mint + emerald

I'm getting the urge to paint again, but I can't decide it it's worth the pain of repainting when we move out. I'm already sort of dreading covering up my impulse to paint our entry, but after three years our beige walls are slowly killing me. I've had six mint paint swatches tacked to my inspiration board for months that I've been trying to figure out how to use. All I know is I'm digging mint and emerald together, and I think it would look excelente in our dining room.

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 Or maybe I don't have to go cray and paint the walls, but instead find myself some minty accessories to add to our emerald?

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Or I could bake a cake?

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Or paint my nails?

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instagram updates

I haven't done my instagram updates in a while, mostly because I've been a loser at taking pictures. But here ya go...

 Toby's favorite spot to curl up - behind his dad on the couch.

 Our favorite friend visiting from Boston.

 Friends reunited at a recent wedding!

 and their hubsies

 lovin' my wedding sunglasses collection

Paper lanterns and Christmas lights are the best kind of wedding decor.

Tiny anchor hiding at the bottom of a beer glass. DG represent!

love day gift ideas

I am already getting excited for Valentine's day around here. Here are some of my favorite gift ideas for the gals.

1//2//3//4//5//6//7//8//9//10

music room

Just when I finally have almost all of our rooms the way I want, Charlie and I are thinking about moving out of our apartment and into something a little larger. Right now our guest room is also serving the purpose of an office/workout/music room. I'm hoping that we'll be able to find somewhere that has enough space for both a music room/office and a separate guest bedroom. 

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love this bright library and music room combination

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there will definitely be a guitar collection display

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a perfect combination of masculine and feminine

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I love the idea of a fun wallpaper, and you can't go wrong with a bright, sunny window

juju hat diy

I know I'm a little late on sharing and starting my New Year's resolutions, but it's better late than never, right? Along with changing careers and gardening, I plan to take more time for DIY projects. In December I officially quit my job, and this week is my last week teaching. I'm sad to leave because I will miss my co-workers and students dearly, but I know this is the right decision for me. Now I will have much more time, and I intend to take advantage of it!

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I know that juju hats are old news in the interior design world, but after a couple of years I think they're finally starting to grow on me. 

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I have been so incredibly stumped for the past three years trying to figure out what to put above the very blank space above our T.V. in the living room, and then one day it hit me - juju hat!

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Now that I'm officially jobless, I figured it wouldn't be very wise to spend $500+ on one of these babies, but every DIY I found used a material other than feathers and didn't look authentic. I had given up looking when I recently ran across this tutorial on Pinterest. It seems easy enough, and could actually pass for the real thing.

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It has been added to my craft to-do list, and I'll post pictures if it turns out!

container gardening

One of my New Year's resolutions is to learn how to grow some of my own food. This summer we bought a lime tree and fully expected to kill it, but we not only kept it alive, we got a ton of fruit! This gave me the confidence to start my own little mini garden on our balcony and in our kitchen. I plan to put Charlie to work to make these mason jar herb containers asap. We don't have much extra space inside, so I feel like this is a good solution that won't take up space, and it will keep them high enough that our curious pup can't mess with them.

via Not Just a Housewife

I plan to add a lemon tree,

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and if I can find one, an orange tree to our balcony.

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I'm also going to try my hand at vegetables and grow zucchini, peppers, and garlic in a container garden. These are on my grocery list every time I visit the store, so I thought it would make the most sense to start with these.

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Wish me luck!

charcoal + brass

I love the combination of charcoal and brass. 

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I need to find somewhere to use this in our home asap.

changes

All of my New Year's resolutions can be summed up in this quote...

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I mentioned briefly in this post and this post that things were changing, and I've decided to make 2013 my year to begin doing what I want with my life. The first thing I did to work towards this goal is register to take classes towards a certification in interior design, and sign up for local classes to help me learn Photoshop and InDesign. I actually start one of these on Monday! I'm sure I'll be posting a lot about my journey, and hopefully I'll also figure out what I want to do along the way. I'm excited but also quite a bit nervous. I'm not one to step outside of my comfort zone, and by leaving my current career path to pursue a completely different career I've definitely stepped way outside of my zone. Thankfully Charlie has been my number one supporter through all of this, and without him pushing for me to make the change, I'm not sure that any of this would be happening.

dining room update

Here is a look at our current dining room situation. It is constantly changing, but I feel like I'm finally almost finished. Even though let's be honest, I'll probably be changing something else in a few months.

I had originally planned on buying these stools from World Market, but after creating the design board below, I ended up purchasing these iron swivel stools which I felt fit in with our current decor a little better.

I'm in some serious need of storage space for our "special" dishes and serving pieces, so I'm planning to replace our current console with this sideboard. I really love its sort of distressed/mismatched look.

I've also been thinking about adding a rug to define the space. Our living room and dining room are just one long room, so I think it might help to separate the two.

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Thoughts?