Plant this!

Have I mentioned before that I love Apartment Therapy?  I'm sure I have, but seriously.  I do.  So many great ideas come out of this site.  Today's favorite is a sweet idea for a planter.  I've hand houseplants on the brain lately - mine were all in needof some serious repotting.  MOST of them are done; just a couple more to go.  So, you can see why this one caught my eye.  :)  If I ever had a lovely little sink-sized niche, I might have to use this puppy.

Truth be told, I'm also kind of jealous of the ivy...

Decals!

So, my friends T&D are getting ready for their first baby.  Baby J should be showing his or her beautiful face in the next four weeks (!!!!).  I went to visit them today, to see their almost-finished baby room.  They have these great safari animal decals that they got in a shop on Etsy.  Naturally, by the time I got home to look up the company, I couldn't remember the name of the shop.  A surf through Etsy using "decal" has revealed some pretty fantastic items, though!  Here are some of the sweet little items I found, along with a bonus pic of T&D's baby room.  :)

Sidenote:  I WANT this bathroom as well - all that beautiful glass tile!!!!

I blame this last one totally on T&D - baby fever has struck.  HOW CUTE.

Laundry

If I had a laundry room like this, I'd totally be all over laundry.
At least, more often than next-to-never.  I hate laundry.  Having somewhere clean and beautiful like this room in which to do it would be such a wonderful thing!  It turns out, I've never had anywhere clean and beautiful to do my laundry before.  At least, nothing like this room.  The laundry rooms at college were complete jokes, and the one at my (only) apartment was so dismal, I brought my laundry back to Mom and Dad's more often than I did it there - for FOUR YEARS.  Ish.

Let's put this on the list for "the next house."

Image from Canadian House and Home

like living in a tent

So, I was perusing my favorite blogs, and came across a lovely little piece from SHELTER.  It's about canopy beds.  I've always wanted a canopy bed.  When I was little, I was a bottom-bunker.  I loved it.  No ladders to climb, plenty of head room (unlike most top bunks).  Mine was a little more enclosed - there was a built-in closet and toy chest to one side of it, and the wall to the other.  It was nice and close and comfortable.  I probably wouldn't have complained about this puppy:

I'm thinking I could probably whip something up like this on my own.  I'm seeing the scalloped valance being pretty easy - probably a lot like making a fabric headboard.  It's the gathered ceiling and center that I see being really difficult.  I'd like to give it a go.  Maybe someday, if I have a daughter.  Or, someone to create things like this for me.  :)

I also liked this one: 

Something like that could be done in a guest room or a child's room (like this - LOVE the drapery!!)  I even like the bed - it's kind of an unconventional little bed.  It's sort of like a really large bench.  I'm a fan.  I'll consider this one when I have that person to make my bedding pieces.  :D

Before...

I just took some "Before" pictures of our living/dining room area.  Yikes.  It looks like some vagabond college squatters live in this house.  It's so unattractive that I'm considering not even posting the pic.  *sigh*  BUT, seeing the "Before" will make the "After" look so much better and more impressive.  So, reader beware...

Threw in some pics of the cats, just for fun.  :)

Things that will be changing:  the color of the living room chairs.  Best dumpster dive find ever (yeah, I'm not above admitting a little find-and-keep for DAYTON'S CHAIRS).  I'm thinking maybe they'll go something wild, like a yellow or coral (as tlynn has suggested) or my dream pattern - houndstooth.  Wall color:  top gray in the second picture.  Window coverings:  ANYTHING but those - they came with the casa.  Dining room table and chairs:  Ikea Henriksdal chairs ("Gobo White" covering and "brown-black" frame) and Ikea Bjursta table ("brown-black").  I want to paint a damask stripe slightly-off center on the dining room chairs.  Nana's davenport will be finding a new location (perhaps our bedroom?) and a more modern piece will be making its way in.  I also want to replace the coffee-table-gone-bench with an actual bench.  I'm thinking something with arms, but I'm not sure what.  Current bookshelves will be replaced with built-ins, carpet with medium-dark hardwood, and golden oak trim with white.  Maybe we'll even get some real-people coffe and side tables.  So many things to do.........  But, for starters:  convincing Mr. Peavs to buy the table and chairs.  Anyone in the market for a lovely oval table?  :)

First is NOT the worst!

One little project down!

Through the system of clean-up and organizing for a garage sale next month, I found the pegs that go in our run-of-the-mill Target bookshelves.  I can put the shelves in now!  So, I did.  Then, took it a step farther, and put books and knick knacks in the shelves.  I don't think the whole thing is completely exactly how I want it, but here's my starting point.

I got the bull bookends I wanted!!!  Mr. Peavs got them for me for Christmas.  So very, very in love with it.  For now, the bull is bookending the first six of Frank Miller's "Sin City."  I thought it was a lovely touch with the cowgirl.  :)  The cactus I just noticed is pretty nice too...

One of my (two) readers will recognise the next two little items (in my excitement about the bookshelves, my picture-taking got blurry)...

And then, my favorite piece.  It's my Nana's vase.  Right now, it's tipped on its side to prevent any falling, but Mr. Peavs is going to build a base for it, so it can look like I want it to, with the handle on the top, looking as if it's spilling out.  I think it's a gorgeous piece, and I'm really proud to be able to put this piece on display.

Once we have the permanent shelves in place, I'll have to go through the design process again, but I'm looking forward to that too.  Just for now though - I'm beyond thrilled to have just one little bit of our personalities in the open, and one nice little decorative area of the house.

Mr. Peavs is out in the garage building the bed...here's to hoping that'll be the next project done!  I'll have to get some pics of his process...