Monday, August 26, 2013

Style Cure : Update #2

It's already Day 18 lock in your furniture layout and I've yet to get much further then cleaning up my room which is already messy again & I ended up taking back the southwestern rug, find picture inspiration and, think about the furniture layout.  Really it's just been daunting trying to figure out what I want and then sticking to the plan.  As I think I've found what I want and then I get distracted again and feel lost and end up stocking in my tracks.  

{SOURCE UNKNOWN}

I fear that my perfectionist personality and very small budget inhibits me from going any further in my design plan, but I really want to become someone who makes things happen instead of wishing that it was already done.  I know that when I've completed this project I'm going to really love my main living area.

This week I spent more time doing research on what would work for my space, especially when it comes to which walls are going to have what color and I'm happy to say that after seeing the design sponge sneak peak on Kiera Kushlan I knew exactly what I wanted for my dining room.  As well as seeing this entry way I hope to make it a reality by the end of the year in my home.  I hope that it will help to define the living space.


I'm also really excited to have my wall colors chose and feeling pretty confident in how it's going to come out.   I plan to start with the dining room since all I need to do in there is paint, change out the light fixture to a fixture similar to this double swag pendant and hang up some art.  


I plan on doing the same design as the design as above  instead of the starburst pattern I found last week.  I feel that the curved diamond stamp still adds a vintage look, but also keeps it simple with a slight touch of modern.  The stamps is a UK product so most likely it wont ship to me, and it will take some time, so I will end up making my own or using poster board to cut out a template.

 
I plan to use Martha Stewart's Vapor #1 for the main walls in the dining room and Mimosa #2 for the diamond accents.  The Living room will be Nimbus Cloud #3 and the wall closest to the kitchen will be Endive #4.  I also plan to make the entry wall that goes up the stairs Vapor #1 as well.   


Once I accomplish that I will work on adding the entry wall and painting the living room and determine if I still want to use Martha Stewart's Washed Denim as my accent color in there.  


What are some of your design fears and how have you overcome them?


Monday, August 19, 2013

Style Cure: Update #1

I decided not to worry to much about dimensions with my floor plan since I wasn't planning on adding any new future to the design plan for the Style Cure Day 5's challenge, which is all about taking time to measure your space and create floor plan so you can have accurate dimensions to help with the flow of your space by not measuring. 

Below is a basic idea of what my main floor looks like, minus the kitchen.  The red error points to our main door and currently our TV is centered in front of the windows, and the couch on the back wall.   


With this project I hope to accomplish a few main Goals:
1. Find Storage for the pet food and feeders on Stairwell wall
2. Adjust table to better fit in Dining room 
3. Hang art work on back wall in living room
4. Decide on a color scheme and paint!
5. Create focal wall on back dining wall
6.  Create an entry way

 Day 6 is all about learning about color and determining if your space is  private or public, which will help to move you towards warm or cool colors.   I decided to choose private as it moved me toward cool colors, which I felt would help to lighten up the space and "these colors quiet the emotions and sharpen our thoughts, allowing our mind to do its best work."  I do a lot of work in the living and dining room, and I want to make sure I can move towards my other goals at home by being inspired to keep sharp once I enter into my home. 

Day 7 was a weekend of cleaning and decluttering your space, as well as collecting color chips, however, on this weekend I had been out of town visiting some friends in D.C. so this was pushed to Tuesday.  I was pretty excited to do some maneuvering in the living after seeing this {below} living room layout from 6th Street Design.  I really liked the openness of the space and it resembled how my living room is.  It inspired me to think about  moving my 15" wide billy bookcase on the window wall, which would also give me some space to display some of my favorite items. 

Living Room Layout Inspiration Photo

Before:
Here is a reminder of how my Living room looked like prior to the Weekend Cleanup.

Here is what my living room looks like now, after 1) the new rug I found at Home Goods Virginia this past weekend, and 2) changing up the layout to match my inspiration. I wasn't able to fit the bookshelf to the left of the windows, but it seems to work nicely in the middle.  I think at some point I want to find a comfy loveseat to replace the vintage side chair just to add more seating.

After Cleanup:

There are still several things to do in this room, like moving the sofa to the left a bit more once the IKEA base cabinet that we were temporaily using as our entry table is sold.  Currently, it's being housed to the left of the sofa.  I also want to find 2 matching mcm end tables, and coffee table.  I love my circle end table, but it will need to find another home in the house.  I also plan to add the glass door to the Billy Bookcase so the cats don't knock anything over on the bookshelf, as they like to climb everything.  With that I'll be looking for a new used cat tower or wall steps for them to play on. 

Here are some other projects Potential Projects
1. DIY Picture Ledges
2. All You Need is Less Art Print
3. Sun Shine Art Print
4. Spray paint my table lamp
5. Gallery Wall 
6. Create a Stencil or Stamp for Dining Room Faux Wallpaper
7. DIY Welcome Sign Art Print

Day 7 of the Style Cure takes time to review your paint chips and then declare your decor pairing, whether it be a purchase or a diy project. This homework was assigned on the 12th, but didn't happen until the Wednesday night on the 15th.  After work I forced myself to grab all the supplies I needed from my 3rd floor office to put together a simple design binder for this project and then took time to review my pinboard images and my 3" stack of Martha Stewart sample colors I had already picked up at Home Depot a few months back when I was working on the color scheme for the house.  I had originally chosen: Vapor, nimbus cloud and endive for my main floor, but have since purchasing my new southwestern rug changed up the colors a bit.

I'm also torn between two different feels for the room:

Option 1:
Washed Denim,  Mimosa, Nimbus Cloud and Endive
I love the light and array feeling of this room, so I'm not sure I want to use the darker greens.  Plus, I really do love Endive in my kitchen and would like to incorporate it somehow as an accent color in the living/dining area.

Option2:

Accent Colors:
Living Room: Green, Red
Dining Room: Mimosa (yellow)

I'm still debating on if I'm going to stick with Vapor or use Picket Fence as my white background.


Monday, August 12, 2013

Jasmine & his dumbbells

Saturday Morning Day 6 and Summary
Week 1 of my Lake House Fit Challenge is almost finished, and what a pretty amazing week it's been.  My mind is set on wearing my 2-pc to the lake house so it's been worth all the prepping for my juices and smoothie lunches and even making some "real" foods instead of grabbing a Chobani and an apple when I'm in a hurry.  

I've been feeling pretty good about the foods I'm been eating.  I'm also very happy to say that my cravings have pretty much not existed and my only day of struggle was Tuesday, Day 2.  I think it was because I skipped my M4 and I was hungry and my sugar balance was off so I wanted something sweet like cookies or such, but instead I chose to make a TIU healthy banana split.  Not craving sweets is seriously the best feeling ever! and it feels great knowing that I can live a day even a week without wanting to sit on the couch and binge.  My body is loving me more as I #RestartResetRefresh my bodies normalities and become a lean mean eating machine and I'm looking forward to continue success in my #fitlife journey.
  
 Healthy Banana Split

I've also been making a habit of choosing foods that TIU followers, like MadisonCary_TIU, and MegNolan_TIU, are eating as I know they are eating the right foods, exercising with TIU and they look fantastic.  At some point I would like to sign up for the TIU Nutirtion Plan so I can have my own copy of the recipes, including the META-D.  However, for now my budget doesn't allow so for now I simply follow and hope that they link the recipe or note the ingredients.

I was happily surprised that the #bombshellspell recipe from @TIU was public, because I can definitely use the benefits offered from drinking apple cider vinegar.  I did, however this week, annoyingly and regrettably forget to drink my #bombshellspell 3 times  I was in a hurry for work and didn't see them in the fridge, because I had moved them to the bottom shelf.  I did finally remedy this Thursday night when I made 2 more batches and made sure to put them on the top shelf.  Friday and Saturday I happily drank my spell. 

Daily Check Ins
AUG 5:   Day 1:  EatsWorkout
AUG 6:   Day 2:  EatsWorkout
AUG 7:   Day 3:  Eats Workout
AUG 8:   Day 4:  Eats Workout & Eats
AUG 9:   Day 5:  EatsWorkout
AUG 10: Day 6:  EatsWorkout
AUG 11: Day 7:  EatsWorkout

Recipes
M1: TIU BombshellSpell
M1: Blueberry Greek Parfait 
M2: Raw Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls 
M3: Beet Juice
M3: TIU Green Glow Smoothie
M5: Pineapple Chicken / Turkey Meatloaf Muffins & Roasted Brussels Sprouts
M5: Spinach Quinoa Peach Salad

Monday Night Day 1
During my workout Jasmine decided to keep me company and found safety on my hand weights.  For the first part of my workout he was trying to play with me feet, which wasn't his best choice with me jumping around during my HIIT workout. 




After my workout I headed over to my mirror for some snap shots and Jasmine followed me over.  He's pretty cute when he wants attention. 


If you want to join along the challenge I'm using #RestartResetRefresh and #LakeHouseFit or feel free to follow me on instagram to view my daily check in's.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

The Lake House Fit Prep

On August 3rd a friend of mine invited me & a few others to spend the weekend at his families lake house at Wallenpaupack in the Poconos. When I looked at my planner it just so happens that I had nothing scheduled for that weekend.  Let's just say I was pretty excited, because there is going to be boating, wake boarding, kayaking, jet skiing, water skiing, barbequing, campfires, swimming, sunbathing and general hanging out and so it's going to be a pretty fantastic weekend.  I messaged him back with "I'm totally free.  Would love to come."  

However, it wasn't until after I replied that the thoughts came into my head...what am I going to wear. Ahh.  I don't even know where my bathing suit is and this past week my diet has been way off healthy so I made sure to put together a sure fire plan that would help me be lake ready by the end of August.  

I found a small Mead 5x7 Five Star Notebook that I hadn't been using and used the computer to print out my cover page and some of my headers so I could trace them.  This assured that they would be more decorative then sketched. 


For some reason I typed Beach House instead of Lake House, but I didn't realize that what I did until after the page was done, so I figured it was close enough.  Either way there's a bathing suit involved.   

I

I also created a goal sheet.  This one I glued to the page, because it simply was more esthetically pleasing.   I know I have quite a few goals on there, but there pretty basic.   

Mainly, I want to make sure that I'm:
* exercising daily, even if it's just a short walk, juicing one meal a day.
* one TIU bombshell spellsVegan spell daily o jump start my metabolism.
* order the TIU Protein Powder
* eating lean, clean and green food.  No cheat meals or compromises. 
* prepping my meals the night prior so that everything is ready.
* getting my rest so my body can heal itself after each day's workout.

As long as I follow my guidelines the rest of my goals should follow.  There's no reason why I should drop a pant size in the next 2 weeks, as long as I'm staying true to my diet and exercise plan.


I even created a time frame page where I can list what type of exercise I'll need to have ready for that day.  I want to keep it simple, so I'll have 1 walk day, 3 run days and 3 HIIT days for strength training.  I also printed out this weeks Summer Sizzle workout schedule from TIU so I would have a few more HIIT and cardio ideas.   

 grocery cart run week 1

Meals: Week 1
M1: Omelet or Yogurt Bowl with peaches, blueberries, chia seeds and walnuts.
M2: Coconut Water an Cashews
M3: Juice It
M4: Veggies with Protein or Fruit
M5: Chicken Meatloaf Muffins with roasted brussel sprouts with Lemon
        or Spinach Quinoa Peach Salad.

Measure: Week 1
Weight 152 before

Total Inches: It's 3 days in and I've yet to get to this part. Can't find my fabric measuring tape.

What am I going to Wear??
Me, trying on the poke-a-dot at TJ MAXX

haha, while running errands on Sunday I came across 2, yes I said two bathing suits that I just loved at TJ MAXX and I came home with both of them.  I don't' plan on keeping both of them, but it was just to hard to decide so I checked the return policy and as long as the liner and tags are in tacked I can return them.  This way it gives me the next two weeks to determine if I've reached my goal enough to pull off the two piece or if I should really wear with the dress bathing suit.  


I do actually love how both of them fit and look on me, but obviously the dress bathing suit is going to be more practical for wake boarding, kayaking, or jet skiing, but I don't feel as cute and girly as the black and white poke-a-dot suit makes me feel, which would be fine for boating, socially gatherings, and sunning.  We'll see what happens once it gets closer to the weekend. 

Style Cure Day 3: Picking the Room

Style Cure Day 2's challenge is all about going on a style treasure hunt and sharing your findings via a Pinterest Style Cure Board. Since my outings this past weekend only consisted of TJ MAXX and Home Goods I didn't find much in my furnishings or decor that matched my style so most of my inspiration for the room was found online.

Row One:
1) Faux Wood "make your mark" 24x36 sign - $24.99

2) Blue and tan chevron Rug by Raj - $29.99

3) Oasis - Ash Grey - Grommet Panels - 40" x 84" - $24.99

Row Two:
4) Lovely Dog Food Bin.  I so want to swap out our black and white one for this. 

5) Plastic Letters "A" and "J"  I really loved the grey of the "A" but don't have a meaning behind the letter, so I simply took a photo.  The J works for my first name, but I would rather have a G for my last name. - $5.99

6) "Dream" 10x10 fabric art - $9.99

7) Blue Treasure Fabric Box - $19.99


Style Cure Day 3's challenge was to pick the room.  In the beginning I had a few rooms in mind, but in the end i really want to complete my living room as it's the first room you see when you enter and I would really like it to look more put together.


It's been a challenge keeping my living room just a living room; tv watching, gatherings with friends, and a place to store my shoes, keys and a few essentials for living in the space, but inevitably other items seem to creep in taking away from the openness and airy feel that I've been desiring. 

My main goal for this room is to have a place to keep my blankets for tv watching, the mail, pens and keys that isn't an eye sore.  I would also like to hang my art on the wall.


Currently, this is my entry way.  It's mainly being used to store various items that are making their way out the door.  The items to the left of the entry dresser are heading leaving with me this weekend.  I was holding them for a friend and I'll be making my way this weekend and I'll be happy to see the pile gone after sitting there for a few weeks.  the radio is going to be taken to work for me to use, but I either don't have enough time to grab it, or I forget that I wanted to take it with me.  

I like the division of the IKEA base cabinet that I've been temporally using as my entry table as we can each have a drawer for our mail, a large drawer for bags, and the bottom one for blankets so I hope to find something just as functional to replace this once it's sold, but not so large and modern.  I also moved my wicker lamp from my bedroom that I wasn't using to add more ambient lighting for movie watching.  

To the right of the floor lamp sits a large box that houses our goodwill items a.k.a. our outbox.  It's been helpful to have the box there, even though it's a huge eyesore, but it's much easier to toss items in whether big or small and they remain in the box.  Then once it's ready to overflow will right the items up for tax time deductions and then make a trip to the goodwill to part with them.


I love my $4 mcm imitation table lamp that I scored at a local thrift store a few months back when I found my couch, but it has been moved a few times and now resides next to the door as my drop zone.  The lotion is for my mom, the chicken is more decor then functional, but I really like it, an the milk glass vase houses my keys. 

Under the table are my store returns.  Yes, I know I have a few, and by the look of my pile you would never know that I mull over these items for a few days before even buying them.  Just imagine if I bought everything I thought would work.  Sadly, some of the items have been sitting there for a while as I have yet to locate the receipt, but I'm glad to say that the shoes and litter pellets will be heading out in the next week. 

My goal for this area is to keep it open.  I also hope to find another place for the lamp as I thought we would use the lamp more when entering, but we don't.  It also blocks my art, which I'm not a fan of.


This little corner has actually not been a problem area and I love my round table there.  It's the perfect height to match my loveseat and holds my owl and miscellaneous change.  I also love the wicker basket, another thrifty find, that works great for doggy toys.
My goal for this area is to simply hang the art piece that is lying in my magazine rack and to hang the curtain draw back so I can pull the curtain back and let some light in during the day.


Our house is void of any real closet space, except for in the bedrooms so we have to be creative on how we store things.  I purchased this IKEA rack on Craigslist for half the retail price and it seems to be doing a decent job, but the corner just feels overcrowded and it's hard to access since the chairs sometimes block it.

My goal for this space is to relocate the coat closet and hopefully find a good home for my mcm end tables (the other one is being used in my bedroom), as I had hoped to use them as end tables in this room, but they are just to short.


Here we have two miscellaneous side chairs that tend to move on the hardwood floor, and it's pretty annoying, but I do love my vintage phone stand that's in between them.  the pillow cover is from IKEA, along with the green planter and faux plant.  The green recliner has been listed on Craigslist for a few weeks, but so far no takers.

My goal for this area is to figure out how to get the chairs to stop moving so much and sell the green recliner.


My dining room is pretty small, really just enough room for my 5' x  4' table to allow sufficient room to walk around, but currently we have items that we've posted on Craigslist and the local fb yard sale page residing on the back wall, and they're a bit of a eyesore.  i did recently purchase the area rug from Ross for under $40, which I'm love. 

My goals for the dining room is to sell the items on the other side of the table, find a mcm table cloth and napkins to better fit my mcm table, hang the retro pendant, and find some art to hang around the mirror.  also, thinking about paining the space a shade of white or grey.


Here's a nice open view from the kitchen, well open if you ignore the clutter like the Formica table, one of the chairs, and the IKEA computer table.  although, I must admit I'm loving how much light is coming through since it's mostly dark in here being that we are a middle townhouse downtown so we don't keep the blinds open often.

My goals for this area is to find someone who wants the Formica table, hang the bike in the kitchen, figure out what to do with the bar stool, and maybe sell the IKEA computer table as it seems more in the way then actually used.  

Thursday, August 1, 2013

The Start of Style Cure 2013

Whosh!  that's pretty much how this last month can be described.  It seems as if this last month was like a blur, and I'm looking forward to taking August slowly and really start to tackle clearing out our cluttered basement.

Oh, but the main reason for this post is to talk about a new series by Apartment Therapy called The Style Cure 2013.  I just love their home organizing series.  In January I participated in the January Cure 2013 and I really enjoyed  getting some help with focusing my thoughts & completing some much needed projects.

Day 1 is all about completing the Style Cure Interview, which takes about 30 minutes to review and then analyze your answers. Below is a photo of my interview. 


The Chosen Space:
The Living Room
This is the space everyone sees when they first walk into my home, and it's a bit everywhere considering I have 2 wall colors, pictures leaning against the sofa waiting to be mounted and some miscellaneous furniture pieces that have been posted for sale.

The Conclusion:
Questions: 1 & 2 Form a picture of your style
My style is definitely relaxed classic style that is simple with a touch of vintage. 

Questions: 3 & 5 What you find pleasing, comfortable & beautiful
I find something that says "me" in the space and that I find brings people together.  I loved having dinner parties in my 1-bedroom apartment in South Denver where I had a table that seated 8-10 people where we could celebrate each other and share a space together that was simple and put together.  This was also my most well designed apartment, because I only had what I needed with a simple decor items on the wall and nothing more.

Questions: 4 & 6 Aspirations, form direction and goals
I don't really have one person that i admire, but I tend to look up to people who are strong-independent, who think outside of themselves , and are well-traveled, because it really helps to grow them and they're not afraid to explore and find out that there may be some place better then what they are used to.  My main admiration are those who simply enjoy what they have and are content owning very little and don't overspend.  It's a place that I've been working towards these last few years.  It's been harder since my mom moved in with me, because she owns enough for 3 families. 

I know I want my home to be full of light, but it's difficulty living downtown so we keep the curtains closed most of the time, and there are few windows being that I'm the middle town home.  Natural light is a commodity that I hope to figure out how to utilize what I have to create this feel.  I also want to eliminate the access clutter of items that are not being used or really don't work well for it's given purpose.    Mainly, I hope to determine a wall color so I can eliminate the bland pb color I've had on the walls since moving in. 


My living room is a bit different currently, but this is the overall feel and pieces that I have in the space.