Spring is here?

I'd like to say Spring Has Sprung, but seeing as we had a freeze just last week and it may or may not snow later this week, I think I won't jinx it. Even though the weather gods have been dealing out their cruel trickery this month that didn't stop me from beefing up our front porch with some potted flowers. 

Nana spotted these awesome containers that are nice and tall, but square (which apparently is a rare find in this part of the world) for a great price (like, 12 bucks - and if you're like my husband who doesn't know the price of things past a peanut butter mocha - pots this size and style would normally sit around 50-70 fat dollars.) 

Once the containers were home I filled the better part of the base with mulch (that we dug up from our beds before replacing with rubber mulch) so that it wouldn't weigh a million and a half pounds. Then I put in a saucer similar to this one but it's actually made out of a much thicker black plastic with watering holes. I swear that they have it - it took us a trip to Home Depot then 2 different Lowe's to find it (it ended up being at the one by Woodland if anyone here cares). But the point of having that saucer is to help water irrigation by letting the water drip down through the holes and into the mulch (which is another aid) so it doesn't just sit all up on the surface making the plants float. 

Finally, it was time to fill! We stopped by a cute little flowering tent in Owasso and picked up a bunch of the stuff then I found some pops of color at the Herb Festival. 

We have a good mix of tall height (with the fan looking thing), some medium height, some pops of color, and some trailing things.

I also added in some Rosemary to one of the pots and will probably add some other herbs down the line just so I can have a year round filler.

Then I filled a small terra cotta pot we had with a couple of trailers and a fern thing.

This is one of my purchases from the Herb Fest! It is awesome. This woman makes all of the containers out of reclaimed wood and they are all different shapes and shades. Then she adds moss and succulents along the grid....then after the roots take hold you can hang it on the wall! 

It'll go on the front porch since I think I've reached my limit on succulents on the inside...

And these succulents are all ones I've had I just finally have been able to bring them outside.

Hello, sunshine!

And this is Gary.

A Lovely Shade of Blue-Sea-Green-Aqua-Teal

We may or may not have woken up one sunday and (while still in bed) decide to paint the laundry room. Off to Lowe's we went with my small ceramic bowl I picked up a couple weeks before so we could get a color match. A can of paint and some painter's tape later we were ready to roll. 

This was the first time B has helped with the actual painting process and let me tell you that boy is not getting out of it again. Since we have slightly textured walls it takes all of my non-existant upper body strength to get the paint from the roller and into those tiny grooves, but B did this part like a champ. So we had this good rhythm of me doing all the taping and cutting in while B rolled the walls so we were able to finish the entire room fairly quickly.

The white shelves you see on the wall below were ones we put up with the help of B's dad a while ago. I didn't want to take them down and worry about putting them back up in the same spot (since the hole might be weakened) so I painstakingly painted around them trying not to cover them in the bluegreen paint.

Sidenote: this is the second time we've taken in an item to get color matched so these paints don't have names...should I be naming them?

And here the shelves are all loaded up with laundry room essentials. That small bowl there was the color inspiration. I can't remember exactly where I got it...but I know it was only 2.99.

Our laundry room is nice and roomy but it only has one cabinet and a wall cut out for storage so we definitely needed some on the wall organization. So we found the white shelves from Target (they're just Closet Maid wire shelves) and the baskets from Garden Ridge. The two large ones up top just hold sheet sets right now (actually just the sheets for our blow up mattress) but I figure they will get full of something at some point. The brown baskets on the second shelf hold lightbulbs and batteries, cleaning supplies, and dirty rags.

I labeled each basket (mostly for B's sake) to remind us where to put what things.

We put up this hanging broom contraption a while back and recently added the iron and ironing board holder. That green towel is for muddy doggy feet when they come in from the backyard. All of this stuff is hung up behind the door so you don't ever really see it which is nice.

I also did a little in-shelf organization with the help of two cheap-o baskets. We have doggy accessories (food, collars, sweaters, etc) and a bin for household cleaning supplies (microfiber dusting clothes, magic erasers, etc).

Oh, and we (well, B) painted the ceiling to match! I read it helps make small spaces feel bigger and lighter and although we don't really need our laundry room to feel bigger it does give it a nice seamless look.

Oh, and we (actually, just me) painted the hallway to match! The door on the left goes into the laundry and the sliver of the open doorway you see goes into our master. Directly across from the laundry room door is the door to the backyard and where I'm standing here is in the nook off the kitchen.

So we love it and we are both surprised we went with such a...color, you know? I like that we painted the hallway since it gives it a nice pop of surprise and isn't really that big so it doesn't overwhelm everything else.

Window Shopping: Target

Similar to our post a few days ago when we went window shopping in Anthro let's take a look around Target shall we? The Target closest to us just wrapped up their remodel which included adding a Starbucks (hallelujah) and rearranging to add fresh groceries and a larger home section, so it's got lots of new goodies. 

How about these new teal and white vases? How easy would these be to make on your own with a pretty colored glass vase and a swirl of white paint in the inside bottom? 

These here would be just as easy to create that striped look with some painters tape and acrylic paint. Think of the color options! And how cute, now that we have spring flowers for picking, would a bunch of painted glass vases be clustered as a centerpiece or mantle top?

Also, I just have to brag for a minute about a steal of a deal I came across the other day. I have been eye balling these wooden vases from Target for months now, but paying close to 20 or 30 smacks for a vase just isn't in my game plan (fyi these vases are on the wrong price sign).

So I walked into Big Lots for the first time ever the other day and I wondered around and found some cool stuff, but as I was heading out to leave a clearance cart caught my eye. It was full of sea shell/beach themed stuff (which, is so not our style) but hidden among the sand and star fish I found these exact wooden vases! It was an in between size from the ones below....for...wait...SEVEN DOLLARS. I died, resisted buying the rest they had in stock and just bought one. Then I went to Target and rubbed it in their faces.

Moving on now, how about these golden rhinos and lions? Maybe kids room...maybe my living room.

And these baskets. Ugh. I love. I feel like baskets are going through a nice makeover these days...like a What Not To Wear Makeover. They're quickly moving from icky colored wicker to unique materials and color patterns, minus the ribbon threaded through the top, hahaha.

I know this particular table as been in Target for ages but I love love it. Like I want it so so bad. It needs to go on clearance. I think it would look fab next to our new couch.  Also side note: do you say sofa or couch? I can never tell which one is appropriate. Maybe I'll make a new one...souch or cofa.

And these mirrors. Love. And I think for the set they were under 40 bucks so hello steal of a deal. I'm loving gold more and more these days and I love that this gold is matted so it's not in-your-face-jersey-style gold.

Now let me say that I am not a fan of buying store bought ready made art. It's just not my jam. Too many other people have it and it's just too easy to make it on your own to go pay for something. Anyways, I do like this print, but you could totes make this on your own.

12 x 12 canvas +
12 x12 scrap book paper +
modge podge =
fabulous art for probably less than 20 dollars and 10 minutes.

Also this. I love catch-all-memo-board things so this is right up my alley. We're also kind of in the process of redoing the office with the works of a new desk so I am really into finding cool office accessories right now. But I left it at the store :(

And this light! Oh my gosh! If Target is going to start working on offering lighting I will die. I want three of these. Somewhere.

Lastly, it looks as if they're starting a new section called Giftables to Go and it's full of quirky, inexpensive products for quick gift giving ideas.

How about this washi tape dispenser? Wooden and comes with 5 tapes? I think I might go back today and get it. The tape dispenser I have been coveting might lose out since it's way too darn expensive for a tape dispenser.

And you know I'm into ceramic animals acting as bowls. So hello nesting pigs. Maybe come sit with my nesting hedge hogs?

Nate Berkus in the House

After dealing with too short, too light, too sheer curtains for almost a year I finally took the plunge and brought Nate Berkus home with me. But let me tell you curtains are too dang expensive for their own good. Like seriously no one hardly ever needs just one curtain so when they're anywhere in between 24.99-49.99 for one panel we're talking at bare minimum about 50 smacks just for one window. 

So when I find them on sale it's like whoa, these curtains are now mine. And it seems like holding out for curtains until they're around 10 bucks seems to be the going trend for us. So enter in this lovelies from the Nate Berkus collection at Target. Both panels were marked down from 24.99 to 9.98 so I snatched up two of the grey (on the left) and four of the blue (on the right). 

I also made sure to pick up some clip rings so we wouldn't be dealing with too short curtains anymore. Since our old curtains were temporary I just hadn't gotten around to clipping them yet, but we went ahead and hung the rod at the height we knew we wanted it once we got the curtains of our dreams.

But I do have a small conspiracy theory in the works involving curtain makers, curtain ring clip makers, hot dog makers and hot dog bun makers. You know how it's annoying when you buy hot dogs that come 10-to-a-pack and then you go buy buns that come 8-to-a-pack? Yeah it's the same thing with curtain and curtains ring clips. You buy a panel with 8 tabs but then you only get 7 ring clips per package. Ridiculous. 

Anyways, the curtains are up and I love them. We hung the solid grey panels on the outer edge and a single sheer per window on the inside. So I got to take two panels back, holla!

And this is my favorite shot. It's the reflection in the mirror that we hung a while back. It shows our awesome new rug, our watercolor succulents from my cousin Amy, and of course an array of houseplants.

Accidental Update

And now for a small dining room update; we got a new rug! It was actually accidental that it ended up in the dining room seeing as we purchased it for the kitchen. But...once we laid it down in the kitchen it looked awful, like seriously I didn't even take the time to take a picture. So it was actually the hubby that suggested we try it in the dining room and lo and behold it looked fabulous. 

But how about those awful curtains? I'll have an update on that soon. 

We really love how the navy and white herringbone pattern gives this room a nice smack of bold. Oh and the rug is from Urban Outiftters and was less than 90 bucks for a 5x7 which is hard to find if you've ever rug shopped. Since the room gets so much light I wasn't afraid of going so dark in the rug and accents pieces, like the mirror or succulent frames.

This is my favorite shot; I absolutely love the wood + metal + navy herringbone. Best buds for life.

Biggie Small

We got some new accessories, some big and some small, in the house that I wanted to show off! 

As you know we moved the old trunk in from the guest bedroom to sit by one of the chairs we're babysitting. 

Well once I learned my orchid didn't do well in front of that window it left the space a little bare so I went digging around to find something (that we already owned) to go there. I found this lovely Pier1 tray that my mom got me for my birthday a couple of years ago. I stacked some garden books on it and of course a succulent and then my aunt came across this small old fan and I snatched it up. 

I think the fan might actually plug in and work, but the plug in does look a little small and dingy. So since we don't really need a cool breeze over here I think I'll just let the cord hang out and not risk getting electrocuted. Isn't it lovely though?

Another accessory is rather big....like the size of a new couch! But here is the back/side view first. We bumped up the console table that used to live by the door to the garage so we could have a spot for a lamp and a nice mug of coffee while we were chillin' on the sofa.

Holla to sectional-slash-chaise big bundle of (fake) leather comfort! It's the best. thing. eva. Like, I have key-locked that corner chaise nook spot. I will toss my hubby a dog outta my way to get in it.

Oh, and I actually went to the flea market and bought something (in addition to) other than succulents. I scored these metal bin/baskets for 5 bucks. They slide on the shelf perfectly and are nice little catch alls. It's nice to see we only have enough junk for one basket currently...I won't hold my breath.

Chevron in the House

When we last left off on the bookcase trial and (mostly) errors we weren't looking pretty. And this is the shot in real time...even worse. To bring you up to speed I had this big dream of a solid beautiful navy bookcase. Solid as in not the bead board backing it had, I wanted it to be a solid against the wall of lines. So I tried some spray adhesive + scrapbook paper + foam board cut to size....well that = fail. Once the temperatures changed or whatever excuse I want to use, the papers started crinkling and coming unglued at the corners. 

So I let it hang out looking like a hot mess for weeks until I came across something. I knew something would pop up right when I wasn't focused on fixing the problem and sure enough it did. 

A couple of weekends ago while out at Gordman's with my bff we stumbled upon this beauty. Self adhesive shelf liner in a grey and white chevron. Sure it wasn't the solid color I dreamed of but hey I do love me some chevron and it was on 4.99 for over 30 yards. Sold.

So then finally this last weekend (with the help of the same bff) we got her up. And boy oh boy oh boy do I love it. Seriously I think it's the pop of bold that this wall needed. And even though it is a pattern I think since the chevron goes horizontal while the bead board goes vertical it does help break it all up.

I will tell you this stuff isn't the easiest in the world to apply. Luckily it's not like super glue so if you mess up (which we did, a ton) then you can carefully peel it back and reapply. There are still air bubbles in there that I think just won't come out (since the boards and the wall are both bowed and uneven) and if you look closely you can see where the bead board creases are. But seriously, I've said it before, but if you come over to my house and look that closely at my things and say something you can go to your perfect house and sit, haha. But seriously.

How about this gorge shot? This is one of those prints I picked up while we were in Colorado. Oh and that little skull thing? Haha, he's from Hobby Lobby that I spray painted white. 

Oh, and here ya go! Ugh, I love it. You can see we went up a little on the roof of each shelf. This was a) easier and b) that's it, we did it because it was the easiest way to handle too big contact paper. 

The best shot. No words, I just love it.