Summer Trend: Neon Yellow

It’s everywhere – day-glo is back from the 80’s and has officially become a summer staple this year.  I know I’ve jumped on the bandwagon with a few fun pieces, but even as summer is coming to an end for most of America, we are just gearing up for summer in San Francisco – AKA the amazing phenomenon of Indian Summer that hits just as the rest of the country starts cooling down.  I’d say it officially starts towards the end of August, and carries through October.

To me that means the end of fog, and the opportunity to FINALLY break out my summer gear.  Here are a few of my favorite Neon pieces I’ve been eyeing online…..

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Giuseppe Zanotti Espadriolle Wedge, Polyvore
This is a fun, and funky take on a classic fall wedge, but instead of a boring black heel, you get a fun pop of yellow.  Can’t you just imagine dressing these up with some cropped, tailored black pants and a sheer blouse?
Guiseppe Zanotti
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Sabo Neon Tulip Skirt, Sabo Skirt
I’ve had my eye on this skirt all summer, but couldn’t figure out for the life of me where it was from!!  Questions are now answered – it’s from online shop Sabo – and it’s totally reasonable at $45.  I think I may just have to pull the trigger…
   

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Betsey Johnson Neon Clutch, Karma Loop
This geometric clutch is as awesome as it is mod, and with a hard shell exterior, you won’t have to worry about cracking your phone if it gets dropped (am I the only one that has trouble holding onto my clutch?!)

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Weak in the Neon Sandal, Modcloth
Cute neutral sandals get a total upgrade with a stripe of neon next to the toes.  I also feel like these would be super comfortable for walking since they don’t have the “thong” between the toes that sometimes rubs me the wrong way.
Weak in the Neon Sandal in Yellow
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Shimmi Nicole Lace Up Bandeau Bikini, The Out Net
The front is standard bandeau, but the back is such a lovely surprise.  Watch those tan lines or you’ll end up looking like a tiger, but this bikini is so awesome.  I WISH it weren’t back-ordered in my size!!

Nicole lace-up bandeau bikini by Shimmi

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Jayda Blazer, We Like Fashion
For a casual summer Friday in the office, this bright blazer would wake up a simple pair of jeans.  I love the cropped sleeves and the single button, although I’d probably opt to leave it open.  This would look awesome with a white t-shirt tucked in, and a fun woven tribal belt in bright colors.
SuperTrash Blazer Jayda Neon Yellow

Decisions Decisions

Don’t hate me for this post, but I really need to think out loud about the layout of our room.  Hi my name is Becky and I’m an over-analyzer.

As I try to plan for our bedroom make-over, I’m on the fence about re-arranging the furniture.  As it stands, the room has a few REALLY annoying features that are making it difficult to decide on a layout I’m happy with.  We have a very inconveniently placed steam heater that comes out of the wall a solid ten inches… so that’s awesome. Not only do I not want the heater blowing directly on us in the middle of the night, but I don’t like the idea of the bed sitting so far off the wall with that awkward gap.  That means that that wall is out.

The wall between the bathroom door and closet door is not nearly wide enough for a bed, so that’s out as well.  That leaves the wall between the windows and the wall directly opposite.

This is the current set up of our room:

In this set-up, the bed is directly to your left when you walk in, so there is a direct pathway to the bathroom.  I actually never even had to think about the layout when we moved in – our movers put the furniture in the room this way, and since it made sense, I left it.  Now I’m on the fence about whether or not we should switch it up.

Here is the other layout I was thinking of…

The main problem I see with Layout II is that when you come into the room, you walk directly into the bed.  I also don’t like that the bed can be seen from the living room, and I don’t like that it obstructs the flow for guests that need to pass through the bedroom to the bathroom.

Now that I’ve said what I don’t like, let’s move onto what I DO like – In all my “dream rooms”, I love when the nightstands line up with the windows, and the bed is nestled between – it creates really nice symmetry, and “frames” the bed.  In the current set up (Layout I) I do not like that our bed and nightstands are up against a blank boring wall.  I don’t really know what to do to make that “emptiness” behind the bed and nightstands go away.

The other problem is that, the closet door swings wide open into the room (even though I keep it closed when I’m not using it), so the area right outside the closet has to stay empty so we can open the door up.  You might be wondering what the problem with that is?? Well, in order to keep this space open for the closet door, the bed and nightstands are no longer perfectly centered on the wall – they are just off to one side, and not lined up with the windows on the opposite side of the room… am I totally losing it or does it matter? (I think it matters).

Now that I’ve got it all down on paper, there seems to be more con’s to switching to Layout II than there are to keeping it as is, but even so, I’m still not loving how it looks, and I feel stumped for ideas.  I’m hoping that once the paint is on the walls, things will feel less empty, but I’m kind of at a loss!

I saw several rooms that used tall mirrors behind the nightstands and lamps to open things up, and give the feel of windows, but how many mirrors do we really need in one bedroom?  Remember those existing Quadrefoil mirrors? Should I get rid of those for now and store them for another time? Should I seek out longer window-like mirrors and try something like this?  It looks great here, but I really hate the idea of abandoning my quatrefoil mirrors!!

Pretty.

The mirrors behind the nightstands does look pretty good here, but admit it – windows flanking the bed just look better!

Bedroom
DecorPad

pretty
centsational girl

headboard
centsational girl

Oh I am so confused now!

Bedroom Makeover: Paint Chips

As I mentioned, I’m starting to think about finally working on the bedroom.  I mentioned that this room doesn’t get a lot of natural light (not that these photos do a lot to confirm that), but I have been trying to decide on a wall color.  While I was at the Home Depot, picking up my spray painting supplies over the weekend, I also picked up a ton of paint chips, which I taped to our bedroom wall.  I know that I should have picked up actual samples to paint on there, but it felt like too much work… and I was sick… my new excuse for everything… so these paint chips will have to do.

Right now, the entire apartment (except the dining room which I already painted) is a dirty looking off-white color.  It’s not creme, it’s not taupe, or sand, or desert wind, or any other fancy name – the only way to describe this color is off-white… it’s “off” and it makes the lack of direct sunlight in our bedroom very depressing.

To add insult to injury, the trim is painted in the same shade of blah off-white, so nothing pops.  Kris thinks I’m crazy to put so much work into a place we are renting, and he thinks I’m even crazier to do this knowing that I’ll have to paint back over it before we move, but to me, it’s worth it.  Step one will be to paint the trim a sharp, bright, glossy white.  Step two will be to paint the walls a contrasting shade in a warm tone.

I’ve decided on something in the “tan” color family for several reasons – while a dark color would make this room purposely cozy, it will inevitably be so difficult to paint back over when we move out.  This was a valuable lesson I learned in past apartments.  I will NEVER do that again – no matter how awesome navy, or a dark mink color would look 🙂

Looking at these on the wall, I’ve already decided that the bottom four are out – they are too light, and too similar to the disgusting wall color we currently have – even though they do have a bit more yellow, and they are overall brighter, I’m looking for more contrast against the crown molding.  In this light, I really like the darkest one – it’s second from the right in the middle grouping – however at night, it looks dark… really dark… and I’m worried it will give the room a cave-like feeling on cloudy days.

**As a side note, doesn’t our new rug look fabulous in the hallway?!  I don’t think I’ve ever photographed it in our house – pretty awesome.  It’s the indoor/outdoor Saybrook Runner from Ballard Designs – it is an insanely good deal and I am so happy with it**

I really like the one at the very top, along with the one farthest to the right in the middle.  I’m going to give it a few more days to make a decision.

The other thing I was thinking was to paint three of the walls a lighter color like the paint chip farthest on the left in the middle row, and painting the wall behind our bed the darkest color.  Is that weird?  Should I stay consistent on all the walls?  Maybe Kris will have something brilliant to say on the matter…

Quickie Makeover: Etagere and Side Table

Since I’m still sick as a dog, I’ve been taking it easy which means staying at home, and resting.  Unfortunately, I’m not very good at that (you can only take so many naps) so while loafing around the house yesterday, I decided it was time to do a little sprucing up around here.
Right now, our nedroom is very dark.  Not only does it not get a ton of natural light since it faces another tall building (love city living) but the bedroom furniture is also dark (remember my struggle to refinish my armoire and nightstands last fall?)  Anyway, it’s bugged me for months, and since a total bedroom makeover hasn’t been on the agenda (or in the budget) just yet, I want to start making a few small changes to help lighten things up.
    

Which brings me to this black shelving unit, aka: the etagere (well that’s what I’m going to call it).  This beast was one of the first things I bought when I moved to San Francisco over five years ago… perhaps I thought it was elegant at the time (woof), and as much as I’d love to give it the heave-ho, we need it to house all the things that we simply don’t have storage for – aka, my jewelry, accessories, books that don’t fit in our bookshelf, etc.
These are the few “before” pictures I could find of this cheapo metal shelving unit.  I didn’t want to put a lot of time or money into this project since it was dirt cheap to begin with, and it may not even be here three months from now, so I grabbed a can of spray paint from the home depot (Rustoleum’s metallic gold) and went to work.  
I also did a small side table that goes in our living room – here are the before pics of that:
    
I dragged these bad boys out to the garage, and went to work.  The guys at home depot took pity on me (granted, I probably looked somewhat lost in the aisles of power tools in my leopard print flats), and they sent me off with a super cute face mask and gloves.  Double score! Aside from the fumes which would have made me hack up a lung from this sexy cough, I would have ruined my manicure – a true tragedy (I mean, look how cute the neon pink is):
Anyways, back to the point… here are the “during” pics – super exciting:
      
And finally, the afters.  The whole project took maybe 45 minutes from start to finish – from dragging the furniture to the garage, to the actual spraying, the dry time, and clean-up.  
               
Not bad right?!  Keep in mind, I snapped these pics with my iPhone, so they aren’t the best quality…
You might look at the “etagere” and think, “Storage? What storage“, but it looks somewhat dwarfed in this photo – there are two boxes on the second the bottom shelf, and they hold all my jewelry that doesn’t look very nice on display (bangles, long strands of necklaces, chunky earrings, etc) along with hair “stuff” (headbands, pins, velcro rollers, a bump it – don’t ask).  I also have a tray that holds my pretty statement necklaces (below) and another dish for my dainty pieces (studs, rings, and small chains).

  

This was my first time spray painting, and aside from feeling like a badass (I totally wanted to tag the wall with some white girl graffiti… perhaps a knee jerk reaction from holding a can of spray paint??) I learned a thing or two for next time…

Key Learning #1: Hold the bottle far away from the piece, to avoid heavy coats
The shelves don’t look so hot close up because I didn’t hold the can far enough away – they are blotchy. There are also a few drip marks from being too close.  This stuff dries fast… really fast, so by the time I noticed the drips it was too late.   Oh well, live and learn.

Key Learning #2: Spray multiple thin coats.  
This ensures even coverage, and fast thorough drying time.

Do I care that I messed up?  Not really… Is that bad?  Eh… not at all!  They were both dirt cheap finds to begin with, (the shelf was originally from Ikea, and the table was from Craigslist) so the mistakes don’t faze me at all.  My guess is that within the year, both will be either left on the street corner for some other 22 year old to find, or back on Craigslist for $5, but while they are still here, I think they both look one-hundred-million times better.

I’ve got Throw Pillows on the mind… Again

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If you weren’t sick of hearing my talk about throw pillows, then you definitely will be now!  Yep… we’re back on the topic.  AGAIN!  I’ll be brief, but I can’t promise this will be the last time you see me agonize over them…

Quite awhile ago, Emily Clark posted photo’s of her friend’s living room, and after stumbling upon this post, I thought, hmm… that rug is pretty much the same as the rug we have in our living room… and yet… even with all those crazy colors and patterns on the pillows, it looks just right.

And, that’s when it hit me… I’ve been going about it all wrong!  I’ve been looking at patterns that are too big and mirror the pattern in our rug.  I need to look for smaller, scaled back versions of that pattern, and invert the colors of our rug to avoid feeling like the pillows are competing.  Duh.  Why I had such a hard time with that, I have no idea.  What I do know, is that come this weekend, I’ll be hunting down a small grey and white patterned fabric (similar to the two outermost pillows above) to compliment, our lovely trellis rug.

DSC_0319

Also, not sure if you noticed, but she’s also got the Chiang Mai Dragon Print throw pillows (in china blue).  I’m still holding out for Mocha, but they look pretty fabulous, no?  Perhaps that will be my Autumn splurge once October rolls around….

Sophisticated Entryway: Design Inspiration

Clean traditional.  Like the smokey mirror + animal print done right
Houzz

This room (or should I say hallway) is sexy… to me, it’s a slinky dress, dirty martini, smudged red lipstick kind of sexy.

Am I right, or am I RIGHT?!

Between the dim lighting, smoky mirrors, and animal print, I’m all about it.  It’s really pulled together and tailored, but very masculine at the same time.  From the cubist modern framed prints, to the dark wood chest of drawers, to the angled lamp and tribal accents… it says “manly” to me.  While there are aspects of this that I really love, I don’t know if I’m brave enough to have a space like this in my own house. Unfortunately, the original room was featured on Houzz.com and I can’t find the original page now, so all the details are lost!

Anyway, enjoy an inspiration board I pulled together for this room.  I’m sure there are so many more (and better) furniture and accessory options if you dug around in thrift shops, antique stores, and flea markets, but working with the instant gratification of online, here is what I came up with…

Zebra Chairs: Wayfair
Apothicary Chest: V&M Curators
Angled Lamp: World Market
Antiqued Mirror: Bronson Design
Driftwood Charger: World Market
Vase: World Market
White Stone Sculpture: Etsy
Wall Sconce; Lamps Plus
Jute Rug: Rugs USA

What originally drew me to this room are those fabulous chairs!  I’m sure they are quite costly (even custom), and as I discovered, pretty much impossible to find online.  Above, I found a pair from WayFair for around $700 for both.  Not shabby since accent chairs can run up the bill quickly.
Aside from those chairs, a staple in this space is a sturdy dark wood chest of drawers, that really reminded me of an apothecary chest.  As a side note, while I was searching for the perfect apothecary chest online, I could not stop thinking about that one episode of friends, where Rachel gets an apothecary table from Pottery Barn… anyways… if you haven’t seen it, please do yourselves a favor and watch this clip.
Back to the inspiration – several of the table accessories came directly from Cost Plus World Market – they are great for the worldly, tribal, or eastern influenced accessories, and unless you are looking for an original piece, they are pretty cool.  Speaking of, I just saw some really cool globes there, and I’m seriously thinking of picking one up.  Where it will go in our apartment is beyond me, but I just loved spinning it around in the store.  Etsy is also probably a goldmine here – support the small business owner!
Moving onto the art – it’s totally subjective.  In the original room, they went for cubist art (a la Pablo Picasso) but you could go for black and white photographs, old maps, whatever.  The floor looks like it’s possibly inlaid wood, but I also included a jute rug for a bit of texture – an old faded tapestry esque floor covering would also look pretty amazing in a space like this.
Finally, the lighting should be ambient – I wouldn’t try this space in a really bright area of your home.  It’s all about moody lighting, so go for low wattage bulbs to bring the warm tones in the paint to life, and create a bit of mystery.

Sick Girl, Sounds like Kermit


Kermit365

Yep, if my life were accompanied by news headlines, that would be the title of my life this week.  I’ve been so sick!  It’s been awful – especially in the middle of the summer!  I literally sound like Kermit the frog.

Side note: huge thank you to Google Images, for finding me a “sick Kermit” image, and inadvertently introducing me to this awesome blog that is all Kermit, all the time.  Seriously, where did the last 20 minutes go??  Thanks Kermit360 – you are awesome 🙂

Bookshelf Revamp

Using the pictures below, can you guess what is happening at our house this weekend??  The bookshelf in our dining room is getting a bit of a face-lift!  Ever since I saw the number Emily A Clark (my new design crush) did on her office bookshelves, I keep noticing dark backings on bookshelves everywhere, and I want some of my own!

bookshelf display for office nook
Recently
I looooove the color on these two bookshelves (above and below) – the paint is an inky blue, which is so rich and pretty.  My fear with mirroring this type of color is that it won’t “go” with the existing colors in the dining room.  The room is currently painted a light powdery aqua, I don’t feel like the almost navy would compliment it… maybe I’m totally wrong?


Luxe and Lilies

These next two bookshelves are a bit closer to the color I’m going for – its a dark grey – a true grey, so it will make the back of the bookshelves quite dark.  A good contrast against the books we’ve got in there, however I’m realizing that while we’ve got quite a few books, they aren’t ideal for staging a bookshelf.  There are no cute bindings, and not a ton of variation in color.

I’m also realizing that our bookshelf is quite a bit more functional than any of these here (coral overload in the photo below).  Ours will still have to be functional – living in a small apartment, we need somewhere to store our books, so this bookshelf can’t just be a vehicle to store cool stuff (For example… that egg below on a pedestal… A mini globe… Tortoise shells… A scull…)

Worst case scenario?? I just wasted $15 bucks on paint.  No big loss 🙂

Wish me luck!
def my style
Little Green Notebook

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Emily A. Clark

Office
Emily A. Clark