Going Local- the shop

I have decided to open a space in Interiors and Antiques in Vestavia Hills! I am looking forward to filling the space with great handmade home accessories and one of a kind items. I am working hard to get everything ready for a weekend move in date. Here are some of the things you will find! I will be building the collection over the next few days. So, come see me in area 6 for the soft opening... Grand opening to come!

Back to School: The Dorm - Senioritus and the bridge to adult digs

I always love the back to school issue of Seventeen magazine... long after I was 17! It was the issue that instructed how to take your high school look and elevate it to a college look. Taking that inspiration, I would like to share ideas from Senior year dorm life that transitions nicely to the first apartment and the real life.
Like learning how to wear your fave jeans to the office by adding the jacket from your interview suit, dorm decor can transition to the apartment with the addition of a "grown up" items. Hot pink, neon's and bold florals can be tempered with neutrals. Maybe neutrals seem boring, but everyone cannot be the star of the show. Make your favorite items from college be the leading lady and build a supporting cast of neutrals with fabulous textures.

Here's some mood boards to help create the blend!

A collection of decor from the Senior year dorm

Taking the parts of the hot pink college dorm room and creating a first gathering space!

 

Back to School: The Dorm - tastic freshman room

I had the best dorm room on campus when I was in college- a large corner room in the dorm with bathrooms in the room. Though the dorm was on the periphery of campus and had gross light green metal furniture, the attached bathroom trumped everything else. I made a quilt for my bed the summer before my freshman year from a dress with a full skirt and a coordinating fabric that was purchased at the time the dress fabric was purchased.
To celebrate the back to school spirit and the joys of leaving home... combined with the sadness of missing home. I have collected a group of dorm must haves for that first year of college. Hopefully the rising freshman will find some great ideas to help bring a bit of home with them to school.

Kindles and Nooks are great, but you will probably have some real books, too!

Great for future heroines, drama queens and art deco fans. The leaning ladies book ends.

Fun signage for the dorm door or as a reminder for when deadlines get tight and dances are coming up!

Pink and Green and Happy! Great dorm collecting of duvet and pillows!

Ferocious, that you! Attacking homework, devouring books, dominating on the Dean's list.. no? Not you? How
about dominating in your dining hall, devouring rush week and ferocious in your school colors!  Plants help
to clean the air, which is nice in a dorm and succulents are easy to care for.

Pin notes, keep up with papers, decorate your bulletin board! Clothes pins are also handy for clipping bags closed!

Dorm keys, car keys, or lab keys- you have to keep up with them! Great to start the new school year
and perfect for the college care packages from Mom! Great gift for you roommate, suite mates, or sisters!

This little guy will be the best college boyfriend you'll ever have! You can never have enough plugs...
Maybe you are like Mr. Weasley and you collect them! This would be a great addition to the collection.

Neutral no more- adding color to your home interiors- part 2

The second part of my adding color to a neutral interior space address a family room/den area. (To see part one of the series click here). In this typical neutral cream to taupe space, I have chosen complimentary colors to accent the space in blue and red-orange. As in the previous space, I have used olioboard.com to create the space. This color palette can take a room to an Americana space, Eastern influenced space, or can go quite modern. I have gone with a hybrid of Eastern and Americana.

With the simple addition of changing the accent pieces I have taken the ivory walls, sisal rug and cream sofa to a brighter, polished finish with blue wing back chairs, on trend patterned pillows with blue and white, tones of orange red in the lamp bases and a bronze Brown cut work bowl with a blue lining. Could this space go further to add color? Surely, but for the color timid, this is a great start by adding small changeable color pieces and practically neutral blue chairs.

If you are interested in any of the item's on this board, I would love to tell you more about them! Simply drop me an email at LaurlSelf@gmail.com, I would love to hear from you.

Dressing up what you already have- pillow makeovers

Sometimes design and decorating is about altering what you already have. It is a form of green design! I  think it is akin to switching out your clothes each season, you are see what you already have and love differently. Here are a few ways to dress up the pillows and other accents in your home!

What a great crocheted hair clip from Innov8ive Knits on Etsy! You can certainly wear it as intended. However, looking at it differently, like would be cool centered on a pillow or in a group with other flower pins. Nor only are you dressing up your pillows, but you are also finding storage alternatives!



This pretty flower pin would look great with the hair clip above on a pillow with maybe a third flower. Always work in odd numbers when designing a space, it is more pleasing to the mind! Rosy Posy Designs from Etsy brings us this great pin!





The perfect accompaniment to your flowers in your pillow! This lovely vintage rhinestone brooch is from Relics4you on Etsy. Vintage pins are a great item to collect and display in clusters on pillows. Make sure these are not pillows that you use often, because that could damage the pins!





Pillow Slipcovers are also a great way to go to update a space. This slipcover from Victoria Hayden on Etsy is featuring the hottest trend in design- the ruched fabric look.



For a funkier or folksier look to your decor, this folk design pillow slip cover can take a functional but tired pillow to a different place! See RustiqueCat on etsy for other folk inspired items!