All posts tagged pinterest

our home: bathroom style on the cheap

 

On our latest apartment adventure, we set out to add some color and style to our bland, boring master bathroom. Every apartment we’ve lived in has had the basic bathroom features that are just bland enough to please everyone. Beige counters, basic cabinets and hardware, nothing fancy. But a room you spend your early mornings and late nights in should be at least a little pretty, right? Why can’t I brush my teeth and look at something colorful and happy? Of course, we don’t have the freedom (or resources) to go with a bathroom remodel, so I wanted to add just a few apartment friendly touches to spruce things up a bit.

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The easiest thing you can do? Add art. On the two walls that were big enough for frames, we added some color with free art! I cut an old floral print down to size for the frame by the vanity and, adjacent to the shower, I added some super easy paint chip art. We bought the two white frames from IKEA for $5.00 each. The great thing about them is that they are pretty thin, so they don’t stick out from the wall very much, and they are also plastic. Perfect to protect our DIY art from humidity, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if the frames somehow got damaged.

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One of the most exciting upgrades was buying new towels! We replaced all of our bath and hand towels with these fluffy ones in sky blue, navy, and white. They are also from IKEA and the quality is actually pretty amazing. Plus the colors lend to a more spa like feel and don’t clash with the cabinetry and wall color that we can’t change.

We also upped our bathroom organization! We bought these awesome corner shower shelves from Target that just suction cup right to the wall. We’re over a month in and they haven’t budged. Plus, the people that make them are smart enough to have slits in the bottoms, so they stay pretty clean as well! No fuss, no muss! (By the way, what it muss??)shower-organization-1

And on the counter, I put my extensive collection of glass vessels by turning a square vase and glass votive into storage for cotton balls and q-tips. Totally free and it is worlds better than having packages of bath supplies cluttering up the vanity.master-bathroom-makeover (4) copy

No, it’s not the fanciest makeover. Nor the most impressive. But, hey! We’re not trying to win a beauty contest here! The goal right now is cheap and making, what will hopefully be, our last apartment stylish without spending a ton of dough. (But when we get a house, oh man, y’all better be prepared for the paint and projects to be flying!)

What are some other inexpensive ways to freshen up a bathroom? Share ideas for storage and style below!!

have a home philosophy

The past few weeks have been full of a lot of thinking. You know, like grown up thinking. Such as “where do we want to live?”, “what’s going to be the best for our little family?”, “how can we scrape up enough money over the next year to buy our first house?”. I don’t know how it was when you tackled these questions (if you already have), but they. are. tough!! I feel like that’s part of the reason I’ve been so absent from the blog lately. I’m just feeling so overwhelmed with all these decisions! So, I figure it might be best to start small and create a philosophy for our home.

To me, a home philosophy is important for two reasons.

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do what you can printred autumn

Number one, it’s an easy way to focus your decorating intentions. By living under the manta of “doing more where you are with what you have”, I might find myself buying less random trinkets (because they were on sale) and raiding my crowded craft closet for materials to make some original art myself! If you’re like me and pine over all the pretty things you can buy online (thanks a lot, Pinterest!), a home philosophy like this would definitely come in handy.

cozy-homeblack and white wall artMaking it Lovely

But the second reason is the most important. A home philosophy gives you a chance to state clearly how you want to live; what daily life is like in your home. The large, simple, black and white print above from Making it Lovely is a perfect example. Because even though all that pretty stuff is great, it’s not what makes your home “you”. (Feel free to stop me if I get too cheesy!)

useful-or-beautifulhand lettered wisdomLisa Congdon

As for me and my home philosophy? I’d have to go with the one right above. “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful”. That just sings to my quasi-minimalist heart. Because even though I like ‘stuff’, I hate clutter and I don’t what our home to be defined by non-special junk littering every surface. I want it to be clean, calm, and for everything to serve a purpose. Whether it’s the cute yellow vacuum that’s purpose is to clean carpets or the first real piece of art Josh and I bought together as broke college students that just makes me smile with the memory, I want it all to be beautiful or useful.

color pops: minty fresh

Mint is just an all around great color. In fact, it might just be the perfect pastel. It can be casual or fancy and a few pops of mint look great just about anywhere. With St. Patrick’s Day and Easter celebrations going on this month, I thought a Color Pop tribute to Mint would be very appropriate!minty-fresh-color-pop-board

1. I Love You Bunches throw pillow cover | SylviaCPhotography on Etsy 2. Mint Deco pillow | Caitlin Wilson Textiles 3. Monochrome Shades of Mint print | NamedByArt on Etsy 4. Mint Candy Apple nail polish | essie 5. Snowy Mint Green Wall Clock | Sara_Valor on Zazzle 6. Estelle furniture legs in Mint | Pretty Pegs 7. Anson Sofa in Spa | Room&Board

As you can see, there are a lot of different shades of mint, so it’s up to you to decide which you like best. Bright and cheery like those pillows? Or muted and moody like that awesome couch? I’m pretty sure any guy would be happy to hang out on that!

Plus, mint is super versatile with other colors! Pair mint with touches of gold for an instant glamorous touch. Or match it up with bright colors like coral and yellow for a more casual, fun aesthetic. Either way, mint makes an amazing color pop. Wouldn’t that couch be gorgeous with some fun patterned pillows? And, honestly, that mint nail polish (which I own) is perfect for a spring time manicure…

I guess, my final thought it: Mint, get you some!

Want to see more Color Pops? Check out the (always growing) gallery here!

get organized: shower solutions

Last week, we shared the before pictures of our master bathroom before starting to make it over. One of our big issues was shower storage. Up until now we’ve just been keeping all of our bottles around the sides of the tub, and it was not working out. Gunk would build up super quick and it got to be pretty gross. So, I sought out some alternatives.

shower-organization-2In the past, we’ve had one of those hanging shelves that goes over the shower head, but we wanted something a little different. However, I also did not want to get one of those corner units on a pole. After a while, I’ve seen those get pretty gross. But luckily, I found these suction cup corner storage shelves at Target for $7.99 each.

shower-organization-3They are perfect!! We’ve had them up for a couple of weeks now and the suction cups haven’t budged! They’ve even got a little area for razors and a hook for loofahs!

shower-organization-1Plus, even loaded up with our shower stuff, they look pretty nice!

Now, we’re moving on to art and other fun stuff (like new towelssss!!!)

make this: painted wooden easter eggs

**Hey! We’re on vacation this week! So, we might be a little absent from social media and all that jazz, but you’ve still got four days of awesome posts coming up!! Have a fantastic week!**

Like St. Patrick’s day, I have never really been into decorating for Easter. The traditional pastels and frills aren’t really my style. But this year I decided to do a little branching out and do at least one Easter project. If you follow me on Pinterest, you’ll see that a lot of the Easter inspiration I pin is mostly different (and amazing) ways to decorate eggs. Long gone are the days of those crappy little color tablets and flimsy wire egg holders. There are so many neat things you can do!! But we’re not exactly in the position to go the traditional hard-boiled egg route either, so I adapted.

These hand painted wooden eggs turned out so adorable and can be used year after year! painted-wooden-easter-eggs-promoI found these wooden eggs at Michael’s for $1.99 each. I took home three.

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I deliberated for a while about what sort of design I wanted to go with and in the end I decided on my current favorite color combo: metallic gold + any other color! I covered the eggs with a few coats of some fun pastels and then, after they dried, I went back and hand painted some fun designs. painted-wooden-easter-eggs-4

I love that they are sort of imperfect. You can tell they are hand-painted and that gives them a little character. Plus, they totally have a casual vibe going on. No fussy, stuffy Easter bonnets needed here! painted-wooden-easter-eggs-5

Also, a fun tip for painting polka dots! I dipped the end of a paper straw in gold paint and then used that to create a polka dot “stencil” of sorts. The straw gave me a gold dot outline, and then I just went back and filled them in. Again, they aren’t perfectly equal but I like it!

Next week, I’ll be sharing all of our Spring decor and you can see where these adorable little eggs ended up!

What’s your favorite way to decorate Easter eggs? Are you trying out any fun new techniques this year??

our home: video tour!!

**Hey! We’re on vacation this week! But don’t worry, we’ve still got four solid days of Two Live Colorfully awesome-ness! Enjoy!**

There has never been a video on this blog! What?! It’s time to break that streak. Today we’ve got our very first video, a tour of our apartment. Sometimes it’s hard to visualize a space, especially the layout, with just pictures. So, here you go! A full apartment tour just for you!

Projects mentioned (just in case you want the details):

make this: miny glitter birdhouse

Today, I thought I’d share a quick little spring craft. With the exception of Christmas and Halloween, my holiday decorating mantra is “little touches.” I don’t go all out crazy, but I like to have fun seasonal accents around the apartment.

When I was at Michael’s last weekend, I saw these fun little wood bird houses for $0.50 and couldn’t resist grabbing one. spring-glitter-birdhouse-1

And, because I’m not huge into pastels, I decided to go with glitter. You know that saying about birds and shiny things? Well any bird tiny enough to live in this bird house would be smitten!!spring-glitter-birdhouse-2

Some Mod Podge and chunky gold glitter and we were in business. spring-glitter-birdhouse-3

Bam! Look at that bling! Once that dried, I used a bright pink craft paint to color the finish the rest of the house. spring-glitter-birdhouse-4

It looks super cute on our bookcase too. spring-glitter-birdhouse-5I’ve got a few more spring decor updates coming soon! Including some very pretty wooden Easter eggs, so make sure to stay tuned for that!

What kind of spring crafts are you working on? And what’s your holiday decorating philosophy? Do you go all out, add a few touches, or nothing at all?

a colorful photoshoot

**Hey! We’re going to be trying out four posts a week!! Now, you’ll get new Two Live Colorfully content Monday through Thursday! Don’t miss out!!**

The last time Josh and I had professional pictures taken was at our wedding… over 2.5 years ago. Needless to say, we were overdue for some fun photos. So a couple weeks ago, we headed to one of our favorite areas in Dallas, the Bishop Arts District, with my new blog friend (and amazing photographer) Savannah Smiled!

two-live-colorfully-awesome-couple-smalltwo-live-colorfully-awesome-couple-2-smallI also took the opportunity to have a few solo shots taken for the blog. After all, I have this fancy-pants new design, I might as well have some photos to match! (You can see these in action on our new about page!)

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When I broke out the confetti Josh pretty much fled the area but it was really fun! And, yes, there was confetti everywhere by the end of this shoot. We had so much fun hanging out and doing some excessive smiling! I’m hoping it won’t be another 2.5 years before we do it again! And by the way, you need to know, Savannah is a total pro. If you’re in Dallas and in need of a photographer…. book her.. now! Here’s her photography site!

our home: curtain update (when your husband is right!)

Let’s add a point to Josh’s side of the “design decisions” board, shall we? Last year, when I made these big, bold striped curtains, I thought one panel would be best because our living room window doesn’t have equal space on each side. (For more info and pictures on that project check out this post here!) Josh thought two panels would look better, but I convinced him that I knew what I was doing. Now, months later, I realized he was totally right.

Here’s what it looked like before: lr-curtains-2-copy

Not bad or anything. In fact, it looked pretty good. But once we moved my pink computer desk in here, the one-paneled window looked really off kilter. Exhibit B:2013-home-tour-2

So, last weekend, I decided it was time. I took down the curtain, sliced it right up the middle, “hemmed” the edges with iron-on hem tape, and put them back up.living-room-curtain-update-2Bam! A pretty quick update that made a huge difference! Now it’s much more balanced and it frames out my pink desk perfectly. And, oh! Hello, gorgeous gold chair! Look at you and your fine self in your rightful spot! living-room-curtain-update-1

So, picture Josh doing a happy “I was right” jig. That should start your weekend off right!

Have you  ever realized that someone else was totally right about a home project after the fact? Feel free to describe their happy dance below!!

make this: hula hoop frames (pinterest challenge time!!)

It’s Pinterest Challenge time!!! We’ve been working hard to finish up the bedroom and for this challenge I thought it was finally time to tackle the space above our dresser. Lately, I’ve been loving big round frames and mirrors, but the thing about large, circular mirrors? They are hella expensive.

And then I had a thought. Hula hoops are big.. and round… and frame-like. HULA HOOPS, PEOPLE!! I made frames out of hula hoops.

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This project is pretty easy and very inexpensive. I picked up two hula hoops from the dollar store in two slightly different sizes. diy-hula-hoop-frame-1

Then, I also grabbed a can of Krylon Fusion spray paint in a dark gray. This stuff is made to cling to plastic surfaces which is awesome. There was no bubbling or anything, just a smooth finish. diy-hula-hoop-frame-suppliesAll I had to do was find the split on each hoop, slice the ribbon and unravel it, then pour out the little noisemakers on the inside (which in dollar store hula hoops, is apparently just rocks…). A couple of coats of spray paint and a few hours drying time and my large hoop was done.

To mix up the look, I used a dark charcoal yarn to wrap the smaller hoop. They are similar in color but different textures which looks really neat.diy-hula-hoop-frame-10 Now what to put in the frames? I’ve been loving this quote that I found on Pinterest for a while and I decided to recreate it with a poster and a sharpie. It’s not perfect but it’s kind of got that charming DIY look. diy-hula-hoop-frame-14

Inside the large frame, I strung up some twine and some pretty card stock and photos with tiny clothespins. I’m thinking this is just a place holder until I can find something awesome and bold to go in it. diy-hula-hoop-frame-6

The hula hoops were $1.00 each, the spray paint was about $3.00, and all the art was made from materials I had at home, so for $5.00 we made a major statement over our dresser. The round frames balance out all the bold, geometric patterns we’ve got going on (check out our DIY geometric art here!)

The bedroom is practically done! We’ve got to find some awesome art to go in the large hoop frame and I’m thinking about possibly revamping our thrift store nightstands and then we’ll wrap this room up!

Wanna see what we made for the last Pinterest Challenge? Check out our bright, flowery canvas art!

What did you make for the Pinterest challenge? What’s the oddest thing you’ve used for a project? Can you beat hula hoops?? Share below!!