The Writing on the Wall

Now these are my kind of words on the wall:

Sweet

Oh, hi!

It's true

Would be cute over a bar cart

Who doesn't need that?

You can find them at Etsy seller WilliamDohman.

Gators & Whales

I just added these $10 salt and pepper shakers from Wrapables to my Amazon Wishlist. It's not like we need any - for some reason we have been gifted an abundance of different S and P sets by a certain person who gave birth to my groom* - but they are adorable and I'd like to virtually pretend they're mine. 

They remind me of this $44 set from Jonathan Adler:

 

Although I think I like the Wrapables whale better. The photo shows the whale holding the pepper and the gator (or is he a croc?) with salt, but I'd switch them. Because you know, whales live in salt water. (Oh, and the spray coming out of their blowhole would be white.) And the alligator is meaner, and well, pepper can sometimes give you a kick in the pants.

And in my same dub-dub-dub internets browsing session I ran across this bedding and thought to myself, ooh, they both have gators and whales in blue and green, I can do my own "this and that" post like Oh Joy!. (Put your baby in this crib bedding, season your now-cold food because you don't have time to eat with a fussy baby with these salt and pepper shakers.)

And then I realized that what I thought was a whale was an elephant. Oops.

Gotta go work on my animals.

* How do you nicely sell/donate items that have been gifted to you but aren't your favorite? You know, so you can replace them with objects that will help remind you of the difference between whales and elephants.

The Look for Less: Numerical Plates

 Anna Coyle Interiors via Room Remix

 

$12, Target

Aqua & Red

 Alexandra Rowley via Little Green Notebook

I'd love to be lounging here today instead of back at work after a fun-filled weekend!


Weekend-in-a-nutshell:
- Hanging out late into the night with friends, where a guitar was broken out and my requests for Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift were answered (I played the tambourine)
- Tailgating and singing along with friends at a Rascal Flatts concert (for as shy as I am, I did a lot of singing in front of people this weekend...)
- Attending our niece's baptism
- Looong Sunday afternoon nap before J had to go in for night call

Crazy for the Quatrefoil!

Do you love the quatrefoil?

I do!  This lovely pattern has probably inched out the chevron for the top spot in my heart.

I hope to have a big ol' quatrefoil-patterned rug one day. I'm on the hunt for new bedding for our anniversary present (the second year is cotton!), and I've been searching in vain for a duvet or sheet set with a quatrefoil-esque graphic print.  Last night I spied the one above on an episode of House Hunters and hunted it down - it's from Williams Sonoma Home but is no longer available, which is probably a good thing because it was a bit over my budget!

So imagine how excited I was (and what patten I picked out!) when I found out I had won Sweet Simplicity's giveaway for a set of notecards + labels from Tickled Pink Ink!

I can't wait to write some notes with these lovelies (and use the labels as bookplates in my most treasured books)!  They are sooo pretty!

What patterns have you been loving lately? 

How Do You Display Your Photos?

One Kings Lane* is offering gift certificates for gallery wrap canvas prints from Chic Canvas for quite the discount right now.  I shopped around some other websites and found it to be a really good price.  (I did find one site where the 20x24 wasn't that much more expensive.)

One of the problems is that I don't know which photo I'd pick, so I'm having trouble deciding the dimensions for the one I'd buy! We have our high-res digital negatives of our beautiful wedding photos, and I haven't yet had any portraits printed, partly because I don't know if we really need to have something so large of us on display.  (I already feel like a 16x20 of one of our awesome engagement photos is a bit much, even though we're a smaller part of the photo, standing inside this sculpture.  I ended up putting it in our bedroom.) 

Now if it was just of some cute kiddos like this, or a great landscape shot from a vacation, I think it would look great as a big statement piece. But I'm just not so sure I want to see myself so large, or if our houseguests want to see us in a canoodling wedding photo. Also, I recently picked up a ton of silve frames matted to 11x14 that were on clearance at Target, and I've started to collect the ever-popular IKEA Ribba frame as well, with the idea to eventually have a gallery wall of favorite photographs, but without it being wedding or couple overload.

  

So I turn to you, my helpful readers. Should I buy it? (I can always save it for later, there's just that question of which size.) Are you going to buy it?  What would should I have made with it, or what would you make?

Do you think once you start decorating with gallery wraps, that future portrait-worthy prints should get the same treatment as well for consistency in your home?

* Let me know if you want an invite and I'll email you the link!

Navy & White

...I-eeee-iiiiii will always love you. You will always be a part of my fave palette.

Victoria Hagan Interiors

Beadbaord Ceilings

Let's talk ceilings.

The one in my bathroom is the only one in our home with popcorn texturing (thank goodness), and as of late, it's looking very, very sad down the middle due to some repairs by the previous homeowner that weren't done properly.

So I suggested to my dad, my Ceiling Replacer Man, the beadboard ceiling:

Design Esquire

Life in the Fun Lane

He was a little skeptical at first, but is now on board with the beadboard (haha!) after I showed him these photos. I think it will look great in our bathroom, especially because the vanity cabinets have a white beadboard face.

I'm not sure exactly when we're going to tackle this project, but I'll be sure to share the before and afters!

I Love Me a Good Before & After

I really do - a sad "before" makes the lovely "after" that much better.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I came across this before and after and realized it's a kitchen that I've seen popping up on a lot of blogs lately (and has already been filed under "dream kitchens" in my digital archives). It seems slightly more attainable now.

I love the white and the dreamy pops of blue + texture of the armchairs. And I'd probably pass by them in a store, but I am so lovin' the lights over the island.

Found via Fabulessly Yours

Crazy Cool Converted Gun Shop

Did you see 9 by Design? I would be so stressed to live their lives! I can't imagine being eight and a half months pregnant with my seventh kiddo and finding and moving into a temporary apartment in a matter of days...and decorate it with cool finds in the blink of an eye.

This is the most amazing rooftop-basketball -court-with-a-dome-that-mimics-the-church-next-door ever.

Sixx Design

Stripes!

Cute floormat by Alice Supply Co. (Dear Alice, I love all of your stuff. You actually make me want to clean. Did I just say that? Maybe I meant accumulate cute cleaning supplies.)

$15 today on One Kings Lane! (Normally $32)

Need an invite? Leave your email in the comments or email me at so alaurable at gmail dot com.

Room of the Day

This space from (new-to-me) Margot Austin is so calming and cheery to me. Off to check out the rest of her work!

Wipe Your Feet, Please

My daily email from The Bargainist featured this personalized initial doormat as Walmart's "Value of the Day" for $16. Free shipping if you want to pick it up in-store, but I sprung for the additional $.97 shipping charge. (Anything to avoid going into a Walmart. Sorry if you're a fan.)

I don't know yet about the quality, but custom doormats can run a lot more than this, and it's hard for me to pass up something personalized. Although I am a little worried - after you enter the initial and name and verify that it's correct, you don't see it again anywhere during the checkout process or if you try to edit your shopping cart. I'm crossing my fingers that it comes out right.

What do you think? Is it dangerous to share your last name on your front stoop? We live in a gated community, so we don't get solicitors, but I don't know.

In other news, I can't believe I just wrote a post about doormats.

Here's something to spice up this otherwise boring post. I caught Lady Gaga on Barbara Walters' Most Fascinating, and Babs brought up that there was a controversial line in the lyrics to "Poker Face".

I thought it was going to be "Russian roulette is not the same without a gun" since I think that's tres dangerous. But no, it was "bluffin' with my muffin". (If Barbara Walters can say it on national TV, then I think it's okay to post. And now that I know the meaning, it was so funny/weird to hear BW say it.)

Color of the Day

is yellow. I need more of yellow in my home.

I love everything about this house featured in Country Living

Art for the Future Interior Designer

This nursery art will have your budding designer baby dreaming about how to redecorate the nursery:

"I Want to Rock With You" and "Keep on Rocking" from yumalum's etsy shop, both $37

Pretty Mod's etsy shop, $35 (lots of great silhouettes to personalize)

Jaimers' etsy shop, $18

Century Finds, $49

Nursery Inspiration

I heart all things polka dot, so I loooove this chair, as well as the book rack.I try not to post images without their source, but I cannot find the source for this one. (Please let me know if you know where this photo is from.

Pattern of the Day

I want this chair. At the very least, I need something in my home upholstered in this swirly, loopy, calligraphy pattern.

via Life in a Venti Cup

Skull Candy

I've never decorated for Halloween, but I am liking these budget-friendly skull serving pieces. Makes me want to have a skeleton party!

Many found via Copy Cat Chic (a great source of the look for less):

Target Bone Collector Platter, $22 Target Cocktail Plates (Set of 4), $22 Target Skull Mugs (set of 4), $22
Target Skull Plates (set of 8), $16

Target Skull Platter (set of 2), $14 Z Gallerie, $13

Pottery Barn, $16

Speaking of budget-friendly Halloween decorating, have you seen Young House Love's post and video (embedded at the bottom) on what they did inside this year? All great ideas!

They dripped red candle wax down the pillar candles. I love this arrangement of candlesticks and can easily see switching out the candles to work for any holiday: Thanksgiving (orange), Christmas (red, green, white, silver), New Year's (white, silver), Valentine's Day (red, pink)

Great silhouette of Burger. The bones were adapted from his actual chew bones. How smart is Sherry? (If you can't tell, I'm a little in love with YHL.)

Again, I can easily see this cloche working for any time of year just by switching out the objects. Genius!
John doctored a copy of their wedding photo. Again, I think this would be funny for other holidays...Santa Hats at Christmas?

Halloween Decorating from Young House Love on Vimeo.