Curtain Call

Another Option: If I win the lottery in the next few days, I'll have to go with this one below from Calico Corners. Malino in rust.


Actually, I'm thinking I can do some linen drapes with a border of this fabulous fabric....that could work on a budget.

New Option?: How about this one? I loved this one when it first came out at PB. It's a great mix of a bunch of colors I love. Orange? Check. Yellow? Check. Blue? Check. Green? Large print? Check. hmmmm...

I am sooo happy to be back home. I did not like being away from home for two whole weeks. It could have been worse. I could have been stuck in some awful city in the middle of nowhere; at least I was in San Diego. The weather was fabulous; the conferences okay. There was no chance for me to blog or really do anything with my computer since I was staying at a wire less hotel. I had to go to the lobby and use one of their computers to get online. Lame-O.

I'm back and ready to get some final projects done before my school year actually begins.

First up, I want new curtain in the living room.

Current state of livingroom by Eskimobar on Polyvore.com

This is what I'm looking at right now. I don't have all of those exact things. Like our couch is not IKEA, I did not buy my curtains at RH, and my rug is not C&B...etc. But, that's basically what our living room looks like. Cute, but not very exciting at the moment.

I think bringing some color with the curtains if definitely going to make a big difference. For example, Nicole's curtains over at Making it Lovely. So lovely and fun.

Making it Lovely
With that and a few other images (that I can't seem to find anymore) in mind, I've decided I want some more Amy Butler in my life. I'm currently dreaming of this pretty.

Amy Butler, Lotus Temple Garland in Lime

Bold, huh? Why not? If I don't like it, I'm sure I can find a use for it another day. Or, there's always this one...

A.B. Primrose in Olive

What I like about the temple garland is that includes yellow and orange, which are colors that are present in other parts of the house and I love them. The kitchen includes yellow accents and since the living room shares a wall with the kitchen, I figured it would work the best. But, I love that primrose. I'm just not sure about those blue flowers in the pattern. We definitely have lots of blue in the house, but I'm trying to move away from too much of it. Oh, primrose is also about $5 more a yard, so....the frugal girl in me in saying "Go for the temple garland."

What to do? Any suggestions of colorful fabrics that include green, orange, yellow, white, brown, and/or blue?

Oh yeah, that rug...I'm not to sure about it anymore. I'm thinking about moving it to our bedroom upstairs.

Spring Fever!

I am loving this weather. I actually wore sandals to work today. That's a big deal for me since I'm the girl that says she's always freezing. The cold looks for me. Shame on the cold. If it were up to me; I'd be happy moving to some place like Arizona where it's hot almost year round. I've mentioned that to the hubby before, since I have family I really love living there, but he put that idea six feet under... immediately. oh well.

I'm feelin' the sunshine big time. It's helping me get through what seem like endless days at work. I would much rather be riding the streets on my cruiser (bike, that is) with the breeze in my hair, FroYo in one hand, and a cute puppy in my basket...nice. I really can't wait till the summer. Man, I wish it was here.

Alright now; back to reality. In the spirit of spring time, I created a board with lots of fun bright colors and a rug I really wish I could incorporate into my decor.

Spring Fever! by Eskimobar on Polyvore.com

All this color just puts me in a good mood. Too bad it's not Saturday already.

Friday Inspiration (or too much free time)

I'm so ready for the weekend. I've been ready since yesterday. So, guess what I did today...I acted as if it was the weekend. With all this "weekend" free time, I whipped up this little ditty. Check out the link below the board for details. I'm heading out the door!

Classic Safari - by Eskimobar on Polyvore.com

I thought I'd be fun to create a totally different room using one of the same items from last week. Do you recognize it? I have it at home too! Oh, this is definitely not on a budget. 

Why don't you take a load off?

In the past two years the hubby has heard his fair share of complaints against the ginormous couch he came with. This past week, the complaints suddenly ceased. 

I finally got a new couch!!! Just what I wanted too!!

Now, being the frugal shopper I am, I couldn't just go into a store, pick out a couch, pay for it, and then just lug it home. Oh no. I found us an original Mitchell Gold made for Restoration Hardware slipper-covered beauty of a couch for all of $525 bucks! Yes! What's my secret. You know it and love it, Mr. Craigs(list).

Since I knew the hubby was not into the idea of investing lots of moola on a couch, I decided this was going to be my only chance to get rid of the big honker hanging out in our living room. I'd been scouring the list since about last November in order to find the deal of a lifetime. I finally found it last week. Well, I may have found it before, but I was never the winner; always the runner-up. I actually thought I was the loser again because I didn't get a response for almost three days. Then, out of the blue I received my congratulatory call. I was first in line!

This comfy sweetie is just what I've wanted because of these reasons: 1. it's not ginormous 2. it's a lighter shade that will change the mood in the living room 3. it's slip-covered for easy wash and wear (especially with doggies) 4. in has back pillows that are not attached to the body of the couch because Enzo and Rosco love to sleep there and this in turn slowly tears the pillow away from the back of the couch 5. it's deep for comfy lounging 6. it's a classic style 7. no tennis balls getting lost underneath 8. it's new!

The previous owners owned and used it for only 3 months before they packed it up real nice and tight in order to keep it in storage while they lived in Central America for two years. They came back recently and decided they would rather live it up in Panama and therefore chose to sell off their goods. Lucky me. 

The original couch.

Our affordable lady

Hey, with her new pillow friends. 

I'm thrilled. Now, if I could only keep the pillows in place like that all the time. 

Our house...in the corner of the street.

On top of painting the cabinets, I squeezed in some cleaning time this past weekend. Finally. That means I have some house shots for you all. If you looked at the entry about my inspiration for the house colors, you will notice that I absolutely love green. It's my favorite color. Along with green, I drool over brown, mustard yellow, burnt pumpkin orange, light blue, white, and accents of black. I really believe in mixing different textures and my home is a testament to that. Doing so gives the space different dimensions and a not-to-matchy-matchy feeling.

Anyhooo...the time I did squeeze in was not enough to also clean all the rooms, so I'll start by sharing the living room (I'm also not completely confident showing all the bedrooms since I'm not totally in charge of the decor in the hubby's (messy, don't tell him) office, and my teenage brother's (unbelievably disasterously messy room). I clean his room sometimes while he's gone to our mom's and it stays that way only until he arrives. oh well. Maybe if he actually leaves for college this year, I will have an actual guest room that stays clean. *dream.*

That giant mirror used to be the ugly duckling in the bathroom.

As I previously mentioned, the hubby and I updated the bathrooms and that giant mirror there was blah and we were giving it away for free on craigslist when I decided I could keep it and use it for something. Mirrors that large are EXPENSIVE! Fifty-percent off of an awesome frame from Michael's and a free cut of the mirror at OSH and now we have a new mirror in the living room. Something to reflect more light is always appreciated.

Hey, that looks familiar.

I decided against putting the poster up where the mirror is. I just wasn't feeling it. I found the perfect spot on the wall between the kitchen and the living room. Perfect.

A glimpse of the fireplace I'm working on re-tiling. I'm still looking for tile I like.

I have something of an obsession for glass. On the mantle you can see my collection of apothecary jars. I just moved them into the bookshelf and am thinking about selling the large ones. Oh, and there's my lamp. I made it from a glass vase from Pottery Barn, a lamp kit from OSH, and a shade from Tarjay. =) I bought that coffee table, side table, and console from a thrift store. They were all brand new! I got the most fabulous deal on them. I'm such a bargain hunter. The mirror is from Ross.

What it looks like today.

I was looking for vases exactly like those and found them at trusty ol' Marshall's. I wanted to update the look and thought bringing in some cool new colored vases would do just that. I think I accomplished the look. That's a metal and glass green house of sorts right next to them.

We can't ignore the television.

There's the fabulous television I received as a gift from Oprah. Yes, the real Oprah. Love her. The rug I bought from Target's super wonderful design event last year. I think I paid $35 buckaroos. Yes! I made those large pillows on the floor. In case you didn't notice, I'm also a big fan of stripes. The bamboo blinds are a steal from Kmart (yes, I do sometimes shop there) and the curtains are from our local Tuesday Morning outlet store. Love dupioni. The curtain rods I found at Big Lots. Oh, that chair is from Target, too! Hmm...notice a trend? I never pay full price and I really look for a fabuLESS bargain.

That's the couch I wish I could replace with a creamy slip covered one from some place like Pottery Barn. Maybe next year. That ottoman opens up, is super velvety brown, and cost me $25 bucks at Target. I think they may have mislabeled that one. They still have it...for $60! More stripes anyone? I made those using my super quick sewing technique. I'll have to show you how later.

Now, if I could only figure out how to work our camera. It has way too many options for photos and I don't ever really know which option to go with. I want bright pictures....what am I to do? Any help? Oh, the flash...yeeaaahhh...not good. What kind of settings?

Next up...the completed kitchen/dining room!

What's one of your secret thrifty shopping locales?