inspired design...alice in wonderland

I am just a kid in a grown up's body. That is why I love the premise of this inspired design. It takes an old childhood favorite and gives it a classy, grown up spin. It's the best of both worlds! I always loved the whimsical story of Alice in Wonderland, and since I believe that everyone's bedroom should be a magical wonderland (though hopefully less creepy than Alice's wonderland), I decided to make the classic fairy tale the inspiration for this month's inspired design!

The color palette for this design is inspired by the queen of hearts and uses mainly gold, black and red. 

Alice in Wonderland Silhouette Art Set... $80.00

Red velvet curtains... $39.99

Black Paris side table... $280.00

Black and white striped comforter set...$79.00

Red heart pillow... DIY tutorial!

Gold dot pillow...$70.00

Red high back chair...$571.99

Gold tufted headboard... price not shown

Black and gold lamp...  currently sold out (bummer! hope they bring it back!)

For this design I chose classic pieces, like the black side table and the tufted head board, and paired them with bold, funky pieces, like the red high back chair, and the black and gold striped lamp. I am in love with the Alice in Wonderland silhouette set; it is a great way to add fun and charm to the room with out overplaying the theme. And if you are feeling adventurous try doing it yourself! Google images to trace onto black paper. Cut out the silhouette and paste them onto white paper and frame! Easy as that!

I hope you have enjoyed this inspired design and it helps you create your own wonderland!

- holly

exciting news!...

I am so excited to announce that my wedding was chosen to be featured on fab you bliss! I am so honored that Stephanie thought my wedding was worth sharing. I hope that it can help inspire other soon to be brides! Go check out the article here. And thank you to my fabulous wedding photographer, Marcie Meredith Photography who took the time to submit her pictures! 

I had so much fun planning my wedding! I loved being able to match it to my personality! Pinterest  was such a helpful tool. I was able to look at all kinds of weddings and color palettes and it helped me figure out exactly what I liked and how I wanted my wedding to be. You can view my wedding pin board here to see what all inspired me! I love the idea that other girls might be able to use my wedding to help plan theirs now!

Photos by Jordan Washer Photography and Marcie Meredith Photography

inspired design - garden of eden...

I love bathroom designs that help you escape. One that allows you to step out of reality for a while, where once you step into a steamy shower all of your worries melt away. As a girl, when I need to relax I like to pamper myself; a nice hot bath, a face mask, and some nail polish can usually brighten my spirits. This is why I love the idea of bathroom designs that take you into a new world. And that is how I came up with this week's inspired design. A bathroom inspired by the garden of eden...

The color scheme uses a variety of green hues paired with natural beige, brown, and gold tones. These colors give the room a lush, natural, "garden" feel. Then I added red accents which is inspired by the forbidden fruit.

bathroom vanity from TradewindsImports.com...$1709.00
wood framed mirror...$899.00
gold mosaic vanity light fixture...$250.00
red sink...$135.00
soap dispenser...$12.99
ecru towel set...$39.99
red hand towel...$27.68
green subway tiles...price will vary depending on area tiled and size of the tile.

I loved this application of the green tile. The mix of green colors adds depth and is perfect for a bathroom that is inspired by nature.  I would suggest using something like this in moderation, for example only tiling the shower in this, or only one small wall. Too much of this would over power a small room. pairing this green with a light ecru or beige wall color will allow the tile to be a dramatic and exciting feature, with out being too wild or overpowering. When adding in red accents moderation is key. You want one key piece to be a focal point in the room. Too much red and green and your bathroom may end up looking more like Santa's workshop than the Garden of Eden. 

-holly

inspired design...oh, the places you'll go!...

Last week Jon and I welcomed a new little nephew into the world! He is so cute and perfect and we fell in love instantly! In honor of little Owen, this week's inspired design is a boy's nursery. The selections are inspired by a book by my favorite author, Dr. Seuss. Just like the book "Oh, the Places You'll Go" this design is all about adventure and far away places.

The color palette uses neutrals and baby blue to give the room an overall calm and relaxing feel. Then pops of red and brighter blues are used to add interest. Studies show that babies prefer bright primary colors, and red and blue in particular. The design was centered around this hot air balloon  mobile. It is so fun and whimsical and worked perfect with the theme. I found the mobile from the mmm mobile etsy shop.

hot air balloon mobile...$49.00
cloud wall decals...$60.00
grey and white crib bedding...$169.00
red gumball lamp...$89.00
sofa...$1499.00
red and white striped rug...$275.00
world map wall art...$175.00
blue glider chair and ottoman...$999.00
baby changing table...$599.00
map of DC pillow...$20.00
red and white striped pillow...$20.00

If you like this inspired design, then you will LOVE these DIY tutorials I found!...

I found this adorable tutorial and pattern so you can make your own hot air balloon mobile! You can find this and other great DIY ideas over on the Craftiness is Not Optional blog.... Hopefully you are as obsessed with this hot air balloon stuff as I am, because the second craft project I want to share with y'all is this  hot air balloon baby blanket!

You can find the full tutorial for this quilt on the Moda Bake Shop blog. I hope you enjoyed this inspired design and remember... "You're off to great places, today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way!"

-holly

inspired design...back to school hipster...

For this week's inspired design I decided to do a dorm edition for all of you college students, like my husband, gearing up for a new semester. I am calling this design "the back to school hipster". The color palette is made up of soft pinks, blue, mint, yellow, and beige. The soft pastel tones of this palette help bring an instant cozy feel to the room and will brighten up even the drabbest of dorms.

The design is a mixture of vintage cool, and modern hipster. The result is a fun, and comfy room that will be the envy of every other girl on your hall.

patchwork quilt...$169.00
bicycle wall art...$135.00
mustache push pins...$3.30 (for pkg of 8)
we are young pillow...$20.00
yellow triangle pillow...$20.00
hipster glasses pillow set...$28.00
mint, over the door, vanity station...$89.00
mint, vintage style microwave...$749.00

The pink vintage mini fridge is an actual vintage piece, and therefore extremely difficult to find, but if you like this, I found another mini fridge that has a similar vintage feel. you can find it here in multiple colors, including light pink!

Also, the pink display/storage cubes shown on this design board are hard to find in America. I found these on Ebay. They are coming out of the UK, but can probably be shipped here for a little extra money. Or you could buy this set at target and paint them pink yourself!

Dorms are not always the easiest room to decorate. You have to be careful about what you hang and how you hang it, you can't paint, and you have to work with the furniture you are given. Here are some addition tips on how to make your dorm feel like home...

img. from: http://www.juxtapost.com

I love the idea of draping some fabric over your bed. Fabric is always an easy way to add softness to a room and help it feel more cozy. And this is a great idea because it can help provide a little more privacy if you are sharing your dorm with a roommate.

Another way to soften the room while adding a little bit of whimsy and fun is by hanging paper lanterns from the ceiling. These are light and easy to hang withr out causing any damage. Not to mention they are super cheap! you can often find these for $1 each! Hang several together in a cluster at varying heights to create a strong visual effect.

img. from: www.inarkansas.com

Wanting to add some more color to your space? read this article with 28 decorating tips to brighten up your rented home. It has several great ideas for adding color in a temporary way.

Have fun decorating your dorms, and I hope everyone has a great semester!

Is your dorm room creative and inspirational? Share it with me, and if I like it I just might feature it on my blog!

inspired design - Duck Dynasty...

This week's design inspiration comes from one of my favorite quirky TV shows, Duck Dynasty!! Season 4 of Duck Dynasty kicked off last night and it got me thinking. For those of y'all that don't watch Duck Dynasty, you need to start, its hilarious. But let me fill you in...the show is about a big redneck family that became multimillionaires from their duck call making business. The guys in this family have big scruffy beards and are crazy hillbillies that spend all their free time hunting. Somehow they all managed to snag BEAUTIFUL, classy wives. 

photo from www.realitytea.com

I started thinking.. (Even though I am sure this is not the case) what if they had a similar issue as me, where their husbands wanted to have an input in the home decor? What would that house look like? How could you possibly mix the tastes of cute, preppy stylish women with dirty, bearded, redneck men? Here is the solution I came up with...I'm calling this style the sophisticated hillbilly!

deer head...$335.00

coral chair...$349.00

drift wood lamp...$503.80

sheep skin rug...$197.99

stag print pillow...$20.00

coral damask pillow...$20.00

wood coffee table...$1,495.00

black tuffed sofa...$4,867.00

The entire design was centered around the black and white print paper deer head. Its a bold piece that immediately sets the tone for the whole room, and it is the perfect mixture of classy and country. I started off by keeping with the black and white color scheme. Black and white is classic, timeless, and so easy to work around. If you ever get tired of the design its easy to completely change the feel of the room by changing accessories and pops of color, while being able to keep the basic pieces of your room. I also wanted to stay with a natural material palette, which is why I chose to go with a leather sofa, sheep skin rug, and wood accessories. So while the selections have a sleek and sophisticated look, the materials help give the space a  manly, "hunting cabin" feel. I then added in the coral chair, pillows, and flower arrangement to add a soft feminine touch to it. When you put all of these together you get a soft, modern, take on the hunter's decor.

For those of you who love this look, but are on a budget, I found an awesome DIY tutorial on making a paper deer head. the best part about this is that you can completely customize it in any color or pattern you wanted!

To see the tutorial, you can go to the chroniclebooks blog.

I love the idea of taking two opposing styles and putting them together. Do you know of any designs that do this? share them with me!

-holly

trash to treasure- a side table makeover...

I am a poor girl with expensive taste. I like nice things, but currently I have a Walmart/Target/Ikea budget. But just because something is cheap, doesn't mean it has to look cheap. When money is tight you just have to get creative. And that is exactly what I did with my bedside table... 

I found this night stand at a garage sale for 2 dollars. TWO DOLLARS!!! It was a little banged up, but I knew a fresh coat of paint and a little embellishment could take it from drab to fab. Plus who in their right mind would pass this up for only 2 dollars?

I happily loaded my new table into my car and took it home, and that is where the magic began. I started off by painting it white to give it a nice clean look...

Then I cut out a piece of fabric so that it would cover most of the top, leaving about 1/2" of the painted white wood exposed...

I sprayed the back of the fabric with a spray adhesive, and carefully centered the fabric on top of the table and smoothed it flat...

Then I added furniture studs all the way around to cover the edge of the fabric...

I was so delighted with the finished product! It has a clean, sophisticated look, and all in all it cost me about $17!! You cannot beat a price like that!! hope you enjoyed this transformation! 

Do you have a trash to treasure transformation? Share it with me!

the Anders' abode...

Decorating our apartment has been quite the unexpected challenge. I love to decorate and one of the things I was looking forward to most about married life was officially becoming the “queen of the castle!” Up until this point of my life, my decorating powers have been very limited. Between birth and the age of 18 I was living in my parents’ home where I only had reign over my own bedroom, and even there my decorating was still basically controlled by my mom, who had the checkbook, and therefore all the real power. My 5 ½ years of college were spent in a dorm, apartment, and rent house all of which came pre-furnished, and all of which I could not paint the walls. So my decorating was limited to hanging pictures on the wall, and throwing pillows on my pre-chosen furniture. So after Jon popped the question I started daydreaming about our future home and all the power I would have! (Honestly these daydreams started WAY before he popped the question; they just grew more intense after we became engaged.) However, within minutes of walking into the first store we were registering at, I realized that my dreams were not going to be my reality…

I walked into that Target assuming that all relationships have a similar dynamic as my parents – My mom does all the decorating picks out all the pillows, paint colors, and accessories. My dad doesn’t care. He has no say in the decorating, because he doesn’t want any say. He approves the big purchases and then happily watches sports as my mom rearranges furniture – I walked out of that target fuming mad and utterly confused. Jon wanted a say in everything, and we couldn’t even agree on something as simple as a soap dispenser for our bathroom… Now, looking back at it, we laugh. It all seems so silly and trivial, but at the time neither one of us was laughing. I had to learn to let go of some of my power; it is OUR home, not MY home. And Jon had to learn to put a little more trust in me. This was a challenge for both of us, because our styles are nothing alike… Jon is going to school to become an accountant, meaning he is NOT a creative, out of the box thinking, big, bold personality type. He is very much in the box, and in my honest opinion, his style of decorating is way too safe and boring. I am a way out of the box, lots of colors, lots of patterns, lots of fun, type person. So you could see how this would be an issue. I had to tone down my original ideas and find a happy medium between our two extremes. And Jon had to learn to trust my “creative mind” when I would suggest something he just couldn't picture. This was the first major challenge we faced, but we are starting to find that happy place. One that has pops of color to satisfy my wild side, while still being calm and classic to match Jon’s laid back style…It is still a work in progress, but we have our whole lives to figure it out

one of Jon's registry selections

one of my selections

The second major challenge is the temporariness of our current home. Jon has two more years of school left, and after that we are thinking about packing it up heading for the mountains. Jon misses Colorado and wants to move back, and I just want to be where he is. So… since Jon is still in school and only working part time, and we might be moving in a couple years we decided the best decision for us at this stage of life is to rent an apartment. Likewise, a lot of our furniture is stuff we may or may not keep when we move – either way most of it is not items we see hanging around for years to come. This is just the stage of life that we are in right now. The starter phase, as I like to call it. So, we want our apartment to feel homey, and inviting, and comfortable and we want it to fit our personalities and our lifestyle. But with the temporary state of everything we own, it’s hard to justify putting much money into anything. (Plus, we in the “starter phase” don’t have much money anyways!) And so our challenge has become the task of making our apartment a nice temporary home for us to enjoy for two years, without breaking the bank. When looking for apartments one of my “must haves” was being able to paint the walls. So that is one easy, and affordable way we have been able to make the place “ours”. Also, most of the artwork displayed throughout our apartment I have painted or made myself, this way we can save some cash while being able to tailor our art to our exact style and needs!

Here is a quick tour through our apartment for you to see what we have done with the place so far!

In the living room we used mainly blues, yellows, and greens. These are all calming colors, and I was able to have fun with our art work, while using a “natural” theme throughout. We then softened things up with light tan and cream drapes. It’s fun without being too crazy!

In our bedroom we went for a little more classic feel. We used a warm tan tone on the walls. Our bedding is gold and a deep maroon we use white and black for simple, classic accessories. The headboard gives me the drama I crave, while the warm and simple color palette keeps Jon relaxed and happy.

In our bathroom we wanted to use a different color palette than what we used in our room, but one that would complement the bedroom. So we chose dark brown, with a gold-ish yellow, and pops of orange.

For our guest bathroom we wanted a calm, spa – type feel. So we used lots of white, with light blue. I plan on painting the walls in here a light gray but haven’t got around to it yet. Once I do I will show you the updated version!

  

For our second bedroom I dreamed of a luxe, 1920’s, art-deco study, done in dramatic dark grey and emerald hues, with black and white and silver accents. A place to curl up under a big fluffy blanket and sip on an amaretto sour (my current favorite cocktail) while reading a good book.  Sounds wonderful doesn't it, girls? – Jon dreamed of a mancave, a place to set up all of his sports memorabilia, and video games… Jon won… it took me a while to give in, but Jon uses that room way more than I do. The desk is in there, and that is where he works on homework. We didn't have space for the Xbox and Nintendo in our living room set up, so he hooked them up to the TV in there, and before I knew what hit me, it was a mancave. But this transformation didn't happen until after I had bought a fabulous black and white rug that was going to be perfect in my study…so what we have here is a wonderful rug surrounded by boy things. Oh well, maybe one day when we get a house I will get my study, and that rug can finally get the sophisticated home it deserves…

That’s it! Still a big work in progress, but its home.