Home is the Most Important Place in the World

I fell in love with this print.  Probably because it's my sentiment exactly.
I found it on etsy from The Ink Society. 
They have a lot of sweet prints to choose from.

I had it framed in gold bamboo by Picture Perfect Custom Framing.
(sorry for the yellow cast in the photo)

If you haven't heard of or been to this frame store in Lexington, please check it out.
They have a huge selection of beautiful frames at affordable prices.
The owner, Gerald Hoovermale, is super helpful and does a great job.
I think about 90% of my artwork has been framed at Picture Perfect.
They are located on the corner of Clay and Euclid.

 

Whatever you are looking for, they'll have it, plus about 20
other options in the same color or style to choose from.

I'm currently obsessing over this frame, love the fretwork!


~Have a good weekend~

A New Favorite: the Color Purple

The color purple is considered the color of royalty.

And if you're unsure of what to pair it with, it may seem difficult to decorate with.

You can use it as a pop of color or layer with different shades of purple.  

Purple has the ability to be warm or cool depending on the shade you choose.
I'm drawn to the gray-ish purples.  They work well with ivory, browns, blacks, gold.

(Nate Berkus)

(Ruthie Sommers)

'I'M A GIANT' Blog Challenge

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  All too often, time escapes me!

So, I don't usually enter 'contests' or 'challenges',
but I think I'm going to make an exception. 

About a month before we moved, I temporarily lost my mind and
bought a gi-normous dollhouse for Lucy.  I knew we were moving to a condo
and it seems I kind of forgot the condo is half the size my house used to be.
And so it sits in the middle of the floor in Lucy's room...... 

I found it at a yard sale and Lucy fell in love with it.  (What's a mom to do?)  

I asked my neighbor if he could bring it home in his truck
and it took two of us to carry it inside. 

It's about 30 years old and has electricity.

Earlier today, I found out about the first annual
'I'M A GIANT' dollhouse decorating challenge.

You can read about it from Emily Henderson here.

The team at Lonny decorated a dollhouse last year and it was fantastic!

Emily has asked some other amazing designer/bloggers to participate and
anyone else who's interested, can enter.
They are going to try and post updates weekly.
And although I'd like to say that I will, won't make any promises.
Regardless, I'm excited to make a go of it!

Wine Stool

I'd like to dedicate this post to my mom and to Jimmy.

************************************************************

One of my all time favorite things to do is to take a hot bath.  

I would take one every single night if I could.  

When I step into a bath and let the hot (the kind of hot that makes your skin turn red) 

water rush over me, I completely relax.

This might seem strange to some, but this is where I read.  

And I lay in the bath so long, the water is cold by the time I get out.

So what's the only thing that is missing?  

A glass of wine of course.  

When I first looked at the condo, I thought "cool bathroom"!

Loved the glass doors and subway tile.

There were a couple of things I didn't take into consideration.  

First of all, cleaning those glass doors is going to be a bitch.

And because of the metal piece the doors slide on, there was no ledge to set my glass! 

Here, take a closer look.

At this point, I'm getting concerned.

I didn't want to set my glass 'inside' the doors, but as you can see, 

there's not even any room if I wanted to.

Nada.  

So I did what I thought was my only option.  Set the glass outside of the tub on the rug.

I took two baths like this, and lemme tell you, it was NOT comfortable.  I realize this is going to make me sound entirely lazy.  But when I'm cozied up in the bath, I don't really like to move.  I like my book and wine within arms length.  When I set my glass outSIDE the tub, I had to sit up and and stretch my arm over that stupid metal piece and it hurt.

Then, it came to me.  You guys are going to like this.  I needed a stool high enough to set next to the tub so that I wouldn't have to sit up and I wouldn't be hurting my arm anymore.

Now, I couldn't use just any stool, it had to be stylish.  

It took me a couple days to find it, but I did, and I love it!

TA-DA!!!  

It's bamboo!  

Brilliant, I know.

And hey, if you've had a bad day?  There's room for the whole bottle!

Vignettes

A vignette or table scape is simply: a grouping of objects.  

It's a great way to add zing to your home and  let your personality shine.  You can make a vignette anywhere there is a flat surface- a table, desk, bookshelf, window ledge.  

Use anything you like...framed photos, greenery, vase 

(with or without flowers), books, mirrors or personal objects.  

You'll want to place your vignette next to a light source so it can easily be seen.  Use objects in odd numbers, 3 or 5 work best.  Vary the height of the objects.  Also vary the textures such as something shiny next to a weathered object, a piece with straight lines mixed with 

something natural like a bouquet of flowers.  Layer the objects.  

If a table is against a wall, prop something against it like a mirror or a piece of art.  

I prefer to use things that are meaningful, 

like a vase filled with shells my daughter found at the beach.  

Obviously, framed photos of my daughter and my family.  

Whatever you create will be uniquely yours. 

This is one of my favorites because I am a cancer, sign of the crab. :-)

This is a table in my condo.  Lucy picked out the turtle because she can store tiny little things inside it.  And the small framed watercolor is called 'Angel Lucy'.

Although I am divorced, I keep several photos of Lucy and her dad throughout our home.  I think it's important and I'm grateful that Lucy sees us having a good relationship.

Photo of my grandparents on their wedding day.  Horsey coasters given as a gift.  

Vase filled with shells Lucy found at the beach.  

I recently bought the black and white spotted coasters because they were so cute!

Vintage staffordshire dogs, a silver pedestal bowl with more shells and a photo of the Luce.  

Most of the photos I have displayed of Lucy were taken by Sarah Alair Photography.  

She's fantastic and has a really neat story about how she got into photography.  

You can also look her up on facebook.

On my nightstand lies my bible: Domino's book of decorating.

One of my favorite spots, my desk.

One of my most memorable trips was going to Paris.  And one of my favorite gifts ever! 

is a bedazzled measuring tape.  My friends know me so well. 

And there sits my most recent love affair, my mac.