Category Archives: Design

Design / etc.

Land of Nod Craft Event in Southern California

August 4, 2014

If you missed it friends, I’m hosting a DIY Craft Event for you are your kiddos at the South Coast Plaza Land of Nod Store this Friday (August 8th).  Come get your craft on from 10:30 – 12:30.  We’ll be making these artsy yarn masterpieces together.  Plus, you’ll get 10% off you in-store purchases for attending.  Space is limited, so RSVP to nodevents@landofnod.com
If you can’t make it, I have the full tutorial for making these right here.  These mini versions are hung on wooden dowel and just for fun, I painted the ends in coordinating colors.  

Design / etc.

Midcentury Dining Room Table and New Chairs

July 30, 2014

So, about 2 months ago.  I decided to sell my dining room table and chairs.  This was our first real dining room table and chairs that we bought 11 years ago.  We bought it out of necessity and it was the right price. It has totally served us well, but I was ready for something new or old (as it turns out).  You know, sometimes your taste just changes.  
Well, I found a Swedish made midcentury dining room table and chairs at a local antique mall and decided I needed to sell mine in order to buy the new one. And, it sold right away, to a friend.  So, I went back to take a better look at the table and decided that the chairs were a little wobbly and and I didn’t want to deal with tightening chairs for years.  So, we were without a table.  But then when I was in San Diego a couple weeks later and did a little craigslist hunting and found this gorgeous Danish Mid Century table for just $350 (and actually he took $300 for it).  It really is too good to be true.  It’s in mint condition, no water marks or scratches and I LOVE it.  And it’s teak!

White Metal Chair // Walnut Stackable Chair
So, now to find chairs to go with it.  I’ve always love these bent wood chairs from West Elm.  I love that they stack and I’m just drawn to the modern, sleek shape.  I bought one and brought it home to see if I liked the two together.  And I think I do.  The colors are not exactly the same, but I’m ok with that.  So, I think the plan is that I’ll buy a total of 4 of the West Elm chairs and 2 of the metal ones.  What do you think of the metal ones on either end of the table?  I like them for the nice color contrast and the casual feel they bring to the room.  My built-ins are pretty formal and we aren’t really all that formal.  I want the space to be clean and pretty, but also relaxed.  

With the leaves out.
It’s nice and compact with the leaves in.
The leaves slide in under the table top.  No need to store them in the back of a closet.
A better look at the table and chair colors together.
Please excuse the yucky iphone picks I took late in the evening.  My built-ins are actually white, not a nasty yellow like they appear in this picture. 
Really, I want your opinion.  Do these chairs work with the table?  And do the white metal ones on either end make sense?  In my head they do, but I’m weird (I like manikin hands).
Here’s another look at the old table.  My new one is going to be pretty great, when I get some chairs.

Design / etc.

Moroccan Style Rugs

July 29, 2014

Having a house with all hardwood floors, great area rugs are a must.  I love the ease of cleaning hardwood floors, but especially with kids, you need a few soft places to land.  Rugs also give you a great opportunity to add a little pattern and color to a space.  Good area rugs can be an investment, so I like to keep the colors neutral and play more with the pattern.  I fabulous rug can really make a room. Moroccan rugs are everywhere.  Every good blogger owns one.  I thought I do a little hunting for some great, reasonably priced options.  And I hit the jack pot on Wayfair.  I’d happily put any and all of these in my home.  
1 // 2 // 3
4
5 // 6 // 7

A great Sisal rug is always a great option as well, but I think number 4 is calling my name.  It could be pretty fabulous in my bedroom. Do you have a favorite from these?

Do you need a great rug for a room in your home?  I’ve got a special deal for O+P readers.  Wayfair is offering my readers 15% area rugs !!!!! Just enter the code RUGLUV20 at checkout. The code is only good from 7/31 to 8/4.  Wayfair hardly ever does promo codes, so this is a pretty great deal.  Happy rug shopping.

This post is brought to you by Wayfair.

Design / DIY / etc.

Coral and Kelly Green Home Office – Furniture Fixes

July 9, 2014

Ok, here’s more of the Coral and Kelly Green Home Office.  These two pieces of furniture are what anchored my color scheme.  Both were well loved pieces that needed some TLC.  And yes, I spray painted both the chair and the desk to get this great look.  Although both of the desk and the chair were wood, I used my How to Paint Laminate Furniture technique to refinish both of these.  

Let’s start with the desk.  I found this beauty on Craigslist, but about a 2 hour drive away.  That didn’t stop me, Olivia and I hoped in the car and make the trek.  Some of you might be wondering we I would paint such beautiful wood desk.  Well, it was a struggle for me to make the decision.  I even considered just painting part of it and leaving the rest it’s natural wood.  But, the truth is, it was in pretty rough condition and I would have had to refinish it, so I decided to take the risk and paint it coral.  I’m so glad I did.  I love this desk.  It is sooo heavy and well made and has an amazing shape.  It is perfect for the space.

Before
After

This is me trying to decide if the drawers could just be painted.  I decided that there wasn’t enough color contrast between the coral and the wood color for it to work.
I kept all the original hardware.  I love the little brass trim piece around the bottom of the dresser.

And I found the perfect chair at Homegoods for this little desk.  

The side chair I found in an antique mall.  I paid only $20 for this sturdy little school chair.  My client is a teacher and so I felt that this chair would be so appropriate.  It had a great shape, but is was rough.  I think everyone that had ever sat in it had carved their name into it.  But, with some good sanding, primer and a few coats of paint, this is one of my favorite things in the whole office.

After
Before
See what I mean about the shape?  It’s such a good looking chair. 

I really enjoy giving furniture a whole new look.  And with spray paint, you can have results in just a day.  You’ve probably seen this color scheme appear on my blog a lot lately.  I can’t get enough of it.  

Design / etc.

Coral and Kelly Green Home Office – Expedit Bookcase Makeover and the BEFORE pics.

July 4, 2014

I’m sure you’d like to see the before pictures of The Coral and Kelly Green Home Office.  I made sure to take the befores on my iphone so that there would be an even more dramatic transformation in the after pics.

image credit – NY Fotography
image credit – NY Fotography

But, before the befores, I want to share with you an easy update I made to my client’s existing IKEA Expedit bookcase.  I’m sure you’ve owned this shelf at sometime or know someone who has, I had one in dark brown.  It’s a great piece that offers a tone of great storage and display space.  This is the one of the pieces in the room that I decided to keep.  It has such great function and really it’s design is simple and clean.  I don’t love the Expedit on the ground as is though.  So, I decided it needed some sort of legs to give it a little breathing room underneath and make it look more like a real piece of furniture.  I thought about heavy duty casters, which still would be cool, but decided it’s boxy shape needed a little feminine touch.  Curvy legs to the rescue.

I purchased all the supplies for this project at The Home Depot.  It cost me only about $25 to add style to this very plain bookcase.  I bought four leg brackets and 4 wooden furniture legs (see image below).  There are a few options of leg styles, but I really liked these curvy angular ones.  

To pull in the kelly green of the side chair and to draw your eye down to the legs, I decided to spray paint the legs the same color.  I started by painting the legs kelly green.  I used Rust-oleum Painter’s Choice in Gloss, Meadow Green.

Then, using the screws provided in the packaging, attach the leg plate to the four corners of the bookcase.  And then, this is the easiest part of all, screw on the legs to the plates – no really, it’s that easy!  I’m sure you can think of a couple pieces of furniture that could use a set of these legs.  I just helped my sister in law add some cute taped gold legs to a little thrifted shelf for my nieces bedroom, it made a huge difference.

And now the befores!!!

The original wall color was a yellowish beige (that’s my best description).  We painted the walls a nice crisp white.  I know white it pretty hot right now, but I think folks are still afraid that white might feel like a hospital or school.  But, as you can see, a space can still be warm and inviting with all white walls.  It gives you a clean blank space to let colorful accessories play.  I still love my all white living room, and it’s doesn’t feel cold or sterile at all. 
As you can see, we repositioned the Expedit shelf on the wall beside the door (opposite the window).  I  had a lot of fun filling the shelves with my client’s favorite pieces (especially her mom’s amazing book collection) and some fun pieces I bought, made and thrifted.
To check out the whole room and all the detailed pictures of the finished space, click here.

Design

Global Backpacker Big Boy Bedroom

May 16, 2014

Sheesh, it’s been a week.  Man oh man, didn’t see this coming.  So, I had a crazy weekend.  Sunday during the sermon, on the stage, I crafted a little wreath out of trash in about 20 mins.  It was stressful, but fun to push myself.  Then Monday, I worked like a mad women to get the Coral and Kelly Green Home Office all put together. I can’t wait to share the finished room with you. Then Tuesday I crafted, and sewed, and shopped for all the last minute things I needed for my nephew’s big boy bedroom.  Then, after dinner, Olivia and I hoped in the car and headed South to Carlsbad.

Wednesday morning, my sister in law, Jacqueline and I got up early with the kids, made a plan for putting the bedroom together and then headed out to Target to pick up a rug.  As we were shopping fires broke out in their neighborhood.  We could see the smoke from the parking lot.  We didn’t go home and soon got notice that there was mandatory evacuations for their neighborhood.  It was a long stressful day of worrying and waiting.  Luckily, Jacqueline’s Grandma lives near by, so we camped out in her condo.  This morning we got the clear to come home and we’ve been busy ALL day.

I feel so privileged to get to design my nephew, Logan’s room.  Almost 4 years ago, I helped make a couple things for his nursery.  I can’t wait to show you how this space came together.  It’s really a room that embodies my brother Josh. It’s all his favorite things. So here’s the inspiration board for his Global Backpacker themed room.  We are waiting on a couple more pieces to come, but I’ll share the finished room very, very soon.

There’s a couple things I’m particularly excited about:

1. The huge black world map decal from Wallums.
2. The awesome Minted art. (Bear and Mountains)
3. And the many, many amazing Nod products, like the red library cart, the adventure art, the plaid storage cubes, the first aid box, the chevron pouf, and the bear pillow.

I will have all the sources listed in detail for you, but for now, you can find most of these products on this pinterest board.

Design / DIY

Wooden Bead Heart

February 4, 2014

Yes, I really do think all things pink and red this time of year are pretty. But, I’m trying to go for a more muted, understated statement with my Valentine’s Day decor this year. There’s lots of hearts, but I’m sticking with a mostly neutral palette. Like my cross stitched wall heart, I’d like to think that this little wooden bead heart, isn’t just for Valentine’s Day. I think it really is great all year long.
I used simply round wood beads in two sizes and one random geometric bead (left over from these necklaces and these curtain pulls).  I took a piece of 20 gauge floral wire and bent it in half, to make the bottom point of the heart.  Then I curved the ends to make the rounded tops to the heart.  Alternating the sizes of the beads and threaded them on. I left less then a inch extra wire at either end and using pliers, bent the wire around the back to hold the beads in place. (as shown below)
I tied a piece of baker’s twine (I have lots) to the heart and hung it over my botanical print.  It’s simple and clean, exactly what I’m loving right now.  

I hope you’ve been entering all the 14 Days of LOVE giveaways.  Each giveaway runs for just 3 days, so you have to act fast. If you haven’t already, be sure to “like” the facebook page, so you don’t miss any of them. And you can see the full list of the giveaways here.

Design / DIY

The Geometric Heart

January 17, 2014

I can’t quit it.  I just love this simple shape so much.  I was working on a project for a friend today, and before I knew it, I was painted my heart made of triangles.  I played with watercolors and added a little gold foil here and there.  It’s not quite what I imagined in my head, but I still had fun with it.

For those of you that are new readers of Oleander and Palm, I thought I’d dig into the archives and share some of my angular Valentine’s ideas from last year.

The Printables

Design / Style

Emerald Green Inspiration

January 14, 2014

What kind of a red head would I be if this wasn’t my favorite color?  Every shade of green is perfect and my closet and home it filled with this color of life.
Green Light
In less then a week, I will be headed to Salt Lake City for Alt Summit 2014!  I am so privileged to get to attend this year.  I really did not think that it was a possibility.  But, I am going as a Correspondent for Collectively.  I am honored to be representing them.  Collectively is a creative marketing agency that helps social media influencers engage in creative collaborations with great brands. This Fall I started working on collaborations through Collectively.  They have given me some really great opportunities to stretch myself creatively and earn income through my blog.  The great thing about Collectively is that they work with influencers of any size–from brand new bloggers to seasoned professionals.  If you are blogger, you’ll want to sign up to be apart of the Collectively community, I recommend it.  

Shoes // Skirt
Alt is famous for fabulous themed parties that only bloggers could pull off.  This year, the Thursday night party is all green!  Yay, my color!  The only trouble is, I’m struggling to find a dress in this color.  I’ve searched the Mall and spent lots of hours online.  The more I look for this color, the more I WANT it in my life.  I want emerald shoes, accessories and decor for my home.   I’ve found a few images to wet your appetite for this hue as well.  But, to be honest, I’m trying to stay true to my blog’s motto, Simple California Living, and my theme for the year, Simplify, so I’m looking for creative ways to wear this color without spending a lot of money.  We’ll see what I come up with, wish me luck, I’m running out of time.  
Table and Chairs
I can’t wait to meet up with some old friends and make new ones as well.  I am ready to learn and soak up as much knowledge and wisdom from the veterans of blogging as possible.  I’m making a very conscience effort to work on some blogger collaborations this year.  I know that there is power in numbers and I want to push myself creatively and experientially.  Inspired by the color green, the color of new life and growth, I’m hoping for both growth and new life for Oleander and Palm in 2014.  

Chair