I’ve already mentioned that I am a crazy person for wanting to redo our recently done downstairs bathroom.  Not a complete (re)overhaul, but just changing out the vanity/sink and maybe changing the walls to board-and-batten.  There’s also a small element that’s been irking me.  The little bin that holds magazines for people to read while they .. well, you know.

Firstly, in terms of design and style, it won’t really go with the (2nd) makeover I have in mind.  Secondly, it annoys me that the magazines don’t really stand up properly.  They kind of list over to one side, meaning that when you do eventually pick up a magazine to read, the bottom edges are all curled over.  Lastly, it is difficult to see the full range of magazines that are on offer in this delectable hotel hole home.  So, I started looking for a replacement that would be sleek in design, store the magazines without damaging them, and let people see the full array on offer. Hello my beauty…

I spied this one from Crate & Barrel.  It ticks all the boxes.  ‘Cept it’s a little to pricey for me.  As lovely as it is, almost 50 bucks for a magazine rack seems a little steep.  For me, anyway. 

I then stumbled across a slightly less expensive version from Umbra…

I love how this one is wall-mounted, which can save valuable space in a small downstairs bathroom.  You can see all the magazines on offer, and when all the racks are being used, it appears as though the magazines are free-floating. And at 33 bucks, it’s a slightly less wallet-stretching price.

Which of the magazine racks do you prefer? Do you have other unique or fun ways to display magazines in your home?

Linking this post up to Show and Tell Saturday:

How cool is this eco-friendly alarm clock?

The clock is powered by water.  Yep, H2O only.  And it also has a thermometer and calendar. You simply add water to the cell to activate, and enjoy free energy to run your clock.  I could see having one of these in each of the guest bedrooms, not to mention the office  and the front rooms.

In addition to being good for the planet and pleasing on the eye, it’s a steal at only £14.99 GBP (approx. $25 USD).  Want one (or five)? Check ’em out here!

A few weeks ago, I managed to score two free chairs on Craigslist.  

They have seen better days, hence the price tag.  Although the fabric is a little worse-for-wear in places, both chairs are structurally sound. When I return from the UK, I am planning on tackling my first furniture makeover by reupholstering these beauties-to-be.  I’ve been on the lookout for some graphic, punchy upholstery fabric to take these chairs from ugghh to aahh-mazing. But so far, I haven’t managed to find any fabric that I really love,  and that is in my price range.  Although I got the chairs for free, I’m too frugal (aka cheap) to spend hundreds of dollars on fabric.  Online fabric yardage guestimators suggest that I might need up to 7 yards of fabric per chair.  At up to 30 bucks a yard, that can get expensive really quickly. 

So, I’m wishin’, and hopin’, and thinkin’, and prayin’, planning and dreamin’ (name that tune!) to find some inexpensive but good quality upholstery fabric.  In terms of design, I’m looking for a modern, graphic and vibrant pattern (no stripes, not too heavy on the florals).   Just like Goldilocks, the pattern on the fabric has to be just right – not too big or too small (too small will make the chair look busy, and too large will make it disjointed). I’m not too fussy on the color, although I’m naturally drawn to teals/blues/turquoises, muted greens, black & white. 

Here are some of the fabrics I’ve come across that have caught my eye.  I’m not loving (just liking) these fabrics, but so far they’ve come closest to meeting my criteria: 

Source List:

1. “Passion” by Amy Butler
2. “Coriander” by Amy Butler
3. “Modern Floral” by funkyfabrix.com
4. “Bauhaus Ring” by funkyfabrix.com
5. “Verisimo Teal” by dunelm-mill.com

source list

source list

Have you come across any good online sites that sell modern, graphic and punchy upholstery fabrics for a good price?  Do you know of some great designers that might meet my meeellions of criteria?  Please spill the beans!

When I win the lottery, find a sugar-daddy or some other quick get-rich scheme, I dream about having a fabulous outdoor living space out back. Picture a large multi-level deck …

with an outdoor kitchen…

a firepit/ bbq/ pizza oven …

and let’s throw in a free flowing waterfall for good measure. 

Don’t want much, do I?  Whilst all of those things might not be feasible, it is possible for us, one of these days, to build a moderately sized deck and create an open and welcoming outdoor living space. 

To get the most out of the deck, I figure you need to maximize the time you would spend using it.  So, that means not only during sunshine hours, but in the evenings too.  To do that, we need to shed some light.

We saw some of these small solar-powered deck lights on a DIY tv show.

You simply bore out a small hole where you want the light placed, pop it in and it sits flush to the deck.  The sun’s solar power charges the lights and they automatically switch on/off at dusk/dawn.  How simple is that?  Some deck lighting kits you can get are wired, whereas others are battery powered.  Accordingly, the prices online can vary widely: for example, you can get a set of 10 lights here for $144.99, but on this UK site, you can get a set of 6 for £29.99 (approx. $50.00 with current exchange rates). 

Although these deck lights aren’t on the same level of grandeur as the outside kitchen / firepit / waterfall, they are the first step towards creating a welcoming and usable outside living space.  Now I can’t wait to get started rebuilding our dilapidated deck!

Image sources: Large Deck  |  Kitchen  |  Fireplace  |  Waterfall  |  Moderate Deck  |  Lighted Deck

As part of our vanity makeover in the downstairs bathroom, we installed this fountain faucet over the glass vessel sink:

However, over the months of use, we’ve ran into one problem.  Water stains.  After we turn the tap off, the few remaining drips have left an indelible stain on the glass. We’ve tried a bunch of things to remove the offending marks, but to little avail (glass cleaner, lime-away, magic eraser). So recently, I’ve been looking into alternatives. I really like the waterfall effect of the existing faucet, so I wanted to find one that mimicked that effect  Just minus the glass.

I’m lovin’ this trough faucet by Pfister.

The open faucet creates this cool waterfall effect.  At 8.25 inches, the spout is high enough to sit above the raised vessel sink.  Plus, it is a single-hole configuration which matches the existing faucet, so swapping them out would be a breeze.  The faucet comes in a range of finishes – chrome and brushed nickel being the most popular. So, unless I can find a way to get rid of the water stains on the existing faucet, this baby might be coming home with me. 

Have you guys got any fab tips for getting rid of water stains?

We need to replace our outdated brass light in the hallway with something more contemporary:

I’m digging this modern light fixture from Lowes:

The directional spotlights could be very useful to direct light to the parts of the hallway that are currently underlit.  Plus, I am planning on hanging some photos on the wall just below this fixture, so one of the lights could be used to illuminate the artwork.  This light is not available in store until mid-December, so it’s going on the wish list for now.  Please Santa, I have been a very good girl this year *cheesy smile*.

Rick is usually the teccie geek in our family. Any kind of new gadget (especially computer related) piques his interest. He was the one who wanted to upgrade our camera from a little point-and-shoot to a DSLR.  At the time I wasn’t convinced – especially as DSLR’s tend to be more expensive than their little cousins. But once we got the camera, I was hooked. So much so that photography is now considered my domain in our household.  I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised then that lately I have started thinking about moving photography.

I’ve seen a couple of fab videos taken with the pocket-sized Flip video camera on one of the Home Design blogs I read (check out YHL). The reviews for this camera are nearly all fantastic.  People report that it is easy-to-use, with its one touch recording system, built in 8GB memory and flip-out USB drive.  Plus, the FlipShare software lets you easily email videos, edit individual clips, make custom movies, capture still photos from video, and upload video to YouTube. You can learn more about the Flip features on this video.

Currently, Amazon is offering three (yes 3!) special promotions if you buy this baby by October 10th.  When you purchase the video camera, you get 1) a free accessory, such as a carrying case or rechargeable battery pack and 2) 55 free prints (including 50 4 x 6-inch, four 5 x 7-inch, and one 8 x 10-inch, valued at $15.45) from Shutterfly. In addition to these freebies, the best deal is being offered in conjunction with Audible - an online marketplace for digital audiobooks. If you sign up for their AudibleListener® Gold program for 12 months ($14.95 per month), then you get $100.00 off the camera.  100 notes!  So, you’re getting the video camera for around 60 bucks – that is an amazing deal!  Rick listens to audiobooks all the time on his 90 minute commute to and from work everyday, so this might be a very good deal for us.  In fact, I might have just talked myself into getting one!

On our day trip to Charlotte, NC to peruse Ikea, we also visited the Southern Ideal Home Show.

Whilst we’re not in the market right now to splurge loads of money on the many great products on show, it was definitely a great source of inspiration. Like these cool glass doors for the shower. At first they looked like they had a metallic covering, but they are made of reinforced etched glass (which come in a variety of patterns).  This set up would be perfect as a replacement for our outdated shower in the master bathroom – the half wall on the left would be where our bath tub meets the double shower.

Instead of replacing your outdated laminate counter tops, how about resurfacing them to make them look like Corian or granite? We came across this great service that refinishes the counter tops and bevels the edges to make them look much more expensive and sophisticated.  For smaller kitchens which have less than 25 square feet of counter tops, this is a much more cost effective way to update the look without the price of installing granite (the at-the-show special price was around 750 bucks, including installation).  However, for larger kitchens, the price went up quite drastically – about $35 bucks a square foot.  Still not a bad price, but there are some places that are offering granite for that same price. And talking about resurfacing, how about this resurfacing texture for your garage floors?  Looks good enough to eat!

How cool would it be to have these front doors? Talk about grand entry!

And whilst I’m dreaming, I can also fantasize about having some lush landscaping like this in my back yard one day…

And finally, the last thing to catch our eye was this system that keeps all the leaves and debris out of the gutter…

I can pretend and rationalize that it was the functional nature of this product that caught my eye … but who’s kidding, it was the cute fishies!

Before you ask. It’s Swedish. For Happy Anniversary. September 1st was our 4th wedding anniversary. Why Swedish, you may ask? Well, to celebrate our anniversary, we took a day trip to Charlotte, NC to peruse that well-known Swedish mecca…. Ikea!

I’ve been to Ikea in the UK a few times and am familiar with their modern (and relatively inexpensive) design. The Ikea in Charlotte has just recently opened and I have to say … the store is H.U.G.E. We spent several hours walking aroung the two story building and I’m not sure we even saw everything. Even though we didn’t buy anything (well, apart from a cheap “to-do” project we found in the as-is aisle – details coming soon), we came away with a bunch of ideas and inspiration of how we might decorate the house in the future. You know. When we actually have extra money for luxuries, such as furniture. And curtains. And lights. Oh, and flooring.

Look at this beauty. This is my dream library. Other girls have dream outfits, dream shoes, dream wedding dresses … I have a fantasy library.

Floor-to-ceiling glass-fronted cabinets with rows and rows of books, flanked by a comfy chair and a cup of tea. Oh Billy, you’ve stolen my heart.

How about these cute table lamps? They come in a range of colors (white, orange, purple, green, turquoise, pink) and at 17 bucks each, they are a steal!

I love the contemporary feel of this floating media storage unit. Best of all, the unit can be customized by adding glass or fabric. Or how about adding some under cabinet lighting for an eerie glow while watching your favorite scary movie?

This cool sculptural light really caught my eye. I can imagine one of these hanging over each side table in the guest bedroom. Having the light source hanging from above would free up much needed side table space – I don’t know about you but I never seem to have enough space on my bedside table, what with the lamp, alarm clock, several books, a few magazines, a bottle of water and other necessary knick-knacks.

I’m not usually a big fan of white furniture (simply because it takes too much effort to keep clean, especially with 5 dogs around), but this sofa table had me at hello. I love how the white pops against the dark brown flooring, and how the glass top and open storage makes this piece of furniture elegant and functional.

Everyone knows that you can get some amazing deals on picture frames at Ikea. Such a simple and sophisticated way to display photos or artwork in this monochromatic and asymmetrical collage of frames…

These funky light fixtures have interchangeable fascias, so you can change the look of light whenever you want. They can be hung either horizontally or vertically for maximum flexibility. I’m thinking that a couple of these beauties might look cute flanking the front door in the foyer. Talk about mood lighting…

After all that inspiration shopping and walking, it was time for a much needed rest. Great that Ikea has an awesome range of sofas and chairs for us to test run!

You have the test the merchandise before you buy it, right?

I recently found out that Ikea have opened a new store in Charlotte, NC – about 2.5 hours away from where we live. I’ve been to several Ikeas in the UK and have been impressed with their inexpensive yet contemporary range of furniture and accessories. Until we can make a trip to the Charlotte store, I’ve been perusing their website and have found several wish-list items.

One of my current favorites is the Tullsta chair – available in charcoal grey, red or cream, you can’t beat 99 bucks for one of these beauties. Although I like the cream color, I can’t imagine it would stay cream for very long in a house with 5 dogs.  The understated elegance of the grey is appealing to me, as is the pop of color that the red provides. 

For 99 bucks, you could even splurge on some upholstery fabric and recover the chairs to better suit your decor.  Ikea sells a range of gorgeous fabrics, such as the bold geometric patterns in the Gunvor range below (a steal at 5.99/yard). Swoon!