2011 Wrap Up

Hello friends! 2011 has been a big year and I can't wait to share with you some of my favorite posts and happenings.

My five most popular posts this year have been:

#5

Easy DIY Art

I love these in my bedroom. The cream color adds some much needed light to the space!

#4

Another Waverly Fabric SCORE!

I paid $14 for 2.75 yards of this gorgeous Sun N Shade fabric and am planning on finishing up my deck project this summer. Here are the fabrics I'll be using.

#3

Downstairs Bathroom - DONE!

This summer I did a mini re-do of my downstairs bathroom. It was just the freshening up I needed...and SO simple! I've since added a DIY Sunburst Mirror to the spot next to the mirror. It's the perfect finishing touch!

#2

Craigslist Dresser...Done?

This was another one of those never ending projects. I had so many problems with the paint bubbling up and I spent so much time sanding and re-sanding. In the end, it was worth it! This is the perfect storage solution for DVDs, diapers and wipes, toys...I love it! I do still need to buy the hardware I've got picked out but I'm having a difficult time getting myself to spend the money. The knobs and pulls are $5 each and I know that doesn't sound like much but that's $60 total and I just don't want to take it out of my budget. I am planning on a re-do of this whole space sometime this year so when I begin that, I'll buy my knobs :)

#1

New Reading Bench

This was by far my most popular post this year and one of my favorite projects. This goes to show you what a little bit of elbow grease can do. I bought the bench for $20 on Craigslist, pulled off some nasty upholstry and padding, repainted and reupholstered it. For a $30 total investment, I have a fun new piece of furniture and a great addition to my little girl's room.

So, those were my most popular posts of 2011. I want to share a few of my personal favorites.

#3

Valentine Wrap-Up

I loved the Valentine's Day crafts I did this year and I smiled every time I looked at them. I can't wait to get them back up and to do even more this year :)

#2

Owl Love You... (Before & After)

I love this little guy. He just makes me happy :)

#1

Lattice Entertain You...

These are my absolute favorite project from this past year. I fell in love with the fabric and got an awesome deal when I found it in the clearance bin at Joann. Unfortunately, I only had enough for one window. I hunted and hunted for this online but this color isn't made anymore. (It's Waverly Lovely Lattice in mocha. They do make this in the Sun N Shade fabric but I had the 100% cotton and needed the same to match up to what I already had.) Finally, I tripped over a store that had this online.

I love everything about this fabric. The weight, color and pattern are perfect and the curtains are perfect for my living/dining area. Almost every time I look at them, I can't believe how lucky I was to find that second five yards :)

2012 is going to be a busy year for me too. I've got a monster list of projects and to-dos that I'm planning on posting soon. Included in that list will be converting my guest room/office into a nursery for a baby boy coming in April. That's my biggest DIY project planned for 2012. (The baby, not the room!)

I've had so much fun looking back on 2011 and it's inspired me to forge ahead in the coming year. I've loved all the friendships that have developed through this blog and all the support I've received. Thank you ALL for making it wonderful :)

Linking up to:

Found Treasure

Hello, all! This past weekend was an exciting one for me and my rummaging ventures. I came across some great deals on some awesome items! The best deal, by far, is at the bottom of this post :)

First, is this cute set of ceramic owls. I love the mid-century vibe and my obsession with owls has always been major. With how hot they are right now, how could I resist?

One of them has the sticker still on and is labeled OMC Japan.

Next up is this adorable set of ceramic gnomes. I bought them for my daughter's bedroom but she's already taken to playing with them like dolls. She's so funny with them!

 

The little sleeping one is my favorite :)

Next is this adorable set of kissing Dutch kids. They're salt and pepper shakers but I think they would be perfect just on display.

The paint isn't in the best shape but I think that adds to their vintage charm.

I love the flowers he's holding behind his back! She's been broken and repaired :(

They still have the plugs and are both stamped with "Japan".

Almost done...this is a set of cafe curtain tiers. They are so vintage and kitschy. I love them!

They look to be hand-made with these little crochet (is that crochet? I don't know....) fruits. I think they're tomatoes, lemons and oranges - kind of a weird combo but hey, whatever works!

I don't have a window they would work in and they definitely don't match the style of my home but they were so cute, I just couldn't pass them up.

 

This was my best purchase of the day. Three (plastic) Adirondack chairs and two ottomans for TWO DOLLARS!!!

 

I've been looking for lounge furniture for my deck at a reasonable price and although they really aren't the style I was looking for, at that price I can afford to make them temporary!

 

They're really faded so I'm giving them a fresh coat of paint. I can't wait to get them out on the deck! I'm by myself this weekend so I'm planning on finishing lots of projects. Why does it seem impossible to get anything done when my kid and husband are home?

Anyhow, if you're interested in any of these items (except the gnomes and chairs, of course!), drop me an email at WonderfullyDomestic@hotmail.com. I couldn't pass them up but they just don't belong with me.

I'll be back this weekend with more projects and recipes. I can't wait to share!

Office Re-do...In Process

So I've been putting off posting on this because I really wanted to wait until it was all done to show you the transformation but I'm realizing that things are moving more slowly than I had hoped. The office/guest room re-do is moving along, just at a turtle's pace.

I don't know why I didn't take a before pic. This room has been in bad shape since we moved in a little over a year ago. We put a coat of paint on the walls without really thinking about it, basically just to have something other than primer on the walls. I've never really been happy with the color we chose, it was leftover from the basement family room in our old house and although it looked really great in that room, it was just a little too dreary for this room. Also, this room kind of became a catch-all for stuff. We moved from a larger house into this smaller one and we are still working on getting rid of the junk.

We decided to go with Behr's Creamy White. I love this color and have used it in other places. Normally I would prefer to have some color on the walls but because these basement bedrooms don't get much light, I wanted to get my color from fabrics and accessories instead of the walls.

Here is my husband wading through all the junk to paint. Bless his heart :)

Here is a better pic to see the contrast of the two colors.

Here is the workspace he built for me. I wanted it to fit like a built in and be the whole length (10 feet) of that niche in the wall. I'm planning on skirting the desk and will paint and refinish that chair. I'm also going to fill the wall above it with shelves and a cork board. I was inspired by Britt at Gus + Lula and her long desk. If you haven't seen her blog, you MUST check her out. She's got so many great projects and such a great eye. When I first found her blog I spent hours going back through all her old posts...love her!

I was saw this fabric used in the master bedroom of Rambling Renovators and fell in love! I bought it and will be using it for the curtains in here. I've mentioned before that I've really never been a fan of blue but I really think I'm changing my tune :)

Add a DIY headboard, some new bedding, a new drum shade for the ceiling fixture and some pretty turquoise accessories and I think the room will be looking pretty good! Here's hoping I can find some time to actually work on this to get it DONE!

What are you currently working on? Have you seen Brtt's blog? Go check it out and tell me what you think!

Lattice Entertain You...

Yes, I'm cheesy. I love to title my posts with puns :)  Well, I had a very productive weekend, I finally got my new curtains done in my open upstairs. Please excuse the before pictures - it is almost impossible to get a before picture of a window so I had to lighten them up using some photo editing software. Though the pictures might not be great, you get the idea!

We've got a patio door and window on the same wall. The curtains that were up before are nice but they don't close all the way and these windows face west so in the summer it gets HOT from the sun beating in.

This is the best before picture I could get - you can see the actual colors. That table doesn't go there permanently, it is going to be used as a nightstand in my guest bedroom redo. I just have it upstairs for now because my daughter likes to use it as a cage for her stuffed toys (and sometimes herself).

I decided to go the no-sew route on these. I would normally stitch them up but I didn't feel like getting my sewing machine out because I know I'll have to replace the needle next time I want to use it. Besides, I like to use rings with clips to hang curtains so I didn't need a rod pocket.

I just gave the fabric a quick press before I added my Stitch Witchery tape so it would lay right when I actually ironed it in.

I ironed in both long sides first and then folded the top and bottom hem over and ironed more tape in. I don't have an ironing board so I put a towel down on my counter top and iron right on there.

Here is an after pic...I love how they turned out and I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to get them done. I've had the fabric for this since October! Sometimes it does not pay to be a procrastinator :(

Here is a good after pic. I need to raise the curtain rods a couple inches. I don't really like them pooling on the floor, I just didn't want to do anything before I knew exactly how they would hang.

I still have a little bit of work to do with lining these and I've also got some different sheers to put up. I just love them. This is one of my favorite patterns of all time and the color just looks great with everything else in this great room.

I've got some other posts coming up from my weekend. This is a big week for me with St. Patrick's Day and everything!

So, there you've got it. Proof that you can make such a huge impact with such a simple change.

In the Navy...

I've never really been a fan of blue.  Not that I don't like the color, I just favor green.  However, for some reason I've really found myself attracted to blue lately.  Last fall I found a photo online of these beautiful drapes from Pottery Barn and fell in love with the fabric.

(Recognize it?)

As much as I loved the drapes, I did not love the price tag.  These were $79.99 each for the 84 inch panels.  I started searching ebay on a regular basis and found five yards of the fabric itself for $80 +shipping.  Awesome deal.

Anyway, back to the point.  Blue.  These have a good deal of navy blue in the pattern.  Here is a pic of the bedding in the same pattern - you can see the pattern better:

Love it!  I made some simple drapes for my bedroom - when I say simple, I mean SIMPLE! I just finished the edges with a straight stitch and didn't bother with a pole pocket because I prefer using clips. I wouldn't have even had to sew, I could have used Stitch Witchery but I didn't feel like shelling out the (few - this is really inexpensive) extra bucks for it.  

Anyway, my master looks pretty much complete but I'm just not happy with it. There are a few little touches I really want to get right before I can consider it "complete".

I've been looking for the perfect (but inexpensive) lamps for our nightstands. Our wall color is dark so I really want something that will lighten (pun intended!) the room up. Currently, I'm using some oil-rubbed bronze finish table lamps with cone shades that I really don't like. Really they were just supposed to be a temporary stand-in but they've been there for six months or so. I've been considering silver leafing them and picking up some great light drum shades but I just can't make up my mind.

Last night I was at Target and found some beautiful lamps that I fell in love with!

Excuse the poor cell phone pics - I don't typically travel with my camera ;)  These blue bases are the perfect color - they're not a true navy, they almost have a little cobalt. I really, really love them but with my dark walls, I'm afraid they would be too dark. See those shades though? They're white with navy ribbon - love them. 

These clear bases are more what I'm needing. I love that they're clear and the shape is fantastic! I'm thinking I would love them with those shades above but for two lamps plus shades, we're talking $120!  Ouch!

Anyway, the master is one of my projects I've got planned for 2011...and boy, do I have a lot of projects planned!  I've really enjoyed blogging these past few months and am looking forward to so many more great posts and projects (so much so that I've got almost 50 drafts started!). I really hope you decide to stick around to see what I've got up my sleeve :)

Virtual Window Shopping

I love window shopping. I have so many great ideas and love so many different styles that window shopping is often the only satisfaction I can get when I see something I love but just wouldn't work in my home. There are a few categories I always keep an eye on:

Rugs. I'm looking for a round, light-colored rug to go under my dining table so I often peruse rug sections in online stores. (Click the pictures below to bring you to the store page.)

This is the beautiful "Tatiana" area rug is from World Market. Green is my favorite color and I love the little pops of rust. I wish I could use this in my home!

This beauty is from Target. If it were less expensive I would buy it just to have it on hand. I love it!

Curtains. I love curtains because they are such an easy way to change the whole feel of your space. I like to keep my walls and furniture neutral and go with a really bold drape. I never used to be like this but I fell in love with a patterned drape a couple years ago and changed my whole philosophy on the subject :) Pottery Barn has some of my favorite patterns but they are pretty spendy.

Above is Pottery Barn's "Audrey" pattern. You could use so many different colors with this one and could really go in several style directions. I picture these with some pillows in the Waverly Lovely Lattice pattern in Lagoon like these here - then again, I picture that pattern with everything, I love it so much!

This is Pottery Barn's "Simone" pattern. This is a Kravet pattern called "Lorton" and the color is called "vintage" you can find or special order at many fabric stores.

Mirrors. I love mirrors and am looking for the perfect one for my dining area. I think I just love shiny things.

This one from Pottery Barn is so stunning. The first time I saw this picture in the catalog it took my breath away and I couldn't stop thinking of it. It comes in two sizes, this being the large one. I'm considering an attempt at a knock-off for my home.

This one is just for fun - a headboard decal from Urban Outfitters. How cool is this?

Lamps. I love lamps! I'm always on the hunt for new ones so this is one category I check often.

This table lamp from Pier 1 is so stunning. I'm usually not a fan of gold but on this, even I love it. I would love to have one of these in every room. (Okay, maybe not every room) I'm going to try find something of a similar shape and try to make a knock-off.

This chandelier is lovely. Britt at A Penny Saved made an awesome DIY version from a Target table lamp. I love that it is classic but modern and can be formal or kind of casual depending on what you pair it with. Love this.

I love this modern update to the classic look. How simple would it be to do this to update an existing fixture?

Here is another version of this. I think my grandparents have that same chandelier (minus the shade). I would love to add a shade to take it into this century!

This pendant is so fabulous. It is a stainless steel finish, I would love to purchase the collection for my own home!

I love this! You could go so many ways with this collection - mid-century modern, ethnic, ecclectic. I just love it.

This is probably my favorite of all the chandeliers. It is the perfect combination of casual and formal. I actually am considering doing something similar at home.

So, I hope you enjoyed my first installment of Virtual Window Shopping. What are your favorite sites to window shop? What items do you love looking at?