Love this amazing geometric ceiling! Wow! By Lisa Sherry found on the blog Gorgeous Shiny Things.

Oh Sweet Bench.....

 Oh, oh, oh....I must have! How amazing is this bench! I've never seen one like it and now I'll forever be obsessed with owning one. This bench lives in Kelly Reemtsen's loft. You can see the whole, beautiful home tour here. Found on Apartment Therapy via Kelly's Pinterest.

An Announcement....

Sorry for the disappearing act I did last week. I've had a hard time coming out holiday mode. I need to get it in gear but am enjoying being lazy instead. Well really 2012 hasn't been all that lazy. It started off with a new computer which was a long time coming but also meant many hours and days transferring everything from the old computer over to the new one (wow was that a lot of work). Then I ended those good times with a bought of food poisoning. Gotta love that! I seem to be on the mend now and hopefully back at it on a more regular basis.

First off...I don't think I officially made the announcement here on the blog that I'm having a baby so here it is. I'm having a baby!!! This will be number 3 for us. Not only that but today we found out we're having a boy which rounds out our little family to boy, girl, boy. We're very excited and now have the daunting task of figuring out a name. Boy names are so hard! At any rate this means one more room to decorate so today I've rounded up some awesome nursery art found on Etsy that I'd be thrilled to see in our home. I'll take anything from these three amazing shops! Hope you enjoy!

 FallDownTree

loopzart

 trafalgarssquare

possibiliTrees....

Oh my! I'm in love with these trees from possibiliTree. Amazing! You can choose from 3ft Tabletop trees or 6ft Suspended trees. I'll take a 3 footer please! You can find out more here. 

Found via SimplyGrove.

ixxi...I heart thee....

 I've posted about the amazing site ixxi before but when I saw this Bambi Wall Art on SimplyGrove I just had to share again. ixxi is a modular connection system that allows you to create your own custom wall art collages. I'm so in love with this site!

Displaying Collections....

I've never been much of a collector but if I were and if I collected tea cups this is how I'd want to display them. Such a wonderful idea! I found this via physeter_ on Pinterest. It originates from the blog Hello, I'm Tiger.

The Future of Bunk Beds....

How cool is this, the Doc Space Saving System by Resource Furniture!? I had a bunk bed growing up but it sure didn't transform itself into a couch every day. So cool! Found on CoolThings.com via Emma's Pinterest.

Cross Stitch as Art....

Check out this amazing cross stitch pattern that's been painted on a wall as room decor. I am in love with this idea! Amazing! This wonderful wall art can be found in the home of designer and illustrator Eline Pellinkhof (pictured below). You can see Eline's amazing blog here.

Pictures found via bloesem living and Jennifer's Pinterest.

Stay-cation....

This picture was taken last night at the path just around the corner from our house. We live really close to the coulee. It's such a beautiful view and some days you can see the Mountains on the horizon. 

Why am I sharing this with you today? Because this week my husband and I are enjoying a stay-cation. The kids are gone all week visiting their grandparents. They haven't even been gone 48 hours and we've already, gone shopping at the mall, gone to dinner at a restaurant I love but haven't been too in over two years, gone to a movie....together (Crazy, Stupid, Love...it was awesome! I highly recommend), taken a nap in the middle of the day, eaten pizza in front of the tv while watching a movie with swears in it, gone for a walk at 8:00pm and left the house at 9:00pm to go visit friends! That's a whole lot of stuff that we don't get to do on a regular basis and we still have plans for more movies and eating out. I also need to make 7 curtain panels and refinish a dresser. That's a busy week. I miss my kids! I love them so much but it is nice to have a break from the regular routine. I hope you all have wonderful weeks too!

Amazing Before and After....

 Okay I had to share the following before and after with you because it kind of made me gasp. Seriously! I found it on the fantastic blog Pure Style Home by Lauren Leiss. These images come from a post showing the before and after makeover of Lauren's 70's home. It's amazing! Go and check it out! You must!

Okay the before shot of the foyer....

 ....and now the after shot! Kind of hits you in the face with fanasticness doesn't it? Holy wow! I can't even believe it's the same space!

And now for Something Completely Different....

Okay I realize this week is turning into a bit of a theme. Sorry about that. I've reached a level of frustration and I need to vent about it so that I can move past. : ) Thanks for baring with me.

So today I thought I'd share some examples of what I think I'm going to have to do furniture wise....as well as Ikea of course! I've started visiting my local Thrift Shops in hopes of finding a wonderful piece to refinish and again not cost an arm and a leg. This approach however comes with a handful of issues.....

Thrift shopping is time consuming....time consuming!!! Why? Because they're not just going to have the perfect piece sitting there waiting for you. And even if you find one with great lines it's used, there could be all sorts of damage going on some of which can't be fixed. Also these pieces are old, the drawers might not slide properly, they might smell, etc. And because it's so hard to find the right piece and there's so much turn over at these stores you have to go often. It's fun, don't get me wrong but like I said, time consuming!!!

Also I'm a clean looking, straight lines, modern kind of girl and there are a lot of very ornate, decorative pieces out there in the thrift shops. Refinished I do like the more decorative look but not for every room in our house. Bedrooms, yes, downstairs yes but on them main floor with what we currently have I just can't see it.

Dimensions play another major factor. You might find a piece that looks exactly as you hoped but oh wait, it's too wide or too deep or too tall or all three at once! A few weeks ago I found two pieces that were fantastic! Great lines, drawers worked nicely but the dimensions were all wrong. I need a dresser no more than four feet wide, the one I found was much longer. I need a long cabinet for behind the couch and the one I found was too tall and too wide. Frustration overload I tell you!

And the one final and most crucial issue....once you find that perfect piece you still have to refinish it. I have no experience with this so I'm assuming the first few pieces I do are not going to be my finest work. Also there's a very good chance that the time it takes to refinish a piece of furniture is going to put me over the edge as well and I'll find myself back at the furniture stores I proclaimed to hate so much in my first post this week!

Oh the joys of decorating! With all my complaining I do love it. It takes a long time but when you finally find the right piece or complete the look of a room it's a great feeling! And with all the complications thrift shopping brings I did find the most fantastic chair recently. It was only $5.00 and has great lines! We're not really in need of a chair but for $5.00 it was coming home with me. The fact that it needs to be reupholstered which I've never ever done and refinished is something I'm choosing to ignore right now. For the time being I'm just going to enjoy the thrill of the find!

The following examples of refinished furniture can be found on my For the Home pinboard on Pinterest.

 

Furniture....

Okay so after yesterday's rant I thought I'd show some examples of the type of furniture I'm looking for. Now I am well aware that some of these pieces probably cost the astronomical amount that I complained about in yesterday's post but I'm not buying these...I'm just looking and hoping that one day I'll find a beautiful piece like these at a reasonable price. Currently we're looking for two bedside tables, a dresser, a long cabinet to put our tv on, another long cabinet with storage for behind our couch, a dresser or cabinet for our front entry. That's not a lot right? Yeash! All of these can be found via my For the Home pinboard on Pinterest.

Frustration....

So on Saturday I got a lot frustrated. Why? Because we went furniture shopping. I hate it, I truly hate it. There seems to be an abundance of furniture stores out there just full of stuff that's not the right look, not the right shape, not the right colour and the few furniture stores that I do find items in seem to think it's fine and dandy to charge $2100.00 for one bedside table. Yup I said ONE! 

So what ends up happening? 9 times out of 10 we end up at Ikea. Now I love Ikea don't get me wrong but I get teased a bit for how much Ikea I have in my house (to be clear it isn't that much!). I mean yes there have been times over the years when you could walk into a room in my house and say "hey isn't that page 56 of the Ikea catelog" but I can't help it. Why? Because Ikea has sleek, modern designs at reasonable prices. Yes I have to put it together and yes it's made out of particle board but I've been an Ikea shopper for a long time and I can say....the stuff lasts! So while I'm going to do my best to not fill my house with more Ikea goodness I may just end up back there and if that means not going to the poor house because I only spent $150.00 on a bed side table instead of $2100.00 I'm okay with that. At least my house will have some continuity to it and if my kids bash the heck out of the stuff that's okay. I know where to get a new ones....at a reasonable price!

Stupid furniture shopping. Getting me all riled up and angry and subjecting my poor readers to this long, ridiculous post. See, yet another reason to hate furniture shopping. Below are some wonderful examples of rooms containing Ikea pieces. Rant over! : )

 Love the Expedit book shelve in this nursery! We have it as well but the skinnier version. Found on Design Pad via Marli's Pinterest.

Okay there's too much Ikea goodness in this picture to list it all. I see a little Lack, a little Expedit, and a whole lot of lovely!Found on vi.sualize.us via Tamara's Pinterest.

This Hemnes Shoe Cabinet isn't an Ikea piece I'd purchase for my home but I do love the way it looks in this one. Love the mirror over top and the frames on the wall. Found on Small Space Style via Debby's Pinterest.

Oh the Malm dresser in white. I know thee very well. I have 2 of thee in my kids rooms but in birch. : ) Found on Pure Style Home via Jemma's Pinterest.