Still stirring in the think-tank, but couldn’t help but share that a master bath re-do was in our future. Although we’re still recuperating from the guest bath reno, I think we’re ready.
pray for me
Inspiration: The Interiority Complex
Another dose of inspiration came last week when a friend suggested I look into The Interiority Complex. Located here in Austin, The Interiority Complex is pretty much the end-all-be-all of staging and affordable interior design solutions in our area.
Since looking into them, I’ve fallen in love. I think their mission is right on and aligns with the way I try to approach design:
Interiority Complex provides creative, affordable and eco-friendly design services and products. We believe that creating a beautiful space shouldn’t break the bank, or the environment.
For those who aren’t sold on staging – The Interiority Complex states that 90% of the average population can’t visualize the potential of a room. For some of us, this statistic is hard to believe – It was for me when I first heard it! But I reason that it’s only because those of us interested in homes can already see the possibilities of a blank state. In fact, for most of us, the blank canvas is more exciting. Below are a few pictures of our house when we purchased it. Although the house wasn’t staged, the previous owners did lighten, brighten and de-clutter.
The Living Room…
…And Dining Room (and Will!):
Staging can become large and exhausting, but I like the way The Interiority Complex lists out their simple staging tips and videos! I would apply them even if you weren’t on the market. It’s just simple, common-sense and could be applied before the holidays when guests and family are coming over:
- Lighten & Brighten
- Clean & De-Clutter
- Landscape & Trim
- Plumbing & Electrical Repairs
- Paint Interior & Exterior Walls
Still working on the art of de-cluttering, but here we are now…
I also appreciated their take on outdoor staging – Take a look at how you can improve your curb appeal.
Check them out and if you like them you can subscribe to their emails – I get them and love ‘em!
Categories: Decorating, Staging.
The Best Reward
After a long, hard day of creating something wonderful, the best reward is a taking a great picture to share with your friends.
I’ve always found it really hard to take a good photo of a redecorated room or a before & after. If it’s not the lighting, it’s the position I’m in or the shaking of the hands. It can be very frustrating so to guide me I like to reference these two great resources.
- First off, I’ve recently fallen in love with HGTV’s Real Estate site, Front Door. They have great resources for anyone trying to stage or prep a home for sale. I found their list of do’s and don’t's on taking photos to be very helpful whether I have selling in mind or not. Their tips are great for documenting progress on a project, or featuring the final transformation.
- Second, I like to visit Young House Love for photo inspiration. They do a great job at clearing out their rooms before photos and fluffing pillows, straightening carpets, all of those good things that you can’t forget about! They are also big believers in making the final tweaks in Photoshop to correct any shadows or low lights. John and Sherry aren’t just my photo inspiration they are also my blog inspiration. Young House Love does a phenomenal job on their blog and it doesn’t hurt that their content and design skills are amazing.
As for me, I’m still working on it! Below is an old before & afters – both shots could have used a little more planning, but because I can’t bare to post without a picture, enjoy!
Dog House Before:
Dog House After:
From what I learned at Front Door, I should have taken both at the same time of day and with a tripod – Great learnings for next time!
Categories: Purchases.
2nd Annual Wiltoberfest
Voila! A small story on how we saved our outdoor seating.
Last night we enjoyed hosting our 2nd Annual Wiltoberfest. In honor of Will’s birthday, we like to throw a beer/sausage/pretzel/mustard party and invite our friends to celebrate with us.
Last year, we were in our rental and had a beautiful backyard – 4.5 acres of Hill Country beauty to be exact! This year we celebrated in a slightly different, more urban environment but none the less we still had the fire going and all of our beer troughs out. However, with the move and the weather, our outdoor seating didn’t make it this year.
We had 8 very nice wrought iron chairs with leather seats and backs (a Craigslist find that we picked up a few years ago in Hutto). The leather had deteriorated and were becoming a hazard to our friends so we needed to find a way to make them functional again.
We had a friend suggest snaps to where the covers would snap on and we could snap them off to clean them. We had a friend suggest wood bottoms where all we’d have to do is staple the fabric on. We had a friend suggest throwing them away. We had it all.
We ended up testing the snaps and they didn’t hold. So after a few tears, we bit the bullet and started down the path of the wooden bottoms and to my surprise, they were much easier to make than I thought!
We had Home Depot cut us 18″ x 20″ squares of 3/4 plywood (approx $16) and then Will and I got the circular saw and started trimming the sides at the right angles.
I gave them a light sand and then started wrapping the boards with our very cool Nautica waterproof fabric that I got 1/2 off at Jo Ann’s. Still expensive (approx. too much to say) but it was half-off so that’s something, right?
After the bottoms were in place, Will was not satisfied with the fact that they didn’t have backs, but with only an hour away from party time, I didn’t know if we could get backs that quickly. Thankfully we had professional guidance from our friend Micaelin. With her RISD degree in hand and our left over curtain backing ($2.95/yrd), we had very cute/somewhat Asian-inspired backs.
Take a look at the final product below(… and please disregard our impressive lawn. Our drought and heat wave this summer did a number on it.)
I have to say that the hours I stressed about these chairs were so much more painful than actually making it happen. I need to remember that for next time! Thank you Lindsey in Alpine, AL for the great suggestion for the bottoms and to Micaelin for slaving with me just hours before party time.
Categories: Purchases.
Another Word on White Flowers
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I love a bushel of white flowers around the house! Here are two dozen that I picked up at Costco on Friday (2 doz for $15.99) for Will’s birthday party.
They add life to any room without taking over and they just look lovely and more sophisticated than I.
I also love tulips, hydrangeas, and stock. As soon as they really start opening up, I plan on splitting the bouquet and adding little vases around the house.
Categories: Decorating.
Something Nice to Look At
The wall space above the sofa is prime real estate for something wonderful – something to show off your personality and taste. It’s the perfect focal point of the room.
I’ve struggled with my space and have tried several things: a cluster of black and white family photos, framed botanical, nothing at all (!) and now a painting.
Knowing that our wall color is not your average neutral – it’s a grey-ish sage (Benjamin Moore Sandyhook Grey), I wanted to make sure that whatever went about the sofa was particularly void of any sharp colors. I’ve looked for along time for an affordable piece of art and everything I found was too trendy, too cheesy or too graphic for what I was looking for. Instead of paying big bucks for the piece of my dreams, I settled for a Cora original.
Again.. thinking about size here. Not sure if it’s too small. The interested thing about the room is that it’s pretty narrow which is why I wanted a shorter piece. I could have gone for a little more width. Not too bad of a price either – $60 for the canvas* and $20 for the paint supplies.
*For those in Austin, Asel Art off of MLK has all of their canvases 1/2 off !
Just another photo of the latest stage of evolution. I love how the colors in the room are coming together and the clutter is moving out. Still lots more to do!
Categories: Purchases.
A Real Coffee Table
Today was a day for milestones. We graduated from our temporary, rocky, outdoor coffee tables to heavy wood, real you-can-put-things-on-me, coffee table goodness. After about a year of looking on Craigslist and shopping the outlets, I found this very nice and undervalued coffee table in Kyle, TX – $90.
Just a thirty minute drive and it was mine. It has done some very nice things for our living room and although I’m concnered about it’s size, I think as the room evolves, it will have more space to breathe.
I’m enjoy the stain of the wood, that it’s sturdy and wonderfully symmetric. I like the glass inlay and even though it’s probably too large for the room, I like it’s bigness.
Categories: Craigslist, Decorating, Purchases.
Two Hour Makeover
Our living room got a major make0ver this morning and in only two hours! Cheers to Lyons Electric who installed four recessed lights in our living room in record time. The new light makes a huge difference and I’m excited about doing the same in our kitchen and dining room later on this year. They also centered our ceiling fan and connected the vent in our guest bath.
Their prices were low and they were a pleasure to work with – they even worked around the surprise wood sheeting above our ceiling. There’s always something!
We all know what recessed lighting looks like, but for fun below are pictures… Cheap light, the best light there is.
Sidenote and a final word on the lighting – I need to figure out a better piece for the sofa. I would love to find something similar to what was featured at Shabby Slips. Lots of white and neutral colors. I’m tempted to take a stab at it, but am afraid I would like the blank canvas better than anything I could create. Love me some white… One last note on the lighting, I have secret desires in the back of my head to move the location of the front door which would allow for a beautifully symmetric and large living room, and an actual entryway. And the way they position the lighting, it would be prefect for it. It’s just the hassle of moving the door – one day maybe…
Categories: Renovations.
Inspiration – Shabby Slips
I stopped by Shabby Slip’s new location on 6th street and had to share my latest inspiration.
Although they are known for slip covers, Shabby Slips has beautiful furniture, lighting, upholstery and decor. They have the most unbelievable collection of airy white upholstery paired with strong, dark woods and metals. They do a phenomenal job at pairing contrasting materials together – hard/soft, dark/light, heavy/light. I try to imitate in my design – Shabby Slips is great inspiration for me!
If I could live in a store, this one would be it. Enjoy these photos!
The new store – What I love about their design is that even in their store where they showcase the best-of-the-best, they have a balance of statement pieces that need lots of space and staples that blend in a little easier. Usually in showrooms, it’s a cluster of showstoppers…. love that balance. Check out their sea grass/sisal flooring!
Love the light coming off the gilded frame. It’s rare for me to say this, but there really are somethings that you will never find on Craigslist because when people buy them they keep them for life. This piece is a lifer and I’m all about paying top, top for lifers.
I love this coffee table!! Talk about the perfect blend of light and dark, soft and hard.
Lovely embroidered pillows full of feathers and subtle art work. I’m in home heaven.
Categories: Purchases.
A Good Martha Stewart Find – Continued…
Continuing a post for earlier on this weekend regarding a $100 guest bedroom challenge… From my original $100, I had a remaining $30 something dollars to spend on either a headboard or some kind of mirror/artwork for behind the bed.
With my 50% of coupon from Aaron Brothers, I purchased this mirror for $15! I have a similar, but much larger version of this mirror in the dining room… I really like it, I just don’t want to be the girl who always uses convex mirrors. Accessories with such a statement should be used in extreme moderation (learned that in the dining room) so I don’t want to push it. Plus, not sure if it’s too small for the bed…. Whether it stays or not, it was $15 and is very cute.
It isn’t necessarily quality, but it does what I need it to do, and it gives the room a hint of class. If over time, it still doesn’t fit in, a nice alternative location would be over a dresser.
And a word on Aaron Brothers – Bring your coupon of course, but also check out their 40% off sale that they are having right now. If you have a big framing project coming up and you don’t want to wait until their penny sale, now is a good time!
Categories: Purchases.
