Uh, yea that’ll work. Except, yanno, BIGGER.

I looked around and priced large canvases – but in the size I wanted, at least 5′x5′, we were looking at spending at least $300. Yea, no. So I dug around a little more – lightbulb, ding ding! You can stretch your own canvases with stretchers and linen canvas, but even then you were looking at spending at least $120 on a roll of canvas. I don’t want a pretty painting on it, I just want a modern blank canvas for the wall!

That’s when I thought back to painting the dining room a couple weekends ago – the canvas I used to cover the floor is only about $10-$20 at Home Depot and are at least 5′ wide! Add in the stretchers for $7 a pop and we’re talking under $40! Ding ding we have a winner! I already own a staple gun and staples, it’s just time to decide if we should do it now or later. I’m torn.. I really want to try it out now, but we don’t have a place to put it. It would just be good to know if it will turn out right. What do you think?

Perfect. It’s modern, it’s eclectic, it’s soothing, it’s bright.

And the silly portrait doesn’t hurt. ;)

via d*s

The flow is so much better, but now we have a big empty wall where the tv stand used to be. My idea’s are ever-changing, but I have a rough concept of what I’m going for. I’d love to have a wall of curated but random photos and things hanging on the wall, but would also love some additional storage. I was really inspired by this relatively cheap hack of sorts that Anna at D16 came up with.

Anna from D16′s apartment wall.

Anna used Ikea kitchen cabinets to pull this look off! I love it! The fact that it is floating makes the visual space much airier than if it was just a credenza on the floor. This has been in idea in my head for awhile, and seeing her use it shows me exactly how it should look!

While the plan is definitely to move in June, might as well make the space work for us while we’re here right?

So, how you been? :)

upholstered slipper chair – diamond jacquard
Whether as an accent piece in your living room, or a focal point in your bedroom, this is gorgeous with it’s low-slung dimensions and bold print.

ikat ogee linen window panel – ivory/straw
A fun way to add a bold pattern without it being to overwhelming. The fact that these are light and neutral means they’ll let light in and keep your space open.

pebble circle rug
Living room, bedroom, dressing room — this cushy rug would work in any room where your toes need some extra padding.

sphere table lamp - cloudy opal
These would look great flanking a bed, on a side table, or even as a desk lamp with the right wattage. Love the milky base.

leaf shaped entertaining dish
For treats or change, these little dishes are so cute and wonderfully priced to boot!

fringe suede pillow cover - evergreen
This fun pillow would look great on the couch or on your bed.

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So, what are your favorite items from the new West Elm Fall collection? Too many to choose from, or too neutral for your tastes?

While I’m busy getting the new place set up, I wanted to share some recently found inspiration with you. We are working on our bedroom right now, and it’s very cozy, neutral and nice. But we were looking for something with some contrast, a black sculpture or something — so I headed to Jonathan Adler’s site, knowing he had some amazing black sculptures! Little did I know, they had an area called “Show us your JA style“.

Upon further inspection, I happened upon these lovely spaces. Shall we take a look?

What do I love about this space? The openness of it! This entry has made this place perfect (well, except for the mail sitting on the Nelson bench in the foreground..)! Those bookcases in the background are amazing, and they have been carefully edited for perfect balance. Love it!

WALL COLOR. WOW. I mean honestly! If I could get away with painting a room or a wall in this house that color, I would! I am in love with those inky wall colors right now. But I really don’t think I would get away with it here! (Mostly because we don’t get a lot of light in the house..)

Pattern, pattern, pattern. All the different patterns make this work! Not to mention that LCW chair in the foreground. ;)

Perfection. Balance, color, depth, contrast. It’s just perfect. And hello, Nelson bench! I’m still trying to convince the boyfriend we need one. ;)

So go check it out for yourself! If you’ve got a piece of Jonathan Adler in your home, why don’t you enter!

We have a huge space on our dining room wall that will need something. I’ve had a couple ideas, but this may be the simplest with the biggest result! Now to convince the boyfriend that this would be awesome for our wall! Our curtains are green, black, white and tan — would be an interesting combination to work with — maybe we’d even take it in a completely different direction in a complementary color.. Things to think about!
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Side note: Our new house is still a huge mess. Our rooms are getting switched around, furniture is still being moved around and we still have a few boxes left! We’ll get started on more blog-worthy projects soon!

After talking to the boyfriend about my “perfect bedroom,” I couldn’t convince him that the DwellStudio Draper Sheet set was right for us. He apparently wanted something warmer, and I think I’ve found it in this photo. This is the bedroom of Jeff Andrews, whom I found via Elle Decor. That should have stopped me right there. I should have said, “Laura, this room is featured on Elle Decor. Elle Decor is a “fru-fru” magazine and has expensive taste, much like Gwyneth Paltrow. You should really just close the tab and move along.”

But nooo, I had to keep looking, keep oogling. And what’s worse, I showed it to the boyfriend, and he LOVES the bedroom. Great. Now the pressure is on. Let’s break the room down, shall we?

1. Orange pillow. This makes the bed pop a bit, giving the room some bold color where it otherwise lacks. But it’s a basic orange pillow, no concern.
2. Wall color. Well, that’s easy. We just went to Lowe’s and picked out the color we are planning to use.
3. Curtains. Have some already that look just like those.
4. Tan, textured coverlet. Easy enough. Every place from Target to Pottery Barn carries something close enough to that.
5. Patterned rug. Not really a big fan of that part, actually. Let’s skip it.
6. Striped throw blanket on the bed. Yea, that gorgeous, multi-colored wool beauty just casually resting there with that book. Had I known what to expect with HER, boy I would have turned and run.

After looking and basically giving up on finding anything remotely similar in color to that blanket (which boasts wonderful oranges, blues, yellows and tans), I finally came across it. Feast your eyes:

I’m almost 100% sure that this is the blanket. Please, correct me if I’m wrong. Because the price of that puppy in the window?

$825.

Yep, you heard me right.

Eight-hundred and twenty-five smackaroos. Please, pick your jaw up off the floor, it’s unbecoming. Not to say I can’t blame you. A blanket like that would match any room, really. It has all the major color components in it. But the problem is… is it really worth that much money? Missoni, are you effing crazy?!

So the search is on the find something just like it. I don’t know if it’ll happen, but I’m keeping my eyes open, and may even start a Google Reader feed-search for terms that would match it. I’m that desperate for the darned thing.

Do you think it looks like the one in the photo? If not, and you’ve seen something that might match, PLEASE let me know!

Found via Design*Sponge

Atleast to me, it’s perfection. I didn’t know it was possible to find my perfect bedroom. It has a wall color I love, furniture I secretly (not anymore) hope will fit in our bedroom with a king size bed (not happenin’), and um, those sheets!! I have been craving those sheets for months. MONTHS, PEOPLE. I just can’t seem to convince the boyfriend that we HAVE to have them. HAVE TO. Dear boyfriend, if you are reading this, see? The yellow isn’t bad, I promise! (Back me up, dear commenters.)

This bedroom belongs to Angela Hardison, who is a graphic designer and co-owner of seesaw designs and is featured today on Design*Sponge. While I enjoy some other elements of her home, the bedroom is by far my favorite. If you would like to read the rest of the article, and see the rest of her home, you can do so by visiting Design*Sponge.

If you are curious about those FANTASTIC sheets (that just so happen to match the outside of our new townhouse) they are a product of DwellStudio and can be purchased here. Just, brace yourselves for the price. ;)

Do you like the space? The wall color too cold for you? Stripes not your style? Are mis-matched lamps your thing? I’d love to know what you think!

Lisa Hilland Pompom Lamp

This lamp from Lisa Hilland is gorgeous. I could see one hanging over a dining table or in a reading room, maybe even in your entry way. Found via Design Milk, Lisa has this to say about her work:

“I have chosen birch as my main material because of its lustrous and silky surface. The last tree to be seen in our mountains before the vegetation disappears altogether in the high altitudes, birch can stand strong winds and the cold Nordic winters. It is traditionally used in Scandinavian stick back chairs. Cherry, oak, and pear veneer are used in combination to create contrasting and playful patterns. In addition to its visual beauty, I have chosen reindeer leather for decorative details because of its tactile qualities and softness. It is a material traditionally used by the nomadic Sami people, sourced from the Scandinavian Arctic.”

Lovely, eh? You might be able to replicate it with some fabric circles on a paper lantern, if you wanted to go the DIY route, but the original is gorgeous!

The shape is just fantastic. The color, to die for. I am a bit hesitant about having a bird feeder on the patio, because feeder = birds = poop. Haha. It would provide Kira with a lot of entertainment during the day while we are away at work, I imagine. She could watch it from the dining room where the patio door is, or from our bedroom which has a window overlooking the back “yard”.

I really want to go for something modern and clean and fun in the backyard, not your “Home-Depot” weekly-special patio set. Have you found any awesome modern patio furniture lately? I know that Apartment Therapy, Design Milk and SwissMiss seem to be teeming with new ideas in preparation for the warm months ahead!