Artglass Paperweights

My Grandma Johnson collected these pretty glass paperweights and I've always loved them too, so I pick up pieces here and there at flea markets and on travels. Ebay and Etsy have some beautiful options.

Grandma immigrated to the US from Sweden in 1918, when she was just 19 years old. Here's a photo of her at home, which was a cottage on an estate called Parkstugen where her father was the gardener. This was taken not long before they sailed for NYC. See one of the artglass balls here?

Right after we moved to the city last year, my parents were visiting and we made a trip out to Ellis Island. We were able to look up Grandma and her parents on their ship's register record. It was a really cool experience to walk around the island and imagine what she must have been feeling and thinking there as a 19 year old girl.

There's a funny story I love that once Grandma and her family had been given clearance to leave Ellis Island and go to Manhattan, the first thing Grandma wanted to do was eat some fruit. It had been a long boat ride and she was ready for fresh produce. Grandma went to a fruit stand and bought an "American apple" and took a big bite only to be surprised by the bitter flavor, and she spit it out. Later she discovered that she had tasted her very first tomato that day! (crazy to think they didn't have tomatoes in all parts of Sweden way back when!)

I love filling my home with things that remind me of places and people I really love. Do you have any special things you collect to remember family by?

Progress on the Yellow Door

I had an extra hour yesterday (which never seems to happen!), so I started work on the yellow door.

I really wanted to add some architectural detail to that cheapest of cheap hollow-core door. This image from Patrice Cowan Bevins was my inspiration.

I picked up three lengths of inexpensive shoe moulding from Home Depot,

and six of these shorter mouldings from Michaels (the same bin I got my studded trim from).

This little hand saw has been my best friend today.

I absolutely zipped through the cutting of the moulding using the saw and my miter box (both are about $5 at Home Depot).

The bigger outer square is 20.5" wide and the inner square is 16.5".

I used some Liquid Nails to glue the squares on the door (I very roughly marked out the lines on the door first as a guide), but I think tomorrow I'm going to nail some wire brads in too before I caulk the whole thing and give it a paint job. I'm excited about the yellow! I think it will be a really fun and unexpected.

Calamondin (Indoor) Orange Trees

If it smells like an orange blossom (candles, perfumes), I usually like it. I grew up in Arizona and can recall the smell of orange blossoms on command. It's one of my favorite scents - just smells like home.

So how could I resist placing an order for a calamondin orange tree yesterday when I read that the best part about the trees is they blossom and produce fruit year round? I can't imagine anything better than smelling real orange blossoms in your home all the time (though fresh homemade marmalade is a close second place).

Cliff notes on caring for calamondin orange, meyer lemon, or key lime trees (which all make great, hardy indoor plants):

- Plant in 1-3 gallon pots, depending on the size of your seedling.
- Keep in as much direct sunlight as possible and temperatures between 65 and 90 degrees (you might want to keep the tree outdoors in the summer and in for the winter)
- Fertilize in the cold months

- Water only when the top inch of soil is dry. Over-watering will quickly kill these trees.
-It takes a seedling 2 years or so to start producing fruit. So pay attention to the age of a tree when you're purchasing. You can buy one year old seedlings for cheap, but it will take a while before you get to enjoy the pretty fruits.

design*sponge

-It takes another whole YEAR for the fruit to ripen! Not so great for harvesting, but awesome for ornamental purposes.
- The flesh of the tiny fruit is super sour, but the peel is supposed to be pretty sweet, a lot like a kumquat. Perfect for flavoring drinks (frozen calamondin halves as ice!) or for jellies or cakes.

- Also, if you live in a citrus producing state like FL, AZ, CA or TX, you can't buy citrus trees online due to agricultural laws. You should have some luck at your local plant nursery though.

I'll be sure to report on how my little tree arrives and (hopefully) thrives. Do you have any experience with indoor citrus trees?

Brass Button Tufting

Speaking of buttons, can I tell you how much I LOVE the brass buttons Amanda Nisbet used in the headboard she created for her Kips Bay room?

I've been planning a DIY tufted headboard project for one of my clients and I think this little brass detail is going to put it over the top.

I'm pushing for a bright cobalt blue fabric. Won't that be gorgeous with the brass accents?? Can't wait.

Rope Detailing

I like *touches* of nautical inspiration in home decor. Not whole rooms - but maybe like a little brass anchor on a stack of books. Or a bold navy and white stripe fabric. But as of late, my favorite thing has been carved rope detailing on furniture.

I bought these stools a couple months ago on eBay (there are still some available if you are interested in making an offer).

Even though I'm planning to reupholster and repaint them, I still love the shape.

I wish mine were a little more delicate and had the nice knot detail like this much more expensive Draper bench and Meg Braff's vintage chairs below. Someday maybe, but mine are great for now, and I think really fit the scale of our space.

images source: Coastal Living

Also, another rope project HERE:

Inspiration: Book Shelf Styling

When I'm styling a bookshelf, I try to keep the tchotckies under control. I like books a lot and think they should be the star of the shelves normally. We're going to have a wall of books in the office (no accessories at all probably) so for the bookshelf under the new sconces in the living room, I'm going to mix things up a little. Probably like half books, half accessories.

Here are some inspiration shots. Let's play a little game of I Spy.

I spy with my little eye books arranged by color, but not in an annoying perfect sort of way. Sort of just stacked and piled by tone. Also, I like all the family photos grouped on the shelf. It's a good idea to keep things that are meant to be examined at eye level.

Kelly Klein via Habitually Chic

I love the square shape of these shelves. It makes it easier to display larger pieces like the coral and that big turquoise pottery. I would want to check out the contents of these shelves a little closer if I were a visitor here.

It's a good idea to add some bigger pieces to break it up and add a little storage. Try hat boxes, shaker boxes, baskets, lacquered boxes, lidded candy dishes, etc. I also love the yellow on the back of the shelves here.

House Beautiful

This designer left out some of the shelves to make space for bigger artwork and taller accessories. What do you think of this look? I do like some of the bookends here a lot. Pieces like the brass rams are easy to find in thrift stores or on etsy.

M Designs via La Dolce Vita

These shelves are really pretty. Not many books, and the ones here are covered in kraft paper, which is pretty for a more styled look. I love that ostrich egg and that cage/terrarium thing on the bottom shelf. So cool. Also, pretty obsessed with this color of gray.

I looove the coziness of this photo. The slouchy couch. The laid back book arrangement. I also love the Staffordshire doggies, the ginger jar and the bullseye mirror. The little checkerboard is also awesome and a nice graphic touch. I've been wanting to incorporate some sort of game board in our house too. Checkerboard or maybe backgammon...

Look! A television!! I like this idea of incorporating a TV into your built-ins.

Lonny

Lots to love on these shelves. I think the designer did a good job of leaving just enough empty space on the shelves (though I would probably prefer more books in the mix here). I think it's easy to overload the shelves and the layers, so be careful there. I think you'd want a maximum of five types of accessories on a single shelf (books count for one type of accessory here).

Martensen via Desire to Inspire

These shelves are more crowded, but I think the trick is the colors are all pretty muted. I love that these items all feel very purposeful and collected - like the owner probably has a cool adventure story behind each object.

Jaime's (I Suwanee) Bookcase of the Day

Another one with some shelves removed for art. Love that ladder!

Martha Stewart Living

Fun and quirky for a teenager's room...

Betsy Burnham via Decor Demon

I love the burl wood frame here. And this is just the right mix of books to accessories for me.

Summer Heckman in Lonny

More square shelves! Galvanized metal here maybe? I like how these are casually stacked. The color groupings flow nicely for a great overall composition.

Nuevo Estilo

Colorful and pretty. Love the turquoise vase and the modern artwork up top especially. I also spy a pair of candlesticks, two different types of coral, a beautiful tortoise shell glass vase, a zinc letter and little framed pieces of art on easels.

Ashley Mcaleer in Domino

Off to style my shelves which I'll share soon. (P.S. You're going to love the paint job!)
xx

Trimming out walls with ribbon

These two images make me want to go clean out M&J Trimming and then come home and hot glue silk (like the yellow) or grosgrain (like the black) ribbon to every edge and corner of every wall in my house.

Nuevo Estillo


Martha Stewart Living

Trimmed Out IKEA Besta

First off, Jennifer from Rambling Renovators asked me to participate in her blog series called Great Reads. It's an awesome round up of lots of bloggers' favorite post of 2010. Click here to see what post I chose.

Secondly, couldn't you die over this IKEA hack (also posted on IKEA Hacker)?

It's just some upholstery nails tacked into an IKEA Besta console ($125)!

This was the inspiration piece, the Visconti cabinet from Bungalow 5 (retails for about $2300).

Such a statement piece! Love it.

Thanks to Jennifer from Rambling Renovators for the heads up on this project. She found it from Anne-Marie at 10 Rooms.

Trim at Joanns

I recently worked with my sister to redecorate her office/guest room on a budget. We did lots of shopping at thrift stores, IKEA and craft stores. We got all the fabrics for the room at Joanns!

Check out some of the amazing trims available at Joanns right now! I was seriously impressed - a major improvement from the last time I shopped their trims section.

Evelyn likes the zebra trim as much as I do!

Pink box pleats would be so cute on a glider slipcover for a little girls nursery.

Faux croc - maybe a little mini rug binding project?

Black and white stripes make almost anything a little better in my book

Gold!

Classic Greek key

I bought the entire spool of this leopard trim. It was on mega clearance.

Two different python patterns:

I ended up buying several yards of this rainbow ribbon. It's sort of like an abstract painting of polkadots and I love it! (sorry that the photo is out of focus)

How pretty would this folksy (almost suzani?) trim be on simple white linen curtains from IKEA...

I bought some of this sort of tribal-like trim too. Love the colors:

Do you have any fun trim in your house? Send me a photo!

**PS Some of you asked about my nail polish. Sorry you have to look at my chipped nails in almost every picture! The polish is actually a really inexpensive one - Revlon's Orange Flip. I've had it for a while, but I use it all the time. It's a really wearable but fun orangey red.

If you can't find the Revlon shade, Essie's Clam Bake is another orangey red. Also, I think either Madewell or JCrew sells a great shade in-stores.

xx