We all have ‘em. Sometimes, your really awful day can begin before you’ve even rolled outta the bed in the morning…before the sun is even up~! The thing is – you have a decision to make when you realize that that’s what is going on: you can lose it and blame the world for your

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Having a Bad Day?

We all have ‘em. Sometimes, your really awful day can begin before you’ve even rolled outta the bed in the morning…before the sun is even up~! The thing is – you have a decision to make when you realize that that’s what is going on: you can lose it and blame the world for your bad day, or you can let it roll off your back and just deal with it head-on…letting it make you stronger. Find a reason to SMILE and get over it~!

No matter what comes your way today and tomorrow, I hope that you choose to have a great weekend~!

Have a lovely weekend~!

We are in the middle of redoing my office here. It’s not a big space at all, but we designed the back wall to face the back yard and it features wall to wall windows, which makes it feel larger than it really is. I just love it! The only con to it is the

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Home Office Style – Inspiration

We are in the middle of redoing my office here. It’s not a big space at all, but we designed the back wall to face the back yard and it features wall to wall windows, which makes it feel larger than it really is. I just love it! The only con to it is the sunlight that blares through in the early morning since it faces east. So I will be putting lots of thought into a working window treatment that I can lower to block the sun and raise to get the lovely view. Looking through several interior design pics of offices, I’ve made no bones about my attraction to cream colored furniture…and mostly greens and pinks as far as colors go. This color combo really gets my creative juices flowing, which is what I am in desperate need of. [More on my home office/craft room to come. For now, I just want to share inspiring offices!]

LOVE that table….LOVE that chair…LOVE that lamp! Ah!

Look at that gorgeous window and the perfect organization in here. Oh my…

Why is this on here? I dunno. There are certain elements that I like about it – the window, the walls, the big butterfly art…but in a lot of it is too dark for my home office tastes.

Again….awesome organization. Neeeeeed!

Does my desk need a skirt?

Could this space be any more calming? That memo board with the bird fabric is fantastico~! I love this, but definitely need more pops of color for my space.

I really enjoy this view and that antique green desk! It’s probably not gonna happen for me, though…

Here is an office that actually folds away when not in use. You see that, right? The table folds up to the wall, and the doors below close to transform back into plain cabinetry. THAT is a good idea!

I’m not so much a fan of all this darkness for the home office, but it’s the way they did the shelving here that jumps out at me! That is so cool…

Various florals? I need you!

I love the neat ‘n tidy desk space! All of the pinks and the flowers grace us with feminine charm! <3

Does anyone know what the fabric is used in here for the drapery panel to the right? I love that big, bold pattern!

So YES – definitely pinks and greens to inspire me! Do you know what colors inspire your creativity?

Hopefully, I will be checking in again soon with some before and after pics of what we’re working on. In the meantime, this gives me a lot to think about!

We were at Home Depot recently, and were using Christmas money to buy a few needed materials for a bunk bed project that hubby is working on. As we were passing through one aisle, my eye caught sight of some of those 3M Command Hooks in metal – specifically, Rubbed Oil Bronze. I just love

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] 3M Command Metal Hooks + Ribbon

We were at Home Depot recently, and were using Christmas money to buy a few needed materials for a bunk bed project that hubby is working on. As we were passing through one aisle, my eye caught sight of some of those 3M Command Hooks in metal – specifically, Rubbed Oil Bronze. I just love ROB! You know, ROB?  We have it all throughout our house. And when we were building this place, I saw those initials used everywhere for that finish. “Yeah, we are getting these two doors…and yes, we that hardware in ROB!”

These hooks were about $6 a piece – and that’s definitely within our budget! Of course, hubby wanted to know what I wanted them for.

“Towel holders for the hand towels in our master bath!”

Yeah, we built this house 2.5 years ago and have never totally finished it due to monetary constraints. You’d think that towel holders would be an easy go – but it was just one of those things. Do you know what I’m talking about? It’s like…you spend so much money all at once on the most important fixtures for your home…and are trying to cut corners at the time…but then never go back and finish getting everything else together. I had noticed that the rubbed oil bronze finishes on everything were not only my fav, but also usually the most expensive option. (Through the process, hubby was always saying that my tastes were too fancy because I always – ALWAYS without fail – loved the most expensive thing in the store!) Please note that that’s not what I set out to do – it just ended up that way. And we DID try to cut costs and save money.

Some.

Didn’t we, dear? Somewhere? ……

So all that to say…I have shopped around some and have not found two rubbed oil bronze hand towel holders that I like for just $12! But now I have! =-)

Anyway, back to these hooks. So here’s my thought process: I couldn’t possibly go wrong with buying these inexpensive hooks to use for towel holders in our bathroom because if we ever get tired of them, we can easily remove them without damaging the walls. And THEN I will get to reuse them elsewhere in the home for easy seasonal decorating! =-D So it’s a win-win sitchy, to be sure. But for now, they are a nice, quick fix that will last us until that point.

There are several different metal finish options that you can find with these 3M hooks…as well as different amounts of weight that they will hold (anywhere from 1 pound to 5 pounds). I chose two hooks to hold 3 pounds each. After all, it’s just a hand towel, right?

I followed 3M’s instructions for putting the hooks up…and then had this nifty ribbon idea for holding up the towel on the hook. So I took some pretty ribbon, tied a nice bow and a loop – and sewed it up as sturdy as I could straight down the center. Then I just slipped it over the towel folded neatly in half and hung up our towels! Anyone could do this!

What do you think?

I am also curious to see how long these metal hooks will last in our bathroom. I’ll let ya know~!

(P.S. It’s been about a month since I first wrote this post, and they are holding up just fine!)

Aren’t maps COOL? Who knew that something as simple as roads and names of cities drawn out on paper could add a nifty design element to almost any room? And I love the collage above, don’t you? Lately, I’ve been thinking about map shtuffs and how I could possibly use them for decor here in

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Let’s Map It.

Aren’t maps COOL? Who knew that something as simple as roads and names of cities drawn out on paper could add a nifty design element to almost any room? And I love the collage above, don’t you? Lately, I’ve been thinking about map shtuffs and how I could possibly use them for decor here in our farmhouse. As you will see, there are many options! I would personally pick something more rustic than a lot of the following examples, but I do appreciate the inspiration~!

So what types of things can a map do for YOUR room?

The quickest option is probably just to slap a few straight on your walls. You can easily disassemble a road map book and cover one whole wall of your room:

Or your ceiling:

Or turn a few of the pages into lampshade covers, which I think would look especially fab on a rustic chandelier. The below pic shows less-than-awesome lampshade examples of what you can make…but you could make something WAY better than this! (Instructions found here, BTW)

How about covering the top of a small table with a map?

Or if you’d rather it not be so permanent, how about a table covering instead?

You can’t go wrong having your maps framed up, such as with this map of Rome:

Or this map of Paris:

Ooo la la!

But you don’t have to spend a fortune to have a large framed map in your home! Kimba, from over at A Soft Place to Land, posted good instructions with pics on how to frame up your own map:

Then there are murals that you can purchase and take your walls and ceilings to the next level:

Isn’t THAT fancy? Maybe a little too fancy for most of our palaces…

Then there’s this bold shower curtain that is made out of cotton…so I’m really seeing it as a window treatment for a playroom:

And some talented peoples are turning their maps into works of art…Jennifer Collier, to be exact:

Can’t leave this post without some Etsy finds:

Linkies for those things here:

Texas Pillow * Lamp * Coasters * Bulletin Board

Yes, I am all OVER the place today with mappage – but I’m feeling all sorts of inspiration and wanted to share. Please share your most fav way to use a map!

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Floor-to-Ceiling – INSPIRATION! We are a family of readers. There are 6 of us right now in our happy clan, and every one down to the smallest lil’ person in our group enjoys spending much time in the middle of a book. I’ve even been wondering about working more with our 8 month old baby girl with reading after seeing this infomercial! When you have that many people in one space reading, then you probably have a lot of books. I know that we do, and we seem to acquire more all the time. We see that as a GREAT thing, though! There’s just not enough places to keep them! I figure that I would share some pictures of shelving that inspires me…and hope that hubby will see this and put it away in his mind for one day when we can take on this project.

I am just loving the rustic opulent feel to the above picture! I have always described wanting to design our whole home in a Rustic Opulence style. So if you were to see our living room, maybe you’d know what I mean when I say that. We have a HUGE solid oak mantle that weighs about 3 hundred pounds. It has that rough, hand-hewn look and is unstained…and it has the same wood going around it to the floor. I always meant for the construction dudes to beef up the bottom sides even more, but it never turned out quite the way I had envisioned because the money ran out. In that same room, though, there are 3 chandeliers that are antique repros and even have some crystal-action bling-bling going on. Our walls are a golden yellow color…the ceilings are a metallic bronze…and the floors in here (as they are all through the entire house) are dark, wide plank solid wood. So now do you see what I mean by rustic opulence?

So back to the picture above: look at the super basic built-in bookshelving…and then to the really awesomely ornate mirror stealing the show up front. I love both the combination and contrast this team of style produces!

The rest of these pictures aren’t as rusticly opulent, but each one speaks to me in its own way.

Love the blue!

And check THIS out! How is that for putting good forethought into the design of these bookshelves? It makes such a bold statement…and I love what it’s saying.

I am really loving the insides of these bookshelves painted a different color than the walls or the shelves themselves! And can you ever truly have enough pink?

That is a nice touch to have! Check out those pull out table top thingie-muhflops! I love that option.

This is a super smart idea: turn your closet into a mini walk-in library! And again – paint a different color behind the shelves for a bold backdrop.

So this is our crazy space that we will hopefully be working floor-to-ceiling bookshelves into someday.  That side of the living room has too much going on in it. Hubby is lost in Casablanca while I snapped some quick shots. You see the big TV? It’s for sale on CraigsList.  The huge window faces the front of the home…and as you can see, there’s a fairly good sized window similar to it just to the right. I’m curious about flanking wall-to-ceiling bookshelves in here on either side of the biggest window and into that right-hand corner.

And speaking of these shots: some photog expert please tell me why my new lens filter is creating green pixies in our living room? I see that it’s reflecting the chandelier light in a wonky fashion – and I’m wondering what I can do to change that (short of taking the filter off each time I get some shots in here at night).

Back to this project: it’s definitely going to be shelved for now. As I type this, we are fighting for our home and trying to do what we can do to keep away from foreclosure. I know that many people in our country are dealing with the same thing right now, so many of you reading this will know where I’m coming from. I just figure that a girl can dream, right? And hopefully soon we will be back to normal and I will be able to make changes to our home as we can afford it. It never hurts to have your ideas together and know what you want before you take that next step!

Speaking of foreclosures, I wanted to share a neat article that  a nice lady named Christi wrote as she and her family have actually gone through that already. She has a wonderful attitude about it, though! My heart goes out to anyone going through this right now or even being threatened by it. It creates an untold amount of stress in the family it overshadows, and I pray for grace and peace and wisdom for anyone carrying that load.

What types of bookshelves do you have in YOUR home? Do share!

Photo credits: Traditional Home, BH&G, DecorPad, Gianni Botsford, RemodelingCenter