Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!

As this year rounds out and comes to an end, I would like to thank each and every one of my readers and friends for your support throughout the year.  May you always shine bright and keep your loved ones near.  I would also like to thank my family for this beautiful picture they took just outside their window, of the dear as they all gather in what looks to be a winter wonderland in Fairmont Hot Springs, BC this year.  Unfortunately we cannot be there, but are in spirit & heart♥.  

Best wishes, health & happiness for a very happy holiday and I look forward to what 2013 has in store...cheers!

It's A Tween's World♥

Big plans this weekend!  My daughter officially becomes a TWEEN tomorrow as she turns 12!  Is it me, or do all mothers of tween girls out there, feel like they are 12 going on 17?!  I just want to relate to someone...lol!  Anyway...unfortunately for her, with a shiny new set of braces, her teeth are incredibly sore, so the party is being postponed until next weekend when she can at least bite into a cupcake or two!  Yeah, it's that bad:(  She will however be adorned by her family and showered with lots of love over the weekend with a trip to the Spa for a fresh new 'Do, pretty nails and feet!  She's what I would call my in-be'TWEEN'.  A mix of girly girl & mountain chic.  Here's some great gift ideas for the Tween or Teen girl in your life! 

Girly girl & Mountain Chic Look 
(For Tweens & Teens!)

 

1. Knitted infiniti cowel 

2. Black intarsia heart sweater

3. Faded denim skinny jeans

4. Black padded jacket

5. Combat boots

6. Black faux croc traincase

7. Essie gold nail polish

8. Burt's Bees tinted lip balm

9. Viva La Juicy Eau de Parfum Set, from Juicy Couture

10.Too Faced 'Perfect Collection'

11.iPhone 4S case

12.Multi-strand bracelet with peace charms

13.Gold large heart short necklace

14.Small orange wool messenger bag

15.Fuschia/tangerine/gold navajo cuff

Hoping for snow this weekend as we are also chopping down our own tree on Sunday!  Have a sweet sweet weekend!!

DIY Advent Calendar 2012'

My creativity lacked a little this year when it came to my Advent Calendar, but I did manage to come up with one that was so simple.  (Oh, and this WAS done on time, just a bit late on the posting side of things)...

This is definitely one that anyone can do!  You could mix it up, with a different linen, or cloth, heck, even dishtowels will do.  I did mine in grey & white, because I like to keep things neutral with lots of texture, but you could change up the tags and coordinate it with your colour scheme for the holidays and your set! 

Materials needed:

~ Linen, cotton or any fabric of choice that easily ties together (cut into 24 1ft squares) 

~ Popsicle sticks (24)

~ Card stock paper of any colour  

~ Glue Stick (or any crafters glue will do)

~ Scissors

Instructions:

1. Print out numbers 1-24 in strips and cut out in shapes of mini flags.

2. Glue flags to the sticks.

3. Cut out your fabric into 24 - 12" x 12" squares or desired size (depending on the goodies you want to add!).  Make sure the ends aren't fraying, otherwise hem the ends.

4. Place your goodies into the center and tie two ends together first and then the other two ends to form a criss cross in the middle.  

5. Push in your popsicle stick into the middle of the knot and set out for display and watch the kids dig in! EASY PEASY! Looks a little 'french bistro' and I love this rustic look!

Makes a great centerpiece or place in a tray at the entryway for added holiday decor!  Best of all, you can reuse the sack fabric at the end for next year or place on the tree!    

Things I'm Talking About

1. Square ornament leather bracelet 

2. Natural vegan mineral eye shadow

3. Wonki Ware dinnerware

4. Vintage style black iPhone case with elk charm

5. Indoor plants in pottery

6. White pillows with knots

7. Black & white Swiss cross blanket

8. Blouse

Advent Madness!

Oh the glorious madness of the Advent.  You know it is!  The wheels constantly turning in your head, trying to come up with a new and creative advent for the holidays.  At least that describes me anyway...

With only 5 days left, my advent creativity is seriously lacking this year, but I am destined to come up with something by then!  In the meantime, you can check out the one I did last year right here. 

I actually saved this one, & decided to use these as decorations on our tree this year:) I totally believe in reusing what you have and creating new things to add.  I've never been one to go crazy with buying new decorations for the holidays.  

I'm also linking last year's Advent to the amazing blog Classy Clutter run by two lovely ladies, Mallory & Savannah!  

If you would also like to link up any holiday ideas, recipes or handmade goodies YOU created, click here!

Love to hear your Advent ideas out there!  

Have a great Sunday!

On The Board - Rustic Cabin Look

Funny, when I think of cabins or cottages, Winter and cozy come to mind.  Could just be the mindset I'm in now, but I have always loved the feeling of nesting down into the home this time of year and here's a few ideas I had for incorporating that look and feel of a warm, cozy rustic cabin.  Bits and pieces throughout your home, can help you achieve that feeling~take a look!

Where to find:

1. Log stools/tables

2. Painted beams/walls

3. Knitted ottoman seating & pillows

4. Deer head 

5. Knitted area rug

6. Swiss Army Baskets

7. Vintage map wallpaper

8. Vintage map

9. Hudson's Bay Point Blankets

10. Plaid blankets

11. Tribal pillow

12. Fur throw & chair

13. Galvanized pendant light

14. Reclaimed wood sideboard/cupboard

15. Caged pendant lighting

How do you make your home cozy for the Winter?

Happy Friday♥

Going Swiss-This One's Easy Part 2

Remember my post on the easy bathroom shelving here?  I decided to add a little something to the monochromatic scheme without going too bold.  With Winter soon approaching, I am incorporating little touches here and there throughout the house, including in all the bathrooms.  I've always loved the Swiss Army blanket & this design is so easy to add to anything, including these baskets...

Before

After

All that was used was Krylon "Banner Red" & white spray paint.  So easy!  It's amazing what a bit of paint can do to a room or accessories.  

More projects on the go, so stay tuned for more:)

The Power Of Great Bones In A Room

Today I'de like to share with you a recent e-Design I did for a family in Florida.  My client was looking for something light, airy, comfortable and simple.  Think Pottery Barn.  She loves light blues and aqua's, but changing the wall colour was not an option.  However, painting out the entire bottom panelling all white was.  The room had amazing bones and architecture already and we had to keep the chandelier, dining table & chairs.  

The key with keeping things monochromatic is incorporating textures and layers and adding a few pops of colour in the accessories.  The client already had a few great pieces like a beautiful rug at the entry way in a grey/blue geometric and a beautiful chair in the office to take the inspiration from.  

With the dining room being visible from two separate openings, everything had to flow.  

Dining room view from entry way:

You can see the great bones of this room stand out, like the panelling and the curved openings to the room

view from office area/second opening into dining room:

Big beautiful window 

Here is what I came up with for her $1,000 budget:

The final look was right on target with what she wanted and I couldn't be happier!  She will add her own photographs in the room for that personal touch I always encourage clients to incorporate.  It just goes to show you when you have good bones in a room to start with, great design happens.  In the end, it actually ended up about $350 under budget which is even better! 

Where to buy:  

1.Mirrors
2. Carnival photograph 

3. Curtain Rod
4. Window Panels

5. Area rug

6. White dresser
7. Bamboo circular tray

8. Antique iron rustic pulls 

9. Table lampw/burlap shade

10. Dinnerware 

11. Willow spheres

12. Rectangle basket

13. Dining chairs

Thank you Melanie for inviting me into your  beautiful home!  
For more information on my e-Design services click here.

This One's Easy-DIY Bathroom Shelves

Thankfully I have my own bathroom, but sharing one isn't fun at the best of times, especially when it's a teenager and a tween and it's a small bathroom to boot.  So coming up with more storage was the main issue in there, one that I never heard the end of.  It's a very typical upstairs bathroom.  Combination tub/shower, one cabinet with a sink, no drawers, and very little storage under the sink to store extra towels, bathroom tissue AND of course, both their toiletries.  Because I had been hearing about this storage issue for so long, and with really no room for a vertical standing cabinet or anything similar, that could HIDE their stuff I had to think pretty quickly but come up with something smart.  

Well I'm definitely all about recycling, and had some left over Spruce plywood from another project I had worked on, stain, and screws.  The only thing missing were the brackets and baskets!  Found the brackets for $1.97ea, spray painted them with Krylon Oil-Rubbed Bronze (because the white just wasn't doing it for me), stained the wood a dark walnut and then applied a quick drying coat of sealant, and found 4 baskets for $3.99ea that were the perfect width and height.  Within the weekend this was done and it is working like a charm-better yet, it's suddenly quieter:)

Here's the before:

And after:

They now have a shelf dedicated to themselves as well as a place for their toothbrush (old jam jar I painted), & some extra toiletry needs in jars (yay...already had!), under the shelves.  Oh and they still have a bit of room under the sink.  It all worked out pretty nifty!

Ever had a project that needed to be done on the fly?  Love to hear!

Painting Stripes

I was a bit nervous to paint stripes, just that ol' sinking feeling kept creeping in, that the paint would bleed to death and look like crap in the end, but at the same time, was pretty stoked to do it.  Of course I had a little bit of a hiccup, but that was quickly put to rest knowing I could cover it up.  Oh, I'm definitely not suggesting you cover up your mistakes, but hey, s@#!t happens and it just worked out this time, that my project allowed me to do that:)  This is pretty straight forward, and I know many of you have painted stripes, so this is just a quick recap of how it all went down!

The before:

I painted the entire wall with the white first, let it sit over night, then taped out where the stripes would go 8" apart.  I prefer to use the green Frog Tape, for most of my painting projects, but that's just my preference.  Then I applied the brown Martha Stewart colour, starting at the top.  After finishing the stripes, I started to remove the tape row by row...

...aaaaand oops!

but luckily...

...the headboard covered it!  Hooray!  I might actually attempt to do stripes again in the next year, (or 10)...:)

Paint:
Martha Stewart Molasses (MSL245)
Low Odor/Low VOC Colour Performance Paint

Beauti-Tone Signature Series
White-700-00W
Low VOC

(Both in Eggshell). 

Bedroom Makeover Part 2-DIY Headboard

If you have been following along, (http://refreshint.blogspot.ca/2012/09/bedroom-makeover-part-1.html), 

I made over my daughter's bedroom and promised a few tutorials.  Here is one easy headboard project anyone can do!  I choose to do it in a white waffle weave cotton against a striped wall.  Depending on how many panels you choose to make, (I chose to do 15-as my daughter wished), but you can do the full 25 to the ceiling!  It can be time consuming, but the end result is pretty amazing and so worth it! 

Step by step instructions:

Step 1. Start by cutting out your fabric squares 16" x 16" and foam pieces 12"x 12".  I found using a utility knife did the trick quite well for cutting my foam, as long as you have a new sharp blade.  Half way through, I switched to a new blade.  

Step 2. Put the foam square on top of your 12" x 12" wood panel.   

Step 3. Then take your fabric square, and center it over your foam and wood.  

Step 4. Top view-all lined up

Step 5. Then flip over the whole thing and make sure you have an even amount of fabric on all sides.  

Step 6. Ready to attach the fabric with the staple gun. 

Step 7. I start with one staple at the top center and then again on the bottom center.  

Step 8. Repeat with each side in the center. 

Step 9. Cut each corner in a V shape to cut off access fabric.  This will help eliminate bulk on your panels.  

Step 10. Then fold over the corners like a nurses fold and staple in place.  See-no bulk!

Flip over your finished panel and now just 14 more to go!

Half way done!

Sneak Peek:)  

AND...finished!  

The whole inspiration came from the HGTV Green Home 2012 Master bedroom.  You can see why!  We added a spin on it to my daughter's liking and it turned out fabulous!  From this point on, more cushions were added, more layering on the bed, new nightstands, lamps and accessories were added.  So stayed tuned for more!  

For a list of supplies needed for this project & instructions on to how to assemble & hang the headboard panels on the wall go here:

HGTV Green Home 2012 Headboard Project

Stay tuned for Part 3-Bedskirt tutorial to follow!
Thanks for popping by!