Fresh like a lemon

Hello everyone! I'm sorry for the absence these past few days - I'm always apologizing I know, but until I go back to school and work, and the rest of my life is on a nice decent schedule, this blogging thing is going to be pretty haywire too. And if you follow me on Twitter, you know that I've been having some medical issues recently (don't worry I'm ok now, thanks to free antibiotics from Publix). Anyway, here is a small does of refreshing inspiration for your day. While yellow isn't my absolute favorite color, lately I've been drawn to it, especially when paired with grays, black, and white. It's just so sophisticated that way, don't you think?

via Style at Home

via House and Home

via roomforcourt

via Hus & Hem

via h4ndz

via Apartment Therapy

Office Space - Inspiration & Organization Tips

I've been thinking that my craft area needs a little healthy redo. It's pretty disorganized and just a jumbly-bumbly mess. So if any of you are thinking of re-organizing, re-doing, or anything of the sort, maybe these photos will help you. I've really learned to not just "oooooh" and "ahhhh" over photos, but to really study them. Look at how they use like boxes of the same color, or pegboard to organize frequently used items and keep them close at hand. See how they use both new and old cannisters, cans, baskets, and bins to corral items. Take a good look at these photos and see what you see.

via Chez Larsson

 via Country Living

via Country Living

via Ideal Home Magazine

via Country Home

via A Field Journal

via Apartment Therapy

via House to Home 

via Amor Designs

Feeling inspired? You may not be able to do it all today, but if you do have the day, try these quick tips to "prettify" your craft space!

1. Label EVERYTHING. Labeling is the easiest way to organize. No more guessing and you know exactly where it goes. Honestly, it seems like a no-brainer, but I just recently started to realize (duh!) the power of a label. Find some gorgeous (and free!) printable ones here, here, or here.
2. Have a bunch of mis-matched shoe boxes? Try spray painting them all the same color. They may be different shapes/sizes, but a uniform color will help unite them. Or if you feel up to it, wrap them in a pretty wrapping paper or contact paper. When you're done, tag on a label or some metal label holders, which you can typically find in the scrapbooking section at your local craft store (as seen here)
3. Get in the habit of corralling items in containers. I have found (yes, yet another duh moment) that it makes life so much simpler when everything is contained within a little box. And a plus-side to this: it instantly makes items mobile. 
4. Go shopping in your china cabinet. Apothecary jars, mason jars, tall/wide cylindrical vases, bowls, saucers - even gravy boats! - can make great containers for buttons, paintbrushes, colored pencils, etc. 
5. Recycle! Use old soup cans, coffee cans, pasta sauce jars, jam jars - whatever you have - to hold things. Just give them a fresh coat of paint and maybe wrap some pretty scrapbook paper around it.
6. If you're a magazine hoard lover like me, you probably need a place (make that a big place!) to store them. You can either:
• Flip through your precious mags and tear out your favorite pages. Store them in a binder inside clear protective sheets. I usually sit down with some post-its and write down what I like about each particular page. Another good practice would be to keep a piece of paper with any websites/stores you would like to look up later or just have on file. Then, comes the hardest part which I still haven't done yet: throw away the rest :( or...
• Leave the aforementioned project for another day and make some DIY magazine files. Check out these holders which use cardboard boxes wrapped in paper from Apartment Therapy. Or what about these genius cereal box version?

The basic idea is to see what you have in a different light. Maybe you have an old dish drainer you're not using just stored away. Pull it out and spray paint it a nice happy color and use it to hold your mail an put pens in the silverware holder. "Use what you have" as my momma always tells me :) And if you think you need some new stuff, go garage saling! You can find so many neat dishes and caddies and it'll cost you next to nothing. Anyway, I hope some of those ideas got your creative juices flowing for some quick organization - in your creative space and the rest of your home. 

Do you have any organization tips? Would you like to share your creative space with me? I'd love to hear from you :) Leave me a comment below :) and HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Clever DIY

I typically try to publish all original/originally curated material on here and not to simply repost, buuuuut....I found a really awesome tutorial that I wanted to share with you guys. I just thought it was so ingenious. It's great for those of you who have a tight budget but would like to update those old linoleum/vinyl floors from the 70's. Caution though, it is for extreme DIY-ers. Learn more here.

via Apartment Therapy

Bzzzzy like a bee!

Hello everyone! Just popping in real quick to say hi and let you know that I'm here, but I'm busy busy busy. The lovely Miss Danni of Oh, Hello Friend is accepting buttons for her official blogroll (here) so I've been agonizing over THE perfect button. I should've just had one in the bag, ready for this moment whenever it came. But alas, I am one of those girls who isn't always prepared (but not to worry, that's on my revamp list for 2010! if not 2011 0_0). I've also gotta finish up that moodboard (in which I've hit a rut). Anywho, as you can tell, I've got lots of things to do, so I must be going now! Hope you're having a good day! And do something good for yourself today wouldja? Even if it's technically "bad" for you ;) Such as eating one of these...mmmmmmm

via The Cherry Blossom Girl

Bathrooms Bathed in Beauty

I love bathrooms. You can really have a lot of fun designing a bathroom if you open yourself up to the possibilities. There are so many options to choose from between flooring, wall coverings, fixtures, lighting, and furniture. I enjoy a good challenge and bathrooms are pretty good places to be faced with that. You have to be sure to fit as much storage as you can within what's usually a small space, be sure you use easy to clean surfaces and textures, provide adequate lighting for various tasks, and infuse your own sense of personal style all at the same time. 

via Country Living

(love the utility-esque light above the sink!)

via Vintage Simple

(delicious texture throughout - love the floor tile! You should see the rest of this lady's house too. I got a lot of inpsiration from her for decorating my house:])

via Better Homes and Gardens

via Country Living

via KitchenBathIdeas

via House and Home

via House and Home

(I love how the bottom two-thirds of the room is white with splashes of teal on the bathtub and sink and how the teal is echoed up at the top. I think if the walls were done half-white, half-teal then it wouldn't have been as successful - the tub and sink wouldn't pop as much and they would be in competition with the color on the wall.) 

via House and Home

As I looked through these pictures, I realized that there are seven things I am absolutely in love with in a bathroom:

1. Subway tile
2. Hexagon tile
3. Beadboard
4. Fresh colors
5. Unexpected furniture pieces
6. Unique storage (vintage caddies, baskets, etc.)
7. Unusual tubs or sinks (such as the colored ones pictured)

What are your must-have's in a bathroom? Any dream ideas you have for a bathroom? I've always thought it would be nice to have a nice big spa tub in the middle of the room with french doors in front of it opening up onto a balcony. That way, I can soak and enjoy the beautiful countryside and hear the birds chirping all at the same time. Then afterwards, in my bathrobe, I can go out onto the balcony and eat a lovely little breakfast - a homemade belgian waffle accompanied by some fresh fruit. Sounds like bliss doesn't it? One day...one day :)

Artisan White

Hello everyone! How is your day going? Good I hope. I thought I'd do a quick little post on some things I came by today. Lately I have been just inexplicably drawn to white. I love how when something is white, it allows the form to speak for itself. The texture, the shape, whether it is shiny or matte - it's all put on display. It's a beautiful thing, I think. Take a look at the pieces below and I think you'll agree.

via Yulia Brodskaya

via Alyssa Ettinger

I had heard of Alyssa Ettinger before and thought I'd share. I know a lot of you probably have heard of her, but I figured hey, maybe there is one person who hasn't and would like to see her beautiful pottery. I think it is so clever what she has come up with. It's so simple but sooo incredibly pretty. And Yulia! I have a lot of respect for anybody who does paper art. It is a lot of intricate cutting and you really have to develop a skill for it. It's not like painting or drawing where you can cover something up - one slip of the blade and it's ruined. My favorite piece of hers has to be the first one, "The Magic is in the Telling."

Do any of you have a favorite artist of any kind? I'd love to know :) Let me know and I'll definitely be sure to check them out!

Shopping: Pretty things

Ahh! [Hi everyone] My mind is going crazzzzy over here. I have so much to do and not enough time to get it done. You know that treasure trove of junk I bought in Mt. Dora? Well I haven't been able to hardly TOUCH it, let alone take pictures of it since I got home. And to make matters worse, I have to go back to Orlando for one last (2 week) visit before the Summer is over. I can't wait to get back here and be here for GOOD! Anywho, I've been racking my brains all morning trying to figure out what in the heck to post about. I'm still working on that mood board I was talking about in the last post, but I don't see it being done until either tomorrow or Friday. So I decided I'd show you guys all the pretty things that have been catching my eye lately. I've been doing a lot of research (read: online window-shopping) for the RV Project, and I've seen soooo many pretty things I love but just plain don't need, but hey, maybe you do! So come along for a little shopping trip with me :) Enjoy and have a great day!!

1. Teal Rug 2. Whale Chalkboard 3. Trash Pail 4. Floral Sugar Bowl 5. Book/Magazine Holder 6. Floral Datebook 7. Birdie Picture Frame 8. Doily Coaster 9. Dish Rack 10. Pink Cakestand 11. Floral Dress 12. Lace Catchall 13. Cuckoo Clock 14. Drawer Liner 15. Bamboo Clock 16. Tea Towel 

Inspiring makeovers

Hello everyone!!! I have missed you all :) Sorry for last week's absence. I quickly realized I wouldn't be getting anything done with and adorable set of kids running around - and I really didn't want to lose any time with them either. But I'm back now! And...now I must let you in on the surprise project :) My dad bought an RV and it's as old as me (20). Soooo, I convinced him (yes, convinced!) that he should let me take care of the decorating and the more cosmetic DIY projects. I'm so darn excited! It's like being able to decorate a whole house by myself. So, for today's inspiration - and yes, I know, not all of you have caravans or RV's or campers - let's take some cues from a handful of beautiful mobile spaces that show that it's not the size that matters, but the style!

annnnnd some more....

1. My Vintage Party 2. Happy Loves Rosie 3. FINN Travel 4. Rose Vine Cottage Two 5. Bodrifty

In my research, I found that it's common for people to buy old trailers and basically refurbish them into sheds, backyard hangouts and creative work areas. Cool huh? What do you think of these spaces? Do you have a favorite? 

Anyway, I've been working on a moodboard for our camper (side-story: it's been dubbed the "bucko van" because my dad always called my nephew bucko, and he therefore became papa bucko, and thus the van, according to a two year old, is called the bucko van haha) and I want your help! I will post it sometime this week and I hope to get lots of input and maybe some cool ideas. Get your brains working on organization and storage ideas too! Oh and one last thing: 

happy 2nd birthday to my beautiful little girl cheyenne!!! the [little] love of my life :)

A passion for packaging

Hello everyone :) Hope you all had a good weekend. I'm sort of at a loss for words today - I have so much I'd like to talk about but have not been able to fully devote time to one topic or another - which is a bummer because I have lots of cool stuff to talk about! Right now I'm back home from Orlando and my sister-in-law and nephew are here so I've been a little preoccupied with that. Butttt, I will tell you that I have a new project! And hopefully you all will get to enjoy the transformation with me :D More about that coming soon (I know, I know, I always leave you hanging :P)..Anyway, onto today's inspiration. I've been on a little graphic design kick (but can you blame me?? it's kind of in my blood :P) Enjoy!

1. Cath Kidston 2. Mor Cosmetics 3. Victoria's Secret 4. Beekman 1802 5. Urban Rituelle 6. J.R. Watkins  7. Lollia 8. The Art of Shaving 9. Nostalgia Organics 10. Laduree 11. All the Better to Kiss You With 12. Prada

Inspiration: Feminine & French

I know it sounds so cliche, but I really do want to go to Paris. The only thing I think I'm afraid of is that if I go, it might not live up to my expectations. To me, Paris is like this dreamy, magical place where every woman feels like a little girl again - yet a sophisticated woman at the same time. It's like....do you remember when you were little? And you wanted so much to be like women in the movies or the magazines? You played dress-up and had tea parties and even if you weren't always graceful and sophisticated, if you believed you were, you really were. I guess that's how I think of Paris. A place of fanciful dreams, where a woman can be both sensual and yet maintain a sense of youth and innocence at the same time. But you wanna know what I think is the most beautiful thing about French women? Their confidence.

I think that is something we could all use. I know lately I've been poking and prodding at myself, but as I observed a young woman today (who was a little more than curvy) I thought, "She's prettier than me." Number one: I shouldn't be comparing myself to others - why do I need to do that? And number two: I realized why I thought she was pretty - because I could tell she thought she was pretty. Lesson of the day: embrace yourself for who you are - yes, "imperfections" and all - because when you do, you will glow - I promise you. So ladies, take a look at yourself in the mirror today, and tell yourself, "I am beautiful!" Heck, write it ON your mirror - I did ^_^

via .neha.

via gabriela rousseau

via flowerfawn

via Inspire Once More

via MaD Gi®L•™

via andrea singerella

via knight cat

via caesar sebastian

via nikole herriott

via jasminee

via La Vie en Rose

By the way, I apologize for the late post! Crazy weather today and the internet here sucks! But I hope you enjoyed those photos :) Have a pleasant evening!

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