Switch It Up
Has your living room been decorated the same way for over a year? {2 years? 5?!?!}
Switch something up… just one thing, and don’t spend any money on it. Swap about your wall-hangings, put a new pillow on the couch, re-organize your coffee table books, or switch out your lamps.
{Before}
{After}
Nothing was wrong with the “before,” but with the help from a sister hand-me-down mercury-glass lamp, things look just a little different than they normally do, and I love it.
PillowsByMom.com
Thanks for all the support on our little “pillow week” featuring pillows handmade by my mom. Oh, if you could see these things in person. My ruffled pillow gets more “oohs and aahs” than anything else in my house.
Your feedback was both exciting and motivating in the birth of my mom’s new etsy shop: www.pillowsbymom.com. Thank you so much! {Don’t worry, there will be a proper GIVEAWAY thank you next week!}
And now, just a little more eye candy to kick start your weekend {polished polyester button-up pillow sham, fits 20″ x 20″}…
Pillow Talk #4
I may have over saturated these photos a bit – I’ll get new ones up when I can… the third picture is the true color – dark pink on one side, light pink on the other.
{zippered sham, light pink and dark pink, the pattern on the fabric is a little raised and is a high quality heavy polyester blend, two 18″ square, one 14″ square, pillow form not included.}
The etsy shop is in the works… until then, you can purchase here:
Couldn’t Help It…
…had to make ‘em.
{extra brown sugar and cinnamon, undercooked to gooey perfection. Thanks to Shan H. for the help!}
Pillow Talk #3
Polyester blend fabric, 16″ square Amy Butler pillow pattern with a self-covered button, 12″x16″ rectangle pillow with tassles, both made my mom – the best seamstress in the west. Is everyone else loving Pillow Week as much as I am?
You can purchase these here!
Pillow Talk #2
I told you she was on a roll {my mom’s custom pillows}…
We all love her fabric – Amy Butler’s Lotus Wall Flower fabric in taupe {also an Amy Butler pattern for the 16″ square}. I have this very bolster pillow on my couch and I LOVE it. These are the only two of their kind – the 16″ square pillow sham is attached to the form, and the bolster pillow sham can be removed.
You can purchase these HERE!
Pillow Talk #1
My mom can’t. stop. making. pillows.
After having just finished her Independent Study Bachelor’s Degree, my mom has been filling her spare time with sewing projects. And more sewing projects. Because I live so close to my mom, I have become the beneficiary to many said projects so far, and I LOVE it.
Her most recent fascination has been pillows, and I’m going to showcase one per day this week – available for purchase! WAIT ’til you see these!
So, without further ado, THE FIRST PILLOW!
This pillow has to be my favorite! It is so well made, and the fabric is high-quality and super smooth.
{red polka dot on light cream, 100% cotton, 14″x14″, zipper closure}
ohbrooke on The Lovely List
The Lovely List is a blog that was born when adorable Brandy thought, “…there needs to be a place that gathers goodness from other blogs to be read under one roof… The Lovely List. {There} you will find daily bits and posts from others’ lovely lives and blogs.” She hand-selects the blogs worthy of being on her “List” and I am tickled to be featured today.
If you do take a peek, please leave her a comment so that she knows you’re reading. xx
Oh, and because I’ve been featured, I’m automatically entered to win a beach cruiser bike! So send me your good Ju-Ju… and YOU CAN ENTER TOO! Details here.
GeorgieGirlNYC Blog Makeover
I just finished a Tumblr blog theme for the adorable, and almost-too-thin-to-be-my-friend, Georgina. She lives in New York and is using her blog to showcase fashion trends from the Big Apple! Georgina and I had a connection from the start, and have had fun getting to know each other long-distance.
Check out her {pimped-out} blog at www.georgiegirlNYC.com.
Sidenote: This is the first time I’ve worked with Tumblr. It has far less capabilities than WordPress, but is comparable to Blogspot for ease of use for the blogger and the non-web designer. It also allows you to easily connect with other bloggers, as a stream recent blog posts is always updated through the admin. Do you have tips about Tumblr that I don’t know about?
Amy Butler Rugs Update
Just found a few of the rugs online, and it looks like the rugs might be affordable {In a “Pottery Barn is affordable” kind of way}. I’m seeing the 5″x8″ at around $600-ish…
See the website I found here…
It doesn’t look to have many styles, but I’ll keep you posted when I see more.
Filling a Large Wall: Part 2
Just got back from the beach, but had to get together another list of wall art. I’m *this close* to getting my guest bedroom painted and decorated! Can’t wait.
Here are a few more fun ways to fill your walls:
Wall cabinets {caligricabinets}
Mural {from Apartment Therapy}
Folded Book Art {from whimsylove}
Monochromatic accent wall – this is actually wallpaper, but this would look great in paint {from livingetc}.
The newest trend in picture walls – touching frames {from pam sattler}.
A modern stripe {from paintquality}.
Wall panels {from urban sardines}.
Well, I think that wraps up my “Filling a Large Wall” series unless you are absolutely dying for more. Lucky for me, my guest bedroom is the size of a walk-in closet, so I shouldn’t have this problem! :)
OMG – Amy Butler Rugs
Don’t tell my husband, but I would pay ANYTHING for one of these rugs. I found this post from Poppytalk and am Christmas morning excited!
Please, please, PLEASE Jason? {images from Amy Butler}
Filling a Large Wall : Part 1
Some of you {notice I say “you” and not “us”} have big expansive houses with over-abundant and towering wall space.
Let me first extend my apologies, because I just don’t know how you are able to deal with such a laboring plight. It must be awful to feel so tiny in your cavernous home, your furniture dwarfed by the enormous room size. It must be exhausting to fill linear foot after linear foot of gargantuan wall in your 3,000 square foot home.
But I digress {kidding, Tara}.
Here are some ways to make your big fat castle of a home feel more like a bungalow:
Cover plywood with scraps of fabric in all different sizes. Remember to vary the scale of the fabric. For pattern-phobic, you can do all one fabric above a bed, or throw some solids in there, too {from roomdecoratingideas.net}.
Make a banner! Okay – not for everyone. These could be family pictures, fabric, patterned paper, or you could just buy this one on etsy here {from the stamford wife}.
Hit up the thrift store or TJ Maxx and find some cool plates {from ehow.com}.
Do something cool. How cool are these {from here}?
Okay scenario: buy this wall graphic. Best case scenario: grab a projector and paint this on the wall. Oooo… I’m getting ideas {from here}.
Fill it with geometric Wallter tiles {from here}.
And everyone’s favorite: the picture wall. The big white mattes on the dark paint easily fill this large wall {from cbc.ca}.
Wall Art Inspiration
I just got back into town, and didn’t realize I had guilt-tripped you blog-stalkers. Many conscience-laden lurkers left some pretty great comments and introductions, and I had fun seeing the readers who are so secretly following ohbrooke.
One woman who has recently found my blog had {like many of you} a pretty fantastic blog herself. I’ve added it to my reader and have already been inspired by two new projects.
Check out this cool passport wall hanging made by the seemingly well-traveled http://www.brooklynlimestone.com/ {complete with tutorial}. See, good things come to those who comment. Thanks Mrs. Limestone!
Blogging Do’s and Don’ts {says me}
I’ve got a busy coupla days, so today I’m posting just a few opinions.
On your blog:
1. Don’t apologize for a lack of posts, it’s booooooring.
2. Do be candid and speak openly about what you think. For some reason, we are so interested in other people… this is why the radio, T.V., reality shows, and blogs are so popular. We can’t get enough of what you think!
3. Don’t ignore other blogs. If you want people to comment on your blog, you’ve got to comment on others. Try to post a comment on one new blog a week.
4. Do reply to comments on your blog. It’s polite, and lets people know you are reading them.
5. Don’t post in a hurry! I do this often, and then have typos that I glance over and don’t notice. Now I have a proofer! {thanks JP}
6. Do post pictures of yourself. Like I said, we’re curious!
7. Don’t hate on Facebook, Twitter, etc., without having used it.
8. Do be confident!