently discovered. I had seen this fabulous bench one afternoon on a quick stop-in, and was curious whether it was still there. We scoured the aisle where it had been, but to no avail. I chalked up to a loss. We continued to browse for fun, and as we turned a corner (on the opposite side of the store!), there it was! And just as lovely as I remembered.

The shop was having a sale, and Wes was instantly as enamoured as I had been (which doesn't happen often), so he floored me when he offered to take it home with us that day! I still can't believe it; he is too good to me. Anyway, the base dates to the early 1900's and it has the original paint on it, which is appropriately chipped and has faded to a lovely shade of blue-gray. The seat is new and covered in burlap, and I just love it! Thank you dear!

Local gals (or guys) might want to know that it was in the Hoover Antique Gallery, which is conveniently located next to/behind the HomeGoods on Highway 31. It's a dangerous little corner, that's for sure!


And then to not-so-fun part of the weekend. We haven't seen our beloved cat, Peepers since Saturday afternoon. He loves to wander outside, but always always always comes in for the night. Everyone keeps saying that "cats do that," and I had a kitten disappear and then come back 6 months later when I was a kid, but it's not really much consolation, to be honest. I've made some posters to put out around the neighborhood today, so I'm hoping that either someone invited him into their house (he's never met a stranger!) or that someone will know something. At this point I just want to know if I should still be watching the kitchen window for him to let me know he's ready to come inside, you know? Sorry to be a downer!

Day 643's pretty

Interior by James Michael Howard

Hope it is beginning to look Spring-like where you live!

Happy Weekend!

Day 641's challenge

Paula at Two Ellie tagged me with the challenge to come up with one image that explains my personal style. I had actually already given it a little thought after Lauren of Pure Style Home did it last week, but it was still surprisingly tough. I went through all of my digital inspiration files, and in the end kept coming back to these two, from the home of designer Morgan Harrison.

Add a little more brown to the mix, and these colors are spot on what you'll find in our house. It's pretty lame, but I was inspired by the colors of some dried hydrangea flowers when I first began choosing things for the house. I love the muted blues and greens and find myself drawn to them over and over and over (to an obsessive point, really).

I love antique furniture and anything with a history, especially when it's used in a fresh, up-to-date way -- like this blue sideboard and the painted chairs. To me, a room can be very stale and predictable unless there is a little history mixed in. That combination of old and new offers personality.

While I am definitely not a modernist, I do tend to be a little spare, preferring solid colors to prints and keeping surfaces (both walls and tables) a little bare. If you have good-looking furniture I don't think it needs to be dressed up with a million accessories.

Now that I'm living with a boy I try to keep a handle on it, but I definitely lean in a feminine, sort of pretty direction. I don't like anything too fussy, but I can't resist a ruffle (there's evidence of that in my wardrobe, too).

What really sealed the deal were those cake stands and pitchers on the shelves. I'll confess to having a slightly obscene number of cake stands, especially for a girl who doesn't bake many cakes! Ceramic or glass, white or blue, I love them all and find them (and pitchers too) pretty hard to resist at antique shops or TJ Maxx.

I think that pretty much covers it. I'm not going to tag anyone, but if you want to join the fun, please do! And then be sure to leave a comment here so I'll know you did.

By the way, I bought the rug! I really appreciate all of the feedback you gave yesterday; Wes was out of town so I needed some shopping validation, you know? I decided to wash all of our bedding at 9pm last night, so when I get it all put back together I'll snap a photo. My bare toes sure appreciated it this morning as I was pacing in front of my closet trying to decide what to wear.

Day 640's question

What do you think of this rug? I spotted it at HomeGoods over the weekend and am mulling it over for our bedroom. It's a little hard to tell in the top picture, but it's actually hooked wool, which I like. We don't have much color or pattern in there, so I think this will wake it up a little. It's also the perfect size (3.5 by 6.5) for the only spot where an off-the-shelf rug will fit and the price is hard to beat ($80).


I struggle with rugs! I think I'm a little scared of them, actually, which is why the only one in the house is very, very safe -- braided seagrass. So tell me the truth, is it totally cheesy??