Chalkboard walls

Some great pictures of chalkboard walls!

Pictures taken from Pinterest - all very cute ideas...

Galvanized!

Galvanized buckets as planters..the older the better! Interesting shapes staggered at different heights make great planting pots for a porch, deck or patio.  See some newer entertaining pieces from Pottery Barn!

Nantucket Dreaming

As it starts to get chilly- a few photos to remember the simple beauty of Nantucket and sunny, carefree days...until next summer!

Praise for slipper chairs!

The mighty slipper chair!  These are an investment in any furniture arrangement, future re-arrangement or a future move, since they will always work.  A pair of slipper chairs can go in an office - opposite a desk, work together or alone, add additional seating or pair off against a sofa and/or loveseat.  Did I mention how versatile they are?  They really just are!

my slipper chairs from Domain

La Casa Azul Decoracion

I'm not sure how I became Facebook Friends with LA CASA AZUL DECORACION CARTAGENA as I can't find a website for it.  Nonetheless, I have found them on FB and I do get these wonderful images daily on my newsfeed.  I highly reccomend it both for visual inspirations for both interiors and exteriors.  If you search for it and "like" it here is a sampling of what you'll see:

Home Office rendition

Here is some inspiration for a home office which if you have a spare room- could be very cool- especially if you work from home or just dream about working from home (I do!)

My favorite from Houzz:

[houzz=http://www.houzz.com/photos/42139/Home-Office-Inspiration-traditional--other-metros]

Ballard Designs (as does Pottery Barn) has a great tool to help you design your space- you can check out their website for more info:

I can see adding some salvaged gym locker baskets like these to the shelves:

Here are some good ideas from Pottery Barn:

And one for a DIY maybe with Annie Sloane Chalk Paint:

I also brake for yard sales, flea markets, and ok maybe a dumpster!

I am really enjoying reading Lara Spencer's book, "I Brake For Yard Sales"- I feel like I have met a kindred spirit.  And she proves that its more fun to reuse and refurbish, have a piece with a story and uniqueness no matter what your budget.

Recently, my daughter and I did some yard "sale-ing" (Lara's term) to find some inexpensive furnishings for her apartment.  I wish I had taken a before picture of this before, but trust me it was not a looker! For $20 we bought this, painted it black and added new knobs and voila!  You could probably use this in any room of the house but like most 24 year olds she discovered it makes a great bar/liquor cabinet- ok, that works too!

Not a great picture but we got the coffee table for $40- it was actually a nice quality piece and painted it black- for the walls we picked up the black with accents of sepia framed beach prints in black frames.

And while I haven't actually "dived" into any dumpsters...I did rescue this piece from the side of a road, painted with leftover paint and its a cute piece that cost nothing! It must have been in a baby's room as it was white and decorated with decals and now is an our home office and holds our printer.

Three easy steps:
1- Find a piece with solid bones
2- Paint and coat with a finish or wax to protect it
3- Change hardware