blog

my design projects, inspirations, & a few personal tidbits

Here you will find what inspires me, and a peek into how I pull spaces together – the good, the bad, and the sometimes ugly mishaps along the way. I sprinkle in a little family life, travel, food, fashion, and party events, too.

I seriously considered titling this post "What You Can Do In Thirty Hours". This makeover was a quick one, but it turned out beautifully, and it seemed to be just the happy, colorful space the clients requested. And the clients?  None other than this sweet couple. AStoriedStyle.com Remember them?  I turned their honeymoon photo from the 1940's into a canvas for my closet turned laundry room update. AStoriedStyle.com When I got married, I received a beautiful thing - grandparents.  And this pair is near to my heart, I just adore them.  A few weeks ago, we went for a visit (the kids LOVE visiting "the farm"), and as I sat down with Granny, she was telling me about some fabric she had gotten to make some cushions for her back porch, along with some vibrant, striped chair cushions. It was bright and colorful, but I chuckled when I told her she had been telling me about what she wanted to do to the back porch for over a year.  (she sounds like me, ha)  It was at that very moment I decided we were going to make it happen. AStoriedStyle.com We did not have much time, but I knew it would not take too long to get things going for Granny...especially since I knew the power of spray paint. This project began on a Saturday afternoon and ended Sunday afternoon, and you can see the before photo below.  The green glider swing you see in the background has been in Granny's family since she was a little girl, and it is special so we decided to give it a special pop of color. AStoriedStyle.com With the color scheme of the cushions and fabric Granny had already purchased in mind, I drove "to town" and paid visits to Home Depot, Lowes, and Pier1.  After loading up the car with spray paint, plants, pillows, and a few decor items, I headed back, and that evening, we started painting. We painted into the night, and Granny was right there with us, spray painting away.  (not too many eighty somethings doing that!)  Kent and I did not let Granny and Papa Z see their new back porch until we moved everything back in and unveiled the space, and they were so happy with it.  Doesn't it look lively and cheerful?

AStoriedStyle.com I like to do walk-throughs every once in awhile to show you interesting finds or introduce you to new places, but I also think it is helpful because I hear so often from people that they wish they had "the eye" to spot something good.  If you have been reading awhile, you know that I love a fruitful trip to Home Fabrics & Rugs.  I wrote about my fabric find from HF&R here, and they have stores all over the country.  See here for all their locations.   Come on a walk with me... One thing I noticed on this trip was that they have way more rugs than the last time I was here. This could be a fun playroom rug.  (and all of those colors would help hide kid-ness) AStoriedStyle.com They have everything from more traditional rugs to more contemporary rugs.  They carry lots of sizes, and if they don't have the size you want, I believe it is free shipping to your door. AStoriedStyle.com These jute/seagrass rugs looked like nice quality at fairly affordable prices.

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