Nate Berkus Fabric Collection ~ a Review

Well….all I have to say about this is….

IT’S HERE!! IT’S HERE!! IT’S FINALLY HERE!

Nate Berkus rolls out his fabric collection for Calico Corners and it is nothing less than SPECTACTULAR!

It’s everything you would expect from Nate Berkus.  Gorgeous prints, fabulous textures, AMAZING color palette, and most importantly, reasonably priced. The price range in this collection starts at  $14.99 with the highest priced fabric at $89.99.  Most of the fabrics are priced around $30-$40 per yard, which in my books is very reasonable for designer home decor fabric.

  Here are some of my favorites.

Fun vintage finds

I had a few minutes to spare the other day, so I stopped by our local Antique Market to see if I could find any cool art or accessories for Carson's Room.  I didn’t find much, but snapped a few pics of some other fun finds!

 

Anyone remember these pull-down maps from elementary school?!? I wonder if they still use them? They would look so cool as wall art. Only $75 which really isn't a bad price for an oversized map.

Howdy Doody!

  I love these vintage fans!

How to apply a Whitewash finish

 
Long ago, when I first started planning my Guest Bedroom/Craft Room, I created a mood board with round whitewashed table to use as my workspace. Here it is in case you need a re-fresher,or are new to these parts (welcome!) and have never seen it before or have no idea what I’m talking about.

Since then, I kind of switched gears started dreaming of a gorgeous glass top trestle table, then quickly realized that a) It’s not in my budget, and b) It’s not very practical for crafting. So I went back to the original plan and decided to re-finish an old beat-up, drop leaf table we had laying around. I had all the paint & supplies on hand so it didn’t cost my anything to do, just time. Here’s a shot of the table before:

Introducing my Newest Sponsor ~ Shabby Apple!

Have you ever heard of Shabby Apple before?!?

It’s a fab online store offering super cute and feminine retro-chic clothing and accessories for women. I couldn't of been more tickled when they contacted me to become one of their newest affiliates!! Just check out some of their fabulous collections below!

Dresses

Skirts

Accessories

Swimwear

Are you hooked now too?!? Fabulous, right?!

And there’s a great sale happening RIGHT NOW! Get 20% off of your entire order until Jan 31st. Just click on the image below and use promo code NewYears at checkout.

So what are you waiting for?!? Get shopping!

Trendy Tuesday ~ 2013 Trend Forecast

   For 2013, I see 2 different styles of decor emerging. One is Scandinavian Style, which has been popular among designers for a while now, but I feel that it’s influence will now be felt and seen a lot more in the retail market this year. Another is Green and Glam, thanks to Pantone’s announcement for color of the year, Emerald Green. But the two have one common factor that seem to tie them together…..muted grays.

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Let’s start with Pantone’s color of the year….Emerald Green. If you follow lots of Design Blogs (like me!) I know this subject has been beaten to death over the last few weeks, but since I do write a series called Trendy Tuesday, I couldn't let this trend go by without a mention. So, Kelly green has been popular for a while ….what’s the difference between the two? The answer…undertones. Kelly Green has more of a yellow undertone that pops wonderfully with white, bright, modern interiors. Emerald Green has more of a blue undertone giving this green a rich, elegant, glamorous feel. Let’s compare the two side by side.

See the difference?! Subtle, but different. I’m loving this color and the sultry richness it gives to these interiors below. It pairs wonderfully with the brass & black accents we’ve seen popping up everywhere. And you will also find this color often paired with a deep, muted grey to lend to the sexy moodiness of  these rooms. Let’s take a look!

The Best of 2012 & a look ahead to what’s in store for 2013

2013…..that just sounds crazy!! And kinda futuristic, dontcha think?!? I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!! We had a really good Christmas with lots of family visiting this year from Canada, and we managed to get out and enjoy some fun holiday events here in the Greater Cincinnati area despite us ALL coming down with the stomach flu! Ugh. Before we get into the nitty gritty, here are a few highlights (completely un-related to design) so you can see what we’ve been up to the last few weeks!
We started a holiday tradition to go skating at  the Fountain Square rink downtown, so this year we took the boys (and anyone else who was feeling up to it!) there on Christmas Eve. We first stopped by to see Santa before his big trip around the world and get the inside scoop as to what kind of cookie was his favorite:)  We also had snow a few days after Christmas which is pretty rare around these parts. For someone like me who grew up in Canada and New England, I always kind of missed the snow around the holidays, so this was a special treat! The boys had a great time making snowmen with Gramma too.

Goofing around at Christmas dinner. We ended up eating a day late since everyone was feeling under the