Let's face it. . . .

Soap dispensers are not typically cute. But, Design Sponge has the solution. Go here for the easiest tutorial EVER and say goodbye to sticky peeling labels!

Starburst mirrors are EVERYwhere!

I found a great little tutorial for making one yourself on Crafty Nest, a newly discovered blog that I'm a little bit obsessed about right now! Never would have thought of doing this. So many creative people out there! If I try this, I'll make mine gold.

Spotted

I spotted this silhouette wall on Some Girls Wander by Mistake.

I'm really liking how it snakes onto the adjacent wall. And I love the old frames in different shapes and sizes. I'm storing the idea away for a future decorating project.

PILLOWS!

Okay, friends! Get ready for a treat!

I found this felt flower pillow tutorial on The Crafting Chicks. I've been thinking about getting new pillows for the living room, for a long time but WHY are pillows SO EXPENSIVE? Really? Can anybody tell me? This is a good solution to getting something cute on the cheap.

We had bright colors in our living room for awhile- oranges, yellows, greens- but I was ready for a change so I gave those ones away and brought some of our more neutral pillows out.

I was determined to make this project work with what I had on hand. I already had a boring creme pillow from IKEA. I wanted to use creme felt to match, but didn't have enough. I ended up using white batting and a couple squares of white felt. All of the whites don't match exactly but I don't think it's too noticeable (hopefully) and I really like how it turned out.

So here's how it looks for now. Until I decide to bring in more color. Which is inevitable. I'm kind of fickle when it comes to decorating my home.

I'm a little impatient and took this pic at night (sorry it's so dark)

Couldn't have been easier.

Or cheaper, which made Hubba happy and that makes me proud. : )

And here's where it gets good. I saw a very similar pillow at Z Gallerie about a month ago, when I was thinking about changing our pillows.

It's on SALE right now for $35. Regularly $50. And the petals are made of wool/rayon FELT!

Also at Z Gallerie, this adorable pillow for $100:

Hmmm, I wonder if I could come up with a tutorial for this one?

Young House Love

Remember when I posted about this couple? They just amaze me with all of their DIY projects that turn out looking like they come straight from a magazine. Sherry's pregnant with their first little one and I've been waiting for months to see their big nursery reveal. It was posted today and I was not disappointed. They took on every last detail, from painting to lighting to furniture to decorating. And they only used HALF of their budget. They're amazing! It's worth a peek to see all of their great ideas, finds, steals, and tutorials. So inspiring! Go here to see some before and afters, details, and links to the many projects they took on with major success.

Houzz

I'm a memeber of Houzz, an amazing site that let's you gain all kinds of decorating inspiration. It's wonderful! I love spending my free time browsing ideabooks on the site. It makes me so happy.

I found some good tips on decorating shared rooms (like, for your kids) and since I happen to have a friend that wants to put her children in one room and the toy room in the other, I thought these might be some helpful hints:

Layout- Think of the room in different zones. Each kid needs their own, private zone and you also need a shared zone.

if only we were all so lucky to have such a HUGE room for our kids. but you get the idea. this room is split into sections, so the kids don't have to feel too crowded. and, just as the picture says, they chose a good color- RED. it works for boys AND girls. and they left everything else a little more neutral.

Storage- With more than one kid in a room, storage is a necessity. This is something I've learned, since my boys share a room. Baskets, boxes, shelves! These are key. Fill the corners.

Even in my boys' closet, we didn't just hang clothes and put toys on the floor. We have a toy box in there with the big toys, a plastic dresser for clothes, pull-ups on top of the dresser, clothes hung, a shelf on the ground with designated areas, one up high with a basket for balls, and a place for other big things that we don't use as often. And it's really not a big closet, in my opinion. Maybe, just maybe, if I'm feeling up to it, I'll post a picture in a day or two. : )

in the meantime, here's one from Houzz. I like how they painted the wall, too. it makes it cohesive. it'd look amazing with some pretty wallpaper, too, like this.

traditional kids design by boston interior designer Stylish Spaces

Aesthetics- Here's the tricky part. How do you get everything to mesh into one room. It doesn't necessarily have to be matchy matchy. Keep it simple. You could start with neutrals and have a coordinating color for each kid's individual zone. Or you CAN make it matchy matchy but SIMPLE is key.

here's an example of a matchy room, from my ideabook. it works because it's simple. I love the colors. Something like this could transfer a girl from tween to teen effortlessly. and, notice the STORAGE.

traditional kids design by san francisco interior designer Amoroso Design

hope those tips help someone in need. if nothing else, you got to see some prettily decorated rooms, and that'll make anyone's day.

Last year. . . .

I used my old window for a place to display what we're thankful for. I just stapled lengths of ribbon to the back, then taped individual cards to the front. I laid a mirror behind the window, for a special effect. And I used our little tree stub as a candleholder.

For Christmas, I turned it into a Christmas card display:

This year, I think I'll find a new use for my window, and a different way to display our cards. I like to change it up, you know.

On a sidenote, the Old World Christmas Market was fun. We got baby G these wooden toys. He saw them and didn't want to leave the booth. He had to touch every single toy the man had. Hubba snuck away later and got these when he wasn't looking. Can't wait to see him open them on Christmas morning.

Home Decor with Cake Stands Galore

There are some gorgeous cake stands out there, but I've always wondered what you would do with them when you're not serving cake. Apartment Therapy has some brilliant suggestions...

This would probably keep my kitchen table from becoming the catch all.

I wonder if keeping fruit on a cake stand would trick me into eating it more often.

Now my wheels are turning! I'm going to see what other uses I can come up with!

Head of the bed

One of the dilemmas I've had to face while decorating our bedroom is what to do at the head of the bed. We don't have a headboard and they can be pretty pricey.

Make one? Hang a picture? A shelf? A collage? A mirror? I stilll haven't figured it out but I've had fun looking at pretty pictures for inspiration, in the meantime.

I really love these next few pics. A mirror for a headboard? Genius!

And a bonus picture because, let's be honest, who WOULDN'T want to sleep on this bed? So peaceful.

{all images courtesy of Apartment Therapy}

Children's art display

Remember our bedroom curtain rod?
At Ohdeedoh, there's a great idea for using the same rod to display your children's artwork.

I wish we had more wall space in our house to be able to display our boys' artwork in a more public way, but I still like our chicken wire method in their bedroom.

Bird Nursery

My little sister likes the idea of a bird-themed nursery. I think it's an adorable idea. Here are some cute ideas I found on Ohdeehoh.

birdhouse garland.

painted or vinyl tree and birds.

bird mobile.

birdcage, turned light.

You had me at Yellow

There's something about a pretty room that gets me. My heart starts beating fast and I get so excited I can hardly contain myself. Yeah. . . .I'm a dork. I just love pretty things. There's a great post on Aparment Therapy about being inspired by dressing rooms when decorating really small spaces.

I've always thought- small space/simplicity, but they say no no. Be bold. Pattern, color, texture, mirrors, wall hooks, good lighting, and one key piece of furniture are all important. What a statement! I absolutely LOVE the pictures in this post. Beautiful. I have now been inspired to GO BOLD!

Studio Violet

Studio Violet has the coolest blog, shop, studio. . . . .pretty much everything they touch turns to gold in my opinion. I love their porcelain, wall stickers, stamps, and prints. And, if you want to be entertained for hours (or just want to get your baby to sleep) go here.

HeLLO Beautiful!

I wouldn't mind escaping to this beautiful room and snuggling up on that soft couch for a nap. Or to read a good book by the natural light coming in the window. It's dreamy. Thank you, Apartment Therapy, for providing me with a lovely daydream setting. (I also love the image on the site, of the man sitting on his balcony.)

Pretty

Just a few rooms i'm crazy about.

I love the repeated shelves in this room with the matching white dishes,

the pops of green in this room, making it look bright and springy,

and the neutral colors in this room. Very peaceful.

{all pics found here}

ABC.. . .123

No, I'm not referring to a song by the Jackson 5. I'm referring to Just Something I Made. I love Cathe. She's so creative and she shares her ideas freely. She always has great tutorials and lots of fun free downloads. I'm so excited about the cute things she's posted recently. Go to her site to get this counting page from a children's encyclopedia along with one of the alphabet.

She also has a cute elephant frame and some wonderful vintage graphics, which I think might be my favorite. Perfect for a nursery. I haven't decided what to do with them but I might frame and hang them by my two year old's bed.

He's on the bottom bunk. And he's got a nice clean, empty wall (other than his ladybug nightlight) by his bed, ready for decorating.

gray walls -POPPY

I painted our bedroom walls gray but now I feel like there's no color in the room. Our bedding is blue but still, it's kind of a muted blue. I'm thinking yellow would look good. I think gray mixes well with yellows and pinks. If I ever figure it out, I'll post pictures. For now I'll keep browsing Apartment Therapy for ideas.