Houseplants Make Me Happy

 

Well, remember this living room update... totally not even the same room anymore. I can't stop rearranging this room and I love changing things up.

Rob has been wanting houseplants since January and I've been putting it off. I was worried about the dogs eating them and getting sick, and I worried I would just kill them. We also had to budget for them, because I wanted to get larger plants from the start and pretty pots.

So Saturday I found myself at Home Depot for the 3rd weekend in a row, the ladies now know me, and I stumbled onto these two plants. The left is called a Z Plant, it is very toxic to pets, but it grows straight up so if you put it up high you're good. The right one is actually a white bird of paradise. I secretly home it never blooms, I just like the leaves. The paradise plant will probably get close to ceiling height if we let it. We spent $38 on two plants, not too bad.

Then I wandered over to this new store called Bargain Hunt. They had just opened and had huge ceramic pots for $10 and $15. I almost took some woman out getting the two pots I wanted. At Home Depot I had seen the exact same pots for $35 and $50. It was too good to be true really.

Once I got them home I played around with placement. I had spent the evening with my mom and she let me take some old family pieces back over to our house. They worked perfectly and really tie in the plants and textiles. I'm over the moon with how the living room looks now. It's made me excited to bring more plants into the house, possibly in the bedroom hanging.

**Home Depot will replace any plant that dies within one year, no questions asked. Just save your receipt or the card you used to purchase it with**

messing around // flowers

Today as I was cleaning and taking product photos I snapped some photos of this little flower vase. I had cut some flowers from the yard, some are actually weeds, and threw them together. They made me so happy and didn't cost a dime. When I was going through the photos I thought about making them into tags for my shop items, I'm very tired of the white. Who knows, but I had fun messing around.

xoxo

A Living Room Tour

Finally able to give you all a living room tour, still in progress but I'm loving this space. So welcome to our living room...

Walls // Before it was a blue color and we painted it white one of the first weekends after we moved it. It feels so much bigger now. The paint color is Clear Moon by Behr.

Couch // For awhile we had a different couch, a floral one Rob's mom generously let us have. In March, we made the trip to Ikea to get the EKTORP sofa in white, we decided on this after months of research. Apparently, it holds up and is easy to wash, I will report back.

Pillows // Black and White is from Ikea, the two square burlaps I found at Southeastern Salvage for $10 a piece and my mom monogrammed them for us, the rectangle burlap my mom made and monogrammed with our wedding date for Christmas.

Art // The leaf print is unknown (anyone have a link) and the star we picked up from a garage sale.

Chairs // The plaid chair was from my grandparents old home, we have the matching one in the study. I have plans to have them covered in a white denim, hopefully that happens soon. The black chair was given to me by a friend who was closing a furniture store. I'm planning to recover the the seat and possibly painting the frame a neon shade.

Rug // I bought the 8' x 10' rug off overstock.com, cannot say enough good things about that website. I had a coupon code for 40% off and snagged this and another large rug for $120 each.

Left Bookshelf // Holds our books and other knick knacks. I wish I could paint the inside of these, but I don't want to ruin the beautiful wood for the next renters. I might try using some fabric or paper inserts.

Mantle // Great story, Rob's grandfather cut all of the stone seen here and built the fireplace himself (he also designed and built the home) The mirror is the original that hung in the home when they lived here.  The picture frames were all wedding gifts and the orchids all gifts from Rob (they are my favorite flower). The pencil cactus seen in two different pots was started when I was 8yrs old from a piece about an inch long, I'm pretty proud of that plant. It needs a bigger pot as we speak. Tall white vase is by Kate Spade (wedding gift) you can find one at Macy's.

Right Bookshelf // This is the one you view right when you walk in the front door. I've tried to dress it up with things we already owned or were gifted. I spray painted all those vases to look like milk glass, print by Elise Joy when she was selling prints, 'E' was from TJ Maxx for $5.

Accents // Coffee table was also from Rob's mother, the tray was handmade by our friend as a wedding gift, the mercury glass candle holder is from a local store called At Home, and the basket is from Pottery Barn (both wedding gifts)

And that's our living room. We've made it our own thanks to wedding gifts and a few investments. I've rearranged about 4 times since we moved in, who knows if this arrangement will last. I still need to end tables for our gorgeous new lamps from Pottery Barn (wedding gifts) and I'd also love to add some larger plants into the room. Possibly a sofa table behind the sofa, as inspired by this.

I'll leave you with some before photos so you can see where it all started and evolved. Ask any questions or if you have any ideas let me know :)

Home Updates // Dressed up the Dresser

I've been in this house for a month now, crazy. I feel like I haven't gotten very much accomplished, but I'm taking it a project at a time. I had been wanting to change the knobs on this dresser since Rob brought it over, they lacked any personality. Rob asked me not to make it look girly, so I decided glass knobs would be our best option.

I looked online for weeks, but wasn't spending $8 a knob when we need 14. I happened to spot them in Hobby Lobby the other day 50% off, so I grabbed them for $2.50 each. SCORE. They were extremely easy to put on, maybe a 30 minute project.

Then I decided I need to get out of the habit of covering the dresser in clothing and other odds and ends. So I started from scratch and added some art pieces I love and a few of Rob's as well. I gave us each a milk glass dish to empty his pockets and my jewelry/watches into. I really like how it looks. I CANNOT WAIT to get the room painted, the gold is bring me down. I also brought in a chair I grabbed for free at a closing furniture place and added a temporary laundry basket. We still haven't picked a theme for the room so this will all probably change, minus the knobs.

I'll try to share more of the house as we get it put together. Rob has worked the last 3 weekends, so I've been solo on all the house projects. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

The Necklace Factory + A Contest

A few weeks ago I had a deal on VeryJane.com. I had an explosion of necklace sales, and now I'm aiming to get them all out by next Friday! Having an office again has helped tremendously and I plan on asking Mr. &, i.e. Rob, to help as well (he is an excellent necklace assembler).

Thought I'd share a peak of the new office, even though it's far from finished. Rob has half the room as his study and I get the other half for my shop. Although he did get both windows out the deal, I did get the most wall space and a closet ;)

The cubby space on the wall was made by my uncle back in 2002. I first used it to display my beanie baby collection and then it evolved into my CD collection. It's one of the best things I've ever been given and I'm hoping it lasts till I'm 90.

The last little thing I wanted to mention was a CONTEST! I want you guys to help me pick a new color combination for my double flower necklace design. In one week, December 7th, I will chose my favorite new combination and the winner will receive the brand new necklace design. Please share the contest with your friends, the more the merrier, and who knows maybe a few people will win ;) To view the 10 colors already available look here. Good luck!

Summer Studio // Step One

My summer "studio" is located in one corner of my room. I'm going to post updates as it comes together! Today I brought up an old work table we've had and attempted to cover it with masking tape... before running out. I love the look of it though. I can work standing now which is AMAZING. I also get to display a lot of my storage instead of it always being boxed up. So here's week one, messy but has potential. 

SO happy with my new workspace. Very inspiring to have a permanent setup for the next 2.5 months. Cannot wait to see what new designs get dreamed up in this space. FYI, the chevron storage boxes are from Target, the bowls are from Anthropologie and the metal drawers were found at TJMaxx. 

3 Ways to Store Your Jewelry

**sources // x, x, x, x **

1) use dishes // Using vintage cups and dishes are a great way to keep your lovelies on display in the home. I really like the idea of using ice cube trays and porcelain fruit crates for my rings and bracelets. I'm gonna start keeping an eye out for pretty plates and cups now.

**sources // x, x, x, x **

2) store bought "trees" // there are so many cute jewelry trees in stores like anthropology, mod cloth and urban outfitters. I'm in love with the lace spiral display, sadly it is sold out. You could even get creative and make your own tree display from a vase and twigs. 

*sources // x, x, x, x **

3) frame it up // what a great way to add some art to your walls and be able to see all your jewelry. There are some great tutorials online on how to make your own and also some pre made frames on etsy. I'm planning on making one out of an ornate frame and spray painting it white. 

Have you found any creative ways to display your jewelry? I'm obsessed with finding the perfect solution.