Bricks and lofts

I've always liked the NYC loft look. 

Exposed brick can be so beautiful inside a home or office. As I am planning on decorating styles for my future home, I would love to have this look somewhere. 

I like this look on the staircase. It reminds me of my in laws basement. They installed a beautiful brick wall in their basement. It makes you feel like you are walking down to Cheers or down into a subway station. It's very beautiful!

  I don't have the money to do real brick but I have been reading and watching YouTube videos on how to use tape and joint compound to make a faux brick wall. 

After you make the brick lines with tape, you apply the mud and remove the tape while it's still wet. Then you use colors to faux finish it the way you wish. 

Some of my favorite ones have logos on them like you would see in a city street. I have so many fun ideas and things I would like to try. I definitely would start with a small space and see how it turns out.  Even one bathroom wall adds so much charm and character. 

We will see what happens. For now it's so much fun to daydream!  The brick look definitely goes with my industrial look I am hoping to go for in part of the house. 

Have a great day! 

Love, Lori 

Shopping trip

I went with my good friend Scott to Ikea. It's always fun to spend time and have lunch with him.  I needed a $.99 utensil divider and I found tons of fun lighting and decor ideas for the future house. 

I really liked these chrome pendant lights. They are really affordable at $19.99. They also have a larger size that would be perfect for over a dining room table.

  My favorite lighting is made by The American Rust Company in SLC Utah. If I had an endless budget, I would have him design some custom lights with me. Maybe I can start with just one, sooner than later? 

Here's one of his creations that I love. I would make a few changes (to match my house and taste) but overall the style is so fun! His art is on my dream wish list. Until then, there are a few other Ikea designs I like. 

These bulbs are funky and fun! I'm sure I could make these work somewhere for that price. 

For the display the had the bed with 10 of these lights hanging above. I like the look but temptation would be overwhelming for me to swing the bulbs into each other. 

I don't have any copper colors in my place. It will be woods, gray wall paint and white trim. If I did, I would get one of these. The reflection of the light with the copper was stunning in person.  One light I did purchase today was the disco ball light. It's on a power cord so you don't mount it in the main bedroom bracket. When it's plugged in, it shines disco colored reflections around the room. My oldest will be 10 Saturday and she has asked for a disco/DJ themed bedroom for our new home. The light was her birthday gift at $35. 

My other daughter wants an elegant bedroom with a crystal chandelier. I told her to start saving her pennies and she also has a birthday coming up. 

Her favorite was this Home Depot one but they also had less-expensive options at Lowe's. 

My goal is to keep it affordable. I don't want to finally move into our new home and then to overspend on accessories. I am doing beautiful, on a budget. 

My kids would love this fun and funky light. I enjoyed all of the styles we saw. This red light would be great with cut out vinyl spots,  to look like mushrooms! Not the look I am going for but fun nonetheless. 

Or it would be fun with a Coke theme too. I would love to go to design school and be paid to shop for these things. Helping someone make beautiful rooms for their home or office, would be ideal. 

Our future kitchen will be this exact layout but with different colors. We will have white distressed cupboards, black countertops and the blue glass backsplash. I may paint the walls in the kitchen the same blue as the backsplash tile? 

That is still in the thought process. I did find an affordable bar stool solution. IKEA had some stools for a great price. 

I still might get some wood ones off of the classifieds that match my kitchen table. I'm still in that planning process. Again, not spending much money but going for a beautiful and sophisticated look. 

Since there are only the four of us: this basket system might be a decent laundry room idea. We could label a basket for each person and then put the basket on their beds to have them fold and put their 

clothes away.  

  Thanks for checking out what I am up to. I am going to keep pricing things and work on design ideas. I'm excited for the mental drawings I have for my future entry storage and garage mud room space. More to come. 

Love, Lori

Moving day is coming!

  We are moving! I'm really excited about it. We had to sell our house and rent for the last three years due to medical bills, for both my husband and I.  We are both feeling strong and healthy now, so we are excited to put down some roots.

This little green stake will be my future home spot. I'm nervous but thrilled. 

  We have looked at dozens of homes (both this year and last year) but the timing wasn't right, or the homes didn't work.  We have found a perfect building lot and a house plan in our budget, so we will be moving in August or September.  Hopefully earlier if the permits go through quickly, but that's not likely.  Now for the fun stuff, how to decorate! 

I am a huge fan of industrial furniture. I am also a big fan of soft and plush vintage styles. 

I am hoping to marry the two styles together on a very tight budget. I have been collecting French chairs and a sofa from second-hand sources. I have been volunteering in the wood shop at the local High School all winter and my carpentry skills have been improving as well.  Most things I will build, or upholster myself, for the furniture and accessories. 

Many of the details we haven't worked out yet, but the kitchen colors may go in this direction. I love the high contrast between the dark counter tops and the white cupboards. It looks great with the industrial chrome lighting! 

I picked up six of these chairs from the classified ads for $30 total. 

  I will refinish them with an old oak table in my garage, they will look brand new when done!  I re-finished some for my friend and these will be very similar. My chairs and table base will be white distressed with possibly a bit of blue in the center of the base. (the tile color) The top stain will also be a darker walnut color. 

  The picture below I did for a friend. She chose a light green/white paint with a cherry top. I love how it looks. 

  I went and looked at tile. Our kitchen won't have much backsplash area so I can have a bit of fun with it. 

I'm loving the sky blue. It's my favorite color (and the color of my husband's eyes.)  The subway tiles are not too expensive so they might be the winner. 

I love these turquoise Moroccan style ones but at $26 a square foot they are well above my price range and about 3x the subway tile price.  

This is an example of the look I am going for. My cupboards will be a antique distressed white & countertops will be a bit different but a gorgeous black granite. The home builder has granite as a standard feature or else I wouldn't be able to splurge on this feature right now. 

I want to do bright a cheery color for the laundry room. Laundry is my least favorite job so if it looks pretty, I will want to be in that room more often right?  So many ideas! 

  In the months ahead I will post pictures of my progress with the house and with the progress on making my old furniture look new. That way I can move into a new house with the look of new furniture but not break the bank. 

Have a great day!  Love, Lori