decorating makeover ideas

or just an ideas list...

i went to the antique mall recently and i take a gander at their magazines just to see if there are any forgotten dominos, harpers bazaar, real simple, or house beautiful....i discovered a February 2008 issue of house beautiful. as always its great but particularly interesting was the 101 decorating makeovers. some are not quite makeovers as much as flat out renovations or at least way too big of a project to tackle but some of them i really enjoyed. here are a few...

-wall paper the inside of your closet

-buy a photography or botanical book, take a razor blade and cut it up...put a dozen or so in matching frames and hang them in a row or a block

-buy flowers for your bedside table not just your living room

-use left over wall paper for lining your drawers of your bedside table

-put a real rug in front of your bathroom sink

-create a collection of something {maybe milk glass? globes? plates?owls?}

-paint the inside of your kitchen cabinets a color that sets off your dishes and glasses {can't do it in our rental but will do it as soon as we own something}

-tack nail heads on a plain ottoman/small furniture

-paint the ceiling

-cover the books in your bookcase with white or brown kraft paper and write the titles on the jackets with fountain pen {if only my handwriting didn't look like a boy's..no kidding i have to write notes for therapy after each session with my kids. today one of my parents told me "your handwriting is improving, its not quite the chicken scratch as it used to be.."}

-buy all the inexpensive mirrors you find at yard sales, paint all the frames one color and hang them together {this one i really think i may do}

i hope they inspire you





p.s.the Olympics are in 44 days...yea Vancouver 2010!!!

white christmas and other mentions

for the first time in like 80 odd years we had a white christmas in fort worth! it was incredible. clay woke me up on christmas eve to tell me it was snowing around 9 {yes i was still sleeping} i was so excited b/c it was 70 degrees the day before. never thought it would actually stick...then it kept on snowing and snowing and snowing and this is only a snippet of what happened...

2 things to mention here...
-there is a small little boy alone out there making a snowman
-and just beyond him, near the tennis courts on the sidewalk would be where i bit it walking sophie later


anywho, we spent christmas eve with mi familia and christmas day with his familia..both where such good times. we are so blessed to have our families in the same city. it makes the holidays a little crazy but i love getting to see both families and hug them both.

i unfortunately was, surprise surprise not great with the picture taking, but i had to get a picture of my mom's table setting. she did such a great job, it looked fabulous! it was all gold and red and delicious. my mom is kinda incredible with her eye and taste. she just sees things so well.

blurry blurry but you sorta get the idea. my family is always big on the real christmas trees, and the house smelled pine/christmas.

this is not christmas but another case and point of my mom's eye for beautiful things. she just recently purchased this sofa b/c my dad has been requesting a comfortable place to sit and watch tv for about 15 years....maybe since we lived in this house. she came with me to joanne's and as we were standing in line to purchase some linen i bought, she asked the lady behind us what she was making. the lady said that she was a seamstress for some fancy store and she was making belts??? maybe... besides the point... my mom asked her if she could help her cover some cushions. she said she would love to help. did i mention that this whole conversation took place in spanish. story of my life. my mom can make friends with a wall, and she will be their best friend if that wall listens to her in spanish. so this is what came of it.

my dad loves winter. not for any other reason but that it means he gets to make use of a large fireplace. he is kinda a pyro. i mean that in the most loving sense of the word. it can be 50 degrees and all my mom has to say is that she is a little chilly and there my dad is newspaper burning, setting pine cones on fire. see it not a gas fireplace, gotta start those fires the ol fashion way. just another challenge for daddy-o. in his defense he is taking apart the deck on top of our garage and had to do something with the wood. so that is what we are burning here.

and then there is my parents dog, brazos. she thinks that she is a small lap dog. she is not. i mean do you see her squeezing herself into this chair?

as i said before i did a poor job taking many pictures....i'm working on it though. i have a feeling to some family members annoyance, but i love capturing some of these moments. i only got one picture of the wootens festivities. but don't let that fool you. there was plenty of laughing, b.s.-ing, cranium singing/drawing/yelling, oh helling {all games mind you} and present opening. so i leave you with some beautifully, made from scratch, delicious, eye candy and tummy candy cookies..decorated by the one and only, you guessed..beth

Feliz Navidad

currently its "snowing" {if that's what it can be called since it was 70 degrees yesterday}christmas music is playing, we have a fire burning, the apt smells of christmas, i'm wrapping presents and clay is having sophie chase him everywhere and all i have to say is....

ALL OF THIS AND JESUS???

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

happy list

things that make me happy right now


holding a sleepy puppy

watching some season 5 of lost with him {its crazy!}

happy and helpful person at sonic

getting to watch tv for the first time in 9 months

wrapping christmas presents, listening to christmas music

homemade cinnamon honey butter, thanks darby

pretty pictures, like the ones found here

sweet hugs/evenings with clay

my kitchen aid mixer

rubber stamps

the lights on the houses in the neighborhood across our apt

candles burning

organizing our storage closet

christmas cards {even though ours is kaput}

hot chocolate

dryers fruit Popsicle

my sister's website the grey stripe

counting down until the Olympics in vancover 2010 {prepare yourself for learning of my obsession of Olympics, nothing compares to the Olympics}


4 days till christmas.....fill your ears with as much christmas music as possible :)

have you seen? have you heard?

Tavi Gevinson?

she is a phenomenal 13 year old fashionista blogger. she has more knowledge about fashion that anyone could ever imagine. she writes with such wit and charisma. she uses a tripod to take pictures of herself. she is helping launch Rodarte's new line for target. she recently attended fashion week. she went to Tokyo to meet with designers. did i mention she was 13!?!?

her blog The Style Rookie

{were all of these pictures are from!}

she creates inspiration boards, she thrifts clothes, and all after school before she does her home work.

her words to describe some of the clothes she wears are so poetic and real. have i said that she was 13? i actually was going through her blog and she was writing about how in school she is learning to correctly use a semi colon. so she was excited to use it in her blog {for the record, i don't know if i know how to correctly use a semi colon, or spell that for that matter}

some of her inspiration boards

pictures from her blog from her trip to Tokyo

a shirt she designed that is so perfectly her. i want it

i love these pictures, i feel like she almost looks her age here, of course still way cooler.

p.s. when i was 13 i think i still had bangs that took up half my head and just wore whatever was at limited too. if i was writing it probably was more about a boy i liked or about my day at school...ie nothing interesting

you can read more about her and some of her endeavors here

best design blogs

boy oh, boy you must check out these puppies... do it when you have some time though b/c its going to draw you in....

they are the 50 of the world's best design blogs



don't be surprised if more than a few of them end up over here--------------->
{even though a couple already are :)}

christmas

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttttttttsssssssssssssssss CHRISTMAS!!!!!! i know many people love this time of year, so i'm just going to join the bandwagon and say i looooooooooove this time of year. i was so pumped to have christmas decorations to put them up on thanksgiving. that's right, thanksgiving. see last year we had n-o-t-h-i-n-g. just whatever both of our parents gave us that they didn't really use anymore. and clay was unemployed at the time due to this whole economy deal. so christmas was slightly delayed as far as decorating is concerned. i mean don't get me wrong we still had a tree {a real tree} but not many ornaments and some lights. it was special for sure being our first christmas married...but after christmas, clay had himself a job and i hit up some of those after christmas sales! and low and behold we ourselves some christmas things!!!

so here is our tree in the light

and here is our tree with the lights on! i love it! {also note this year we got an artificial tree, my first in 24 years, but its a life saver when you have a wee one like sophie. who thinks its a game to see how many needles she can make fall from the tree.}

our stockings :)

as you can see we have not cleaned up the ashes from our fireplace. maybe its b/c we started having fires in there once it got down to 40 degrees and have them as often as we can. i love me a blazing fire place

our precious christmas cards.

i dropped the ball again this year as far as making ours to send out in time. who knows maybe you will get a valentines card from us.

cake eater

felt pretty crummy most of the day. thank Him for clay, my mom and dad and for this movie... this should be a recipe to feel better

confession

most days i do not like my job.....

i don't enjoy feeling like such an inconvenience to so many families or teachers because i have to spend an hour with the kid. i don't like calling families to try and schedule "convenient" times for me to see their kids. i don't like talking to cps. i don't like foster parents who think that they are speech therapists and can tell me whether the child needs therapy or not. i don't like all the driving around and being by myself all day long. i know there are people who long for that kind of solidarity, but i'm just not made for it. maybe its b/c the jobs i have had where i could actually have a conversation with someone have been rare---

nonetheless i work with kids and that always brings joy. their hugs are priceless. their excitment for a "surprise," can not be compared. their smiles are contagious. they can be eager to please and eager to love. they can say the most unexpected things that can bring a smile to anyone's face.....

today i had a child you was acting up, and i had to remind him to turn on his ears and start behaving well. his response was this, "mrs. monique, are you going to take me to jail with the police?"

i asked the same kid {working on wh questions} "what to you do if you cut you finger?"
he said as plainly as possible, "well you are supposed to hold it up so ET can fix it."

another kid... i held my hand out to the side and asked if was left or right?
"well mrs. monique you are supposed to hold out this arm {pointing to my right} so that willy can see and jump up." {referring to the movie free willy, he loves animals}

and then i remember...we live in a fallen world. no job will be perfect. i can be unhappy and sulk, or i can embrace the only perfection before me, Him. His plan and why i have this job is all part of my sanctification to bring me closer to Him. and these kids and their unpredictability are small gifts that i get the opportunity to share in. ever extending grace to remind me that its not about me anyway. thankfully....

z gallerie

z gallerie is such a fabulous store...so fabulous i even had us register there fro our wedding! i was a little more concerned with the look of apt than making sure we had all of our china/kitchen stuff...

i was doing some browsing and came across these lamps and had to share. recently shades that can cast some shadow have been inspiring to me. i almost want to poke some holes in our lamp shades now just to have the "shadow effect"

these here lamps could work too though

clay and his dad recently went hunting....now i have very limited experience in the hunting world. i hadn't ever really seen a real gun until i went out to clay's ranch one time.... all that to say he got himself a dear. now i truly am proud of him,{ it was a 9 pt, for any of you who care }
he asked if he could ever have animals hang from our walls.

um, sorry my love, but NO. this is the closest i could come, and even this is pushing if for me

if ever the need to entertain and have some shnazzy napkin rings boy have they got some options for you....here are some of my favs

there is also quite the selection of gifts there for under $25...pretty much a steal when you see things like this case or this mercury glass below

via Z Gallerie

inspiration

the blog that got me into blogging and following blogs was i suwannee

i thought she was so clever and funny as well as having great taste and loved all her pictures of rooms. i would do anything to go to Raleigh anytime soon to go into the store she just opened up called furbish design.....

i suwannee= inspiration

take a look at these pics and you will see what i mean...

all images found via i suwannee and the estate of things

picture perfect

it was clay's first experience with the williams girls getting together for our family picture. there is always a fight about what to wear, going back and forth b/c someone doesn't like their hair, their smile in that picture, getting annoyed with each other, my mom getting mad b/c she can't see and my dad taking the picture but not the way my mom likes.....oh it goes on....

clay asked,"about how long does it take?"

"hmmm not totally sure...." i replied... i didn't want to tell him the truth cause i was afraid he would not be happy to hear what i had to say. but he was a total trooper and the entertainment as we tried every scene in the house.

and guess what??? we got a perfect one. now i'm sure my sisters will see this and prob not like their posture or something....but i think it turned out just right. they are so pretty aren't they?

beautiful

is this not one of the most beautiful table settings you have seen? i totally would have included it earlier in my thanksgiving setting post had i known. but i'm so thankful i go to look at all the details. that's a linen table cloth, with gorgeous place mats and pretty lilies, pecans in the vases supporting candles....w!o!w!

leave it to my sister in law beth to achieve this greatness! check her blog

just looking

i reluctantly have to admit i have only been to ikea once. and i did not purchase anything. since i have known of the store i knew we would be fast friends, but unfortunately there in not one that is close by to fort worth. so when clay and i were driving back from austin last year that was my first time to ever go into one. it was love.

as much as i love our little apt, there is little need to purchase other things. i mean there is always "more" but realistically there is enough. nonetheless a girl can dream right? so i looked online and here is what i found.....


this great sheepskin thing. its not the size of a rug, but it could go on a chair or thrown over the couch. i have a feeling if we had such a thing i would move it around many a time. until sophie found it and decided it was a friend who wanted to play and rough it up a bit.

this one is green and white and think it would look fantastic under my black desk.

a perfect square doormat. it kinda reminds me of those chemistry drawings. {know what i mean lizzie?} only in a pretty geometric homey way.

i think if i could i would put this in our living area. it has all of our colors. it has just the touch of red that i enjoy. not too much but just enough color.

i love anything that is black and white. if it wouldn't be so dramatic/limiting i think i would do this to an entire room. the thing is all i can think about is how great a blue, or a red, or even an orange something would look on top of it.

riverhills home

my sweet mother in law took my sister in law and i to tour this beautiful home that has been showing here in f dub. its in this beautiful new neighborhood called riverhills. it was built by period homes and the decorator was joe minton. you can find all the details here

my sister law, beth, talked about it the other day in her blog if you want an excuse to check her out.

i must warn you now i got over excited about this tour and took many pictures. so this is going to be very very long....but totally worth it....

i also may have skipped the first living area so there are no pictures of those but here we are in the kitchen with this beautiful slate backspash.

and now we turn left into the dining room. i wish i could say i had a favorite but i would become redundant...there is too much to like. the wall paper in this room is painted. the ceiling is a shimmery silver. g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s

i typically enjoy a good farm table but this is the perfect round table for this dining area. and i've never seen short slip covers like this and i think they are so nice.




this was one of the many incredible light fixtures. i wish i would have gotten a closer more detailed picture of this. there were so many to notice. the leaves on the branches were small jade beads strung together. and a little bird there above the lights, you can barely see it

now here is the farm table that i thought was beautiful. the light fixture from above is hanging over this table. it is the breakfast area. the chairs in every room/living area was so pretty and looked so comfortable. that was my favorite aspect of this home was that it looked entirely live able. not museum like or cold,but warm and like a family friendly.

this tile in the laundry room was so unique. its yellow and happy. so was the back splash. i could do laundry all day in this room.

and again i failed in my picture taking. these pictures were all hanging in the powder room. and i didn't get a full view of it, just these pics and one corner of it. does not do this justice.

this was the corner shot i got. the walls were a black gloss color. most of the paints were ralph lauren and there were awesome. if you can tell in this picture there is some slight details in the borders of this. its a small thin cream and grey ribbon. would have never thought of it!

this was in the back, the lady's study area. it had wall paper and this pretty little chair.

and these message boards looked so pretty just resting on the desk.

now this is in the guest wing and up the stairs {were i failed to get pictures of as well} this was right outside the door. again no justice in these pictures. the whole place kinda reminded me of my mom. she loves chairs...chairs and plates. there were so many perfect chairs all through out.

the guest quarters. the room was light and airy. the zebra print on the sheets were mimicked on the walls with stencils. talk about patience stenciling all of that up and down the walls of the bedroom and bathroom...w.o.w.

here is the bed. paisley with zebra print. the roof of the home were at an angle. instead of letting that feel closed in or limiting....they brought the canopy up to the slant of the roof.

and the bathroom...

now we are downstairs and outside on the patio. the linen curtains were a soft and lovely touch.

my favorite patio furniture

back inside. this room leads to the outside but it looks like they brought the outside in. tiled mirrors on the wall and a sunburst mirror over...as if it was needed but i approve

seating area in the master bedroom.

beautiful master bed, silk sheets...a t-shirt is not worthy of these sheets

these were the curtains in the room. there 2 rods to hold up the thin see through and then another to hold up the silk

the curtains were a type of silk with a linen border

i took this picture to try to capture the glossy/metallic paint on these doors to the closet. not sure of you can tell...but you get the idea

master bath

bathtub with the orchid hanging over the tub. all of it made it so inviting....i could just climb in and and lock the world out

cabinets above the toilet

i know i think its weird too that i took a picture of the toilet. but i thought it was so pretty and square.

the study/den...so nice and dark and cozy....again the ceiling was incredible and i didn't get a picture of it

amazing chandelier that hung on the other wing of the house leading up to the "children's" area, if that is what you want to call it.

a boys' room. there was fabric on the walls. i don't know why but as much a can appreciate the girly, antique look... i feel like this boyish rooms with their maps and their comforters....it felt so warm and homey.

this is what i believe to be the children's reading area

and this was the children's play area. it was open, yellow, and lots of light.

and now my future daughter's room. welcome. this is her favorite place to play and have people over. there is plenty of room for dress up and tea parties. she thinks she is a princess with that canopy hanging over her...reality will be a shock....

this is where she lays and reads. see those pillows, the kinda green ones. the green is a pretty pattern of leather.

the house was such a great experience to see. it was honestly a little overwhelming...so much attention to detail and sooooooooooo many details. but i loved it all...if you get the chance i reccommend you to go and check it out. it will be showing until december.

do. it. do. it. do. it.