My House: Some Successes, And A Major Failure

I've shown you this room before, but yesterday I was re-doing the trim on the curtains -- long story short, they didn't come out right the first time.

Anyway, I had the fabric laid out on the floor and my 7 year old daughter walked in, looked for a minute, and said "Mommy, you've sure been making a lot of curtains lately."  Long pause. Then she says "Maybe if you keep doing them you'll get good at them."

Out of the mouths of babes, right!?  She's a funny little thing all right!



On another note, I struck gold at Home Goods yesterday! Here are my finds:

 This candelabra - I love it.  It's one of my favorite things in the house now.  It's real Austrian crystal (not plastic!) and weighs about 15 pounds.  Gorgeous in person...nothing like a candelabra to glam up a room:

 This Moroccan pouf. I'm so glad Home Goods started carrying these, and am especially glad they they are good, real thick leather ones and not the junky copy cats. 

AND that they had one in the perfect color for me - it was fate:

(Oops - I just noticed that in the photo above the blankets on the white couch are folded the way the lady who helps me clean always does it - I don't usually have a black on the bottom and a blue on top :)

And these framed linen embroidery things for a hallway that needed an update:

And this cool silver table. I brought in a plant from outside. We'll see how it does over the winter.  This room is still under construction.

And I finally figured out this vignette. 

I showed you some of it before, but I just added the baskets under the table: 

And then the major FAIL: My friend and I decided this room needed some pink.  So she is going to help me make slipcovers for these chairs with a white base and then, get this, DETACHABLE stripes!! I wanted gray ones for every day, but then some pink for summer or if I just change my mind.  So I bought this pink fabric, thinking it would look awesome. It clearly doesn't. Not sure if it is too light, or if I just can't pull the trigger on pink in the living room.  I don't know. I need to think about it for a while. What do you guys think?  

You know I always love your input!

And finally, my favorite sales that are ending today:

Only $215!!! Click to view

Affordable Furniture:

AND AMY BUTLER!

Click to view

Click to view

Click to view

 

             

 Thank you for reading!

From a New Partner: Using Stacked Stone To Make Your Office Sleek And Professional

I'd like to welcome Norstone as my newest partner. 

I am truly thrilled to have them. The products are SO gorgeous! Take a look:

Stacked stone has a natural yet very appealing look and feel. It will transform an ordinary office into one that is sleek and professional, a place where you can unashamedly invite clients for a chat or business meeting. There are many colors, sizes, and types of stacked stone available. In most instances, a person would have to hire a professional to create a stacked stone wall, mantel, or fireplace. However, Norstone specializes in offering stacked stone tiles that can be easily installed without professional help. Following are some planning, installation, and design tips for those who want to use stone veneer to enhance the beauty of their office.

 Choosing the Right Color and Style

A stacked stone wall can be made using white, light gray, dark gray, or brown stones. In some cases, stones of all the above-mentioned colors are used to make a multi-colored wall. The fact is that no one color is better than another, but some colors are most suitable for certain types of offices than others. A person who is redesigning his or her office should first of all consider which color would be the best option. Brown tiles are homey and give the room a cozy yet professional feel. Grey and white do not have the same flair, but both colors are good options for a person who does not want the stone wall to be the central focus of the room.

Most of Norstone's stacked stones have a rustic feel and appearance. However, the company's Basalt IL Stone Tile collection features ash gray and ebony tiles that are sleek in style and smooth to the touch. These tiles have a very modern feel and appearance and are ideal for an office that is meant to have a modern style of decor. Ebony is a good option for a large office that gets plenty of natural sunlight. Ash gray is lighter in color than ebony and it should be used for an office that is small and/or does not get much natural light.

Installation Tips and Instructions

Norstone makes stacked stone tiles that can be safely stacked on each other using only tile adhesive instead of grout. This makes the tiles very easy to install, even for a person who does not have a lot of carpentry and/or masonry experience. However, there are some tools that an individual will need for the installation job. These include a trowel, level, sponge, and tile saw.

Preparing the Wall

Before installing the tiles, it is important to prepare the wall that the tiles will be placed on. The wall should be made of brick, cement, or concrete. Drywall and sheet rock are never suitable options, as these materials will not be strong enough to hold the stone tiles. If your wall is made from either of these materials, then you will want to have a cement board installed on the wall before proceeding with tile installation.

Before installing the tiles on the wall, a person should have the wall sandblasted and be sure that all paint residue is removed from the wall. This ensures that the stone tiles will stick properly onto the wall. The stone tiles should then be cut to the right size if needed and fixed to the wall, using tile adhesive. How long the adhesive takes to dry will depend on the size and thickness of tiles used. A person who installs these tiles on his or her own should be sure to read and follow the accompanying instructions explicitly.

Many homeowners have found that installing stone tiles on the wall enhances the room's decor. Natural thin stone veneer is also a great option for an office and helps to change an ordinary office into an office that is sleek, professional, and a pleasure to work in. Norstone produces stone tiles in various colors, sizes, and styles. These can easily be installed on any office wall without professional help. All a person has to do is consider the various tile options, choose the ones that will look best in the office, and then install the tiles according to the instructions provided above. Never before has it been so easy to enhance the office decor and structure without needing to pay a lot of money to hire a professional builder.

Author Bio

Andrew Deen writes to promote home and office projects that utilize high end products and materials similar to those of Norstone. These products include stacked stone, natural thin stone veneer, and modern wall tiles.

Aren't these products and images AMAZING? I just love this look, and am so happy to 

welcome Norstone as my newest partner!

Stacy

Bombay Company!!!

Just a quick update to tell you Bombay Company furniture is back at J&M today and going fast. 

You can see the sale HERE

I'm also REALLY loving this sale today:

Click HERE to view it

But this is my favorite thing of all today. I wish I could buy two!!

Click to view chair

See you tomorrow with some updates from my house!

Black Lacquer: So Very Mary McDonald

 Can you think of black lacquer, or any lacquer for that matter, without immediately thinking of design goddess Mary McDonald?  I can't.  But this post is actually made up of images from other designers, only because I've showed you so much Mary McDonald and I wanted to show you other people's work.

Images

Do you love this look as much as I do?

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