My Dog Matches My House

Did I ever tell you about when I volunteered at the pound in Chicago?

I loved it.  Playing with puppies is the best.

But you know what was not the best?

People who give their sweet puppies up -  for stupid reasons.

The pound isn't much fun for a pup.

I think I've told you this before, but my favorite "reason" was...

The dog didn't match my decor.

Yikes!

But isn't Heidi lucky?

See we painted the bedroom to match her. 

So she doesn't have to worry about such nonsense.

Good thing, huh?

Now she can get back to napping.

Do you let your dog sleep in your bed?

I hate it.  I think it's kind of gross.

Except when I'm cold.

She's pretty cozy.  

And I have to admit she's a good snuggler.

OK I guess I don't hate it that much.

Bedroom Inspiration : Oh Deer!

When redecorating our new house, we chose to to do very neutral colors so it would be appealing to lots of buyers should we decide to up and move back to America.

For this reason, I am loving the bedroom of Nikole Herriot, as featured on design*sponge.  So much, in fact, that we chose to  paint a chocolatey brown feature wall in our bedroom.

I think what really gets me are the antlers.  Wouldn't they be perfect for hanging necklaces?  Remember how I desperately wanted to buy a head, but Nick put his foot down?  Well I think since antlers are a little tamer version of that, maybe I could get away with it.... maybe...?  (If you're inclined I would appreciate you leaving comments on how classy and fabulous antlers are for Nick to read.  Comments on how he should give me free reign in the decorating department are also appreciated.)

Though I would have to find a vegetarian friendly antler option.  Any tip offs?  I know I saw wood carved ones online but I can't seem to rediscover them.  Oh and while I'm on the deer kick, isn't this duvet cover the coolest? (brought to my attention by Krystal of Village)  I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get away with this though.  Maybe it's a bit of deer over kill (pun intended - yes, I think I'm funny), but I LOVE it!

I think it would be the perfect combination of chic hillbilly.  

Whats not to love?

Well thats the decoration inspiration for now.  If any one else has neutral bedroom inspiration please share it with me!  I am having the hardest time deciding on a color to paint our guest bedroom which has a weird blue/grey carpet.

Other than that we are trying desperately to get everything in a live-able state, but we are having trouble coordinating trades people.  Very frustrating!

How to Paint Crappy Portraits

Hi Friends,

Those of you read my 100 Things To Do List may have noticed one of my goals is to have portraits of everyone in my family.  Well let's get real, those things are expensive!  Since money is not something that we're swimming in over here, I knew I would have to paint these myself.  Maybe like me some of you have too much free time and want to give it a go...

Start with a picture you really like.  I chose one of my sisters.  Print it out and draw a grid on the photo.  Then blow up your grid on the canvas.  It is important to be careful with this part because if your grid is off it will throw everything off.

Then, in pencil, sketch out your portrait.  The grid will make it 100 times easier since you can focus on smaller parts of the photo.  After you draw it, start painting it in watered down shades of brown.  It seems like an extra step, but think of it as a map.  It really will help to guide you when you start putting color down.

Then for the fun part!  It's kind of like a coloring book for adults at this point.  It's best to start with the background and work your way forward.

Voila!  I know it's not gonna win any awards, but for my first painting since high school art class I don't think it's too bad.  Hope this inspired you to get your creative juices flowing!

Happy Friday!

Heads Up!

I keep seeing these fake taxidermy wall mounts all over the place and I feel like they'd be perfect for decorating our super duper boring insane asylum white walls.

Via Ruby's Lounge, on Etsy

Nick thinks they are pretty much hideous.  But I think they are so much fun!  Can you imagine what a good conversation starter one of these would be?  "Hey, where'd you get that alien head on your wall?"

Via Mornin Glori, on Etsy

Or how bout a white rabbit feltidermy?  It looks so happy just hanging out there.  

Via Girl Savage, on Etsy

Look even Anthropologie is selling them, meaning I must not be completely out of my mind, because anything Anthropologie sells is inherently cool, right? RIGHT?! 

Via Anthropologie

Ever since working with them, I've had a little obsession for rhinos so I am totally loving that rhino head.  But, for some reason on their website I can only find the giraffe and zebra for sale.  Not that it matters, as the husband has firmly put his foot down on heads in the house.  

Question - When will he learn that women do the decorating?  Maybe our relationship hasn't quite caught up to modern day equal man/woman relationships, but lets get real - he goes to work, I do the cooking, the ironing, and various other womanly tasks. (Apparently my husband has never heard of the women's lib movement, sorry Susan B. Anthony looks like you did all that work for nothin).  Anyways, I don't get why decorating needs to be a collaborative effort.  We don't have style, I have style.  And as long as he asks me if his ties match his shirts every morning then I should have free reign to decorate right?  I think so.

So what do YOU think?  To hang heads or not to hang heads?  That is the question!

*Note: my husband isn't actually as chauvinistic as I am making him out to be.  Our current separation of duties is a result of my FUNemployment, not him being an A-hole.  

Addicted to Purple

I'm so addicted to purple right now.  Lavender to be exact.  I bought purple nail polish at selfridges, and ate a purple cupcake from Candy Cakes that I stole from Nick (someone bought it for a leaving present for him).  Isn't it cute?  It didn't taste like I expected.  It was more muffinish than cup cake-ish.  There were even blueberries inside.

Nick also bought me these purple rainboots at Selfridges.  Have I ever told you how much I LOVE Selfridges?  I know it's all over priced and every time I walk in there I'm getting screwed like the rest of the tourists that shop there, but I appreciate the shop assistants' relentless flattery, even if she is making commission.  That's probably why when she told me, "I'm looking at your style, and purple is DEFINITELY your color,"  I said "Yes you're right!" and walked out the store with ridiculous purple Hunter rain boots, or "wellies" to use the British term.

I don't care though!  I kinda, sorta love them.  And now I'm actually willing it rain.  Rain is SO much more fun with purple wellies.  And they are so very practical for hiking with Heidi, which we will be doing a lot of in our new home!  (More to come on that later - we are moved in though!)

Also, isn't this picture neat?  I saw it on Rockstar Diaries, which I am addicted to probably more than the color purple.  The artist is Casey O'Connell, and the coolest thing is you can buy her paintings on LTL Prints, as wall graphics that you can just stick on the wall, and remove, and restick and do it again 100 times.  Perfect for people like us who are renting and can't put lots of holes in the walls.  Oh and it's only $15.    Don't you wish all paintings were mass produced like that?

Wouldn't it look really great on a purple/grey wall?  

Or am I just getting a little too purple obsessed? 

Conservatory: Before and After

We had our conservatory rebuilt sometime around September,  however, as things of such a nature go, we only recently got around to painting it.  I meant to post pictures as soon as it was painted, but it seemed to be filled with tools and other junk as soon as I put my paint brush down.  But since Nick's mum is selling the house now, someone came to view it and we put it all in order.  It looked good.  I wish it could always look like this.

Here are the before pics....

This is a bathroom.  No one used it because it's gross. Agreed?

And now it looks like this....

So new and shiny!  Notice the appliances!  We used to have the washing machine in the kitchen.  Now we have a dishwasher (SCORE!) in the kitchen, and we have both the washing machine and the dryer in the conservatory.  This makes me extremely happy.  Hanging laundry outside to dry is a royal pain, especially when it rains nearly every day here.  The dryer on the left doesn't actually go there, well it's supposed to, except the builders forgot to put a hole in the wall for the exhaust.  So we have to move it to the front of the picture and stick the hose out the window.

Oh, and the toilet has also been redone, except you see, the light of my life, my dear husband, decided that he was a plumber (he's not a plumber) and he was going to fit the sink and toilet himself to save money.  That was in September.  It's now the end of February and we're no closer to having a working toilet in, and as a bonus, we have the lingering smell of sewage since the pipe for the toilet is exposed.  We try to cover it, but it doesn't really work.

You win some, you lose some.

DeCourcy Family Photos

Will someone take our picture please?  

These all suck. A LOT.

We need a DeCourcy family photo for our mantle piece.  

We don't have a mantle piece.  

But maybe we will when we move.