TGI Art on the Wall

I slept in this morning (the gym has no appeal without you, Jessica), and then I headed to Conway and Little Rock in search of fabric for throw pillows (I think I found just what I needed). So, I'm a little late with today's post, but I think it's stunning (in a scary, cluttered, love it sort of way).

via isuwannee's flickr

The Anti-Depressive Dining Room

What a crazy cool room! Retro and modern all at the same time. I can imagine lots of lively conversation at dinner parties here!

via Little Green Notebook

And if you haven't already, don't forget to head over to the Tobi Fairley blog and vote for your favorite inspiration board (mine is #2 - Around the World if you want to vote for me)! Voting ends tomorrow.

My Inspiration Board!

Last night was the final night of Design Camp. I'm sad it's over, but it was tons of fun! A couple of weeks ago we learned how to make inspiration boards, which I had never done before but will probably do again. They are so much fun! All your favorite stuff in one place! So anyway, Tobi Fairley picked her 4 favorite student boards and posted them on her blog for her readers to vote on! So if you have a moment, please go vote for me (#2 - Around the World) or your favorite board! (The winner gets a spa package!) Get your votes in before Friday, because that's when she's tallying them up!

Vote HERE

Thanks so much!

Comfort

"Comfort is perhaps the ultimate luxury." - Billy Baldwin, indigenous decorator

House of Turquoise

Nautical Inspiration

Sources (clockwise from top left): liebemarlene, Met Home, bexpert (btw I totally want to hang one of these in every room of a beach house), gipiosio, Le Cupcake, Little Cafe

TGI Art on the Wall

(Love how they just worked the air vent right in.)

via Lonny

Cream, Tan, and Brown

Looks good to me!

via Full House

See the rest of the house here (it's all creamy!).

Sheila Cotton

Since I've been visiting the Tobi Fairley Gallery every week for the last three weeks, I have had the opportunity to see some amazing artwork. One of the artists who has stood out to me week after week is Sheila Cotton. I believe the following images are part of her "Antique Arkansas" collection, in which she paints the ordinary things in life "that still move us and define us." [Tobi Fairley website]

See more here

The Judicious Use of Antlers

Having grown up in the south with walls full of prized dead animals, a house isn't quite a home without trophy antlers. I've only recently started acquiring my own antlers (bought, not hunted). I really prefer the ones mounted with leather. These were recently found at Canton (thanks, Sandi), and I left them sitting on the counter for about a month trying to think where to put them. Finally, yesterday afternoon it came to me. I LOVE IT! I wish it had photographed better, or maybe you need to see the whole room (there's another set just like this on the other side of the buffet), but it feels like a Ralph Lauren country home.

So here's some more antler inspiration...

And here's one I thought I'd never see - the whole head (by the way, when your a little kid, these are really freaky!) mounted on trendy wallpaper....

images via msn, Elle Decor, The Farmer's Trophy Wife (Love the name! and the content!), Home Shopping Spy, Living Etc, The iDesign Box, and Yossawat

TGI Art on the Wall

If you didn't already know, Brides magazine bought the Domino archives and uploaded them to their website (here). That's where I found this lovely image, but, honestly, it is not nearly as exciting as I hoped it would be. I hope they get some more stuff up soon, because there's hardly anything there.

Greyish Blue and Yellow

And if you're a fan on facebook (click that link to the right for instant access), you know I bought some sea fans today (yay!) just like the ones in that box. Looks like a good idea to me!

found at VT Interiors

Color in the Bedroom

So many different colors and patterns, and I love them all!

via everyhing LEB

Nick Ashley's Home

"We have cats and dogs, and I once came back to find a horse in the kitchen being given my last beer." - Nick Ashley

Nick Ashley's home in New Forest in Hampshire (England?)

I have loved this image since I first saw it a couple years ago. Despite my tendencies to want everything to be in perfect order, I ultimately just want my house to feel like this - a place where both dogs and people are comfortable, a place where you don't have to take off your boots at the door.

Terre d'Hautaniboul

I worked all afternoon yesterday on trying to simplify my house. I put away a lot of little things that I still love, but I was just tired of having stuff everywhere (maybe that's what's been giving me headaches for weeks now). I've also been compiling lots of pics for my inspiration board (which I'm learning to make on Tuesday). I've never done a board like this before. I usually just see something, get inspired, and go. I've never taken the time to compile several things together in one place. Should be fun.

Desire to Inspire

Sandi, how is this for a pic of the light fixture you were wanting? I'm a big fan - it's simple, airy, and cozy.

One rainy friday afternoon...

A budding artist (me) attempted to sew herself an organizer for all her new fancy (expensive) paintbrushes. Lucky for her, she has a Husqvarna...

So she dusted it off and set to work - cutting up old jeans and scraps of fabric and even purchasing some new ribbon for the venture....

When at LOOONG last she had cut all the fabric she needed, she began to sew (encountering problems with her measurements along the way, but continuing on....)


And finally (that evening), the project was done! And now all the paintbrushes are safely tucked away...

And she was quite proud of herself!

TGI Art on the Wall

found at Fric and Frac

Did you know?

Did you know that there is a formula for determining how many people a dining room can hold? Well, there is. You should allow 2 feet of space for each chair and 3 feet of space from table to wall for each person to be comfortable. (Just a tiny tidbit I picked up from design camp.) So, of course, I measured my dining room to see how far off I am. And I'm actually pretty close. Technically (technically!) my buffet is a little too close to the table, which you kinda notice when 10 people crowd around our 8-person table. But everything else about it is right on (um, except that thing about crowding 10 people around an 8-person table....it's all good, though.)

all images via Home Envy on Facebook

Design Camp: Color Palettes

Last night was our very first session of Design Camp with the lovely and talented Tobi Fairley! We learned a lot about color palettes, which can be very tricky. She brought out boxes and boxes of paint chips. There were too many choices, and I was afraid I would never be able to settle on anything. I was right, I ended up making 3 color palettes!

I've wanted to design a purple room for years, but I have yet to figure out how to put a man in a purple room. But I can dream it....

This is the first color palette I made. Red, white, tan, and blue - just like my house....

My original thought for this next one was a bedroom for Emma. The example I found may be a little sophisticated for a 10-year old, but she would grow to appreciate it....

And this is Sandi's color palette. (I snuck my camera over to get a pic.) I love the orange with the light blue. Yes, beachy indeed!

And our new friend, Keith, who drove all the way down from Fayetteville, made something like this....

I would definitely say our first night was a success!

images via Home Envy, House Beautiful, xJavierx, It's Great to Be Home

Crawfish Boil, Anyone?

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. Josh and I mostly sat around and rested, aside from a crawfish boil on Saturday night and a golf tourny on Sunday. Though I was born in Mississippi and "grew up" in Louisiana, I had never actually been to a crawfish boil before (plenty of fish fries, though!). So this was a new experience for me. Josh ordered a bunch of crawfish from Louisiana, and some shrimp from our favorite destination on the Florida coast - Apalachicola.

For our anniversary, I gave him the hugest cookbook I've ever seen (Hook, Lies, and Alibis), which apparently had several crawfish and shrimp recipes in it.

Add some sausage, home-grown corn, and potatoes, and our first annual 4th of July Crawfish Boil was born!

The guys really loved it! Let me just say, the shrimp was excellent! It tasted just like it does when we get it on the coast. Super fresh and yummy!

We're thinking about trying this again for an away game (Arkansas football season is just around the corner!). We can sit on the back deck, eat shrimp, drink beer (or other girlier drinks) and watch football. Could it get any better?

Happy 4th of July!

I've been keeping a little file of patriotic rooms for a while now, so enjoy the red, white, and blue goodness...

Have a happy and safe Independence Day!