Meg Ryan's home in Martha's Vineyard

Any Meg Ryan fans in the house?!

How can you not like her?

I can watch You've Got Mail anytime!

Sleepless in Seattle too.

But this is not about great acting or

movies she did with Tom Hanks

or movies at all. It's about

great style and

great decorating!

I found these photos online today,

apparently published via Elle Decor

although they just randomly showed up

on Yahoo. So, I clicked and found

these gorgeous pics of an all white home.

Layers of white seems to be quite the trend in

decorating lately. I find it interesting but usually a

little on the froo-froo/shabby chic side.

I don't really care for that. Too romantic/girly for me.

This however is tailored. The house has big windows,

chunky beams and a rich dark floor to ground all the white.

Not to mention a couple of industrial touches like

the tables in the sitting area and the big metal

flowers sign in the dining room.

There is nothing about this space I don't like!

Enjoy.

Decorating on the Fly 2 (close ups)

Today,

I thought I'd share a few close ups of the

art I put in Macknezie's room.

These are the things that not only

make the room complete,

but make it personal.

There are a couple of really

special pieces in here.

Pieces that were made with love

and are just now telling us why

they captured our hearts

while being created.

Maybe I should back up just a little.

I put some of my art in this room.

There is also art from a very

strong-in-faith artist, Jen Swift.

She is not only an artist but my friend.

Knowing the kind of faith she has

and incorporating her work in Mackenzie's

room, especially at a time such a this,

well, it's very special. And encouraging.

Mackenzie actually told me her favorite piece

was Jen's Audacious Angel. Very fitting.

And didn't surprise me.

 I knew when I put that

angel on the shelf, she was home.

The text on the angel reads:

Dream of Audaciously Impossible Things!

Mackenzie and all of us as a family

fully believe in her complete healing.

There is no cure, at this time, for type 1 diabetes.

There is good management, but no cure.

But with God there is always a cure.

No matter what the sickness,

mind, body or spirit,

there is a cure.

Mackenzie's newly decorated room is

all about faith, hope and believing

in her audaciously impossible dreams!

I am just the kind of mom to believe with her.

And Billy is that kind of dad.

I know it sounds bold, and you may think us to be

delusional, but we look forward to telling you

all one day soon that she is not taking insulin

by injection but that her body is healed

and making insulin just as it intended to do.

Our family is honored to be an example of

God's word even when it means we have to

go through the darkness to get to the light.

As Winston Churchill said:

When you're going through hell, keep going!

We've never stopped before and have

no intention

of stopping now!

Here are the close-ups of the rooom...

This is above her bed. You can see Jen's

Audaucious Angel on the right.

In the center is a piece I made with my

Pieced Together People poem. 

Also above the bed is a canvas I made

with some of Jen's fab wire art.

It's been hanging in my studio for months. 

My #1 Theory in life -

Have Passion

The text by the flower reads:

Destination certain

map hidden

revealed with

each new morning

and drawn with each

new dream

Next is her dressing area.

I used Jen's Wall Flowers above the

3 little vases and her wire word art

above the 3 hooks I put in the wall

for Mackenzie's necklaces.

The frames were found a while back

in Michaels' dollar spot. I just took off

the backs and hung them with Command Strips.

This is the nightstand and photo frames on the wall above it.

Don't laugh - we haven't added the photos yet.

Gotta get some printed ;)

And this is the desk area:

The green canvas was found at Target

earlier this week. They have quite a few of them

but I liked this one. Just the right colors and text.

And the poster above the desk.

I hope you like the tour of her room.

It's the most complete room in the house.

Next up - Cole's room.

Don't hold me to a deadline

but I'm hoping to complete his

in the next couple of weeks.

Decorating on the Fly

So, Tuesady afternoon I'm roaming through store after store without a clue as to what I should get Mackenzie for her birthday which was Wednesday. After an hour or so of store hopping and wandering I finally got the idea to freshen up her room. And by freshen I mean decorate for the first time since being in this house (almost 2 yrs here). We had painted the walls aqua with 1 dark chocolate accent wall about a year ago. We had bedding to match but the whole color scheme was really drab. For a while I had been wondering how I could add lots of color since Mackenzie is a fan of bright bold color. I don't know who she gets that from ;)

I happened to be in Target when the whole decorating idea struck so I wet to the bedding first and found the perfect comforter and shams right away! Ok, I knew it was the perfect colors for Mackenzie but I wasn't sure I could make it work with the aqua and brown paint. There was no time to repaint and the paint was only a yr old - not a job I wanted to redo. After finding the bedding I found a quilt the same color as her walls so I picked it up to toss over the end of the bed to bring the softer color in with the brights.

Other than paint the walls had absolutely nothing on them! Obviously that had to change. So I picked up a poster, a small cork board, small printed canvas art piece and some shelves. The rest of what you see in the photos are all things we already had. Oh, I did pick up a small white side table for her bed at TJ Maxx. A couple of photo frames came from there as well.

I'm still working on a few ideas for making a headboard for her. We turned her bed around so it works as a day bed to open up some floor space. The room is 10x11.
Here are a few after photos - I never even thought to take before photos. Just think blank walls, chocolate bedding and white and aqua tab tops - I must use the word drab again.

So here is my quick thinking, on the fly decorating project.

She may have sat on the bed before I took the pic.

I didn't realize it was all frumpied up till just now.

At least it's made ;)

This wall used to have her desk on it.

We put the armoire there instead and it

totally changed the feel of the room.

To the left is a full length mirror,

hamper and hooks on the wall for

her necklaces, and on the small

square shelf she keeps her cell, chapstick etc.

A small area to get dressed in.

I love the unexpected placement of the

Find Your Wings and Fly decal.

This is the desk area.

The wall the armoire was on before.

So much less crowded now!

And you can see my Mackenzie :)

The bed corner. Love the orange lamp.

A great find at TJ Maxx!

 

Those 3 little vases gave me some problems.

I wanted to use them but by themselves

they just didn't work.

Well, of course I had my stash of

Jen Swift's wire out and my mom found these

3 little wall flowers and promptly

placed them above the vases.

Now we have blooms!

Happy 14th to my girl!!

Basket Weave

Last week I made a trip up to Cleveland to do some shopping for my expo projects. I needed to pick out some furniture, lighting etc. It was much fun shopping on someone else's dime! ;) Anyway, during my excursion I found this fantastic drum shade so I snapped a pic. I keep pulling it up each just to see it again. It's a hanging light if you can't tell from the pic.

Then a couple of days later on one of my online hunts for cool things - I found this at Horchow. Yeah. I'm loving these!! I can't decide if I like the one large one better or the 3 small ones in a group. I'm leaning towards the one large one. But I love them all!

Another trend I'm seeing...

Lucite furniture. Usually in clear but I've also seen it in black and red. You can find it fairly easily but I found some particularly nice (and affordable) pieces HERE and HERE. What catches my eye with this trend is the fact that decals would look phenominal on them!!! The decals look the same from one side to the other so I would put it on the under side of the piece where it won't get much wear and tear and it would look as if it's floating in the lucite. I really want to try this!!

photo courtesy of Veranda

Decorating in White

I've noticed a trend lately of decorating in shades of white. I've seen it very elegant, beachy, farmhouse-like (for lack of a better term). I'm not sure I could live in a white house but I do think it's a beautiful way to decorate. It makes me reconsider white as a color. Notice the abundance of texture in each photo. I love how a monochromatic color scheme, whether it be white or another color, is highlighted and made interesting with lots of texture.

I like this idea when it comes to

decorating and art. Texture.

Here's a little white inspiration for you.

Beautiful Space

I enjoy so many things about this pic. The graphic black and white prints, the lines of the sofa, the juxtaposition of the metal mesh chair and the wooden table, the birch trunks propped against the wall...replace the real animal hide on the floor and my heart would be content.

Chair Makeovers

A while back I posted a couple of photos of my garage sale chairs. I was reupohlstering and painting. I picked up 2 chairs and have only made progress on one. I've been looking for some inspiration for the other and came across some fun ideas. I love the easy kind of upohlstering that does not requre sewing - I'm more of a staple and hot glue gun kind of girl. But I could resist adding the last chair to this post. I LOVE it! You couldn't pay me enough to ever sew piping again but it's a fabulous touch on this chair and it wouldn't be complete with out it. The fabric is really fun too. A great modern twist on a traditional chair.

More Inspiration!

I'm always a fan of black and white decorating.

It's clean, it's classic, it's bold.

I love it!

{Christmas Inspiration}

Custom Design

A while back I worked with a designer on a custom branch with birds. Today I received the results of that project, and let me tell you, they are phenomenal!

For more inspiration visit their website - Two Plus Three Design. It's worth your time!

Coffee House Comfort

I started this Coffee House Comfort makeover on my kitchen months ago. First we stained the oak cabinets mahogany, next we painted the walls and finally I am getting to the accessories. It's been quite a slow process. Before I was working a project like this would get done in a couple of weeks. Now, it's taking months. Partially because I am changing my style and trying new things. So I have to think it through a little more. But it seems that trying new things is going well - I'm really happy with my weekend project!

Remember the big blank wall in the kitchen that had a lone clock on it?

Well, here it is now! A big collection of a bunch of things I love. On the left I added some decals!! The door swings back to open on that side of the wall so I couldn't put anything there that wasn't flat and the whole wall was thrown off balance if I didn't have anything there at all. Decals, the perfect solution!

The text was chosen by my daughter, Mackenzie - The Road Less Traveled by Robert Frost. (She's my girl!)

I used our Delicate Moss vinyl and I love it on the sienna wall. White was too bright. Beige was a tad dull. Chocolate was well, more dark brown, not something my house needs. The Delicate Moss was surprisingly fresh and I love it!

The large piece of art is a Ribba frame from Ikea - it comes with the large white matte, it was something like $10-$15. Ikea has options for art but I didn't like any of them so I came home and went through my printed papers and for less than $1 added a favorite piece to the frame. I love it and it's also where I pulled the green color for the vinyl.

On the shelf I have a small collection of H's for our last name, and one of my faves, a vintage porcelain glove mold. I really like the way everything works together and gives me an eclectic coffee house feel without a coffee house theme. There is nothing coffee related at all. No coffee cups, or words like espresso, cappuccino etc - I don't really go for theme decorating. I just wanted the eclectic, warm feel with bold colors (and a coffee scented candle for good measure). I think I achieved it! :)

Burlap Beauty

Now before you look down your nose at burlap as a decorating element take a look at these beautiful ideas! You can use old potato and feed sacks with the cool writing already on them, you can stencil your own, use it for pillows, and shoes and bags and gifts.

The trend was first introduced to me by Stephanie Troyer. She's the interior decorator on our Fab 5 Design Team. So talented and spots the new trends so early she may as well have started them herself! Once she showed me a photo, many weeks ago, and mentioned the burlap, I've been seeing it everywhere.

Check out these unexpectedly elegant burlap items. Most can be found on Etsy.

A few fab burlap sources:

burlapworks.etsy.com

hydraheart.etsy.com

ely111.etsy.com

masiondestencil.etsy.com

petitcoterie.etsy.com

tickingandtoile.etsy.com

frenchieandflea.etsy.com

burlap bedding @ Anthropologie.com

See the little JOY candlestick style elements on the bottom right? I love these! The letters are stenciled on burlap which are tacked on with little brads. You can find the tutorial HERE to make your own. I hope I can find time to make these for the Christmas season.