Friday, October 31, 2014

Happy Halloween


Happy Halloween and congratulations to our puppy Margot for being one of the winners last night at the doggy Halloween costume contest.



Thursday, October 30, 2014

My Pumpkins


I've had lots of inquiries regarding my Halloween pumpkin netting. They are Martha Stewart pumpkin sleeves. Each of the three different sets comes with three sleeves in a small, a medium, and a large. There are 9 different designs.The sleeves have drawstrings at the top and bottom. You just slip the pumpkin in, pull the drawstrings, and you are done. I did 9 pumpkins in an hour and no mess. And they are reusable. I found mine at Michaels, but if you Google it you will find many online sources as well.

My daughter Kate, our puppy Margot, and I have our first Halloween contest tonight. All three of us will be dressed as lobsters. I hope to share some photos tomorrow.



Wednesday, October 29, 2014

One Room Challenge - Week Five


Welcome to Week Five of the One Room Challenge where I have six weeks to transform my traditional red library into a glamorous and girly home office for myself. Click here to catch up on weeks one through four. Next week will be the reveal!

I had a very productive week. My gorgeous gold zebra rug arrived from Wayfair and it is stunning. I never realized that there are gold zebras. Who knew? They probably hang with the unicorns.

Wayfair Gold Natural Zebra Cowhide Rug

And I received this gold striped magazine bin from Jayes Studio, a great place for my shelter magazines.

Cream and Gold Striped Magazine Bin

I received this beautiful limited edition print from Minted called "Looking Up" and it is very dramatic. It takes up most of the wall it is hung on and looks fantastic.

Looking Up

Also framed and hung are these two botanical peony photographs from The Pink Pagoda. They are absolutely gorgeous. I hung them above my desk so that I can look at them all the time.

Pink Peony on Black

Pink Peony on Black II

I ordered pink hanging files for my built in file cabinets and organized all my files - what a great little project.


And I've been busy styling my desk and bookshelves, getting ready for my photo shoot in a few days. Inspired by Kevin Sharkey's office, I have been playing around with arranging the books by color.

Kevin Sharkey's bookcase
And this little angel is going to be very happy when I finish the room and can get back to devoting my every waking moment to her.

Margot has mixed feelings about the One Room Challenge

Now let's go check out what progress everybody else has made. Next week are the reveals!

Trademarked by Calling it Home
  




Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Monday, October 27, 2014

Halloween Chinoiserie


It's Halloween Week, so this week we will look at some ideas for Halloween decorating with Chinoiserie flair. Do you have a blue and white Chinese porcelain melon jar? Its pumpkin like shape makes it perfect to display at Halloween, especially as a table centerpiece. Mix it with mini pumpkins or gourds.


Sunday, October 26, 2014

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Saturday Inspiration


A decoupaged Chinoiserie pumpkin by Kimberly Schlegel Whitman.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

One Room Challenge - Week Four


Welcome to Week Four of The One Room Challenge. I am in the process of transforming my traditional red library into a glamorous and feminine space for myself for blogging and interior design. To catch up on weeks one, two, and three, click on the gold ORC button in my sidebar.

My goal this week was to decide on a desk. After getting rid of my massive mahogany desk, I fell in love with how huge my office feels. I decided I wanted a gold leaf and glass desk that was not too large. All I really need in there is a computer desk for my iMac. This Worlds Away Brentwood Desk above is just the look I love but too large and about $1,700.

I already had sitting in my office this Ikea Vittsjo Laptop Desk. I used it previously for my printer and my inbox. I have been using it temporarily as my desk while I hunted for a new desk.


I suddenly realized three things.

*First, it is very much the same style as the Worlds Away Brentwood Desk.
*Second, it is the size I was looking for.
*Third, I already owned it, so it was free. The original cost was $39.99.

I decided to gold leaf it myself. What was the worst that could happen?

I first thought about gold spray paint, but decided against it. The gold is not as rich as I would like and the finish ends up too even - I want it to look like gold leaf.

I then thought about real gold leaf. Having used real gold leaf sheets on a Martha Stewart project a while back, I decided with all these thin metal surfaces it would be a real pain.

So I turned to liquid gold leaf. I have used this stuff a bunch before and it is wonderful. I headed to Michael's and bought two bottles of Plaid Liquid Leaf in Classic Gold and two thin sponge brushes. The thin size sponge brush is important so it fits into that little bottle.



Coat number one took me 30 minutes. I waited 1 hour for it to dry - it dries so fast - and put on coat number two - another 30 minutes. I still need to put on an acrylic sealer to prevent tarnishing.

The cost was about $20.00 and it looks fantastic! Here it is drying in my laundry room.




Here are some darling gold accessories I found to style the desk.

Jonathan Adler Gold Carnaby Stacking Dish

Giraffe Ring Holder - from my collection - no longer available from Anthropologie - I will use it for paper clips

Kate Spade Gold Dot Cloverdale Vase - from my collection - no longer available - for fresh flowers on my desk

Kate Spade Light Up the Room Candle

Kate Spade Bow Paper Clips

Kate Spade Patterned Erasers

Kade Spade 2015 Agenda

I guess you are getting the idea that I have gone wild over gold for my desk.

Now let's go see what the rest of the gang has been up to this week -

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

One Room Challenge Preview


Tomorrow on Week Four of the One Room Challenge, I will be showing you how to knock off this $1700 Worlds Away gold leaf desk for $60 as well as my picks for styling your desk.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Sunday Inspiration


This wonderful fabric is Cloud Pagoda by Danika Herrick starting at $17.50 a yard. Available in several colorways.