Inspiration & Curio.

I have been quite the delinquent in updating with posts. The truth is, I haven't really done too much around the house. The guest bedroom is still generally in the same half-baked state. I bought long white wall shelves, but am still waiting for the white frames I ordered for my litographs to come in before I can measure out and hang everything up. The litographs, in case you were wondering look like this:

They picture itself is created by words from the actual work. Les Mis is one of the 4 we purchased.

I also finally settled on knobs for the guest bath cabinets. After going back and forth with which blue ones I wanted, I decided to go for gold:

At the same time, I also bought the knobs below for the hallway cabinets. I've been debating painting them white because I think white goes really well with the hallway paint color, which is the same as the living room (previously posted here). However, I also think it may be a little strange to have all my cabinets different colors just in terms of resale value...

Another reason why I'd been so busy the past couple of months is because we had several weddings to go to and also celebrated our own 1 year anniversary! For our anniversary, we had a staycation at the Redbury Hotel in Hollywood where we stayed at for our wedding night. Each room is apartment style and below are some pictures I took. Love this hotel!

For our anniversary, Matt also got me gerber daisies, which I put out on our entryway table. Going with the theme of curio, you can also see various random objects I have, including a vintage poison bottle and a raven's skull candleholder.

I also got a new haircut, which you can see in this Halloween picture from when we went to see Book of Mormon on Halloween:

And I bought this beautiful tulle skirt below for the upcoming holiday season...and forever.

Now onto the actual curio section of this blog. I am completely obsessed with these place card holders, which I am promptly purchasing:

Along with some of these, of which I already have a couple:

I've been collecting random porcelain and metal animal objects, which I absolutely love! Some others that I'd like to buy at some point include:

 Little ceramic stamps with close-up of pig below:

Fun tabletop objets d'art.

The Louis Ghost Chair, which I have been pining after for literally about a decade now!!

Lastly, just a fun eclectic room with the ghost barstool. I also love the tufted ottoman pouf off to the right side.

Dreams Dashed.

As I previously noted, I'm still looking for the perfect shower curtain for the guest bathroom. I actually had the perfect one thought up in my head once my husband suggested a solid blue curtain. Rather than solid (because let's be honest, that's just boring), I imagined a ruffled curtain that beautifully ombred from lighter to darker blue. I then googled it to see if it existed and I actually found it!! From Anthropologie of course. BUT -- it was from last year and is now literally sold out everywhere including ebay, amazon, or any other sites available. I'm so sad now...it's PERFECT!

I also read on several people's blog that they didn't want to pay over $100 on it so they made their own DIY versions of the curtain. Example:

Anthropologie ruffle in yellow

Anthropologie ruffle in blue

The latter one the person actually individually dyed the strips. Don't think I'll have the patience or skill to do that. The former yellow version she just bought 9 varying yellow strips of fabric. Maybe I can do that. I'll have to wipe the thick layer of dust off my sewing machine and relearn how to use it first. 

Another item of desire that I most likely won't buy is Restoration Hardware's Cloche with Babies. Man I want that cloche!! But it's $400!!! So ridiculous...

Fresh Paint.

It has been a long time coming, but I finally was able to finish the painting of our living/dining room with the help of some wonderful friends. It's the perfect taupe (technically, Cheyenne Rock). Here are the pictures of the living room from the process to the finished look:

We just pushed everything into the middle of the room and covered it all up.

And completed with everything moved back into place!

This is going to be our art wall. We've already collected many photos we want to put up, 

but just have to find the right frames. 

I haven't decided if I want to go simple and classic with all the same frames and thick matting,

or if I a more eclectic collection of frames.

Now just for fun, let's look at some OLD pictures of the space:

Wow the place looked awful before. But to be fair, I was only 19 years old and had no idea what I was doing. I'm so glad I finally have been able to redo the place. It even feels bigger even though I have more furniture in this room now!

One of the ladder shelves is in the family room and the other one I put in the entry way. I've been wanting a ladder for shoes for awhile now anyway, so this was perfect!

I also rearranged our master bedroom a bit and have been slowly bringing new elements to it. Now that the dining/living room is complete, it's just down to the bedrooms. It's been much easier to redo the guest bedroom, so our room will likely have to wait. However, below is an evolution of my books and that corner of the room behind the door:

 And this is the couch across from the armchair.

I also got new cushion covers for the other loveseat in the room:

I bought this shower curtain from West Elm (on the left) to replace the other one (on the right), but it's still now quite right. Sigh, looks like I'll have to keep looking. There seems to be too much white, says my husband. I'll start looking for a more blue dominant pattern.

At least the guest bedroom bed and table are finally set up and usable! 

Now I'm just looking for better bed sheet and duvet cover set. I'm figuring out the wall decor as well, in term of framed art and wall of bookshelves lining up to the ceiling.

Last quick note. Finally used this espresso maker and made a delicious iced cafe au lait. My new summer treat.

Guest Room in Progress.

We finally painted our guest bedroom/Matt's office space. We also finally got our corner desk and more from Pottery Barn. However, the rest of the bedroom furniture and bedding accessories are still a work in progress. Here are some pictures of the process and what we have so far:

What the room looked like before painting. Unfortunately I don't have an actual before picture.

Basically piled everything onto the bed in the middle of the room in preparation for painting.

My wonderful husband painting with me after work.

After just two long nights, we completed the room. Painting with a partner is so much better!

Still trying to figure out how to configure the room. I think the is the best option for the bed placement.

I also painted the side table I had in that room the same color as the wall. I forgot to take a before picture, but it used to be pale yellow. I bought for a mere $25 while antiquing.

I set it up in the small alcove right next to the door as you enter the room.

The desk and its pieces. Unfortunately, the person at pottery barn failed to realize we also needed another top for the two extra cabinets in order to make the top flush with the corner desk set. Thus, we still can't set it up completely yet. Hopefully soon.

This is similar to what I eventually want to do with that room. I'm going to buy long white wall shelves above the desk, but probably not in the corner since the actual desk part on ours is in the corner and not on the side like the room below.

So far that's what I have. It's also been nearly impossible finding the right office chair. I'm considering this one from West Elm, but not sure yet.

So many things left to do still!