2013 Top Ten

Everyone knows I am fickle. Everyone also knows that I tend to procrastinate.. mostly because I have trouble making up my mind when there are so many good things to choose from; and these two traits do not neccessarily  make good friends. In fact, how they've both resided in my mind so long without making me go bi-polar is really quite the mystery.  So, in order to inspire myself to get moving on the 1,001 projects I would like to tackle in this house, I thought making a list would actually get me moving. So here are the projects I would like to cross off my list in 2013.

Disclaimer: this is not a New Year's Resolution. I do not do resolutions since I have difficulty committing to them. By saying it is not a resolution I am thereby absolving myself of any guilt should said projects not get completed.

2013 Top Ten Big-Ticket Items:
1. Paint Doors. This includes replacing the hardware on the doors.
2. Paint Kitchen Cabinets
3. Drywall downstairs Playroom and Bathroom
4. Replace floor in lower level
5. Retile entry-way floor
6. Build Bookshelf wall to replace top railing at entryway
7. Build storage wall in Dining Room
8. Put up mantel around fireplace
9. Finish Media Room
10. Stain outdoors deck

I have twelve months. I should at least finish two of them.

A Modern Living Room

I am slowly in the stages of bringing more of a modern design style into my home (very slowly). Over the years I have slowly moved from a more traditional style with glam elements to a more modern style, but I also love aged, rustic things. I guess my style could best be called Rustic Modern, though there is very little of it observable in my home.

In fact, I would say the most modern thing in my house right now is my recently painted chevron wall in the kitchen:

And, while I love it, there is not much else in my house that screams "this is Kelci!!!" So I've been slowly looking to bring peices into my home that bring more of the rustic modern style I like on a small budget. So far, there are only two peices in my house that fit this style: the leather sofa downstairs and the new coffee table:

 Yeah, very exciting, eh? I am by nature a very impulsive person. So I have found that it helps me to have a very clearly outlined plan for getting the look I want. So below, I've put together a moodboard for my living room.

1. Tali Curtains, West Elm
2. Starburst Mirrors, various, Ballard Designs
3. Olive Green Ovo Table Lamp, Lamps Plus
4. Parsons End Table, West Elm
5. Klyne Sofa, Crate and Barrel
6. Durham Nesting Tables, Ballard Designs
7. Robert Abbey Bruno Pharmacy Lamp, Lamps Plus
8. Sweater Rug, West Elm

Most of the peices are neutral, so, should I change my mind on a whim (I would never!) I can still take this style in any direction. But not country. Never country.

These three things followed me home...

I got a giftcard from work, and instead of spending it on smart, practical things, I went for a little quirky... we will call them my early Christmas presents (even though Peyton ran off with one of them....)

 

 

 

 

1. Smith and Hawken basket, Target

2. Standing Pug, Z Gallerie

3. Threshold Feather Large Platter, Target



 

 

Can you guess which one is my favorite? Can you guess which one Peyton ran off with?

 

On my Radar

I have this quote on my wall, and I read it every day to remind myself of what's truly important--that I have God in my life and a great family. I have a roof over my head and food on our table every day. There are many in the world who do not have these things, and I count myself truly blessed to have an abundance of riches in these things.

"We tend to forget tht happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have," Frederick Keonig.

That said, I love to shop, and I love to come home with new things and enjoy them in the moment. So here is this month's round-up of 5 things I really like, would love to have, but don't really need. And I'll remind myself that I have what I truly need each day. Without further ado, here are the things on my radar this month! 

1. Zooka Wireless Speaker for Ipad and Bluetooth devices, Amazon
2. Kendra Scott Darby Earrings
3.  Ricci Argentieri Bamboo Flatware, Bed, Bath & Beyond
4.  Washing Machine Hamper, CB2.com
5. Stadler Form Max Fan Heater

 

Color Shot: Raspberry

Lately I have been seeing rooms with one hot pink accent and there is something about the one element of pink that intrigues me.

from an episoded of Secrets of a Stylist

Source Unknown

 

Here are a few low-commitment ways you can bring the same shot of color into your home.

 

1. Lamps Plus, French Burgundy Ovo Table lamp

2. Erin and Evan, Etsy, Hot Pink Shower Curtain

3. Overstock, Vernon Panton Style  Pink Chair

4. Amazon, Skyline Furniture Wingback Chair

5. Rosenberry Rooms, Moroccan Pouf

 

I don't think I could commit to this bold of a color in my rooms... but there IS a little girl in the house and she happens to love pink....

 

 

Takes Two to Assemble

Quite a few months ago I ordered a coffee table off Joss and Main. I knew Christmas was coming but it was such a super-cheap price that I couldn't resist.I had been looking for months for a bricklayer style coffee-table, and most models were upwards of $300. This one was half that price, so after a couple of days of agonizing over buying furniture sight-unseen, I leaped.  It took quite a while to get here... in fact, I almost forgot I ordered it.  Since I bought it to replace my badly scratched up coffee table upstairs, I left it in the box for awhile. I figured why assemble and then have to move it? It made much more sense to assemble upstairs and not have to move it. So in the box it stayed.

Where it tripped me, repeatedly, every time I came downstairs. And the box taunted me silently. "Open me, open me."

So, I did. I opened that box and skimmed the instructions. "Takes two to assemble."  I eyeballed Peyton and then gave up. I didn't think "takes two to assemble" included a 6-year-old. So I left it in the box again. But there it sat, silently taunting me every day. "Open me, open me."  And at about the 100th time I stubbed my toe on the box, I caved. I opened that puppy up, put on my big-girl pants and set about assembling it.

One smashed finger and a very sore thumb later.... Ta-dah!

Ignore the mess... and the ugly purple carpet.... I have a plan for that. (The carpet, not the mess. The mess seems to follow Peyton wherever she may go...)

Rustic Modern Bathroom Moodboard

I have finally figured out how to create honest-to-goodness moodboads on Polyvore, thanks to a tutorial I found on the House*Tweaking blog! I thought I would start off with something simple, inspired by the bathroom remodel on House*Tweaking--it had elements of yumminess that I thought belonged in my house, pronto!
 

Bathroom Inspiration on Polyvore

 

1. West Elm Reclaimed Wood Shelves

2. Ballard Designs Crown Sunburst Mirror

3. West Elm Stripe Shower Curtain-feather gray

4. Ikea Dalskar Bath Faucet

5. Ikea Godmorgon Odensvik Sink Cabinet

6. West Elm Zig Zag Bath Mat

 

 

I am thinking this moodboard will be perfect for my downstairs bathroom, which needs to be completely gutted (except the toliet. Funnily enough, it is the only salvagable thing in that room). Someday I'll actually get around to finishing the projects on my massive to-do list, but until then, I'll keep playing around with inspiration. Because really, you know it's going to change ten times from now until I actually tackle the project!