Katie's Bedroom Inspiration Board

My friend Katie asked if I could come up with some ideas for her bedroom.  I love making inspiration boards, so of course I said yes!  Here is a quick before picture of the bedroom:

(Thanks for modeling Mike!)

Katie wanted something clean and modern for her room.  She is hoping to DIY a lot of things and keep most of their existing furniture in the room, but spruce it up a bit.  She already has the great green patterned duvet from Ikea, so I used that as my jumping off point.

I found some inspiration rooms in that had a blue, green, white and cream color palette.  The space is kind of dark, so I thought it would be best to keep it light and fresh using those colors. 

I suggested adding lots of pillows in fun patterns.  Home Fabrics is great for really cheap home decorator fabric.  I would paint the nightstands white and the lamps blue.  I would also replace her lampshades for a more modern style.  I thought it would be nice and classic if she upholstered the headboard in a cream linen fabric.  

Katie has the Ikea Hopen dresser.  The dresser has drawer fronts that are kind of frosted, so I thought it she could find a cool paper to line them with.  I found this one from Paper Source that would coordinate.  To balance the room a little better, since it has that offset window on the left, I suggested hanging curtains on either side.  Then it would appear to have another window.  Katie took some really great black and white photos in a photography class that I thought she could hang above her bed...or perhaps some cool prints or family photos.

I sent Katie some more ideas for the rest of the room but they are probably more relevant to her than to you!  I'm sure Katie will let me show you some pictures of whatever she ends up doing to the room!

If you are interested in an inspiration board, send me an email at: briannajmwebb@gmail.com.  I love doing these!  Sometimes it's just nice to have a fresh pair of eyes look at your space!

Graduation Party Inspiration Board

In a few days I'm headed to PA to be there for my sister's graduation and to help throw my sister's graduation party.  I threw together an inspiration board with a few of the ideas we'll be using.  Jess is going to be attending Towson University in Maryland.  Towson's colors are black and yellow so we decided to use those colors.  However, I didn't want it to look like a bumblebee, so I went with a houndstooth pattern to mix things up.

Poms from Pom Love.  Cupcake liners from Bake It Pretty.  Graduation caps from Bakerella.  Flower and book centerpiece from Style Me Pretty.  Cake from SweetQuinceCake.  Invitation by Me.

I've been collecting items/ideas for the party for the last month.  I can't wait to put it all together and see how it turns out!

 

Hope the weather where you are is nice and warm!  Enjoy the long weekend!

Alicia's Inspiration Board #2

Okay so "tomorrow" turned into a day later, but hey, I'm busy lovin' on a little lady.

This board was based off of the funky CB2 duvet cover.



Option 2: Modern Fun

1. Colors/Theme- White, Accents of lime green, orange and a bit of dusty blue. I would leave the walls white or paint it the kind of sandy gray color found in the bedding. There's no real theme...just white, clean and modern.

2. Bedding- The duvet cover that inspired this room is from CB2. I would just do a white sheet set and throw in the punches of color with the pillows. All the pillows are again from Target, except for the orange pattern one...That's from Etsy.

3. Headboard- I have 2 other suggestions with pictures included. The first would be to use a cube shaped bookshelf and put it behind the bed (bonus: extra storage!). My other suggestion would be to fake a headboard by placing 2 rows of white frames with art, fabric or paper in them.



4. Nightstands- The one pictured is from Ikea, but as I mentioned before, I found a similar one on Amazon for $13. Matching nightstands and lamps create balance. The lamps pictured are from Ikea, but any modern white lamp would work.

5. Mirror- The ones I have pictured are from Pottery Barn and are a bit of a splurge. I liked them though because they mimicked the shape found in the bedding. Again, I would place these in between the closets. I would just look around for mirrors that would coordinate if you don't want to spend $149 on mirrors!

6. Futon- Same as board #1, except I would do a white cover.

7. Desk- If it were me, I would paint the desk white or a fun funky color and add cool knobs. But since we're respecting Travis' wish, to modernize the desk I would do the paper/glass cover suggested in board #1. I included a fun green dotted wallpaper I found to give you an idea, but the paper is horrendously expensive so it's just an idea. Again, try to balance the desk with filing cabinets or modern white storage units on either side.

8. Exercise Bike- No changes here. My room divider idea still stands.

9. Lighting- Again, another light from Ikea...I love how modern and fun this light is. I think it would really jazz up the space.

10. Accessories- CB2 has some cool green vases that match the bedding. I would find white shelves and white framed art. I found these funky prints from an Etsy seller that would pick up on the bedding colors...these could go above the futon. For over the bed, I picked this "Keep Calm and Carry On" print. Again, the Ikea cheap curtains would be perfect in this room and a white rug or a cool graphic rug picking up on one of the colors in the bedding would look nice placed between the bed and futon.

I'm not sure what Alicia and Travis have decided, but I hope they will share pictures when they finish the room!

I've had several other inquiries about inspiration boards. I really love to do them so if you are at all interested, please send me an email at: jacqandmal@gmail.com and we'll see what we can come up with!

Alicia's Inspiration Board #1

A few weeks ago, one of my best friends from high school asked me if I would do an inspiration board for her. Alicia and her fiance recently bought a cute new place together in my hometown in Pennsylvania. Even though she is still finishing up school in Virgina, they have begun working on decorating their new place. Alicia sent me pictures of their recently finished master bedroom. It has classic colors with some hints of modern. So when she asked me for an inspiration board for their guest bedroom, I decided to give her two: one a little more classic and one a bit more modern.

Alicia's only requests were simple. Her fiance's antique desk couldn't be changed, they wanted to be able to keep the exercise bike in there if possible, and they wanted a spot for the futon they had in the living room in case they had even more guests. Everything else could stay or go. The room is a great size and should have space for all the things she wants. Here is a before shot:

There is another window on the other side of the bed and the antique desk is to the left of this shot.

Today's inspiration board is the more classic one. I named it "Casual Beach". They already had a few beach items in there, so I went with that.


#3 and #4 have my favorite ideas for the room!


Option 1: Casual Beach

1. Colors/Theme - Cream/Tan, White, Cool Blue and hints of Chocolate Brown. I would paint the walls a nice light tan color. Nice and neutral and great for resale. Subtle hints of a beach vibe with small accessories without being too "themey".

2. Bedding- The bedding I found is from Pottery Barn. It's a striped tan and white duvet cover. Then I found a fun damask blue sheet set from Target. The pillows are all from Target, except for the "sea" themed pillows...those are from Pottery Barn. I liked the duvet cover, because it's pretty gender neutral for the male or female guests you have stay with you. Plus it's pretty classic and could be used even if you changed the room around.

3. Headboard-Okay, several ideas here. You could just purchase a headboard or find one on Craigslist. OR, my favorite idea for this room would be to find an old, white, distressed door. There are stores that just carry old doors. Turn the door sideways and mount as a headboard. I think that would be a really cool feature of the room and would feel beachy. If you can't find an old door, you can just pick up one at Home Depot and distress it by beating it up/sanding it. Here are two links to show you what I'm talking about (also shown below): One (this one is the is the right height for my liking, but not distressed enough) and two (this one is nice and distressed, but I think it's mounted up too high and they left the knob on which looks silly).


One

Two




4. Nightstands-The nightstands here are from Ikea and are supposed to be a brown/black color. I found a white nightstand on Amazon with good reviews for only $13 that I'm including on the other board, but you could easily use it for this room as well. I think they should be pretty small since the space between the windows isn't super large. Then I would suggest 2 matching lamps with a clear, glass base that can be filled with things (this style is pretty popular right now, so you shouldn't have a hard time finding some like this). I've seen them all around: Target, Ikea, TJ Maxx, etc. I would fill the base with either sand or seashells.

5. Mirror- I would put a mirror in between the closets. This makes the room feel larger and will be a nice space filler. I would go with a chocolate brown frame or a white frame. I like the idea of a round shape, but a rectangle would work just as well. I find mirrors on Amazon, TJ Maxx or HomeGoods.

6. Futon-I would get rid of the dressers and place the futon centered along that wall. I would suggest finding a futon cover in a tan or chocolate color. I'm including this link to a random one online. If you're feeling crafty, you could sew one as well.

7. Desk- I know Travis said he didn't want to touch the desk, so I came up with an idea (for both boards actually) of a way to jazz it up and coordinate it with the room without permanently changing it. Find a wrapping paper or a wallpaper that matches with the room. Cut it to the size of the desk and place it on using double stick tape. Then lay a piece of glass over that so you have a nice workspace. I think that would coordinate it with the room. I see that the desk isn't very big, so maybe get 2 filing cabinets and place one on either side of the desk for more storage, but also to anchor and balance out the desk in that space. You can also add some white shelving above the desk for some extra space.

8. Exercise Bike-My suggestion, if you are wanting to keep it in the room would be to get a room divider, like this one, and place it in the corner next to the futon and closet. My other suggested space would be in the corner by the desk and window. It's hard for me to judge the space from the pictures, so you would have to play around with it. I think it might look better by the couch and closet. The one I found isn't too expensive, but if you guys are feeling adventurous, you can make your own divider using a tutorial like this.

9. Lighting- This one is from Ikea and I think the material looks light and beachy.

10. Accessories- Seashells! They can be placed in a white bowl or just scattered around, set on shelves, etc. Again, I wouldn't go too overboard, but some here and there would be nice. Then I would suggest any other little white accessories you have or find for cheap. Ikea has little white vases for a dollar or two that I have in my house. For art, I would seriously suggest checking out Etsy.com...you won't find a better selection for cheaper prices than there. You can search by color, theme, etc. I like the collection of pictures I found of Coney Island, but they're on the more expensive side of Etsy. But you don't even have to go with beach art, just any cool prints you find that you like would work. I would hang a large print above the bed. You can keep the one you have. If you kept it, I would paint the frame white. For curtains, Ikea has a nice white set of panels for $14.99. You can't get any cheaper than that! I would also suggest a small white rug or runner to place in between the bed and futon.

Tomorrow I'll share the second, more modern inspiration board.

Bathroom Inspiration Board

We are literally sooo close to finishing up the nursery (have you heard that same thing before?). But seriously, almost done! We are putting on all of the final touches and are waiting on our rug!

Now, we're on to our next project. I really didn't think we would tackle sprucing up our "master bath", but we've had some amazing deals fall into our hands, so I couldn't resist. I've been dreaming of fixing it up for quite some time and I'm excited that it's really happening. The major eye sore in the bathroom is the sink area. The sink's pipes are all exposed and there is no vanity. The mirror is blah and the light, ugh, I hate that light with a passion (it doesn't help that it's falling out of the wall). It's pretty much the only room we haven't painted so it's still that strange green color.

Some ugly before pictures:

(I swear I just cleaned my mirror!)

Here is an inspiration board with a breakdown of the expected costs:



1. The bathroom already has trim running at about a quarter of the way up the wall. We've decided to paint the top portion white (with leftover paint we already have) and the lower portion a light blue/green color called Water Mark from Behr. Coral will be our accent color. I had been looking at the coral fabric pictured online. The cheapest I found it was for $15 a yard. On a recent stop to Joann's, I found the exact fabric on clearance. I got 2.5 yards for $5!
Paint: $20
Fabric:$5

2. I'll be making 3 art prints to go above our towel rod. I already have extra frames I can use and I'll just print them at home.
Art: FREE

3. I found these coral tea light holders and coral decor piece on Amazon. We happen to have a gift card to Amazon (thanks Comcast).
Accessories: FREE

4. We already have nice white towels and an accent towel in the blue/green color. I want to order a coral print hand towel from Pottery Barn. We also have a gift card for Pottery Barn, so again, no cost!
Towels: $0

5. I found this light on Overstock for only $39.99. We have a code for free shipping. It's not the most exciting light ever, but it will look nice and get the job done. Plus anything is better than the hideous gold fixture currently falling off my wall.
Lighting: $39.99

6. A new mirror! The one we have right now, besides being boring, is very wide. Which as you may guess, makes you look very wide. Which isn't that fun when you're pregnant. I avoid that mirror like the plague. We lucked out at Home Depot and found a mirror for $19, yes really $19. All it needs is some white paint to disguise its fake gold rustic color.
Mirror: $19

7. Again, cashing in on our Amazon gift card, I found this faucet for $44.95 plus free shipping.
Faucet: $0

8. Now, HERE is the most exciting part, for us at least. Our bathroom is a weird T-shape. The sink is stuck at the top of the "T" in between 2 doors. This means that there is not a lot of room for a vanity or sink, without have to shimmy around it. Well, Home Depot had a vanity + sink combo that is the PERFECT size. It is not very deep, so we won't have to shimmy anymore, but the sink part is wider and actually has space for us to place things. And the best part of it all, it was on sale for $70! I can't find a picture of the one we actually bought, but the one pictured is very close, except our sink is more round and has more room on it. The one pictured is actually listed on Home Depot for over $400! Yikes! I'll be using the coral fabric to make a little curtain to hide the bottom shelf.
Vanity/Sink Combo: $70!!!

9. We already own the rugs, shower curtain and other bath accessories in the right colors so again, we're not spending money.
Other Accessories: $0.

Estimated Total Cost: $153.99

Pretty good I think, seeing as a vanity alone is usually more than that!

Nursery Inspiration Board

We are so close to finishing up the nursery. I think I've said that we were going to finish it for the past 3 weeks, but that's okay. Hopefully by next week I can reveal it, in all it's glory! For now, here is a quick peek at my inspiration board. We're going for a mix of modern and vintage, which shouldn't surprise most of you, since that's pretty much the theme of my whole house.

1. I finally decided on a rocker. Thanks for all the comments and emails with your suggestions. I actually went with one that wasn't even on my list. But, it looks really similar to the beautiful green one at a wayyyy better price. And it has pretty good reviews. It should be here this week!

2. I love this Squirrel clock. I have another clock from this same Etsy seller in my kitchen. Hopefully I'll order it soon! You can also see the wall color. A nice fresh green. One wall will have the green and white stripes, as pictured.

3. This is my vintage ceiling light from Ebay. The picture above is actually a before picture. We spray painted the wire brown and put a new cord and chain on it. And now we have a brand new light fixture for under $40. I don't think even Ikea can beat that price!

4. We went with the Babyletto Moda crib. I love the look and love that it converts to a bed as well.

5. If you can see the number 5, it's on the rug. I have loved that Bridget rug ever since it came out, but it has been off of their website for quite some time. We originally ordered a different rug but I wasn't sold on it. I randomly checked Pottery Barn the other day and saw that they had a 9x12 in stock. That would be way too big for the room, but it inspired me to call and see if they could locate a smaller size anywhere else. After much searching, the lady came through for me and I should get my rug today or tomorrow!

6. This is a picture of the main fabric for her bedding. It's My Folklore-Mushroom Forest Chocolate. I actually bought it about a month after we were married. I knew that this was what I would want for a little girl, and I knew it might be gone by the time we had her (and it is!). So we've pretty much had bedding and a name picked out for a little girl since right after we were married. I have a total of about 8 coordinating fabrics, along with the one in the picture that I'm using. I am putting the finishing touches on the blanket/quilt and will hopefully whip up the bumper and crib skirt in a day or two.

7. I've seen this idea around the blogosphere and knew I had to use it in our room. I think it's hard to tell in the picture, but they are bookshelves made from gutters, like the ones on the outside of a house. I'm a huge fan of forward facing books, and this is a perfect way to get the look, on the cheap. And it helps that we randomly have a new piece of white gutter just sitting in our basement, so it's really on the free for us. Adam is going to cut it down and mount it in the room, down at a kids level. That dresser is actually NOT our dresser, but we stripped and painted a dresser set brown and the pieces are finally finished!

8. Here is just one art print for her walls. I wanted to pull a few squirrels from the fabric into the room, but nothing too themey. In fact, it will probably just be the clock and the art print. I think the print is actually meant for scrapbooking or something of the sort?! It only cost $2.50 for the digital file. As for the rest of the art in the room, I'm going to make and print some pieces myself.

And there you have it. I can't wait until I'm able to post pictures with it finished! I just hope it all comes together like I'm imagining it will.

Aubergine/Brown Inspiration Board

Morgan emailed me because her cousin is getting married very quickly (one month!) and is trying to figure out her wedding. Her cousin was thinking of purple and Mo asked if I could make an inspiration board for her. Since it will be fall when she gets married, I thought the purples should be different shades of a deep purples with some elements of brown. I learned that the dark purple I was thinking of was called Aubergine (an eggplant color). Now I'll sound reallllly cool in the color world when I use it. (The color world? Is that even real?) I've tried convincing Morgan to have purples and browns for her own wedding someday because I LOVE them together, but she's pretty set on her colors. So this gave me a chance to play around with them!

Aspiring to Inspire

I created these two inspiration boards with a certain someone in mind (who shall remain nameless for the time being). The event will probably be in November. These were two color options she had thought of and what better way to decide between the two than viewing the ever so awesome inspiration boards. The top left dress in each of the boards will most likely be the bridesmaid dresses. I applaud all brides who give their friends a dress they can actually WEAR again! I love both of the boards but I am definitely drawn to one (and so is Adam) but we'll see which one she prefers!!

The first board would be the dark turquoise color and varying shades of deeper blue, a very deep red and cream. No white, to avoid the patriotic look. I think the bottom middle picture displays exactly what I envision the mood and feel to be. Very romantic.

The second board is the same dark turquoise, gray and a little bit of orange, inspired by my previous posting. I am loving gray these days, although it is nearly impossible to find any pictures, especially of weddings in gray.

This brings me to my next thought. I switch between spellings for the color grey/gray.

The Need To Create...

I don't know what it is, if it's being school-less and job-less for the first time in years and years, or being married, or being in St. Louis, or what it is, but I feel the need to create things all the time. Now I left my sewing machine and my surger back in Provo and am really regretting it. I also don't have a car during the day so I can't go out and get stuff to create as often as I want. Which brings me to my new ridiculous hobby.

Inspiration boards. Now if you've never looked around at some of the big wedding blogs you have no idea what I'm talking about. I personally love some of the boards at StyleMePretty's site. Basically, the idea of the boards is for brides to gain inspiration not only for colors and ideas but also for the general feel of their wedding. This has become my morning fun. While Adam reads his book, I scour through pictures trying to find just what I'm looking for.

StyleMePretty recently had a contest to find a picture, any picture, and then use it for your inspiration for either the colors, the style or the overall feel. Then you were to gather images for a wedding that would help create what you were going for. Well unfortunately the contest was already in the voting process by the time I read about it, but I decided I really wanted to create one for fun anyway. As much stress as planning my wedding was, I loved it! And I guess this is me reliving that time and feeling like I'm creating something in my mind. To see more professional ones, you can click the link above. The picture I chose to inspire me is the picture of the oranges in the basket next to the gray cement. I thought these colors were pretty unique together and I wanted to add a little cream to them to soften them up a bit. Yep, this is my life these days...