High Gloss Magazine

High Gloss Magazine

This year as part of my budget I have cut out a few of my many magazine subscriptions in order to save money. Fortunately free online style magazines are popping up all over the place. The newest one, High Gloss, is a must read. Founded by blogger Paloma Contreras of the blog La Dolce Vita, High Gloss is a monthly collection of fashion, interiors, travel and all things stylish. The highlight of this issue was the amazing dining room by David Jimenez inspired by the days of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack. My favorite part is how he divided the area into two sections with the use of a folding screen to create a cocktail and dining area, and come on how fabulous is that rug?

Home Envy- Anthropologie Sao Palo Bookends





Anthropologie Sao Palo Bookends

Pink has become the new it color for style this year. First it was honeysuckle when it became the Pantone color of the year and sprang up all over the spring runways. Now it has moved into the decor world in light and dusty shades seen in everything from paint to bookends. While an entire room painted even the faintest of pink is a little to girly for my taste I love the pop of pale pink that these bookends give. They would look great on black or white furniture so they are versatile in almost any room and they allow you to follow the trend without going overboard. That being said at $98 they are a little on the pricey side for bookends. Needless to say I will be searching Home Goods for a cheaper version.

Fireplace Upgrade-From Drab to Fab Part II

After making over the inside of my fireplace and killing yet another plant that sat in front of it, it was time to give the outside a makeover as well. In keeping with the collected eclectic feel that I have been trying to incorporate into my apartment I began searching for different items to group together. The first piece I came upon was the large orange Buddha head. I spotted it at the Home Goods in St. Peters and had to have it. I loved that it was a unique conversation piece with a great outside the box color that wouldn't clash with my red curtains. I also found the lime green urn there as well that played off perfectly with the orange of the Buddha. I found the large purple vase at the Home Goods in Ballwin and I found the last piece in my house. I took the vase from the table centerpiece that I had put together with glass bottles from Hobby Lobby. The combination of colors not only went with the room but they play off each other to perfectly frame the fireplace making it a centerpiece of the room. So next time you are trying to decorate a room or just a small area of a room don't worry about finding everything right way. Take your time and find pieces from different places and throughout your own home to combine to form the perfect look that is tailored to your personality.

Fireplace Upgrade-From Drab to Fab

 Before

 Candles at Crate and Barrel

After

This year my home makeover project for the fall/winter was fixing up my dull drab fireplace. I have lived in my current apartment for almost a year and not once have I used the fireplace. It just seemed like too much work to go get the logs. Then I wondered how easy they would be to light, would it smell up the house, etc. etc.. So I just left it as an ugly drab hole in the wall. With winter rolling around I decided something had to be done about it.

The fireplace is on the small side so my first idea to put one of those fireplace candelabras in there failed. My second idea was to make a "fire" out of pillar candles. I started by cleaning out all of the soot and cobwebs. Then I added some black river rock that I got from my mom's house, but you should be able to find some at Michael's or maybe even Lowe's. Next up was a trip to Crate and Barrel where pillar candles were surprisingly cheap. I grabbed four white votive pillars to make up the first row, two small wide, one medium wide, and two medium narrow pillars for the second row. For the third row I ran over to World Market for four large narrow pillars. For these I was able to use one of their $10 off $30 coupons that come in the mail, so I basically ended up with a free one. If you don't get the coupons in the mail you can sign up for their rewards program and they will send you one via e-mail.

I arranged them in the fireplace with the river rock around it, lit the candles and viola! My drab ugly hole in the wall became a fab cozy nook for cold winter nights.

Modern Humor for Your Dining Room

Raise Your Glass Lower Your Standards by Thom Filicia

I spotted this piece by interior designer Thom Filicia on Gilt this morning, and while I love the piece $439 on Gilt is still waay more then I can afford. But looking at it gave me a great idea to get the look plus take it up a notch for someone on a budget, as long as you have empty wall space in your dining area which I do not. If you are one of those people that have the space and are looking for a fun modern way to decorate the walls this could be the idea for you. I think it would look best in a dining area, since that is where most people do their entertaining, but any area will do.

Start by painting the wall you would like for your feature wall a dark black to get the exact look of the piece, leave the other walls white for a minimalistic look.  Of course you can choose any color combo you'd like if you want to change it up a bit.

For the next step, practice perfecting your handwriting or enlist a friend to do it for you. Since it is a little more difficult to write with a paint brush then it is a pen try the cross between cursive and print that the piece has to keep the look interesting and legible. Also, be sure to incorporate the tall l and t to complete the look.

Once you have it mastered on paper it's time to put it on the wall with white paint. You want the phrase to take up a good majority of the wall so depending on your wall size you will either want to start just below or a foot or so down from the ceiling and end just above the floor. Measure out how far across the wall the want each line to go and mark it with painters tape being sure to keep the left aligned diagonal going. Start each word or phrase from the painters tape and don't worry about writing in a straight line. As long as you are not writing with a huge down or up slope it will add character to the look. And if you mess up you can just paint over it and start again.

To get the black and white look of the text from the piece make sure each word is completely white with no black showing through. You can fill in sparse space with a smaller brush. Then dip a medium sized brush into the black paint and brush it onto a scrap piece of paper to get off the excess paint until you get a dull swipe of color. Lightly run the brush diagonally down the phrase to leave a light accent of black brushstrokes. And viola! now you have a great modern looking wall of art that will provide a great conversation piece and a little bit of laughter for your guests at a great price.

Switcheroo

Spa Day 3

I am constantly changing around the art in my house. I find that it is one of the easiest ways to update a room, and just like the clothes in your closet every once in a while you just need to change things up a bit. I am currently obsessing over the framed print above from Z Gallerie to switch with the current framed black and white photo of Marilyn Monroe that hangs in my bathroom. Nudes are showing up everywhere in decor and I like how this one is a nude without showing too much. The layered tones in the background and rough outline give this print a high art feel for the price of a print. Since sadly we lost our only Z Gallerie you can order the piece here.

Home Envy-Nanette Lepore

Photos By William Waldron for Elle Decor

This morning I was hit with some severe home envy when I came across these photos from Elle Decor that were featured on the blog Habitually Chic . The photos are from the home of fabulous designer Nanette Lepore. I am absolutely dyyying over the bright fun colors, mix of modern vintage and art deco furniture and fun eclectic mix of accessories. And as for the pirate ship chandelier I love it so much I have no words. Check out more of my dream home here.

Two for One Space Saver

When I moved into my first apartment back in St. Louis and started getting furniture the first thing I realized was that I was super short on storage space. Especially kitchen storage space. This sent me on a search for pieces that served as storage but didn't look like storage. First, I thought about getting a bar cabinet and using that as an extra seating area, but they turned out to be too big and too expensive. Then I found this end table from Value City Furniture. From the outside it looks like a drum shaped end table, but when you open it, it becomes a small liquor cabinet for less then a quarter of the price of a regular bar cabinet and it doesn't take up near as much room.

The fact that it is in the living room also gives guests easy access to help themselves to whatever they want during a cocktail party. Which is always a plus when you are running around the kitchen like a frantic mess :).

Hiding a Phone Jack-From Drab to Fab

Since moving into my new apartment in January I have been trying to find something to cover this terrible phone jack on the wall in my kitchen. It is a huge eyesore to begin with, then when you couple it with the fact that it faces the front door, making it one of the first things you see when you walk into the house, it is atrocious. The first thing I thought of was obviously a picture, but since a flat picture would stick out due to the phone jack that wouldn't work. I also couldn't use a canvas picture because I already had one on the other side of the wall near the corner so that would have been to much. Then one day after opening my liquor cabinet and having a bottle of wine fall out, since I had tried to cram waaay to many bottles into such a small space. I had a great idea.

Back in December a friend and I took a trip up to Chicago. Since she had never been to the magical world of Ikea we made a stop. While there I found these awesome modern looking wine racks that could me mounted to the wall or under a cabinet. I wanted to get them then but since I didn't know what my new apartment was going to look like yet, and I have absolutely no room for extra stuff, I talked myself out of them. And now that I had come upon the perfect use for them I was absolutely kicking myself. Since a drive up to Chicago just to purchase two $12 wine racks was out of the question, I waited patiently for my trip to San Diego to purchase them, and hoped that once I got them they would look as good as I had imagined in the space.

Needless to say I am quite happy with the look. They fit perfectly over the phone jack and bring a modern touch to my extremely out of date traditional apartment kitchen. The best part is it also provides a storage space. As I am sure most of you know space comes at a premium when you live in an apartment, and with as much stuff as I have it's at a super premium, so i am constantly looking for new ways to save space and have things both look great and serve a purpose. So for $24 I got storage, decor, a space saver and a disguise all in one. Now with my wish of something to cover my drab ugly phone jack granted, my next wish is please oh please can we get an Ikea in St. Louis! A girl can dream :).

Deal of the Day

Today's deal of the day is on one of my favorite things: fresh flowers. I am a huge fan of fresh flowers because they instantly brighten up a room and your mood. Plus, they are only supposed to last a week so I don't feel like it's my fault when they die like I do with the two plants in my living room that I constantly have to replace because somehow they always die on me.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when girls see flowers at my place and say "Oh those are so pretty, I never get flowers." Guess what ladies neither do I, I go out and get them myself, so do yourself a favor and don't wait for your man to get the hint that you would like flowers on random occasions go out and spend $4 to get your own, trust me your mood will thank you for it, and your guy may just pick up on the hint now that it is right in front of him :).

$4 is exactly what these gladiolas cost at Trader Joe's. I picked these up at the Creve Coeur location, but last month I also bought a bunch at the Schnucks by West County Mall for the same price. Gladiolas are great because they are usually cheap and due to their size they really make a statement. Another favorite statement making arrangement of mine is hydrangeas with peonies. Whole Foods usually has some really pretty peonies this time of year and a bouquet will only cost you about $12 which is pricier then $4 but much cheaper then a bouquet from a florist. You can find nice hydrangeas for between $4-$6 at both Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. I arrange them in alternating fashion in a regular sized glass pitcher (the one pictured is from Bobby Flay's line at Kohl's) and it makes the bouquet look like you spent a ton on it when really you paid under $20, and the peonies smell amazing but not so strong that they smell up the entire house.

So this weekend do something for yourself and pick up some fresh flowers, I promise you it will make Monday just a little bit better :).

As Seen on TV

Chuck Bass's bedroom on Gossip Girl

Photo:Luxuyliving.com

As I have previously admitted I am in love with the wardrobe on Gossip Girl but the obsession doesn't end there, I am also in love with the interiors on the show. One of the main items of my affection was the painting hanging above Chuck Bass's bed that was first seen in Season 2. I had been searching for a piece for my bedroom that was fun and funky with brown tones to match the bedding that wasn't your typical bedroom art with a landscape print or generic looking abstract. So needless to say when I saw the painting in Chuck's room I thought it was perfect and had to have it. I set out on a Internet search for what I hoped would be a reasonably priced print. After a great amount of searching I found out the painting was by Richard Phillips, a painter known for his sometimes over the top pop art pieces. I also found out that the painting was actually a cropped and let's say PG version of the R rated original titled Scout, making this piece Scout Crop. I also found out that the painting cost thousands of dollars. Definitely out of my price range, so sadly I gave up hope. Then one day I received an email from Intermix (a boutique in New York, LA and Chicago that also has an online shop) announcing that they would be selling art work from Works on Whatever featuring pieces from Gossip Girl. I immediately went to the website and found out that they were selling a print on canvas of both Scout Crop and the other Richard Phillips piece Spectrum that is shown in the stairwell of the Van Der Woodsen house (another piece I love) along with a couple of Jessica Craig Martin photos on canvas and a few other pieces seen on the show. The canvases sell for $250 with proceeds from the sale going to the non-profit organization The Art Production Fund. Since at $250 it was considered a big ticket item for me I slept on the idea. The next day I was still thinking about it so I made the purchase even though I could not see it in person and it was non-refundable. I can honestly say the only thing I didn't like about it was that the print doesn't bleed all the way off the side of the canvas so it leaves a quarter inch of white around the edge (which is fine for me since I have white walls but if you were putting it on a colored wall it might stick out more), that and it took five looong weeks to be delivered. Once I got up on the wall though it was perfect. It's definitely a fun, unexpected conversation piece and it fit right in with the rest of the art in the house. The brown and green tones blended in perfectly with the colors of the bedding and the pink sunglasses gave the room a pop of color. And with the originals costing thousands, $250 is actually a bargain especially since most cheaper art work of that size will run you around $100 anyway. So if you are looking for the perfect out of the ordinary piece for your place, I highly suggest Works on Whatever as a great place to start the search.

Amazing Art

We Don't Dance by Casey O'Connell

Removable up to 100 times and it only took me three to hang it by myself :)

Recently I had a housewarming cocktail party for a group of friends to celebrate my new place. While the party was fun and the food was great (if I do say so myself) the biggest hit was my Casey O'Connell print from LTL Prints.

I first learned about Casey O' Connell and LTL Prints through the blog The Rockstar Diaries. Which is a super cute blog that you should check out, but I digress. LTL Prints is a website that sells customized and cataloged graphics that are printed onto what I can best describe as, in very non-technical terms, a big fabric-like post it. Their website allows you to pick out a print from their catalog of art (aside from Casey O'Connell they also have a section of really cool panoramic city shots) or use your own photo or artwork and choose the size you want the print to be ranging from 12in to 7ft . The print is done on a fabric-like material that has special adhesive on the back that allows you to hang and remove the print from your wall up to 100 times without the use of nails or leaving a sticky residue on the wall. So it is literally like a super adhesive post it.

Now on to the artist. I can only describe her work as absofreakinlutely aaaaaaamaaaazing! If I could I would cover every square inch of wall space in my apartment with her work. All of her pieces are done based on her own life experiences which is why the pieces have a way of speaking to you. Everyone can relate to at least one or many of her pieces with the feeling that they have totally been there or have totally wanted to be there in the moment being portrayed. I could go on for pages about how great I think she is but you really have to see it for yourself. You can see all of her work on her website. And while my print is no longer available you can purchase other prints here and here.