Archive for the ‘Decorating’ Category

• pillows & candles & tables, oh my!

  Date: 2010.09.02 | Category: Decorating | Response: 32

  

  The family room is s-l-o-w-l-y coming together.

  Can you believe I found that candle holder @ GW in LA before I moved? Can you double believe I was actually going to paint it??

  I’m totally diggin’ the green now!

  Last time I showed you my family room it looked like this:

  

  Ack, I can’t even look at it. It’s blinding me. Except my baby girl. She’s cute.

  So I’m strollin’ through el Tar-jay-o and I come across these adorable little pillows on clearance for $6.97 each.

  

  Score baby!

  Adorable, right? I was a puddle right there in the store. Good thing it was payday!

  

  So I scooped those puppies up and took them home.

  And then I broke about 20 laws and might go to jail for even admitting this ONLINE, but…

  I tore the tags off.

  

  Gasp. Shhh, don’t tell anyone.

  And, on a side note. Yikes! Look at that thumb nail. I seriously need to stop biting my nails (such a disgusting habit) and get myself a mani STAT.

  

  So back to the pillows…

  Don’t they look great?!

  I’m just loving how this room is coming together!

  I swapped the ottoman for a black round coffee table I had upstairs. I LOVE the way it looks with this couch!

  And for an exact side-by-side, or rather a top-to-bottom comparison…

  Here’s the living room a month ago and now. And please TRY to imagine that all the walls are painted lovely colors and I’ve got moulding everywhere.

  

  

  Now here’s where we play one of those games that’s always in the back of People magazine. Circle the differences you see….

  Fine. I’ll just tell you.

  So, let’s see… in addition to removing the huge dryer and most of the CRAP from the background, I changed out the candles on my candle holders on the wall behind the couch, I moved the cute little girl to the left of the couch , I swapped the ottoman for the round black coffee table and added some stuff to the table, and I added the pillows.

  

  I threw this little ensemble together from My personal Goodwill I’ve got set up in the dining room (which is rapidly becoming depleted. How come no one donates to my GW store?).

  I’m thinking the stark-white pot needs to be painted, but I like everything else.

  Except that ca-ute clock from Ikea? Ya, that damn thing tick-tocks and it’s so LOUD. I feel like the Capin’ on Peter Pan whenever he hears the tick-tock of the croc coming his way. So I am now boycotting winding it up every day. It’s just a cute little thing that doesn’t really tell time.

  

  For some reason I’m really diggin’ the red candle and green holder together. I didn’t plan for them to be together. It just happened. Like destiny. I needed a candle for the holder, and it was the only one I had in my stash. True love.

  And just to keep it real here…

  This is what my beautiful family room looked like LESS THAN ONE HOUR after I took the above photos…

  

  Oh, yes, my friends. My little minions err, I mean munchkins, can mess up a room in a New York minute.

  

  {sigh}

  I was tempted to get mad and irritated. Maybe I did a little at first. Okay, fine, who am I kidding? I was pretty ticked. (“Keep your toys upstairs in the game room!!”)

  But when I took the picture of the mess I realized that one day these little babies of mine won’t even play with these little kid toys anymore. And then one day after that they won’t even live in my home anymore.

  And that made me sad. And then I smiled at their toys and tried to enjoy them because one day my babies will be all grown up and I’ll be sad that there aren’t any build-a-bears or pillow pets or baby doll bottles or blanket forts laying around my family room.

  One day my room will stay clean.

  And I’ll miss them.

  

  But, seriously. Aren’t these pillows adorable?!

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• You asked, I listened {finally}

  Date: 2010.08.27 | Category: Decorating | Response: 14

  A few weeks ago I made a post called

  Give Your Windows Special Treatment

  Included in my roundup of great Model Home window treatments was this one…

  

  This is my favorite treatment ever. The fabric is just to die for.

  

  Beautiful, right?

  Well, I’m not the only person who loves this fabric! You do too!

  I’ve been FLOODED with emails and comments about this fabric.

  

  Unfortunately, I didn’t know ANYTHING about the fabric. It was just another fabric in a Model Home I was in.

  BUT, after over two weeks of CONSTANT emailing from you guys, I’ve FINALLY tracked it down.

  Thanks to Google and a LOT of determination on my part, without further adieu, here is the info about the much coveted fabric.

  

  Made By: Duralee Fabrics

  Thomas Paul Prints – book # 2642

  Pattern/Color: 20874-340
  Description: EARTH
  Contents: 95% COTTON 5% LINEN
  Width: 54″

  You can purchase it from Drapery Row for *only* $36.50/yard (yikes!).

  

  So there you have it! Pattern 20874-2642 can now be yours too!

  If you find it ANYWHERE for cheaper than $36.50 a yard, PLEASE let me know so I can share it with everyone else.

  

  If you actually purchase this fabric and make anything from it, send me some pictures of your project and I’ll showcase them here at House of Hepworths!

  I’m planning on purchasing it for my dining room window, but at $36.50 a yard, I think this project may have to wait.

  Enjoy your fabric!

  Kisses.

  (If this isn’t proof that I really do love you, I don’t know what would be!)

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  Thanks for visiting House of Hepworths!

  

  

• TDC gives me anxiety

  Date: 2010.08.23 | Category: Crafting, Decorating | Response: 14

  Anyone ever heard of a little blog called…

  

  Ya, I already knew you know her. Who doesn’t know her? She’s like, the hottest blog in town.

  Trust me, with almost 6,500 “google friends” (compared to my 600+), I’m pretty sure everyone knows Sarah.

  I’m not here to convince you how amazing her blog is. It speaks for itself.

  What I am gonna do is to show you why I get serious fits of anxiety whenever I stalk read her blog.

  There’s one word that throws me into a fit of heart-racing, cold-sweating panic like no other.

  MOULDING.

  Here is Sarah’s most recent family room picture:

  

  Beautiful, right?!

  I love the way she decorates. LURVE it. With a big fat capital LURVE.

  But what I love even more than her accessories and amazing sense of style…

  

  I love the moulding.

  There’s a reason she has almost 6,500 “google friends”. I mean, come on! Just look at her house!

  

  Now, yes, she does give me anxiety. Like as in, I-think-I-may-be-going-through-”the change” level of anxiety. But not all anxiety is bad. Mine is the good kind, though still as annoying as the bad kind.

  It’s good anxiety because when I see Sarah’s house, my heart jumps out of my chest and yells at me,

  “You can do this! You can totally hang moulding. THIS is something that you can copy-eeeeee!”

  

  I love Sarah’s blog because she has such amazing ideas that I know I can replicate. It’s all I can do to keep myself from jumping up right.now. and racing to Home Depot to purchase moulding and paint.

  Eventually I will have this moulding in my house.

  Unforch I have to prioritize my projects (dang time constraints and cash flow, or lack thereof!). Unforch I can’t hang moulding at the moment because I should probably finish unpacking and taking care of other things first.

  BUT, and a big fat BUT!, I WILL copy Sarah eventually and I WILL get molding hung up in my family room.

  Her fireplace also makes my heart pitter-pat.

  

  We have similar fireplaces in our family rooms, and trust me when I say I literally canNOT wait to get my hands on some moulding for above my fireplace.

  

  Seriously, why can’t all my other crap just be done already so I can get busy on the moulding?!!

  Moulding is one of the cheapest easiest ways to turn your home from boring to FAB. It’s so easy to install (just some nails and a level! Oh, and a saw.) and can transform a room in only a short amount of time and a few greenbacks.

  Here’s my living room at the moment (Well, this was like a week ago, so it’s a tiny bit more “finished” but not really).

  

  So boring. The gumball machine IS NOT staying there. FYI. I’m pretty sure I’m going to keep my Rodney White print above the fireplace for awhile though.

  Instead of me trying to describe what I want to do, here’s a picture instead.

  

  Basically I’m going to copy Thrifty Decor Chick as much as possible, and then for the rest of the room I’m going to decorate based on how I think Thrifty Decor Chick would actually decorate the room. (I have no problem admitting that most of my inspiration comes from other bloggers!)

  And in case I haven’t mentioned it enough yet, go check out Mrs. Thrifty Decor Chick herself by clicking on the link below.

  

  Moulding, bring.it.on.

  My goal in life is to be as awesome and successful at home decorating as Sarah.

  If I reach 6,500 Google Friends, I’ll know I’ve made it. Hell, I’ll be pretty flippin’ thrilled with 1,000. But 6,500 would just rock.

  (I’m actually thrilled that there are
  600 peeps out there who actually want to read what I have to say! I always wondered if my constant chattering would eventually pay off. For all the teachers who scolded me for talking non.stop. (all of them), ppfft.)

  PS If you haven’t added me as a friend yet on Google Friend Connect… pretty please?!

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• Breakfast is served

  Date: 2010.08.22 | Category: Decorating | Response: 38

  My kitchen is coming along quite nicely!

  Here’s the kitchen when we moved in:

  

  So much potential! Unfortch I haven’t painted yet (dagnabbit!) but in other good news, I have added some furniture, appliances, and accessories!

  We bought a fridge that I’m totally loving. It’s an LG french door freezer on bottom and I’m in lurve. But what I’m REALLY in love with is my new painting by Rodney White!

  I can’t believe that it actually doesn’t clash with the horrible paint color on the wall. I’m begining to think that Rodney White’s artwork can make anything look good. Hmmm, maybe I should print a painting of his on a t-shirt and wear it!

  

  We were also in desperate need of a kitchen table. I had one before we moved here, but the kids and my sister ruined it so I sold it on craigslist before we moved. Kinda funny story about how it got ruined actually… For starters, my adult sister (not to be confused with my 9 year old sister who I would have actually expected to ruin my table) ok, so my adult sister LINDSEY (yes, I’m throwing you under the bus LINDSEY!) opened a chess set on my once-brand-new table and then proceeded to drag said chess set across the table on the chess board’s hinges carving out grooves in the top of the table. THEN, my same sister LINDSEY placed a steaming hot pizza box on top of the table. And then, to just add the final nail in that poor table’s coffin, my dearest daughter decided to paint her nails on the table – but first she had to use acetone nail polish remover, then spilled it all over the table causing the finish to be eaten off down to the wood. After that, it was pretty much downhill for that table and I refused to move it telling my hubbs that I’d rather eat off a folding table than that old crappy thing.

  For the last 3 weeks I’ve been eating off a folding table.

  But on Friday Ben couldn’t take it any longer and insisted we go buy a real table. Now, when a furniture purchase is on the line, I’m not one to argue, so before he could retract his statement we were in the car and on our way to the store.

  We ended up purchasing a table from good ol’ Sam’s Club for like 700 bucks. Gotta love those Club stores, right?!

  (We have actually been saving and budgeting for a new table, so it wasn’t a totally random flippant purchase.)

  We got home late that night and immediately fed the kids dinner on our brand new table.

  

  

  And then afterward we actually put it together.

  

  I am just totally loving this new table! It’s actually almost identical to my old table that LINDSEY ruined, but that table was a counter-height table (which looked so fun and cool but I swear I will never own another one ever again!)

  

  I’ve banned LINDSEY from using my new table.

  But my kitchen was looking kinda empty still. It needed something below my awesome picture. I hemmed and hawed for awhile about what to get and finally decided that a buffet would be perfect so that I could fill the space as well as add storage for the kids art supplies, our board games (we have game night at least once per weekend), placemats, linens, etc.

  I’ve searched CL for about a week now for a buffet for this space and as luck would have it I found the perfect one on Saturday! It was the right size, solid wood, great lines, and an even better price.

  

  I’m going to eventually paint it (probably sooner rather than later), but I’m still trying to decide on a color. Should I blend it in with black? Or make it stand out with white? But will white stand out too much since nothing else in the kitchen is white? I’m thinking of going BOLD and maybe doing a green or yellow to match the painting?

  Choices, choices.

  

  I’m pleased as punch at how well it fits the space. Once I get some color on it and some new knobs and handles, it’s going to be smokin’ hot.

  

  So now for the next few weeks I get to look at it every day and obsess about what color to paint it. Do you have an opinion about it? I’d love to hear your feedback on a color.

  

  I am so thrilled that in one weekend I went from no furniture in my kitchen to now having a table and a buffet. Just try really hard to overlook all the crap on the counters, mmmkay?

  The buffet is perfect for holding all sorts of stuff I want to keep near the table.

  I’ve got markers and art stuff in one drawer…

  
  (In case you are wondering, the markers are stored in two sets of utensil holders that I bought while in LA from Goodwill. Oh, and don’t try to stalk me or anything – we don’t live in Coppell, Texas. We are in AUSTIN.)

  Coloring books and paper in another drawer…

  

  Board games in a 3rd drawer…

  

  We LOVE board games – especially German-style games. Our favorites are Settler’s of Catan (pictured), Ticket to Ride, The Great Dalmuti, Killer Bunnies, Guillitone, and Carcassonne to name a few.

  

  I’ve got table linens in a 4th drawer and two more empty drawers that will probably end up housing a few tools that I use frequently so that I don’t have to go to the garage 10 thousand times a day for a hammer.

  For now I think I’m set in the kitchen for awhile. If I win the lottery in the next few weeks I’ll do more, but as of now I’m just happy I actually have a table and buffet and an awesome picture!!!

  Here’s my bucket list of what I want to do in the breakfast area to feel like it’s “complete”.

  

  Does that hurt your eyes just looking at it? Ya, me too.

  * window treatments
  * molding around windows
  * add something to the wall in between the window and door
  * chair rail maybe?
  * centerpiece on the table
  * rug under the table
  * paint the dresser – color ideas??
  * decor on top of the buffet
  * new rug at the door

  Ya, that’ll take 5 years I’m sure. It’s good to have goals. It gives me something to look forward to.

  Some people might see this list and feel totally overwhelmed but not me! I live for this kind of stuff. I love it. I think the constant fixing up and decorating is so fun. If I ever had my house totally finished, I’d have to either redo it all again or move! The hunt for the best bargains or that perfect piece is half the fun!

  

  I love my house. Have I mentioned lately that I love my house? Yup, I love my house!

  Oh, and don’t forget to leave your input for color choice for the buffet.

  And on a side-note, the kids are starting school Monday. I can’t believe my babies are now in 3rd and 1st grade. Time sure does fly.

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• Bringing Jersey home with me

  Date: 2010.08.20 | Category: Decorating | Response: 20

  In 2008 my family had the amazing opportunity to move to New Jersey for a year.

  

  I LOVE New Jersey. I wouldn’t trade my time there for anything in the world.

  I was happy to move back “home” to Texas at the end of that year, but I will forever have a warm spot in my heart for Long Branch, NJ.

  

  We lived right on the beach. Like, literally, a football field away from the shore. Our apartment was on the 4th floor of a complex that had businesses on the bottom and apartments on the top. All of our windows faced the ocean and it was just a breathtaking view.

  

  In that year we traveled almost every weekend. As much as we could physically cram into each weekend. I have toured most of the East Coast and been to Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Deleware, DC, and Virginia. We lived about an hour and 10 minutes from The City (New York City) via NJ Transit. (I love love love NYC!).

  Although the water was often too cold to get into, we loved going to the beach. I don’t think I’ll ever like Texas beaches as much as I use to now that I’ve been to the east coast.

  

  New Jersey has a bad rap as being the “Armpit of America” (and in some places rightfully so!) but where we lived was beautiful and absolutely amazing.

  

  We spent lots of time at the shore over the summer. The Spring and Fall were much to chilly to go to the shore, so from June to August everyone and I mean EVERYONE – Benny’s included, would pack up and head to the beach!

  

  I am not generally an overly sentimental person. I don’t save ticket stubs or playbills. I don’t collect anything. But I knew my time in New Jersey was limited and I wanted to remember those moments forever.

  

  When I think of New Jersey, I think of the SHORE. (Not the BEACH! ) I knew exactly what I wanted to bring home with me that would make me smile with my memories every time I looked at it.

  I decided I’d bring the shore home with me.

  One day before we moved away the kids and I took a stroll down our beach and collected sand and shells. I put all my sand in a large zip-lock where it has sat for the past two years.

  
  (I’m sure it harbors bacteria, but whatevs…!)

  I also collected a decent amount of shells that I washed really well and then placed in a glass jar that I had.

  

  I’ve never loved the presentation of my NJ shells, but for a long time I didn’t know what else to do with them.

  

  I copied my dear friend Emily over at Decor Chick by making a few of her Dollar Store Hurricanes. Well, actually I did it the super lazy way and have never properly attached the bases to the vases.

  I filled each of the vases with sand and my shell collection.

  

  

  

  

  For now they are sitting on top of my piano – mainly because the piano is pretty much one of the only flat surfaces I currently have. (I seriously need to buy some buffets, dressers, book shelves, and an entire bedroom suite for myself.)

  

  When I put them on top of the piano I just set two of them on top of the glass candle sticks. Maybe eventually I’ll actually glue them together.

  Another awesome thing about this piano room is that it literally is THE WORST lit room in the entire house. I could not get a decent picture in here if my life depended on it.

  

  I like the way this display works so much better than the zip lock I had before, but I really love the hurricanes and am not sure I want to use them permanently for this display. Either I’m going to go purchase more vases and candle sticks, or I may end up changing my shell display again in the future.

  I’m just glad I’ve finally got them displayed though! Whenever I look at them, I smile and think of this:

  

  What a fun ride we had!

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• Give your windows special treatment

  Date: 2010.08.10 | Category: Decorating | Response: 42

  Blah.

  Yes, that is how I feel today have felt this whole summer.

  I feel like I struggle constantly with myself about whether I am good enough to blog about decorating and home stuff. I feel like I’ve lost my mojo. Like I’ve jumped the shark. Maybe I’m just in a funk from all my moving mayhem (who on earth moves across country with no home to move into, spends a week finding a home, then is homeless living at their parents house and out of a car for an additional month??! I obviously didn’t think out that plan very well!)

  I seriously LOVE decorating my house. LURVE it. I’ve got so many ideas bouncing around in my head that it’s literally making me feel like I’m going mad. But at the moment all I’ve been doing is unpacking, finding homes for everything, and disinfecting all the cabinets and mopping all the floors. I need to caulk a bunch of stuff in each bathroom and do basic handy stuff before I can even begin to think about doing all the fun decorating.

  Honestly, I love caulking and painting and tinking around. I just feel like I have nothing to blog about. Do you really want me to do an entire post on how to caulk a shower? Or show pictures of me wiping out my cabinets?

  So for today, in addition to having a total pathetic pity party here at House of Hepworths, I’m going to just show you curtains from a model home that I have fallen in love with and want to copy. This house is my #1 inspiration. I get inspiration from many places, and I have hundreds of inspiration pictures filed away on my desktop, but for now, here are the windows my windows want to be when my house finally grows up.

  

  Here’s the family room in the model home. In addition to loving the valance and curtains, I just love how they’ve decorated the room and this is my inspiration picture for my family room (which I’m sure I’ll be working on for years).

  

  I love how they hung a valance over the set of 3 windows instead of hanging a rod and curtains in between each window. It’s hard to tell but if you look closely you can see that there’s actually a curtain panel on either side hanging down behind the fake plants. I also love that the back wall is painted dark brown as a contrasting color. If you want your home to look “finished” like a model home, just remember to hang curtains, add LOTS of fake (or real) plants, and lots of accent pillows.

  

  I hadn’t thought to do window treatments in the breakfast area this way until I saw these. I love that the curtains are hung from a rod, but then there’s a fake venetian looking curtain against the window. So purdy. As a side note, I WANT that table!

  So of course after I saw the fake venetian curtains I just had to know exactly how they made and hung them. Check this out. So clever!

  

  Cardboard tubes. Yup, from what I can tell, they simply stuck cardboard tubes inside each of the fabric folds to keep them fluffy and not flat looking. This is when I usually go “Dur! Seriously? Why on earth did I not think of that?!?!?”

  
  (Edited to add: This fabric can be found HERE)

  The dining room curtains I think are my favorite. First off, I have a love affair with the color brown (I know, so boring, but I digress). Second off, the fabric is just so so adorable. I’m considering hunting down this exact print for my dining room. The curtain panels are easily hung from wooden round hangers on a wooden curtain rod. This look can so easily be replicated for super cheap.

  

  Here’s a closer look at how the curtain panels were hung.

  

  And check out this beautiful fabric! I just love love love this fabric.

  

  My new home doesn’t have rounded windows, but my old house did. I spent the 5 years I lived there trying to figure out how on earth to hang curtains from them. So as my public service for the day, here is a picture of how to hang curtains from rounded windows.

  

  All they did was hang curtain panels from wooden curtain rod rings and then from a wooden rod. So easy and they look beautiful.

  

  For the tie back, they just used a strip of fabric and wrapped a little jute around it. Cheap and easy way to add some texture.

  

  In my new bathroom I have a tub just like this one except I have two windows instead of one. (One is exactly where this one is, and the other is perpendicular to this one where the picture is.) I love that they just hung a valance above the window and I especially love the cute pleats. I’m thinking they need some blinds or something though or they might give their neighbor a show.

  

  Here’s a close-up of the pleats.

  

  The game room has some adorable venetian-style curtains.

  

  And of course, who would have thought?! cardboard tubes covered in white paper in each pleat to create the depth.

  

  I just have to incorporate these curtains into my daughters room somehow. Aren’t they just precious?! The colored ruffles are killing me. Lurve it!

  

  And of course I took a close-up so I could copy how the curtain was hung as well as how it was sewn together!

  Here’s another way to hang curtains if you have a wall of windows.

  

  Yet another cute valance. Are valances making a come-back or something?

  

  And one final valance.

  

  I’m starting to think a lot more about window treatments and how I’m going to use them in my home. I’ve never really been motivated to hang curtains, but after looking at hundreds of pictures of windows and walking through countless model homes, I’m realizing just how vital a good window treatment is to finishing off the look of a room.

  It’s not only having a window treatment, but also the fabric used for each treatment. I love all the bold prints and colors used for each window treatment. I’m going to take the opportunity to really go bold and add flair to each of my rooms with the fabric I choose for each window. I plan on sewing all of my own curtains and making all my own valances. I’m assuming they aren’t too hard, and there are plenty of tutorials online that give step by step instructions on how to make any type of window treatment.

  Good luck creating your very own window treatments!

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