Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Sharing the love through February

Feeling a little blue?
Here are a few of my favorite exclamations of love I have found throughout the month!

For you Harry Potter fans....




One of the girls at work had this wonderful Valentine! 


And here is my handmade Valentine for my special someone this year! 


Sunday, February 24, 2013

Complete Table Makeover!

I have a friend, Sarah,  that loves to take old pieces of furniture and restore them, and she is really good at it too!

Recently she restored an old Singer Sewing table. The actual sewing machine was gone but the stand was still in pretty good shape.

After sanding and refinishing the wood, she took the rust off the iron pieces and repaired the gold leaf work that was on the lettering.

The last step was the top. Without the sewing machine there was a hole in the top! Well to fix that Sarah went and found a piece of Verde Butterfly granite at Texas Tile Services.

Check out how awesome this restored table looks now!!!
Finished Table!

Finished Table!

 - Erin

Friday, February 22, 2013

Houston Rodeo - Cowboy Mounted Shooting

If you're in or around Houston Friday, March 1st, get yourself over to the Houston Rodeo!

One of my clients will be competing in the Cowboy mounted shooting and last year she made it to finals! This event was named the #1 thing to do at the Houston Rodeo this year.... event starts at 1pm on March 1st. 

Get there :)


Thursday, February 21, 2013

Sneak peak at an extraordinary bathroom remodel!

Bathroom remodels can be SO much fun!  It's a space you use several times a day.... so why not make it a joy to use.

A recent bathroom remodel is finishing up; a project with Wamhoff Development and I have a sneak peak at  a couple of the 'after' photos.

Of course, I have to start with some of the before shots!

Bathroom before.

A young couple came to me and wanted to completely revamp their master bathroom.  The space had a GIANT bathtub... and a teeny tiny vanity.  An even smaller shower and no storage.  They wanted an overhaul to make this space pretty amazing.

Bathroom before.

The cabinetry was original to the house and in pretty bad shape. There was hardly any lighting.... and carpet on the floor!

Bathroom After!
Pretty amazing! There are still a couple of final touches - but this bathroom turned itself into a spa-dream!

We removed the tub and added a door so that the couple could easily access their backyard space.  We split the single vanity into two and moved all the plumbing around!

The glass mosaic add a touch of spa-green!

Bathroom after!

Lighter materials, new lighting, some much needed additional storage, make this small space seem much bigger than it is!  

More to come!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Boo and E Day Extravaganza!

Dance competition season has officially begun and my sister is busy for several weekends throughout the next couple of months. She had this crazy idea- that I take my nephew for a Saturday and we hang out at my place.  Something that has never happened before.  My 'house' has always been an unfamiliar mysterious place somewhere 'downtown.' 

Sounded good to me! I was so excited that I started planning over a week in advance.  I consulted the Pinterest for ideas of how to entertain a 4-year-old at a place..... with no toys!

I picked Boo up in the morning about 10:30 and on our way to my place, he quickly discovered that I did not have a single truck toy at my house.  "But, E! You have to have a truck!"  

We had to remedy that.... STAT!

The excitement of a new toy made us both very hungry.  Luckily, I had found a hands-on lunch for us to make together.  You take a hot dog and cut it up into 1" chunks and you 'string' it through several pieces of spaghetti.  


Boo's are on the left... mine are on the right....some of these are not like the others :)

Then, you boil it all together until the noodles are cooked.  Strain the 'booger octopuses' as Boo called them  and enjoy with butter and cheese or your favorite sauce.

(Awesome picture alert!!!) 
It was Boo's idea to have a picnic on my patio; of course we had to bring the new truck and my only stuffed animal :) (Auntie Rosie might recognize him! He sleeps on my bed every day!)  We enjoyed our noodles, a banana, and some special Oreos for dessert.

After our picnic, and playing in the dirt, and frisbee, and a walk, and watching a bit of a movie, and making a Valentine garland for mama, and bubbles....

We were filthy!

Time to wash up in the sink and make funny faces in the mirror before having to leave!

Boo and I had so much fun!  

......then I took a nap :)

Monday, February 18, 2013

Formal Dining Room - Stunning!

Here's a sneak peak of a recent project that is inching towards completion!  My clients' have a brilliant collection of art and wanted to create an elegant scene to compliment the art... voila! 

Much more to come!

Friday, February 15, 2013

The B Word... BUDGET!!!



Design on a Budget: Tips and Tricks!

In today’s world saving money is always a big concern. But what do you do if you want to spruce up your home but don’t have that huge of a budget.

Well here are a few tips and tricks.

1)      Say you find a fabric for window treatments or bedding or such, that you love but it is super expensive. A good trick is to use it as the trim on the lead edge of you window treatments or on a pillow or two. This way you have your fabric in the mix but you haven’t blown your budget.

2)      Have a wall paper that you love, can’t afford the whole room. Just do one wall. This creates a little drama and gives your room a focal point. Or use that wall paper in a powder bath. Powder baths are typically small, so you would be buying the same amount of wall paper.

3)      Know what you want to spurge on. There are a few areas you can and should spend more money on than others in your house. Most people can’t afford the make the whole house look like Trump’s, but you should figure out which spaces are important enough for you to spend some extra. For instance a lot of people will put more into a master bath than other bathrooms. I mean it’s your house, you should feel like royalty in your Master Suite. Or if cooking is your thing, budget for an awesome kitchen and keep other areas more modest. It’s all up to you and what you want.

4)      Don’t be afraid to wait. When we move into a new house or start a remodel/redecorating we want it done NOW!! Unfortunately sometimes the budget gets in the way. There is nothing wrong with going room by room! This ensures that you don’t blow your budget and gives your more time to plan out your next phase of the project.

Hope these tips and trick help. Happy designing.

 - Erin

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Spotted!!!


I have stacks of design magazines ready to be read... in my room, in my office, in my car even!  It is always really exciting spotting a product in a magazine that I have recently placed in a client's home.

In the latest edition of Luxe Houston Magazine, I spotted a few familiar items in their tribute to Downton Abbey schematic....



Luxe Houston Magazine



Anything look familiar?!?  The pillows are from Elizabeth Lucas Designs and were placed on my client's study furniture about a year ago!

The room is slowly morphing into a Texas country themed room and these pillows were perfect!
 



Friday, February 8, 2013

Giant Stink Bugs!

I have always dreamed about having a wonderful garden!  When I was a kid, my parents had a fabulous garden at one of our houses that blossomed every summer with amazing flowers, tons of fruits and veggies.  Our blackberry bushes quickly grew into a forest and the giant blackberries were always so scrumptious freshly picked from under the sun.

So, attempting to recreate such a place on my small apartment patio, I have created a small potted garden.

Truthfully, I don't take as good of care of it as I should.  Green thumb fail #1.

And Green thumb fail #2....
I can't stand bugs!!
So, while cleaning out some of my dead plants and branches - I came across this giant stink bug! GIANT stink bug!  Of course, I verbally accosted him and interrogated him as to why he thought it such a good idea to sneak up on me. 

After a couple of neighbors walked by, I decided I needed to calm down. I got back to work... and behold!

There were three more GIANT stink bugs in the plant!

They are kind of hard to see - but there are two more in this picture!  They were about 3-inches long and 2-inches across. They walked  so slowly and they all stared at me the entire time I worked.  I must have scared them though - because I haven't seen them since....

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Clocks, Clocks, Really Big Clocks



I have a thing for clocks. I don’t know why I just think they are really cool. There are so many different styles and sizes and shapes. I mean the possibilities are endless.

pixbnb.com

So imagine how excited I was to find these pictures on Pinterest. It’s a giant clock in a room! HOW AWESOME!

fullbloom.com
Now you don't have to get a clock that extreme, but finding one with a little character is all you need to add some interest to any space.

 - Erin

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Rally Round-Up of Michigan Visit

When you haven't visited your home state in a couple of years, there are lots of places to go and so many people to see! Here's a quick roundup....

Last minute, I organized a lunch with a bunch of old Wayne State Swimming and Diving teammates and coaches.  I didn't tell anyone who was coming and it was fun to watch all of the surprised reactions as people trickled in. After lunch, we walked over to the Matthaei building - center of athletics at Wayne state.  Names of graduate athletes are posted on boards in the hallways of the athletic center.

Old teammate/roomie Lindsey and I wondering around the athletic building.  I couldn't believe it when I realized that Lindsey and I met 8 years ago! I was a super shy freshman and she helped me break that bubble!
One of my favorite memories of diving with Lindsey is when she would attempt a dive, stop halfway down the diving board and scream 'look - a naked man!' Being incredibly gullible - of course I looked!  

Lindsey and Mandy taking the perfect pics of their names.

Old teammates, Mandy and Lindsey and I

One evening, Evan and I attempted to go ice skating at Campus Martius in Detroit; it is one of my all-time favorite things to do.  The ice rink is right in the middle of downtown Detroit and all of the sky scrapers look amazing lit up for the holiday season.  We got the rink around 7pm.... and it was too damn cold to skate!  Our blood has certainly heated up since living in Texas; we are such babies now when it comes to cold weather! Had to get our photo in front of the big tree though!


The Breesome :)  There aren't words to describe this......