Wallpaper - It's Back!

We are on the brink of re-doing our master bedroom and I am searching high and low for the perfect wall covering to use. I want something with texture - just to add a little interest to the wall behind our bed, the accent wall. I went and fell in love with something so outrageously expensive - (easy to do in the design trade) and realized it would never become a reality when the nice ladies at Seabrook explained how this particular one was priced by the yard and not the roll, so basically what I thought would cost about $175 was going to be $1500, yeah - I put that book back on the shelf real quick. The wall behind our bed is a little awkward with lots of cut outs so I was thinking this is where we could splurge a little because I loved it...well, not so much. So back to square one.

I think I have settled on one that will do...so, hopefully soon I will have some before and after pictures to share.

Recently I have used wall covering here and there on some projects. It is back and so much better than it was in the 8o's. I think people who have renovated homes from that decade see to be very hesitant to jump back onto the trend wagon...all they think of is all of the wallpaper they had to strip when they bought their home. I think it is great if it is used the right way and in the right place....as opposed to coordinating mauve and country blue with a border to match!

This is a picture from Cottage Living - I love that they painted the ceiling that blue color and kept the trim uniform with it - the stripes of the wall covering take your eye up...

This is from a Coastal Living issue - this is so interesting to me in this little nook. I think it the pattern does so much more for the space than a solid paint color would.

I love everything about this room - I am very much into green this year. Image is from Southern Living


How fun would this be in a kids room? - courtesy of Coastal Living

Grass cloth is huge this year. I love it in this nursery - so soothing yet stylish

Image from Atlanta Home & Lifestyles magazine

Again loving this mod look of this little guy's room.

Stay tuned on progress from the master bedroom - Before pics have been taken so it is off to the races!

Birds - How Ironic

Let me start this post by saying that I am loving the bird trend these days. Owls, birds, bird cages...I am so drawn to the simplicity and delicacy of it all.

But in life out side of interior design, I am no fan of birds.

I think it stems back to college - there was this one tree outside my window of my freshmen dorm. I think every bird on campus lived in that tree. And after pulling an all-nighter at "the library", a tweeting colony of birds is the last thing I wanted to hear.

Birds also seem to find my car wherever I am parked - yet another reason I am negative nancy when it comes to birds...and what about that Alfred Hitchcock movie? "The Birds" - I mean, if that doesn't weird you out...all those beaks...ughh.

Anyway - back to my love for the booming trend of our little winged friends.

This was brought to my attention this weekend by Jeremy. We are getting ready to re-do our master bedroom and I was trying to paint a picture of what I was going for. So I took him to this store where I found a fabulous custom pillow with none other than a large bird on the front. And he looked at me and said, "You like this? I can't see you liking this." I then had to turn to the sweet lady who was standing there who happened to make the pillow herself and I had to explain that I hate birds in "real life" but loved the pillow and will be purchasing one soon.

I love this adorable storage box from ModMom on Etsy

I love this pattern...and the muted colors - Barbra Kelp Eaton Blue Linen

Adorable tote & pillow from Fig+Sage

And here is one of my favorites by Bumbletees - a local Memphis Company.

I have this owl shirt but army green long sleeve instead of white & I LOVE it.

What about you? Do you have an ironic trend that has started to grow on you that you never thought would? I would love to hear about it.

House vs. Home

Over the past few years - let's say 2 years, we find ourselves pulling the real estate section out of the Sunday paper. We take it with us and just happen to end up "looking" at things in our price range or neighborhoods we love.

This usually ends badly. We walk into an open house - give a very hard working realtor false hope and I begin to arrange furniture and pick out paint colors as we walk through...all the while, Jeremy, being the math whiz that he is has figured out how much the mortgage would be and how much profit we could make on our home, minus the realtor commission etc.

Then the discussion leads to all the projects that need to be done on our house before we consider putting it on the market. We eventually come home to our drafty little abode and begin to realize how much we have put into the place and how much we love it and we are content...until the next Sunday rolls around.

The houses we see, sure they are nice...with lots of space, great insulation and the cherry on top - the bonus room...oh, every fisher price product we own could fit in that one room with space to spare.

But are they home?

Nope, to me a home is something very personal...something that we put our hard work into, painting, re-painting after picking the wrong shade, re-arranging furniture until it is how you want it...swatches hanging on windows until you know you commit to one fabric, the list goes on.

So while these houses are nice...I don't think one becomes a home until you truly invest yourself in it. Not, just financially - but physically & mentally. So, until we find the "one" and complete all of our little projects we will continue to look at all those houses and truly appreciate our home.