Friday Finds: Rock Fetish and Velvet Pillows

One Garnet Girl Rock Fetish Rings: I admit it, I have a teeny, tiny addiction to jewelry, especially rings. I inherited more jewelry than I can possibly wear, but some of it is not appropriate for day or just not my style. One Garnet Girl always has a great selection of rings, and her Rock Fetish collection caught my eye. Bold, chunky and beautiful. She calls her work funky, yet refined, and uses Fair Trade gemstones and recycled metals set to hand carved and fabricated settings. She has ready-made and custom options and prices range from approximately $140-$800 for the Rock Fetish collection.

World Market Velvet Pillows: Put this on your list of great deals. While I gaze longingly at Madeline Weinrib pillows, I will never indulge, since one of my dogs likes to chew expensive textiles. World Market has great velvet toss pillows for $9.99 each. Seriously! What an affordable way to add some new color to your home.  Spend more on a couple of great patterned pillows, and then mix in these basics. Available in Red, Brown, Moroccan Blue, Green, Pumpkin, Amber, Plum and Grey. I bought grey, but may also get some Moroccan Blue and Plum.

And for those not familiar with Madeline Weinrib, here is a roundup of her pillows from Apartment Therapy.

Eva Zeisel Upright Vases

I have long admired these Eva Zeisel vases. Curved hand-glazed porcelain vases are stunning alone, or grouped together (shown above) for maximum impact. Originally available in white, the new grey color is exclusive to Room & Board. Made in New York by the talented duo KleinReid.

How to…Establish Color Flow

Well, life is back to normal at our house. Our foster friend has moved to a great home and I hope it will become permanent. We fell in love with him, and hated to see him go, but he needed a different family dynamic, where he would be the baby of the family. However, we plan on keeping in touch, and being a part of his life.

On the decorating front, the kitchen walls are done, as is the powder bath. Now that I have time, I will take some in progress pictures, so you all can see the changes. It is quite dramatic, and I am still getting used to it. I have to remember that I need to add new lighting, a banquette, wallpaper, and paint or ceruse the cabinets before this whole project is done.

One thing to remember when decorating, is to choose colors to make your rooms flow. While having the same trim throughout the house can establish a common link for different colored walls, taking a primary color or two and carrying it throughout your rooms ties the look together. I wish I could find the quote, but I am pretty sure it was Jeffrey Bilhuber who said that a common mistake is to decorate one room at a time, without thinking of all your rooms as a whole. You end up with rooms that have nothing in common, instead of rooms that create a continuous flow throughout your house.

I have divided my home between upstairs and downstairs, and in each floor, have tried to look for colors that will tie all the rooms together, while letting each room have a separate identity.

Recently, I read a post from Mrs. Howard that perfectly demonstrates this concept, and I wanted to share it. Look at the picture at the top of the post, to see the existing kitchen that established a primary color. The bright blue glass tile guided all decorating decisions in the downstairs.

 Blue is then repeated in the whimsical chandelier and in the patterned fabric.

 Then, the blue is softened and becomes sophisticated in the dining room. The curtains and walls warm up the room and the art ties in with the color scheme.

Lastly, the living room has the same colors – blue, gold and caramel, but in an even more muted way to establish a warm and inviting space. Wall color in both the dining room and living room is Straw by Benjamin Moore.

To see the entire project, which is just beautiful, visit Mrs. Howard.

photo credit: Mrs. Howard

How to: Wallpaper Window Covering

So, I am sitting on my couch Sunday evening, going through tear sheets as I am making a sincere effort to get more work done on the kitchen. I decided on a color, and was rescheduling the painter to come this week to finish texturing and painting.

THEN, we get a call from our agency, telling us of a desperate need to place an 8 year old boy for a couple of days. We nervously say yes, he is brought over that night with nothing (we got his things the next day) and my week has been changed. Luckily, he is in school, so I have been able to be productive today.

But, now that playing mom has settled into a routine, I can get back to working on the downstairs projects. Paint (decided), wallpaper (need samples), and banquette (get one more quote). I was trying to decide whether to wallpaper or paint the powder bath, and saw this tutorial in MS Living about how to make a wallpaper window shade. Since the window is small, why not try a great graphic print or a more expensive wallpaper? This goes onto my list of ideas for the powder room.

Here are some designs that will give high impact in a small doses.

Chiang Mai Dragon

Imperial Trellis in Charcoal

Tema in Gray

Lattice

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like…

Back from a week away in Canada, celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving with my husband’s family. My husband grew up on a farm in Manitoba, life is much quieter on the prairie. It is always relaxing to be there and do nothing but eat lots of great food, read, play games and if we are lucky, play with farm kittens. Look for pictures next week, as well as an update on our kitchen renovation. The walls are primed and are stark white! What a change!

The holiday bug has officially bitten me, and I am looking forward to cooler weather and opportunities to entertain! A sweet friend gave me a copy of the 2010 Southern Living Ultimate Christmas Cookbook, a joint venture between Southern Living and Dillard’s department store. Not just for Christmas, there are menu plans galore for anyone who loves to cook and entertain during the holidays. I don’t regularly read the magazine, but they are known for their recipes. After reading through this book, I agree! There are menus that are sophisticated, menus that are simple, some are  healthier; they feature dishes to make ahead, tips, editor favorites, gift ideas and decorating advice.

The best part is that this 288 page guide is only $10.00, and your purchase benefits the local Ronald McDonald House in your own community.

5 Ways to Arrange Art

I am obsessed with information and thought this tutorial was great. I can’t wait to frame and hang my new artwork once it gets here. (see below).

Walt Disney Concert Hall Los Angeles, series of 9 images

In addition, I may frame some of my own photographs from over the weekend. I am quite pleased with the results.

 

Oh, and speaking of Facebook pages, if you haven’t become a fan of My Domicile Style, do so and suggest to your friends (upper left hand corner)!

photo credit last 3 images: My Domicile Style

October at the Arboretum

The weather has been gorgeous, so we headed down to the Dallas Arboretum to take in the beauty. Here is a sampling of what I saw. I will put more photos on flickr later.

Happy Monday!