An Affair with Turquoise

I've developed a HUGE love for Turquoise and anything in the turquoise family.

I found a blog. The perfect blog for me. All about decorating in turquoise.

Appropriately named - House of Turquoise

 I finally.finally.finally bit the bullet and have 85% of my own personal space done. It has turned out beautifully and I still need to get pictures up, but I don't want to share until it's complete. Here were some of my inspirations...

My favorite. I.Love.It.

(All photos from House of Turquoise)

I've been MIA, but that's part of it. So all that hard work will soon be on here... a week... or two.

Fingers crossed.

Bit the Bullet!

Okay, so I'm flaky. I'm indecisive. Yes, I know.

I bought a dresser and it didn't work out. It was so low and come to find out, it was a child's dresser. Not happy about that.

I've had my eye on this beautiful glossy white Ikea dresser for a couple of months. After all my attempts at finding the right dresser to paint, I bought this.

 It's big, tall, glossy and so many drawers. Perfect for me.

I also had my eye on this modernish bookcase. Same line at Ikea.

As I was walking out of the the store, I stopped by the "as is" section and lo and behold, the hard to find bookcase was sitting there, perfect condition and already built! For $50 less than the boxed one. I snatched it up!

 The next purchase is a custom bulletin board. It is a vintage frame patined turquoise with a beautiful retro, vintage fabric. I won't show you the fabric just yet, but I picked it up and am shipping it to the store owner today. Below is my color inspiration.

I can't wait to reveal the whole thing... I'll love it and I'm sure you'll think it's fab too.

This and That

My brain is a little fried lately. Too much happening in my part of the world.

I've focused on so many things that I haven't had time for Deb things.

The Deb things consist of re-vamping my room! It is so needed and I've been so busy lately that it keeps getting put off. So starting tonight, I will be sanding and cleaning my new dresser. I'm hoping to start painting on Saturday. Yah! Finally.

I'm looking for pieces to add to the decor and here are a couple of things that I've found and hope to buy... eclectic but I like the mix.

All the above are from Etsy. You know my love for Etsy.

I made another purchase recently, not for home decor or supplies but for the pup. Have to keep her pretty and safe. I went to PetsMart and the collars were outrages in price. They were nothing to look at and hard to open and close. So many things wrong.

So, I went to my trusty Etsy and purchased this for my little rebel.

Perfect find for a good price. 

The Dresser

I mentioned here that I found a dresser, even posted a picture. Well, that wasn't meant to be. That dresser was $200.00. And I still had to buy the paint and materials in order to make it what I wanted it to be.

So I bypassed it and continued looking.

Good thing because THIS beauty became available through a friend of the family... for $60.00. I almost said, uh no way. It's got orange flowers for goodness sake. But I saw my vision of a beautiful dresser through all the icky parts. (excuse the picture... it's not in my possession yet.)

This is what the beauty will look like in the next week or two... I'm leaning towards the gray...

Wishful thinking... or my Inspiration?

Clean lines, elegant, industrial, white walls, colorful accents... Pure beauty.

Photo Courtesy of: Censational Girl (blog)

It's all in the centerpiece

My mind has been swarmed with party decor ideas... baby shower decor. I am not a fan of the normal baby shower - streamers, paper plates and balloons.

I think more along the lines of fresh flowers, candles clear cutlery and chandeliers... I had the idea of go country/shabby chic for my sister-in-law's baby shower: gingham tablecloths, white lights hanging across the patio into the trees handmade paper streamers and centerpieces made of old boots as vases with shabby chic roses. That was the initial plan... but things have changed and gone more shabby chic than country. I cannot wait to show pictures because I think it's going to be gorgeous! But for now, here are some of my favorite centerpiece ideas for any occasion...

My favorite... I love the white vases clustered together... clean lines and modern.

The below is similar to what I'm doing at the baby shower... I love it!

The Blue Room

In October I decided to renovate my room. I live with the parents and plan on doing so until I marry. I love my family and being with them is important to me and to them so this situation is good for me while others my age are itching to get out. I'm blessed but with a flaw. For 13+ years I've lived in a blue striped world... blue used to be my favorite color but after 13 years it gets to you.

I decided that removing this hideous wallpaper would be a cinch. Easy, breezy...

I bought the tools needed:

>Piranha wallpaper scorer (Huge mistake)
>Piranha Wallpaper remover
>1 bucket
>1 garden sprayer (Life saver)

I scored a small area, sprayed it and after the sitting and waiting process it begin to peel right off. I said, "This is going to be EASY".

The next day I filled up the sprayer, moved everything into the middle of the room and started the process of scoring and spraying.

Days later...

It was anything but easy. I cried like a baby halfway through and gave up several times only to press on and beg for help from whoever was around. Wonder Woman (my mom) came to the rescue and put me to shame by scoring the walls in record time. Once the wallpaper and most of the glue was down I was done. no more. White walls were looking good, glue gunk and all.

I hired a painter and went out to buy paint.

I bought paint without sampling it and put some on the wall... it was peach. Ugly.

I was smart enough the next time and bought samples.

I ended up going with one that my sis-in-law picked out. End result (right photo) was a beige buttery, light gold color. I had/have a design plan in my head that has been put into action that will be finished at some point and time. Just need to win the lottery. ;)

If you want to take down wallpaper I suggest you save your time and hire someone or buy a Tiger wallpaper scorer (I would have given my big toe for it but lucky for me I didn't have to). Just sayin'. I'll never do it again.

Here is a picture of Wonder Woman in the flesh!


Removing wallpaper will scatter the brain... here's proof.


BUT the end result was SO worth it!

Randomness

It's 6something in the AM and I have a rare moment of nothing to do but sit and stare at the computer. I woke up from a horrible dream and pooped(Haha! So much for proof reading... that's too funny not to leave. But I popped) myself out of bed. I can sleep after church today. But right now, I am going to sit my behind down and jot down a much needed blog post.

"WHAT!?" I've noticed my hearing is changing... not going! But changing a tad. My mom started losing her hearing when she was twenty-five, which is when I started noticing it. Her tubes (?) fused together, and they say it's irreparable, but we now found out they can probably do surgery. Anyway, we were in the store and I wasn't wearing my glasses (I never do if I'm not driving) and I was squinting and trying to see what "those things are over there". My mom was walking behind my elbow and whispered...

"I'm tired and depressed."

GASP. What? how did I miss this... tired, yes, but depressed!? I stopped suddenly and looked at her...

"what did you say, mom?"

"I said, that's the tire and lube department."

We had a good laugh over this and then a more serious one about getting those darn ears checked!

NEW PUPPY I have put claims on a new girl puppy to be born the end of this year or early January. I am so excited! She is from the same 'parents' as my brother and sister-in-law's dog, Lola, so they will be sisters. Something special about that to me. I will be the one you see walking with my little dog in a stroller or have her all glammed out in cute clothes and bows...of course I may be broke and have to starve, but my puppy-girl will be beautifully decked out. ;)

WALLPAPER FUN I am in the process of removing blue-striped-wallpaper from my bedroom walls. It is hell! I am telling you! I dislike wallpaper and can't imagine why, oh why the previous owners of our home out it all over... okay, so it's really nice wallpaper... but who can live with blue stripes forever. NOT ME.

BAKING I love to cook and bake. It relaxes me and is comforting in some strange way. I made a cake for my boss' birthday. He loves German chocolate cake, I dislike it. Not to gross you out, but the fresh coconut in the frosting makes me think I'm eating little bugs, Andrew* Zimmer*man style. ugh.

I decided that if I was going to eat German chocolate cake I would make it fresh. Night before the birthday, I got lazy and bought German chocolate cake mix. BUT I did do the rest from scratch. It was so gooooooood! Yes, coconut bugs and all.

PRAYER On Wednesday night we had such an incredible service about prayer, intercessory prayer. More than ever it's been on the minds of our church body that prayer is the only thing that's going to get the job done. We fight today more than ever before. We have a world to reach with this incredible news of Jesus' saving grace and love. But we must pray. I'm not talking a little pray before you go to sleep, it's time to be in a committed prayer relationship with God. Be faithful... I have this little card on my desk at home (in front of me now) that says, 'God is only a prayer away'. I bought this when I was struggling with fear and felt like I had nowhere to turn... I saw this little 'sign' and taped right where I can see it as a reminder... He really is just a prayer away.

What a good God He is!

Happy First Day of the Week!

Ths is my 351st post... :)

~*~
Deb

It's Monday

I started off this beautiful day by slipping on mud and landing my sandaled foot in the gutter. Dirty brown water and who knows what else. Monday's are not a fun day for me. I think that's a consensus among all working women and men.

I am sitting in my office at work, trying to get motivated for the week... trying is the key word here. I don't think I've ever shared pictures of this place where I spend most of my "awake" time. Completely raw, no cleaning up, it can get a little messy. I've been with this company for almost 5 years and in this office for over a year and I still have not decorated it properly. I have so many plans, at least to throw some pictures on the wall, but it hasn't happened yet. So my walls are a light beige with nothing but a cork board and whiteboard. Bare and bland which is not me, or so I like to think.

I handle records for legal trials for major companies that everyone in the world knows. So we have a ton of work since everyone wants to sue them. Serious work overload. As you can see by the mess of papers all over the office. I have 10 in-boxes. T-E-N. Why ten? I have to separate everything from important to least important. It really makes no difference because it all because important to whoever is waiting for it. So now you know what I see every.single.day. Now that I've seen these pictures on here, I MUST work on getting this place looking more "comfy" (for lack of a better word). Any ideas?

:: :: :: ::

This last weekend was packed with wonderful goodness. I will post pictures in the next few days of hilarious kids program (2-5 year olds singing and dancing - stomachache laughter) and my nephews b-day party.

We visited my Gramps grave yesterday, Our first Father's Day without him. We also saw Nicole Brown* Sim*pson's* grave which is a few feet from my Gramps. You'll know her from the famous OJ* Simpson* trial.

We celebrated my dad by having a bbq and I bought him a gift which was NOT a gag gift but apparently everyone seemed to think it was. What do you get someone who has everything? A cushioned toilet seat cover. Why not? I figure you spend some time on there, especially as you get older and the comfier the better. He didn't think so.

My dad is an incredible Dad, even if he didn't like the gift I bought. Things have not always been perfect between us because I'm more of a Mama's girl and my sister is the Daddy's girl, but my Dad is wonderful. Growing up he was the BEST dad there was. He took us on a big vacation every summer, lavish spending on his kids that most people never get to experience. He exposed us to the finer things in life that his own mom and dad exposed him too. But beyond all that, he's always provided and loved us every single day. I knew that I can go to him if I needed help, which in my early adulthood days I really was a thorn in his side. I had a special place for Nord*strom and other stores that he didn't appreciate very much! ha! Which he never really knew where I spending all my hard earned cash, he just knew that I needed help with this or that. Eventually I grew up and realized that Dad couldn't always come to my rescue. I'm sure he's thankful for that! So, one day late, Thank you, Dad for being a great father! I love you.