Never-Ending Inspiration: My Sources are No Secret

 Happy Wednesday! I have been feeling very inspired lately. Perhaps it's due to our multiple failed attempts at DIY projects around the home. It's just a much fun to search for things that inspire us as it is to dream up our own projects. If you haven't been to pinterest yet, let me introduce your new addiction. I commit at least 5 minutes of break a day to zone out and get inspired there no matter what. Another great place is dwellinggawker. The pictures are all styled so perfectly. 

The pictures you see are from my "private" collection of inspiration. Each photo has something in it which provided an "ah ha!" moment and sparked my inner DIYer. We have A LOT of work to do around our home, and we strive to make every moment interesting and exactly "us". We battle with "what style" are we are quite often. 

As you see in our "agreed upon" inspiration, we contradict ourselves. The battle is craving a relaxing beach cottage, but living in a 1930's English Tutor - in a place where we conquer Winter half the year. Maybe we need a vacation house to get this out of our system. Im very much thinking a cottage by the sea. But I think I am ahead of myself. After all, we have a lot to finish in our main home. 

All of the photos you see here have been saved in a file in my computer for, I can only imagine, how long. Feel free to comment sources, as I believe in giving credit where credit is due. 

 

I thought it would be fun to share "where I go" when I need a little kick in the bum to get my creative juices flowing. 

 Emily Henderson's Portfolio: It's where I go when I am looking for that homey lived-in look. 

 Nate Burkus and Associates: It's such a great place to find insanely inspiring room compositions. 

 Anthropologie: They carry the best mix and match stuff, and the photos are always to die for. 

 The Selby: I could waste an entire day looking inside other peoples homes. 

 Dwelling Gawker: It's such a simple concept, but I am addicted to seeing the high end photos of both  beautiful and out of reach homes/rooms. 

 Jonathan Adler Interior Designs: He just seems like so much fun. I love to look there when I want to  add humor to a room. 

 Martyn Lawrence Bullard: He's off the wall streamlined and pish-posh. I love what he does so much. 

 Mary McDonald: She can do no wrong. She's bold and clean, and in the top three of my favorite  designers.

 Pinterest: Yep. Go. Sign up. Obsess. It's so loaded with awesomeness, you will squeal. 

 So there you have it! A complete list of non-blog inspirations. Do you have a place you feel is "secret"  you love to find inspiration? Please share!

Kids Room, Take Two

Can you tell I am ready to have a baby? Haha. Maybe it's because everyone around me has kids, or is preggo! Joey and I are pretty darn good at making a plan and sticking to it when it comes to life altering event, ie, baby. Our plan is to start trying in September, and cross fingers it happens by November. Is this too personal? I just want to justify to you, our lovely reader a.) we aren't crazy for putting together a baby room without even being pregnant b.) we are obsessive planners because we are freelancers and each month is a whirlwind. Plan early, execute early, finish early - it's kinda our thing when that thing matters. So with no further ado or explanations, a moodboard/thinkpad of our kids room in progress!

So, we nailed down the valance a few weeks back, and are so in love with the direction the windows are taking. This is where we are traveling with them next...

source  & soure

Pom Pom Curtains! Yes! Pom Poms! I ordered some black pom poms and will be doing a DIY tutorial soon. These things seem to be expensive if bought pre sewn.

On the ceiling, we are seriously thinking about wallpapering this...

How sweet would that be to wake up to? It's seriously dreamy! I love Julia Rothman's designs! Furniture is going to be a long hard process of major research, so I am focusing on the fun stuff for the moment. Like these carousel/carnival letter lights.

Do you see where this is going? I am so excited about this room in particular because I have a million whimsy ideas that would not pass with Joey for the rest of our house. If it were up to me, it would look like the inside of a barn with gnomes and hearts everywhere, and I would redesign it every month. Thank God I have Joey to edit my whims. This room with be total peaceful whimsy bliss when I am through. Now off to find the perfect rug(s)!

If you have a kids room you are proud of, please share....as a matter of fact, your are offically invited to our first link party! Whoo Hoo!

Accessorizing the Master Bedroom

Good morning pretty people! We are so excited to be moving along with our bedroom lately (can you tell?!)! The decisions come easier and easier with each new piece we bring in! It's such a great feeling! We put together a moodboard of our neutral-british-moroccan-cowboy theme. Check it out.

The pillows are from zgalleries.com (don't own yet), the walls were done by Joey just a little bit ago, the striped swatch are sheets from WestElm.com, which just got in last week and the Moose Head was meant for the mud room, but didn't fit, also from Zgalleries.com. The cowhide rug, we just got from ABC Carpet and Home, and that lovely stump is from WestElm.com.

I am very excited we agreed on a duvet, from none other than Dwell Studio, and our shiny little coffee table and matching console table from Timothy Oulton should be here this week! Now we just need to agree on dressing the windows and a rug for under the bed and the rest is g-r-a-v-y. We have some old army trunks we are going to do a little DIY project on and show you how to spruce up your own very soon. We feel super lucky to be getting the master suite we have always dreamed of for much cheaper then one would normally spend. With a little DIY effort and some deal hunting, we have managed to save the following so far:

$1,800 couch we scored for $600

$600 ottoman we scored for $300

$999 cowhide rug we scored for $349

$5,000 bed we loved, we built for $500

$300 wallpaper we loved, we stenciled for $60

$1,500+ Timothy Oulton Coffee Table we scored for $510

$1,500+ Timothy Oulton Console Table we scored for $710

Trunks were hand me downs $0

We spent: $3,029

We could have spent: $11,699

We have saved: $8,670!

I wish you could see all the happy spread across our faces when we save this much money! When we bought our home we estimated $20,000 per room, and we are super excited to be coming in way under! Have you scored BIG lately? Do tell! We always shop the online sample sales, and sometimes that forces us to wait and really think about how we are going to build a room. If you have any great advice, we (and our readers!) would love to know!