accidental stalker.

so...i received THIS in the mail last week:

"your request for an additional year of subscription or gift subscription at this time would exceed our systems maximum number of allowed issues"

apparently, i have exceed the number of years that i am ALLOWED to subscribe to house beautiful.

so what if my subscription is good until may 2018?

shouldn't they take that as a compliment??

gheesh.

it kinda made me feel like a creepy stalker.
("um. thanks for subscribing to our magazine, but could you please stop?")

but thank you for the $14 refund... i'm going to take it and max out my
OTHER subscriptions.
i'm such a BAD girl!
i like to live on the EDGE...the EDGE, i tell ya!!!
mu--ahhhhh haa haa ha!!
(that was an evil laugh, just in case you didn't know.)


do you think magazines should limit the number of years you can subscribe?
i guess they are doing it because they want to be able to raise the price in the future?
that's my only guess.
just wondering what  you all think...

out and about

i thought i would share some random snippets of last week:

i stopped by the DENNIS PHILLIPS GALLERY, where i found some affordable art. 

(i will share more on that next week)

 found some goodies at WORLD MARKET:

isn't this mirror cute?

 you may remember this mirror from this project. it is a great sized mirror for a really great price.

 they have a fabulous select  of colorful pillows, perfect for a quick spring update.

 i thought the colors in this one were particularly nice.

and i ADORE this lamp...it;s so quirky.

they have a really great selection of curtain panels. i particularly liked these two.

this is labeled as a dining room settee, but wouldn't it look great at the foot of a bed?

this is my favorite place to get these x-back chairs.

THEN...onto TJ MAXX HOMEGOODS:

 a great headboard i spotted--this would be a great diy project!

 a quick jaunt through ANTHROPOLOGIE on my way to book club:

 love this summery installation with the square ceramic stools and the cactus.

 i also loved the funky installation on this wall, and had to get a closer look....

 wow! wood veneer! oh how i love anthropologie's displays.....

off to the UTAH MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS for book club.
this month we read "the memories of madame elizabeth vigee le brun"...
the writings of an 18th century french  portrait painter.

 she was marie antoinette's court painter.  kinda a boring book,(although a free download on the kindle!)
 but it was really neat to see one of her paintings in person.

the UMFA actually owns this painting....it was huge...about 5 feet tall. 

the textures and colors were exquisite in person.

i was kinda surpassed at the wall color in the "17th and 18th century  european" area of the museum...it was a very rich, warm peach color. similar to this:

benjamin moore's "sweet 'n sour"

thursday night was the BIG opening of CITY CREEK,  the new 2 billion dollar shopping/dining experience in downtown salt lake city. after hearing about it for the last 3 years, we figured we should
stop by and check it out.

it was a perfect day outside, and there were tons of other people there eager to enjoy the

new stores and restaurants. 

i have a major crush on these light fixtures....

on the way back to our car, we walked through the the historic joesph smith memorial building
(previously the hotel utah) to enjoy the architecture...


the moldings in this place are INSANE. in-sane.


one of the kids needed to go to the bathroom, so we made a pit stop.
i coulnd't help myself when it came it taking a picture of the bathroom floors...


how great are these floors?

and last but not least, i took my 12 year old daughter out for sushi and then to see the hunger games.

thanks for joining me on my recap of last week.
hope you enjoyed seeing a peek of my out and about-ness.
:)
happy tuesday!

ikea rast hack: my sketch comes to life

several months ago...(ok, maybe even closer to a year), candace, from crafty sisters blog hired me to do a design plan for her master bedroom.
both candace and nicole are AMAZINGLY handy, and so when it came to redesigning her bedroom, she said she was on a tight budget, and was up for any type of diy challenge.
you better believe that i put her TO WORK!
(nicole is my sister in law, so that makes candace my sister in laws sister. is that confusing enough?)
anyway, candace has been making tremendous progress on the long list of DIY projects that i lined up for her.

she recently completed a pair of these oly inspired ikea rast nightstands:

isn't it amazing?? 

it is always so incredible to see something in REAL life that you dreamed up in your head!

here is the original piece that inspired me-the elizabeth bedside table from oly studio:

this is a sketch that i sent to nicole as she was starting to modify the fast night stands....

the nightstands are painted a soft dark blue-green by 

benjamin moore: dartsmouth green 691.

here is a peek at them in progress...nicole is the genius who made my sketch into a reality!

a few of the other projects that candace has already completed for her bedroom:
(you can see the tutorials for each of these projects on their blog)

recovering two kmart stools and adding trim.

making a sunburst mirror.


making trimmed roman shades.


making a simple plant stand:




making pillows shams and a bed skirt,

and some accent pillows.


here is a peek at the plan that i put together for candace:

with all of these projects that candace has completed, it's kind of a miracle that she is still sane! i am so impressed with what she has been able to accomplish so far, and i am looking forward to seeing the FINAL reveal sometime soon.

may the odds be ever in your favor...

(sorry---i just HAD to sneak in a reference to the hunger games! i read the books about two years ago, and i have been super excited to see the movie! i am taking my 12 year old daughter out for sushi and the 7pm showing tonight.)

one of the principles of interior design is balance. i know when a lot of us envision "balance", we think in terms of pairs, and this IS a WONDERFUL way to create balance. but another way to create balance is with odd numbers...with THREE being a favorite. may the ODDS be ever in YOUR favor...especially if your rooms look anything like these:

 three pieces of art are perfection above this console. this is such a simple vignette---three coordinating pieces of art in simple frames, above a simple console. it makes  such an impact, though, doesn't it?

 these three west elm tables create a fun grouping in front of the chaise. i know, i know....it's hard to concentrate on anything but that VIEW!

i really like the peaceful feel of this bedroom, and the simple use of three mirrors over the bed. you can find similar mirrors here and here.

(via charm home design)

these three pieces of art look really great above this bed. don't you love the touches of blue here? the curtains, a small pillow on the chair and the THREE pillows on the bed are the only touches of blue in the room, but the color really makes an impact. 

(denise mcgaha design)

love these three pendants over this island. if i had a large island, i would SO do this.

(venegas and company)

SO, back to the hunger games...

did you read the books?

did you like them?

are you going to see the movie?

i have to admit that i read the "other" (twilight) teen fantasy series and enjoyed them, but didn't care for the movies. i am hoping that the hunger games movie is HALF as good as the book, and then i know i will love it.

10 classic modern chairs you should know

one of my favorite classes in college was an interior design history class. the class focused on the last 100 years of interior design, and one of the elements that i enjoyed the most was the section on modern classic furniture. there are literally hundreds of chairs that are considered "modern classics", but these happen to be my favorites, and the ones that i feel blend most effectively into a more traditional setting.

(if this post looks familiar, it is because i wrote a simiar post about a year ago, but i thought this information

was so great that i redid the images to make them more pin-friendly. i also added two great chairs. )