Design Board + Source List

Last week I got the Pottery Barn and West Elm catalogs in the mail and stopped at Target.  I found myself inspired by so many decor items that I'm loving right now.  Before I forgot all about them, I decided to pull together a design board with some of my favorites.  Plus, I kind of have a vision of a living room makeover in late 2013 or early 2014 (after our wedding.)   

This is a design board I put together for my own interest so I am more than happy to share the item sources with you.  Hopefully you will find something you like and will fit perfect in your space!

Here ya go!  All items are hyper-linked to their source! Enjoy!

I found the yellow pillow and orange pillow during my shopping trip to Target.  They are so fresh and bright, plus I love the designs.  The chevron pillow is one I've been admiring on etsy and lately I am getting into deer silhouettes so this pillow was a must for this design.

The scribble curtains caught my eye in the West Elm catalog.  Plus they are so affordable!

I've used this charcoal Wyatt sectional from World Market in a few designs.  It's smaller than your average sectional and such a great neutral.

I love neutral furniture because it's so easy to change accessories but I don't love neutral furniture when each piece matches perfectly so I went with this club chair from Target.

For the coffee table, the Cala hammered coffee table fits perfect.  It's definitely a surprise in the space, breaks up the "square" furniture and it doesn't have sharp corners in case you have kiddos.

To ground this space I chose this chunky wool & natural jute rug from Pottery Barn.  

One of my favorite pieces lately is the metal rose sculpture.  I stumbled upon this beauty at Target one day and look at it every time I am in the store! It's huge and it's sleek and just plain awesome!

My few accent pieces are pretty simple.  The lamp and drum shade look light weight and can easily be transformed with paint when you get bored with them as they are.  

Ever since I went to a few wineries in California I have admired these olive buckets.  I figured out that Pottery Barn sells them!  Woohoo! (unfortunately I'm probably going to have to start saving my birthday money to afford one...)

The birds of a feather print, wood ampersand, and 'You and Me' barn wood sign are all etsy finds.

Finally, tall vases of flowers are always fun and there are great options at Target for your to create your own!

If you would like the PDF or JPG version of this design board, email me and I will send it your way.  designyourdwellingblog (at) gmail.com.  I seriously love helping to create beautiful spaces so if I can help you with yours please email me and check out my design services page.

Happy Tuesday!

New Gallery Wall + Tips and Tricks to Hang Your Own

I hope you all had a good weekend after a short work week.  I think every week should only be three days, I am so much more productive! :)

My big project over Christmas vacation was to hang a gallery wall in our master bedroom.  Good timing too since my fiance took notice that our guest bedroom was more decorated than our bedroom.  That statement sounded like permission to pound all sorts of holes in our walls so I went for it!

Here is what the space looked like before I hung the wall.

Yep, definitely some un-used wall space but I wanted to put some thought into what I wanted to do with it before pounding holes. As much as I like to change things and move them around, I am learning that I need to leave things alone for a little awhile.

I had some great pictures from our summer vacation that I turned black and white and recently bought a few printables for $5.00 each as a fundraiser and here is what I came up with!

Oh yeah... I did a little water color painting too and re-purposed the large "LOVE" print from our dining room. (Yes, that means I hung up something new there too. I'll save that for another post...)  I love the outcome, it is so fresh, clean and personal! :)  I bought most of the frames from Target and a few Canopy brand frames from Walmart.

Believe it or not, I didn't pound any extra holes in the wall!  I really took time to think out my game-plan before I started swinging the hammer.  Here are the tools you need and a few tips and tricks to make it easy on yourself.

Levels - small and large

Pencil

Hammer

Tape measure

Nails

Magic eraser

(tape, tweezer, staplegun for frame repairs)

Here are a few tips that will help to make hanging a gallery wall a little easier for you.

1. Create your layout on the floor first and then snap a picture of it with your phone so you remember what you want it to look like.

2. Hang your largest picture at eye level first since it is more than likely your focal point.  You can more easily hang the rest of your pictures from there. 

3. It's easier to hang your gallery wall pictures randomly (not in a straight or level line) It will leave a lot less room for errors (and extra holes in your walls), I promise.

4. Magic erasers work great for cleaning up extra marks and scuffs. :)

High Five For Friday

Welcome to my favorite post of the week - getting to share the fun stuff! :)  I would love for you to stick around for awhile and follow along on my wee-little blog!

1| My sister and brother-in-law gave me this camera remote for Christmas.  This little gadget is awesome!
2| I ordered this gel eyeliner from my awesome Mary Kay consultant, Kenzie.  It is officially my new favorite product! It may be discontinued but click here to look or get in touch with Kenzie.
3| During Christmas vacation Adam and I had invited friends over for supper and ended up playing a couple rounds of a game that we call, Wahoo!
4| I finally got my gallery wall hung up in our master bedroom.  I'll have a blog post for you with tips for hanging a gallery wall next week!
5| My paint-a-pig is (finally) painted for the Iowa State University NAMA fundraiser.  I went for a Kate Spade(ish) look. I like it... hopefully someone will buy it.

I hope all have had a great week!  I'm linking up with Lauren at From My Grey Desk!  Stop over there to read more highs from the week.

Happy Weekend!

Wedding Wednesday: Dress Shopping Tips

Photo Courtesy of Style Me Pretty

It's been awhile since I've written a 'Wedding Wednesday' post but I honestly haven't been doing much wedding planning since all of the big things are booked and it's a little too early to start working all of the little details. (That statement will probably come back to bite me in the butt!) 

Just before Christmas I went dress shopping at a cute little dress shop near my hometown in New Ulm, Minnesota called Sister's Bridal.  I was just going to try on dresses for the fun of it and find out which style I liked and what fit me the best and as luck would have it, I said "yes to the dress!"  Yep, that's right, I bought my wedding dress at the first place I went to.  Check that off my list! :)  (And no, its not even similar to the one in the picture, in case you were wondering!)  As I reflect on my 1.5 hours of wedding dress shopping, I've come up with some dress shopping tips for you to consider.  I took all of them into consideration before I did my shopping!  You might find a few a little quirky and yet (hopefully) helpful!

1} Decide how you want to feel on the day of your Wedding.  Do you want to feel beautiful? Elegant? Hot? Like a supermodel?  How you decide you want to feel will help you narrow down your field of dresses and if you get that "feeling" when you try the dress on you, you're on the right track!

2} Go to the gym.  You know that you're going to get a gym membership anyhow and you plan to commit to working out prior to your wedding, so why not start early?! The last thing you want to do is look at yourself in the mirror wearing a dress you love and say, "wow, I really need to get to the gym!" Take time work your arms, shoulders and butt!

3} Do your hair and makeup... extra special!  The day you go try on dresses take time to do your hair and makeup and maybe even spend a little extra time on it.  You want to feel beautiful when you leave  your house!  (And maybe even wear one of your favorite outfits) This will give you a little extra boost of confidence!

4} Wear a strapless bra. You wont regret this!  It helps "the girls" look a little perky-er and fills out the dress much better.

5} Be open-minded.  What you think you like might change.  I had the style of dress I wanted all picked out and picked out something very different.  Try on everything! Also considering dress shopping without expectations.

6} Don't confuse yourself. This is easy to do because everyone is giving you their opinions, you are trying on so many dresses and you have multiple appointments set up.  If you find a dress you love, it looks fantastic on you and fits in your price range, BUY IT!  No sense in confusing yourself by going to try on more dresses "in-case." You can always cancel your other appointments.

Hopefully these tips help - they helped me find my perfect dress!  Leave a comment below if you have any dress shopping tips to add!