A Year of Pretty - January 05, 2014

Okay, okay . . . I know I've been posting a lot of cup and saucer and high tea photos this past week. But just one more tea party themed post and then I'll move on to something else.

Today's Pretty Post is from one of my FAVOURITE design inspiration sites called Design Seeds. First, I think it's a really awesome name for a design inspiration site, since each idea for design does indeed start with a seed of sorts. The seed grows and changes and grows some more until the designer arrives at the end product; the manifestation of the original design seed.

So what is Design Seeds? Basically, it's a palette search tool based around colours found in an item, such as shown in today's post. Think of it as an elegant version of paint chips you'd find at Home Depot or Rona.

Created by Jessica in 2009, Design Seeds began as a way for her to incorporate her love of colour with design blogging. Throughout her art school training at the Center for Creative Studies and her extensive design career working with companies such as Ford, Reebok and Timberland, Jessica has created original colour journals. Design Seeds is a modern interpretation of these journals.

While the colour palettes shown do not have any specific paint brands associated with them, there are many paint stores that will scan a colour swatch and create a corresponding paint colour. Just keep in mind that what you see on your screen and what is printed from your desktop printer may be slightly different.

Design away my friends .  .Design away !

A Year of Pretty - January 03, 2014

First, I would like to say I would like to say I survived the year end staff party with no ill effects and no embarrassing stories in circulation.

Here is a gorgeous hutch makeover from Design Sponge. I love, love, love the colour palate chosen; the gold highlights accentuate the details on the doors so nicely. It reminds me a bit of a Marie Antoinette colour theme, n'est pas? That french je ne sais quoi? or as one comment states; Alice in Wonderland.  I agree.

And again, I am still with the china teacups and saucers theme. This just shows a pretty place to store them all while still displaying the favourites.

This photo shows only the "after" transformation. To see the "before", along with other wonderful ideas for giving life to old furniture, be sure to check out the Design Sponge website.

I have a dresser with six drawers and a top shelf that I am using as a china hutch. My dad picked it up as a "big garbage day" find. I think it used to have a mirror in the open space between the top shelf and the set of drawers and it broke so that why it was being tossed out. It's white with black scroll knobs and has much the same shape of the hutch pictured here. While I think I will keep mine white, this photo has inspired me to sand it down, clean it and give it a fresh coat of paint; along with some contrasting accents like the gold shown here on the doors and drawers. Take the hardware off, clean it and spray paint it a matte black or with a pewter crackle finish. Maybe add some moldings along the top like those in the picture.

Darn! I think I just added another project to my list.

Today on Etsy - January 31, 2013

Wow! Where did the first month of 2013 go? It's already the end of January. Which means it's that much closer to spring. In the meantime, look at these fun repurposed canning jars from BeachBlues.

 

Lovely for a spring table, a side table, and entrance way.

Sweet and Pretty . . . take 3

Today’s helping of Sweet and Pretty is actually a collection or treasury of items discovered by Bella of Allami. While the grouping is definitely inspired by Russian matryoshka dolls (you know, the nesting ones you played with as a child), the items would be perfect for a nursery or little girl’s room. All well priced, these are sure to bring whimsy and delight to any princess, no matter the age.

One of the items that really got my attention was this painted horse box by GoodWoodDogs. Other than being pink and girly and a great place to store special trinkets, the hand crafted, hand painted pine and basswood treasure is made by a father - daughter team. The father is a retired chemist-turned-artist.  Dad does the carving, daughter does the painting. Which I think is just great, and adds a bit of back story to the item.

In a time where more and more children’s toys are mass produced, it’s so nice to see hand-made items with care and attention to detail . . .and no batteries required.

Mirror, Mirror on the wall . . . or floor, or dressing table . . .

Today’s clever trick is how to increase the look of your space without increasing your physical space. Confused? Think of a restaurant or a store that has mirrors on either side of the room. The space seems to go on endlessly. But yet the physical space may not be that big at all. Ah haaaa !Here are a few examples of mirrors I have found that would help you increase (and yet not increase) your space.

I have several large floor to ceiling mirrors in my home, and often guests remark "Oh, your place is so spacious and roomy!", when in reality it's not. It's about 1100 sq feet. Large by downtown living standards, but then I don't live downtown. Maybe my place just is roomy compared to their 400sq ft downtown dwellings. There is something to be said for not choosing to live downtown. But I digress . .

Back to the mirrors. The examples shown here are all either rectangle or square, but you could go with any shape. I particularly like the frames on these, and they illustrate how ornate and fancy-smancy frames can work with contemporary or modern furniture.

Another good source for finding mirror ideas is by searching on Pinterest (yeh Pinterest! my new favourite way to waste time!). I also found some great ideas on the websites lehuge and decorativemirrorsonline , but since both of these are based in the UK, shipping such a large mirror would probably end up costing more than the mirror itself. Still, it's nice to get ideas.


If you're handy, you could opt to build your own mirror. Local building centers and hardware stores have many choices of decorative crown moldings and baseboards to choose from. Decide the dimensions of your finnished mirror including frame, have the customer service rep cut the pieces on a 45 degree angle (or do this at home yourself if you have the tools and the know how.) the frame together, clamp, allow to dry, paint, stain, vanish, insert your mirrored glass . . . .eh, might be cheaper and less stress to purchase one. However, I will tell you from experience that transporting a store bought mirror this size presents its own challenges.

Whichever route you decide to go, a large mirror will add interesting detail and become a conversation piece. It is interesting how a room will look completely different when viewed in the mirror.

Vacation - Day 2, 3, 4 & 5

Well, it seems time has gotten away from me. Here we are on day 5 of my imposed "vacation". No real sewing yet, although I have zip-zagged all my fabrics and visited the local laundromat. They are all clean and ready to go. Note to self - next time take the fabric to the local laundromat late at night when there aren't as many sour-faced old ditties that will scowl at you for taking more than two machines.

I have spent some time with the aforementioned planter boxes on my patio. And my floors and bathrooms are gleaming clean. So I can at least cross those things of my "To-Do" list.

I have discovered a problem in my craft/sewing room. Well, technically not a problem, just something that I thought I had done but it seems I still have some work to do. I found a box of unpainted ceramic houses. Eight of 'em. Plus all the tiny village people. Uncleaned greenware. Great, another project to add to my list of things to get done. Hence - a problem.

The situation is further complicated because Mom already has about a dozen finished houses and no more room with the current display to add more. So poor ol' Dad will have to build on to the village and rig up more lights for the display this Christmas.

But I guess compared to world hunger and the global economic crisis it's not a big deal . . . .