Here are a couple of highlights…

Saturday was full of working on some projects for pieces I’m working on for HGTV. Here is a little peek into one of the projects:

{It started to rain so we needed to bring all of our supplies into my office and then pin up white curtains for a back drop. Super professional, right? We so need a studio space whenever you get a new home. We were bumping into everything in my office and had to pics from super odd angles to not get any busy backgrounds.}

We worked all Saturday and this lady was sound asleep before 11pm.

On Sunday we woke up to gray skies and rain so we spent the morning hanging out in our PJ’s and watching some movies.

{Jon was very proud of giving Hudson some super hero pants.}

We did venture out for a bit during the rain showers and hit Target for some essentials. Of course in between essentials I found some new design obsessions.

{Couldn’t find the link for this online, but I’m smitten with this onetoo.}

Loved this diamond patterned embroidered pillow with a bold blue contrasting fabric on the back of the pillow.

Loved the knot detailing with rope like trim on this pillow:

Perfect detailing on the piping of this pillow:

I also spotted by to visit my favorite beach bag:

{I keep checking out this beach tote, but I don’t “need” it so I keep leaving it behind and then coming home and obsessing about how pretty it is. Hmm perhaps during my next Target run I will actually pick it up.}

Already counting down the days till this coming Friday.

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Many of us have builders grade bathroom’s in our homes. My home is an older home with an original master bathroom, but at some point they added a half bath and when we moved in it was literally a blank box.

Our course there was lighting, neutral walls and a vanity and toilet and everything functioned but it was so blah. Now I could have simply painted walls added some patterned towels and called it a day. It is after all just a tiny half bathroom, but I decided to go a bit nutty in there because it was such a small space ( 8’6″ x 3’5″) that if I didn’t go bold I wouldn’t make any sort of impact.

Here are some tips that could help you decorate your blank slate.

1. Go bold on the walls: Always wanted to paint a room a dark color like black or use an overly floral wallpaper? A small bathroom with mainly all white fixtures is the place where you can go bold. We decided to go with floor to ceiling beadboard to give our blah walls some personality. I decided to leave everything white, which to me was a bold statement, because I love color and don’t really ever do white. I picked beadboard because it was easily and faster to install than wallpaper and I still got some stripes on the walls.

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2. Don’t forget the ceiling: Ceilings are the fifth wall that is forgotten many, many times. To my husband’s dismay I never forget the ceiling so he gets the fun job of helping me paint, wallpaper or even apply faux tin onto the ceiling like we did in this space. It’s a little detail and something people might not think makes a difference, but I get the most compliments on it. Plus again it was super easy to apply just peel and stick and since it’s on the ceiling no one else knows it’s faux.

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3. Use this space as your design lab: Inspired by a bathroom designed by Amanda Nisbet I loved the idea of filling bathroom walls with artwork. I took a note from Amanda and took it up a notch by literally filling all of the walls in my half bath art from floor to ceiling.

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4. Small details count: I didn’t want to spend any money on getting new versions of the big ticket items in the space, but I did want add a little design accents to certain fixtures so my own silly but important to me detail was switching out the toilet flusher. I love how retro it looks. Make sure to add nice fluffy hand towels along with a pretty soap dish and some fresh flowers.

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5. Don’t forget the floors:  I hate nothing more than a bath rug. I especially hate these sets. I always use vintage rugs instead. I always find lots of beautiful vintage kilms, Persians and Turkish rugs for great steals on ebay and since most bathrooms are on the small size you can get most rugs for around $30-$50.

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Are you ready to add a little personality to your plain jane bathroom?

]]> http://blog.effortless-style.com/2013/05/adding-personality-to-a-builder-grade-bathroom/feed/ 5 http://blog.effortless-style.com/2013/05/kate-spade-inspired-print/ http://blog.effortless-style.com/2013/05/kate-spade-inspired-print/#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 11:30:39 +0000 effortless http://blog.effortless-style.com/?p=6593 Continue reading →" rel="nofollow">http://A couple of months ago Kate Spade came out with a couple of cell phone cases with witty quotes by Dorothy Parker. Dorothy Parker was a poet and in her day she was known as a wise cracker. Looks like … Continue reading →]]>

A couple of months ago Kate Spade came out with a couple of cell phone cases with witty quotes by Dorothy Parker. Dorothy Parker was a poet and in her day she was known as a wise cracker. Looks like someone I would have wanted to be girlfriends with.

My favorite cell phone case and quote had to be this one.

Isn’t it so true! I think I would be pretty darling at it as well. I don’t have an iphone 5 so I wasn’t able to pick up the case, but I was able to do a variation for a pdf that you can use as your desktop background or print it out and hang it up for all to see!

In researching the quote it looks like two variations of it came up so I went with a slightly different version with the same meaning.

For printable file click here.

Check mine out in action:

You can get your own copy of the print here,but you can also just make one yourself with whatever witty saying you want. I didn’t use a fancy design program to make mine. Just went into powerpoint and changed the image background of a slide and then added text using font, Bebas Neue,which can be downloaded for free.

Imagine all of the possibilities.

Adding this project onto the Kate Spade Summer Soiree Link Party. Have you added one yet?

{Kate Spade Keds}

I loved them, but I couldn’t justify $75 for a pair of Keds. What’s a girl to do? Figure out a way to make her own.

Supplies:
I picked a pair of canvas sneakers aka Keds look a likes at Payless. Only $14.99 and not only do they have black and white, but a fab array of summer inspired colors like orange, lavender and mint green. I found the Sharpie paint pens at JoAnns for $3.99, but they are available online here for $1.70. In order to get perfectly shaped dots I needed a pencil and Martha Stewart’s multi surface craft paint in a midnight blue.

Step 1: Paint the pink border on the out sole of the sneakers. The sneakers already has grooves all throughout the out sole so it’s very easy to take the paint pen and fill it in. No need to use painters tape.

A slip of the hand might happen, but don’t stress. It’s easy to clean it up with some paint thinner.

Step 2: Apply paint to eraser. I just dipped the eraser in a bit of paint and made sure not to overload it. I didn’t want excess paint to spill out of the edges when I pressed down on the canvas. The best part about polka dots is that you can free hand the pattern and apply as many or as little as you like.

Step 3: A small paintbrush will help you fill in the paint if you have canvas showing through some of your dots. I only found this that this happened a once or twice per shoe. So it wasn’t time consuming to fill in some dots.

Step 4: It’s all about the details. Use your paint pen to make your shoe lace ends pink like our inspiration keds.

Step 5: Such stylish kicks deserved to be paired with a dress instead of jeans or work out clothes.

Close up of sneakers:

This project was so easy and fast to do and it came in around $20 for all supplies.

I’m adding these babies to the summer soiree linky party! Have you added anything to it yet?

The day has come for our summer soiree in honor of Kate Spade!

So, I hope you wearing a little bit of Kate Spade green today along with some sort of polka dot or bow or let’s face it both in honor of our link party.

Here is a special project I worked on for today’s party.

Inspired by Kate Spade I decided that my entry way door needed a little sprucing up.

Doesn’t the color combo of orange, pink and kelly green totally scream Kate Spade? I think so and it happens to working perfectly in my living room.

All of these supplies can be found at your local craft store. I went with 2.5″ wide grosgrain ribbon, but you can use whatever width you would like.

Step 1: It’s best to leave the plastic wrapping on your straw wreath. Simply dab some hot glue on the wreath and adhere the starting point for your ribbon.

Step 2: Wrap ribbon around wreath and make sure to overlap the ribbon so that there is no part of the straw wreath showing.

Step 3: Cut a piece of felt in whatever width you like. Then use the ribbon piece you have cut and glue the ends together to make a circle.

Step 4: Pinch the circle in the middle to form a bow and get some nice dimples in the middle of the bow. Then tighten center of bow with either floral wire or thread.

Step 5: Cut a smaller piece of felt and glue it the center of bow to cover up the threading/wire.

Step 6: In order to hang it use a piece of a ribbon in a contrasting color. Fold the piece of ribbon in half and loop it through the wreath.

Step 7: Glue the bow to the contrasting ribbon.

Step 8: At the ends of the ribbon cut hold for hanging. Use a lighter to burn the edges so it doesn’t fray.

Step 9: Place a command hook upside down on the back of the door that you want to hang your wreath and then place ribbon up and over door and wreath with fit perfectly on the front of the door and your door will still close perfectly.

I’m ready to link this project to the link party what about you? All of the links from my fellow co-hosts: Heather from Southern State of Mind
Carmel from Our Fifth House
Sheaffer from Pinterest told me to
Jenna from Rain on a tin roof

Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Plus their readers will also be popping up on this link party.

I have a couple more projects that I worked on and I will be showcasing them this week and adding them to the link party! Stay tuned!

Here is a short and sweet at my little getaway. We jetted off to Newport, RI at the end of the week and it was just what the Doctor ordered.

Hudson was ready to hit the road and started off the morning in a silly mood making kissy faces out the window while we loaded up the car.

In order to keep Hudson sane during the car trip we made a stop in Mystic to check out the aquarium. He had a blast.

The only problem was that he really wanted to get into every fish tank!

We also made sure to stop at our favorite restaurant in Naragganset, RI called Crazy Burger.

The best part about getting away was picking a part with an indoor pool so that we could all go take a dip before bed time.

{ Of course this huge smile turned into earthy scattering screams when we took him out of pool 30 mins later.}

The next morning Hudson enjoyed the desk space in the hotel room where he sat like such a nice little guy and watched an episode of Bubble Guppies while we finished getting ready.

We then took a stroll around the hotel and enjoyed a view of Newport, RI. Our hotel was on Goat Island which is a teeny tiny island right off of Newport, RI.

We took a trip into town to see the sites and enjoy some cupcakes from Mad Hatter bakery. So yummy!

We also took a long walk on the Cliff Walk:

{ Ah family shot where we are all looking at the camera! Amazing!}

We did some more sight seeing in town and then hit the road. It was a short and sweet trip and this guy was wiped.

We got back home in time to enjoy Mother’s day and celebrate my birthday with my family. It was so nice to be spoiled by everyone and I was enjoying myself so much that my phone never came out not even to take pictures. Perfection.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Also don’t forgot that tomorrow our Summer Soiree link party begins! So if you have an projects that you have done that represent the Kate Spade lifestyle get ready to link up and share with all!

I am taking today off though from blogging and work and spending the day with my two favorite men. I may or may not have even sneaked out of town for a little get-away!

Hopefully I will be blowing out some sparkling candles tonight and wishing for a rockstar year as a 32 year old even though I still feel 16.

Happy Friday!

Amazing, right? I have always wanted some sort of boat shoe, but have never actually gotten a pair. There in the aisles was one sole pair of leopard and black patent boat mocs. Heaven. I tried them on and they were super comfy and actually fit. After having Hudson my feet never went back to my normal 7.5 size. I always feel like one foot is 7 and half and my other foot is 7 and 3/4.

I promptly ran with them to register. The box said they were $27.99, but when I got to the register I got the surprise of a lifetime….only $10! Woo-hoo!

I had to wear them out the door.

Side profile:

Now I tried finding them online, but it looks like since they are on clearance they aren’t available. If you want the same deal you should try your local Payless store. They do have other patterns available here. Not going to lie the silver sparkly number was also screaming my name.

If you want a leopard and black combo then try this Sperry option for only $59.95!

Guess someone has been paying attention to my treat yo self posts.

It’s one of my favorite necklaces and it has become a daily wear item for me.

With the Maya Brenner necklace you can get additional letters on your so Jon was able to get a C for me, a J for him and an H for Hudson! Since I wear it all the time I tend to stack it with other necklaces like my monogrammed necklace from Keti Sorely for only $99!

I adore my piece by Maya Brenner, but it is an investment piece and I’ve had some emails from people asking if there are any less expensive options. Until yesterday I always told people no, but I have now found an alternative.

{ Classic Designs for $149 vs Maya Brenner for $220.}

While the Classic Designs option is not as dainty as the original or in the same font it is an alternative that is a bit easier on the wallet.

Happy Shopping!

First on my list was Dabney Lee. Dabney Lee is a new retail shop that has been on the web for many years now. Dabney Lee was the first person I ever heard of selling those beautiful lucite trays that are gracing oh so many homes these days. I personally have a tray from Dabney Lee in Hudson’s room and I love it.

While Dabney has been designing stationary and the likes for many years on the web in 2012 she ventured into a retail location. Here is a peek into her shop…

{Beautiful orange signage and stylish awning.}

{Patterned storange boxes and fun stationary cards specific to Dumbo.}

{More stationary & beautiful New York letterpress print from Sugar Paper.}

{Cheeky cards. My favorite has to be, That’s what she said. Who else is sad that there are only 2 more episodes left of the Office?}

{Bulletin boards filled with custom invitations. So many pretty options to admire.}

{Lucite trays, lunch boxes, plates and salt and pepper shakers. Plus a pic of Dabney’s adorable triplets!}

{Amazing wrapping paper that I would probably frame instead of use to wrap an actual gift!}

{Cozy PJ’s in Dabney’s signature zebra print.}

{Work table where you can seat and design whatever your heart desires with the Dabney Lee team!}

Such a fun shop full of all of my favorite things: color, patterns, monograms, the color orange, and most importantly many options with elephants! Along with the retail shop the Dabney Lee team designs and produces all of there products in an office space behind the bulletin boards that I may or may not have caught a peek at.

{ I spy a vintage lamp with bamboo detailing in the back. Ah can’t you just see the creative juices flowing!}

If you are interested in getting some of your own Dabney Lee’s products and don’t live in the area head over to their site and click away.