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.

Website of the Week

Before

After

I was crushed when I tore a 4 inch hole in my favorite pair of William Rast jeans (note to self do not attempt to do cartwheels in fitted jeans with no stretch, it does not end well). I knew they were ruined but could not force myself to toss them. Thankfully I didn't, because a few week's later I stumbled on this week's website of the week: Denim Therapy.

Denim Therapy is an online site that specializes in denim repair. All you have to do is go to the website fill out the repair form and send in your jeans via trackable UPS. Denim Therapy will send you a repair estimate for you to approve. Once approved your jeans are repaired and sent back to you. The whole process takes less then three weeks.

Instead of just patching over the holes in your jeans, Denim Therapy actually reconstructs the original denim, making the tear almost invisible. The estimated repair cost is $7/inch for holes and tears, repair to back pockets is $10, zipper replacements are around $25, and shipping to and from with tracking will cost around $12 each way.

As you can see my results were great, you can hardly tell the tear was there. The only complaint I have is the backing used to reconstruct the denim is a bit rough at first but softens after a couple of washes.My jeans were about $10 to ship and $41 to repair and send back to me for a total of $51 as opposed to the $120 it would cost to buy a new pair. Now that's what i call a deal!

Black Tie Bedding

Tuxedo Bedding from Anthropologie

Last night I was watching the genius that is David Bromstad make over a couple's bedroom on HGTV. After I got over the heart palpitations I had over a 19th century French dresser that had been painted a pale turquoise, I noticed the bedding. The bedding was from the Tuxedo Bedding line from Anthropologie. I think the great thing about this bedding is that it has a feminine look with the ruffles, but the cream color, brown trim and the resemblance to a men's tuxedo shirt from the 70's give it a masculine look at the same time. On the show they used a few pillows with the standard shams along the back. Next they layered a couple of pillows with euro shams in with a few textured teal pillows. Then finished it off  with a couple cream and brown printed pillows, and it looked amazing. It's a great look that really adds a lot of style to the room. So if you'd like to make every night a black tie night at your house the bedding can be found at Anthropologie for $268 for a queen duvet, and $88 and $58 for the shams.

Splurge-Worthy Find

Tequila Sunrise necklace by Irene Jung

Whether you purchase it for yourself or ask Santa for it, this necklace is definitely wish list worthy. This vintage meets modern necklace is by jewelry designer Irene Jung who makes her own beautiful pieces out of her home in San Francisco. Each necklace is handcrafted, one of a kind and is adorned with a vintage broach. Each necklace in her current 26 piece collection is gorgeous but this piece with it's bright greenish yellow beads is the standout for me. It would be fabulous dressed up or down. At $218 it is definitely a splurge item but it's vintage feel and wear-ability makes it a must have that you will certainly get your moneys worth out of for years to come.

Look to Love-Polka Dot Tights

Photo by In Style.com

Aside from a couple small things I am in love with this outfit. What I don't like is the bag is a bit heavy looking for a cocktail look and the dress could stand to be a couple inches longer (not that SJP doesn't have the body for it, but there comes a time in life when you have to start lowering the hem just a tiny bit regardless of your shape). What I absolutely love is the polka dot tights. They give a fun romantic feel while contrasting nicely with the sexy edginess of the necklace and dress. Urban Outfitters has a couple of great polka dot styles that you can try for $14 a piece. You can find them here.

Eva Does it Again

Photo by In Style.com

Eva Mendes is on a red carpet fashion hot streak. Although she regularly looks great she has stepped it up even more as of late. This flowy pink Christian Dior is gorgeous and the low cut neckline and gold embellishments give it a fabulous hint of sexy glam. Loooove it!

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.

Shoe Love

Sam Edelman Sutton Boot

The chilly weather that we had a couple weekends ago finally gave me a reason to wear the over-the-knee boots that I bought at the end of the season last year, and I was absolutely in love with them. I loved them so much that now I have my eye on another pair, these Sam Edelman's. I love that they are a nice leather since my current ones are suede. Things to keep in mind if your on the fence about the over-the-knee style is to look for a pair in a brown, beige, or grey, this keeps the look a little more casual. There are also a ton of flat options that will tone down the look, but if your like me and can't quite bring yourself to wear flats, you can go for a shorter heel like this one that will give you a little bit of height without looking like Vivian from Pretty Woman. Over-the-knee boots go great with jeans, leggings, skirts and dresses, although again to avoid the Vivian look make sure the skirt or dress is not too short or fitted and stick to more of a casual look then a night on the town style. The boots above are available at Nordstrom for only $150!