Monday Mood Board.....a little late!

Well this weeks Monday Mood Board is just a little late, thanks to Irene for kicking out my internet for a few days!  This is another Master Bedroom, with on suite bathroom that I created.  The inspiration for the look was the art work! 

We stuck with mostly calming grays and blues, with just a little pop of fun with a few yellow accessories! 

What do you all think!?

P.S.  A { Blonde's} DIY Life is now on Facebook!  Yay!  So come on over and follow along!!  I mainly started the page to see what YOU ALL are working on that was inspired by something you saw here on the blog!  So I would love for you to link up images and such to share with everybody!  I kept getting so many emails from you all about projects you undertook after seeing one of my projects! I always get so excited to get them, but thought the Facebook page may be a bit easier for you all to share YOUR work!!  I just started this week, so bare with me as I get it all up and organized!  But I would love for you all to follow along and start sharing some of your projects!!  I'm also thinking that it would be great to even feature some of them right here on  A {Blonde's} DIY Life!  

A Lovely Little Weekend.....errrhhh...kinda....

What a weekend!!!  I sincerely hope all of you on the East Cost made it through everything that Irene brought with her!  Thank goodness it was not as bad as was first predicted!  I'm grateful that in the 12 or so hours leading up to landfall in North Carolina, Irene decided to downgrade herself from a CAT 3 to a CAT 1! 

We made it through the weekend just fine, with no damage to the apartment or either of our cars!  Honestly we are pretty lucky I've seen some insane pictures of some downed trees.  

Anyway we have just now gotten our internet back up and working, our power thankfully was only out on Saturday!  I couldn't believe when it came back on so soon!  Seriously I may have jumped out of my seat, it made going through the rest of the storm a bit easier....the wind and rain was insanely crazy that night!  I don't think I have any nails left on my fingers, and I'm NOT a nail biter!

With the power out, we tried to kill time play cards....ohh yeah....we played Go Fish!

I'm just glad we had a few decks of cards on hand from a friend's recent wedding!

We ran out in our pj's the next morning to see how everything was!  As you can see, we are very happy all that wind was over!!

I hope you all had a rather uneventful time with Irene as well!!
Did you all get rain?  Crazy Wind?  Did you all loose power??

Since I haven't had internet for a while, I've been working on a little project for the living room!  One that I am super, SUPER excited about!!  It involves TONS of steps, so it's in-progress right now!  No peeks though....I don't want to give anything away!
See you all soon!

Irene, Irene....you are a biaatcchh!

Hey all!  I apologize for my lack of post this week, but it has been somewhat crazy! 

Irene has been creating a bit of drama around here.....she is being a biiaatchh!  

We are pretty close to Norfolk, Virginia.....which is in the EXTREME threat level of this hurricane!

I'm expecting to be without power for a while, so I hope you all will cut me a little slack for not posting if that's the case!  We are loaded up with water and food ( wine, Oreos and canned Starbucks Lattes! ), so I'm sure we are going to be fine,  just not sure how long the power might be out!  Past Hurricanes to our area have left most of us without power for two to four weeks!

I hope everyone else out there will be safe and smart if you also may be effected by this little inconvenience! 

See you all soon!!!

Searching...

Do you ever have those days or even those weeks where something feels off, like a strangeness in the air?

Well this is one of those for me,  and honestly between the huge wildfire burning in the area ( which is causing  me to have to take huge doses of allergy medicine, which could account for some of the strangeness feeling ), the earthquake yesterday and the massive hurricane expected to hit us this weekend......the feeling in the air is just strange!  DO you know what I mean?   Well maybe you don't and it's just me, but things around here just seem plain off to me.  

Well I had plans this evening to work on the little DIY I teased you all with here.  However, I had a few errands to run first, one being a quick trip to Target to pick up some cleaning supplies....well while I was there I figured I would pick up a few hurricane essentials too,  thinking that I would be way ahead of the crowd seeing as we are not suppose to get anything until late Saturday.  

Well......it seems I am not the only one who thought this was a good idea....

.

  

Shelves were empty of basic items......the water you see on the top was all flavored, sparkling varieties.....not even any gallons of water were left!!

All out at Costco too!  As for the tiny words on the right side,  it says they don't know when they'll be getting any more!  

We ended up going to several store before we found one lonely little 24pk of water,  yup only one little, lonely pack!  

So after all that searching, I'm glad I found something, I just hope if the storm is really that bad we don't loose power too long! 

With Hurricane Isabel in 2003,  most places were without power for two weeks, my mom's place didn't get power back for three and a half!  I've heard some speculation this one could be as bad or worse, lets just hope Irene decides to veer off towards the ocean a bit!

Well anywhoooo that was my interesting night......I promise to have more fun DIY's on here again sometimes soon!  If things just could get back to normal!

Lilly Love!

As I'm sure you've heard, we had a bit of excitement here in Virginia today; a 5.9 magnitude earthquake!  Quite an experience here on the East Coast!  There I was, sitting in the salon....getting my hair done, and all of a sudden things start to shake!  I mean I wasn't even really sure what was going on, ( we don't have earthquakes here!) until some ladies in the front came back saying we just had an earthquake!  Friends up and down the East Coast said they felt it too!  Whew weird day!  However, my hair came out great and nobody was hurt in the Quake, so it all ended up ok!

Now on to the lovely topic of Lilly.  If you live in the south like me,  I am sure you have heard of Lilly Pulitzer.  You probably either love the look or can not stand it!  It's bight, bold and colorful!  All of which I tend to love!  If you haven't heard,  Lilly Pulitzer came out with some pretty amazing fabrics this summer, they are unfortunately only available to the trade so you will have to find a friend, whom you can bribe,  or hire a decorator who can order some for you.   They are absolutely gorgeous!   Maybe someday they will eventually be available to us lowly do it your-selfers......a girl can dream! .... can't she?!?

Check out these gorgeous patterns!!

 I could use about ten of these fabric choices just in my living room alone!  Sigh....

Lilly has also come out with a line of furniture to go alone with this yummy fabric!

Umm....hellooo gorgeous!!  That sofa is not for everyone, but I'm in LOVE!

Isn't that furniture absolutely to DIE for!!  It is available at  Neiman Marcus and Horchow if you just have to go take a look at all the pretty things for yourself!  

I always use to think of  the clothing line as super preppy;  you know all polos with matching madras skirts, short, or dresses, but if you haven't checked out the line in a while you might be pleasantly surprised! 

In fact, we had a rep come into the store last fall, she said Lilly was trying to broaden the look past much of that preppy only feel!   I love the direction they are going, it wonderfully gorgeous!

So I was super excited last night to get a Facebook update announcing the start of their

  End of the Season Sale, today!! 

You may want to check it out,  but I warn you there is not much left!  I hopped on first thing this morning and was pleasantly surprised at the quantity and selection of items in the sale.  However they went FAST!!!

Here are a few of the goodies I snagged for myself!

I can't wait to wear this top with skinny jeans and tall brown boots!!

This one too!

I love the pattern on this cute workout top!  Somehow I always want to work out more when I have cute clothes on!!

This gorgeous dress was the real icing on the cake....the super sweetest deal of the century!  I have been eyeballing this dress since last spring, but at $328 with no reason or place to wear it; it was just not going to happen!!  But today I paid only $39!!  yup!! I seriously couldn't believe it when I saw it!  The real conundrum came when I had to decide on a color, four options were available and ALL were in my size!  I finally decided on black, one because I DON'T tend to get black and two I thought that would be the most versatile option for year round wear!

  

Have any of you bought any of the gorgeous furniture or fabrics Lilly Pulitzer is now offering?

Is it your thing, or do you pass on all the colorful brights in favor of a more subtle color palate?   Both of which are fabulous choices!

Are you a Lilly clothing lover?!  Did you manage to snag anything at the End of the Season Sale today??

Goodies from Home Depot....

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!  Boy I'm sure glad last week is over,  I was exhausted!   But this weekend was nice to catch up on all that lost sleep!  Besides all the usual weekend chores, I managed to run by Home Depot to pick up a few goodies for a DIY project  I am SUPER excited about!!!  Yes!  I am THAT excited!!   I just hope it all turns out the way I want it to!

This is the main item for this DIY,  can you guess what I'm working on!?

Boy my hand sure is white.....I really need to go get a spray tan!!

I also picked up a few other things for this project, and a few things to finish up some living room stuff!  

And just because I know you want to know..... I forgot to pick up some gold spray paint......if any of you want to pick some up for me that would be much appreciated....thanks!

Can you guess what I'm working on....well what I will be working on tonight?!?

Gorgeous "Christmas" Finds for Everyday

I had to run by Micheal's Craft Store the other day to pick up a few drawing supplies,  of course I had to wander around to see what was new!  To my pleasant surprise they had quite a bit of Christmas stuff out already!   Check out these gorgeous items that I found in the Christmas section, that are really perfect for everyday!!

Hello gorgeous!!  

This mirror was stunning and I think it was only $89!  Just bring a 50% off coupon with you to get it for a steal!  If you have an Iphone, Michael's has an app, you never have to worry about carrying a coupon with you again!  It's on your phone!

I also loved this!

This sunburst mirror is really hard to see the details,  they were so many piled up here!

You should stop by Micheal's soon!  They Sunburst mirrors they had last Christmas did not last long!

At least not at my Micheal's!!

Spa Like Master Bedroom & Bath

I've been working on a mood board for someone who wanted calming tones, of grays and browns, with soothing blues and greens thrown into the mix. 

This is for a master bedroom with an on suite bath.

What do you all think?

Living Room Progress!

So to help remind myself of  just how far I've come in the living room, I wanted to share with you all some pictures of how my living room looked before I started it's makeover!  I only started transforming the room about six months ago,so I need to keep telling myself it hasn't been that long!   I really didn't start the transformation until mid-February of this year!  It's only been about six months since I've had my new sofa!  About six months ago, I wrote this little post introducing you all to my new love, Karl!


Now these pictures were not taken to be on the blog,  but they are the only photos I can find of the old living room furniture and layout!  I really did NOT like anything about the furniture, so I never  took any photos of the space!  So ignore all the obvious reasons for taking the photos and just look at the plain old ugliness of the before pictures!

Hehe, this one was taken around Halloween a few years ago,  Josh likes to take my nephew trick-or-treating, so of course I had to make him a costume!  He is some sort of Star Wars something!

Everything looks so plain!!

Clearly I was wrapping presents! Look at all the ribbon!

I call this sofa Country Chic!  Not my tastes at all!

But it was a free hand me down!  So whatcha gonna do!?!

Clearly Josh knew I was taking his picture.....I'm not even sure what I was trying to take a picture of!

This was one of my first attempts to redo the look of the room!

I was tired of that country blue, so I taught myself how to make a fitted slipcover!  It even had a hidden zipper in the back so it had a nice tight fit!  It came out pretty well too, but it's still was not my taste!  Still too country!

While not the best photo ( clearly I was working on something else)  you can see how the love seat looks semi-finished!  If you can over look the boxes and pillows that are piled on top!  Oh and the half- finished sunburst mirror in my hand!

So really the first transformation of many for this room was the introduction of Karl the Sofa to the room!

Let me just say it has been a bit of a love affair ever since!

When Karl came to live with us, we also added two of these Ikea bookcases to the room, to me they are a perfect bookcase; with there very generous depth and crisp modern lines!

Oh Karl!  You are so lovely to sit on!

Do you see this little sheep skin rug?!?  That was a Christmas present from Josh, and it's a perfectly lovely addition to the room!  

This little nail head trimmed ottoman also came home with us when Karl did!  He was a fabulous deal at a Homegoods near our Ikea!

So that was the first MAJOR transformation to the room!  Next I decided I needed to work  on bringing a little art and color into the room!

So I added My Gallery Wall!

All of which was my artwork, the paintings were all done this year, while all the black and white photographs were taken several years ago and developed in a dark room!  Very old school, not many people have ever used all that photography equipment!

After adding Karl to the room I was on the hunt for some extra seating.   I knew I didn't have room for anything too large, AND really I had been dying to get my hands on some faux bamboo chairs!  So when I found a set on craigslist, in MY price range I just knew they would be a perfect addition to the room!

But first they needed a bit of a makeover, you can read all about that here!

I've got one more little addition to their makeover that has yet to be finished!!  

It involves this gorgeous fabric by Dwell!

The next part of the the living room evolution kinda happened because I found some lamps on super clearance at Target and I needed a place to put them!

So I DIY'ed my own sofa table!

Yup! from lumber to furniture I made this little baby!

It's fits beautifully behind the sofa, and has since received a little crisp white paint, you may remember reading about the little accident I had with caulking gun.....well have no fear all turned out well!  I was just to exhausted from that experience that I have yet to add the creative little finishing touches to the piece!  I promise I'm working that all out right now, and will have this little beauty completely completed soon!

Now those little lamps I found for such a fabulous price at Target had a home and really look quite glamorous behind the sofa!  Well after a little DIY gold leaf application!

Hmm, I just realized I never did show you all how BOTH of these gorgeous lamps look on the sofa table!!

Bad blogger!   I will take pictures of that tonight!

Next I did a little furniture rearranging in the living and turned our media center from this.....

to this......

So there you have it!  Those are the changes I've made to the living room in the last six months.  I love how it's all coming together and can't wait till I finish a few more things!  I think the space actually motivates me to be more creative.  Something about the space before was kinda depressing and a little un-motivating!

Does that make sense?!  Or am I the only one that gets motivated to be creative ONLY if the space around them is!?   I can't believe I lived with that drab little sofa for a few years, but I'm working on paying off all those student loans....so whatcha gonna do!

So there you have it, I'm a real person on a REAL decorating budget....which is almost non-existent...so it's just going to take some time to get it all to come together!

Savvy Southern Style