Thursday, August 14, 2008

Traffic on Blogger's Lane....

My childhood friend, Doojies, has a "giveaway" going on at her site.........and in order to get your name thrown in the hat, you have to comment on my blog as well as hers. So I have been enjoying some traffic on my blog......and some very kind comments. Most of these commenters will be going to Silver Bella....so I will get to meet them in person in November. (Please God, may they all have on nametags. Amen)

As of Monday, I will return to my day job....working as a kindergarten paraprofessional (definition = teacher's aide). Everyone knows I love my job, but you also know how much I love to sleep in late. So those late mornings will be coming to an end and I am a little sad about that. The good news is we get one week without the kids....so I can get used to getting up early before I get totally wiped out by the energizer bunnies.

I have also enjoyed sitting at my computer for long lengths of time this summer reading through all the blogs out there. This new addiction has almost taken over my addiction to decorating magazines. Almost.

I am going to post a few pictures of some of my favorite new things around my house. First, I had my master bathroom wallpapered this summer. I would love to drop $30,000 on this room and turn the shower and garden bath into a larger shower and extended closet....but the $300 wallpaper job pleases me for now. I am one of the last people on Earth who still loves wallpaper. I just love pattern and lots of it scattered around a room with the colors being the main theme. Does anybody out there agree?

A 15 year old shade that was in the arched window over the tub was taken down for the wallpapering job and did not get put back up. I will not tell you how dirty that thing was, but I did think the shade was supposed to be a grayish taupe. NOT. It was originally white. I would love to tell you that I fired the maid for her incompetent dusting, but I'm the maid. I shopped around the house and found 3 beloved shutters found at Roundtop over the years.....Chuck fixed them so they would hang as one and VOILA! A "window mistreatment" as The Nester would call it.





I used joint compound tinted with paint for the potty area. Scrape it on, leaving the old wall showing through now and then. A great look. I sewed a little valance using the colors in the room with some different trims. Not much fabric or trim needed when you do it this way. If you can't sew....this can be hot glued. I bought a bamboo shade with privacy liner for the window...I would put these everywhere if I could. I love this look. So Ralph Lauren. Click on this photo to enlarge it and you can see the texture better.

The other little trick I picked up this summer was using willow branches as a tall house plant....to fill that space when you don't know what else to use.



You can pick these up in the floral department of HEB here in Houston...for $7.99 a branch. I bought 3 branches and put them in a tall vase of water,then in a taller basket which is really an umbrella stand. I stole this idea from the owner of a new decorative store and she said she had had hers for over a year...it almost reached the ceiling! The florist said to change the water once a week. But I can't remember when the week is up...so I wait for it to holler at me.

If you are still reading this.....thank you. This post was all over the place....but if you made it to this sentence you're good.

21 comments:

  1. home decorating is so fun, huh?! i think wallpaper is okay, it just depends for me. if it were only 2 colors with a damask look i'd probably love it but i know my husband would never ever in a million years let me do that. lol. i am addicted to decorating magazines and blog surfing too, although i don't have as much time as i'd like. it is very time consuming and well i don't have a house so i stopped buying magazines because it became a "what if" obsession. okay, long post. take care!

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  2. I ALWAYS learn something new and creative/clever from you! Your house is so wonderfully decorated and so inviting. Think I'll invite myself over sometime soon. :) KAT

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  3. Julia....you should put a link to your email addy in your profile or on your homepage. Go to my blog and send me an email - that is another choice. ha! Love the branches...who knew they would last a year. When you email me I'll explain rak, atc, .... And yes, everyone has a nametag hanging around their neck at Silver Bella! Thank goodness! And I'm in Kingwood.

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  4. i love how you say you just "shopped around the house" to find those shutters. but i completely understand...i shop in my patio storage closet in the three boxes of decor items i HAD to bring out here but still haven't used.

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  5. The shutters are fabulous and everything else is beautiful too! Nice work!

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  6. some of the best mistreatments I have ever seen!!!

    Nice to meet you and thank you for sharing!

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  7. I love the colors in your mistreatments~they turned out beautifully!

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  8. Oooh, love those shutters! Very nice!

    ~ Sarah

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  9. Oh, my, goodness. I love your ideas. I love your mistreatments, although they really don't look like mistreatments. This must mean you are really good. I am so putting a link to you on my blog. Thanks so much for the ideas.

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  10. Girl~ that looks stunning!!!

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  11. I love your mistreatments! Of both window (the shutters are so sweet!) and wall (great idea for the tinted putty...no sanding involved!). Thanks for sharing.

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  12. Can I move into your house?
    Please?

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  13. I heart the 3 shutters together!!!

    Perfect! It gives the room that old italia feeling.
    Makes me want to light candles, have a soak and enjoy some tiramisu!

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  14. I loved reading your blog, and about your mistreatments; you have some fabulous ideas. Most of all, I loved reading that you are in your town; I am nearby sw of the city......and have a son at A&M! Hope to visit you again!

    suzanne

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  15. the curtain over the potty is sooo cute! love it!

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  16. I love your wallpaper and the three shutters! Also your little curtain in the potty room is really cute! You did a great job!
    Thanks for sharing!

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  17. The three shutters look GREAT together. I love this idea. Going to use it or sure! Great work and great mistreatments!

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  18. Love the 3 shutters, I've never seen them combined this way, and I may have to "steal" your idea!

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  19. Oh my do my eyes deceive me? I had to lurch at my screen to take a better look at the shutters. Definately put me in the jealous category.
    Connie

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  20. Your bathroom looks beautiful! The shutters, valance, and wallpaper - I love wallpaper too - look great! I love to look at wallpaper online and in home improvement stores. I love pattern and it looks like you do too. I am going to look at your old posts to see what ideas I can steal.

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  21. What beautiful colors! I love the bathroom valance fabrics. Great job!

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