Happy President’s Day! We’re not exactly ‘celebrating’ President’s Day over here or anything… are you? I mean, I did sort of… I met my family (parents, sister, sister-in-law, 3 nieces & 3 nephews) for lunch and a walk on the beach… so I guess I did a little something! Poor hubby was stuck back at the office working away… hey, someone’s gotta do it, right?!?! He’s the best!

Anyways…

 Friday I showed you some candlesticks I had picked up from a thrift store… They were brand new from Crate & Barrel… still had the packaging and tags on them. I am not sure why someone wouldn’t have taken them back from store credit or a refund, but I sure am glad they didn’t! Anyways, I had been ‘eyeing’ those candlesticks for awhile… it’s something about greens that have me a little excited these days!

I think it started when I was designing a beach condo on Longboat Key this fall. My client l-o-v-e-d chartreuse and wanted to use it in her bedroom. The more I added the hue to her home, the more I fell in love with it too! I am adding little chartreuse elements here and there, but I may eventually add it into our bedroom. Hopefully.

The “true” Chartreuse hue is between a yellow & green and is a vibrant, bold and fun shade to use in interiors. Pair it with browns, whites, tans, turquoise or even other greens for a great look! It works as a great accent color on pillows, throws, accessories or even curtains.

Since I am totally crushing on chartreuse, I pulled together a fun board chock full of the yellow-green goodness…

Here’s the breakdown:

1. Pillows: (1st) West Elm, (2nd) CB2 & (3rd) CB2

2. Vase: West Elm

3. Gourd Lamp: Crate & Barrel

4. Glass Knob: Urban Outfitters

5. Chair: CB2

Are you loving chartreuse too? I thought it might be fun to add some pictures of rooms that incorporate Chartreuse for inspiration…

(Sources from top to bottom: here, here, here & here, here)

What do you think? Love it, like it, maybe not? What new bold shades are you loving these days??? DO TELL…

P.S. We have a new line up coming this week. PLUS, Our shop is finally going to have products in it…. just wait & see!

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Happy Friday everyone…

Hopefully all of you have a fun weekend planned! I am hoping for some sun, fun & family time. I also have a few diy plans up my sleeve!! Right now it’s a bit cloudy, so we will see if my plans come through or not. For now, I want to show you what I scored late last week…

My mom and I were meeting at Target the other day (on one of our many weekly Target trips) and thought we would stop in a thrift store just to “see what we see”…

I was pleasantly surprised because sometimes these places are a total hit or miss. This trip was a total HIT. I had seen this lovely finial at Target for around $19.99… cute right? Well, although I had a major crush on it, I decided to pass because I felt the price tag was a bit high for the size. I am so glad I did… I found this one at the thrift store for $2.99… a savings of $17. Love that!

My plan is to spray paint it this weekend with a fun & bold color. Mine is a little more ‘ornate’ than Target’s finial, but I think changing the color with high gloss spray paint will give this $2.99 find an entirely fresh look! I can’t wait to show you when it’s done!

Then… it happened. I scored again!! I came across these super cute green candlesticks. I knew immediately that I had seen them before at Crate & Barrel! I quickly grabbed them up and stashed them in my cart! What’s funny is I got the smaller candlestick for $2 and the larger candlestick for $2.99… what a steal… right? These puppies still had the original crate and barrel tags hanging off and were in bags. Oh my gosh… yes!

I quickly looked up them on and the Crate & Barrel’s site on my iphone… SCORE! These were not on clearance and at full price I saved a whopping $28.91. I love that! I actually have big plans for these guys. Hopefully, my plan will come together this weekend and I can have it up to show you next week! {I linked this post up to Serenity Now’s weekend blog party}.

P.S.– We took a fun trip to Ikea this passed Monday… we came back with a bunch of new things for a new project… stay tuned next week for details!

We painted stripes, again.

Remember awhile back when I mentioned we had plans to (finally) design our home office?  Well… it’s happening! Actually, it happened! We are in the ‘styling & decorating’ phase of this fun little project and I can’t wait to show you the entire project!! You are going to love it (hopefully)! But for now… I am only showing you the accent wall phase…

I showed you our inspiration pictures for the office, our to-do list, design board & shopping list already. The funny thing is, we have stuck really close to everything we had jotted down in those two posts… except… the wall color. Our original intent was to either keep it all white for a clean crisp look, or a light neutral. Boy oh boy did that idea change.

It all happened one night when I thought it might be fun to get a little bold in our office. Everything in our home is whites, aquas and neutrals. I thought it might be fun to venture out a little and get ‘crazy’. I came across this picture and fell in love….

 (source via Centsational Girl)

You read from our design board idea, that Kevin has a ton of Gator memorabilia from his days at UF. They aren’t my favorite things in the world, but I wanted to compromise since we share our office. The idea of incorporating a fun striped accent wall and going a little more bold was growing more appealing by the minute. We started thinking of our office as a place to come up with new ideas, work, concentrate and even have fun in. It’s been no secret how much I love the stripes in our living room… except those stripes were symmetrical and this time we were going a bit more random with the approach (like above). Instead of painting our entire office, we decided on a accent wall. (You can find the math for the symmetrical stripes here). Here’s how we did the math for our office wall…

Our entire wall is 103 inches tall (minus the baseboard because that was going to remain white). We wanted the random look, but still have symmetry within that (like the inspiration photo). What can I say, we like symmetry! So, for the stripes to be somewhat even starting from the middle and working their way to top and bottom, we needed to figure out how many stripes we wanted and how wide we wanted them to be.

(These are low quality iphone photos… but they will do the trick)

Much like our stripes in the living room, after the math is figured out, then you just measure, mark it & then tape. To create super straight lines all the way across your wall, just grab a level and a pencil and draw a light line from mark to mark using the level as a guide. This is the most time consuming part of the striping process!

 Then to figure out which side of the line you need to tape, draw a light x on the areas that are to be painted. From there, you just tape (using an edge lock tape– we use Scotch Blue’s) on the outside of the line for the stripes we would be painting, but inside the marks in the negative space that we wouldn’t be painting. Make sure to press on the edge firmly going down the entire wall to make sure you don’t have paint ’bleeding’.

After the stripes were a ‘go’, we just had to figure out the right color. (We were a little backwards on this part of the project.. oh well). It was between a nice slate blue/gray and orange. Friends, orange and I have a love, hate relationship. I can’t even believe that it would strike me to paint stripes orange in our home. It’s still shocks me to say it out loud.

We pinned up the samples and sat back for a bit and took them all in… (such awful iphone pics…)

We picked off the samples one by one until there were only 2 left… The slate blue color and one orange shade. Holy moly, I picked the orange and off Kevin went to  to pick up a gallon. I of course sat in our office wondering if I had made the right decision. I usually never, ever freak out about selecting things for our house, but this time I did! (The color we picked: Sherwin Williams # 6649 tango).

 Kevin is the paint roller in our house and I am the cut in gal. In just about 30 minutes, we had the entire wall painted and done! We painted the stripes and waited. Seeing the orange stripes up against the blue tape had us both thinking we hated the orange.

We allowed the paint to dry before removing the tape (never take it off when it’s still wet, contrary to belief, it creates an imperfect edge on the stripes). Once we removed the tape we were feeling so much better. We weren’t ‘in love’ or anything, but when you go bold sometimes you just need to sit on it for awhile! By the next day we were feeling so much more confident about our decision to go orange! We were looking at en empty room and envisioning our white desks with stained tops nearly ready and we were growing super excited…

Here’s a sneak peek shot of the accent wall all done…

Kinda fun right??? It was kinda funny timing because right after we painted this, we got a West Elm catalog (the one dated to be delivered between 1/30- 2/1)… We must have been on the same wave length…

How funny? West Elm says stripes of all types are in this season!! Plus, orange/tangerine is Pantone’s color of the year… who knew we could be so trendy!?! Actually, in all honesty, we picked orange solely because it was a great color for compromise, it promotes energy, excitement and also has been known to help in productivity in the workplace. For more information on other colors.. I have a blog post all about color & effects!

Now… here’s where we are on the office to-do list:

- Break down old desks & sell (or give away)

- Select wall color, prep & paint

- Figure out the best configuration for our desk layout

- Select desk bases (cabinets)

- Pick out materials for desk tops (wood, stain, trim)

- Put together desk bases

- Cut desk tops, stain & add trim detail

- Put desks together

- Buy new chairs

- Put our office back into a functional, working order

- Style, Decorate & Accessorize!

Stay tuned for the next phase… Hopefully you will L-O-V-E our office as much as we do!!

What projects are you guys up to these days? Going bold in any way? Reaching outside of your comfort zones? DO TELL. In fact, if you have a going bold project, send me the results @ lindsay@adesignstory.com and get featured! So… about our stripes… what do ya think?

(p.s…. we have a TON of new projects coming at you… plus the as promised new schedule… I have been under the weather, but hopefully coming out of it)

It’s no secret that I LOVE flowers! I love fresh flowers & potted flowers!  This year, Kevin surprised me on my birthday with 3 sets of beautiful fresh cut flowers… They are so pretty I thought I should share!

In an effort to blog MORE, I have come up with a fun new schedule and way to blog. I have mentioned it several times this week and will be sharing a post all about it! The new idea should be F-U-N! And speaking of fun… I am thinking Just For Fun Fridays will be the topic each Friday!!!

Friday Fun posts will be all about fun, literally. It can be about flowers (hence today), inspiration, new ideas, wish list items & more. What do ya think?

Let’s start the first Friday Fun with some fresh flowers… Monday morning Kevin surprised me with 3 sets of fresh flowers… I adore getting flowers, picking out the perfect vase and finding the perfect spot to place them! Here’s how they look…

I love Gerbera daisies, Roses (as long as they are not red), Daises, Hydrangea and Peonies. What are your favorites? Do you love fresh flowers? I try and keep my flowers looking healthy as long as I can… in fact, here’s the method I use to keep the blooms lasting! Comment below and tell us your favorite fresh flower… do you buy them for yourself from time to time? DO TELL…

Monday, February 6th, I turned 28! I had a fabulous birthday surrounded by family who love me…. it was pure bliss. Even though New Year’s is generally perceived as the ‘beginning of the year’, my birthday always feels like the beginning of mine. I am a big “birthday girl”. I love birthdays. In fact, I have a “birthday week” I love it so much!

In honor of turning 28, I came up with a list of 28 things. 28 things I want to change, want to do more of or want to remind myself. These are in no specific order… I just jotted down ideas as they came to me! So, I guess this is a getting to know more about me type of post! I hope you will take the time to comment below and share what kind of things you are wanting to change, do or remind yourself this year!

1. Be More Intentional… I want to be More Intentional with Everything I do.

I want to be more intentional with projects around my house. I want to diy & create things I need or want. Gone are the days (even though they were VERY few) of creating things just for diy purposes. I don’t have room for “stuff”… I want to be completely intentional in the way our home is styled and decorated!

I also want to be more intentional with how I blog. I want to foster an environment where readers learn about design, style & decor. I also want to create a place that’s a bouncing board for ideas & inspiration. Kinda like a lot of give and a lot of take. So… be prepared for changes in the blog (which I will be announcing this week)!

2. Enjoy the Ride.

I am a dreamer. When I was little I dreamed of getting married and having babies. I am married to the best guy in the world. I have an amazing life. He believes in my dreams and backs me up in everything I do. Sometimes I get so excited about the ‘next thing’ I want to check off my to-do list or the next step in life that I forget to enjoy the ride there. It’s silly. There’s a time for everything and my steps are ordered by the ONE who made me… things will happen at the right time!

 3. Stress & Worry About Nothing.

Over the last 2 years, I have spent a great deal of time “worrying” about the dumbest things. I am sure everyone is guilty of this at one time or another. If I believe that God is who He said He is, than what’s there really to worry about?

I have been through many health issues over the last two years that have kind of tested my faith a bit. Let’s just say worrying became a hobby. NO MORE. I have figured out my allergy to gluten and am building up my immune system everyday!

As far as stress goes, I plan on letting go & letting God work. My blog was started to be an outlet for me to offer up inspiration, design ideas & creative projects to my readers, there’s nothing to stress about! My blog post doesn’t have to go up at exactly 10 o’clock everyday. It’s about being REAL. Being personable and being fun & free! After all, creative people are left-brained… being timely is just not our thing!

4. Continue to Be Myself & Grow in That.

The Interior Design industry & Blogland are full of people with beautiful ideas, beautiful websites & beautiful homes/projects. It’s hard not to compare right? My first year of blogging, I was totally into reading the latest & greatest in blogland… I read so many blogs. Now, I take the time to read my favorites and learn about new one’s, but I only do it long enough to enjoy it. I am confident in my talent and my ability, so I try not to allow myself to compare myself to any other blogger or designer out there. I am me and I like who I am. I don’t ever want to get to the place that I need to keep up with the Jones’. I like blogging and sharing my ideas, design tips & my diy projects, simply because I enjoy it.

 5. Get my Creative Juices Flowing!

Being creative is my nature, it always has been. I grew up with scissors and markers in my hands at all times. This year, I want to take risks with projects around our house. I want to paint, build and design new ideas and think outside the box. There are a billion and one blogs out there, and yes it’s nice to gather inspiration from Pinterest, but if my own ideas never move from the sketchbook to reality, what good are they? Right?

6. Read More!

I absolutely love, love, love to read, it’s just silly I don’t take the time to read more! I love sitting down on a Sunday afternoon with a cup of hot tea and reading a good book! In fact, when I do sit down to read, I usually finish the book in one afternoon. I love it! I actually just got a good book for my birthday and I can’t wait to get started on it!

7. Get Dressed Up!

I am a super girly girl by nature… I always have been. Being a blogger has one big ‘con’… which happens to affect the wardrobe. If I am out on local design projects, it’s never a worry, but when I have those weeks where blogging is the main gig, it . Waking up, having coffee & devotions and then getting dressed up in a dress or cute clothes isn’t my usual. In fact, most of the time I will change into jeans and a tshirt or yoga pants and a shirt.

Gone are those days… I want to be me. And being ‘me’ means getting up and getting cute! I enjoy curling my hair, painting my nails and adding the perfect accessories to a cute outfit. So– I plan on adding some fun fashion posts to the blog– excited??

 8. Let’s Get Cookin…

In an effort to get the word out that gluten free food can be good & easy, I am going to start cooking away! Now that I have a kitchenaid mixer and some time, I am thinking maybe an easy cookbook might be in the works. So get excited, I have some AMAZING recipes coming at you!

9. Paint it!

I mentioned awhile back how much I love to paint. It’s quite hard to find the time to actually do it though. So, I am thinking it’s time to put the paintbrush to the canvas. With my new schedule and the changes we have made in my business since January, I am going to have the free time to blog more AND have extra time to do other creative things I enjoy!

10. You Are Enough!

If you’re like me, you are your own worst enemy. I am hard on myself, I always have been. Growing up, my parents never had to punish me, I punished myself. If I made below an B on a test, I didn’t need anyone to sit me down and chat. I was the same across the board in every area. Over the years, I have come to realize that it’s silly not to give yourself  more credit. I am still learning that

11. No Matter What, Show Love.

Since the start of this blog journey, when this site was still just an idea, I have learned a great deal about trust, honor, dignity & character. I have mentioned it a few times on the blog, but someone I initially trusted with my business plan, simply borrowed it and made it their own, with a few alterations. However thankful I thought I was at the time I decided not to go with this company, it still stung a bit. After the inital shock wore off, I decided to let it go & show love. It’s my dad’s advice… show love. It’s actually trickled out into every part of my life. People are people and not everyone is going to do the right thing, but I can.

12. Relax, the dishes can wait!

When Kevin and I first got married, I was a super clean freak. Like it was so bad that he could barely move around the house without me behind him cleaning up what he had just touched. I have realized in our 2.5 years of being married, that the dishes can wait. Sometimes it’s ok to relax and hang out, there will be time for the dishes and the vacuum later!

13. Go & Enjoy the Great Outdoors…

Well, maybe not the ‘great outdoors’… I am not a hiking type of gal, but I do love to be outside! We live in a beach town and we simply don’t enjoy it as much as we need to. I want to get out and enjoy the sites, the sea and the sun! My new schedule & plan is make time for the beach! We live minutes from the number 1 beach in the nation. So, every week I am going to go out back to the pool or go to the beach & soak in some fresh air!

14. Turn the TV Off More…

Everyone knows that I L-O-V-E tv. I do. I love watching the tv. Sometimes the tv needs to be turned off for games, chatting or even a walk on the beach. We have decided one night a week we are going to shut the tv show off and either play the wii, play some board games or even hop to the beach for a nice stroll.

15. Exercise…

I am not the gal that goes to the gym everyday… well any day actually! While my hubby gets up super early a few times a week to go to the gym, I am still asleep (usually). After going to a yoga class with a friend, I kinda fell in love. I went out bought a mat and a video… now I just need to actually get up and do it. HA! I plan on tuesdays & thursdays being the yoga days to start off… it could of course change based on the happenings around here!! Plus, we have the cutest beach cruisers— we need to use them more!

16. Saving is Good!

Kevin is the saver, I am the spender (within reason). There’s gotta be one of each in every family, right?!?! Anyone?!? OK- well there is in our family. Kevin could get by with never spending money on himself, but being married to me, I can’t help but to ‘help’ him buy clothes, shoes etc. for himself. I am really good at coupons and knowing if things are priced accurately! It’s a gift, really. But, it can also be a curse sometimes! I can be totally honest, I love to shop. I literally L-O-V to the E, love it. It doesn’t always have to be for me either, I love to shop for anyone. But, there always has to be a but right?!!! There comes a time when saving is good too! Kevin wants to retire some day, when we move again, we want to pay cash for our house. When we buy a car for Kevin in the next few months (his was totaled the other day— he was safe Thank God), we want to pay cash for that too. So, sitting down and tightening the budget isn’t my favorite type of ‘chat’, but it’s a good one to have. No one wants a stressed out hubby, right?

17. Entertain More!

Our schedules are so ‘crazy’ that it makes it hard to pull together events at our home! We both own our own businesses and Kevin some times works weekends– he’s a realtor and people want to see homes when they are off work– who knew?!!! I would love to start having people over more. I am going to start a family game night once a month for my family & Kevin’s to get together for food, coffee and games (or a movie).

18. Be Joyful!

 There’s so much in my life I have to be joyful about! I have a relationship with Jesus, I have a truly amazing husband, I have a wonderful family & good friends. Recently, I was in a store (duh, right) and the cashier told me that every time she see’s me (I am there a lot) I am smiling. Her statement actually made me smile bigger. When I got to the car I started thinking about her statement. When you smile, you make others smile. It’s contagious really. Who knows, your smile may be the only form of joy someone else see’s in a day.

19. Make More Time for the Lord.

I really want to take more time out for the Lord this year. Apart from daily devotions, I want to set aside time to read the Bible more, share the love of Jesus more, serve more and cultivate an even deeper walk with Him.

P.S.–I realize not everyone who reads my beloved little blog is a christian, that’s ok. EVERYONE is welcome here. I am just being as real with you all as I can…

20. Go Old School.

Remember when sending cards were the thing to do? Or even calling friends & family to catch up with them? I do. I am a lover of email & social media like the rest of everyone, but there’s something about receiving a handwritten card or getting a call from someone that speaks to the heart… or mine anyways. I am going to bring it back. I may even diy my own cards… of course I will blog about it!!

21. Be Bold with My Style

Everyone knows I am a lover of all things tan (or gray), white & aqua, it’s an obsession really, but this year I kinda want to get bold and add some new accents to our home for a pop of color! I am thinking chartreuse/citron… it’s bold.

22. Sleep.

Sleep is key to improving the immune system. I used to be the night owl in our home, now my husband is. We have never gone to bed separately. Ever. It’s weird, but we always go upstairs to bed together. I actually like that we do that. This year I am going to try to stick to a bed time and get up around the same time every day. Sleep is so important!

23. Grow a Green Thumb!

I really love flowers & plants. This spring, I plan on totally changing out all of our old plants on our front porch area. I also wouldn’t mind building some sort of wooden box that I could keep herbs in so they are away from critters! I will keep you updated on this… it’s going to be fun!

24. Snap More Pictures…

I love photography, I always have. I am artsy to my core. I took photography classes in college alongside my interior design classes. I loved it. I really want to begin to take more photos.

PS- I will be selling my paintings, prints & photographs in the shop this spring! STAY TUNED FOR THE OPENING! (This camera isn’t mine)!

25. Get Out of My Comfort Zone!

Anyone else out there like me? I like to eat the same things, do the same things and I am a big of a home body. I would really like to get out of my comfort zone and start

26. Pursue my Passions…

Obviously I am passionate about all things stylish & design related. I really want to dig in deeper and start developing new ways to try things and be dedicated to take the time do what I love the most!

27. Get Sporty!

My husband LOVES sports. I like them. Well I like college football, tennis & baseball (only if I see it live). I don’t love playing sports. I just don’t. I used to take tennis lessons when Kevin and I were dating, I did really enjoy that. My husband craves time for beach volleyball, tennis, flag football & soccer. Me, not so much. I would be happy sitting and watching. Now that I am doing so much better with my health, I really want to start getting out there and playing tennis with him and fulfilling his cravings for all things sports. Now, I am in no way saying I am going to play volleyball, football or soccer… those are NOT ME and my hubby respects how girly I am, but tennis I can!

28. Explore More!

I would love to start exploring new hobbies, new places and new inspiration. There’s so much to do in our town alone and we don’t take the time to explore them. We live in a beautiful paradise, which also happens to be a very artistic town… it’s time to get out and explore it much more than we currently do! We are just going to start picking places and hopping in the car to go & check them out! Doesn’t that sound kinda fun??

(If you want to see a little more of what I am striving for this year, here were a few of my New Year Resolutions)! Also, I know I have mentioned changes are coming and new schedules are too… hang tight because I am going to let you in on it all! (All images came from: A Design Story, here, here, here, here, here, here & here)

That’s my list and I am sticking to it!! What about you guys? Do you have a list you of things you want to do, change or things that motivate you to keep going? Do tell…

Happy February!! February is absolutely one of my favorite month’s because it’s my birthday month! Who doesn’t love their birthday?!?!!

The new year has gotten off to an incredibly busy start! I have some new things in the works for the blog, site & shop (I will reveal those secrets next week), I am going to be contributing monthly (or more) over at Chic Cheap Nursery & so, so, so much more…

Like most monthly favorite posts, it’s easy to come up with a “love list. There’s so many things that have caught my eye recently, that it makes it a bit hard to narrow down the list. Since I am in the process of changing out a few things in our home and adding some new “fresh” colors, I used my inspiration & ideas as a guide to this month’s home edition… Let’s begin shall we?

Here’s the breakdown:

1. Stripes!! I love stripes (hence the striped wall in our living room). I am really loving these large striped pillows from Crate & Barrel to add to our living room. I love the idea of playing off the stripes on the wall to create a cohesive look.

2. Ever since I just finished a beach condo project for a fabulous client of mine, I can’t get citron & chartreuse colors out of my head! We are playing with the idea of incorporating the shades in our bedroom actually. I LOVE this graphic pillow from CB2 as an accent!

3. Lighting is a huge element in decor/design. We are lacking in this area for sure in our home. I would love to add a floor lamp to our living area near a chair to create a reading nook. I love this inexpensive floor lamp from Lowes, in fact, I recently used it in the above mentioned beach condo project (which you will all see photos of soon!)

4. Ikat is a huge trend these days. I love it. I recently ordered one single ikat window panel from West Elm to re-upholester a bench I picked up from my local thrift store. These window panels are bea-u-tiful in person!!

5. Right now Target has some of the most adorable + modern + trendy home decor & kitchen products. You can find chevron pattern items, floral items and fun pops of color. I think this bread box is adorable. It comes in turquoise, white, red and black I believe. So cute!! It makes me wish I didn’t have to refrigerate my bread– gluten free.

6. Gallery wall time. I finally got the “go ahead” from the hubby to add a white framed gallery wall to our living room’s back wall. I have so many cute pictures & graphic prints I can’t wait to add! I am going to take a lil’ trip to Tampa next week to visit Ikea for these Ribba frames! Stay tuned on this one.

7. Zig zag fever. I am a huge fan of the chevron pattern… who isn’t? I think this adorable yellow vase from Zgallerie would look great on white shelves or even a coffee table paired with a few shorter vases.

Now, here’s a few fashion + beauty items I am into right now…

Here’s the breakdown:

1. Bangles. I am pretty much obsessed with fun bangles these days. I think they are a fun way to add a pop of color into your accessories. You can mis-match them or use just one depending on your outfit. These golden cuties are super inexpensive & from Forever 21. Costume jewelry doesn’t have to be expensive to be cute. As girly as I am and as much as I like to stitch up things, I try to pair a few inexpensive pieces with a few pieces that cost a bit more to each outfit.

2. Skinnies. God Love Them. I do. From the moment I brought home my first skinny jeans, I was addicted. I love them. I live in them. Awhile back I even purchased a cobalt blue pair of skinny capris… and I love those too! Then because they gave me so much joy, I bought some turqouise skinny pants. HEART THEM. Now my eye is on a pink/ magenta pair like these from Express. Adorable, right?!?!

3. I have probably mentioned a million times on the blog, but I eat gluten free now & have for almost 2 years exactly now. I have it down to a science these days (after a lot of practice and tough days). What I fail to remember sometimes is makeup and how it affects my immune system. Since consuming gluten in any way is not tolerable to me, I have to be a little creative at times. The other day I was watching Elizabeth Hasslebeck on the Dr. Oz show and she mentioned that Burt’s Bees products are g-free. I went out immediately and grabbed me some new lip gloss– I love it!

4. Lately I have been breaking out of my shell and wanting some glittery eye shadow. Are you with me out there?! Anyone else loving all those glittery eyes on Pinterest? Me too! This glittery eye shadow from Ulta  is long lasting and the perfect amount of shimmer!

5. I used to get my nails down all the time. I liked it. These days, my husband will give me a gift card for a mani-pedi (which is so sweet), but I find myself enjoying the pedicure, but the manicure + polish doesn’t last long. I heard about these nail strips from Sally Hansen from my hubby’s cousin and I knew I had to give it a whirl. These puppies last like 14 days folks. I grabbed mine from Target with a coupon— so look for those! They have sparkle designs, floral, geometric one’s.. kinda fun +different!

So, really… what are you loving this month? Have you bought anything recently that you just want to shout about? DO TELL. Also, I am extremely sorry for the lack of posts lately, unfortunately I came down with a bronchitis like virus and then shingles. I must say I have had a rough start to 2012, but I am coming out of it and feeling good. I am grateful for your understanding, patience and loyalty!

What have you been up to lately? Welcome back!

Hello, hello! So, how did you guys like the OPC giveaway last week? I am thrilled to have One Project Closer as a sponsor and am so thankful they offered up such a fabulous giveaway to our readers!

So… a big thank you goes out to OPC! In case you haven’t checked them out, DO! They are an excellent resource for all things DIY!

 Now, for the winner… I am excited to announce that Andrea is the winner of the OPC giveaway!

I can’t wait to see how you use the gift card! Happy Shopping Andrea!

Din’t win this giveaway? No worries, we have a few more coming at you really soon!!

Finally, right!?! I apologize for not getting this giveaway winner post out sooner, I have been under the weather and my beloved computer crashed all in the same week. I finally am back up and running, all while coughing my head off. Fun or what friends?!!

Back to the giveaway! Thank you to each one who entered. I had fun reading through the comments and figuring out how many pillows you guys actually put out… I am so guilty of way too many pillows out. Or so the hubby says

A huge thank you goes out to Cushion Source for providing us with such beautiful pillows for our home & yours! We appreciate their sponsorship! Now to announce the winner…

The winner of the Pillow Talk giveaway Jessica who said:

Yay Jessica!  Congrats on your new pillows… come back & share photos!! P.S., Jessica happens to have the most fantastic site– The Paper Plume!

Thanks again! We have more giveaways coming at you soon! Plus, I PROMISE this blog is getting back to a regular schedule starting next week!

I am back with ANOTHER fabulous giveaway! It’s posting a bit late today due to technical issues… my computer decided to act weird today, so it’s at ‘the place’ getting looked at. BOO.

This week’s Gracious Giveaway is sponsored by my good friend’s at One Project Closer…

Have you ever wanted to know how a contractor would tackle your home improvement project? Well head on over to One Project Closer as they follow the pros and provide expert level how-to tutorials. In addition, they also share crafty ideas, tool reviews and home improvement coupons. Take a moment to check out all the discounts for home improvement stores and consider signing up for their weekly newsletter. To see what I mean, visit their Sears promo page or Kmart promo page.

One Project Closer is a really unique online source for deals, tutorials, product reviews & more. What I find great about OPC is the fact that you receive opinions, advice, tips & more from 4 fabulous people! That’s right… OPC is operated by 2 married couples who are just trying to make their homes fantastic, one project at a time (literally).  They get hands on advice from pro’s and deliver you the most updated tutorials, discounts & reviews. Seriously, if you are a diy’er or have home preoject to-do list… you have to stop by OPC!

Since the peeps at One Project Closer LOVE our diy readers, they wanted to give one of you a $50 gift card to Home Depot! Exciting, right? Well… let’s get to it!

Here are the details on how to win this week’s prize… (It’s easy… just comment on this blog post with the following)

• Prize: A $50 Gift Card to Home Depot
• To Enter: Comment below saying “Get my Project On” & tell us what kind of home projects are on you’re to do list…
• Bonus Entries… Sign up for One Project Closer’s Newsletter! You can also follow OPC on facebook on twitter!
• Giveaway Closes: Saturday, January 14th, 2012 @12pm EST
• Number of Winners: 1 Lucky Winner
• Prize Ships: Anywhere in the USA & Canada
• Rules: One entry per e-mail address is permitted, unless you partake in the bonus options. The winner will be selected using random.org and announced on Sunday, January15th, 2012. Good luck!

Is there anyone like me out there that is totally addicted to pillows? Yes?!?! Perfect.. then this giveaway it totally up your alley!!

(UPDATE: THIS GIVEAWAY HAS BEEN RE-LAUNCHED & EXTENDED)

Kevin laughs at just how serious I am right now. I have a slight addiction to decorative pillows. I have TONS and I love changing them out seasonally and trading them from room to room. It’s the interior designer in me that just can’t get enough! (Remember, I even posted all about my pillow obsession awhile back).

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Cushion Source(.com) to review a few pillows & host a giveaway. Of course my answer was yes & please! Cushion Source is a custom cushion, pillow & drape site. They offer high end products, deliver amazing customer service AND their website is easy to use. Customers simply enter their cushion or pillow measurements, choose a fabric and options, enter their zip code for a shipping estimate and Cushion Source handles the rest. They also allow customers to submit their own fabric for us to create their cushions and pillows.  (How amazing is that?) Best of all, our products are made here in the USA.

 A few days afterI received a confirmation email, I received the most gorgeous pillows! I didn’t pick out the pillows they sent, so they were a totaly surprise!! They were the PERFECT color for my house and I adore them. They have already been the centerpiece to the chairs in our living room and also made a grand debut in our bedroom too! They are absolutely beautiful. Don’t you think?

The pillows are extremely well made, the fabric is definately durable and the decorative fringe is sewn to perfection! I don’t ever brag about a company/or product that I don’t love myself, and Cushion Source is absolutely going to be added to my vendor source list for design projects!

Now for the FUN part… Cushion Source is sending one of you fine readers a set of pillows too… They are made with Sunbrella Fabrics (which means you can use them outdoors if you want) & you get on solid Yellow pillow & one Seafoam Green Floral Pillow…

Here are the details on how to win these fabulous pillows… (It’s easy… just comment on this blog post with the following)

• Prize: A set of Pillows from Cushion Source (with Sunbrella Fabrics) (One Yellow & One Light Seafoam Green)
• To Enter: Comment below saying”Pillow Talk” & tell us how many pillows are on your bed or sofa…
• Bonus Entries… Like the Cushion Source Facebook (& tell us you did) or Follow them on Twitter and tweet… “Enter for a chance to win a set of designer pillows from @cushionsource on @adesignstory http://adesignstory.com/gracious-giveaway-pillow-talk/“
• Giveaway Closes: Friday, January 13th, 2012 @12pm EST
• Number of Winners: 1 Lucky Winner
• Prize Ships: Anywhere in the USA
• Rules: One entry per e-mail address is permitted, unless you partake in the bonus options. The winner will be selected using random.org and announced on January 14th, 2012. Good luck!!