Pretty Things: World Market with pops of color!

So I'm sure with all the posts I've made recently you can gather that we have a new home and therefore a lot more space to furnish and decorate. This is one of my favorite things in the world! Decorating, planning, prepping and making things looks nice is one of my favorites! I know that making a dinner party look fancy isn't the biggest priority in the world but it makes me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy inside, can't that be enough? ; )

Today my pretty things post is from one of the places I used the shop while we were in Fairfax all. the. time, World Market. The problem was, with a tiny little condo, there wasn't much for me to furnish! The fantastic thing about World Market, however, is that they don't just sell furniture! In fact, I've purchased, jewelry, gift bags, wine and nutella from World Market! Now you understand why I am so in love!

We still have the couch, dining chairs, rug, console table, laundry room items, duvet covers and more set to be delivered this week and next so I'm waiting a bit on any other large purchases to see how the space comes together so far. I guess because of the grey weather we've been having, I've been in color overdrive lately and that is certainly reflected in my post today!  Here are some pretty (and pretty colorful) things for my wish-list from World market that I'd like to fill our home with in the upcoming weeks!


1. Formula One Red Classic Adirondack Chair-$99.99

Now don't get me wrong, this color would not be my first choice. They have a light teal option that is of course my favorite color of all time. But our house is red and black and white so getting these in red will probably be my only choice of color pop once we install a deck or for the front porch. I think our style of house is just begging for a good adirondack chair!

2. Telescope Accent Lamp Base-$39.99

I've been going all out on the rustic vibe for our main living area and dining room. Besides the couch I'm using an old trunk as a side table and I think this would look glorious atop it next to a pretty vase of flowers or a few Martha Stewart magazines. I also love that for just $40, I can pick out any shade from the variety of shades they have there to top this beauty off and add my pop of color there. Did someone say light teal?

3. Green Velvet Plum Blossoms, set of 2-$15.98

The other one of my favorite colors to decorate with is pale yellow. I think it's bright enough to use as an accent color in combination with almost any other warm, neutral or cool color scheme. But it's also soft and feminine enough to use in large statement pieces like a settee, curtains or a patterned area rug.  These would look quite nice on the floor in a large white trellis style vase, or atop the mantle in a tall, skinny apple green vase.

4. Red Ikat Print Burlap Throw Pillow-$24.99

don't even, I mean do not get me started on pillows and throws.  I can't be left alone in those aisles when out shopping.  I am a sucker for blankets (since I'm always snuggling with one in bed, on the couch, in the car *did I say car?* I love what a colorful throw pillow can do for a room. Have you tried just changing out your pillows throughout the seasons? It makes a world of difference, I tell you! The thing I love about this pillow, other than it's brilliant pattern and colors is that it's made of burlap. Burlap is one of my favorite materials because it can really tone down a space. If this pillow was a satiny, shiny finish it would look like something straight out of the 90s movie, Clueless. But the burlap makes this pillow appropriate for 2013, although I might not be able to wait until summertime to pick up a couple of these!

5.  Aqua and Gold Fan Necklace-$16.99

Ok so maybe I cheated a little bit. This is quite clearly not an item for the home. But I just had sneak in a bit of teal in this countdown and with this beauty on the homepage of the website, taunting me, calling my name, I just had to add it! Can't I pretend it's like my vacuuming necklace? My power necklace to help me crush all these loads of laundry I have yet to do? Can someone help me convince Shaun that it somehow doubles as a door knocker?

Snapshots of a day: a snowy morning at the new house

The finale of house hunting came to a whirlwind of an end this month when we put an offer on the house and settled 2 weeks later. It's been a hectic January with a lot of stress, a lot of busy schedules and a lot of excitement.

The house hunt has lasted over a year and I am thrilled to see it come to an end. I don't think we could have picked a more perfect place or a more perfect time. Even though we don't have all of our furniture or even half of the rooms filled yet, I really look forward to the process of painting, designing and setting up all of the furniture and decor in the house. The 3 rooms I'm most excited about are the foyer, my craft room and the climbing wall I'm building in the basement : )

This first week at the house has been appropriately snowy and peaceful and really a great setting for a relaxing, yet busy first few days. Even with boxes everywhere, a lack of furniture and a proper dining room table, it has been full of great moments and quiet times of reflection. I can't wait to start painting!

1. First sunrise at the new house
2. Meatwad trying to find his perfect lounging spot
3. boxes upon boxes
4. This is what lunch looks like when you have no pots and pans
5. Setting up kitchen things
6 and 7. Picking colors for the foyer. I think I'm going with "Icing on the Cake" by Benjamin Moore. The top one on the paint strip
8, 9, 10. A peaceful snowy day
11. I think Meatwad found his new spot
12. A hot cuppa coffee to help me unpack
13. Finally found some pans to make breakfast
14. Favorite thing about the fireplace is how it goes through to the outside so when we build a deck, we have an outdoor fireplace as well!
15, 16 and 17. someones sneaking up on you bunny!
18. I think he found his spot!


I'm hoping we get more snow soon, but I also won't complain when it warms up for spring!

Pretty Things

Things I am loving right now are mainly house-related. Organizational items, furniture, cleaning supplies etc. I have a LOT to do by this weekend so that's my main focus at the moment.

However in my search for furniture and accessories I went to one of my favorite places for home decor, jewelry, and a plethora of pop culture and nerd-related stuffs that make me quite excited, FAB.com If you haven't been to fab yet, you are missing out. You really are.

Fabs mission is to help people with amazing design solutions which is precisely my goal. Every week they have a ton of new sales from different designers (single artists to big companies) and you can get some fantastic original and/or limited edition artwork for your home!

This week I sort of fell in love with these prints by Paper Sparrow. She has amazing music related and whimsical art prints for an equally amazing price. Some of my favorites are below!

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Sweet Dreams little one 11x14 $18. I don't have any children of my own but how darling would this print look above a crib in a nursery?

2. Narwhal's Aquarelle 11x14 $18 Being a redditor, I'm automatically connected to anything Narwhal or bacon related so this sweet print of a narwhal playing a banjo in the water is quite the perfect print.

3. Not All Who Wander are Lost 13x19 $23 I don't know if it's the hippie in me or feathers are just a thing now but I love these colorful avian things so much. Also a fan of the Tolkien quote, of course, but I really like the design aesthetic she used in the theme of the poster.

4. Arctic Fox 11x14 $18 The warm yellows and blues of this print give it such a great vintage vibe. I'd love to put this anywhere in my house but I think it would look particularly great in a living room or family room!

5. Climb Every Mountain 13x19 $23 This print is perfect since I climb (although not as much as I used to) It would also make a great gift for any of my climbing girls.

I know I'm supposed to be focusing on house things and furniture and paint and cleaning and keeping my budget down since I won't be working for a few weeks but I might just have to get a few of these beauties. It's not like it's a total random purchase, it is for the house after all! ; )

Pretty Things

Can you tell that I catch up on my blogging on Sundays?

Since I've been in crazy house hunting/painting/decorating mode the past few weeks I wanted to share some of the amazing things I found from my favorite ever furniture store, West Elm. They are like the grown up, unisex furniture version of Anthropologie. I told Shaun the last time we went there (last night) that he could literally buy anything in that store and I would be happy with it.

Since I can't show you the whole store, I've narrowed it down to my favorite few items for people looking to furnish a house or just for some nice accesorries!

1. Glass Terrariums

These pretty glass terrariums have a great metal base to hold them up from a table and give them an elevated, clean look while still remaining organic and beautiful. I can imagine these on the desk in the office, in my craft room, on the mantle or the kitchen window above the sink.  Anywhere you put these beauties they bring a great organic, green feel to your home. $59-$99


2. Organic Cotton Pintuck Duvet Covers and Shams

I have always loved the scrunchy, pin-tucked look of these type of bed dressings. I love the light grey because it works with almost every type of room from warm colors to neutrals to cools. Light grey is a universal safe color. You can paint that wall anything except neon and it will look elegant, cozy and wonderful.

You wanna know what's even better about this set right now? It's 20% until Monday! Since Shaun won't let me go too frilly for the master bedroom, I may just have to pick these up for the guest room! $19-$111


3. Mid-Century 6-drawer Dresser

This is clearly more of a splurge item. But I really really think a dresser can make or break a room. I love the warm tone of this wood dresser and obviously the mid-century theme of it's styling. The wonderful thing about mid-century pieces (or those that are designed like it) is that they work so well with a vintage or modern themed room. This can easily be dressed up with a shiny metal lamp, statue or mirror to give it a modern feel. It can also be easily paired with vintage pieces to give it a classic, vintage feel. The possibilities really are endless. Also, where you go with a basic, inexpensive bed frame you can build a pallet headboard and stain it to match this piece. This is definitely suited for a master suite. $799

4. Adjustable Metal Floor Lamp

You guys, can we talk about lighting for a second? As much as I think furniture and placement make a room my true belief is that no matter how you style something, anything, the lighting is what can make a room look like a brilliant HGTV designer room or a torture dungeon. Lighting is essential to a rooms decor. If you have a beautifully styled room with no natural light and dim, yellow lamps or even worse, a terrible globe in the middle of the ceiling it will ruin everything.  This lamp is a floor standing unit with clean lines and a wonderful adjustable base so depending on how high your furniture is or at what angle you want the light to come from you can adjust it. Again, these piece works well with classic or modern design and fits perfectly into almost any room in the house. But I would most definitely put this in the living room or entertaining space to show off it's great architectural style. $169

5. ZigZag rug-platinum/ivory/citron

I have been crushing on chevron for quite some time now and so when we decided we were buying a house I figured it was the perfect time to go chevron crazy on every single item I could find.  Shaun, however, does not share my chevron-crazed sentiment so I had to compromise. In my opinion, this rug is a great compromise. It has light, neutral colors that work with any decor with a great pop of yellow at both ends. Great for a family room or living room and it's low pile so cleanup and animal fur are not a problem! $49-$749