A Few Favorite Things..

It's Friday!  Friday's always manage to make me smile, but I decided to do a little peruse through my house to find a couple things laying about that made me smile this week....

Instruments as art.  I think musical instruments are simply gorgeous (made even more beautiful when actually used and played!).  My D41 Martin acoustic and Ganjo (a 6 string banjo) are on prominent display in our living room - they make great wall art and are close by for anyone to play.  (Part 2 of this photo: turquoise throw pillow = More Color Now project...remember? :>)  

Vintage inspired Anthropologie candle - Aloha Orchid scent.  This was a gift from a dear friend, and not only does it smell awesome, but its packaging is lovely.  The glass jar and vintage-y gold lid look great whether lit or not.

A new (finally!) brushed silver leaning mirror from Home Goods (only $49.99!).  I've been wanting a floor mirror for the bedroom for a long time now - Cue me: Standing on the trunk at the end of our bed in order to see my shoes with the rest of my outfit :>)

Vintage leather purse from Mexico.  I had long thought I lost this purse (maybe in a move, a Goodwill binge,  or in The Divorce*?)....but imagine my sheer delight when I literally stumbled upon it this week!  It was wedged waaaaaaaaaaay in the back of the guest room closet, under piles of "stuff".  Clearly its beyond time to organize and clean out our closets.  But I'm so happy to have found this.  I bought it several years ago on a trip to Cabo San Lucas.  I love it's rough around the edges look with the beat up leather and texture - I can't wait to wear it again!

My perfume collection.  I'll admit it.  I'm a perfume-aholic.  I literally cannot stop myself from buying a new scent...and sometimes its just because I love the look of the pretty bottle!  

What made you smile this week??  

xo,

k

*The Divorce: When I got married, and my twin sister Kacey moved out of our house - she got the car, I got the house, she got this dress, I got that hat...apparently I thought she got the purse too :>) Sorry Kacey.

Self Portrait - Week 1

I got my amazing Sony a390 camera for Christmas last year, and absolutely love it.  I've been wanting to take a photography class ever since then, but just haven't gotten around to finding one.  (although I did sign up to get daily emails from this website, and the tips are great!)  I was excited to come across A Step In The Journey's  photography challenge while blog browsing last week!

So here we go, Week 1: Self Portrait

It's a challenge to capture "light and bright" pictures in my house....we don't get a lot of natural light, so a lot of my pictures come out darker than I would like.   Since I never like to use the flash, I've started to play around with my Manual Mode (M) to brighten my photos - slowed the shutter speed to 1/5, changed the F-stop to F4.5, and upped the ISO to 400 (the above photo is actually set at 800).

Those are the settings I used for the above photo.  And then I turned it black and white - go figure :>)

Check out the link party here.  And join in on the challenge!

xo,

k

PS: I'm obsessed with this swing!!  

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How To: 3 New Floral Arrangements From One Grocery Store Bouquet

Fresh flowers are my favorite way to spruce up the house.  But they can get expensive - especially if I'm trying to emulate the huge arrangements I see in magazines.  In a perfect world, flowers are always worth the splurge, but down here in reality :>) we can't always get what we want.   Usually, I buy some Alstroemeria and call it a day - it's inexpensive, looks great (especially if you keep it to solid colors), and lasts forever.   

Have you ever received one of those pre-made bouquets from the grocery store?  A lot of the time, those pre-arranged bouquets at the store are seriously on sale.  While some may be extremely beautiful, some are not, so here are tips on "re-arranging" a grocery store bouquet.  You can also use these tips to take apart any pre-arranged bouquet.  You can get a lot more arrangements out of one bouquet and tailor the arrangements to fit the style of your home better.

1.)  Open up the bouquet and lay out all the flowers flat.

2.) Separate blooms by color.  Monochromatic palates look clean, modern, and more "high end" when grouped together.

***Arrangements (floral or otherwise) look best when grouped in ODD numbers (ie: 3 stems, 5 stems, 3 candles, etc)***

3.) Below, you can see how I divided up the blooms: 

*I gathered the pale green and white roses (5 stems) together in a small mason jar to make a loose, laid back, and romantic arrangement.

*I separated the 3 hot pink roses from the pack and cut them short to make a modern statement in short glass tea light holders.

*I kept the bright buds (yellow alstroemeria, orange and red roses - 5 stems) together to create a burst of color and placed them at differing heights in a tall narrow glass vase

I lined the 3 hot pink roses along the fireplace mantle:

The bright burst of color bouquet got placed in our powder room downstairs - It's lovely with the charcoal, black, and white color palette.

And the soft, romantic bouquet of pale green and white roses is sitting on my nightstand:

Voila.  3 brand new arrangements for the discounted price of one!

xo,

k

Flea Market Fix-Up: A "Regal Purple" Chair

Hello!  It's purple chair day.  This is the $8 dollar chair I found at the Flea market a month or two ago.  It's just been sitting by our door (and holding all our bags, purses, shoes, dog toys) looking sad and forlorn...practically begging me to bring it back to life every time I walked in and out of our house.  I immediately loved the lines of the chair - the arms, curved back, pretty legs - and the price tag was all it took for me to take it home.  I figure even if I completely ruin it, I won't care that much :>)

The first step was to lightly sand the entire chair.  I used 220 grit sand paper and skimmed over all the surfaces.   I stress the word skimmed - I did not sand it all the way down to the grain.  I just got rid of some of the rough, flaky spots.   I knew I was planning on priming it with Zinsser's 123 Bulls Eye Water Base Primer (Same product I used on our fireplace mantle re-do).  This primer is AMAZING.  It's made to cover surfaces that haven't been sanded....and it works.  I picked up a quart of it at ACE Hardware and I've barely made a dent in it yet.

Here she is waiting to get primed and gettin' a little love from a friend :>)  

After one coat of Zinsser Primer - applied with a Purdy Paint Brush:

See how I didn't worry if the primer didn't cover it completely?  It got in most of the nooks and crannies.  You don't have to be meticulous.

This is after the first coat of Glidden's "Regal Purple" in Semi Gloss Finish (one quart of paint is MORE than enough for a chair this size....I could probably paint 10 more chairs and still have purple paint left over).  Obviously one coat is not nearly enough...

This is in the midst of 2 coats:

We're gettin' there!

I flipped the chair over after I'd let the 2nd coat dry to get all the feet and bottom of the chair.

And......the finished project!

It sure does the job of adding a burst of color to the room.  Holy purple!  I added our navy and white toss pillow from Target to tie it in to the 2 navy wing back chairs we have on the opposite side of the room.  I'd love to add a couple more shots of this purple into the space...

I like the idea of this fabric:

Pillows? Drapes?  Hmmmmm....

One last Before and After for you:

xo,

k

Linking to:

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French Country Cottage

Barney or Baronial?

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Lately I've been trying to add more color to our home.  I've always been a "neutral gal".  It's easier for me to pull together neutral colors than to take the plunge and add in brighter tones.  But I'm ready to dive on in - and dive I did :>)

I finally painted an $8 flea market find in Glidden's "Royal Purple"....it's a serious purple, people.  Billy and I were deciding between Kelley green, bright orange, or royal purple, and we decided to go royal.  Obviously.

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I can't tell yet if it's baronial or barney.... I'll post pictures tomorrow.  (Yes, I had to "thesaurus" royal.  Definition of "baronial" - of or relating to a baron; imposing, noble, stately.  boom.)

A couple more DIY projects I'd love to tackle someday (all on Pinterest):

Ummm, striped desk anyone? So fun!

Liking the tapestry used as a headboard and the gold lamps with purple shades.  Urban Outfitters has some really colorful options in the tapestry department.

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The flea market was in town this past weekend - I try to go every time it's here.  And I usually stumble across some bar stools that have seen better days.  But it's nothing a little turquoise paint and some new cushions can't fix.

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Make my own mercury glass?  Ok.   According to the pin I re-pinned, "Spritz glass with water then spray with Krylon "Looking Glass" Spray Paint."  Has anyone tried it?

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Create a "mini-bar" in a nook of your house - especially because we live in a small space.  Scour antique stores for a vintage bar cart, add some shelving....done!

And last up, dress up a simple piece of furniture with nail head trim...design is up to you :>)

Happy Monday!

xo,

K

World Spins Madly On

As I was driving to Franklin yesterday, a song I'd never heard came on the radio...."World Spins Madly On" by The Weepies.

It's rare that a song literally stops me in my tracks.  This one did.  I wish I could play it for you here...go to Itunes to hear :>)  *Note: It is a very melancholy song.  I'm not even feeling especially melancholy right now, I just loved the words and the feel of the music - Don't worry :>)

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World Spins Madly On

Woke up and wished that I was dead

With an aching in my head

I lay motionless in bed

I thought of you and where you'd gone

Let the world spin madly on

And everything that I said I'd do

Like make the world brand new

Take the time for you

I just got lost and slept right through the dawn

And the world spins madly on

I let the day go by

I always say goodbye

I watch the stars from my windowsill

The whole world is moving and I'm standing still

Woke up and wished that I was dead

With an aching in my head

I lay motionless in bed

The night is here, the day is gone

And the world spins madly on

Thought of you and where you'd gone

And the world spins madly on

And the world spins madly on

And the world spins madly on

and on

and on

and on

Perch

My first crepe ladies and gents.  I went to The Perch in Brentwood this morning for a coffee date with a new friend had a life changing experience.  In the form of an egg, cheese, and prosciutto crepe.  With butterscotch coffee.

Yes, please.  I have to learn how to make these.

Nashvillians, go now.

That is all :>)

 

xo,

k

Steak Tacos

In our house, Italian food and Mexican food reign.  I love to cook Italian food - it's what I grew up on, what comes naturally to me.  However, since marrying B, I've started making more and more Mexican dishes...what can I say?  Mexican for the Mexican ;>)

Steak Tacos are one of our favorite dishes - and it's easy on me because I don't have to do the grilling!

STEAK TACOS

Steak

Fixin's :>) 

(lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, cholula, avocado, lime, corn, cilantro, etc)

Corn tortillas

Salsa

Grill Steak to desired done-ness.

Fill tortilla with steak.

Chop up toppings, and sprinkle on taco.

Yup.  It's pretty much the easiest mid-week meal you could make!

Add some fruit and you. are. done.

Hope you are having a lovely Tuesday!

xo,

k