NumberNineteen

Inspiration Friday

Vignettes are my favorite, favorite part of decorating.  I am in love with these little settings of seemingly random objects that, when put together, tell a story.  Or tell us about someone.  Or create a mood.  They look like the decorator just set the items down, but, in fact, they usually are created using great thought towards leading the eye around the scene...In wonderful Vignettes, there is much to see, but there is not clutter.  There often is a general shape to the entire scene (often triangular), but it is not immediately obvious.  Here are a few that caught my eye in my stash of clippings...

This entire room is a vignette, but especially that desk!!!



If you want to see some amazing, real-life vignettes, head over to Daisy Cottage .  Wow, Kim is just a naturally talented decorator.  She is a constant source of inspiration. 

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Isn't it exciting to have the weekend come so soon after having a day off?  I'm loving it!  Its like having two Fridays in a work week!  We are going to a concert at Wolf Trap tomorrow evening. Wolf Trap is one of the gifts that comes with living in the Washington DC area.  It is the only National Park that is devoted to the Performing Arts.  All summer, for a reasonable price, you can take your picnic to their lawn & lie under the stars, listening to music.  Its truly wonderful. 

On Saturday, we are getting up early for a quick trip to PA for a family gathering at my parent's place.  Most of the family hasn't seen Hope since Christmas (so they haven't seen her walk), so this will be a good time.  I hope that you have a wonderful weekend!

Inspiration Friday

Its all about living rooms this week!  I choose some of my favorite living rooms from my clippings & found that they are pretty different in style from each other.

 

I think that the common thread is the design of each room.  I love the solid design of the traditional rooms--the placement of furniture, the quality of the main pieces, the pleasing-ness to the eye of the arrangements.  But, my heart is captured by the vintage rooms.  I'm in love with the history, the character, and the texture that the unique vintage items bring to the room.

My real house is a constant work in progress that tends towards the rooms with  traditional arrangements & pieces that I pull together with old things that are full of personality. I'm always trying to get to that perfect place of the house saying "Kim lives here & this is who she is". 

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I'm looking forward to this weekend as being very low key.  Low on the expectations that I put on myself, high on relaxing and being with Glenn & Hope.  If the weather is nice, we are going to return to the park in which we hiked on Memorial Day.

What are you up to this weekend?   

My Happy Things--Inspiration Friday

Heather of PresentPastCollection shared her favorite "Happy Things" in a recent post & urged her blogging friends to do the same.  I think that its  a wonderful idea, so I'm making it my Inspiration Friday post.

I don't think that I need to explain why this is one of my happy things!  Every single night, we creep into her room before we go to bed & watch her sleep.

This CD ... I've been listening to it pretty much non-stop since I bought it after this post.

Mmmmm...Mike's Hard Lemonade.  I love, love, love this stuff.  I'm pretty crazy about TDubb's as well.  I'm out of it...must get some for the weekend!

This pizza place, which I just discovered near my office.  Its just on the corner of a shopping center, totally inconspicuous.  The pizza is amazing!!!  I've been there twice since discovering it last week. Yum yum yum.

My new bubble bath.  I take baths several times a week, so I have to re-stock my bath goodies every once in awhile.  Last weekend, I picked up these two heavenly scents. 

These are just a few things that have made me happy in the past week or so!

You know what really makes me happy???  The weekend! :)

Inspiration Friday

I had a fun lunch hour earlier this week, browsing in the magazine section of Borders.  I picked up the new issue of Romantic Homes & also, 100 Decorating Ideas Under $100.  The  latter was featured on  Cindy's Blog for her Inspiration Friday last week,  which inspired me to buy the magazine!  It was a good buy--lots of fun pictures and projects.

The first photo, above, is from Romantic Homes.  Look at all of that eye candy! I want to play in that room!

Look at this bed below, under the eaves....so cosy, so pretty.  The layers with the embroidered pillow, quilt & white linens reminds me a bit of this bed from last week's Inspiration Friday.  This picture is from the 100 Ideas magazine.


Isn't this bathroom adorable?  So, so cute!  I love these bathrooms that look like real rooms...sigh....



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So, what's up for your weekend?  I'm having a college friend over for lunch on Saturday & then we are going to Fredericksburg for some antiquing & browsing around the cute shops.  Sunday morning, I'm hoping to go to some estate sales.  It would be really great if I could find some time to go clothing shopping as well.  I really need some summer work clothes.  In the past three summers I was: 1)out of work 2)pregnant 3)an at-home mom.  So, I'm low on office appropriate summer clothing.  My office isn't super-formal, but I need to wear something nicer than t-shirts.

Have a great Friday!

By the way, I can't get the underline off on the above paragraph...sorry about that!

Inspiration Friday

When I was digging through my box of old clippings to find the photo of the dressing table , I found a bunch of beautiful pictures from magazines.  Most aren't as old as the photo that inspired the dressing table, which was very 80s (I should show you the picture on the reverse side of the magazine page sometime!).  These are mostly from the 90s-early 2000s.  In any case, I thought that I'd share a few in this weeks (very late) Inspiration Friday.

I covet that oval tray or painting in the photo above.  If I had it, it would be a prized possession.  It would hold a place of honor.  How else can I wax poetic about that oval tray?

Speaking of rose paintings, look at this collection...Swoon!....

 

I just realized that both of the top 2 photos are from the same home...lucky lady....

And last, this beautiful & cosy bed.  I'd probably put a yard long painting of roses or something more vintage-y above the bed, but I love the pillows & the quilt.  Couldn't you just sink into this?

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So, what are you up to this weekend?  I'm going to the monthly flea market (held in a parking garage!) tomorrow morning.  I've convinced Glenn to accompany me, luring him with promises of a visit to his favorite coffee shop afterwords.  He was away most of the week on business--in Minneapolis--I tried to convince him to take me along so that I could meet my blogging friends Martha & Allie, but it was no-can-do.  I kind of had to show up at my job anyway.  In any case, I missed him, so I'm trying to find ways to spend as much time with him as possible while still fitting in my antiquing! :)

Inspiration Friday

This week its all about the laundry rooms.  Not for any particular reason except that I realized that I have several photos of some really great laundry rooms.  Did you ever think that laundry rooms would be a decorating opportunity?  Well, now they are, apparently!  Of course, mine is still a cinder blocked corner of the basement, but a girl can dream....

Love this one...I love just about any "before & after" decorating project in a magazine...it makes me feel like "I really could do that!".  Of course, they do have an entire staff & I have...myself (well, Glenn helps sometimes).

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If I sound a little cynical in this post, its probably because I've had a big letdown today.  We were supposed to be leavin' on a jet plane tonight for a 4 day weekend in Boston, visiting my sister & brother in law.  2 of my favorite people in one of my favorite places.  But, SIGH, Glenn has come down with one of the nastiest nasties of sickies in the past 24 hours & we aren't going anywhere.  Of course, I feel badly for Glenn, who is miserable.  But, I'm so bummed about not going away.  As you might have gathered from my posts, I've had a rough past few months with my return to work.  Overwhelmed with life, really (what? who? me? Uh Huh).  I *need* 4 days with NO  responsibilities.  I decided to take off tomorrow anyway, even though we aren't going anywhere.  If I don't take this time, I'm going to lose it one day & just up & quit my job, which probably wouldn't be a good idea.  So, I'll be doing projects around here.

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OK, I've had a smallish obsession with music recently.  I keep discovering all of these songs that I *LOVE*...songs that have been around for several years & bands that have been around.  And, I've apparently been living under a rock.  For instance, I've just downloaded "Sunday Morning" by Maroon 5 & am currently listening to it for the 4th time in a row (obviously, I'm the only one in the room, or Glenn might throw something at me).  I LOVE this song.  And, where have I been?????  Maroon 5 is awesome!  I had  heard of them,  but, for some reason, thought that they were some kind of cheezy R&B/"smooth jazz" kind of band.  I'm tellin' you, I've been living under a rock.  And, Kelly Clarkson's "Walk Away"?  That was my song last week.  I played it incessantly.  I get what Glenn & I call "boogie butt" (definition: the way people start to bounce & sway in their seat when a song comes on that they  like) every time it comes on. I had thought that Kelly Clarkson  just sang things  like "A Moment Like This". When I found out she sang  "Walk Away", I thought, "this girl rocks!  She has serious attitude!".  I know, where have I been?  Under a rock. 

I'm going to go now & listen to "Sunday Morning" for a 5th time....

Inspiration Friday

Inspiration Friday this week (yippee, the scanner is working again!) is from my newest stack of magazine clippings.  Just some random prettiness....


I just realized that the above photo shows a silver teapot thrown in a wooden box on the ground of a garden.  So, reality is not a strong point in the inspiration friday photos....

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What are you up to this weekend?  Honestly, I'd be so happy if I didn't leave the house all weekend.  I'm no hermit, but the prospect of 2 days full of house & garden projects sounds like heaven right now!

I Wish That It Was Inspiration Friday!!!

Arrggg!  Our scanner isn't working & I'm having a terrible time trying to upload any of the digital photos that I could share.  So, no inspiration Friday from me this week! 

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend--especially you Mommies out there---make sure that you get pampered on your special day!!!! xoxoxo

Bloggy Inspiration

Today's inspiration Friday is completely different!  First of all, its super-late.  We had no internet access or email for the better part of today.  Fun!  But, I'm back online--yippee!

The other difference is that the inspiration today is not from pictures, but from other bloggers.  The dear Clarice of Storybook Woods nominated me for the "Thinking Blogger" award!  Isn't that the sweetest thing!  It makes me so very, very happy that people enjoy my blog & gain some bit of inspiration from it.  As I've said, blogging is one of the best things that I do & I get so much out of reading all of your blogs.

I'm not going to tag others, but I'm going to mention a few blogs that constantly delight me & inspire me....

My Cosy Home

Allison's photos of her house & vintage finds will make you feel like you are right there, sitting at her counter, having a cup of tea with her.

Daisy Cottage

Kim's vingette's rival anything that you see in a magazine.  So charming, so comfortable. 

A Cottage Industry

I wish that I had the energy & creativity that Tracey has in her little finger. 

Brocante Home

This blog is one of the first that I read.  Alison's vintage housekeeper suggestions & puttery treats not only make you want to live a prettier life, but also make you want to jump up RIGHT NOW & do something about it.

PresentPast

Heather makes me want to up & move to California, the land of lush flowers & great flea markets.  And, have Heather as a guide to it all.

Those are just a few of the MANY blogs that I visit on a daily basis & love.  Have a fabulous weekend!

Inspiration Friday

This week's inspiration Friday is all about inspirational creative spaces/offices.  Wow, these just make me want to spend some time in my creative corner!  The photo above is from Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion, some years ago.

This one is from the recent "women in business" section of Country Living.  I love this woman's inspiration board & shelves.  I'm not sure why she has a chair sitting on a table, but I'll ignore that....

This is the cover of a wonderful book that is full of inspiration, "Where Women Create".  The space shown on the cover is my favorite in the book, but there are a lot of other really great spaces inside.

For further inspiration online, Diva Deb's "playspace" is full of eye candy, as well as Andrea Singarella's.

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As I look forward to this weekend, I face the constant struggle between wanting to "get things done" & "being productive" and needing to relax & spend some good time with my hunnies (Glenn & Hope, of course!).   Wow, us working moms have to fit so much into 2 days! Well, working outside of the home...I know from experience that there is a whole other kind of stress that comes from being an at home mom!

On the spending time with my hunnies side, Glenn & I are going to have a date tonight!  Hope's daycare offers a "parents night out" once a month & we are taking advantage of it for the first time.  Just dinner at a local restaurant, but we get to have time to talk!  Imagine that. 

On the "being productive" side, I'm hoping to work more on steaming off the wallpaper in the kitchen (never-ending project) & maybe hit some yard sales.  The weather is supposed to be terrible, so I may be spending a lot of time on indoor projects.

I also will be doing the normal cleaning, as I still haven't found a house cleaner.  I spoke to one woman who seemed to be a great prospect, but her references didn't turn out to be what I'd hoped that they be.  So, another lady is coming over next week to give us a quote...lets hope that I have better luck this time!

I hope that all of you have a great weekend!