china shepherdess

wallpaper whenever: Erica Wakerly's Angles

via www.isuwannee.com

Remember that Erica Wakerly wallpaper I was obsessing over? Well, here it is in action at furb.

Sigh.

I love it, but it just won't work in the space I wanted it for. So, I've decided to step away from papering the TV / Karaoke Room of Awesomeness for now and go with a gallery wall instead. I can always paper it when the perfect one reveals itself to me.

Sadly this decision left a wallpaper void in my life. This morning, I chuckled warmly and rubbed my chubby hands together with glee* when I saw this "after" pinned to one of my sister's boards. Wallpapered bookshelves in my home office seem like a perfect way for me to experiment with wallpaper without having to resolve my pattern commitment issues.

 

*No, my hands aren't really chubby. This is just something I say to creep out my sister.

tie goes to the runner

 

Here's a snap of the new hallway rug from West Elm in action. I am going rogue and using it without a rug pad. I'll probably eat my words when I slip on it once of these days. It's a perfect shade of orange and it looks great with everything else I have going on. Here's to 2012's color of the year!

 

PS: I totally centered the rug after I took this photo. It looks much less awkward now.

Merry Christmas

 

Christmas is winding down and soon my living room will be a lot less sparkly. Just how long is too long to leave my decorations in place?

Simply having a wonderful Christmas time.

 

Well, I didn't get to join in any waffle iron riots* this season (yet), but I did unpack my Christmas decorations. Hope you are having a great holiday season!

 

*Waffle Iron Riot is the name of my next band.

Watch It! Season Two of "Secrets From a Stylist" Premieres Tonight

via Oh Joy's Living Room by Emily Henderson - Photo by Laure Joliet

HGTV and Turner Classic Movies are pretty much the only reasons I still have cable television. That said, a girl can only watch so many episodes of House Hunters International before she starts to go mental. That's why I was happy when Emily Henderson won Design Star and her show Secrets From a Stylist came to HGTV.

It's one of the few shows that actually teaches you something about how to pull together a room. And, it has inspried me to try to make my rooms more layered and less sterile. I defy you to watch it and not get inspired. To pique your interest, I've pulled together some of my favorite looks from season one onto a board on pinterest.

I'd be kind of crushed if this show were ever to be canceled, so turn on your television tonight (or set your DVR) for Secrets From a Stylist on HGTV. Season 2 begins tonight (Saturday, July 9) AT 8:30 EST, 7:30CST, and 5:30 PST and again at 12:30 AM.

PS: The photo above is from an episode that featured design blog star Oh Joy! and the beautiful wallpaper she designed for Hygge & West.

Everybody's working on the weekend!

 

Wow! it has been a long time since I posted. I suppose that's because I haven't actually been doing anything around the house. My job is keeping me so busy that I'm lucky if I take out the garbage. However, this Sunday I took the day off on the orders of my boss and put down the area rug I ordered oh so long ago.

Happily, it seems to have survived its stay in the cold, wet outdoors. I really like how it warms up the room and the texture and tones tie in nicely with the bamboo shades. The nubby texture also gives you kind of a foot massage when you walk on in stocking feet.

Here's to wrapping up this big project at work soon so I can get my evenings and weekends back and get things done around my house. Cross your fingers for me!

Merry Christmas from my little house to yours.

 

 

 

Holidays can be rather cruel when you are missing a loved one. A part of me was dreading Christmas because it is the first one we'll be celebrating with my mom in the nursing home. However, the day after Thanksgiving came and I found myself pulling out the decorations and lights and finding the joy I could in the meaning of the season.

Up went my white plastic tree -- I even bought ornaments for it this year. Then my nativity set was given pride of place on my sideboard, complete with the poor little Mary whose head fell off when I knocked her over to prepare for the cable installer. There's even a silly platter of shiny ornaments - definitely a lazy decorator's device. The whole package isn't fussy or fancy, but it makes me smile whenever I enter my home after a long day at work. It will be hard to take it all down when Christmas is done.

However you celebrate, I wish you and yours a very happy holiday season.

Flowers of the Week: Under the Mistletoe

Ok, so mistletoe is not really a flower, but rather a parasitic plant spread from tree to tree in the feces of birds and one that, when eaten, causes acute gastrointestinal problems including stomach pain, and diarrhea along with low pulse.

When I was a kid we always had a kissing ball, rather than actual mistletoe. Probably because one of us kids would probably have chowed down on it causing the aforementioned unfortunate symptoms. Either way, the same rules apply -- if you catch someone under the misteltoe, you had better give them a smooch.

Super Hyper Micro Link: Your Home is Not a Catalog

via www.details.com and the always delightful Hooked on Houses.

We all get seduced by the catalog perfect homes we see in magazines and on blogs. Luckily I can't afford this type of one stop decorating, but sometimes I still feel its sway. Whether its DWR or an insert from your Sunday newspaper, don't decorate your room like it came straight out of a catalog. Unless, of course, you're an acolyte of Catalog Living.

More blathering on about my living room and its lack of an area rug.

The chill in the air and my cold feet have me thinking about area rugs again. I need to save up for one, but still can't make up my mind about two things.

First of all, which size? I've read all sorts of advice, but I seriously can't figure out the size of rug that would work for my room.

The living room, minus the traffic area that leads to the hall is about 15 feet long and 11 feet wide. Do I get a smaller rug that just fits under my entire sofa and coffee table, one that fits under the coffee table and in front of the sofa, or a ginormous (and expensive) one that would cover the entire room? Here's a reminder of how my living room is arranged. Please remember it's still a work in progress. (If only I had Emily Henderson to help it along.)

 

 

Any opinions on which size of rug you'd choose? Clearly babies aren't going to die over this decision, but rugs are expensive and a pain in the butt to ship. I need to get it right the first time.

I also need to make up my mind about which rug I should buy. This jute zigzag number from Pottery Barn caught my eye recently. 

via www.potterybarn.com

I think the texture would be a nice complement to the room. However, I've heard bad things about how their jute rugs shed so those two west elm rugs I blogged about before on still on the potential list. Have any of you had any of these rugs in your home? Care to share any cautionary tales about jute?