Reader Request: Bedroom Makeover

Ok y'all, I've never claimed to be a decorator.  However, I often wish I'd taken that career path and sometimes people ask me to help them design rooms and I love it.  It happened again this week, and I was really excited to help my friends Leslie and Gef begin decorating their bedroom.  They currently live in a rental house in Tampa, so they're limited in what updates they can make to the room itself, but the walls are a soft gray and Leslie wants the room to be soothing, but not boring or stark.

They asked me to pretend the room was for me, since they like the feel of mine and N's house, and I had a lot of fun dream decorating (on a real life budget)!  And since I have fairly mainstream taste, I thought a few of you may enjoy it too - enjoy!

 bed // sham // west elm shams // rug // bolster 1 // bolster 2

dressers // tall chest // nightstands

 

mirror // drapes (add blackout liner) // gourd lamps // mercury glass lamp // linen bench // gray nailhead bench // teal bench // wood tufted bench 

Texas print // lion and car prints (Janet Hill Studio) // scuba print (Matte Stephens) // Target sunburst mirror 1 and 2 // LOVE print // custom dates print

  P.S.  Since Gef is a brain scientist, I couldn't resist including these prints that Leslie hasn't seen yet!

5 Things (About Me) Friday

I have always loved reading the old chain emails where people would answer tons of questions about themselves, and I have enjoyed the five things about me theme that's been sweeping the blogosphere lately.  And since I've had an insane week and haven't discovered much to share, I decided to post five silly things you probably don't know about me.

Here we go!

1. Ever since I was about 9, I dreamed of living in England.  I started practicing my fake accent sometime around 1992, and am actually really good at it now, especially after a summer in London during college.  Sometimes I bust it out in public where nobody knows me (like in a store) just to practice.  I've also gotten most of my work team in the habit of answering the phone in a cheerful Brit accent because we are strange.

see the pin here , source unknown

2. When I was about 3-4, I had a pet cow named Kristy and I thought that was the most beautiful name in the whole world.  Then my dad sold off all his cows and I didn't realize until I was much older that she probably ended up as a steak.

3. I can pick all kinds of things up and pinch people with my toes.  It is awesome and kind of gross.  (I'm not going to post of picture of my feet, don't worry.)

4. I never had a serious boyfriend until I was 25, and I married him.  I had lots of flings, and tons of first dates, but no relationship longer than 6 months until I met N.  That said, I have some great online dating stories, including a guy who constantly restated what I said with the word "Gotcha" tacked onto the end.  Think "Oh, you work in Marketing, gotcha" and "So you're from the Houston area, gotcha." 

5.  I don't know anyone with hair thicker than mine.  My ponytail is the circumference of the space between my index finger and the tip of my thumb and on more than one occasion, a ponytail holder has snapped and flown across the table when I've been in a meeting at work.  I can't take morning showers because drying my hair takes so long that I'd have to get up at dawn, which is the main reason why I didn't play sports in school. 

there's no bump-it in my hair... I have that much.

Now, that's enough about me.  I'd love to learn from things about all of you!  Do tell in the comments!

The Annual Swimsuit Post (For Hips and Boobs!)

Yeah, I typed "boobs" in the title of my blog post.  Ha! 

Today, I'm excited to post about a subject near and dear to my heart - dressing your curves!  As someone with lots of boob and hip, I can attest that shopping for a swimsuit can be really hard.  Realizing that the vast majority of suits at Target aren't going to decent on you really messes with your head, and there's nothing worse than jumping into the water as your breasts jump out of your top.

You know, there's also a lot to be said for keeping your bits covered, besides common decency... it's also pretty sexy:

image source unknown - please share if you know!

Marilyn knew what was up...

If your shape falls into the pear, apple, or hourglass category you'll want to look for sturdy fabrics, underwires, and suits with enough fabric on the hips and along the sides of the bust to maintain a smooth curve on your body.  I know that many magazines recommend string styles that can be adjusted to fit, but in my experience, these suits work best for sunbathing and not actual swimming and running around with your friends at the beach/lake.  So, I'm sorry, you'll find no teeny bikinis here!

A good suit is an investment that you'll be glad you made, but if you don't have much to spend, that's fine too.  I found options ranging from $24 to over $100! 

Check out the suits after the jump!

Upholstered Beds on the Brain - Help Me Pick!

Hi internet!  Sorry for the silence yesterday, but I got busy and then it was time for Game of Thrones.  I have priorities, you know.

Anyway, my husband and I are now about to be the proud owners of a king size Tempur-Pedic mattress, and we have no bed frame for it.  In an effort to minimize the weeks spent on a box spring on the floor, I've been frantically deciding what sort of bed to buy and have decided a neutral upholstered option is the way to go. 

Look how pretty:

 image via Rue Magazine

 image via Lonny

 image via Lonny

image via Rue Magazine

image via Rue Magazine

I do have one problem, though... I'm scared to spend $1200 on a bed without seeing it.  So far, the Jacqueline bed from Z Gallerie is the front runner, but we may need something a little taller.  West Elm is an option too, but I'm not willing to pay $1700 for anything from Crate and Barrel, and options at Macy's don't have enough positive feedback for me to risk a purchase. 

So, has anyone else found a great upholstered bed (not just a headboard) that they love?   Any leads on something like the bed above?  Help me, internet!

5 Things Friday

Good morning! This week didn't leave much time for internetting, but I did manage to cobble together five things worth sharing.  Maybe. 

Have a great weekend!

1. I finally bought this little print of Anne Boleyn and I just love it.  The Etsy seller, Kirby, sells similar art, including a portrait of Elizabeth I and Jane Austen-esque ladies for under $20.

2.  I am on the lookout for a new denim (not chambray) shirt like the one below, and the going rate seems to be $98, which is kinda crazy to me.  Got any leads on a good sale?

P.S. Does anyone else hate the new Pinterest sharing feature? I want to embed the images at actual size! Woe is me!

3. Want to copy this pin?  I found this lookalike dress at Gap, and they're offering 40% off in store until Sunday (or 30% online). 

4. I love seeing other people use vintage dressers as buffets.  They're pretty perfect for dish storage and I love mine!  I also love how the gallery wall isn't too perfect and can grow over time. (See the pin here - I can't figure out how to embed it at actual size)

5. This week's recipe is actually not a dessert!  I made these baked sweet potato patties (via Carrots n Cake) and they're so easy and delicious.  Try it!  (My pin is here)

And with that, I bid you good weekend!

I Love You, Nate Berkus (P.S. I bought things.)

I know I'm not the only person who experiences great joy from shuffling things around in my house and making the rooms feel fresh and semi-new.  It's not surprising for my husband to arrive home and find the guest room artwork in the living room and different bedding in our room, or for me to dramatically declare that _____ is so boring and I don't like it anymore.

My most recent bout of restlessness is Nate Berkus' fault.  You see, he launched an amazing line of fabrics at Calico Corners and it's basically perfect. 

I stopped in to check it out when I was off work on Friday, and then I had a great idea to bring in more pattern on our sofa, and then I left with an order for 1 yard of each the fabrics below so that I can have some pillow covers made.  

(The ikat dots are from another line, but I loved it and all three were $29/yd before the $20 off coupon came into play)

Then, I found this lamp from Nate's Fall line at Target for $9.99.  It's going somewhere as soon as I procure a cheap-chic shade for it.

I may also move our gold framed Italy photos out into the living room and hang in a row over the flat screen (that sits on a low media cabinet) to create a gallery wall of sorts with the existing sunburst mirror and maybe an abstract piece that I do not own yet.  Kind of like how Sarah Richardson did here.

Now, I need to keep making progress in this room and finally replace my hand me down tables that I don't like.  Unfortunately, I think my best coffee table option is going to be to have something built.  My taste is pretty simple, and I don't have a lot of room in our current (and only feasible) furniture arrangement, so I'm hoping to find a local carpenter who doesn't charge too much for 40"x18"x18" table that looks West Elm-esque.  If you have any recommendations, please pass them along!  I'm hoping to keep it under $400, if possible.

I also need to strip and refinish our god awful clearance dining table (it has great bones, but the finish did NOT hold up well) and procure some new chairs since my 70 year old Craigslist set is officially falling apart.  I went and fell in love with these at West Elm, and am scared to buy others sight unseen.  So, if you also know about a great place in Dallas where I can shop for chairs besides the main chains and some vintage stores,  please share that too.

And that, my friends, is what occupies my mind these days.  Thanks for sticking with this brain dump of a post for so many inches... if you made it this far.  :)

Reader Request: 3 Weeks in a Carry-on (in Europe!)

Good morning!  Today I'm excited to help Laura, a blog reader planning a three week trip to Europe this summer (lucky girl!).  She doesn't want to check a bag, so she has asked for some help putting together a wardrobe that will fit in a standard carry-on, but give her lots of options throughout her time there.

So, here's what I'd bring if I were tagging along:

3 weeks in Europe... in a carry-on by cardiganjunkie featuring h&m tank tops

Since I've spent enough time in Europe to learn some packing lessons the hard way, here are some rules that I made sure to follow: