The Money Pit: Dining room sneak peek, before and after

One more step finished in our home improvement journey.  The dining room is officially finished, and I couldn't be happier with the results.  I think that it might be my favorite room that I've done in the house so far.  The deep purple wall color make it feel so rich and cozy.  Take a look:

Before...

after.  No longer a storage room for miscellaneous furniture.  The canvas in the corner is one of my most prized pieces of artwork.  It says "Every child is an artist, the problem is how to remain an artist once she grows up" -Pablo Picasso.  My two little sister painted it for me as a wedding gift.

Before, this used to be our office with this giant desk my husband has had since high school. 

After, a proper cradenza (inherited from my grandmother) and filled with all our serving pieces, and table linens.  I hope to fill this whole wall up with art work one day. 

Antique ice chest (now serves as the liquor cabinet).

I hope you've enjoyed taking a peek at yet another room in our home.  Stay tuned for the fully finished house tour coming at the end of April!  Up next the stairwell, upstairs hallway, master bedroom, and bathroom. 

Inspiration: Feeling geometric

Yes, yes, I am finally sitting down this week and seriously starting work on my new line.  I haven't made anything new in awhile, and I have about a million ideas and sketches of things I want to try, a feeling I'm sure all you creative peeps out there can identify with.  However I'm trying to create a collection, which implies cohesion so I must consolidate, and simplify my ideas to fit together. 

I find inspiration in pretty much everything, whether it be pop culture, art, fashion mags, the natural world, anything can trigger an "aha" moment for me.  However right now I'm totally feeling geometric.  Bold colors, angles, and clean lines.  Here's a few things I'm loving right now:

Everything about this is perfection!

Love the colors and angular lines.  Both images above from Apartment Therapy.

The frocks on Ms. Ricci and Ms. Stam.  Get it girl!

As always the work of Yellena James.

This video by La Roux.  Genius!

and of course...

The Gaga.

DIY: Spring flower arrangement

Better late than never.  I've had a busy day running around, and getting ready for my bff's bachelorette party tomorrow night.  However here as promised is my fun little project for the day, a simple DIY floral tutorial.  Read the instructions right now over at the QUIRK Magazine blog!  TGIF.

 

  

 
 

Insomniac

Yes, it's actually 3:30 AM while I'm writing this, and yes I am awake.  Not just regular awake, WIDE awake.  Note to self, taking non-drowsy cold medicine before bed is not a good idea. 

Ugh, this is going to be a long day, I'm thinking a nap will be necessary...however on the bright side I have a fun little project planned, I'll post pics for ya later today.  Enjoy your snoozing, I'm going to get back to my Google reader.

Out with the old, in with the new.

I've been planning on releasing a Spring collection for sometime now, but as we all know life sometimes makes other plans.  So now Spring is upon us and I haven't actually produced anything new.  Don't worry, I have millions of ideas swirling in my brain, just no time right now to bring them to fruition.  So looks like the collection will be Spring/Summer.  But either way, my shop needs a desperate clean out.  So I've put every single item on sale, 15-50% off, plus free shipping on all the 30-50% off items.  I need to say out with the old and in with the new!

  

  
 

The City: New Season's Trailer

Oh S, this season of "The City" looks awesome.  Just saw the trailer while watching early morning MTV.  Can't wait, especially after last seasons snooze fest.  Sooooo excited!

The City - MTV Shows

Artist Spotlight: Megan Frau

I'm so excited for my friend Megan Frau, that I just had to do a post about her work.  I first met Megan through in college, surprisingly not through the art department. Then she decided to become a Printmaker, hooray!  After graduating from MSU Megan decided to attend graduate school, and has been studying for the past two years at Minneapolis College of Art and Design.  

Although I always saw Megan as a talented illustrator and printmaker, I started following her blog once she went to graduate school and I've watched over the past two years as she's grown artistically and created some really lovely work.  I like the way she layers her images, and enjoy her content which is often slightly creepy.  I find myself always interested to see what she's going to come up with next:

The reason I was inspired to write this post was that Megan has some of her work right now in the "Glass, Cinders, and Thorns" show at 323 East gallery in Royal Oak, MI.  Find out more about the show on their website.

I was lucky enough to snag a print of the pink and gold piece on the top left.  So excited to frame and hang it in my newly decorated home.

Please check out Megan's blog/website and find out more about this talented girl.  Congratulations again!    

  

  

Spring Fever: Mini garden

I've got the itch.  The plants in my garden are turning green, poking their heads up through the dirt and leaves.  The hardest part of the coming spring is waiting until I can start planting flowers.  I have, in the past, been a little pre-mature with this.  So to satisfy my itch temporarily I made myself an indoor garden:

I went to Suburban Lawn and Garden, also known as Heaven on Eath, and picked up a few supplies.

I went with a mixture of succulents, tropicals, and shade plants, trying to choose those that I thought would do well in an indoor, shady environment.  So cute, everytime I look at it, it makes me smile.    

Lazy Weekend

This weekend after all the lovely weather we had last week, everyone in Kansas City was driven indoors by one last snow storm of the season, and it was a doosey.  After enjoying some home brewed beer on Friday at a friends house we headed home in the sleet and woke up to this:

It didn't stop snowing once the whole day.  So when it's nasty outside, what's one to do?  We found lots of stuff:

Staying snuggly by the heater...

Finishing up the last wall in the dining room...  

Cooking up some chili.

Hope you stayed warm this weekend and happy Tuesday.  Enjoy the lovely weather, while it lasts!   

Decisions, decisions

The other night Matt and I went to the new "blanc burger" on the Plaza to take a much needed break (me from painting, him from working).  After enjoying my always delicious Turkey Burger and fries along with a heifeweizen or two, Matt, to my surprise said that we could shop a bit.  I'm not going to say no to that. 

We walked over to Urban, I knew exactly what I wanted to try on.  A dress I had been eyeing for awhile now, but had no illusion of buying.  However whilst shopping around the store I also found a black 3/4 sleeve boyfriend blazer.  I know I am way behind here, but I've wanted one since last season, and thank goodness they remain in style.  After trying on both it was decision time:

                             

And although it was hard to part with either, I made the big girl decision and went with the blazer that I could wear with all kinds of outfits and probably for much longer into the Spring season as well.  How mature. 

Under Pressure

I realized yesterday that as of late my blog has become less "Handmaker of Things" as I haven't made anything in awhile.  I feel guilty to admit this, but I also figured that I am after all "handmaking" my entire home over, and I hope you lovelies are enjoying watching this process unfold.  If I had started a wee bit sooner on the re-decorate I probably could have done both, but as it stands I'm trying to paint EVERY single room in my house in a matter of months, which leaves little, to no room for anything else.  However I know it will all be worthwhile and I'm pleased as punch with the way things are coming together. 

I 3/4 finished the dining room yesterday.  However we have to move our monstrous "former desk" out of it before I can do the last wall.  Here's a hint at the color:

I know, I know, you're probably thinking "Whoa, that's a whole lotta purple", but this photo can't do it justice.  Against our dark woodwork the color is rich and beautiful, it may be my second favorite so far (after the guest room). 

I'm hosting a bachelorette party next weekend so that's part of the hurry up and get it finished factor.  I don't think every room will be done by then, but we are having an open house on April 17th, and my blog friends are invited as well!  Send me a message if you want details, otherwise stay tuned for the house tour coming at the end of April right here on my blog.  Happy Friday, I hope you all have a fabu weekend. 

Luck O' the Irish

Hello lovelies.  It's Thursday and the weekend is almost here.  I was M.I.A. yesterday because I walked in the Kansas City St. Patrick's Day parade.  The weather wasn't as lovely as last year (or today) but we still had a fabu time.  Our list of family traditions include:

Walking in the parade with the Irish dancers.  

 

Enjoying a delicious lunch at Governor Stumpy's including a black and tan, and a reuben

Later in the evening we went by "Corner Cocktail" and then to my Uncle's house for his annual St.Patty's day party.  Lots of food and family.  Hope you guys had a lovely day, even if you aren't Irish!  

    

 

A Little Art History Lesson

Hello lovelies, and happy Tuesday.  Looks like yet another rainy day here in Kansas City.  I hope that wherever you may be the sun is shining!  I plan to start painting the living room today anyway, so a few drops of rain don't bother me.  And after all you know what they say about April showers...

This morning while browsing Facebook I was lucky enough to find this little nugget of YouTube video goodness.  The band is Hold Your Horses and the song is called "70 Million".  For any of you art lovers out there it plays like a good old lesson from art history class.  See how many of the pieces you can spot and name.  

The Money Pit: Living room sneak peek, before and after

Happy Monday lovelies.  I finally finished up painting the living room.  Thanks to everyone for all their recommendations on colors and decor ideas.  I took little bits of everyone's advice and incorporated them to help complete the project.  It's been so gloomy out this weekend that I wasn't able to get the best snaps, but I thought I'd at least give you a sneak peek of the finished product!

Finished and re-decorated mantle, including Loteria Prints from Hammerpress. Bought them awhile ago and wasn't sure where I was going to use them, but I loved them.  They are a perfect fit wouldn't you agree?

My vintage apothecary and candy dish collection.

Hammerpress print, phrenology head, vintage children's encyclopedias, and my great aunt's binoculars.

Hazel approves of the changes.

The rest of the room is a warm off white color.  It really brings a lot of light into the space, even on a gloomy day like this.

Sitting area.  Sorry for the horrible lighting.

And here's a few of the before pictures just to give you an idea of what it used to look like:

The previous color was a grayish green.  It wasn't horrible, but with the dark woodwork it absorbed almost all the light that comes in through the windows.  We also had to keep the fireplace covered with plastic sheeting for fear of bats getting in (it happened a lot).  Fortunately when we did the improvements to the exterior we also had a cap put on the chimney to keep them out.

That's it for now.  Next up is the dining room, I only have a week and four days to get it all done before the bachelorette party I'm hosting.  This includes: painting the dining room, touching up the kitchen, painting the stairwell, the landing, and the upstairs hallway, possibly starting on the bathroom.  Wish me luck I'm going to need it.  And a complete top to bottom home tour post coming later this spring!