Two sides to everything

So far I've only posted pretty inspiration photos.Well those are glorious to look at, they were not necessarily always that pretty.At least that is what I am telling myself as I prepare to post "the ugly" for the first time on here.Keep in mind that my house was built in 1905 and never had anything more done to it then just having junk thrown in there and out of the way! Lucky for me, there is a cathedral ceiling and gigantic walk in dormers!In 2009,I began to notice water damage on our ceilings on the second floor.I immediately panicked and thought "Oh crap, now I need to replace this enormous roof and therefore put a ton of money I would've rather spent elsewhere into a darn roof"! Turns out, the roof job was only $350 so I decided to use the rest of the money to finish the attic into a master suite! Besides the drywall and flooring though, I had it insulated and all the windows replaced with high efficency models! So, without further ado...the UGLY!:

The entire attic looked like this:



These are the only "during" photos I have:





It is now finished structurally, and over the next couple of months I am going to decorate.

Alternative inspiration...continued!

Fashion and interior design can go hand and hand. Whether you are framing a beautiful scarf (as in my last post), or drawing colors and patterns from an amazing outfit and translating them into your room, the line between the two can get pretty blurry.One of my go-to inspiration pictures is a high fashion shot, but I use it more to realize my design tastes.



From the chic little clutch matching the background wall,to the zebra print in the mask, and even the amazing Ikea (!) light fixture, I would like translate these details into my interior. The over-all glossy/glam feel is exactly what I am trying to achieve in my own home. Even the flower print on the dress adds just the right amount of traditional femininity to offset the sleekness.I usual ran fast in the opposite direction of any floral print, but it works here!

Frame it or wear it? That is the question.

Inspiration comes in so many ways for me.As it easy as it would be to simply buy every item off a page in a catalogue, it will never feel like it belongs to you.I like to draw inspiration from colors, patterns, and images I see every day whether it's related to interior design or not.For instance, i was stuck at what colors to use in my den.While shopping for another addiction of mine (scarves...shhh),I was literally awe struck when I saw this one:


So I decided that,instead of wearing it, I would frame it a nice,crisp, glossy white frame and throw it on my wall! And I will pull alot of colors from it to implement into the room.

Poppin' my blog cherry!

Welcome to my blog and first ever post! I own a victorian home built in 1905 with gorgeous woodwork and detailing. Although I make every attempt to preserve the original details to my home,my interior design tastes are fairly modern. I adore the juxtaposition of older homes wth contemporary stylings.The first five years in my home were spent repainting the exterior and various other structural projects that had to be taken care of. Now comes the fun part! I am just beginning to really decorate my home to suit my tastes.I definitely belong in the cliche' group of "Champagne taste on a Beer Budget", but I also know that chic decor is certainly not limited to only the Daddy Warbucks out there! My first project I am going to document on this blog will be my master suite. My home had a walk up attic just begging to be finished and styled to become a chic hideaway for this tired mama at the end of the day! For now, I will share a few of the images I am using as inspiration!