Getting MORE For LESS!!

 

Designers are often considered lucky people because they have resources at their finger tips that the consumer, or home owner does not have access too.

This is true BUT it is their keen eye to detail that sets them apart. 

I loved the saying above because it does not  always take a lot of money to design, or decorate a room.

However, it does take a keen eye to see the special detail, or quality in pieces that might be passed by because of the store, or the preconception that it could not possibly be worth buying because of the pricing.

This is where a good designer can really save you money on your project. 

When it comes to quality in furniture that you want to  keep long term, it is wise to invest in good solid pieces, especially in a sofa, but if you find that you like to change things up a bit more often, or maybe your budget won’t allow for the best quality piece at the moment, at least go for something that has good lines, and proportions.

A friend of mine taught me a saying a long time ago that I like to use when I find something at a great price that looks like a much more expensive piece……

LLM can be a challenge at times, but if you keep your eyes, and mind open you will be surprised at what you can find. 

Sometimes it might even be in your home already.

By placing a piece in a different room, or displaying it differently it can become a piece that you admire and enjoy having in your home.

If you are not familiar with the blog Copy Cat Chic you need to start putting it on your daily blog list.

Reichel Broussard has a keen eye for style, and design, and she is decorating her own home with her keen sense of design and style on a tight budget.

On her blog she will show you a piece that cost more and then a piece that looks very much like the more expensive piece for less.

Here is an example that caught my eye this week……

via

Urban Outfitters Ava Velvet Tufted Sleeper Sofa
^$749

via

Walmart 9 by Novogratz Vintage Tufted Sofa Sleeper
^$349

Neither piece is terribly expensive, but if money is tight you can get the same look for $349 instead of paying $749. 

Do the math!! That is a $400 savings.

 LESSON TO BE LEARNED!

The lesson in this post is to not limit your creativity by where you will shop. Stay open to all possibilities.

I hear people say all the time, “ Oh I can’t afford anything in that store so I never shop there!”

BIG MISTAKE

The only way to educate yourself is to study good design at higher price points so when you see something that possibly cost less you will know it has good proportions, design, and it is worth purchasing.

This will be like an adventure! I call it treasure hunting!!

PRACTICE THIS….

……I want you to find a piece that you absolutely love! You probably already have one in mind. Maybe it is a piece that you can not afford at the moment.

Now I want you to look at the silhouette, the overall design and proportions. 

Next I want you to go perusing on line to find a piece similar at a less costly price. Don’t limit yourself by not looking at all different online shops. Remember the goal is to find something that LLM!

You will not only have fun, but it will be so rewarding if you find something you love that you can actually afford now.

CHANGE THIS WAY OF THINKING

So many people only think from the perspective of, “I will never be able to have anything that nice!” 

That is such a sad way to look at your life, and it actually closes you off to all the possibilities that are out there for you to enjoy now.

One last thing for you to do…….

Look at the room you want to change up a bit, and think of new ways to arrange the pieces. De-clutter, and maybe add something from another room to give it new life. 

OPEN UP YOUR MIND!!

THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS

 

 

What Gave Me Some Fall Inspiration This Week

   

When you love design, and are observant of your surroundings you can find inspiration everywhere!

This week while perusing cyber space I saw two things that inspired me. 

Sometimes it is a direct inspiration that makes you want to do just what the designer portrayed, and other times is it something that spurs you onto thinking creatively in your own manner.

First I saw this pillow that my friend Debbie from Confessions of a Plate Addict made…..

via

(Be sure to go to the above link on how to make this pillow, Deb gives a great tutorial)

I absolutely LOVE this pillow, and to think you can make one yourself by following Deb's easy tutorial.

She also has more pillows that can work for your Fall decor, so be sure and visit her blog!! Tell her Kathysue sent you!!

As cute as this pillow is, those of you who know me, know I won’t be doing any orange, so I bet you are wondering why this inspired me. This is the case of me taking my own take on the pillow, and being inspired.

Here is a picture of the outside of my California suburban ranch home……

Notice any combination of colors that are similar to the pillow? 

BLACK & WHITE!!!!

The black crow on Deb’s pillow reminded me of Halloween, and what I need to get for my front porch.

A black crow, or two will be a perfect addition to my front porch. I don’t decorate for Halloween, but for that one special night I think a crow, or two will be a fun addition to my Fall plantings and pumpkins!

Speaking of pumpkins and a bit more orange, this next image made me smile and almost want some orange pumpkins…….

Designer and friend Pam Kelley has a beautiful historical home in Texas, and she is always adding elegant, and festive touches to her home….

Just look at those pumpkins. 

It is not just a stack of pumpkins. Pam has artfully stacked them by scale and colors. 

Using the HUGE orange pumpkin on it’s side as a base, and then surrounding it with varied sizes, and colors of pumpkins takes this arrangement up a notch.

Now you all are probably wondering how this inspired me.....

.....It’s simple, it made me really excited to go to a pumpkin patch, or farmers market and find the perfect blue/green French pumpkins, and White pumpkins for my porch. 

I always have pumpkins on my porch……

You can see in the above collage the colors I use for my pumpkins, and for my plantings. 

This year I am using all purples, and white for my fall planters……

When It comes to seasonal decorating I like to use natural elements, and I keep it relatively simple.

I think the purple, and white will be a nice addition to my soft yellow, white with black trimmed house.

I think Mr. Crow is going to be glad he landed on my porch too!!

Now go out there, and get inspired to do something fun for yourself, and your family!!!

A pot of mums and a pumpkin just might do the trick!!

Happy Fall

 

 

Let's Go Shopping For Fall Decor!!

   

Are you ready for some great Fall finds that are on the softer side of Fall?

In my search for the SOFTER SIDE I ran across a few items that I feel would work well in those homes  that don’t use the typical autumnal colors of  oranges, russets and browns. 

However some of my finds would work equally well in those home’s too.

When I think of Fall weather I start thinking of ways to cozy-up my home, so naturally that involves warm blankets and textures.

I went to Etsy and found some wonderful older pieces that are begging to be curled up in by the fire……

via

 Soft and Neutral is the name of the game here!!

 

via

Another beautiful neutral throw, this one is from England…….

This beige and cream throw is another good contender for a soft neutral for just about any room.

If we are laying on the sofa cuddled up in our new throw we might just need a new pillow for our head as well……

via

Soft creams and beiges with a touch of blue in this window pane plaid. Extra texture is brought in by the addition of the wood buttons.

Believe it or not the wood buttons are a perfect segue to the next item to bring into your Fall room...

A WOODEN BOX WILL ADD

 TEXTURE TO YOUR ROOM

via

For those of you that want a custom look or a box made of exotic woods, be sure and check out my friend John who is a wonderful artisan, and makes gorgeous boxes. His boxes are pieces you will want to pass down as a family piece…..

via

Make a list of items that evoke FALL to you, and take a look on Etsy for some vintage finds that will add character to your home.

I also have several Fall boards on Pinterest if you would like further inspiration….

FALL/WINTER ROOMS

FALLISH

FALL/WINTER LOOKS

BLUE FOR FALL

WHITE FOR FALL

 

 

6 Blog Post On The Softer Side Of Fall

   

via

How to make changes in your home for the cooler days of Fall  without using true autumnal colors can be much easier than you might think!

Personally I had to find ways to do this forever. You see I am not a lover of orange, russets or browns.

In the past I had to figure out how I could warm up my home to a cozy looking place to snuggle up by the fire, without using the typical warm earth tones.

via

We will all do it a bit differently, but I have written a few post on my step by step method and examples of what colors and elements you can use…….

The Softer Side of Fall shows great color combinations to use.

Fall Décor In Soft Neutrals will give you a list of elements and examples of how to use them.

Ten Steps To A Budget Friendly Fall Mantel shows an example of a fall mantel with no orange and gives you a step by step breakdown of how to get the same look, plus sources where you can purchase the elements.

( I used this mantel designed by Melissa Michaels to show a step by step post on how to create this mantel.)

How I decorate for Fall shows different examples of elements I will use in my own Fall décor

(This was created by Mel from  Georgia Pond blog.)

Step by Step For My Fall Mantel will show you exactly how I constructed my own Fall mantel.

18 Ways To Decorate For Fall Without Orange will show you wonderful examples of vignettes Fall décor without any orange.

via Tone on Tone blog

If you would like even more post to read about Fall décor, just type in the word FALL in the search box on my sidebar and you will see even more post about this subject.

HAPPY FALL DECORATING!!

 

 

Another Test Of My Faith

 

As many of you might already know we have had a rough couple of months at our home. My sweet hubby had to have bypass surgery on July 2. 

If you follow along on Face book you read how well he was doing. He was a star patient doing everything he should. All his vitals were great, he was eating better, exercising at rehab, and doing all the right stuff.

It was all pretty seamless, or as seamless as emergency bypass surgery can go.

He had only one little problem. He seemed to develop acid reflux. He had never had this problem prior to surgery. 

We did all the usual remedies, cooking more blandly, not eating anything we knew to cause a problem, and took the medications that were recommended by the doctor.

He would get  acid reflux when he would walk on the treadmill at rehab, or here at home, and sometimes with eating certain foods, but to be honest there was no rhythm or reason to any of it. 

Upon going back to the cardiologist for a recheck we pursued the question of what could be causing this.

You see my husband listened to his body once again and did not dismiss what we thought was acid reflux.

The cardiologist was a bit concerned, but not overly. He recommended a treadmill with an echo cardiogram.

The test was done a week later, and it was somewhat inconclusive, so he felt that we needed a more definitive answer to what might be going on so he wanted to do another angiogram.

The Dr. thought he saw a slight difference in the shape of the left side of Doug’s heart, it was ever so slightly smaller, which would indicate less blood flow.

NOT what we wanted to hear, but we truly wanted some resolve.

On Wednesday of last week my sweet hubby went through another procedure. 

I knew if everything was clear, and good to go it would take a little over an hour, if not, and they needed to do stints, it would be closer to 2 hours or a little more. 

After about 4-5 hours of riding an emotional roller coaster in the waiting room I finally found out what was wrong with my love.

One of the three bypasses had failed. It was the main artery bypass. 

There were five doctors in the procedure room observing, and discussing what would be the best thing to do since the main artery was 99% blocked, and that is why they did the bypass to begin with.

They decided to do what is basically like a rotor rooter, and clear out the main artery, and they placed 3 very long stints in his main artery.

We are not sure why the original bypass failed, and we will be discussing this with our Doctor further in the very near future. It does happen, but not very often, about .1% of the time the type bypass they used will fail.

(there is a lot more technical information, but I won’t bore you with those details here.)

For now, we are being very thankful people that once again my sweet Hubby was spared, even the Dr. said, “Thank God you did not have a heart attack.”

After a lot of research Doug said, “I don’t understand how I did not have a heart attack.”

I reminded him, “ I do!! you were covered in prayer and for now God has answered my request to keep you here with me for a bit longer.”

You see I call it a request because I realize my ultimate prayer should be...

 “Thine will be done!”

 

But, I also know that God listens to request and this time he listened to a lot of people requesting a return to good health for my sweet Dougie.

The blessing in all of this is that I DID see God’s hand once again. You see I am learning to LOOK for him in every step of my life.

I was looking for God’s hand and this is what I saw………….

The machine that they used on my hubby is fairly new, and not all cardiologist are knowledgeable in using it. One of the Dr.s that is very capable was on duty, and was called in to assist. 

How in the world will 5 cardiologist be able to clear their schedule to consult, and observe for over 2-3 hours while Doug was in the procedure room? Hmmmm? interesting.

Some might think coincidence, but I am a praying wife and I say, “It was Gods hand!”

I don’t have answers why he has gone though so much other than the logical one’s like, eating better, more exercise etc, etc., but I do know I have seen the hand of God many times in the last two months and I am so very grateful.

I will never pretend that I did not have my panicked moments. Sitting that long in a little room wondering if he is going to be alright, or live is not fun, and it was truly an emotional roller coaster.

I can say it was one of the worst days of my life, and yet it was one of the most wonderful too, once I saw him out of that procedure room. I was never so happy to see him in all my life.

We are human, and we have human feelings. One of the greatest is Love, and oh how I love this man, and  I realize we have such a special love that has been blessed in so many ways, but we also have human frailties, of worry, fear and anxiety.

I am still learning like the rest of you to try and not focus on the problem, but the problem solver.

The ultimate test for we humans is always in our faith, faith in the fact that God is omnipotent, and that he knows best in all cases.

We must realize that even though it feels like it is just happening to us, and our loved one’s it actually might be effecting more people than we might ever know about, but God knows the whole story from beginning to end and he will do what is best for ALL, not just for me and my hubby.

That is what I have to trust in, his omnipotence. I will never be able to accept the hurt of a loved one, or the loss of a loved one, but I must always accept that God’s hand is in my life, and he will always do what is best for all, and that my dear friends is the ultimate test of faith in my life.

He never promised us it would be easy, or perfect but he DID promise he will be there to get us through whatever we have to go through in this thing called LIFE!!

You can read about what happened originally Here, be sure and read to the bottom of post.

Another post about Blessings In Disguise…… Here.