The Best of Big D

Each year, D Magazine votes for The Best of Big D. This is a list of the favorite restaurants, shops, bars, etc. in Dallas. The people of Dallas vote for their favorites, and those with the highest amount of votes win the Best of Big D award and proudly display it in their business. It's quite an honor. I'm excited to see that the best home decor shop IMO in Dallas won! The shop is Vintage Living by Lisa Luby Ryan. Her entire store is done in neutrals with a French touch to it. Every time I go in there, I consider refusing to ever leave. The place is amazing and absolutely deserves this award. Here is a glimpse into the store:

D Magazine Online

Don't you just want to curl up in that bed and read a good book? That lush bedding is calling my name. 

Vintage Living

Gorgeous, right? My only complaint is that the store has very limited business hours. You either have to make an appointment or be a stay at home wife to make it there during business hours. If I could just convince Lisa to extend her business hours back, maybe I could make it back in there some time, and hopefully soon!

What I'm Wishing For...

It's been a little over a year since I bought and moved into my first house. I love the house, but am ready to make it look like I didn't just move in add some personal touches. There are a few specific pieces I would LOVE to own and put in the house. I just have to convince my soon-to-be husband he loves them too. :)

1. First, I would love a bed. Everyone should have a bed, right? The master bedroom really doesn't need a whole lot, but a bed would make a big difference. Restoration Hardware has a few beds I would love to own. It's probably a good thing that I can't pick just one. That way, my man can have the final say. It will eventually be his bed too. Here are my favorites:

St. James Bed Without Footboard in Antiqued Natural 

Chesterfield Upholstered Sleigh Bed via Houzz

Keyhole Arch bed 

Adler Tufted Platform Bed

2. I would love to replace the Target clearance bar stools in the kitchen. I have been wanting these bar stools for a year. D hates them, but I am not giving up. Hopefully, he will someday see the beauty in them. I even told him he can pick the color. :)

Madeleine Bar Stool

They can also be found at Ballard Designs:

Constance Bar Stool

3. The chandeliers need updating. I would love this one for the breakfast nook...

Mariestad 6 Light Chandelier

...or I would also take this in the 12 Light version and replace the outdated chandelier in the dining room.

For now, I will just keep dreaming about them.

**UPDATE: Thanks to Shades of Light and Kevin & Layla Palmer of The Lettered Cottage, I have to add another wish to my list!

The Wooden Wine Barrel from Shades of Light 

I love the rope detailing Kevin & Layla added to theirs:

See their post about it here. (Or if you just want to follow their sweet blog and/or look at beautiful pictures of their cottage style home.)

The Thrill of Thrifting

Don't you just wish you could fill your home with beautiful things? Some girls dream of buying cute shoes. Some girls dream of buying nice coats and beautiful clothes. Some girls wish for thick, long eyelashes, or long, healthy nails. Some girls dream of having long, gorgeous hair. Some girls dream of baubles and jewels. While those things would be nice, they are not things I think about often. Those thoughts only enter my head maybe twice a year. It seems like most girls yearn for these things a lot more than I do. What does enter my head on a bazillion-time-a-day basis is home decor. I yearn for upholstered chairs, vintage fainting couches, two-tone case pieces with brass hardware, and the entire catalog of Restoration Hardware. In short, I am obsessed with that place. Okay, maybe that is an exaggeration, but let's just say that if I won the lottery, you would find me at Restoration Hardware for the next three months. Or at least until my entire house is decorated exactly how I want. I yearn to be surrounded by all neutral decor. An ivory couch, gray walls, patina accent pieces, white and clear lamps with linen shades, creamy colored benches at the end of light wood upholstered beds with white, fluffy bedding...I could go on for hours.

Since my bank account does not support this fetish, I have learned the art of thrifting. The definition of thrifting, according to Wikipedia, is "the quality of using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully." I would define it as creatively gaining the beautiful pieces that you love. You can have those things you dream of having. You just have to hunt for them. You have to be willing to put some time and elbow grease into it. 

I read an article recently that states that we are most happy when we are being active or are participating doing some type of hobby. It states that on the weekends, we tend to be lazy and watch TV, but according to studies, these things do not make us happy, or even relaxed. Hobbies and exercise makes us happy and relieve stress. So why not try your hand at creating something you love? Or fixing up something old into something you will love and be proud of. After reading that article, I was inspired to try it, so I went thrifting this weekend. I visited resale furniture stores and found two pieces I am ecstatic to have. I want to share them with you here.

The first piece is an old, upholstered, velvet and wood chair. The velvet is a soft, butter color. The wood is a light color, but needs a little love. I have a love for chairs and have been trying to finish my living room, so I was pretty excited about this chair for $45. 

I plan to paint the wood (once I decide what color) in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I could reupholster it, but I want to have it ready for my Halloween party and am not sure I want to remove the current upholstery. The chair has a lot of potential and saved me from splurging on my first choice:

Restoration Hardware

The second piece I purchased is a very heavy, old dresser mirror. 

Luckily for me, it was already repainted a beautiful grey. The grey reminds me of the grey you often see in Restoration Hardware stores. In fact, I am positive that I have seen this same mirror in a RH catalog before. I cannot find it now, but here is one that is close.

Restoration Hardware

This purchase saved me from my first choice of an Anthropologie mirror with a hefty price tag of $498. I have had my eye on this mirror ever since I moved into my new house. I'm happy with my thrift find though. Here are the above two side by side. 

Pretty close considering the one on the left costs $2,195, and the one on the right was $85. The only difference I notice is one leaves more money in my bank account. :)

I Heart Upholstered Chairs

I have recently become obsessed with chairs. I love chairs. Especially, upholstered chairs. It's not my fault. Blame Miss Mustard Seed. She is responsible for this new love because of her wonderful magic she can work on a chair. She can take a $12 garage sale find and make it into a chair to drool over. She makes it look so easy too. She paints them with her milk paint or Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and reupholsters them and voila! Here are a couple examples.





If you want to see more of her work, go to her blog. She does amazing work.

I have decided, I am going to try my hand at this. I will let you know how it goes. In the meantime, have you ever noticed how chairs can make the whole room? They make it look inviting. They make you want to sit down and get cozy. Chairs, benches, and beautiful seating can complete a room. See what I mean:

MidwestLiving.com via Pinterest

Maple and Magnolia via Pinterest

HouseBeautiful.com via Pinterest

 

bhg.com via Pinterest

 

SouthernLiving.com via Pinterest

 

bhg.com via Pinterest

 

via Pinterest

 

Style Me Pretty via Pinterest

 

Decor Pad via Pinterest

 

 apartmenttherapy.com via Pinterest

 

 

Dining Room Project

One of my current projects is updating my dining room. Other than a table and chair set, the room is bare. I am working on a nonexistent budget, so it is a bit of a challenge. Here is the before shot:

Pretty boring, right? As you can see, I have two paintings and a mirror on the floor. I am planning to use these in the room.

I would like this room to have more color than any of the others. The rest of my house is done in a very neutral palette. (Think greys, taupes, tans, browns, and whites.) I decided to liven this room up a little bit, but still make it flow with the rest of the house.

I am still in the progress of finding the right console table for this room. I am looking for one that I can fix up myself and is pretty cheap. A white rug would lighten up the room and provide a nice break between the color of the table and the color of the wood floors. The canvas paintings are also the same color, so they may not stay in this room for long.

So far, all that is finished is the tabletop. Here is a sneak preview:

Sneak Peek

Since moving into the new house, the decorating process has been very slow. I have a picture in my mind (actually several) of what I would like it to look like in the end, but actually finding the pieces is the difficult part. Here is a little sneak peek of what I have so far. I will post more pictures after the room is complete.

Lamp: Gourmet Pantry

Turquoise Picture Frame: Ribbit Ribbit

Wood Objects: Gray Living

Framed Pictures: Frames and mats from Michael's Arts & Crafts, horse drawings by my hubs-to-be, floral print- scrapbook paper from Michael's

Miscellaneous books from college and leisure reading

Glitter jewelry box: The Gypsy Wagon

Silver bowl: Target

Apples: I've had them forever and can't remember where I got them

Wood box: a gift given to me

Silver Initial: Target

My Man is a DIYer!

I love lamps. I love old wood. My HTB made this amazing lamp for me out of an old log. He did such a great job! I love it, and it adds the much needed light in my office!

I can't even tell you how many talents this man has! Anything he sets his mind to, he is great at! This is just one of many. I had to use it to brag about him!

I Heart Apartment Therapy

Apartment Therapy really is like therapy for the decorator's soul. I found this before and after on their website today. Just had to share it.

They did a great job updating this home office! The white-on-white looks clean, fresh, and beautiful! The punch of color adds interest to the room. If only my office looked like this...