Showing posts with label home decor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home decor. Show all posts

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Nesting in the Gold Palace

You know when you've gone to the hardware store enough times: the cashier recognizes you, remembers what you bought the last time and the special angel pin you wore. It was my third trip in two weeks. Well, I promised you pics and I am almost loathed to post them since they are not the best or when I have everything in place. Here they go anyway before I receive more not-so-subtle hints via text messages...

It started out with these colors: Ocean Whisper, Hayloft and Du Jour (White).



My how everything 'pops' out from the walls. I love this aqua color. It reminds me of the water off of Mexico when the water goes from sand to where it is just yards away from a darker teal and navy blue. Ignore the sofa, it is not in full AGOL glory in this shot with the slipcovers off and the mountains of pillows in disarray. I took this right after I put everything back on the walls. This color is even better during daylight especially when you see it wrapped around by the front door, most of the living room and all to way to the bathroom.



The first brush of this dark mango/saffron color was startling. I cut the color in the walls and had no choice but to color the rest in and now I can enjoy a golden glow day and night. The warmth makes me feel cocooned. It doesn't show well but the mermaid picture by Howard Pyle has teal colors that match the walls so visually it carries through from the outside.



I attempted to buy the items that would allow me to do the fabric treatment in my bedroom. Apparently, I am shopping in the wrong stores, because I can't find whatever it is. I am one of those "when I see it, I will know it" kind of person. The quest continues.

You can barely see this in the above photo (bottom right), but this is my whimsical idea to have the fish 'swimming' towards my bedroom. The big fish was a gift from my aunt and uncle while the small fish was a memento I picked from Mexico years ago.



I decided to take the Hayloft color to the wall opposite my living room and also to the counter/pass through in the kitchen. (I'll post a pic of that counter later.) From the sofa, all that gold looked too overwhelming. I decided a bit of stencilling would relieve it a little. No, I didn't take it all the way to the baseboards or all the way across the band to the right. It doesn't need it when this bit just anchors and frames the dining room nicely. The stencil started out with a medium purple in the middle of the leaves followed by black for the rest. A recent purchase of a pink gold rub on color was brushed randomly to lessen the starkness against the gold.



An AGOL doesn't forget about details in her nesting delirium. This morning I redressed three pillar candles. Out are the sage, white and decorative sequin/seed bead fringe; in with the ombre aqua, grosgrain gold and bold seed bead/stone fringe. The colors compliment the new walls. Did I mention I repainted the dining room with white and how painful it was? I forgot that you can buy a pink tint additive that dries white so you can actually see where the hell you are painting. The temptation to buy another bold color halfway through just to avoid painting white over white almost won.



There are two more major painting projects yet for your AGOL. One is a piece of furniture that will end up a deep cinnabar red with a crackle finish to reveal the undertone of black and then there is the wall in the bigger bedroom aka Sin Room (home art studio) that will rock this color. Oh yes, she is mighty sexy. Purrr..


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Saturday, October 13, 2007

Girlie Day with Home Decor

Tawny and Jeff were at my complex at 10am viewing apartments with their needs. They were looking at the bigger 2 bedroom/2 bathroom offerings. Their stay at British Jeff's house is almost over. There are two people interested in buying his home and Tawny/Jeff would no longer be renting it to help out British Jeff who now lives back in Liverpool. They wanted something on the first floor for their aging relatives to manage easier when they came to visit. Of course, Tawny was also thinking about Cabal and how at his age he will not be able to maneuver the stairs as easy. Damn dog even gets consideration when it comes to choosing a new home other than his. So spoiled and His Prettiness knows it, too!

I passed Tawny and Jeff in the car on my way out to Dunkin Donuts to get donuts and ginormous cups of iced coffee for us, including Myrna who was coming at 10:30am. Soon we were all in my apartment getting jacked up on caffeine and sugar. Jeff left us girls to enjoy our breakfast and to start our Girlie Day.

Myrna and I received our invite from Juleen's annual open house to buy Christmas and Autumn home decor items at a discount. By the time we arrived before noon, most of the premium and popular items had been scavenged clean.

This woman's two-story home was crammed with items throughout all the rooms including the bedrooms and laundry room. Pretty packages wrapped in cello wrap everywhere. I went last year and bought a pumpkin soup tureen and two candle sticks, etc. It was a madhouse with over a dozen women milling about like ants at any time trying not to bump each other and the displayed items. Next year, we are asking for an advance preview so we'll get more choices. We were able to ask her for something I wanted and didn't see displayed hidden in her secret stash. It pays to know the hostess. We didn't do any real damage this year. I bought mostly jar candles smelling of autumn spices and homey christmas scents.

A few hours later, Myrna drove us back to my apartment. Tawny stayed for about 20 minutes before going home while Myrna and I enjoyed a late lunch/early dinner at Cracker Barrel. After dinner, we got to see more Christmas and Autumn items for sale at this country store. No more stuff made it home with the exception of one thing. I bought a popular northern candle maker's gel car refresher in a scent reminiscent of home (so it says) and its directions for use had this:

Remove the gel car refresher from bag. Hang freely using the attached string. As fragrance is drawn from the gel, you will notice some shrinkage and pulling away from the plastic holder. This is normal and is an indication that it is time to replace your gel car refresher.

Did you notice anything peculiar with those directions? Me neither. Wink.

My Girlie Day ended at 5pm. Tomorrow will be an AGOL Day when I go to get my nails done and a spa pedicure.
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