Category Archives: Inspiration

09.06.12

Dead Coral Decor....

Posted by Christina // 3 Replies

I have said it before and I will say it again, in this hobby….stuff dies.  Most people don’t like to talk about it or admit that they lose things because typically the next thought is…..you don’t know what you are doing.

But everyone loses fish and corals.  Truth.

You have to be prepared to shell out hundreds of hard-earned dollars to watch stuff get eaten, or keel over for no good reason.

All you can do is test your water and do some research to find out what might have gone wrong.  And sometimes, things can live happily in our tank for a long, long time and then poof….they are dead.

Remember this little guy from here?

saltwater tank, corals, bright

Well, he has met an unfortunate end.

Poor unfortunate soul….name that movie.

Fortunately for us….decorating with coral is like so hot right now.

Coral trend photo found here.

At least that’s what all the home decor magazines tell me.

And I believe them.

So this little guy is finding his way to my desk.  I am going to call myself trendy and hip.  Then I’ll look at him and be sad because I will remember what once was.

Bummer.

Written by Christina and Tim
09.05.12

Recently, I was asked to join the United Way committee for my employer.

Of course, I took on the flyers.  Which were due at month end (accountants know whats up with it) the day before we left for our two-week vacation.  It’s fine, I work best under pressure.

Wanna know what I realized whilest working on said flyers?

I like fonts.

And I like them….a lot.  Here are some of my favorites.

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The best part is you can search every single one of those fonts at DaFont.com and get them for yourself.

Amendment:  When I posted this I thought I downloaded them all from Dafont.com…it appears some aren’t there anymore.  Click the links below for the missing fonts.  Lainie Day, Sail, Rosewood, Modern No. 20, American Typewriter, and Simply Glamorous.  Please let me know if anymore go missing….love you, mean it!  No seriously, I mean it.

So you wanna see what I did with these spicy fonts?  I took our normal clip art posters and made these….

     

I am by no means a graphic designer.  But I will say I think these flyers are an upgrade and I am excited about it!

If you didn’t notice, most of the flyers are very text heavy.  Choosing the right fonts made the poster more artistic than informational, and hopefully more people will take a look and get involved.  Fingers crossed.

What about you all, got a favorite font I should know about?

Written by Christina and Tim
08.28.12

While I was visiting my sister last weekend I decided that I “needed” a new toy.

I rationalized this purchase with the fact that TODAY is Homemade Ocean’s one month anniversary.

We will be celebrating tomorrow….be there or be square sad that you missed it.

I have named my new toy Sven the hot Sweed and recently discussed his nakedness with him.

Me:  Look Sven…I know you are all hot and everything, but you really need to show some modesty.  Cover it up for the kids…because they could get you sticky with their Cheeto fingers.  Mama don’t need all that mess.
Sven:  Ohhkay….vut cahn I vee sooper sexie?
Me:  Who are you trying to impress….I mean c’mon Sven live in my pj’s.
Sven:  I joost veel like veing hawt you veel me.
Me:  Can I be your stylist?
Sven:  Vut ov course.
Me:  Settled.

Okay, so Sven the Sweed may have grown up in France or Russia or some far-away-accent place.  But there was only one thing to do.

Window shop.

These are all of the cases Sven and I are considering.  What…you didn’t realize Sven was a hot Swedish lady?

–  We have to stick to our roots here and throw in a nautical case.  I just adore this sweet tribute to the vintage Sailor style.

–  This is strange, but the snap top case reminds me of my gramma’s cigarette case.  Nostalgia gets me every time.  Plus, Kelly green and Navy blue are basically my favorite.

–  I’m feeling the whole watercolor trend, and I have never gotten over my love of dandelions.  So the blue and green case is like a prettier version of my childhood.

–  Another nautical theme, but this one you can customize with your monogram or name.  A high contender for our Stylish Sven shopping trip.  We also found backgrounds that looked like corals, chevron, ikat, and stripes….basically if you can dream it then you can find it here.

–  A sweet and feminine fabric with an unexpected design.  You had me at feminine, I also love that it’s an old fashioned typewriter image on brand spanking new technology.  Oh the irony.

–  Hello funky lady.  I wish I was bold enough to pull of this bright yellow, big bow number.  A girl can dream.

–  Lace and leather, is there anything hotter?  Didn’t think so.  I would feel like a dainty dollop of awesome carrying that case around.  Is that an oxymoron?  Well I don’t care, that is how I would feel.

–  My little piece of sunshine.  How could you not be happy when you are holding bright orange polkas and fun teal ruffles.  Sven likey.

Sven needs your help…..Which is your favorite?

Written by Christina and Tim
08.20.12

Come one, come all...

Posted by Christina // 2 Replies

Welcome to our playroom.

Well, our non-existent chittlins playroom.  You may remember them from this post.

I have been loving the Carnival theme these days, and what better theme for a playroom really.

The room is gender neutral with a girly blue and a boyish red, or some kind of fancy smancy designer talk.

It would be a lot of work to paint teal stripes, but oh so worth it in the end.  Gives it the “big top” feel without being too literal.

My favorite thing in the room is the carnival art prints.  I love the magic she captures in these vintage, airy photos.  You could do a whole collage or just one or two.

The mason jar light you could easily DIY if you are into that sort of thing.  They mirror the colors in the art prints so perfectly and kind of remind me of the milk bottles you pay a quarter to knock over.  Oh who am I kidding, it’s probably ten dollars a pop now-a-days.

It wouldn’t be a carnival without some lit-letters.  I really actually would love to get a couple of these for around the house.  Kind of in love with the nostalgia of it.

I would love to make a bunch of pillows and big cushy pads to jump and play on out of this fabric.

The vintage circus toy box is easy, just go to auctions and garage sales.  You are sure to run across one of them.  And I don’t have any kids, but I feel like you can never have enough toy storage.

Finish it off with rich, red, velvet show curtains to really make the kiddos feel like the ringmaster.

Maybe we need this room for just us, it looks like fun.  We could throw a trapeze and a lion in there and just have a ball.

Written by Christina and Tim
08.10.12

All of my friendlies are having babies.

But you knew that, because I told you here.  I do not have kids on the agenda, which I told you here.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t be inspired by all the baby making going on.  Don’t get any ideas boytoy.

I’m just saying that I do enjoy looking at all of your pin boards chock full of nursery goodness.

   

I’m so inspired that I am going to create a nursery mood board for our fictional twins.  Because in a perfect world you would knock a boy AND girl out in one try.

So while I am probably giving both of our mothers heart palpitations right now, I present our baby rooms.  And no, we are not expecting.  Double negatives means I’m serious.

So get off the “you’re next” bus y’all, I don’t drink the kool-aid.

Okay…you can call me predictable on this one.  Gray will be the last name so the color is a given, and hello look around…we are kind of obsessed with all things that live in saltwater.

I feel like a lot of this you could DIY…specifically buying a used crib and painting it navy.  Making a cute fishie mobile and if you are really brave, I bet you could make that boat.

The awesome crib is so different from your typical white or brown.  I love it, and it’s so nautical, so I’m lusting.

The paint….Gray of course is Benjamin Moore’s, Graytint.

I think the mobile is such a sweet take on something that can be totally tacky.  I would love to paint it a bright glossy red and let my baby dream of sweet whales singing to him all night long.  Maybe I will put on whale songs.

The gorgeous jute rug is a really good way to bring in texture and curves.  Who knew a rug could be so spicy.

The bedding is my favorite.  It’s patriotic and ocean-esque but still classic and best of all it doesn’t have ducks on it.

The clock and rocking boat are fun ways to incorporate a theme into the room and make it feel cohesive and fun.  I woulda killed for one of those boats to cruise around in.

Overall, I would say our non-existent baby boy will be quite a catch.  Ok that was cheesy, but as long as he doesn’t think having a sailor room means he can talk like one….I’ll be a happy mama.

Not what you expected eh?  Who does blue and green in a girls room you say…..we do.  Little miss will inevitably love mermaids, so call me a psychic when I say her colors are sea foam green, coral, and oyster pearl blue.

My favorite thing in the whole room is the Ombre Curtains.  I know it’s a big fad right now, but the ruffles make it so girly and they really do remind me of the ocean.

Like the post before, a plain ol’ crib is not going to cut it.  So I went with this freaking adorable coral crib.

The picture frame is made of seashells and of course this imaginary kids room will be full of photo shoot memories.  I also love the print that says, “The World is Your Oyster”.  It is indeed little merbaby.

And isn’t the light fixture incredible?  I am really putting it on my Christmas list.  I’m a planner you know!

The paint is none other than Behr’s, Seafoam Pearl.

Talk about some stylin and profilin kiddos.  Can I just remind you that I am not pregnant and this was just for fun, mmkay thanks!

Written by Christina and Tim
08.03.12

Ok so I have never actually finished the books….but Tim’s last name is Gray so I feel like it’s totally appropriate.

There will be no crazy smut scenes on this blog folks.  You’re welcome.

Although there will be lots of desk talk.  Just as exciting, right?

We have been spending a lot of time in the office lately; T is really busy at work when he is not learning HTML for me.  I have been obsessed with finding little nuggets of gold on the galactic universe we call the internet to inspire an office makeover.

Our office needs to be two things….comfortable and functional.  We are in the office chairs way more than we are on our nice fluffy-hug-me-with-pillows couch, so we need a little cushion for the tush that’s for sure.

If Tim had his way, it would have wall-to-wall fish tanks.  Huge flat screens on every wall.  Three, yes three, enormous monitors on his oversized desk.  An endless supply of pens, and snack food.   A built-in bathroom.  A recliner.  A fridge, fully stocked.  Oh and a maid, can’t forget the maid.  And my office would be in another room.

My dream office looks a little more like this…

Moodboard, gray, lighting, office, rug, chair, black, paint, color, DIY, remodel, idea

Our whole house is pretty light and airy; I need some moodiness in my life.  Which is why I went with a princess of darkness kind of feel.  All it needs is some dang handcuffs or a tie or something.

First thing is first….our walls right now are this mucus yellow color.  There isn’t a plethora of rooms that can handle the snot look, you’re really limited to the bathroom.  So we are going to tone it way down with a not too dark gray.  We really want to do one wall with chalk board paint so we have a fun way to jot down schedules, love notes, and play hangman of course.  For all of you worried that “it will be so dark” we have a huge window that lets in more than enough light.  We are thinking Benjamin Moore‘s, Bear Creek.

The rug is a little feisty, and more for Asti to have something soft to play on.  I think the office should be inspiring and needs lots of little fun pops of interest to keep you coming back.  This rug definitely pops.  Plus the whole I-look-like-an-animals-stripes thing throws a natural element into this very gray and sophisticated room.

The chair is perfection…I would love to find a cushy chair like this at a yard sale and completely DIY something to be this chairs little sister.  Dark, high gloss paint….fancy schmancy fabric and it comes out looking like a curvaceous piece of comfort.  Mama likey.

Every single day one thought crosses my mind.  “I need an ottoman.”  This one not only looks good, but I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t have that “oh wow this is digging into my calf” feeling that I get from most ottomans.  Not sure if our office is big enough to hold it, but a girl can dream.

As much as I love Gray…I crave a pop of bold color.  Hello sweet, industrial, bright blue desk.  With the curves of the chair, frames, and mirror…we need something to break all that girlyness up.  You know you want to sit and blog at this desk.  It’s so simple.  I find that if I have a bunch of drawers, they just get stuffed with secret junk.  I would prefer some open shelves above the desk to stay a little more organized.  Next to Tim’s flat screen of course.

The mirror is the bling that will draw your eyes up and away from our funky rug.  Just enough glitz for the room, and a good way to check the bags under your eyes to know if you should call it a night.  She is like our little pageant queen.

Then it all comes down to the details.  You know we need a fish in every room, so voila…fish vase.  Sweet ruffled curtains to lighten up all of the gray.  Chunky black frames full of homemade art.  And a huge candy jar, filled to the brim to keep my man happy!

There you have my dream office….now to get T on board.  Wish me luck!

Written by Christina and Tim