Wood Veneer

What are your thoughts about wood veneer? Have you ever used it?
I picked up the do it YOURSELF (a Better Homes & Garden Specialty Publication) magazine last night and they had a pretty fabulous section devoted to wood veneer. Wood veneer first crept up in my mind when I was googling what I could do to my cabinets in the apartment. (We are still house hunting, but taking our precious time. In the meantime, I'm tired of looking at these awful cabinets)Which led me on a google hunt searching for cabinest that other people put veneer on. I have to admit, they didn't look all that bad!

Back to the magazine... they had some neat ideas on where to use it.

Such as here:




This grid wall really caught my eye:



(and if you couldn't guess, most of the accents in this room are via Anthropologie)

And this leaf motif would make for some great decorations:



I know Lowes has rolls of paper-backed veneer for easy installation.

What do you think? I must say, I am more impressed than I thought I would be!

Photography Love

I came across photographer Ted Yarwood today while googling something, and I can't remember what. I'm glad that I did though, because I love his work. He "shoots residential and commercial interiors for editorial and advertising" clients, such as Metropolitan Home.

Here are a couple of my favorite:

You can see the rest of this gorgeous home here .



With all of this hot weather Alabama has been seeing, I wouldn't mind a chilly morning. And I could see myself here with a warm cup of coffee, a blanket and a good book.

Speaking of books, I need a good one to start reading. Any suggestions?

Weekend Recap

This weekend was quite eventful! Friday night I hung out with my dear friend Hannah. We painted, ate dinner, listend to the Wicked Soundtrack and watched "Twilight." It was an absolute blast. And I finally convinced her to go get the first book. As of yesterday, she can't put it down and is obsessed with Edward, like the rest of us.

So, the painting part of our night was the guest bathroom in our apartment. It's looking so fabulous! I decided to go with a cooler gray color, brown accents and antique brass hardware. Who knew this modern-style gal would love antique brass?! But, I do. It's so lovely. I'm very excited to show the final result, but I'm waiting on a few items to arrive to finish it up.

(next up will be the guest bedroom)

On Saturday, I headed south for my nephew's 5th birthday party. (wow, he's really starting school this year) He had a GIANT inflatable water slide. Those children had the most fun I've ever seen a child have. And, I want one for my birthday next year. That night, I went to my good friend David's wedding. It was beautiful. The bride's family is very talented musically, and they each contributed to the ceremony. For their first dance, she pre-recorded a song they would dance to. I love personal touches like that.

Sunday was spent lounging with my husband after church and the final coat of paint was put on in our bathroom. It was a late night as we had "movie night" and ate way too much candy!

Hope y'all had a great weekend too. I'll post some pictures later. I really didn't carry it around with me this weekend, so I'll have to steal from others!

my livingroom: furniture

Remember this post where I fell in love with this room featured on Benjamin Moore's website? Well, since then, I have been trying to replicate it on a serious budget. It won't be identical obviously, as we don't have that size living room (and definitely not the same budget). But, I'm pretty excited about what I have found so far.

This table (which I bought in white) is from Walmart. And it only cost me a whopping $14. It's actually very sturdy. Now, if I could put a coat of laquer on it, I'd be set.



Just as a reference, these were the original tables in the inspiration room from Jonathan Adler for $1000. phew!

And then I found this black chair from Overstock.com for $135. The inspirational room had two black leather chairs. The look of them was completely different, but I'm very happy with this one I found.


Since we could be looking for a house for quite some time, we've decided to go ahead and paint the apartment. My next task is just that, finding the right paint color.

I have so many new things to show you all, but they must wait until I'm finished. Just know, that is where my time is being spent right now. Party planning, and sprucing up our apartment.

the art of hanging art

Today I am loving art hung from floor to ceiling. It's unusual and quirky. We have a wall in our apartment that would be perfect for doing this. Collecting the art will be harder than creating the wall once I get more pieces.

{via here}



{via MA Belle}

And, this is what we have been up to all weekend... Meet Lennon. (As in John Lennon. My husband is a musician, remember??)

A.dor.able. So far, Tigger is adjusting to the little fur ball. Ah, I wish I were at home with them now!

I'm a sucker...

...for centerpieces. Until my wedding (which happened to be 6 months ago as of today), they were not something that ranked high on my "Things I Love Most" list. That is a completely different story now. I love them. And I love finding new ways to make my dining room table beautiful as much as possible. I really should snap a picture of how it is now... I have to come up with some ideas for an engagement party I'm helping to host in August. I have plenty of time, but it's so fun to search for inspiration now.

I found these images on the Hostess with the Mostess blog this morning:









Don't ya just love these ideas? I know most of them seem relatively "simple" in design. But, that's exactly what I love about centerpieces.. the simplicty of them, yet eye-catching.

IF..

If I were shopping today, I would buy these items:



{Love Birds Wall Art by Gennine Zlatis via Urban Outfitters}




{Parrot Pillow Cover via West Elm}



{Penelope necklace from Etsy shop mylavaliere's}

You should go check out more of her items. They're so very cute and a great price. And, part of the proceeds go to charitites or organizations listed on her profile. Can't beat that!

So, today I have a thing for birds.

you could say...

I am a little behind, and a little obsessed right now. I've started the Twilight books series. I didn't have much interest in them prior to receiving the 4(!) novel series from my sister-in-law over the weekend, and now, I am hooked!

I become enthralled, entranced and in love with the characters I read about. Scary, I know. I can't seem to help it. (I also do this with movies, and therefore have a hard time watching them without consuming myself) *Let me stop right here and say...I do not become engrossed in them because my real life is 'blah,' because I really am in love with my own life...I just have a vivid imagination and it's nice to get lost in it sometimes!

I feel the need to dedicate a post to this for two reasons. One, to say how much I am enjoying these books. And two, this is where I have been lately. The posts have been light I realize, but my husband picked up The Count of Monte Cristo, and we find ourselves reading every chance we get. (Man, are we getting THAT old??)

And, I could very happily throw some comfy pillows on this daybed and read for hours:

{Twilight Sleep Sofa via DWR} (did ya catch the name of the daybed??)

Or this one:


{via Restoration Hardware}

We did pick up the supplies needed for the dresser make-over and are both ready to get our hands dirty and beautify it tonight.

just a little update

How is it that when my husband goes out of town, I seem to be even busier?? Well, first of all.. two of my best friends just got engaged and we must celebrate, right? Second, I find that much needed time to complete projects! I hope to reveal the dresser soon, probably next week.

As far as the Shopping Hiatus is going... well... I might have slipped. Ok, no might about it, I did. But, my husband was right there with me slipping too. Sheesh. They were small purchases, both under $30. However, I've been seriously saving us some money with groceries and toiletries! It's a bit time consuming, though!

We are still hunting for that perfect starter home, and think we have found one we both love. It's a bit above what we had originally thought, but it's so perfect. So, we're taking these next two months to save just a bit more. With a lot of prayer, we're hoping to be in a house in October!

I have a few events coming up that I am helping to plan. A baby shower, an engagement shower and a wedding. Things are about to get crazy! I love it!

Take a look...

...at what I came across.. this Flickr photostream!! I was googling a paint color and this pulled up, and boy oh boy, does it has some yummy eye candy!? And tons of inspiration. Here are a few of my favorites. I'm really leaning towards dark walls lately. (you would think with it being summertime, I'd be going for the opposite??)

Pure yummy-ness:



The bold colors makes me so happy:



So much to love about this room:



And for the lighter side of me:




I'm off to Atlanta tomorrow, which is where my husband has been rocking it out all week. I have missed him terribly and am about to go nuts for lack of sleep...(does that ever happen to y'all? Your love leaves and you have a hard time sleeping?)


I hope you have a fabulous 4th of July weekend! I know I will!!

just breathe...

I heard a quote last week at church and it has yet to leave my mind, so I thought I would share:

"Hurry kills everything from compassion to creativity." (anyone from Church of the Highlands remember which pastor this was?)

Since my husband has been out of town, I've had a lot of down time. By choice. I took my own staycation for a couple of nights, and it has proven to be needed. Things have been happening so fast for us, with all of our changes going on (jobs, school, the HOUSE). Most of which I have left out of this little blog, so as not to bore y'all.

I hope you have found time to rest your pretty little heads some. It's worth it. It really helped me to re-think some decisions and I even came up with a design for our bedroom, which the husband loves. (I had been having a hard time putting together what I wanted)

So, off I went to explore "gray" paint colors over on Benajamin Moore, and came across this room:

This room is gorgeous to me. And exactly how I want to model my living room after. The neatest part is they offer where you can look for the accessories and furniture, plus the colors of the wall. (they just made my life so easy... hey, don't judge!) And yes, that is a black wall. LOVE IT!

Tonight will be another 'restful' night of cleaning our apartment. Strange how I find cleaning relaxing, eh?