The Little Things: What a Fox

I haven’t the slightest clue how it started but one of my most recent obessessions is foxes. It’s weird to me that I like foxes because they hold no special meaning to me and my only real life experiences with foxes have been ones I’d rather forget. {Growing up in such a wooded area means lots of foxes. A howl from a fox sounds like a woman screaming which is a very unsettling noise to wake up to in the middle of the night. Also, I was very young when I witnessed Animal Control…take care of…a fox in my front yard. Traumatizing.} I also hate that stupid song that tries to play on my Kids’ Radio station on Pandora. The fox doesn’t say that. Anywhoo, I’m going to blame my love on the coloring of foxes. Real foxes and pictures of foxes seems to have my favorite color combination of black, white, and brown. Sometimes the brown can look really orange but other times it’s that perfect saddle brown leather color. The colors together seem to be the palette I prefer when interior decorating.

I use lots of paper clips at work. {I know that sounds completely random and unrelated to foxes but just stick with me for a minute!} My paper clip storage and access at my desk just wasn’t working. And then I found a fox that would fix my problem and add a little bit of fun.

Not only is it wood, white, and gold…It’s magnetic! When the package with my new fox friend arrived in the mail, he came with a paper clip and a bobbi pin. How genius is that?! Not only is he perfect for your desk but you could stick this little guy on your nightstand or bathroom sink to help you corral those loose hair pins! Trust me, if he goes on sale, I will buy a second one for that very purpose. I love that the clip and pin were attached in the box to show you ideas on how to use him to the fullest!

It really is the “little things” that make such a difference in life. Last time I mentioned how fresh flowers can always brighten my day. Now this little fox makes me happy every time I see him on my desk. And we could all use a little happy at work!

If you’re jealous, head on over to CB2 and get a foxy friend of your own!

Getting Ready for Halloween

The end of September is near and I’m getting ready for Halloween. Avery was just a little lump of a tiger {she was Aubie} last year for Halloween at 3 months old. But this year she can walk around and is a little more aware of what’s going on which means I’m excited to see her reaction to it all! When it comes to holidays, there’s something about having a kid that gives me back the kind of excitement I had when I was a kid. We have plans for a trip to the Pumpkin Patch and I’m researching costume ideas. I also decided to locate our Halloween decorations…and had no luck! I was in a slight panic last week thinking that the tub of Halloween stuff was donated with the last trip to Salvation Army. If the plastic skeletons that hang from our front tree didn’t make it, then I’ll be okay. But the actual home decor that’s a little more chic {and expensive} is what I’m worried about. Not to mention I’ve been collecting it since before Chris and I ever started dating so it would take me a long time to build back up to what I had before!

Should the old stuff be truly gone forever, I need a backup plan. So I started thinking ahead to how I can quickly and cheaply add some new decorations this year and I came up with a few ideas. I was inspired by this picture I found on Houzz.

See the skeleton picture reflected in the mirror? I saw that and thought – that would be great to hang on the wall for Halloween! I began searching Etsy for a skull print and there are tons of options. This one seems to have similar qualities to the inspiration photo with it’s sketched look and antiqued paper.

It’s a really reasonably priced little print which makes me happy. And I’m sure I have an empty frame I could use. But I’ve got the DIY bug and I don’t want to just buy an aged-looking crisp piece of art. I want something that looks and feels like a page from an antique book, or was hanging on the wall of creepy haunted mansion. Maybe it was salvaged from an abandoned asylum? It’s Halloween afterall! So…I decided I’m going to DIY it. For FREE! I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out but at least I know I’ve got etsy as a backup plan!

And because I love a good happy ending, I found the box of missing decorations when I cleaned out the entire garage this past weekend. {There was definitely an embarrassing happy dance in the driveway for all the neighbors to see.} I can’t wait to start putting them up!

So when do you put up your Halloween decorations? Comment below, and stay tuned to see how my creepy skull print turns out!

 

 

UPDATE: My artwork is complete! To see the tutorial for my DIY Project, click here!

I Can’t Decide on Fabric

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen this picture. It’s an ottoman that I reupholstered once upon a time in a far away land where I had free time that I took for granted didn’t have a kid yet.

The light blue chevron doesn’t go with anything anymore. I should take that back. It goes with the one blue accent wall in our living room. {That I did not paint. That I do not like. That I have finally decided to paint over.}

Since the wall is getting painted, it’s time to RE-reupholster the ottoman. And to reupholster it’s twin that I never got around to. Or maybe I just knew that the chevron wasn’t quite right and wouldn’t last so I was saving myself the future trouble of removing all those staples?? I’m not really in love with the curves of the x-base on these ottomans anymore either but using them is cheaper than replacing them so I will gladly spend a few dollars on the fabric. Especially when the retail price for just ONE of the ottomans I fell in love with on One Kings Lane is about 5 times the price I paid for BOTH of the ones I already have!

{Ottoman, currently unavailable}

Back to the dilemma: I can’t decide on the fabric to use to reupholster my ottomans! We are still rearranging the furniture in our house so I’m not even sure if they will stay on the main floor or move upstairs to our bedroom, but the colors in both areas are the same {and neutral…shocker} so whatever fabric I choose will go with the rest of the room either way. I’m very into geometric prints right now and I’ve always had a thing for ikat prints. {haha, i-kat…I just noticed that. yes, I’m weird and my nickname starts with a “k” even though my full name starts with a “c”. complain all you want but The Dutchess Kate does the same thing and I don’t hear everyone complaining about her!}

I couldn’t find any upholstery grade fabrics at local craft stores or cheap online fabric retailers so I started looking at Spoonflower because I can find the pattern I like and then order the type of fabric that I need. If you haven’t ever looked at Spoonflower you should – it’s kind of like Society6 in a way. All these artists submit their designs and Spoonflower will print that design on a range of fabrics for you! Each artist will tell you if you are allowed to sell products using their design or not so it would be a great resource for an etsy shop owner too.

I’ve been loving a few fabrics with triangles ever since I saw this Nate Berkus fabric at Calico Corners. So I searched for triangles and came up with these that are similar:

{ one | two | three }

I also found some prints while searching for triangles that had a more Southwestern vibe. I certainly don’t think my house currently has an overwhelming “Southwestern” vibe to it but I keep finding myself drawn to the patterns and textures.

{ four | five | six }

And there were a few that had a burlap look but I’m not sure how they would look and feel in person.

{ seven | eight }

Swiss Cross designs have been a bit of an obsession lately. {Did you see my new bedding? You can buy it here.} These are some of the options I found for swiss cross.

{ nine | ten | eleven | twelve }

And of course, this black and white one is the opposite of my bedding so that would be pretty cool in the master bedroom.

{ thirteen }

I have to keep in mind that the legs of the ottomans are a very dark wood so I’m not sure that a black background is the way to go. But I might still drape a sheepskin over top like you see in the first picture. With the new fabric the sheepskin would be there to break up the dark colors and to add a layer of texture where as it is currently there purely to cover up as much of the blue as possible.

So if those were your options, which fabric would you choose? Alternate suggestions are more than welcome! Thanks in advance for voting and I will be sure to do a full reveal when I’m done!

 

FALLing for Nate Berkus

I am at Target a lot. No really, a LOT. I often end up with lots of things in my cart that weren’t on my list. I often walk around the store and think it over while I get the necessities, then put some of the other things back because I don’t need them. More often than not, the things that I can’t live without are part of the Nate Berkus for Target collection. The new items for Fall are no exception. It seems there are many pieces that I just cannot live without. My design asthetic has always  been all about the neutrals and right now I’m loving black, white, gold, and mixed wood tones, with lots of textures. I think Nate must have read my mind because that pretty much describes the line. Take a look for yourself and see if you don’t just FALL in love with it yourself! {And snag up some of last season’s Nate items on clearance before they are all gone!}

 

Lamp | Faux Fur Stool | Gold Vase | White Vase | Wood Bowl | Baskets | Mirror | Table

The Little Things: Flowers

Sometimes, it’s all about the *little* things. Small or seemingly insignificant moments, gestures, even purchases, can brighten your day, change your mood {for the better}, and make you realize what’s really important in life. Today, it’s sitting at my desk, looking out the window, and seeing the flowers that Avery helped me pick out on Sunday. They are mums because the weather here lately has made me realize that Fall is right around the corner, but they are vibrant shades of purples and oranges because I’m clinging on to what’s left of this Summer. And because Avery really did help pick them.

Flowers always do the trick for me. Potted flowers, fresh cut flowers, even air plants and straight greens {a crate full of succulents may or may not have made it into my wagon at the plant nursery too} – I’ll take them any way I can get them. 

So tell me, what are some of the *little things* that brighten your day?

 

PS – *My Bad* on not posting in FOR-EV-ER. It’s been a little cray-cray over here and we have lots of catching up to do! Dozens of half-written posts are waiting to be finished and posted, but in the meantime I’m promising myself {and you readers…all 30 of you} that I will get more posts DONE and PUBLISHED even if they are super short and not “perfect”. It’s better to get sh*t done than for it to be perfect! {…or is it?!}

Thanks for hanging in there with me!

 

Design Daydreams

I’m designing an entire room around these pillows from Whitlock & Co on Etsy. It all started with the floral one in the middle. People tend to have a hard time mixing pillows and patterns. The easiest thing you can do is find one with multiple colors in a large pattern, then pick one or two colors from that design and pick different size patterns in those colors. I adore this Etsy shop because the listings are visually organized this way. It’s fool-proof! Don’t you just LOVE how these three look together?! I do.

 

{ Pillows: 1 | 2 | 3 }

The Pillows will look fantastic on one of these sofas. I just can’t decide which one!

Willow Sofa | Lounge Sofa

I am thinking of all kinds of ways to style this coffee table.

Coffee Table

I think this buffet on One Kings Lane is gorgeous and I need to have it in the room too. Try to think outside the box on this one a bit. Just because it’s made to be a buffet doesn’t mean it can’t be used as a console! I love how you can see the wood grain and it’s not painted solid white.

{ Buffet }

I’m getting very excited about this room! Hopefully I can bring it to life instead of just daydreaming about it.

And speaking of decorating a room…today is REVEAL DAY if anyone has been following along with the “One Room Challenge” in blog land. {Quick Backstory: Linda from Calling It Home started this challenge where she lines up 20 PRO bloggers and they have 6 weeks to design a room in their home and post on their progress! So much fun and SO much design eye-candy! I would so LOVE to be included in this someday. It would seriously kick my butt into gear!} Anywhoo – You should check out all the rooms on this tour because there are some truly beautiful and inspiring spaces!

It was really hard to pick but I think my favorites are the bathroom on Copy Cat Chic and the dining room on Design Indulgence. Definitely going to borrow a few of their ideas for my own!

Do you have a room in your home that’s screaming for a makeover?

 

 

 

 

 

Derby Ready

Kentucky Derby is this weekend! Are you ready for it?

{ Driftwood Horse | Pearls | Bourbon Candle | Bow Tie | Julep Cup |Lucky Horseshoe | Earrings }

I’m getting ready for the Derby by mixing up a Bourbon drink just for the occasion! I was inspired by a drink I had last weekend on the Junior League Kitchen Tour. I had never before {willingly} consumed a bourbon drink but this was really good.

My Version: City Southern’s Derby Drink

Bourbon | Ginger Beer | Ginger Ale | Muddled Strawberries | Mint

Do you have a favorite bourbon drink? Or a fun way to celebrate the Derby? Comment below!

On Wednesdays We Wear Pink

I’m wearing my pink today in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the movie, and because it’s Wednesday. You can probably quote the movie Mean Girls all day long, even if you’ve never seen it. Or at least you’ve heard a few of these before.

 

On Wednesdays, we wear pink.

Is butter a carb?

You can’t sit with us.

But you’re like, really pretty.

Boo, You Whore!

That’s why her hair is so big. It’s full of secrets.

It’s like I have ESPN or something.

That’s so fetch.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been personally victimized by Regina George.

Hell no. I did NOT leave the South Side for this!

You GO, Glen Coco!

{Pillow}

{Pencils 1, 2}

Happy Wednesday!

My Life in Pictures

I have a lot of catching up to do. a LOT. In the meantime, some photos of life over the past few weeks.

{yes that white stuff is snow. clearly I was prepared for it.}

{this one’s from IG. do you follow City Southern on Instagram? you should.}

{ever tried a custard apple? you should}

It’s always nice to finish things off with bubbles.

That’s all for now. But I’m feeling inspired by all the updates that came out of Dallas this weekend from everyone who attended Reward Style The Conference #rSthecon. So jealous that I didn’t get to go! {okay, I wasn’t invited to go but that’s not the point. I’ll get there someday. *sigh*}

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Back from Puerto Rico

Hi friends, sorry I’ve been away from the blog for a while. Part of it was my time in Puerto Rico…which was amazing! {Coming home to the snow was not.}

 

This was the view from our room, and the drinks?…That’s how we got the day started each morning 😉 The weather was perfect, the company was fantastic, the drinks were flowing…what more do you want out of a vacation?! The trip definitely inspired a few ideas for new posts so I’ll get to those ASAP!