Ottomania

Who doesn't love a soft place to land your butt or your feet? Ottomans are the work horses of the house. They serve as coffee tables, extra seating, doggy beds (as in the photo below), hidden storage or in my case, door stops. The third photo shows a square ottoman with a homemade slip cover. Very cute, very easy. Love it.


While browsing Little Willow yesterday, I came upon this home featured in the most recent issue of House Beautiful. First off, check out the cozy little ottoman in the photo below. Secondly, I couldn't just include this one photo, because the rest of the house is fantastic. We needed the whole effect! The colors are so soothing and those sand-washed walls are downright dreamy. I also love the botanical tiles behind the fireplace. Enjoy!

Gypsy Woman

Does anyone else find the idea of living in a Gypsy wagon completely romantic and wonderful? I still dream about packing up my little family, selling all our worldly goods, saying goodbye to our work obligations and setting up camp in one of these puppies. Aren't they enchanting? I wonder if they have high speed internet?

All photos via eclectic gipsyland .

Dress-Up

What can I say... I'm an actor and I love to get into costume. Its one of my favorite parts of the job. Here are some glorious frocks that I'd love to prance around in.

Anthropologie

Trouvais

Sweet Broom

One of my favorite spring shrubs is Sweet Broom (also known as Scotch Broom) - not only for her stunning splashy color, but also for the light sweet scent she exudes. I just picked up a beautiful little bushy sweet broom and have lovingly placed her on my back patio. Her vibrant color has me thinking about other ways to get more yellow into my design diet.

Two things to try:

1) A Sparkling Americano: I found this at Cucumbersome, a lovely DIY and craft blog. This may end up as my beat-the-heat drink this summer.


2) Install a light fixture. I just bought the Equator lamp from CB2 and it is en route to my home at this very moment. Rather than hire a guy, I thought I might try to turn this mother out on my own.

Before you dump that dresser...

There are so many great ways to rehabilitate old dressers. Paint it, distress it, stencil it or spruce it up with some fresh hardware. I've got one lying around and while the wood is beautiful, the piece needs a lift. Here are some oldie but goodie "after" shots from Design Sponge and also some DIY dressers that I found on Flickr.

Design Sponge


Ohdeedoh

Design Sponge

Design Sponge

Design Sponge

Design Sponge

flickr

Design Sponge

flickr

flickr

flickr

flickr