I'm back, a cheap find and an update.

Hello!  

It seems like forever since I last posted.

Bora Bora was amazing and beautiful.  I got a massage, petted a puffer fish, grafted coral, lounged around, strolled the beach collecting seashells, took a bath (boy how I had missed soaking in tub), got a nasty lil sunburn, caught up on some Burn Notice {I know, kinda lame}, got stuck in a local political parade and actually finished a book.  

Here are Studs and I just getting to the resort.  Can you believe how beautiful it is?  They say French Polynesia is 50 shades of blue and judging by the this picture I can see why.  There was blue everywhere...above and below.

Here is where we stayed...yes, in a bungalow over the water.  It was crazy.  There were windows in the floor so that you could see down into the water.  We never saw any marine life, but it was still very cool.

Here I am lounging on the beach reading a book by the lagoon.  There was all sorts of marine life in the water...coral, anemone, sea cucumbers {so gross}, clown fish, puffer fish, farmer fish and these odd fish that were really long and skinny.  They kinda freaked me out because they reminded me of barracuda (even though they didn't really look like them).  There was also a porcupine/blowfish that hung out in one of the lagoons.  He was always in the exact same spot.  I became quite a accustomed to him greeting me everyday as I'd walk over the bridge to the main beach.

 

These are just a few of my finds whilst meandering down the beach one day.  I thought it was pretty cool to find a conch shell just laying on the beach.  Almost every seashell had a hermit crab living in it, so I thought myself lucky to have found one without a resident.

The vacay was absolutely amazing and I was very sad to leave.  We made some great friends and great memories, but I was anxious to get home and see my babies.

Twenty minutes after the plane landed in SLC, I was off to the orthodontist for my son's appointment.  A few hours later I was sitting at my daughter's violin recital.  And later that night I was cleaning up puke.  I've been cleaning up puke for the past week, but I think we are finally over it.  WELCOME HOME MOM!

Anywho, on to something DIY-ey.
I've had a lot of people contact me about my diy floor poufs.  The most commonly asked question I get is, "does Ikea still sell the rugs I used"...to which I have to respond, no.  I have not seen the $3 rugs I used at Ikea for awhile.  That doesn't mean they won't start carrying them again, but...
So, I made it my personal quest to find a proper replacement for anyone who still might wanna make some.  And what do you know, today while I was at Target I came across these awesome floor mats.  The first thought I had was how awesome they would look as floor poufs.

I love the bold, colorful striped pattern.  You could have so much fun accessorizing around them.

They are made from a sturdy, canvas-y type fabric, that would be perfect for a floor cushion.  And I figure since they are durable enough for feet to walk all over them, they should be durable enough for bums to sit all over them, right?  The fabric doesn't look like it will fray as bad as the Ikea rugs either {I would still definately recommend surging or using a short, zig zag stitch for all of the seams!}

The only complaint I have is that these rugs are $12 rather than $3, but  I figured they would still result in a significantly cheaper floor pouf than if you were to purchase one from West Elm for $200.  If my sewing machine quits acting like a pile of poo {or Studs lets me buy a new one} I am thinking of making a few for the outside deck.

In other news, we are back in business with the bathroom.  I feel a bit ashamed to share this, but because of all of the road blocks we've run into during the remodel we've decided to have a contractor friend come finish the job.  Studs was also recently promoted at work and has been swamped with work.  So, as sad as I am to hand my baby over to someone else, I think it's for the best.  The contractor said he could have it done in three weeks.  Yee haw!  I'll be sure to post pics as things progress.

Picturlicious!

All right, one more post before the vacay.

This one has absolutely nothing to do with home improvement or home design, but it is about DIY!!!

This little nugget of info changed my life...okay, not really, but it did give me the giddies.  I just now figured out how to manipulate my template to allow for ginormous pictures on my blog.  I'm sure many of you have been aware of this "blog changing" info for awhile, but there's no need to hate.  Some people {namely me} just move at a slower pace.

Anywho, for those of you have admired the big, luscious pictures on all of your favorite blogs and wondered "how do they do that" well, today is your lucky day because I'm going to fill you in.

To begin:

click on design tab in the upper right hand corner of your home page...on the navigation bar.

Then, click on the orange icon that says customize, you wil find it just below the "live on blog" image.

On the left hand side of the page, you will see a list.  Click on adjust widths.

You will notice now, that you can adjust the widths of both your entire blog, and your side bar.
 

The standard for my blog was 960 px for my entire blog width, and 310 px for my {right} sidebar.  I simply readjusted the total width to 1100 px and reduced the sidebar width to 300 px.  

This seemed to be the perfect size for allowing me to enlarge my photo uploads to extra large, without encroaching on my sidebar or distorting the picture.

You may want to play around with your widths a bit to find your ideal number, but once you do it will be totally worth it, because then you will have become a member of the "lusciously large picture" club.

Here's how big my photos were before

And here's how luciously large they are now.

Life changing right?  You're welcome!

Be good while I'm gone.  And I'll see ya when I get back.

A change of mind AND a cheap, easy, awesome accent wall idea.

I mentioned in my last post how much I love white walls and how I was all jazzed up about painting one in my house.  

Well, I still love white walls and I still will paint a white wall in my house...I have 2 gallons of white paint sitting on my counter to motivate me.  But for the project I just finished, I decided a slightly off white wall would work better.

The color on the wall is Realist Beige by Sherwin Williams.
{SW6078}

I know, I know.  Why would I want boring beige on my walls,  but trust me, this beige is cool and creamy and doesn't come off as drab at all.  It is a great accompaniment to the gray and white accents I already have in the space.

Anyway, enough about all that.

I have been wanting to do an accent wall in my front room for awhile, but I didn't want to just slap some paint on it and call it good.  I wanted to do something that was graphic and interesting and different.  After much thought and consideration I decided on this...

Umm, yes.  Those would be gold, dot stickers.  You probably think I'm crazy right about now, but just trust me.  I purchased this roll of 1000 dots for $10 on Amazon.com.

Here's what happened when I stuck {almost} all of them on the wall.

I actually really dig it.

I think it's interesting and eye-catching, without being obnoxious.  And it's gold.  Who doesn't love gold?  Not me, that's who.

When the light hits the dots, they make the wall sorta sparkle and come alive.

Gold is one of my favorite accent colors right now, so I am super thrilled about having a gold accent wall.  Did I mention how much I like gold?

I didn't really follow any plan or pattern except that I wanted to give the illusion of the dots floating away, so I started really condensed at the baseboard and then gradually spread the dots out as I moved up the wall.

Not bad for a roll of stickers, eh?  And I bet you didn't even remember the fact that my wall is {not} boring beige instead of white.

In other news, Studs and I leave for our vacay in a couple of days.  I will try to get another post in before I head out, but just in case I don't, I'll see you in a week.

Which white is right?

I've been trying to bang out a couple of little projects around the house before Studs and I head out on our vacay next week.  

This last weekend I painted the kitchen nook and a focal wall in the great room a deep charcoal grey color.

{don't mind "lil red" there takin' a snooze}

I love how it turned out.  Charcoal grey is such a sophisticated color.

I find it interesting how the space feels brighter with this darker color on the walls.  Not sure why that is...I imagine it might have something to do with the way the white shelves really pop against it now.  

Anyway, now I'm on to my next project.  This one involves painting a white wall {and a little extra sumthin-sumthin}.  If you haven't noticed, white is all the rage right now and I am totally drinking the Kool-Aid.  I think white rooms look so crisp and clean and open and bright and...
But it can get really overwhelming trying to hone in on just the right shade of white.  There are so many different "whites" out there to choose from.  So, I did a little homework and thought I'd share it with you just in case you were contemplating painting a white wall in your house too.

I narrowed down some choices of whites that are tried and true.  I tried to include options from varying price points and easily accessible brands.  Also, I've included the link to a great article I happened across on Houzz {I could go on and on about this website, but that's for another post} that addresses the topic of choosing the right white for your space.

#1

Creamy by Sherwin Williams

{SW7012}

I used this color to paint my kitchen cabinets.  

It doesn't look as off white in person as it does in the swatch above.   It's just a deliciously warm, soft, white color.  Color shown in the wainscoating below.

Traditional Bathroom by Minneapolis Interior Designer Design By Lisa

#2

Snowbound by Sherwin Williams

{SW7004}

I used this color on the doors and trim in my house.  

It is a really cool and crisp white, but not so stark that you need to wear sunglasses when you look at it.  Color shown in the wainscoating and trim below.

Spaces

#3
Atrium White by Benjamin Moore
{PM-13}
This color comes highly recommended although I have never used it personally. It's described as being not too warm and not too cool, but just right.

Color shown on the trim below.

Traditional Kitchen by Maplewood Architect Clawson Architects, LLC

#4
Dove White by Benjamin Moore
{OC-17}

Color shown below

Contemporary Kitchen by Baltimore Interior Designer Patrick Sutton Associates

This is another white that comes highly recommended.  It is the perfect neutral white...not too gold and not too gray.

#5

Anthem White by Valspar

 {7006-24}

#6
Decorator's White by Benjamin Moore
{CC-20}

Paints Stains And Glazes by Other Metro Benjamin Moore

#7
Swiss Coffee by Behr

Something to bare in mind when choosing a white, is to consider the style and aesthetic of the room  whose walls are being painted.  You might also take into account the overall aesthetic of your house.  If you lean towards a more modern aesthetic, you might steer clear of warmer, 

antique-y, off-whites and choose a "newer", crisper white.  The same would go for an older home.  A bright stark white wouldn't look as good as a warmer, "aged" white.

As for me, my home is neither modern nor old, it's somewhere right in the middle.  So, I've decided to go with a perfectly neutral white.  

Here's to hoping I've chosen, white-ly, I mean wisely.    :)

  

Mommypage.com Feature

Good morning, friends!

Not sure how things are in your neck of the woods.  It's a bit wet and rainy in these parts.  I don't mind the rain if I can sit inside sipping hot cocoa and watching Bath Crashers...the T.V. show, not my real life drama.  But I do mind when I have to head out to a soccer game and sit in if for an hour.  Fingers crossed the wetness stops and is completed evaporated in an hour.

Anywho, a few months back, I was contacted by someome from the blog...mommypage.com asking if they could feature me and my little blog.  I was a bit surprised, as my blog is not really a big deal...more of my online diary/idea book.  But, I happily agreed.

Anywho-anywho, my feature was just posted {I discuss how Retropolitan came to be, where I find my inspiration and give a few tips on how you can quickly and inexpensively liven up your home and make it feel fresh again}.

  

So for those of you not familiar with mommypage.com, please do me a solid and help me show them some love by heading on over and checking them out.  They've got other really great articles and links on all sorts of "mommy" related topics -recipes, crafts, coupons, testimonials... 

And...

In other news, Studly recently found out that he won a trip to...Bora Bora {we leave in a week and a half}.  Holy crap!  Where is that even?  Whatever, I will look at a map later.  But, can you believe it?  

I don't think I've ever seen a place so beautiful.

I would be over the moon excited, I mean I am over the moon excited about it.  But I'm a little anxious about leaving my five, crazy kiddos and then flying for ten hours.  I only have a two, deep to the core, fears...snakes {anything appendage-less} and heights /falling from great heights {here's where the flying thing comes into play}...oh, and bumping into David Beckham in my mommy pants, sans make-up.  

Any tips from you seasoned travelers on how I can knock myself out for ten hours straight, so I'm not "white knuckling" it through the entire flight?  

Pillow Talk

Let it be known that I love toss pillows.  

I'll save you all the lengthy dissertation on how obsessive personalities run in my family and how I tend to get fixated on certain things...uh hum, David Beckham anyone?

Anyway, I just love accent pillows.  I especially love having extras on hand that I can pull from when I am feeling the need to switch things up.

That all said, I thought I would share one of my favorite tips for making pillows...cloth napkins {and kitchen towels}.

Not only are napkins {and towels} the perfect, pre-formed size for accent pillows, they also tend to offer a wide variety of interesting patterns and colors.  Oh!  And they are also really cheap.  Cha-ching.

I recently came across this brightly colored dish towel.  Only I didn't see a dish towel, I saw the perfect accent pillow for my bed.

There was no cutting and no hemming involved...just sewing four straight lines {and if you don't sew, there are all sorts of liquid stitch and heat activated options you could try}.  What could be easier than that?

Voila!  A beautiful, bright and one of a kind pillow that took all of fifteen minutes to make {probably less if I wasn't using the world's crappiest sewing maching}.

And for your inspiration...

I saw these napkins at West Elm, a set of four for $20.  That works out to be $10 per pillow, or you could always add a contrasting color to the back of each and make four pillows for a little over $5 a piece.  Ba-Bam!

 I think I love the dark pink best.

And who doesn't love a playful polka dot...especially those of the "ikat-y" variety?

These napkins, also from West Elm retail at between $16-20 for a set of four.

I'll take a set in blue, thank you!

I love this geometric pattern...especially the green...and the black...and the tan.

$16 for a set of four at West Elm.

Can you tell I love West Elm...remember the little "fixation" bit I talked about at the beginning of the post?

Anyway, next time you find yourself in the market for some new throw pillows, maybe you will consider passing up the premade ones and will consider making some of your own.  I promise you will be the envy of the PTA.  In fact, your popularity might propel right into the president's seat.  Is that a good thing?  I don't know.  But at least you'll have some totally rad pillows to admire {and rest/bang your head on} while you plan out a year's worth of activities.

You're welcome!

And...more gold, but with polka dots this time.

I stumbled upon this uber cute, gold, polka dot dress and was smitten.  

There's just something about the playfulness of the polka dots and the sophistication of the gold on white that I love.

I decided that I needed some gold polka dots in my house...and what better {and easier} way to add color and pattern than with accent pillows.  So, I took a cue from myself and picked up some $3 pillow covers from Ikea.

I love these pillow covers.  First, they are premade, so no sewing.  Second, they have zipper closures making it easy to change them out.  Third, they are really cheap so you are barely out anything...except for a few minutes of your time.

I used DecoArt brand, metallic craft paint and a paint brush...

which I applied to an apple juice lid, cause that's how we roll in these parts.  Just grab whatever crap is lying around and make it work for you.

I used the lid to stamp gold dots all over one side of the pillow cover.

Don't worry if the circles don't come out perfect.  It will look great once you're totally done.

But, before you start stamping dots, make sure you line the inside of the pillow cover with paper towels or napkins to prevent bleeding onto the other side.

Here's the completed pillow. 

 The rule of thumb when stamping is to stamp in a triangle...so, if you were to isolate any three dots that are next to each other, they would form a triangle.   Try to keep them spaced evenly.

What do you think?  Worth the $3 price tag.

{and I just realized I never took the wrapping off of Stud's lamp shade...Threshold by Target in case you can't see the label :)}

I think so!