My Never Ending Crush on Coastal ...

ALL of my life, I've loved the ocean ... not going IN it, necessarily (although, I'd spend hours in it when I was little), but, just how it makes me feel ... the smell of the ocean air ... the roar of the waves ... and the noise of the seagulls hunting for a snack.  It always brings back great memories of my sisters and me when we would vacation at the beach when we were young ... throwing sand at each other ... pushing each other on rafts directly into the crest of the waves so that we'd go crashing down onto the shoreline ... waiting to hear the sound of the ice cream truck ... and, enjoying fresh corn on the cob while sitting on the deck, listening to Carly Simon and Carole King.

That's why I'm so thankful I get to LIVE by the beach ... even though we don't stick our toes in the sand nearly enough, just "knowing" it's a few miles down the road makes me happy!

I suppose that's why I love adding coastal accents to our home, with our mantel being no exception.  When I spotted this pretty piece at Home Goods, I  just knew it'd be the perfect focal point for our coastal mantel:

This cute shore bird just "had" to fly the coop at Big Lots and come home with me.  He loves being perched by our mercury-based hurricane filled with sand and simple pillar candle:

Glass floats wrapped in twine (from Pottery Barn) joined the gang, too:

As did this piece of coral I had on hand:

Little starfish (also from Pottery Barn) are so easy to scatter around ... and, little mercury votive holders tie in with our hurricanes:

As I wasn't quite ready to let go of the white dogwood branches I had in place for our Spring mantel, I simply added Manzanita branches to them to give them a little "coastal" feel, too:

It all came together to look like this ...

Just a simple coastal mantel that, when I look at it, brings back great beach memories of my childhood and those that my family and I have yet to make:

So ... do memories from your childhood have an effect on your decorating styles?  Apparently, they do with mine!

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by,

Gold and Glass ... Who Knew?

Happy Saturday, friends.

My husband often jokes with me by saying that he's glad that my taste in men doesn't change as much as my taste in decorating styles does!  Ha!  Poor man ... the things he has to put up with being married to me ... mainly, my decorating addiction, especially how often things change around here!

The latest tweaks taking place in our great room have revealed that, apparently, out of nowhere, I'm now a big fan of gold and glass coffee tables!  Who knew?!  Annnd, that's when I decided we simply had to move our heavy, dark coffee table out and make room for a gold and glass beauty!  Alas, the search began ....

I fell in love with this one from Ethan Allen, but, for over $700, sadly, I had to pass:

This one from Uttermost is gorgeous (especially the gallery shelf below)  but, again ... with a price tag of over $500, that's still a bit too high.

I scoured Craiglist for days ... no luck!  Goodness, this was becoming a bit of a challenge ....

THAT'S when I came across this *pretty* from Wal-Mart for only $99 (free shipping, too, when you "site to store")!  

But, wait ... I know you're thinking "um, Becca ... it's not gold!"  You're absolutely right!  Alas, nooooo worries ... that's where a can of *this* from Lowe's saved the day: 

A few coats later, and here's a peek at what it looks like now!

Wooo Hooo ... JUST what I had hoped for!  Don't you just love it when you can get the look you want, without paying the hefty price?! 

I'll be back soon to share more of the little changes in here, including our "coastal" mantel:

Have a great day ... thanks for stopping by,

New Paint Means New Chandie!

Happy Monday, friends!

Not too long ago, I shared how I painted the inside of our front door black.  Such a quick, inexpensive project that really made a difference (love those kinds of projects, don't you)?  

Of course, that "freebie" project then led to a "not so free" project (oops).  Our foyer chandie, which was brown metal with stained glass in shades of purples, greens and reds just didn't work anymore (sorry I don't have a before pic) ... actually, it hadn't worked for some time, but it was one of those projects we simply put off ... for 6 years!

Thanks to Home Depot, our foyer got a new chandie ... the price was right, too, which made it even "more" appealing!  Love its simplistic style:

While playing around in this small space, I then decided to wash a bit of grey onto the white urns:

I wanted them to tie in with the new panels in both the sitting and dining rooms: 

I then brought back our larger rug that has the mustard/gold yellows (like our new fabric), with flecks of black here and there:

Of course, I'm a big fan of dressing doors with simple tassels, too!

I love how the new chandie ties in with our front door!  Annnd, while you're here, you can also see how I used the same fabric in our sitting and dining rooms, which makes my little symmetrical self a happy girl. 

I hope you all have a happy week.  I'm off to continue making a few changes in our great room ... starting with the addition of this beautiful seagrass rug ... LOVE!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hometalk Always Inspires

Greetings, friends!

When this time of year rolls around, my ADD (Attention *Decorating* Disorder) kicks in ... in HIGH gear!  One of the projects I'm currently tackling is redoing my son's bathroom.  Of course that means turning to the amazing HOMETALK for inspiration!  And, what perfect timing when the fabulous Miriam (Hometalk's Director of Community Development), asked if I would curate an "Affordable Bathroom Decor" clipboard  to share with all of you (well, twist my arm, why don't ya' ... of *course* I would)!

So, when you have a moment, feel free to click on the picture below, which will take you right to my "Affordable Bathroom Decor" clipboard ... you might even *spy* your bathroom on there or someone else's that you know! 

There sure are a bunch of amazing folks out there who have shared crafty, affordable, creative (if not, genius) ideas when it comes to bathroom decor!  You just might want to implement an idea, or 10, in your humble abode, like I plan on doing!

And, if you've never toured around Hometalk, be sure and stay there while ... there are endless amounts of ideas and inspiration, no matter what your project is!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by ... and, a special thank you to Miriam for asking me to be a curator!

Symmetry Rules My World ...

Happy Cinco de Mayo, friends!  I hope you're all out enjoying a tall margarita to celebrate the holiday! If I were a fan of tequila, I know *I* would be.  ;)

Thank you for making me feel better about my crazy *self-inflicted* OCD rules of decorating that I shared in my last post!  I'm glad that I'm not alone (lol)!  It also makes me feel a bit more comfortable sharing one of my latest projects!  

In our house, which is an open floor plan, our dining and sitting rooms sit across from each other, separated by our foyer.  When standing in our great room, you can see into both rooms at the same time.  And, for 7 years, one thing that has bothered me is that the lighting didn't match ... crazy, I know (see, there again my OCD rears its head)!

We finally solved the problem and added "this" beauty in here, which is just like the one in our dining room:  

My crazy self also added the same fabric that's in the dining room in here, as well:

What do you think?  Is this a place you might like to "GATHER?"

Here's what the other chandie used to look like: (I'm really enjoying the "presence" the new crystal one has over this one!)  

The new fabric is a fun change, too. Another matching pillow (made by my neighbor) helps to tie it all together, too:

Of course, coastal accents are still splashed around: 

And, so easy to even add a bit of coastal to a simple frame of my sweet boy (a few years ago) by resting a starfish on the corner:

Sufficed to say, having these matching elements now makes things okay in my crazy little decorating world ... for *now* anyway!  LOL

Is that wrong?  Probably ... but, just please play along with me, okay? :)

Thanks for stopping by (and come play with us here):

Dwellings/Amaze Me Monday
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia/Tuesday's Treasures
Savvy Southern Style/WUW

He Flew on Over ...

While I love birds, I've never been one to incorporate "coastal" birds into our decor.  That was ... until I spotted this tall, handsome fella at HomeGoods last week:  

I let him fly all over the house, landing here and there until he found just the right spot to plant himself!

I wonder if it was the crisp, white coral (from Pottery Barn) that enticed him?

Or, maybe it was the picture of the ship floating along that seemed familiar:

Maaaaybee, it was this tall wheat grass as it's a good place to hide:

Whatever the reason, this little family is enjoying his company:

He's a fun, new addition to the "coastal-themed" vignette on the accent chest in our sitting room, for sure:

Annnnd, speaking of additions to our sitting room ... these beautiful chairs from World Market have joined the gang, too!

As has more bling!

Will share completed pics soon ...

Thanks for stopping by, friends!