Living Room Plan

I am in desparate need of a game-plan to jazz up our living room.  I find our main living and gathering space to be a little boring and in need of some color and visual interest. 

Fortunately we have a solid foundation to start with including updated furniture, brand new windows, a solid wood floor and a wall color that will work with any color scheme!  Below are my initial thoughts for color and my "to do" list.

Color:

   

To Do List:

1. Select window treatments (shades and curtains)

2. Find new or re-cover throw pillows

3. Wall hangings

4. Accessorize

5. Replace the rug?

I would define my style as contemporary and simple but I would really like to incorporate pattern and texture to create visual interest in this room.  I think I can accomplish that by re-covering throw pillows and finding the right curtains.  Chances are, I will probably end up doing a lot of sewing so I get the fabric and exact look that I want. (Believe it or not I can sew... but only straight lines!) 

Readers - Let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions (color, accessories, furniture arrangement) to make this room look like it belongs in a magazine! :)  If I incorporate your suggestion you will get something REAL NICE!

DIY Wall Art

Last week, while I was at my "real job," I caught myself day dreaming of how I could spruce up a few rooms in our house with some fresh color.  I came up with this super easy and inexpensive DIY wall art project!  All you need is a picture frame, paint chips, white cardstock paper and rubber cement...

I purchased this matted frame at Wal-Mart for $4.95.  Any size will work.  I think even a 4x6 frame with a little character would look neat.

I found these Glidden paint chips at Wal-Mart too.  The paint chips were completely free.  Good thing there were no employees around the paint supply aisle... they probably would have charged me for how many paint chips I took.  I probably have close to one of each color. :)  You may have to cut down the paint chips to the size you need for the frame.

Final step, glue your paint chips to a white sheet of cardstock paper.  I like rubber cement but anything will work.  To make this project a little easier on  yourself, tape to the cardstock to the back side of the frame before glueing on the paint chips.  This will make it easier to center the paint chips.

Here is the finished project!

I can see this piece of art work as the beginning of the art collage I am hanging in our dining room!  (More to come on that.)

Do Something For You

Yesterday I had to bring my car to the dealership to get my brakes fixed. So, what's a girl to do while she waits?! Head to the mall of course!

I am probably one of the most easily distracted shoppers you have ever met and of course, right as I walk through the door, I have to check out what all the fuss is about near the cosmetic department in Von Maur.  It just so happens that there was a professional make up artist who came all the way from Chicago to do a promotional event for Lancome cosmetics.  One of the young ladies working the promotion walked up to me and asked if I would like to sign up for a facial done by this professional.  Duh - of course I do!!!  I could have just as well had a flashing sign over my head that said "Sign me up!"  There was just one catch, you just had to spend $50 on Lancome products - no problem I needed mascara anyhow.

I sat in the chair and had one of the assitants take care of the basics - remove my makeup, apply toner, then put lotion on, then put something else on, then foundation, bronzer, blush, mascara, etc... Then came the professional make up artist - good looking and dressed in an expensive suit.  He gracefully applied my eyeshadow and lipstick and finished up by looking straight in my eyes and saying "beautiful."  (Can't beat that!) It looked awesome! So of course, they asked what I would like to take home with me.  Since the make up artist wasn't a take-home option I opted to have them put the Visionnaire Advance Skin Corrector in my bag, Hypnose Doll Lashes mascara and the Coral Crush eyeshadow pallet.  (Great sales tactic!  They had me so focused on how great I looked, I was willing to purchase without knowing the price.)  The grand total, $167.00!!  If you are wondering, I did earn the free gift... Below is what I went home with. 

So where am I going with all of this?  My random visit to the Lancome counter and purchase was a great reminder that sometimes it is important to do something for yourself.  It doesn't matter how long it takes or how much it costs, we deserve to take time to spoil ourselves.  The things I will always do for myself are having a gym membership, manicures and pedicures and spur of the moment chances, like getting my makeup done by a professional.  These are the things that help me to live a beautiful life inside and out!

Leave a comment to share what you do to spoil yourself. What is something you will never give up doing for yourself? 

Decorate With Books

I am a sucker for buying books!  The trouble is that I like buying them more than I like reading them. (I do read a few books here and there)  Luckily they serve a lot of decorating purposes.  :)  They add interest to shelves and coffee tables, pages from children's books can be framed and when stacked, they can serve as a small table next to your favorite chair.  Below are a few ideas of how I use books to decorate in my house.

Books work great to give a simple vase a little lift on a shelf.

I love this idea - using magazines and books to build a little side table next to your favorite chair.  An inxpensive alternative to purchasing end tables?. 

There are so many great ways to organize books on shelves.  One of my favorites is to organize them by color.  It creates a lot of visual interest and can change the whole look of a room.  

What are your best ideas for decorating with books?  What is your favorite book or author? My favorite fiction read is Reedming Love by Francine Rivers and my favorite business author is Scott McKain!

Baskets Fix Anything!

In our main bathroom we have built-in shelves.  They have the potential to be a great storage space but they end up collecting "stuff" and they are impossible to organize and make look "pretty."  So I gave up on continually trying to make these shelves look neat and organized so I invested in wicker baskets from Target.  They made great storage to hide bathroom essentials like toilet paper and kleenex.  The baskets are also large enough to hold a set of bed sheets.  The best part of using baskets as storage on these shelves is that I could just throw the stuff in them and give up on the organizing completely.  The end result is that the shelves look pretty and I created some much needed storage - take a look below! 



What a Mess!





Much Better !

How do you use baskets to organize your home?  Feel free to leave a comment!

And the Winner Is...

Thanks to those of you who visited my blog in the past few days and to those of you have joined as followers of Design Your Dwelling. 

The winner of the piece of Lia Sophia Jewelry, valued at up to $100 is Kelli Jo!  I will send your gift in the mail to you in the next week. :) 

Please check my blog regularly for more give-aways and of course ideas and inspiration to lead a beautiful life!