Seriously, it is.

Do you happen to remember back last summer when I did a post on Edie's beautiful digs? {actually, it was my second post, but I don't want to appear stalkerish} 

  

She had just finished her master bedroom and I thought it was so beautifully done and I couldn't wait to feature it on my blog. {Apparently Better Homes and Gardens felt the same way since her house was just featured all over their glossy pages.}

 

 

 

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, and I got to meet my 'internet friend'. And not just meet, but spend the weekend with Miss Edie {aka Queen of Bean} and several other wonderful bloggers.  

 

{Sheila, Nester, {dar}, Angela, Moi, Edie }

I made a special spoonflower vase for each of these gals. Since I get the privilege of peaking into all of their homes via blogland, I got just the color inspiration I needed to represent each gal.   

 

 

Now, fast forward to today, and Edie's bedroom has changed just a smidge. 

 

Spot the changes?????!!!

let's take a closer look...

 

How cool is this???!! She placed the little spoon flower vase on her bedside table, next to her divine bed. I love it there! 

 

 

Can there be a more special place for a gift to show up other than bedside??? I think not. A bedside table and its contents are the place that starts and finishes your day off. It's such a great place to include personal, meaningful lovelies.   

 

I love using cut flowers or plants {if you're blessed with good sunlight} on a bedside table. Aren't Edie's succulents so pretty? 

 

 

And speaking of lovely bedside styling with plants or flowers, here are a few others that I love.

 

 

 via

via

via

 

 

{shannon berrey design}

 

So tell me, do you keep something special on your bedside table?

 

{images 1-7 via Life in Grace}

 

 

With the idea of open concept still a very hot trend in our homes, it is important to have the open spaces relate to each other to create a connectivity. Normally, standing in one room allows you to see into all, or part of, another room or rooms. One of the ways to unite all of the spaces is through color. Obviously, you could paint all your walls in an open concept home the same color and call it 'connected', but let's look instead at the technique of subtly weaving color throughout. 

Bonesteel Trout Hall is a California design firm that consistently excels in their restrained interiors and the relationship of colors throughout the space. They are so good that sometimes you have to walk through the spaces several times to figure out why the house is so wonderfully appealing.

   

 

In this living room, the pillows and the striped rug have accents of blue. There is also a beautiful smoky chocolate that is used on the leather of the sofa and velvet sofa pillows.   

 

 

When you move into the adjoining kitchen, the cabinets are stained in almost the exact shade of the living rooms chocolaty brown accents and the blue gray is repeated on this oversized custom island. The heavy doses of white used on the walls, trim, wainscotting, and kitchen countertops is a unifying color that allows these deep rich colors to remain fresh and unmuddled.

 

 

Moving through to the dining room, the dark wood tones of the table, chairs and countertop are again repeated and the blue shows itself as gorgeous grasscloth wallpaper. And remember the stripe detail on the pillows in the living room?? Check out the detail on the curtains about 2/3 of the way down, peeking through the chairs. I know!!

 

 

 

I wonder where their beautiful color palette came from???

 

{all images via Bonesteel Trout Hall}

 

 

 

Have you seen this gorgeous living room that Lauren Liess just completed? I kind of feel like she's my designer doppleganger.

 

 

 

 The natural elements -- linen, seagrass, raw woods, and the gorgeous geeens are my happy place, but I also think there is another great technique Lauren utilizes and that's the feeling of 'breathing room'. The curtains are taken all the way up to the ceiling to not create any divisions in an already fairly busy comination of window styles. 

 

 

When you walk into this space, you face the fireplace. Instead of blocking that view with a sofa, she used a pair of open woven chairs that offer additional seating, but, allows an unobstructed view of the whole room. Sometimes, it isn't possible to apply this 'open concept' if your room functions differently {say, TV watching, the size of the room, or the location of a feature wall }. And sometimes, in design, we actually place a sofa, with a console behind it, to create a division in the space.      

 

 

But, in this instance, it is just the icing on the cake, the moss between my sidewalk, the creamer in my coffee..you get the picture...I love it!

To see more of Lauren's project visit her at Pure Style Home 

{all images by Helen Norman via Pure Style Home}

 

  

 

 

 

Disclaimer: You {I} can't make just one !!  

  

I told you last week that I found a photo of an Anthro looking flower vase made with a plastic spoon {!} Luckily, I have lots of plastic spoons and had to give this little idea a try.

 I first used a candle to melt my spoons.  It takes just a few seconds for the melting to begin, and once it does, I took it away from the flame and let it curl and cool for a second. Then I would flip it over and heat another section. Just like in nature, they are all different and there is no right way to form the petals. The candle does leave a soot residue, some which wipes off, but some is permanent. It's not a big deal, it covers up with paint.  

 

The little bits are the ends of the spoons and they become the stamens.  With hot glue, I stated forming the flower from the back , one petal at a time, working inward and finishing with the stamens. You have to hold the petal in place until the petal 'sets' because it wants to slide around when it is hot. I blew on the hot glue while holding it to quicken the cooling and setting.   

 

I also experimented with some transparent gray spoons and using my gas stove top. The stovetop eliminates the sooting and has a different more spread out heat which causes a different melting reaction. The gray spoons were more heavy duty and therefore took a bit longer to melt and they were more pliable. You could actually manipulate them a bit with your fingers when they cooled a second.   

 

 

I loved the way the gray ones looked, so I didn't paint them. But all of the other ones got several coats of spray paint, making sure to turn them over and cover all the little grooves and crevices.

 

 

All of these vases came from the Dollar Tree. They also got several coats of spray paint. 

 

 

 

And see the blue guy in the rear? That crazy daisy is actually a spork flower! The forks are really fun to watch melt because they curl and bend slowly.

 

 

 

 

 

And because every little photo shoot ends with my helper making sure everything smells just so, I thought you might enjoy seeing some 'behind the scenes' shots.

 

 

 

These would be great Mother's Day or Graduation Gifts! 

 

*** Update: I have had several concerned readers contact me that plastics release toxic chemicals when heated, including dioxin, benzo(a)pyrene, and polyaromatics hydrocarbons which are known cancer-causing agents. Please make sure that you wear a mask and do this craft outside. Thank-you to everyone who was concerned enough to look out for me and all of my other readers!