Looking for Inspiration

Monday’s are really important to the success of my week. If I have a bad Monday it can take me all week to recover, and by that time it’s already Friday so what’s the point right? Well, this morning really sucked; I woke up with a massive headache, got into a dispute with the postal service, and got a nasty email from a client. I had pretty much written off today until I saw this post from Emily at Cupcakes and Cashmere about everything that is going on in Japan right now. It was an instant mind shift.

Instead of moping around and focusing on all the things that are going wrong today I decided to look for inspiration and some new project ideas around me. The first thing I did was update the images on my inspiration wall. (You can see the old images here)

Next, I chose a paint colour for the ugly old 1980’s style plant stand that has been hanging out in our living room, drum roll please………………….. orange! We’ve never incorporated orange into our decor before, but since we have inherited a printed navy carpet at our new place, I thought why not orange?

Picking through my fabric bins came next. After very little deliberation I decided it is time to create something out of this beautiful sequined fabric I’ve been saving for years. It’s actually a dupatta from one of my mom’s old Indian outfits circa 1987, but I think it’s going to look amazing as a shift dress for spring.

I totally forgot about this little box I picked up at the local thrift and just re-discovered it today. It’s a wooden cutlery chest but I think it will make a great jewelery box, sewing kit, or a cute little spot to hold ribbons, glue guns, and random craft supplies. I honestly don’t know what this one is going to be….

So these are my projects for the next few weeks, what do you have in the pipelines?

Once Upon A Time In Mumbai…..

Okay the wedding wasn’t really in Mumbai it was in Vancouver, but I was on total Bollywood overload this weekend. The colours, textures, tastes, and sounds of Indian weddings always make me feel like I’m walking around in a film set straight out of B-town.

Here’s a little peek at the 4 days of fun!

On Friday night the grooms side hosted a “Sangeet” party for all of the women to get together dance, laugh, eat, and get their groove on. The only hitch was they forgot about decorations, so me and my team of experts (as seen below) were called in to create centerpieces a few hours before the party. Under a serious time (and budget) crunch, we hit the local dollar store and came up with these:

They’re not spectacular by any means, but better than empty tables. We went with pink and green for centerpieces but I also managed to find one of those metal tea light holders in yellow, it kind of reminded me of the bird-cage I wrote about here. (PS: if you ever need last-minute decor, my design team is available after school and on weekends.)

And of course, no wedding related post would be complete without some outfit pictures:

To see more pictures from the wedding or full length outfit shots, check out my flickr page!

Favorite Finds

I had some time to wander around a few home decor stores yesterday and “shop” for inspiration. As much fun as it is to decorate a new place it can also be overwhelming. There is so much to choose from when you are starting with a clean slate that it can be hard to narrow down your choices. In any case, I found lots of great pieces, so I thought I would share a few….

I love the shape of this table, but what really caught my eye is the colour! I’ve been coveting a turquoise table, painting, or other accessory for the master bedroom for a while now so this jumped right out at me.

I absolutely adore this clock. The classic look with a funky print, it’s totally me; the price on the other hand wasn’t. I passed on the clock but will keep my eyes open for a similar (aka cheaper) option. On a completely unrelated note, it occurred to me yesterday that we don’t own a single traditional clock. Is that strange?

I’m not really sold on the print, but the shape is great. I must have stared at this chair for 15 minutes (total exaggeration, it was more like 3 but felt like 15) trying to figure out why I have never thought of buying oval backed chairs before. Now I just have to choose a shape for our dining table.

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I’ve always wanted to have a birdcage in my room, but the hubby feels a bird-less cage is not so appealing. Unfortunately, I’m not really into caged birds. I thought long and hard on how to incorporate this one into my current decor theme because I’m dying to add yellow somewhere, but no ideas yet. Any thoughts?

Not sure what this little guy is meant for, but I picked it up to use as an umbrella stand. I’ve never been really good at organization, but have always loved pretty things. This piece has inspired me to create a pretty and organized entrance area that has a place for umbrellas, gloves, keys, and everything else you need on your way out the door. I smell a thrifting trip this weekend.

I love quotes (and Oscar Wilde) so I can’t believe that I’ve  never seen this one before! This is so perfect that I actually got a little misty eyed when reading it, sad but true. I’m working on a way to incorporate this quote into some DIY artwork to put above my reading chair (seen here), hopefully on a turquoise background.

There were so many other photos, but I’ve only shared the ones that really inspired me to create beautiful surroundings. It’s funny how sometimes the smallest things make the biggest impact.

Office Inspiration

As mentioned earlier this week, we are currently living in a  two bedroom rental and my office is located at the foot of our bed. Until a few days ago it looked like this:

(If you are a feng shui expert or neat freak you should probably close your eyes for this part)

You can imagine how completely uninspiring this set up was, especially when working 10-12 hour days. So with a limited budget, (and time) I decided to spruce up the wall that I make eyes at all day long.

Before revealing the after pic I just want to say; taking these photos has made me painfully aware of the fact that I need a better camera….

After:

The clipboard wall:

These were boring brown clipboards that I picked up from the local dollar store, added a gold border and attached scrapbook paper with Modge Podge.  The whole project cost under $10  because all I had to buy was the clipboards, if I bought the scrapbook paper it would’ve added a few dollars to the total.

With notes, pictures, inspiration etc….

Next project; DIY wall art for above my reading chair. I saw the perfect piece last week a beautiful turquoise canvas with the traditional “Keep Calm and Carry On” graphic, but it was a little overpriced for me. I’m sure I can come up with something equally eye-catching on a budget.

If you would like to see more pictures from my project day, please visit my flickr gallery