Beautiful Mess’ified

I seem to be going through a nesting phase in our home these past days. Maybe it’s just my increasing anticipation of cooler weather and cozying up this place, but I’m less interested in DIY home repairs (such as the much needed finish work on our crown moulding and the painting of our exterior patio door). Instead I’m more focused on the interior details that have less to do with D-I-Y and more to do with B-U-Y. Buying unique things for our home, that is.  

 

Ask anyone that shops with me, I’m a pretty finicky buyer when it comes to buying for my home, my shop or my clients. I would rather leave empty handed than drop bucks on something less than ideal. And ever since they opened shop nearly a year ago, I can’t seem to stop stalking A Beautiful Mess, a favorite antique store of mine, located in Agoura, CA. The quality of their ever-changing inventory is always up to par. I try to drop in whenever I’m in the area to just see what those creative ladies are up to. I guess you can say they’re my inspiration-station.  

I thought I would share with you a few of my favorite things I’ve bought from them, this being my most recent (and favorite) purchase to date…

 

 

Made from a rare old grain sack, circa 1931, my jaw about hit the floor when I saw the horse detail, which is original to the sack, and I HAD to have it, just ask my friend Kymberley. A talented designer and A Beautiful Mess shop owner, Kymberley carries the most beautiful line of pillows and textiles, with each piece crafted from old sacks specially for her textiles line, 3 Fine Grains, a division of A Beautiful Mess. Notice the hand stitched repair-within-a-repair on the left side. Swoon-worthy….

 

 

Another item I couldn’t leave the store without during a recent visit, this tea-stained book bundle…

 

 

I have a thing for rich textures…

 

 

And muted tones…

 

 

Yep, another equestrian-themed find. I’m so drawn to horses lately and their regal beauty. And fortunately for me, they work really well into my decor…

 

 

I literally stalked this old iron horse in their store for months before I finally caved. It’s a piece designed by The Junk Girls, vendors at A Beautiful Mess…

 

 

My favorite tote, which is called the Alles Bag (pronounced Alice). Alles means “everything” in German, the “everything bag”. Another piece from Kymberley’s textiles line…

 

 

The Alles Totes are made from 100 year-old grain sacks, and the names you see typically bear the name of the grain farmer or the town he and his family were from…

 

 

This old shoe rack I purchased from Marilyn, another vendor at A Beautiful Mess, and quite possibly one of my favorite people on the planet. Remember when I featured her home? Her taste is impeccable.

 

 

  This thing gets worked over daily between our shoes and garden boots. It’s also a great reminder to take your shoes off right when you come inside the house, and helps keep everything tidy and in one place… 

 

 

This old striped suitcase came from my friend Victoria, another great vendor at A Beautiful Mess and she also has a new website. I would show you more of this case, but it’s sort of top secret for now. It’s part of another project I’ve got brewing in our master bedroom, which is currently more mess than it is beautiful. See what I’m talking about...more nesting!

 

 

Thanks for letting me share some of my favorite finds with you. If you’re in the area, stop in and say hi to the ladies for me, and feel free to get your ‘mess’ on!

 

A Beautiful Mess

28875 Agoura Road (Whizin's Shopping Center)

Agoura Hills, California 91301

 

 

Chalkboard Inspiration

I have been finding myself needing a little inspiration lately, specifically with this big bad boy…

Our huge chalkboard wall. It’s the wall that separates our living room from our dining room. Normally, I like to change up this wall every couple weeks, but lately I’ve been pretty uninspired with it.

Fortunately, I met up with the creative folks at Arcadian Lighting just in the nick of time. Not only do they specialize in beautiful lighting, they’ve offered up a chock-filled post aimed specifically at chalkboard ideas, specially for me my readers. I think I can already feel those creative juices flowing again.

Without further ado, I give you Jenn C. from Arcadian Lighting. Take it away Jenn…

 

Hi all! I’m Jenn C. and I write for Arcadian Lighting, a site that chronicles lighting trends around the world. I've been writing about home decor since graduating university and have loved it ever since. I'm addicted to patterned fabrics, Jonathan Adler, chaise lounges, old doors, milk glass jars, antiques, and chandeliers. I just bought my first house, and when I'm looking for some decor inspiration I peruse Jennifer Grey's website, The Old Painted Cottage. I'm excited to be guest posting here today - thanks Jennifer!

Once relegated to the classroom, chalkboards have become fun (and handy) interior design elements that are both whimsical to look at it as well as serve a great purpose: they can be used as art canvases for little ones, family reminders in common rooms, or even as wall art. Paired with a great light fixture in a space, such as ceiling lights and wall sconces, and a chalkboard can infuse a room with personality. Here are some chalkboard inspirations...

A is for awesome

via Modern Chic Tots

A child's bedroom or a playroom are the perfect places for a chalkboard. It can be a learning tool and a fun space for little ones to express themselves.

In the kitchen

via South Philly Renovation

A door coated in a layer of chalkboard paint becomes a great spot to jot down items for a grocery list, important phone numbers, or date reminders.

Wonky wallpaper

via papernstitch

An entire wall decked out in a chalkboard is a showcase for a beautiful chalk sketch, such as this floral wall art in a contemporary dining room. The ceiling light also adds to the modish feel.

Welcome wall

via pinterest

A chalkboard hung in an entryway can be used in a myriad of ways, from writing down to-dos to including a welcome message for visitors.

Double headboard

via Inspired. Interior. Ideas. Daily.

A chic bedroom with a tufted headboard looks even more striking when propped in front of a chalkboard wall. Colors are mimicked throughout - the black of the chalkboard is in the throw pillows, while the beige in the table lamp shade is picked up in the material of the headboard.

Awesome accents

via Furnishing My Home!

An end wall in a wide gallery kitchen looks oh-so-family-friendly with chalkboard paint - it's ideal for drawing pictures, keeping lists, tracking appointments, and much more. The added pendant lights was a nice touch to the decor.

Inspirational board

via Decor & You

A chalkboard hung in this bathroom features a cute quote from a Dr. Seuss book - it adds so much character to this usually-utilitarian space.

On furniture

via decorpad

Chalkboard paint can be applied to walls, sections of walls, or even furniture, such as this toy chest in a playroom.

Content provided by Arcadian Lighting, a site that specializes in top quality lighting fixtures at extremely affordable prices. If you like this post, be sure to stop by the Arcadian Lighting blog and say hello!

Thank you Jenn C! I’m not sure about you guys, but I am feeling pretty revved up, so much so, I revisited that big old chalkboard wall yesterday, and here’s what I came up with…

 

One of my favorite quotes, “She Believed She Could So She Did”. It’s an important reminder to believe in yourself, even when it feels like the weight of the world is on your back. Anything is possible once you put your mind to it…

 

 

PS: If you’re worried about chalk dust with your chalkboards, you can always use dust-free chalk and it writes beautifully!

Stay inspired my friends!

Natural Sugar VS Artificial, and a Gorgeous Kitchen Make-Over

Thanks to all the folks that weighed their thoughts in on my recent I-don’t-want-to-die-from-artificial-sweeteners dilemma. I was using about half a dozen packets a day of the stuff, sometimes more. Multiply that times the countless years I’ve been using it, and add that number to the preceding countless packets of Sweet n’ Low I’d consumed for decades before that. That’s a lot of artificial nonsense if you ask me.

 

After doing a ton of Googling scientific research….artificial sweeteners VS. real sugar, and refined sugar VS. unrefined sugar, I decided to hit the shopping isles of my two favorite markets, Whole Foods and Sprouts, and check out some of these products for myself. And as it turns out, the sweetener choices out there on the market can be a bit overwhelming, with each label claiming to be better than the next. After contemplating over each of the different varieties, I honed in on natural, unrefined, cane sugar.

 

(And as the words cane sugar ran through my brain, I couldn’t help but think back to this, one of my favorite commercials as a kid):

 

 

(The part at the end with the little boy hunkering down onto that huge raw sugar cane gets me every time. And don’t even get me started on that addictively catchy jingle. Adam and I have been humming it all morning long since watching that clip. You’re welcome.)

 

So after all that contemplating and vintage commercial time traveling, I settled on this, Natural Demerara Unrefined Cane Sugar…

 

 

So far I’ve tested it out in my hot tea, oatmeal, even my water & apple cider vinegar drink, and they’ve each passed the taste test. And the last one’s especially crucial, cause that ACV has a serious sting in the back of the throat sensation and doesn’t always go down smooth. But I will say it is doable and has a pleasant taste. Another thing I should point out, the granules don't dissolve easily in cold beverages so I just stir often in between sips.

 

 

Onto other news, last week my friend Laurie asked me to photograph her friend Rebecca’s kitchen, which was recently remodeled. Here’s how Rebecca’s kitchen looked when they first moved in, circa 1967…

 

 

And here’s how it looks today…

 

        

 

There’s actually over a dozen photos that I took in total, this is just a little sampling here in this post. To see the rest of the photos of Rebecca’s gorgeous renovated kitchen, along with sources, costs and the kitchen floor plan, please visit Laurie's blog for all the deets!

Happy Memorial Day my friends : )

 

TLC, HGTV and a Cottage of the Month Round-Up

Happy 1st of September! I’m not sure about you, but we’re starting to count down the days till Autumn is officially here. (21 days to be exact, thanks to this helpful calendar). We can’t wait to start pulling out all our comfy sweaters and coats. Last night it was actually chilly enough to wear socks and pull the comforter all the way up over the bed. Best night of sleep I can remember : )

 

Aside from being an inspirational blogger and enthusiastic DIY’er, my friend Layla from TLC (The Lettered Cottage) also writes articles for HGTV.com. She had contacted us a while back about using our bakery wall for an upcoming feature she was writing. Since most of the photos of our house are totally outdated (I decorate and re-decorate this place on a weekly basis, people. Just ask Adam who never knows what he might come home to next). So I whipped out my Canon Rebel and came up with this current shot of our bakery wall:

 

 

And to my added excitement, Layla and HGTV.com came up with this:

 

 

You can see the article in its entirety HERE! It is a beautiful piece with loads of inspiration. There’s even a photo of Layla’s Reading Room included in the article, the tiniest sweetest little room I ever did see. Couldn't you just dream the day away in here…

 

Image 

So this got me to thinking…It’s about time I pull out my camera again and update the photos of the rest our home, how it currently looks (this week anyway) as you know I like moving things around here on a regular basis : )

For a little fun, and to help get me motivated to start snapping this place with more current pics, here’s a before and current after of our bakery wall in our kitchen…

BEFORE:

 

AFTER:

 

Since today is the 1st of September, I’m hoping you’ll take a moment to visit this month’s Cottage of the Month. It’s Jojeana’s darling farmhouse-style home from Secret Garden Cottage. She’s a super friendly blogger and I’m really excited to have the opportunity to share her home with you. Here’s a few teaser pics to entice you if you haven’t already seen it…

 

 

To visit Jo’s blog, please click here!

 

As part of my round-up, I wanted to share a peek at a couple of the past features I’ve done incase you missed those as well. 

July 2011 Cottage of the Month

In July, I featured the sweetest gal named Yozo, who lives all the way in Tokyo, Japan! I could definitely learn some tight-space-living organizational techniques from her, as she lives in a 70 square meter home…

 

August 2011 Cottage of the Month

For Augusts’ feature, I chose Trine’s home located in Norway. Her home is delightful and whimsical around every corner you turn. Here’s a few sneak peeks from her feature…

 

And there you have it in one big post-filled nutshell! Well, I think it’s about time I step away from my desk and grab that camera of mine. I’m feeling especially motivated to starting taking those current house photos I’ve been talking about : )