a little lace

lately i am completely obsessed with lace curtains…ever since i went to our creative director’s home and saw her bathroom, which is draped with lace instead of walls, i have been wanting to get some for my place.  they add such a soft touch to a room, and i love the way light looks when it streams through, creating patterns on the floor.  my place is a big open studio sort of like hers, so there are lots of opportunities to try this – the beaded curtain in my bedroom doorway is looking like it will be replaced pretty soon…

home sweet home – episode 2 preview!

for the second episode of home sweet home we paid a visit to one of our most inspirational fp girls – our creative director.  now, before we went to her place i was told what it looked like, but if i hadn’t known i’m sure i would have thought we were lost when we pulled up out front.  she lives in a large, renovated garage that it is by far one of the coolest spaces i have ever seen.   like a geode, it appears a little rough on the outside but crack it open and the beauty inside will take your breath away…i could have spent an entire day exploring the treasures that abound throughout her home – it is full of trinkets that she has picked up throughout her travels and i can only imagine the stories that lie behind each tiny detail.

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in her words…

“i always love places that are not so pretty on the outside. i like to surprise people with the interiors. don’t judge a book by its cover.

when i was little my father lived in key west, florida. i went to visit him and was surprised to see his house was hardly painted and looked kind of haunted. i said, “daddy! you live here!?” and then when he brought me inside it was quite nice. he told me back in the day it was a way to deter the tax collectors from knocking on your door. so now i just surprise my friends and they say the same thing – “you live here!?”

what sold her on this place?

“it was the big cast iron beams! i saw great potential in the ceiling.”

it took quite a bit of work to transform the space into what it is now – and lucky for us, she has pictures of the progress. read on for many more photos, and stay tuned for the video coming later today!

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wood & wool stools

i first heard about these adorable custom-made stools on decor8, and i fell in love! the contrast of the recycled distressed wood and brightly colored crochet definitely reminds me of something i’d see in my grandparent’s house.  the best part is, you get to pick your colors and creator ingrid jansen will custom make your stool – so it is unique, personal and special.  in going through her flickr stream i found myself saving photo after photo as the inspiration was endless…

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woodstock handmade houses

before woodstock became known worldwide for the most famous music festival of all time, it was a quiet town in rural new york that artisans, painters, musicians and freethinkers called home.  they lived off the land and made things by hand- even their homes.  they used local stone, wood and scavenged materials to create shelters that are as unique as they are impressive- ranging from the cave-like dens and teepees to cabins and stone structures.  these homes are documented in the book “woodstock handmade houses” and turning the pages is like stepping into one hidden world after another, imagining all the stories each sanctuary holds.  it is a constant source of inspiration that will never age.

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mural mural on the wall

this might be one of the coolest things i’ve ever seen.

inspired by a painting they found on ebay and paint by numbers artwork, scott and cheryl white turned their blank wall into mural art.  to do this they made a color transparency of the painting, and using a projector, traced the image onto the wall with pencil.  they then created a chart of all the colors and assigned them numbers, and got to work painting! it took them eight months to complete this masterpiece but imagine how much fun you’d have doing it! read more to see some awesome photos of the white’s wall before and after.

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pretty pretty pots

i just saw these fabric-covered pots on creature comforts today and i thought they would make a perfect follow-up to my post about plants.  instead of splurging on nice flower pots, buy a bunch of standard cheap ones and cover them with pretty patterned fabric!

this is one of those projects you can be really creative with- if you have scraps of fabric lying around at home you can combine different colors and textures to make a really unique looking flower pot.  or you could take an approach like the tutorial on lavender and limes and use soft vintage looking floral fabrics you can find at an arts & crafts or fabric store.  OR this is another great use for old free people shopping bags! either way the results are one-of-a-kind and add a little touch of unexpected cheer to your potted plants.

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all you need are some terracotta pots, fabric, mod podge (to coat the fabric with so it stays on the pot), and a brush (for applying the mod podge)! for more detailed instructions check out lavender and limes.

bring spring indoors

plants are really pretty to look at but they’re also good to have around the home because they improve air quality.  they’re literally a breath of fresh air, and a way to bring a little bit of the spring that’s blooming outside into your home.

similar to the paper whites we posted about a little while back, amaryllis flowers are really easy to plant inside.  plus they come in bright shades of pink and red that are a welcome burst of spring color after the brutal winter we’ve had!

you can follow the same instructions as the paperwhites to do this yourself (see here) – the only difference is you’ll need a larger vase because these bulbs are much bigger, as you can see! the flowers grow pretty tall too so it’s a good idea to use a stake to keep them standing upright as they grow.

left image: terrain; right image: apartment therapy.

i never would have thought succulents could be so beautiful but they come in a huge variety of colors and textures you can combine to make a really beautiful plant… and you can be creative with the potting and arrangement to create something really unique.

instructions for planting your own succulents can be found here.

and just because… this wall of succulents is amazing:

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images: apartment therapy; re-nest.

turn your dresser into a shelf!

yes it’s another dresser idea but i wanted to share this today too because i think its such a unique, cool idea.

if you happen to have a really old beat up dresser that you don’t use, take out the drawers and paint them a a bright color, line them with some cool wallpaper and turn it into a sweet-looking shelf!

i  think this would look awesome if you used some old vintage wallpaper like these…

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so what do you guys think, would you try one of these ideas on your dresser?

project source; wallpaper images.

wednes-diy

this is such an amazing idea – i saw it on design*sponge a while ago and i’ve always thought about doing it, except i don’t have a dresser like that :)  the flowers remind me so much of our one of a kind vintage flower necklace!

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for their tutorial, they used some vintage brooches found on ebay, removed the backs and glued screws on.  check out the full tutorial here!

such a great way to give your dresser a little free people touch :)