Your Weekly Pins

Another Friday, another week of pins! Here's what caught my eye on Pinterest this week....

HOMEY

[Get a load of this rug. What a statement piece, eh? I love the Southwest-inspired design and super-bold colors.]


[How cute do these little black heart decals look on that wall? Love this idea for a nursery, girl's room or even as quick, cute Valentine's Day decor.]


[Always a fan of pallet projects, I am super in love with this simple headboard. So easy to make, and the simple paint job gives it a punch of graphic interest.]


[I've been obsessing over gold and brass hardware fixtures for a while now, so this gorgeous, sleek-lined brass faucet fixture really called out to me. So sophisticated.]



I WANT TO EAT THAT

[Slap the word "Buffalo" on anything and I'll eat it right up. These Buffalo Quinoa Bites look so good - perfect for Super Bowl snacking.]


[Growing up, I was convinced Puppy Chow was the invention of my grandmom. It was just that good. I'd never trade in her own 'chow, but I am interested in at least giving these chocolatey, peanut-buttery Puppy Chow Cookies a whirl.]


[Salty and sweet are my two flavor BBFs, and anytime I see "salted caramel" I start salivating faster than Pavlov's dog, so these Salted Caramel Brownies with Pretzel Crust obviously speak to me in a big way.] 



I CAN HAZ STYLE?

[I've never been big on animal print. It's just not my thing, but layered under a fat-striped sweater, it just may win me over.]


[This winter I've become a bit boot obsessed. It's been so dang cold I can't think of wrapping my toes in anything but a warm, waterproof boot. These are stunning - rustic and rough, fairly androgynous... I want them on my feet so badly.]


[I was shopping in the sale section of Anthropologie last weekend (basically where I high-tail it immediately as I walk in the door), and set my sights on so many sparkly, foofy skirts. I want a big, sparkly skirt and I want to pair it with a super-simple crewneck tee and I want to wear that outfit everywhere. If only I could.]



I'MA MAKE THAT

[Lace makes everything just a little bit fancier, so why haven't I been adding lace to boring old t-shirts this entire time?! So, so simple to do, and it dresses up a plain tee beautifully.]


[I've been on the hunt for the perfect bedspread for, oh, about five years now, without finding something that I absolutely adore. Duh, Rachel, they are about the fourth easiest thing in the world to make, and you get to pick out any pretty fabric that you like. I'm all over this one.]



ADORABLES

[And now, I leave you with a super-confused baby seal who just wants a little love, attention and, more than likely, a big ol' hug from yours truly.]


There are plenty more where these came! To follow everything I pin all week long, follow me on Pinterest.

Bathroom Updates, One by One...

I've been a busy bee with home projects, lately. I'm not sure if it's polar-vortex-induced cabin fever or that fact that I've had some extra days here and there to get things done. Whatever the case, a lot's been going on, and I'm pretty excited to share all the latest little updates with you!

Last week I shared our pretty new coral bathroom, which I keep loving more every day. But what I haven't shared yet is the little update to the back of the bathroom door.

This, too, is something I'm loving more every day. It adds so much character to the room! And dresses up that drab old hollow-core door. I've got the how-to up over on Make, Do and Mend, so hop on over and check it out if you're so inclined!

You know when you're just kind of drifting around a thrift store or rummage sale and something just jumps out at you? Your eye catches that strange little whatever-it-is and you're not quite sure why you love it, but you do. That's what happened to me while traipsing through Goodwill last weekend and I saw this framed print:

Or, I guess it's more of a framed page from an old calendar? Either way, it stood out to me. Maybe that's the cat lady in me speaking, but I just thought this was so interesting. Then, I remembered I'd wanted to find some black wall art to work into the bathroom (yes, I've decided to retire "SPLISH SPLASH" since painting the bathroom). This was black. And coral! And a hint of green! It would work perfectly in the bathroom. I only wish the month of March held any significance to either of us...

I took it home, hung it on the wall and stood back to admire. It works perfectly in the room! A great stumbled-upon item. Thrift store frame areas can seriously be such a treasure trove of interesting finds. Just have to do a little digging, is all.

Another bathroom update: I found pretty much the perfect antique frame to create a mirror for the space. I'd been wanting something with a vintage feel, something not so crisp and clean-lined. So as I was doing a little browsing at Bay View Trading Co., a great little antique shop just a few blocks down from my house, I noticed a beautiful, yet beat-up frame hanging on the wall. I loved how worn it was, but the fact that it was still so pretty and ornate. I bought the frame, and the next day took it to a local glass shop to have a mirror custom cut to fit it.

Less than 24 hours later, the mirror was ready to be picked up! I took it home, hung it on the wall and the "new" mirror completely transformed the feel of the room. It made everything just a bit moodier, a bit edgier. I love this mirror so much.

Obviously, trying to photograph a mirror is difficult. You're always going to get weird reflections no matter what angle you shoot from. So after a while I gave up and just put myself out there. I mean, I was already working with the worst lighting imaginable, so what the hey?

There I am.

And this is me again, being super awkward for life.

Yay, antiquey, custom mirrors! Yay, little, fun bathrooms updates!

I've got so much more to fill you in on, but for today, I'll stop at three.


Are you a wintertime busybody like me? It's just the best time to get things done. Summer is for playing, am I right?

The Guest Room Shift

Sometimes, when you don't feel like repainting or don't have the budget for new furniture, the best way to give a room a refreshing makeover is to simply do a little rearranging.

We've never really used our guest room for anything other than a place to throw all the junk we don't know where to put elsewhere in the house (unless, of course, guests come over. In which case all that random junk gets thrown into a closet somewhere). It's a little small, and the way we had the furniture arranged was not really conducive to the space we had.

I've always wanted to use the room as a makeshift office space, as well. A place for me to blog or write or craft. A place that isn't the dining table. This, trust me, is something that neat-and-tidy Eric wanted badly, too. So in order to make the guest room more user-friendly, so to speak, we decided to shift everything around just a bit.

And, oh, what a change it made!

Here's what you saw when standing in the doorway of the guest room before:

And here's what you see now:

Open, airy, bright. The room feels so much bigger! And the bed isn't right smack there, cutting off the flow of the room as soon as you walk in.

Where the rug is, below, was pretty much the only open space we had in the guest room before:

And now, there's so much more walkable space.

Best of all? We didn't have to move the makeshift headboard on the left wall, nor the floating shelf on the back wall. They both look great with the bed and the desk under them, respectfully.

Now, the room isn't perfect, for certain. I'm totally over the bed linens (I'm thinking a stark-white comforter with a jazzy throw or quilt over top), and I just purchased a new desk that I am putting off attempting to assemble, so those should dress things up quite nicely. Oh yeah, and I'm definitely getting rid of that rickety red chair.... I'm also dying to construct a headboard for the bed. Even though I like the shelf and mini bunting overhead, I think that space calls for something else.

But I really love the green "map" trunk underneath the window, which looks through to the backyard. The natural sunlight streams through the window and really highlights the trunk.

And, of course, it makes for a perfect viewing perch for a certain little dude.

Mr. Pancakes is super happy with "his" new room. He's been napping on the bed pretty much continually since Saturday. 

Although he'd really appreciate it if I knocked first before coming in...

Eric and I are super happy with the new arrangement; the room just makes more sense, and I'm sure we'll use it more than we did before. In fact, I'm blogging away from within the guest room right now! I love that it's a little more secluded than the dining area, and it's so nice to look to my right and see our pretty, snow-filled backyard.

Change, sometimes, can be a spectacular thing.

Your Weekly Pins

I'm sure you've noticed that my weekly Friday feature has taken a looonnggg vacation. Your Weekly Pins, much like all of us, needed some time away, to relax, to refresh, to reenergize. BUT now that it's gotten that necessary downtime, I'm happy to bring back my weekly collection of things across the Interwebs that make my heart go pitter patter. So, let's get this party back up in business!


HOMEY

[I'm completely wild over this pretty pink sofa. Paired with the black and white pillows and throw, it's such a girly-chic look - can't you just Audrey Hepburn living here?]


[This is the bathroom that inspired the coral walls in my own bathroom. This wallpaper is fantastic. And that mirror? Perfection. I also love that the Girl with the Pearl Earring is gracing this bathroom's walls. Art belongs everywhere.]


[How great is this attic space with a bookshelf-lined wall? Our upstairs would lend itself to this look so perfectly... and with a complete upstairs renovation happening this spring (fingers crossed!), I just may try to work this in...]


[Take a moment to stop and dream about living in this bedroom. Those high, vaulted ceilings (with skylight!) are spectacular, and of course I'm a big fan of that exposed brick, but how perfect is that little loft area up top? Perfect for an open closet, a reading nook, a shoe loft..... anything. I want that.]

[I mean, come on. Come on with this space. Those floors are jaw-droppingly beautiful. But, good grief: that CEILING. And let's not forget the pocket doors, overhead lamps and cool retro cabinets.]


I WANT TO EAT THAT

[I don't care how impractical these pancakes are. They're pretty. And I bet they're delicious, too. Pink pancakes with marshmallow clouds for a little (or big!) girl's birthday? Do it now, moms.]

[The Super Bowl is right around the corner, gang. And these Chicken Pad Thai Nachos would be a tasty twist on standard football-watching fare. They look ooey-gooey outstanding.


I CAN HAZ STYLE?

[Alright, you guys. I have to let you in on a little secret: I'm obsessed with Sasha Obama. Yeah, the 12-year old. She is just the coolest. She has the best tween/teen/adult style. I mean, look at that outfit. Jewel tones, played up with that adorably sweet panda sweater (that sold out pretty much right after this photo was published), and rocking totally kickass Doc Martens LIKE A BOSS. Sasha, I wanna be you. Sasha, I wanna be besties with you. I wanna be you and I wanna be besties with you.]


[I looooovvee these flats. Hey, they're kinda like shoes Sasha Obama wore recently (I told you I love her). They'd look good at the office or just kickin' it in skinnies, tee and a high bun.]


[You guys, this is a badass jacket. Tailored just right. Perfect-color leather. Asymmetrical zipper. It just screams for aviators and a strut.]


I'MA MAKE THAT

[I'm itching to try these DIY concrete planters. I especially love them dipped in gold paint.]


[I love the idea of turning old scraps of fabric into sweet, colorful envelopes. A little Modge Podge and you're almost there!]


SHINDIGS

[What a sweet idea for a going-away for housewarming party! Of course, I am a fan of all things "Up" (except the ugly-cry face I make during the first 15 minutes...).]


[So, just a little late for a New Year's Eve party, but how cute are these confetti fortune cookie pockets? They'd be so fun filled with confetti and ripped up at midnight or at a surprise party (in somebody else's house, of course), or stuffed with a fun fortune!]


There are plenty more where these came from! To see everything I pin all week long, follow me on Pinterest!


P.S. Here's what I've been up to over on Make, Do & Mend lately!

• 6 tips for choosing your perfect paint color
• Inspirations: Cozy homes
• New Year's resolutions for your home
• Inspirations: Foxy

True Colors - A Bathroom Makeover

Since we moved into our home two and a half years ago, we've never really been crazy about our downstairs bathroom. It's small, short on storage and, most of all, we just didn't like its pea-soup wall color.

It wasn't terrible, just not our favorite color. But we decided to live with it. Not that changing the wall color was a huge undertaking; we just never got around to it. Until a couple of weeks ago.

During my holiday downtime, I decided to task myself with repainting our bathroom. I'd pick a color that would brighten up the room and make it a bit more airy and fresh. So I headed out to Home Depot and selected a beautiful super-light robin's egg blue (Behr's Spa color, to be exact). It was a very pretty color on the paint chip, but when I saw it up on the bathroom wall, it just seemed so boring to me.

Super safe, right? I'd seen this color in bathrooms so many times before - I mean, the color's name, Spa, should have tipped me off right there. It was blah. It was bland. It definitely wasn't our style.

So over the weekend I was thinking of how to make the most of this blah color. The only remedy I could think of was repainting - but what color? I did some soul searching (read: poring over my favorite design blogs), and decided to go with something fun, bold and peppy.

Coral was the answer.

So, just over a week after I'd initially painted the bathroom, I set out to do it again. I felt a little masochistic putting myself through the tedious process of painting so soon, but I had a free Saturday and once coral was on my mind, I couldn't shake the thought. I drove back to Home Depot, spent about 15 minutes comparing various shades of coral, selected my perfect color, and got to work. After two coats of Behr's Juicy Passionfruit plus primer, I fell instantly in love with our "new" bathroom.

It's fun and unexpected and just a beautiful, bold color. And, trust me, even though it's got a hint of pink, Eric's a big fan too. I'm a thousand times happier with it than with the Spa color. It's perfect for the small space.

I also love how you catch just a pop of it when standing out in the main living area. Between our light teal kitchen and minty guest bedroom, it's a bold splash of pep. 

The only thing to decide on now is a new light fixture (I loathe the one that's there now... super granny-ish), and new shelving to the right of the mirror (and I wouldn't mind trading in that mirror, while I'm at it). I was thinking maybe white open shelving with minimalistic gold brackets, maybe? But then I'd feel like I need to swap out all the hardware in the bathroom to match with the gold. Things could get out of hand pretty quickly, here.

Whatever I decide to do, I'm just happy the bathroom is finally a shade we are both happy about. Our existing shower curtain even looks great with the new color! Such a welcome change in a little room that we've never been able to do much with.

Now, I'm just a little tempted to splash this pretty coral color elsewhere in the house. Don't be surprised if you see it pop up here and there in the future...