Yesterday I spent the day in San Francisco with my client, her full scale home renovation is underway and we’ve made some exciting progress! The bathrooms are nearly complete and the kitchen cabinets will be installed soon, it’s all coming together beautifully and I cannot wait to share these spaces with you! I have a few local projects in the works as well, a patio makeover for a good friend is in progress and a DIY shelf project for me! I’m off to gather the wood to my design come to life, stay tuned! Meanwhile the favorite links from the week…. I love the mix of materials in this kitchen renovation. Black and white and brass looking so good in this kitchen. This custom marble entry floor is stunning, don’t you think? I bought this bedside charging vase for a friend’s birthday, but now I want one too! What to do when your airline goes bankrupt. The beauty of taking a social media break. Having fun is a virtue, it is not a guilty pleasure. :) The anti-aging effects of running and high intensity interval training. “…love later in life [at 82] has been every bit as enthralling as when I was young.”
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Raise your hand if you’re ready for warm weather! Spring is my favorite season, all the trees and plants are just starting to bloom, promising months of outdoor relaxation! If you have a pergola or cabana, check out this tutorial I recently wrote for making your own outdoor grommet sheer curtains, find the step by step on the Arrow Fastener Projects Page.
I’ve also made outdoor grommet curtains from drop cloths, you can see that version in this older outdoor makeover post. I was going through the blog archives and up popped a few other other outdoor projects, so I thought I’d give an update on how they’ve held up over the years. One of my favorite building projects was making these criss cross outdoor planters six years ago. They are still in my courtyard, but they have weathered for sure. It’s mostly just the paint that needs some maintenance, I need to sand it in the places where the paint has come off and give them another coat of primer + paint and they will look fresh again for another few seasons.
Two years ago we built this outdoor wall trellis with an X motif and it was the perfect project for adding both a decorative element and a functional trellis to a blank wall. Despite months of rain it still looks amazing and I’m excited for the vines to bloom again soon!
Back in 2012, we built this redwood potting bench and it still looks great, however it will need to be treated with some oil this spring to prevent the redwood from drying out or cracking in the future. (Notice how the wood has weathered over time in the picture below.)
I love this bench so much, but truth be told I use it more for summer entertaining then I do for its original purpose, it is the perfect surface for propping drinks and appetizers.
Waaaay back when I started blogging in 2009 I made these little cement tea light candleholders with plastic container molds and you know what? They’re still so awesome for outdoors! Find the step by step here.
Back in 2013 I had an idea for a custom coffee table in a rectangle shape so I designed this mosaic tile outdoor table, and while it looked great the first year I made the mistake of leaving it outdoors during the rainy season and it got moldy underneath then the little tiles on the edges started peeling off so I got rid of it. (Insert sad face). I still like the idea of this project, but if I was to recreate it I’d choose a more contemporary tile and leg design, and be sure to protect it from the elements in winter.
This gray and white planter bench was not something I built, I bought it in a raw wood state and then gave it the stain/paint treatment six years ago, but I still have it and it’s held up well! Thumbs up to the brand of gray stain I used, it has stood up to many years of weather and it looks great. I could give it another coat of water based polyurethane and replant it for spring!
This rocky bucket DIY was so popular when I made it back in 2012, it got featured on just about every garden website and surprise, I still have it! It’s held up all this time, so if you want to add a coastal vibe to your yard, grab a few sheets of river rock mosaic tile at your local home improvement store and give it a go!
I have a few new ideas for DIY outdoor projects to feature this spring and summer, stay tuned for those! from https://centsationalstyle.com/2019/03/outdoor-projects-from-the-archives/ I’ve just returned from a week on the Big Island of Hawaii and it was a great adventure, I’ll share pictures soon! I love to visit the resorts and walk around the lobbies then enjoy a cocktail at the bar and stare out at the ocean views. I’m always inspired by the resort decor, the way they’ve decorated in island style textures and motifs, and the way the designers blur the lines between indoors and out. In every hotel I visited last week I noticed so many stylish woven chairs, I’m featuring all the ones I saw in my Insta stories today! I’ve already added a rattan papasan chair to my office earlier this year, it gives the space a little vacation vibe.
Woven chairs make great textural accents in residential spaces too, think about placement in offices, bedrooms, dining rooms and living rooms. Woven chairs in rattan or bamboo are an easy way to add texture and also inject a resort style vibe into a room.
rattan chairs from serena & lily
Every now and then you can get lucky and score a great rattan chair at a thrift store or vintage shop like I did with these chairs. If you’re not up for the hunt or simply can’t wait to add a great chair with a resort vibe to your home, consider these!
cocoon chair / barrel arm chair rattan lounge chair / pierce wicker woven (set of two) / lily rattan arm chair . from https://centsationalstyle.com/2019/03/resort-vibes-at-home/ With Mother’s Day just around the corner, a recent survey commissioned by Next has sought to find out exactly how much time and energy mums dedicate to their children. This might include ferrying them to and from extracurricular activities, taking time off work to care for them when they’re sick, or turning a blind eye when they pinch your favourite lipstick or most expensive perfume! Key findings from the survey found that yearly, the average mum will:
So it’s safe to say the average mum has her work cut out for her. Nevertheless, with Mother’s Day approaching it’s important to take time out for yourself – why not treat the 31st March as a day to celebrate your role as a Mum and plan it with the same amount of care you would if you were planning a party for your child? Our tips for an enjoyable Mother’s Day1. Decide who you want to spend time with. Like crafting a party invitation list, take some time to decide who you’d like to spend Mother’s Day with, whether that’s your children, your partner, your girlfriends or just yourself. The survey from Next found that 78% of mums get less than an hour to themselves each day on average, so you might decide to dedicate some time to yourself this Mother’s Day – away from the hustle and bustle of work and family commitments. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of ‘me time’! 2. Decide where you’d like to spend your day. Make sure you take some time out to do the things you want to do and aren’t governed by the whims of your children. The average Mum will hear her children say ‘I’m bored’ 12 times a month. Those two little words can send even cool-headed mums into a frenzy of frustration, racking their brains for exciting games to play and rooting through toy boxes for inspiration. But not on Mother’s Day. Today, you’re free to shape the day’s schedule any way you please – immune to the chorus of ‘I’m bored.’ You might decide to relax at home, finish watching that series everybody is talking about, or host a fancy picnic or floral tea party! The average Mum will take her child to six birthday parties a year, not including their own! which works out to one birthday party every other month (the equivalent of 78 birthday parties in her child’s lifetime) – but this is on top of two and a half hours a year spent at parents’ evenings and nearly four hours a week spectating at extracurricular activities. 3. Treat yourself! The survey revealed that Mums will buy an average of 38 presents for their children every year (this includes birthdays and Christmas) which, as a nation of gift-givers, doesn’t seem too surprising. Each of us enjoys giving and receiving gifts with people we love and much more so when there are children involved. Remember though, this is on top of countless pennies and pounds spent on other things relating to your children, such as teachers’ leaving presents, school trip fees and leavers’ hoodies to name a few. The average Mum herself will receive only two boxes of chocolates, two bunches of flowers and five drawings each year from her tiny tearaways – so it seems the ‘gifting traffic’ is certainly more heavily weighted in one direction. You’ll splash out on 38 presents for your children each year, but how many times will you treat yourself to something? Mother’s Day is a nice excuse to venture out to the shops and nab that little gift, or to host a little party (though get the kids to clear it all up!). Also, despite the fact a whopping 35% of Mums don’t receive any flowers at all during the year, that doesn’t mean you should go without. Flowers can instantly bring warmth and beauty to any home. They can brighten up hallways, make living rooms more vibrant and are a popular talking point for guests, so treat yourself to a nice floral arrangement this Mother’s Day. All in all, if these stats tell us anything, it’s that you definitely deserve a bit of TLC this Mother’s Day! Set aside some time for yourself, put together a little lunch party for your family, spend the day with people you love, and above all, be kind to yourself. You deserve it! The post Celebrate Yourself this Mother’s Day! appeared first on Party Pieces Blog & Inspiration. from https://blog.partypieces.co.uk/themes/celebrate-yourself-this-mothers-day/ It’s officially spring break for me and I’m spending this week in Hawaii with Matt and the kids. We’re vacationing on the Big Island and it’s the one Hawaiian island I haven’t explored so I’m excited to get out and about! I’ll be sharing on Insta of course, and please email or message me if you have a favorite spot here, I’d love to know! I’m not sure I’ll have much time for blogging this week, but being on this island might inspire something related to tropical style! Stay tuned! Meanwhile, here are some favorite links spied around the web! Wow, the vibe of this San Diego home and its stunning indoor outdoor transition! Check out the well designed interiors and pool of this hotel in Brisbane. This cake looks so beautiful and delicious. Pi is 31.4 trillion digits and counting! The benefits of weight training for women. These reasons are precisely why I love taking solo trips. Lesser known scenic national parks without the crowds. An inspiring example of endurance: she’s one tough grandma!
from https://centsationalstyle.com/2019/03/weekend-reading-186/ Last month, I bought an inexpensive black metal console table for my studio – I needed something slim in my tiny entry as a spot for dropping my keys and phone in the morning when I come to work. Underneath this skinny table I toss my shoes and backpack, I love having all my stuff in one place and easy to grab when I leave. All of us come home with our keys and phone and packages in hand and need a drop zone for setting them down. It can be tricky to find a table for a small entry or foyer that serves that purpose, but I found a few more for you!
Standard depth console tables jut out into a space and can eat up more of a room than you wish them to. Slim console tables also serve another purpose: they are perfect for areas where you don’t need seating but instead seek to fill the lower half of wall space. Above them you can hang art or photography or a flat screen TV and below use the console for a minimalist display of decorative objects.
Here are a few more consoles in slimmer profiles (15” or less) that will help anyone create a drop zone in a narrow foyer, or fill a blank wall without taking up too much space!
metalwork console / gold & faux marble rustic a frame / curved console metal & faux marble / hudson console white and glass / acacia mid century gold & walnut / white mid century . from https://centsationalstyle.com/2019/03/slim-console-tables/ With spring just a few short weeks away I wanted to create some little vases to hold fresh flowers or sprigs in bloom. I mixed two finishes to achieve this look, stone texture and matte paint in spring hues.
This is such an easy DIY project, all you need are some glass vases or containers or bottles, stone texture spray paint, acrylic craft paint, and painter’s tape. I used Krylon’s stone texture spray paint in the taupe pebble color. I sprayed my three little glass vases with two thin coats of spray paint (allow to dry between coats) then let them cure for a full 24 hours.
The next day use the painter’s tape (or frog tape) to create the line where you want the edge of the paint.
Using acrylic craft paint in your color of choice, apply a thick coat and use your fingers (not a brush) to spread it on the bottom half of the vase, but not so thick that it drips.
Don’t worry that the paint looks uneven when wet, it will level out. Here’s the trick, you need to peel off the painter’s tape slowly when the paint is wet to preserve the crisp line. Don’t leave the painter’s tape on the vase, this helps prevent the painter’s tape from peeling off the stone texture spray paint. Allow the first coat to completely dry then repeat the process again: attach the painter’s tape along the paint line, apply yet another thick coat of acrylic craft paint, smooth it with your fingers, slowly peel off the tape, and allow to dry. If for any reason you end up with an uneven line or if the stone texture peels off, do this: spray the stone texture spray paint into the cap that came with the can and touch up the stone spray paint with a small paintbrush. Worked for me!
The stone texture is a really nice contrast to the matte paint colors, I’m so pleased with how they turned out!
These containers can also be used to hold pencils, paintbrushes, matchbooks, candies, whatever! I brought them to my studio to brighten my space!
If you try it out for yourself, let me know how it goes! . from https://centsationalstyle.com/2019/03/diy-stone-texture-spring-vases/ My sister Louise and I are both event planners, and both of our businesses have a vintage vibe to them. For many years, we’ve been drawn to collecting vintage treasures as our Mum used to take us on treasure hunting trawls around antique and charity shops when we were little. We lived in an old Victorian Bankers House with all the original features and Mum loved to choose pieces for the home that were sympathetic to their surroundings.
So when Louise recently turned the big 5-0 I knew I would be pulling out all the stops for her party decor! I secretly liaised with her daughter, Rebecca, and the lovely team at Party Pieces to decide what would work best – we were all delighted with the result, and as it was a family dinner party at Louise’s home in Northern Ireland, I was able to use many of her own vintage glass and china pieces to compliment the vases and other pieces I was sent.
On the morning of Louise’s Birthday, we had some delicious donuts for breakfast with the rose gold happy birthday banner strung across the fireplace as a backdrop. These pretty pieces are perfect for adding some simple elegance where required. Later that day, we started to decorate the dining room with the pieces shown and linked below – Louise and I also baked some dainty little macarons and meringues for the dessert table and the sweet treats and stunning birthday cake were enjoyed by all! Louise is known by many for her love of pastels and florals, and these are reflected throughout her home decor, so I immediately knew the beautiful bunting from the truly scrumptious range would work well for the look required. These co-ordinating pretty napkins were popped into the lilac glasses from Anthropologie – the pretty pastels all worked beautifully together.
Little posies of seasonal blooms were popped into these bud vases and glass heart holders and for some added glamour, some vintage crystal and glass candlesticks from Louise’s own collection were placed onto rose gold sequin runner
The peony floral garland worked perfectly with the pink and green pieces in Louise’s dining room, blending beautifully in amongst the rest of the table decor and fresh rose and lisianthus blooms. As I live in Scotland and was flying over for Louise’s birthday celebrations, I had the pieces delivered directly to Northern Ireland leaving my hands free to take over these delectably dainty teacup and saucer cake decorations made by Glasgow cake designer Brogan of Three Tiers and Tea. These were added to the delicious red velvet cake that Rebecca had ordered from Belfast baker J Bird Bakery – Louise baked the most delicious rosewater pink macarons filled with white chocolate ganache so we also used some of these to decorate the cake – a personalised cake topper was added and that was the cake complete! We had a wonderful time celebrating and Louise loved all the little finishing touches and decor that added to her special day. The post Louise’s 50th Celebrations appeared first on Party Pieces Blog & Inspiration. from https://blog.partypieces.co.uk/uncategorized/louises-50th-celebrations/ I’ve felt so productive all week, it’s such a great feeling! I listened to an inspiring podcast on Monday about unlocking your creative genius and then spent the remainder of the week designing new prints, painting in my studio, and also finishing a spring inspired DIY project that I’ll share next week. Funny how creativity ebbs and flows like that. I find that one week I’ll be completely unmotivated and struggling to come up with anything new and then bam, inspiration strikes and the creativity flows once more. Do you experience that too? Favorite links from the week: This gray and wood kitchen with touches of brass is well designed. A minimalist modern home with gorgeous views of trees. Minnie Driver is adorable and so is her Malibu mobile home! Beautiful photos and a charming story: this family run boutique farm. Unexpected perks of a library card. A great tip for making pasta taste better. Cheers to these groups of adventurous women! I loved reading this story about Luke Perry. Five reasons you might want to start a podcast. An Uber driver with a sense of humor. :) . from https://centsationalstyle.com/2019/03/weekend-reading-185/ I’ve partnered with Arrow Fastener tools several times to showcase how to make things with their tools. This week, check out the DIY shoe rack I designed and constructed with the help of one of their many handy nail guns!
The frame of this shoe rack was built with 2×2” birch posts and ½” birch planks (from Lowe’s) and assembled with wood screws.
I painted the legs and stained the planks and secured them with the Professional Electric Stapler T50AC from Arrow Fastener.
You can modify the plan to fit the width of your entry or porch or mudroom. Find the full tutorial on this DIY shoe rack on the Arrow Fastener website!
*This project brought to you in partnership with Arrow Fastener tools. All photographs, design plans, and opinions are my own! Visit the Arrow Fastener projects page for dozens more creative DIY projects around the home. . from https://centsationalstyle.com/2019/03/diy-shoe-rack/ |
About MeHi I am Albin Adamski from Brynrefail, I am 32 years old. I always surf web for buying antiques for home decoration. Archives
April 2019
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