Organic Decorating from DK Living

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There has been news lately regarding organic food--as to whether it actually makes you healthier. A major study by the London School of Hygiene and & Tropical Medicine concluded that consumers were paying more for the "perceived" health benefits. To read more about the study, click here.

But this blog is about decorating, not eating, so let's focus on organic decorating instead. By organic decorating, we are talking about products that use natural materials vs synthetic, and styles that are hand-made vs manufactured.

But we're not the DYI kind of people, we're more like do-it-for-me kinda people, so we rather buy the "perceived" hand-made part.

Here are some that we really like from DK Living:

This is a fantastic rockstone bowl that's great for display fruit and can be used indoor/outdoor. It' retails for $200.

This is a pedestal, but we think it can be used as a side table as well. It's about $150.

This is sold per piece at $25 per piece. It's fantastic as a ground cover for your garden. We love this rock bowl . It's about $300.

This ball looks fantastic in person. It comes in different sizes and we like to display them in group. This one is 12" and it's about $75.
Here's some more rock mats...


We'll be putting these up on our site soon, but in the mean time please contact us if you need any info...

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Vintage Decor from Barreveld

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Our taste leans toward modern decor, mostly. However, once in a while we really like vintage decor as well. It's kinda like anti-hip, anti-cool, and we like it.

Honestly, we're a little bit tired of hipness--why such a need to be cool and hip all the time? What's wrong with letting our stomach hangs out in an old t-shirt and chugging a beer once in a while?

(Okay, we have to admit we only do this in private--never in public. We live in LA, for God's sake.)

Vintage decorating is like wearing an old t-shirt, actually. It's comforting and nolstagic. We found a bunch of products from Barraveld that we really like.

Here are some of them:

This couch is cored in soft beige linen. It's about $2000.

This antique book is about $30.
We love this door knob, dont' you? It runs about $25/each. We adore this settee. It's about $1900.
This cream/sugar set runs about $125 for the set.

We don't know if this actually works or not, but this antique telescope runs about $400 or so...

This adorable horse retails at $150.
We love this light fixture, either for outside or inside. It retails for $300. This garden conservatory is $4000-it's a real one though! We have no idea how much it costs to ship!

Most of these products can be used in a very modern way. If you want to see an example of this, go to Gjelina restaurant on Abbott Kinney in Venice when you have a chance. They have a fabulous way of using vintage decor in a very chic way. The food is fabulous too...

We'll be loading this up soon in our vintage decor section. In the mean time, if you want to see more or have questions about any of the products seen here, please contact us.

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Who's Grading?

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You may recall that I said I do not sew. Well actually, on occasion, I've been known to sew----for decorative purposes only. I think that I would probably sew more if it weren't for those horrid memories of Junior High Home-Ec sewing class. I remember unpicking more stitches than I sewed, or at least it seemed that way. I wanted my project (a cotton slip with lace and an elastic band waist) to be perfect so that I could get a good grade. Yes, I unpicked and unpicked and unpicked so much that I dreaded sewing and hated the finished product.
But lately I've been making some changes in my life. You see, I have spent my entire life only trying things if I first knew that I could do them well. I steered clear of experiences if I felt that I couldn't succeed.
But I have finally realized that I have held myself back from so many wonderful adventures in life. Why do I still feel, years and years after graduating from school, that I am being graded on my performance?

The real truth is,
I'm the ONLY one that's doing the grading!

Even if someone else comments on my performance, it's still MY CHOICE to let their opinion influence my life.

MY CHOICE!

And so, with those thoughts in mind, I pulled out the sewing machine, plopped my faded outdoor cushions on top of pretty fabric and got to work. About an hour later I proudly placed my newly covered cushions outside. I had a real feeling of accomplishment! Are the covers perfect? Let's just say that if I was being graded I would not get an A for quality. But I would get an A+ for effort----and that's really all that matters!

My family and friends will enjoy the new seating. It won't matter to them that the seams aren't perfect. They, and I, will appreciate the overall beauty and comfort of the cushions and the memories that we will make on our back patio.

I have the satisfaction of knowing that I created something beautiful. But even more, I have learned that life isn't about grades, it's about

learning,

making mistakes,

and realizing that making the effort

to learn and grow is when we

truly succeed.

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HGTV winner

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How HGTV winner is chosen?

Reality show that has made many people won a well-decorated brand new home. HGTV Dream Home Giveaway is show that only teaches you how to renovate your home in a better and easier way but also make you win your dream home with the perfect location.

Hgtv Dream House: Kitchen Designer

HGTV allows million of entries every year which they get either through online or by mail. With this exciting reality show you can also get to see how the best interior designer decorating the home and you can learn the process.

Hgtv Dream House: Marooco Style

But the main question that arises is that how they choose their winner? Firstly the entries are divided into batches. One is the online batch as other is the mailing batch. The batch holding the online entries are numbered 19-782 and the other batch is numbered as 1-18.

Hgtv Dream House: Dream View from your House

The lucky winner is drawn from the chosen bin which is selected randomly. If one of the near bins is selected then computer will scroll through the entries that are presented in that particular bin. The process continues until the space bar is pressed.

Hgtv Dream House: Winner of Hgtv Dream House

Apart from winning the house you can also get the chance to win some other valuable things, like a brand new car or other finished products. The winner is generally announced in the month of March. This year it was the surprise announcement that took place on 15th march.

Hgtv Dream House: Kid's Room

Smith was the winner this year; she won a dazzling house in California. You can be the lucky when next time, what all you have to do is just enroll yourself and grab the opportunity to make a cream home for you and your family.

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Picture a Tray

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The only negative thing about making a door into a table is that the uneven surface makes it difficult to display things. I could have topped it with glass, but seriously, who wants to have that additional cost, let alone clean a glass surface constantly.

My solution for creating an even surface is to
use a tray. Oh how I love trays!

I'm pretty sure I have at least a couple of dozen of them, silver ones, wooden ones, store bought and handmade. But I thought I'd make one more.

I took out a wooden picture frame
from my stash. Then had hubby cut and glue a piece of
scrap beadboard to fit the opening (he enjoys taking part in my projects). I gave it a pretty coat of spray paint. And then gave it a good distressing.

My technique for distressing is pretty simple. I start by using my palm sander and scuffing up the areas that would naturally show wear, the edges, corners and under the handles. If I had used brush-on paint, I might have rubbed those areas with wax before painting so that the paint would wipe off easily to show the original layer. To add more character, I use a paint scraper. With both the sander and the scraper I make sure to vary the scuffs, heavy in some spots and lighter, or not at all, in others. If the scuffs are too uniform it doesn't look natural.
I then finish with a coat of stain or diluted brown paint. I like working with water-based stains and paints because I can spray on a little water and wipe off as much stain as I desire. I try to leave stain in the corners and low areas that would naturally attract dirt and grime over years.Once dry, I added two old drawer handles. I could have added knobs, wooden balls or finials to the bottom for feet like I did on this tray, but I need my picture frame tray to have as much bottom surface area as possible. My new tray is beautiful and serves as a nice flat area on my door table to set my burlap lamp and other pretties.

Linked to A Soft Place to Land

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Remodel your Bathroom

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Remodel your bathroom with the HGTV dream houses

If you want to remodel your bathroom then the HGTV dream houses offer the excellent projects which will redecorate your bathroom completely. As the part of the home improvement the remodeling of the bathroom is gaining popularity among the every age group.

Hgtv Dream House: Remodel Bathroom

The remodeling can range differently from just painting or the replacement of the countertops to doing the remodeling of the bathroom by tearing the cabinets, floors, sinks, tubs and then starting from all over again.

Hgtv Dream House: Beautiful bathroom

The HGTV dream houses provide you with some of the basic instructions that should be considered while doing the remodeling of your bathroom. While thinking of the remodeling of the bathroom the person should properly plan accordingly this will help them to reach the ultimate design which they are dreaming for.

Hgtv Dream House: Big Bathroom

Before starting, think carefully whether you want to yourself do the project or want to hire the interior designer or the contractor of the bathroom remodeling. At this point of time you should also think about the budget that you want to spend on the remodeling and redecorating your bathroom. You should also plan carefully whether you want to just do small repairing in your bathroom or give it a complete new look.

Hgtv Dream House: Small Bathroom

The other thing which is to be kept in the mind is the measuring of the proportions of the whole bathroom and getting the idea of using the space that is available at the best possible manner.

Hgtv Dream House: Decorate your Bathroom

You should decide how you will arrange everything in your bathroom. Considering the main factors like if you want to enlarge your bathroom or keep the area as it is and then redecorate it accordingly.

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Adorable Garden Stools

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Ceramic garden stools are everywhere nowadays. We think the trend started with the boutique hotel chains like Mondrian, where they were using white garden stools everywhere. More often seen indoor as decorative items, they are actually meant to be used outdoor. Super easy to clean and versatile, decorative garden stools can be used as seating, side tables, or just for decoration.

We thought instead of the typical white ceramic garden stools, we show you some other ones that are more colorful and interesting.









These range between $200-$250 each. All are from Emissary USA and can be found on our garden stool section.

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