ROOMS

via Merry Christmas, everyone!  I am traveling right now, so I apologize on the late post announcing the winner for the NOVICA gift card!  The days keep on getting away from me! The lucky winner is Julie (comment #7)!!! True Random Number Generator from random. org was used  to select winner.

When writing blog posts, I usually stick pretty close to interior design related topics - makes sense, since that is what I do and love!  Today, we are going to talk about a little different topic though, if you don't mind! ****There is a giveaway at the end of this post, so keep reading!**** I hope you all are familiar with NOVICA . It is a website where you can purchase art, home decor, jewelry, clothing, gifts, etc., (just to name a few categories!) made by artisans from all over the world! Twice now, NOVICA has given me the opportunity to pick an item from their website to order for myself. Last time I picked out home decor related items, which I still love.  To see the post where I talked about those items, click here .  This time, I had my eye on jewelry or a fashion accessory.  They have an incredible selection! After hours of looking (trust me once you start looking at all the beautiful items on their site it is terribly hard to pick just one!!) Fina...

I recently completed helping a client decorate their home.  I posted some of the design boards I put together for them here .  My clients will most likely only be in this home for a few more years, but they did want to make their home more comfortable and welcoming.  They already had all their furniture pieces and we did not do any painting.  What I love about this project is that it shows how you can spice up a space just with adding new accessories, art, a rug, and window treatments. Here are the BEFORE pictures of their family room: Here is the design board I put together for the room: And here are the AFTER  pictures: This is just beginning, we made-over about every room in this house.  Stay tuned for more reveals! _____________ If you need help making your home a place you love, visit my website to see the services I offer.

I have two ends tables that I purchased at local second-hand shops that needed a little bit of lovin' and a fresh coat of paint.  Believe it or not, these are the  first pieces of furniture that I have personally   ever painted.  I have suggested the idea to clients,  but as for me and my house, I had never done it. If you are looking for a step - by - step  tutorial on how to paint your wood furniture, this is not it! I just want to share a few very important key points that I learned along the way: 1) Use an oil based primer.  I learned the importance of this after painting my first end table.  The table actually turned out cream colored  - even though I used white paint -  because I just used regular wall primer.   From what I understand, the oil based primer stops the furniture stain from seeping through your new paint color.   Zinnser Primer (the one in the gold can)  is a great oil primer, and is what...

Hello, everyone! I'm so happy to be here with you here at Rooms with a guest post from Arcadian Home blog. It's a fabulous place to find interior design inspiration including great decorating ideas for everything from beautiful modern pendant lights to a wonderful array of rugs for the floor. Today's topic is chairs, lovely seating around the dining table to be specific. From traditional to modern to the simply quirky, I've brought along eight images to explore some of the amazing chairs that have recently caught my eye. Let's have some fun with stylish dining chairs! ~ Mari    This traditional dining room is updated with a contemporary take on the crystal chandelier and velvet dining chairs with their casual patterned backs. Traditional chair design meets contemporary textile pattern for a happy merger.   A modern pendant light hangs above this large round table surrounded by raspberry-hued chairs. It wasn't planned, but it seems velvet chairs will be ...

Don't you love how new paint can totally change the feel of a room?   I finally got around to painting my kitchen.  It used to be yellow - you can see what it looked like here . The new color I selected was Sherwin-Williams Topsail 6217.  It is a very light blue with a touch of green.  It is so soft and refreshing.  It really compliments my gray-blue counter tops and back splash, which isn't my favorite, but looks a lot better with the new paint. Now, I just need to decide what to put on this empty wall. Here are a few things I have been considering: Framing and matting this set of water colored herbs Framing and matting a collection of water color birds.   This shop has some beautiful ones. Hanging an large abstract art piece with pops of bright colors, like in this kitchen: I'm not sure on the source of this picture, I  pinned it  quite awhile ago.   If anyone knows, let me know! You may ...

About a year ago, I made these art pieces to go on a boring white wall in our rental home.  In our new home, I thought they would go nicely with my newly painted deep blue walls in my dining room. At the time that I made these, I couldn't spend a lot of money.  I found the art prints at a local antique/collectibles shop.  I purchased the cheapest frames I could possibly find - they were an oak color and I spray painted them white.  It was too expensive to mat them, so I just purchased the green artist paper  and taped on the prints. By the way, the blue paint isn't quite as 'crayon blue' as it looks in these photos, in  this post  the color is a little more accurate.  There are still some other things in this room I would like to tackle, but these things take time...and money, right!??  For now, at least I have some art on the walls;) (In case you missed it, this is what the dining room looked like when we moved in....

I've been a little MIA on this blog lately.  Poor blog! I have been pretty busy with clients - which is great thing that I cannot complain about!  Currently, I am helping to decorate a home in a near by town.  They already have all their furniture pieces, they just needed rugs, art, accessories, bedding, pillows, etc. to make their home more welcoming and homey.  Here are a few of the design boards I have put together for them. The master bedroom is probably my favorite space that I designed for them.  They wanted a peaceful retreat. This design is for their 17 years old daughter's room.  I love the vibrant colors. Their family room already had a lot of  chocolate and  red (including a red sofa).  So, I decided to add in seafoam green to the mix.   Do you need helping pulling your home together?  I'd love to help, visit my website to see the services I offer!

Floral fabric fabrics are really great for softening up a space & adding a feminine touch.  I especially love to use them on pillows & window treatments.  I rounded up 10 floral fabrics for under $10 a yard.  There are a ton of gorgeous floral fabrics out there, but finding them for under $10 a yard was a little tricky! (Talk about pattern overload with all the fabrics being shown together...haha!!) 1  -  2  -  3  -  4  -  5  -  6  -  7  -  8  -  9  -  10 Check out my post on:   Parade of Geometric Fabrics for Under $10 a Yard On another note, you may enjoy reading about: How To Choose The Right Size For An Area Rug

Sorry friends...no design post this week. It's my daughters birthday party this Saturday.  I have been a busy girl making fairy wings for her & all her little friends.  They have turned out pretty cute so far:)  I still have more to make:)    Wish me luck! I'm going to need all the luck I can get with ten little 3 & 4 year olds running around!   (Why did we invite so many kids?  I don't know! Haha!!)

I have always been drawn to geometric fabrics.  Here a few of my favorites that cost less than $10 a yard! 1  - 2  - 3  - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 Love stripes & floral prints also?  Me too!  Stayed tuned throughout the next week as I reveal my top ten picks  for stripes & florals under $10 a yard. You may also enjoy reading about: Parade of Decorative Boxes Parade of Shower Curtains Under $40 Parade of Colorful Plates Need help designing your home?  Visit my website !

We were is desperate need of something to hide toys in our family room.  In addition, I really needed something to go along the back our loveseat.  Below, is basically the view you get when you walk into our home.  I didn't want people to walk in & the first thing they see is the bare back of our loveseat. One day, I was meandering around TJ Maxx & spotted this cute storage ottoman.  Right away, I knew it needed to come home with me! It has proved to be a fantastic purchase for us!  My kids can easily get toys in & out of it.  It is also a very convenient place to sit & put your shoes on before heading out the door.  In addition, it can easily be moved around to the main sitting area if extra seating is ever needed. You KNOW you have made a good purchase when your husband has said TWICE, "Melissa, buying that ottoman was a really good idea."  Need some other ideas on how to hide toys?   Cute baskets/bo...

As I have mentioned, we purchased our first home a few months back.  Here is a peak into what I have been working on.  This is a shot into my kitchen.  We needed a set of counter stool badly.   (And new paint, but we are not talking about that today!   Not to mention, a new back splash in my dream world!)  Because I am working on a budget, I turned to overstock.com and purchased this set for an awesome price. They met all my requirements:  * Had to be COMFY...well this was more of my husband's requirements! * Had to have a modern flair without going too overboard...I love the square cut-out in the back. * I really wanted white...These are more of an off-white but they work. * Had to be able to wipe down...My daughter + ketchup fingers.  You know what I mean.  These look like leather, but are vinyl.  Very easy to clean up! Also, we have gotten our dining room painted.  To find out h...