Black & White Stripes

I have loved black and white since the 1980s. Over the years, I've added splashes of red, pink or cobalt blue. My all time favorite is black, white and naturals (such as wood). It is no surprise that that I love these stripes, I've been seeing everywhere! I will try to give credit to where credit is due, but I've been saving some of these photos in my inspiration files for years. I hope they are inspiring to you, too.

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Simply Nattie

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Fric and Frac Blog

Fountaine Maury

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Mecox Gardens

Sketch 42

Elle Decor

From Market On Newcastle in Brunswick, GA

ZGallerie

My Birthday Present

I'm hoping to have the back patio fixed up for my birthday. I put together this "Inspiration collage" to help my husband catch my vision... let's see if it works. :)

For mom...

After I posted "Mom's New House", my mom fell in love with the bedding I chose for her bedroom. However, it is expensive and being discontinued. She found several choices that she said, "I could live with." I told her, "No, let's actually get what you really want." I told her, "We can make a duvet easily." So, I did some searching and found a nice "inspiration" bedding by Horchow. Spendy, right? Well, not if you make your own duvet, shams and skirt plus buy the sheets and quilt from Kmart and Walmart.

Check it out:

Cute little Spanish-Style house for sale

I LOVE Spanish Style houses!

I've dreamed of owning a cute little spanish bungalow for years. Back in 2005, my husband and I visited Mexico. From Puerto Vallarta, we drove to Tonalá, Jalisco Mexico and bought a beautiful hand-painted sink and tile. At the time, we were remodeling our home and thought we would use it there. However, we decided that it would look best in a spanish style house. So, for the past six years, we have held on to it thinking we would buy a house that it would fit into.  (Kinda crazy to buy a house that will match a sink, huh?).

Anyway, this morning while checking my email, I got an update on a listing for this house MLS# 572088:

 The house is now $14,000 less. Here is the catch--  it's a short sale.  I saw it when it first went on the market. It was a bargain then...now, well it is a steal.  I'm going to see if my husband wants to check it out tomorrow and see if it is worth the hassle of a short sale.

Here are pictures of what I dream of it looking similar to when we are done fixing it up:

http://www.homebysunset.com/

http://www.rhoadsstephens.com

http://www.en.eprospecting.com/

http://www.modative.com/heted-hybrid-bungalows/

http://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?userid=2Ikibg9SF2nAYl6XpIi6dw

I'd love to have a back courtyard like this (I can dream, right?):

http://www.trails.com/rentals/property.aspx?vacation=095695_Oxnard_CA

I'll keep you posted as to what we decide to do...

 

I *love* Hobby Lobby

I'm so thrilled with my purchase today from Hobby Lobby. I was running errands and decided to stop by Hobby Lobby to pick out some hardware for my armoire. I couldn't have picked a better day because all the hardware was 50% off! Yay!  I found the perfect knobs for my armoire that match the finish on the existing hinges (which I don't plan on removing). Six knobs cost $10 plus tax. 

Here's the knobs I picked out:

I think this new hardware is going to look stellar! 

Remember this is the piece that I'm redoing (I think this weekend).

My piece is on the right and I'm going to copy the finish on the left.

Having fun with Picasa---Mom's New House

After I created the frames with the pictures from Vintage Printable for mom, I grabbed the rest of the images I'd collected for her house and made a collage using Picasa. You see, my mom is going to be moving to Florida soon (hopefully in the next year). I told her it would be easier and more cost effective to sell what she has there and buy new furniture here (I live in Florida). She lives in Washington State and the cost to move all her stuff would cost more than what her furniture is worth (sorry, mom but you know it's true). We started dreaming of what her new house/apartment would look like and I've been collecting pictures and putting them in a file. Here's what we have so far.  A lot of the furniture is from Ikea. Can you tell she likes red?