thrift store finds

a few pictures of my latest thrift store scores...all unique and ALL under $2.

how could i resist?

 can you believe the great detail in this vase? it is a heavy little bugger too.

i almost feel like a genie might pop out if is rub it hard enough...

 i literally squealed (very quietly, though. i am not a total weirdo.) when i spotted this

 little handmade beauty. isn't is great?

this little ceramic guy will probably get a coat of spray paint when i finally decide where i 

want to put him.

i love how quirky and cool he his. and fierce. he is, after all, a LION.

 another pottery find. i love that someone MADE this. with their hands. (kinda hard to  find that kind of accessory at a big box store...)

a cute little brass apple. (it looks great on top of a stack of books.)

i don't go to thrift store as much as i used to. my husband has banned me (lovingly) from buying any more frames and lamps from thrift stores. i have several boxes FULL in my garage...

however, i am always on the lookout for unique and quirky accessories to adorn my bookcases.

have you found any treasures at theft stores lately?

do tell....

before + after: the power of an hour--texas master bedroom

an update from an e-design client that opted for my phone consultation + pinterest board service:

before:

as you can see, my client already had a nice start to the room with a crisp white duvet for the bed, a great rug, and three schumacher lace pillows in a pretty aqua.

the homeowners are avid travelers and sent me a gorgeous picture of a carribbean beach they had recently visited as inspiration for their bedroom. they loved the soft colors and peaceful feeling that a tropical beach evoked. they are drawn to the look of british colonial interiors, but also 

craved a little more color in the room.

what was staying:

the wall color, the bed and bedding, nightstands, chair, dresser, rug, dresser, and beach prints by bed.

here is what we discussed during our hour long phone call, as we looked over the pinterest board that i created for them:
*adding a dose of coral to the  bedroom with a beautiful, trimmed bolster on the bed
*reinforcing the subtle beach theme with a shell sunburst mirror over the bed
*adding crisp white drapery to soften the walls, and a bench at the foot of the bed.
*adding a large piece of art, a lamp, an ottoman and a table to the "lonely" chair in the corner
*adding a gallery wall around the dresser (still being worked on...)
*buying new lamps, and hanging the art on either side of the bed
*placing a pillow with both a dose of the coral and the aqua on the chair to tie the color scheme together.

after: 

as you can see, the simple addition of a great pillow on the bed added SO much to the room! the mirror, hung art and new (very affordable!) gourd lamps add layers of interest and texture.

the "lonely" chair got some friends---a large piece of art, a lamp, table and ottoman now make that space feel cozy and inviting.

the simple window treatments add softness and contrast to the taupe walls/trim/ceiling that the room really needed.


a big thank you to my client for sending me these great update pictures! i am so pleased with how the room has taken shape!

interested in working together on a room in your house? i would love to work with you!

a pinterest board and phone consultation is the perfect way to start. you will be amazed at what you can do on your own with a little bit of guidance!
i am available anytime after november 12th. email me at autumnclemons@yahoo.com to reserve a space.

my first nude

i spend a LOT of time on the computer. 

like, uh-LOT.

sometimes, when i need a break from what i am doing (whether i am gathering ideas for a client pinterest board, returning emails, researching a product, or writing a post...), 

i like to *shop. (shhh....)

i love to visit places like one kings lane, the foundary, joss + main, and of course ebay. 

my favorite things to look for are small or moderately priced accessories for my home. 

i have always loved the classic look of a nude sketch. 

of course, i don't really want to see ALL the bits and pieces...i just think a *hint or suggestion of nudity is all that is needed. i was looking on ebay a few weeks ago (see previous post on devastating ebay losses), and i spotted the PERFECT nude...

1. classy--not too much "lady stuff" showing

2. inexpensive--it was taken from a book, and set me back about $15, (the overall dimensions are 8x10)

3. done in a loose, sketchy way that i think is beautiful.

4. the lady has a little "padding". after all....i don't want to damage my self esteem TOO much by having a skinny, perfect nude lady hanging on my wall!)

i still need to frame my lovely lady, and i won't do that until we are finished building our house, but i imagine that she will hang somewhere in my new master bathroom.

hanging a nude can be a great way to add a collected feel to any art wall.
here are some beautiful inspiration rooms featuring nudes:

ashley goforth

ashley goforth

traditional home

thomas obrien

 donna dufresne

what do you think of nudes?
would you put one in your home?
do you already have one in your home?

floor plan of our new house...!

ta---daaa!!

here it is folks!

the floor plan of our new house! 

one of our goals was to make this house as affordable as possible to build.

a few ways we are planning on saving money with this floor plan?

*the plan is very compact and rather simple. 

the most economical home to build is a perfect square. it allows the most square footage, minimizing the amount of linear footage of exterior wall footage (i.e. the expensive stuff!), and a smaller overall footprint.

see the example below:

the more you deviate from a square, the more money it will cost to build. our house plan is not a perfect square, but it is pretty close.

*we designed the house to FIT the LOT. (a huge deal, considering the slope of the lot!)

*we involved a professional home designer.

(when we did our own initial layout, we realized that we would have to make a few compromises due to budget and size restrictions....we knew we were not going to have another sizable living space on the main floor besides the great room, and we were not going to have a porch due to the setbacks. bummers on both accounts, but not deal-breakers. after all, the house will have an unfinished basement, and a large bonus room on the second floor.)

i was absolutely FLOORED at what todd jenkins at frank betz was able to accomplish! he is a rock star.
he was able to take our diagram:

and turn it into a cohesive, livable space.
if you want to see how we arrived at this diagram, read this post!


a few happy surprises:
*i wasn't expecting the mudroom to be in its own little area. i am so happy that i won't have to look down the hall and see shoes and coats and backpacks everywhere!
* TWO walk-in closets in the master! i thought we would end up with a smaller closet, so this was a very happy surprise.
*i am really happy with the layout of the kitchen. i think the windows on either side of the range/hood are going to look great.
*the bedrooms upstairs are BIG. and so is the main bathroom. yay!
*the master bedroom is bigger than i thought it would be.
* i think the dining space is large enough for a separate seating area near the window.


we have built and remodeled dozens of homes, including 5 personal homes. through each project, we have learned a little more about how WE live in a house. i realize that this floor plan may not work for everyone, but we know it will work for our family. we had to balance what we could afford with what we thought was smart for resale.

i cannot wait to get started. we should break ground in the next couple of weeks. i will be posting instagram and twitter photos of the progress, so feel free to follow me...

devastating ebay losses

is in case you haven't heard, we are going to be building a house!
oh, so you have heard?
cuz i talk about it non-stop?
yeah..ok.
:)

well, because my dreams for the interior of the new house are BIG, and my budget is NOT, i  have been on the prowl for  a few bargain ebay goodies for my house--in particular light and plumbing fixtures.
usually when i bid on something, and i REALLY want it, i will get onto this site and put in my absolute  maximum bid. sometimes i win, and sometimes i don't. but at least i don't get roped into paying more than i wanted for something because i got caught up in the heat-of-the-bidding-war moment.

 i guess i got lazy in the last couple of weeks, because i decided i wasn't going to take the time to try and snipe the items that i wanted. after all, i have the ebay app on my iPhone, and it alerts me when something i am bidding on is about to end. i thought i was good to go.
oh, how wrong i was!
i have lost two auctions in the last few days that are seriously making me c----razy.

for our master bath, i want a faucet that rides that line between modern and traditional. i looked at a lot of faucets, and fell in love with a few from waterwork$.
they are insanely beautiful, but also very expensive. like $1700 for a bathroom faucet. thats almost as much as my entire budget for all the lights and fixtures in the entire house.

SO, i "settled" on the memoirs fixtures from kohler. the widespread fixture retails for around $450, but i found a brand new one on ebay for a starting bid of $25. i was willing to pay $100 for the fixture, but bid $65. seconds before the bidding ended, i got an alert on my iPhone that the bidding was about to end, and i had just been outbid! i frantically tried to bid again, but it was too late. someone else got MY fixture for $66!
ugh! that hurt!

then, on saturday, i spotted a PAIR of visual comfort sconces, going for $75. a PAIR! they were just like the ones pictures above , but in the "aged brass" finish. so dreamy!
these babies retail for over $300 a piece.
once again, i decided to not type in my absolute max bid (which would have been somewhere in the neighborhood of $200), and lost track of time, and lost the auction.
double UGH!!
they sold for $104 plus shipping! blast it!
i was so cranky after that.

i tell you what though....i will NOT lose another bid like these again. i am going to be FIERCE.
like a WARRIOR ninja.
ok, less like a warrior and more like a ninja.
a sneaky tech ninja.
(...and by that, of course, i mean that i am  going to go to auction sniper
and let them do the dirty work for me.)

oh, and by the way, here a few other items i am always eyeing on ebay:

do you shop on ebay?
do you have an ebay triumph you want to share?
is there something you are "always" looking for?
do tell...

oh, and happy bidding!!
(unless you are bidding against me...)

pretty pumpkins

i thought i had seen it all when it came to pumpkin decorating, but i am continually amazed at all of the pretty things i continue to see in magazines, blogs and pinterest.

here are some of my favorites:

puff painted---

via alisa burke

faux bois with marker---

vitamini handmade

chalk paint--

perfectly imperfect

covered in lace---

spider web with yarn---

bhg

decoupaged--

simple scroll---

country living

i always have the best intentions to do something *cool with our pumpkins, but usually, my pumpkins end up looking like this:

yes.
this is what happens when you leave your very creative husband and 3 kids to decorate
 the family pumpkin...(but DO notice the attention to detail---the finger carrots and the cherry tomato eyeballs? pretty good stuff.)

what's making me smile lately...

**first, and foremost, it is getting to drive past this nearly everyday, and dreaming about my NEW HOUSE: 

i promise i will share our floor plans as soon as i can---i just need to wait until all of the permits are signed!)

**finding great, quirky piece like this to add to my affordable find board! 

(love, love this bench!)

**instagramming.

i have loved following erica powell and her bunny stories, and seeing pretty "peeks" from other designers.  i am in love with that faux bois wallpaper and the touches of orange in this picture!

(feel free to follow me! my profile is "autumnclemons")

 **seeing this little dude tear it up on the lacrosse field.

he has scored 9 goals in the last 2 games!

as ALWAYS, beautiful details..

(i could not hunt down the source for this image, so if you know where it is from, please let me know!)

**seeing someone ZOOM by me when i am driving on the freeway...why does this make me smile, you ask? well...because if there is a police officer up ahead, then i know that the speed demon is going to get the ticket and NOT me! whooo-hoo!

**this lamp at ikea. i saw in person  last week, and really liked it:

it would look great in a boys room.

**finding an endless supply of funny quotes on pinterest. 

i particularly loved this one: