Makes a fun alternative to traditional shelving. If you use a salvaged or vintage ladder, it’s eco-friendly too!

Another creative shoe organization idea here.

image sources: 1-unknown, 2-the nest, 3-design sponge

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Domaine has featured my pillows in two different articles!  My Leopard Velvet pillow was featured in Get a Life: CZ Guest and my Bleecker Peacock pillow was featured in Top Ten Geometric Throw Pillows.

What do you think of the site? Is it a new favorite for you as well?

Deal alert! Tonight through end of Friday May 10th, use code MOTHERSDAY for 10% off e-gift certificates from my shop!

*Offer valid only on gift certificates.  Ends 11:59 pm PST May 10, 2013.

For awhile I kept both doors blank, which made for an uninspiring view from my desk.   I finally realized the door I always keep closed would be a great spot for a cork board. While I love Pinterest and use it almost daily, it’s nice to be able to pin on an traditional physical board.  It’s a great spot not just for inspiring images, but also for notes, reminders, keepsakes, artwork, and fabric swatches.  Plus a cork board gives me a certain tactile experience I don’t get when I’m pinning virtually, and by having it in front of my desk it can serve as something beautiful to glance at throughout the workday to give my eyes a rest from the computer screen.

Before heading to the store, I measured my door so I could easily decide what size cork board would make best use of the space. The 24×36 size was just the right width and height.  Not too big, not too small.

To make it fit seamlessly with the decor of my office, I covered the board in a simple white cotton fabric and gave it the look of nailhead trim by adding super inexpensive thumb tacks along the line of the board’s frame. Since my place is a rental, I didn’t want to make any holes on the door, so I used command strips to mount the board.

Overall the process was easy and I’m thrilled with the results. Here’s how it looks:

I pinned: a few inspiring images (from my virtual boards) that I had printed on card stock, a magazine pull-out, a lovely art piece my sister made for me with the word ‘Love’ painted in gold, a few fabrics I’m considering for pillows for the shop, as well as a little printed reminder to myself to drink more water, take my vitamins, and make green juice.

For those of you interested in making a similar board for yourself, here’s a list of what I used and a few tips:

• 24×36 cork board
• 1 yard of white cotton fabric
• 2 packs of thumb tacks
• clear pushpins
• a pack of large command strips
• light duty staple gun

Tips:

-Iron your fabric before stapling it to the board

-After you staple the fabric on one side of the board, pull the fabric really tight before stapling the other side.

-When placing the thumb tacks, use your thumb as a spacing guide

-Place the command strips on the frame of the board to help them best adhere to the wall

-The strips come in two different colors - black and white.  Since you may possibly be able to see a little bit of the strips from a side view, get the ones that are closest in color to either your wall color or the color of your fabric.

-Most importantly, have fun pinning to your board!

*The folks at Office Depot sponsored this post.  All ideas/opinions/thoughts are my own.

I like to have most of my everyday jewelry in place, ready for me to quickly pick up and go! Having all those jewels organized on my side table along side my perfume is perfect!  The silver tray is from The Cross Design, one of my favorite home décor stores in Yale Town, Vancouver. The Stag Head jewelry holder, which holds my bracelets is from Front & Company in Vancouver. 

For pieces that I only take out for special occasions I like to have them all wrapped up in the boxes they came in. I laugh, because my husband thinks I’m a horder- whereas I like the organization of each piece in it’s place! Takes up a little bit more room, but those boxes are just too nice to throw away!

headshot photo by Melissa Skoda, all others by Ellen Ho of Hong Photography 

Click on over to check it out!

image via BHG

Click on over to Sadie and Stella to see more photos and read about all the details!

These photos below from the kitchen of Jen of the Social Home are giving me the inspiration and push I need to get my pantry looking beautiful again.   Jen used matching containers from the dollar store and created her own lovely labels, which she generously offers as downloadable freebies here and here.  She also offers custom labels in her shop The Paper Society.

So pretty, wouldn’t you agree?

p.s. Check out her post on how to smudge-proof your labels

See more here.

Photography by Christopher Sturman 

As promised, I wanted to share with you all my living room progress.  Since the last update here’s what I’ve done:

+Separated the two tables we were using as a coffee table and designated them as side tables

+Moved the chair ottoman to the middle of the room and added a tray so we could use it as a coffee table

+Added pillows to the sofa. I went with two blue velvet, two aga reverse black*, and a petite zig zag french blue lumbar*.

+ Hung the beautiful paintings I had commissioned from Parima Studio

+Purchased a media console. We went with this one from Ikea which was inexpensive (a necessity since this is a short term home) and just the right size. We’ve customized it by painting the back in a similar color blue as the velvet pillows. We bought doors for it, however not sure if we’ll use them or not.  Still deciding… Might just add two bottom drawers to hide the X-Box controls and gadgets and keep the rest as open storage.

+Added an accent table with a scalloped top next to the chair.  It’s black and I like how it looks but I’m kinda tempted to paint it another color.  Undecided still.

+Bought three square frames to hang on the wall in a vertical column to the left of the paintings. They’re silver but I plan on spray painting them gold to match the mirror above the fireplace.

Overall, here’s what the room is currently looking like:

What’s up next:

+paint the three frames and hang them

+ add drawers to the media console and style the shelves

+ get another side table lamp

+buy and install cover for tv cords & wires

+find a stylish storage basket or bin for Little Foot‘s toys

Hopefully these last few things don’t take me too long! Stay tuned for more updates!

*I don’t have these pillows available in the shop website yet. If you’re interested, email shop@ariannabelle.com for a quote.