Easy Splashes of Color!

I am a fan of chandeliers but I am not a fan of brass so I am in love with this trend.  Spray paint an old fixture and you suddenly have a fun and elegant conversation piece in your room.  While I was looking through pictures to put up here I noticed these are showing up in all room of the house…not just the dining room!

This blue chandelier is my favorite! This room looks inviting and classy but not stuffy.

I am drawn to the yellow and teal colors used on these against this soft white backdrop.  Don’t these look perfect for a breakfast nook?

This is  a much louder statement but I still wanted to include it because it’s a great example of just how much of a transformation you can make on an old brass chandelier.

“If people were meant to pop out of bed, we’d all sleep in toasters.”

I am a firm believer that a headboard is easily the focal point of the room.  When I moved into my house I had a bed with no headboard and so I started researching budget friendly options.  I ended up using old shutters that I found at the habitat store for only $5!! Below are some of my favorite headboard ideas.  Most of these are a little rustic but you can fix that to your taste.  Just by giving something a fresh coat of high gloss paint in white or black will take the rustic look out of it.

A headboard is whatever you want it to be.  I personally like headboards that make the room look cozier.  Something as simple as a cushion attached to a shelf with hooks is easy to do and gives the room a softer feel.  Using shutters will give your room more of a “cottage” feel.  I mix the cottage look with traditional elegance.  To achieve this I use modern fabrics and high gloss paints.  Just because you find shutters that are beat up doesn’t mean you can’t dress them up a little. 

I love the use of the letters below! I would love to use this idea in a guest room with the word “relax”.

The juxtaposition of these wooden slats and clean white lines is great! You never want to overdo mixing styles but this is simple and easy on the eye.  To the right: using a large photograph as a backdrop for your place of sleep is never a mistake. 

Doors don’t really come to mind when you think about a headboard but they are so interesting! Using colorful doors can add flare to a room and, as shown in the picture below, leaving the doorknobs on can add a sense of charm.

Greatest Idea I’ve seen come along in a while!!! Using an old MANTLE!

Old mantles are easy to find and are often very inexpensive.  After a good cleaning (magic eraser) and some paint this could make an incredible statement!  It’s so unique!

Another great idea for a headboard is a vintage sign! 

I wanted to show this headboard because this is so trendy yet very classic.  These can easily be made by wrapping some padding and fabric around plywood.  If you get tired of it simply switch out your pattern!

Cozy Industrial

One of my favorite new trends is the factory cart coffee table.  I think a lot of industrial decorating can feel cold and uninviting but in the pictures below I really think this factory cart adds a very inviting element to the room.  I love getting the feeling that something is worn but still so beautiful and timeless.

The cart above was shown in an hgtv.com article about how to make your own cart.  For these instructions, click here.

Below are other pictures I thought were worth noting:

Who is more foolish, the child afraid of the dark or the man afraid of the light? ~Maurice Freehill

This photo (above) caught my eye at Knottinghillinteriors.com/blog in an article titled “Ideas for Choosing a Creatively Placed Chandelier”.  The photos are magnificent and the creativity behind some of these chandeliers should be inspiring to anyone.  Below are my favorite of the extreme.  Check out this article by clicking here.

I’ll admit it. I’m a card hoarder. I still have cards from my highschool graduation…if they were pretty.  As I was shopping for my annual mother’s day cards I was actually blown away by how great some of them have gotten (I mean, they should be considering they are charging $3-$8 per card!) This year I was greeted with a selection of beautiful colors and textures! After browsing for a few minutes I realized, half the artwork I see these days for homes isn’t this attractive!  This gave me the idea of blogging one of my solutions for wanting to hang onto meaningful cards.  I like to put them in frames.  Sometimes along with a picture of the person…sometimes just the hand written note inside.  Graduation cards are usually full of personal pep talks your distant relative decided to give you in writing…frame it and stick it on your desk for those times when you could really use some “oh the places you’ll go” or “reach for the stars” motivators.  Try taking your card a step further for your mom and arranging it nicely in a frame with a picture of the two of you…I guarantee you she’ll find a spot for it in the house!

Bright Idea!

Think Simple! sometimes things in their most raw form can be the most intriguing and beautiful.