Lack of funds and inspiration had me feelin' kinda blue, but just like Stella I'm finally getting my groove back. A quick looksy around a dear friends "Parisian" apartment has the wheels a turning and I thought I would share some of my new favorite ideas!

Vintage serving trays as magnet boards, it would be a really cute little touch to any office or kitchen.

I am still looking for those perfect wing back chairs. (I know they're out there somewhere).

And still dreaming of the perfect bar.......

This coffee table (vintage drum) has me wanting to search every flea market for one just like it. 

P.S this apartment is amazing check it out on Apartment Therapy.

Inspiration Post

These are a few of my favorite inspirational photos and future home decor ideas. 

 I would love to type at this desk everyday.

Vases filled with wine corks and a candle, DONE!

Love white on white on white.

 old birdcage, *sigh*

the spice of life.

Last week was a rough one, so needless to say I haven't felt much like nesting or writing. But we had a much needed vacation with friends and family, and now I am back feeling slightly refreshed and ready to tackle my next problem. Which would be our..........SPICE DRAWER!

oh the horror....

With the kitchen the size that it is, space is limited, so I've been using a drawer to house all our spices, but every time I go to use one its a nightmare! With a little research I found some great ideas to fix my little problem.

I like this idea but not all of my spices are the same brand or in the same size bottle and the drawer I'm using is too deep for this to work.

                           This one seems more practical for what I am working with.

I heart heart heart this idea but were talking some serious dedication and $$$.

So with these ideas in mind, I think I'm ready! Stay tuned for photos.

Le Creuset on the mind.

I woke up this morning thinking of brightly colored enameled cast iron, its safe to say my latest obsession has been Le Creuset. I MUST BUY! I've been devoting all my spare time on researching for this next big purchase. To buy a brand new 5pc set is about $450, so I'm going the cheaper route and taking it to ebay. First I want to start with some frying pans, then perhaps a sauce pan, hopefully moving right on to the French dutch oven, then maybe adding some baking pans. Oh the possibilities and pieces are endless, love love love it! Now what color/s do I want??

Not a huge orange girl, but I wouldn't mind this.

Could this be my kitchen please.

A work in Progress

                                                          Our table is here!

The stools were the worst part even Treusey tried to help!

                      All in all it was a process to put together but it's all done and beautiful!

All of my etsy purchases showed up on the same day, (I love getting packages in the mail I feel so special.) Now the fun part is what to do with them.

I also FINALLY received my shower curtain from West Elm, it had be back ordered since February but its here now and I LOVE IT!

          

Zen kinda Jen

I woke up this morning feeling a little off, I couldn't exactly put my finger on what was wrong. I started with my usual routine but could feel that my heart wasn't in it. While researching on the Internet I came across this article and I thought it was all too fitting. It helped me find some zen in my day, and I hope it does the same for you. Enjoy!

It's from the website Shambhala Sun and it reads.

MINDFUL LIVING: IN THE HOME

10 Tips for a Mindful Home

Wake with the sun
There is no purer light than what we see when we open our eyes first thing in the morning.

Sit
Mindfulness without meditation is just a word.

Make your bed
The state of your bed is the state of your head. Enfold your day in dignity.

Empty the hampers
Do the laundry without resentment or commentary and have an intimate encounter with the very fabric of life.

Wash your bowl
Rinse away self-importance and clean up your own mess. If you leave it undone, it will get sticky.

Set a timer
If you're distracted by the weight of what's undone, set a kitchen timer and, like a monk in a monastery, devote yourself wholeheartedly to the task at hand before the bell rings.

Rake the leaves
Rake, weed, or sweep. You'll never finish for good, but you'll learn the point of pointlessness.

Eat when hungry
Align your inexhaustible desires with the one true appetite.

Let the darkness come
Set a curfew on the internet and TV and discover the natural balance between daylight and darkness, work and rest.

Sleep when tired
Nothing more to it.

                                

Dog Days

My life has been wrapped up in a little 5lb bundle of puppy joy. It's been a little more consuming then I anticipated. I have stuff sitting in bags that needs to be returned, dishes in the sink, an unmade bed and floors that need to be swept. But all my spare moments are dedicated to her every wants her every needs, potty breaks and playtime. So with all these needs, today were going dog bed shopping! Its time to get Treusey a little spot she can call her own. I have some ideas of what I'm looking for.

STRIPES!

HOW CUTE ARE THESE!       
                           
                        

Love the bright colors.

With purchasing the dog bed I had to think of where is this dog going to fit in our apt, what will be her dedicated spot in our home.

I came across this idea on Apartment therapy.


Totally Do-able, it could be just what Im looking to fill our non-working "fireplace" with.

Making a List, Checking it twice.

Today I was making a mental list of what I would like to purchase in the near future, it started with two or three things then it was up to 10 and next thing I know my list is wandering into a headache. There comes a time when one must weigh the options (I am not very good at this) you must decide what is more important than the other. With that being said I wanted to share my list.

Lets start with what is necessary....... and bare with me I can find almost everything necessary. But I am trying my best to filter through.

Needs

 -industrial cart (for the bar) I've been shopping on line and in some stores and I just cannot cannot even think to spend more then $200 max.

 -ArmChair 
something vintage and wing back like so ------------>







<------SHOE RACK (this item should be #1 on my list)  sooo embarrasing how our shoes are being stored.







                                                        



-wire basket
(couldn't help myself I ended up buying this one on my beloved 
etsy while I was writing this.) We needed some serious bathroom storage




















                                                      
  - Pots and Pans

Im already bidding on ebay for some Le Creuset cast iron pots and pans, I CANNOT handle our stainless steel mess of cookware.

BTW How awesome is this kitchen.









- COFFEE TABLE
( I would like a steamer trunk like the one below.)
But when I think about it I dont find it completely fitting in with our decor. I also think a table like this crate and barrel one would be perfect.

they just keep coming.

Ideas ideas ideas, I just love them. Sometimes I feel like they come so fast I quickly forget them. I have been on the hunt for an industrial cart for our bar attempt. And this hunt has spawned my love for all things INDUSTRIAL, vintage of course. I cannot cannot get enough, etsy has been feeding my addiction, I find myself stuck for hours scanning page after page. So of course when I saw an article called Re purposing Old Typist Stands as nightstands on apartment therapy I thought, coincidence, I think not.

Love it.

I am being finicky about which stand I want to buy. 

Another idea that I came across was for our non functioning fire place. Its a total eyesore and I would love to do something with it.

This is our UGLy fireplace.

                  I found these photos while browsing design blogs and like is an understatement.

The thought of a mirrored fireplace has me all giddy. Im thinking a vintage one with a gawdy gold trim.

I kind of find it funny that I live in a major city where second hand stores rule the roost and theres an abundance of flea markets but I tend to buy some of vintage pieces from etsy or ebay. I cant say that I've completely done my homework when it comes to all the vintage treasure shops in SF, but what I have seen is that there is a huge price difference when you buy online! With that being said I wanted to share some of my favorite Etsy vintage home decor stores. 

La Pomme they offer a variety of vintage french goodies.

Two Ring Circus really spunky unique odds and ends.

Emmabgood think vintage country.

Lucky Little Dot found this shop through AT and LOVE IT. 

I could go on and on but I think the best thing about etsy is the adventure of finding shop after shop!

It's raining, it's pouring

Soooo, it looks like another tough week of non-stop rain for the city by the bay. I have the heater blasting, espresso ridden and ideas flowing.
        
             We decided on a whim that we wanted to add an addition to our family, so yes we did, we got a PUPPY! SHe is to die for but a complete handful. Coming in at 9weeks and 4lbs of pure neediness, were taking sometime to adjust.

Chartreuse (Treuse)

My mission in life now is to get her enrolled in puppy kindergarten, crate trained and well mannered. 

I also am trying to think of creative ways to add her to my home design. 

 

We did manage to put our bed together! And boy was that a task and a half. It took about 3 hours but its beatiful!  Heres a few photos of the process it was a little consuming so I didnt take to many, but you get the gist.

Poor Joe was sweating, each piece weighed at least 10lbs. 

 Our table just arrived now on to that project of putting that one together......

or bust.....

Unfortunately the rummage sale this weekend didnt work in our favor. There was an accident on the bay bridge and to make a long story short we sat in traffic for 2 hours, so needless to say by the time we got there everything and I mean everything was gone. We did however manage to stop by a furniture warehouse and order a pub style table!

It looks very similar to this one, but its all black.



After missing UPS two days in a row, our bed is finally here! Pictures to come, but I must say we our not looking forward to putting it together.

So like I've said before we hate our couch! It was a impulsive salvation army purchase for $150 and now that we've had some time with we realize it just doesnt fit. My boyfriend is 6'5 and is NEVER comfortable on it, he cant even stretch all the way out, meaning no sofa snuggles! I would love to get a small sectional, that way the man can at least stretch out on one side. I came across this little ditty on crate and barrels website and I WANT IT. Well lets not get a head of ourselves this beautiful couch comes with a hefty price tag $1900 to be exact. Its not necessarily in our budget right now. But Im hoping that if we can just strap down on some of the extra indulges, we can have our fantasy fancy couch in no time.

baby steps

Well not much to report this week. I've done some deep cleaning and winter purging, get ready for spring. Our cheap metal bed frame did break over the last week, so we had to order a new bed frame and lucky for us west elm was having a furniture sale. So we ordered a chocolate wood bed frame.

This is what the frame will look like. I already have a headboard that I love. 

             

 Its a tufted cream cloth head board. Im hoping it will be able to adapt to the new one. We definitely wanted to eventually upgrade to a wood frame but it wasn't a priority. But you know how life goes and we had to make this purchase a little sooner. Im pretty excited to see the end result.

Another idea I came across  . . . . . .

My boyfriend suffers from chronic ankle pain so he often takes epsom salt baths. And he of course buys like the industrial size bag of salt so I thought this idea was a cute way to get rid of the bag and display it in a cute way. I went to crate and barrel and pick up a jar very similar to this. I also ordered a shower curtain from west elm which will arrive next week. 

Its looks like the one of the right but in the feather gray. 

So slowly but surely the bathroom is coming together. Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day for us we rented a zipcar and are planning on going to the White elephant sale. http://www.whiteelephantsale.org/home/ Its a huge rummage sale in Oakland about 96,000 sq feet of awesomeness. Im hoping to find some goodies. Maybe a coffee table or something to host a bar.
I'll make sure to update on what we find!

finally a place to put ideas.

So back to life, back to reality. Im ready to get this place stylin'. I have so many ideas, now if I could just get the motivation and funds to get the ball moving.

                                    Living Room Agenda

 First I have an idea for a bar in our house, currently we've been using our mantle as our liquor cabinet. I saw this bar idea on apartment therapy and I love it's simplicity even though I would prefer something a little more conspicuous and organized.

On the right is the space were working with for a bar area it measures 44 inches across. I've been scouring craigslist for the perfect bar/liquor cabinet but nothing yet. Im starting to think a vintage desk or a cart might be a better idea. 

I love this bar cabinet idea and the bar open sign is amazing.

 Also I came across ideas for renters who want to paint or wallpaper, obviously we cant so they suggested tacking paper as if it were wallpaper or using fabric starch to attach fabric to the wall.

How amazing is this wall.

This is the paper source idea the actual print is WAY too much for me but all in all the idea is fantastic.

I LOVE this idea. I bopped by Paper Source while I was waiting for my bus and I saw a few potentials. My only concern is that the wall I want to do is pretty big so fabric might be a better option and most importantly less expensive. So to the fabric store I go Im starting to think that the wall I want to do is a tad bit to big but I think I should give it a go.