Pinterest

Love this new found creative, public, artistic pin board site. Create collections of photos, words, inspiration by pinning them to your boards. Share your ideas with other Pinterest members, view an endless library of pins and let the creativity flow.

I have added my boards to LiveLove&Repeat! Check them out! 

(left hand side)

Of course a little sneak peak of some of my pins...

Happy Friday!!

Pretty Pretty iPhone

Stumbled across some killer, chic iPhone wallpapers. A few different sites. All lively and fun. I am a newbie to the iPhone World (used to be in CrackBerry Land) and am deeply, madly in love. 

Check em' out LiveLoveRepeat readers. 

(I think that is what I am going to call you all from now on)

Poolga

Corky and playful.

There is an App for this too.

Nina Campbell

Soft and feminine.

I'Amour

Frilly.

Love and Hate

Ew. There is nothing pretty about this space, this view, the color, the horns, the painting or the purse. 

But I love the lamp!

Tuesday Love

Just because I love it.

Happy Good Friday!

Nashville, TN

I spent the past couple days in Nashville on a celebratory trip for work. Since I passed the NCIDQ last year and received my Interior Design license in the state of Florida, I was invited to our corporate office for a celebration and dinner. 

Sharing a few photos I took on my iPhone from the trip using Instagram. You need to download the app! A current obsession.

Flight

Elevator

Corridors

View

Mail

Black Heels

Bright

City Club

Bfast

A boy...

Bloom Rug

Finally received my Bloom tiles from Shaw! Since this process is so similar to the Flor tiles I wanted to share my step-by-step process with my blog-readers. Somewhat of a simple DIY.

After creating a mess in the living room with the delivery boxes and plastic, I began to lay out the tiles. None of the them are the same, some have more floral than others so I wanted to make sure I placed them properly to spread the pattern evenly.

There are a few ways to install carpet tiles. Quarter turned, monolithic, brick, ashlar... blah blah blah. There are actually endless patterns you could create but lets not get complicated. For this application I basically could have laid them out monolithically (all tiles facing in the same direction, they have arrows on the back) or quarter turned (rotating each tile 90 degrees). I decided to quarter turn the tiles for my rug.

Waaa laaa! My final placement. Now at this point the tiles are still loose (actually avoid stepping on them, with their slick backings they slide all over).

My next step was to flip each tile over but also remembering that I needed to mirror the tiles to get the same pattern and placement I had created. So in other words, when I flipped the outside tiles I needed to swap their places as well. Once all the tiles were flipped I applied carpet tape (you could also use duck or packing tape) to the back of the tiles. This just helps keep the tiles in place.

What do you think?

Final Bloom rug!

More townhouse refresh updates to come...

I took a Benadryl...

DIY - Wall Art

Another Blog to Love!!

Check out Design Sponge and their design heaven. I love their DIY's and Before & Afters but click on their City Guides - great advice and information on where to go, what to do and what to see in so many places.

Came across this DIY recently on their blog and fell in love. Well I guess it is a Valentine's DIY...

Kate's Uncommon Valentine

(don't judge it by its title, could be an any-time of the year DIY)

Sand, Stain, Sick

What a weekend. Finally took on the adventure of refinishing my IKEA Malm bed frame that I purchased from Tracy (my roomie who just moved out). It is currently a white stained oak veneer and I am looking to achieve a darker finish. Really dark actually. Espresso dark.

Anyways, I made the mistake of sanding the head-board, foot-board and two side rails without a mask on. Well at least for the first couple pieces... then I realized for the last couple pieces that I should put one on. I don't know what I was thinking. Long story short, I am now sick and on antibiotics. Fun. Moral of the story - always wear a mask when sanding. Lesson learned.

Below is the current oak finish on the frame.

At this point is probably when I realized I needed a mask (boards on the right are sanded, board on the left is not). This is my first attempt at sanding and staining a piece of furniture and thank goodness I decided to tackle this project on the Malm frame. Minimal nooks, crannies and crevices, just straight linear rails.

I also found a link recently on Apartment Therapy (one of my daily loves) that was a simple tutorial on How to Stain a Pine Desk. This was a huge help with easy to follow directions and tips.

No worries! This is the back of my head-board. 

I wanted to test the stain color and make sure it is the color I am trying to acheive. I purchased Minwax Interior Wood Stain in Dark Walnut. I am planning on a much darker look than what is pictured below. I have a few more coats of stain ahead of me.

Will be continuously working on my sanding, staining, getting sick project. Stay tuned for the final product!

And thanks Nick for letting me borrow your sander!

Small/Cool Spaces 2011 (update)

The Small Cool Spaces contest ends in a week! If you have not since my last post (click here), check them out. A little inspiration, creative ideas for teeny-tiny homes and just plain ole' eye candy.

Click here to enjoy.

Natalie, you just know me too well...

Bench'n around

Been on a search for a small, adorable, aged bench similar to this one in the photo below.

Hunting around town at my favorite junk, antique and thrift shops I have actually found a few. The only problem is the price. Why a little bench could cost so much boggles my mind. The bench below I found at The Red Herring in South Tampa (love that store...but can't afford it). I originally saw this piece in the 'back room' before it was finished, but of course the owner would not sell it to me. Obviously she can get a lot more money for it once it has been fixed up. It is made from "burl walnut wood taken from a historic church in the European countryside..." Right. Well I am still not paying $200 for a bench.

(ok, so maybe I made that quote up but that is my interpretation)

Cute, cheap, little bench, where are you?

Jackpot!!

I always try and post some eye-candy and inspiration for you all. Gets the mind going, balls rolling, wheels turning (well at least for me). 

Was tooling around on Dwell Studio's blog which led me to Rue Magazine. Two young ladies who have a niche for great design. Their website offers an online magazine with fashion, garden, interiors, interviews, blogging, art, going green, shopping, new products, DIY's, cooking, house tours and best of all eye-candy! Click on Gallery at the top of their site and be sucked into the library of photographs.

 I love when someone offers beautiful, charming, inspiring interior shots all in one place. Just makes life a little easier, don't you think?

"If you touch it every day, it should be beautiful" Nate Berkus

CB2

I receive their magazines but a friend just re-introduced me to CB2. What caught my eye was this funky, flashy, mustard yellow chair for $99! The Venezia.

They also have a killer blog that is now added to my Blogs to Love.

Enjoy!