Tara's "Modern Vintage" Spare Room

My girlfriend is redoing her spare room and asked for my help.  She wanted it light, airy, and modern.   She showed me her inspiration - a sweater - and let me go to town.  She refinishes furniture (I've mentioned her before...she has the Lauren Lane Decor blog) and she has a dresser that she wants to use and that's it.  I got to pick everything else!  Of course I asked her opinion on stuff before I went with it.  And I love what we've come up with.  I can't wait to help her finish it up!  She's also in the process of redoing her main level which I will post more about on another day.  Or, you could just check out her blog (hint, hint).

Here is her sweater, and color inspiration:

Room Inspiration (this is the spare room from the Made by Girl "Glimpse Into My Home" blog):

And here is the layout of her room:

And here's what I've come up with:

OK here's the list:

Wall color is a light cream.  I like Sarah Richardson's "Jasmine"

Then, the dresser is her own - she said she has several dressers like that one and she will finish one with white paint and distress it a bit.  She does fantastic work - I've seen it in person!  This dresser is the perfect size. 

The art with the circles is by Jen Ramos from Hearts and Cocoa.  It's called Lipstick Dots.  This particular one is sold, but I'm sure she has plenty to choose from that will work.  I think it will go perfectly above the bed.

The bedding is Dwell Studio "Batavia" in Dove. I love love love the aqua sheets with it!  I definitely think that is a MUST.  Here are the ones I found at Pottery Barn Teen:

Now, the bedside table - it's a cheapy from Ikea ($20) but I want her to paint it this color (Sarah Richardson paint "Blue Box"):

And, that's not all.  I want her to add a mirror to the top.  Won't that look fun?  She can stack magazines and books underneath for her guests. 

The lamp is from Ikea, it's very simple and clean.  The candleholder is from Anthropologie.  I love the color - again with the aqua.  Seriously, it goes with everything!

The mirrors are from Pottery Barn.  I love the shape of them!
I had to add a coral Chevron vase in there - this one is from Jill Rosenwald on Etsy.  She has many cute ceramic items in awesome patterns!   Tara loves peonies so I thought silk peonies in hot pink or coral would look awesome in that vase.  You can get silk flowers anywhere, but finding ones that actually look good is a challenge.  We are lucky enough to have a store in Canada called Chintz & Co.  They have the. most. amazing silk flowers.  They are made by Allstate Floral & Craft.  If you can find a place near you that carries them, get them.  These are the only silk flowers you should have in your house. 

Now - the artwork.  Tara just bought a new bike and rides a lot along the trails with her dogs.  I think that this photograph of the bicycle with a vintage feel goes so great with the colors in the room.  I don't know if she'll like it - I didn't show it to her before I threw it in there - but I loooove it!!  And it kind of reminds me of the bike she just bought because it's blue. 

There are so many other pieces I have to add, but they don't fit on the board.  So here they are:

In a spare room, you should always have some amenities for your guests should they have forgotten them - or are staying over unexpectedly after a night of too much wine.  Towels, soap, little hotel sized bottles of shampoo and conditioner, and a toothbrush and toothpaste is perfect.  Here is a great basket from Restoration Hardware that would really look great on the dresser.  It's vintage looking, which goes nicely with the more modern look of the room. 

Or this one would work very well also (from Jennifer Lyons shop on Etsy)

Here's another decorative piece that could be used as a door stop or on the nightstand.  It's been sold, but this is just so you get the idea.  Random funky pieces like this really make the space feel "modern vintage".

Tara loves keys, and this jewellery stand would look so great in her room!  I don't care if she uses it in the spare room - she has to have it!  It's from Urban Outfitters.

This hook is also from Urban Outfitters.  I think hooks painted in funky colors (like hot pink, coral, yellow or aqua) are so awesome!  This one would look great in her room in coral, on the wall right when you walk in the room.

I found this fun rug - the colors go well with the color scheme she chose for the room...not sure if she'll dig this rug though!!  The rug is from Anthropologie. 

And, every bedroom needs an alarm clock.  This is a classic style.

I think that's about all I have for the room for now.  I hope Tara likes what I've put together for her, and maybe I've given you some ideas too!

...Fancy

New favourite paint colors for Spring!

These are a few of my favourite paint colors for this Spring/Summer.  If you were considering freshening up your decor, consider one of these:

Sico:

White Lemon



Pastis




Farrow and Ball

Charlotte's Locks



Brassica




CIL

Peacock's Plume (This is the one I've chosen for my office)



Benjamin Moore

Royal Flush



Gorgeous!

...Fancy

Ivy's Big Girl Room

My girlfriend asked for some ideas for her little girls room.  I asked her to tell me what colors she liked and how she would describe her style.  She said she liked "hippy mod shabby chic".  Um, ok.  I'm not gonna lie.  I was a little intimidated by that.  I'm not really familiar with shabby chic, but I know I could throw something together really easily.  It was the mod hippy part that freaked me out.  I procrastinated.  A lot.  I had a few ideas, but nothing that was really sticking with me or making me feel good about what I was doing.

Then I remembered this fabric that I love, and it was the exact colors she wanted.  Here it is:

This is Michael Miller's "Whimsy" in Candy.  I think this will be perfect for the drapery in Ivy's room.  Once I chose this fabric, I started to build the room around it.  This paint color would be great on the bottom half of the room (if she wants to paint half way up).

This green is Martha Stewart "Lily Pad".  It's a nice calm green that offsets the bright crazy colors of the fabric.  Another option for a crazy wall color (only halfway up the wall, though.  With these bright strong colors you don't want to do too much) would be this pink:

But, if she wants to keep the walls neutral and use the color in the accents then I would go with this cream:

This is Martha Stewarts "Heavy Cream".  It's the perfect off white.

I also like this fabric for the windows:

Or this one:

Next, we need accent fabrics for extra stuff - pillows, blankets, etc.

Rug options - these are all from Ikea.

And now for accent pieces.  Every room needs something black in it to anchor the eye.  I chose this fun comfy "Fatboy" Beanbag Chair.  This is NOT your parents bean bag chair from the 70's!

They come in many other colors, too.  This is a Fatboy "Point" if you don't have room for a big chair, you could get this instead.  They also come in many different colors.

Accessories!  These blocks are cute and fun.  They would look nice in a tall fancy glass vase, or just stacked on a floating shelf.

These are cute little items I found on Etsy.  I see these sitting on a dresser with hair clips and barrettes in them.

Picture frames in multicolors:

.

And these ADORABLE little owl accents!  This one is a vase

This one is a lamp, and also comes in white.

I know it's hard to see all of these things and try to get a good idea of what it will all look like with the furniture and everything, so I threw together (and when I say "threw", I mean really threw it together, in minutes so don't judge) this "mood board" so you can see it all together.  I have lots more to add, but I can only fit so much on here.  I hope Ivy likes it!

Pretty in Pink!

Since my camera is broken and I can't take pictures of my dining room to show you, I'll show you pretty things on the internet instead.  Here is my PINK series.

Wallpaper from Urban Outfitters:

Little girl chairs from Overstock.com:

An upcycled tshirt pillow from Etsy:

Notecard set from Etsy:

Pretty summer flowers:

Funny cat rug from CB2: