Can I vent talk about Pinterest for a minute today? I think I joined last fall. I pinned like 5 things then promptly quit because another social network to keep up with just about pushed me over the edge. But moreover – to be totally frank – I just didn’t see the point because it was basically what I’ve been doing with my blog for the past 3 years: finding images, saving and organizing them, then sharing on my blog.

But apparently there is a point because lately all anyone talks about is Pinterest this and Pinterest that….. and I’ve lost count of the number of emails asking if I’m on it. So. I’m caving to the pressure (I’m weak, what can I say?) and I’m giving it another go. It’s going to take some time to figure out exactly how I want to use it but in the meantime, these are some of my recent pins. If you’d like to follow me, you can find me here.

So are you on Pinterest? What do you think of it? I’d love to hear how you use it and if you’re a blogger, how you use it in relation to your blog. Leave me your links too so I can find you!

Update: It seems I did something wrong and some of my pins have disappeared even though they show up on my page. Hmmm….. like I said, I’m figuring things out so please bear with me.

This article originally appeared on www.fromtherightbank.com.
©2012 FROM THE RIGHT BANK. All Rights Reserved.

This is country I can get on board with!

(Photos: Lantliv, February 2012)

This article originally appeared on www.fromtherightbank.com.
©2012 FROM THE RIGHT BANK. All Rights Reserved.

There have been a whole bunch of little changes happening in the family room.

First, on Friday I went to do some painting with my friend Angela (from the Painted House) and she had this coffee table at her loft that wasn’t working in the space. You know how we bloggers like to trade and borrow things (it allows us to get new stuff without feeling too guilty!) so it came home with me to see how it might look in my family room:

I had been wanting something wider than the white coffee table we had in there to take up some more of the space. She found it at an antique mall and had it powder coated in hot pink which I just love. At night it can look a little too neon but in daylight, it looks pretty good. What do you all think? I think it’s so funky!

I also changed up this spot:

Yup, the Danish chairs finally got stained. They turned out a little darker than I had planned but I like them enough. The photos are my own which used to hang in the kitchen office and behind the chair is a lucite table which holds a mountain of magazines to read:

Remember how this spot used to look? The mirror has gone up to the master bedroom and the chest is now in the guest room. Those rooms are up next once I finish in here. We’re getting close, folks …..

(Photos: FROM THE RIGHT BANK)

This article originally appeared on www.fromtherightbank.com.
©2012 FROM THE RIGHT BANK. All Rights Reserved.

I’m a couple of days late with this post …..

This year I’m going to post a look at my Instagram photos at the end of every month as part of my Living La Belle Vie series. As I mentioned when I introduced the series, to me the good life means appreciating the everyday and this is what I try to capture everyday in pictures.

I also mentioned I would be sharing how I try to live la belle vie very day and one way I’ll be doing that is through photos. My hope is that these images may inspire you to slow down, to add a little beauty into your daily routine and to enjoy all the small moments that make up la belle vie.

(If you aren’t familiar with Instagram, it’s an iPhone app that lets you take photos, apply filters and share them with others.) If you are on it and want to follow me, my user name is AllyFTRB. If you are not but want to see my pics, you can always see a daily photo in the sidebar to the right (over there —>) if you scroll down a little. The photos also get posted on Twitter and Followgram if you follow me there. And if you aren’t on any of those, I’ll be doing these monthly posts with the highlights!

I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoy taking them!

Alright so this is totally random but I’m going to leave you with this video for the weekend. It really saddened me to hear that Don Cornelius, the creator and host of Soul Train, took his own life this week. For all you youngun’s wondering what the hell I’m talking about: it was just the coolest show in the history of television is all.  Anyway, I grew up watching the show and to this day, the Soul Train dance line is the grooviest thing I have ever seen.

You can see Don Cornelius at the beginning of the clip – his hair, glasses, outfit, voice …… everything about him was smooth. And the dancers? Now, that’s what you call style. I tell you nothing makes me happier than watching people get down. You have to watch the guy at 1:07. Oh my god, he slays me! I’ve watched it like 10 times already.

Love, peace and soul to you, Don Cornelius.

See you all Monday!

(Photos: FROM THE RIGHT BANK)

This article originally appeared on www.fromtherightbank.com.
©2012 FROM THE RIGHT BANK. All Rights Reserved.

It’s indoor/outdoor and I think it could be cool in the garden too. I think it’s the same one I spotted in Lonny:

The other one that I like a lot is the Bolero Accent Table from Crate and Barrel:

What I like about both of these is how sculptural they are. But I can’t seem to make up my mind. (Oh, really? How unlike me.) What do you think?

I’ve gathered some other round tables that I’ve been considering in my monthly Ideabook for Houzz:

If you’ve seen any other round side tables that you think I might like, do tell!

This article originally appeared on www.fromtherightbank.com.
©2012 FROM THE RIGHT BANK. All Rights Reserved.

There was an article in the New York Times two weeks ago about how all the fashion people are trading in St. Barts for Tulum, Mexico. Mexico is one of my favorite places (and I always thought Tulum was one of its jewels) so I started browsing the web for some of the places mentioned in the article and I came across this spread in the Selby. That Todd Selby is always up on these things. He apparently shot Nicolas Malleville and Francesca Bonato’s place/hotel/spa/shop in Tulum a while back. Have a look:

They created a really sophisticated but relaxed atmosphere while retaining all the local flavor. That’s not a combination easy to achieve and they totally nailed it.

(Photos: the Selby)

This article originally appeared on www.fromtherightbank.com.
©2012 FROM THE RIGHT BANK. All Rights Reserved.

It’s been a while since I did an art wall roundup and I’m not sure why since I still have so many in my files. Here are some of my favorite type (mix of art and frames) that I’ve saved recently.

In adding the photo credits, I realized that these six spaces are from six different countries. Art walls are universal!

(Photos: 1.C Magazine 2.Avotakka 3.Bolig 4.Ideat 5.Skona Hem 6.House and Home)

This article originally appeared on www.fromtherightbank.com.
©2012 FROM THE RIGHT BANK. All Rights Reserved.