Abstract Art

I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend! We hosted over 15 family members at our house for a big Easter Brunch/Zach's Birthday/My Birthday Extravaganza! We had a blast with our family, as always, with tons of food, games and laughs. Emerson did so well with so many people, too. Let's just say she doesn't mind being the center of attention. :)

So I've been in "nesting" mode again... No, Mom, I'm not prego. Since we are staying in Seattle for the next three years and staying in our current rental for at least another year or so, I want to get more settled and put my own stamp on this place. I've been updating the bathroom some and now I'm trying to get more art up on the walls. 

The art in our home is mostly all DIY, family photos or prints from Etsy. We don't have any official "real" artwork on the walls. Our budget just hasn't allowed it, but that's OK. Actually, I take that back. We do have a few smaller pieces that I accumulated from my travels - a watercolor of the Duomo in Firenze, a watercolor of Vernazza, Italy (Cinque Terra), an oil painting of Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, spray paint art from our honeymoon in Cabo. I love these so much and they remind me of our travels every time I look at them. 

That being said, we still don't have any other "real" art that isn't of a place where we've traveled. I've been seeing a ton of inspirational abstract art on Etsy and some other blogs I read and I'm in love with it! I think it's time that I diversified a little bit. Added some abstract art to mix things up and add some color. There are some beautiful colorful pieces of art out there and the nice thing is that there is some really affordable art. It may not be the original art, but a print of the original art is just as good in my book (and much easier on my pocketbook). I rounded up some of my favorites after scoping out some other round ups like this, this, and this.

1. Britt Bass 2. Michelle Armas 3. Belinda Marshall 4. Cortney North 5. Parima Studio

I ended up buying the Michelle Armas print and I can't wait until it gets here! I'm excited to add some much needed color and texture to the walls!

What art are you digging lately? Abstract? Landscapes? Typography? If you have any other suggestions for great art, please share!

Headboard Ideas & Inspiration

Hi guys! I'm back before busy season is over? Shocking, right? In my last post you might remember me mentioning our new Cal King bed! It's been a few weeks now and it's still amazing. I would triple underline that if I could. Why did we ever wait so long before investing in a really comfortable mattress??? Never again! Totally worth the money. Since then I have slept so well every night (just not long enough). My back and neck are in less pain and I sleep so deeply. I'm in love. If you don't know me, one of my favorite things in the world is a crawling into a super comfy bed with crisp clean sheets on. Best. Thing. Evaaaaaaaaa. 

OK, enough on my obsession with clean sheets and comfy beds. On to the headboard. I've literally been dreaming about it lately. I loved our previous head board so much and I was kind of sad to see it go (it only moved to our guest bedroom along with our old queen sized bed). With the new bed, our room just feels empty without having a substantial headboard to ground everything and bring some style. 

The sad part is I don't think I even shared my old headboard with you guys! Oops... blogger fail. It's on my list for after April 15th though, so fear not! We actually re-upholstered our old old headboard and used Sarah's plans to update it to a charcoal gray with arms headboard. It turned out great and I love it. I'll share pics soon!

As for our new headboard, I want to go similar - I'm still loving the tufted upholstered headboards these days. This time, I want to go with some deeper, diamond tufting and a bright pop of color. I'm thinking something like this but with side arms. I'm actually kind of obsessed with this color fabric and the tufting. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Master Bedroom Inspiration

Hey guys! I'm back! It's been a busy couple of weeks for us - moving, getting ready for Little BK, and just general life business. I'm excited to share more of our new place with you guys and eventually I will, but today I wanted to show you my inspiration for our master bedroom. 

Oh, by the way, I'm in MAJOR nesting mode right now. Like, everything must be finished and in its place before she comes, nesting. It's partly new house nesting too, but mostly I just want to have as much done as I can before she gets here because I know once she is here I won't have a lot of time for anything else!

If you remember our old house, our master bedroom was green, but now that we have our West Elm gray and white striped duvet, I wanted to change it up a bit. Luckily, that is an easy thing to do with accessories! 

1. Coral Shell Print Curtains - I loved these curtains for a while and would stalk them every time I went to Target until I finally broke down and got them! I can't wait to put them up.

2. Gray Tufted Headboard - This one from Wayfair is fabulous (and my friend, Kim, actually just bought it for her new place in NC!). But, we do already have our cream colored tufted headboard, and my plan is to recreate the Wayfair one but using this tutorial from Sarah M Dorsey Designs blog (she's a DIY genius!). We even have some leftover fabric from our chair upholstery project!

3. Coral Lamp - I love the shape of this lamp from Lamps Plus. The shade of coral is perfect. We do have some old black IKEA table lamps from years ago though, and I'm thinking I might try and do a little coral spray paint magic to update the bases and save some dough.

4. Fun Coral Patterned Pillows - These geometric pillows would be great for accents on the bed. Thinking I might make pillow covers for some of my existing pillows though. We all know I love making pillows. :) 

5. White Hemnes IKEA Nightstand - You can't go wrong with a simple IKEA nightstand. The good news is that we already own a pair of these. The bad news is that they are in black. I'm thinking it will be a quick fix to paint them white...

6. Map Art - I have quite a few old maps that I might use for the walls.

7. DIY Yarn Letters - These are staying in there. I love them. 

8. Let's Get Lost Art - Love this print. Just love it.

9. Love is Spoken Here Art - Also love this one. The colors are perfect and it's just so pretty.

10. West Elm Gray and White Striped Duvet - I got this set for Christmas and so far I love it. I can't wait to add to the room to make it all come together!

11. Argonne Rug - The pattern on this rug and the color is amazing.

12. Fresh Flowers - You can't go wrong with a little pop of freshness!

13. West Elm Striped Sheet Set - Love these sheets. I like how the small stripes match yet contrast the striped duvet cover.

14. Light Gray Wall Paint - Zach actually painted the bedroom today in Martha Stewart's Heavy Goose!

Paint is on, so next step is putting it all together! Can't wait to share when it's done!

Nursery Ideas for Little Miss BK

I had so much putting this together (especially since I finally figured out a non-photoshop way to make a mood board)! I've been so excited to put the nursery together every since busy season ended so I started a secret board on Pinterest with all my nursery finds. I've finally narrowed them down to what I can envision for Little Miss BK! My main inspiration is this nursery from Jess at Craftiness is Not Optional. I love the colors - aqua, coral and yellow - and I loved the subtle hot air balloon theme. I'm not really into "themed" nurseries, but I do like having the hot air balloons in there a little bit. I'm more of a geometric/stripes/polka dots kind of girl. :) Mostly, I just want it to be a bright, colorful fun space for Little BK (and mainly me, I guess) to enjoy! I also have some big plans for some fun projects too! I'll explain more...

Obsessed: Barn Wood Tables

Currently I am obsessed with these barn wood tables (top two images from A Beautiful Mess; bottom two images from Wit & Whistle). I love the texture, the blend of colors, the herringbone, the detail. They're just so much more interesting than a regular wood table. Tons of character and I like that. Plus the thin hairpin legs are such a good mix with the natural toned wood. Love love love it.

I'm hoping to someday make one of my own. And hopefully soon... I've already decided I'm only asking for power tools for Christmas (hint hint ;). Then all I have to find is some barn wood and some hairpin legs! I'm thinking mine will be a side table for next to the couch. Must make one of these pronto!

Live. Swim. Drink.

From here.

Knock Knock.

Last week was bikes, this week is doors. Exciting, right?! I love a colorful door. It's the first part of your home that people see. It's the part of your home that says, "Hi there, let's be friends." or "No, no. Stay away. I don't know you, but I don't like you." I prefer my door to be friendly. Either way, a front door can be an important feature of any home - especially in a bright, fresh hue like some of these. Someday I'll have my own colored door... maybe in yellow... or green... or red...

sources: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Shine

As I mentioned here, I've been listening to KLove on my way to and from work every day. I love the Christian music and how "positive and encouraging" the station is (that is their motto, after all). One of the best things about KLove is that there are little to no commercials, which means more music. Booyah!

One song I've been digging lately is SMS [Shine] by David Crowder Band. The song is so inspiring and always makes me happy. The video is equally inspiring - made in stop-motion with a Lite Brite! I can't imagine how long it took them to do this! Amazing.

P.s. Check out how they made the video here, here, here, and here. So cool.

All Things Aqua

I love aqua. I also love turquoise, robin's egg blue, and teal. It's so bright and cheery and it makes me happy. My kitchen is decked out in all the aqua goodness of Martha Stewart. I gravitate towards anything from that realm of the color wheel. There's something a little vintage, a little carefree, a little quirky I love about turquoise. Here's some of my aqua inspiration...

Source: young house love via megan on pinterest

Source: theblackbicycle

Source: tip junkie via megan on pinterest 

Source: House of Turquoise via megan on pinterest

Source: Apartment Therapy via megan on pinterest

Source: bhldn.com via megan on pinterest  

Source: Urban Outfitters via megan on pinterest 



Source: flicker.com via megan on pinterest

Source: Etsy via megan on pinterest  

Side note: have you heard of Pinterest? It's this awesome site where you can "pin" pictures from around the web to different "boards" you create. It's a great way to keep track of your inspiration and never forget the source. Check it out!

A Little Bit of Whimsy

About the time we moved down here, I stumbled upon this beautiful art by Katie Daisy on Etsy (find her Etsy shop here) and fell in love! I love the bright vibrant colors, the whimsical shapes and the daydream worthy quotes and messages. To me, they are all so inspiring and cheerful. I ended up buying a couple of her designs and have not been disappointed. Here are the ones I bought:

The first one I have yet to put up due to my tiny little apartment having limited wall space. I may need to work on that in the near future... The second one is currently up in my bathroom, but one day I think it will go very nicely in a nursery or kid's room. She also does some designs of different states which I love, I just wish she had one for Washington! Here are a few more of my favorites:

She has so many amazing prints, I want to buy all of them!

Check out Katie's website and blog here and here.



Yes, Please.

For a long while now I've wanted a sweet wingback chair. There's just something about a bold print combined with the shape and form of a wingback chair that make such a statement in a room. It makes me want to curl up with a good book, kick back and relax. I can't wait until we can buy our own home and I can start truly decorating for the long term. Oh, to be able to just use paint! And I will definitely be having a wingback chair in my future house. Perhaps one like this...

This one only costs a measly $1,698 (anthropologie, why do you do this to me?). Someday, somehow I will find my wingback chair. I might need to do a little digging/scavenging/ thrifting/antiquing to find it, but I will find my wingback chair. And maybe I'll find a little something for the mister too. Then we can be like Ellie and Carl from Up. 

I've always loved this idea - having his and hers chairs. I think the hubs would like it too, except I know deep down in his heart he's always wanted his very own recliner but I'm just not sure that will fly in my future dream home. We'll just have to wait and see! Here's a few more I like for your viewing pleasure...

Source: Pottery Barn

Source: Crate & Barrel

Source: Anthropologie

Shut the Front Door

I've watched the show "What Not to Wear" since I was in high school. Love. That. Show. Whenever I watch it, it always gets me super excited about shopping. I literally must go shopping the next day. (Not good for the Spending Diet). It makes me want to get this:

Source: emersonmade

Or these...

Source: zappos

Or this...

Source: emersonmade (I basically want everything she makes)

Stacy and Clinton are amazing, not just as stylists, but also as kind of "clothing therapists." And the people on the show crack me up. Sometimes it makes sense. The soccer mom that "let herself go," Ok I can see that. The twenty-something still wearing college gear, yeah I get it. But some of these people are just plain ca-razy. I love watching their stories unfold. One of the best parts about the show is seeing the transformation of each of the women. Some of them are going through a huge life change. This is completely different for them and yet they embrace the change for the better. It may seem a bit shallow that clothes and the way you "look" can change a person completely. But, it's not the clothes, but the way they make someone feel and the way they give confidence to someone that truly makes the difference.