A couple times a year, I get an incredible itch to completely redesign my house. It’s actually quite ridiculous, but I know where it comes from. My mom. Growing up, my mother would rearrange furniture on a very regular basis. She’d have new touches that would appear [what seemed like] out of nowhere. And the icing on the cake is that once, sometimes twice a year she would tackle big home improvements while my dad was fishing in Minnesota for the week. It was very normal that my dad would come home and she would have hired contractors to completely gut her kitchen (floors, cabinetry, wallpaper, appliances, you name it) to his surprise. You can imagine the shock value that took place. Good times.
I don’t find it coincidental that this past weekend, my husband was on a leisure weekend golf trip and my desire to update our house took over. This may be a disappointment but no, I did not gut our kitchen. I did, however, make some subtle changes that I wanted to share. See below!
I was thrilled to discover that West Elm is carrying one-of-a-kind throws from Calcutta and Jaipur, India (holds a special place in my heart having just visited both places in India a couple months ago!). They are the perfect weight, are made from recycled Sari’s, vary in size and color, all at a great price of $99. And for me, the pop of red helps our bedroom and it flows nicely with our existing throw pillows without being too matchy-matchy. I also snagged up the West Elm Henna pillow to tie the theme all together. Check out the Kantha Quilted Throws here or visit your local West Elm as they are all one-of-a-kind!
Last week I was perusing one of my favorite blogs, Cupcakes and Cashmere and saw a great use of liquor and cocktail glasses as a focal point on a dining room bar or buffet. And then, I was at my dear friend Vaneesha’s home a few days later and noticed she had the same thing! So, I figured, if they can do it, so can I 🙂 And as the old saying goes, imitation is the best form of flattery.
While searching my buffet, I had actually forgotten that I had my grandmother’s vintage cocktail glasses that are so fabulous. PERFECT! And since I uncovered the glasswear, I decided to make pomegranite flirtini welcome drinks for my girlfriends and toast to my grandma.
My last project was fun because it was unexpected. As I gracefully let my imagination run wild while releasing some creativity energy at Anthrpologie, I stumbled across…wait for it…wait for it…their new line of bathroom linens that are vibrant, beautiful and seemingly perfect in my master bathroom! I was thrilled. Since we moved into our space, I have searched high and low for bathroom linens, but mainly rugs, and low and behold, it was worth the 14-month wait. We currently have the Anthropologie Perpetual Blooms Towels in dark gray and those will still work in the space which made it that much better. Introducing, the Sechura towels and Sechura bathmat!
My next planned design projects for 2012 will hopefully be a home office, entryway updates and some ‘like mother like daughter’ rearranging of existing furniture. Hmmm, I should check to see when my husband’s next golf trip is and start planning 😉
Ann Written Notes 