Pretty Things-Brown and Gold

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We thought we share with you a few of our favorite things this week. It's a combination of brown and gold-two of our favorite colors.

These two colors together are sort of glamorous in a very modern way.

We thought this would make a pretty space for a small room, like a reading room for example. Alternatively, you could use this in any small corner that can double up as a sitting area as well.

Here are the sources:

1) Rug 8x 10 $1100
2) Chaise Lounge in fabric shown $1785
3) End Table $745
4) Orchid $350
5) Lamp $695

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Hollywood Regency Done Well

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The Los Angeles Times has a feature on a Hollywood Regency today that looks very liveable and well-done.

Check it out here.

Source: LA Times

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Modern Dining Room Design

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This modern dinin groom has been transformed into a modern dining area. Looking almost like a waterfall, a glass screen has been installed above a wood buffet to shield the dining table from the kitchen. With glass doors offering spectacular desert vistas right at their elbows and a ceiling that's fantastically raised above their heads, diners won't be distracted by what's happening at the stove.

Tantamount to the architecture and the views, though, are the materials: a stone floor, steel-banded chairs, a modern metal light fixture, a glass-topped table, and granite layering the curved buffet. It's a full serving of interesting textures that makes the room memorable. The palette for finishes and fabrics is kept to colors that are reminiscent of the surroundings, and this helps to produce a serene atmosphere.

And, for more serenity, note the curves: the buffet, the dining chairs, the upholstered seats in the living area, the round tables, and the ceiling dome. Not many sharp edges are here to jar a mood. For a different mood, consider creating a serious, luxurious space set aside specifically for great meals and conversation. In the next section, get ideas for creating a traditional dining room.

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Living Room Lighting Photos Idea

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In interior design, a focal point is important in every room. It could be a large window or painting or an interesting art piece. In your living room, arrange your furniture around a focal point. Put your biggest piece of furniture first (like the sofa) then continue with the smaller pieces of furniture down to your accent pieces. Your living room is what creates the first impression for visitors to your home. It reflects your personality as much as it creates a welcoming environment. So you need to decide on the theme, and look and feel of the room. Should it be casual and colorful? Or glitzy and glamorous? Should it be traditional or contemporary? What best reflects your personality? Choose your furniture and color scheme according to the theme you want. Select your accessories to add highlights. Combine prints and plains for curtains and upholstery. Add a touch of warmth with rugs and cushions. Use lighting to create the right mood. Then give a finishing touch with potted plants and flower arrangements.

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Furniture Wardrobe Design Ideas

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Functional furniture on your home interior can make a tremendous difference in small space living. If you have to give up space to any piece of furniture it needs to perform its intended function flawlessly.

The Wardrobe is an efficient elegant piece designed with limited space in mind. The Wardrobe is 23.6 x 26.8 x 68.5 inches. It is not a large piece. It is designed in such a way so that when closed it looks like one solid piece — a standard stylish wardrobe. Its design is modern with a definite Art Deco flare. The Wardrobe is actually two separate pieces — the “door” section and the “back” stationary section. The door section has a telescoping rail to hang clothing, three compartments and a large bin at the bottom. The back section has adjustable shelves that allow you to take advantage of the space beneath short hanging items.

The Wardrobe is an excellent example of very space-efficient design. It’s a great wardrobe that has enough space to contain a sizeable amount of clothing in a stylish package.

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Home Theatre Photos Idea

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Home Theatre give an great entertainment at home. You can place at your living room.

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Suggestions, Inspiration and Motivation

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Thank you all for your helpful suggestions and comments of empathy yesterday. You are all so sweet and wonderful! I appreciate you! You are the reason that I continue to blog. I am constantly humbled by the fact that you take the time to visit me. Thank you for your kindness! Hopefully we'll have the situation resolved soon. If you are interested in protecting your blogs, go to yesterday's comments and read the important info that "Parkwood Cottage" and "The Swords" shared.
Well, on to other things. This week I've been busying myself with things that aren't all that fun to post about---laundry, cleaning, weeding, sorting through my inventory/storage room and sending things to the thrift store. I think I even broke a personal record by not even spray painting a single item this week. Shocking, I know. I do have a few projects in the works though. But in the meantime, I didn't want to leave you for the weekend without something fun. So I pulled photos of my mantle and shelf decorations---just in case you're planning a mantle or shelf make-over and need a little inspiration &/or motivation.

Moss balls in milk glass vasesBotanicals, topiaries, and a cut-glass windowBirdhouse, books, flowers and finials
Mirrors, mercury glass, nests, candles and
apothecary jars filled with flowers and ferns Old ceiling tin, ferns, and botanical prints And since our weather is supposed to drop
down to the 70's, I thought I'd tease you
with a little Fall decor.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Joy @ Joys of Home

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Bedroom Design Photos Idea

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There are some contemporary bedroom design ideas. Contemporary bedroom design is about simplicity. This design style is anchored around clean lines and few accessories. Use a contemporary bedroom design when you want a simple, streamlined retreat at the end of a busyday Contemporary Bedrooms is a new source of inspiration for your bedroom from the bedroom inspiration series.

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THEFT WARNING

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Rhoda from Southern Hospitality emailed me to tell me that another "blog" has been using my posts. They are posting each post in it's entirety. I am not the only blogger that is having their posts hi-jacked.
At first I wanted to believe that it may be someone's inspiration blog. But every one of my posts have been posted there which leads me to believe that it's not just for inspiration. I have left several comments on this "blog" asking them to contact me but I have not heard a word. Needless to say, I feel frustrated and violated. I notified one of the other bloggers whose work I recognize. We are trying to stop this blatant attempt at stealing our work. It is simply not ethical! We are both posting warnings. Interestingly enough, her warning post has even been stolen and put on this "blog."
We are working to correct whatever it is that is going on, but in the meantime, as my fellow blogger said we "want to warn fellow bloggers to make sure that you follow up on blogs that are linking to you, and where your traffic is coming from. And if you happen upon a post that looks suspiciously familiar, please let that blogger know. We need to watch out for one another! We pour our hearts into our blogs, and for heavens sake, we need to give credit where credit is due."

In an effort to stop this blog theft, I'm signing this post and linking to my blog.
JOY at
Joys of Home

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Change Is Constant

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I love my living room couch. It's long and deep and comfy. A perfect couch for napping on. It originally came with a lot of pillows that looked like this: Because it's such a deep couch the pillows actually stay in place and don't end up on the floor. Because it's such a pretty shade of chocolate brown almost any color looks great with it. Perhaps that's why I enjoy changing out the pillows so often. It's a small change that can transform the feel of the entire room. Pillows can be very pricey, that's why I'm constantly on the look out at thrift stores and on clearance racks. I also use pillow covers to change my existing pillows. I've purchased covers at the thrift store and the dollar store.
Look here for a great tutorial on how to make pillow covers.When decorating with pillows I like to combine similar colors or tones and I find that I really like it when I can mix in a lot of pattern and texture. Do you like to change out your pillows too?

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Home Improvement

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Home improvement via reality show

Looking for your dream home where you can live a peaceful and luxurious life. There is an exciting opportunity for you where you can participate in a reality program and won a well designed home in low prices that will be afar from your expectations.

Hgtv Dream House: Spiral Stairs

HGTV or Home and Garden television is a show that provides renovation from the loft to the basement. HGTV will also reveal every step of repairing and rebuilding the home.

Hgtv Dream House: Can be your Working Room

HGTV offers directives to make your home a dream home. You can see the video clips on the construction of gardens and rooms. It provides you with the easy steps of renovations so that you can do it easily by yourself.

Hgtv Dream House: Choose the Door

It is a fun to participate and in and even exciting to watch. The objective of HGTV is to provide people with ideas for home renovations. You can take part in the show and can win your dream home. Log on to the HGTV website and you will get the information you want.

Also entries for taking part in HGTV is open every day and you can enroll yourself unlimited number of times. The impact of HGTV on the viewers is quite surprising. After watching the show people are adorning their homes to make them look vivid.

Hgtv Dream House: Home improvement

The show is giving an overwhelming response to the home improvement industry as this show appeals mainly to everybody especially those who have the ability to pay for major home renovations projects. This creative television show has brought a new change in the home improvement market.

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Like HGTV dream home

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Reasons to look for a home like HGTV dream home

There are a number of reasons that makes HGTV dream home a desirable residence for all of us. This home includes outstanding interior as well as exterior décor. All the rooms of this house including the living room and family room are exceptionally appealing and attractive.

Hgtv Dream House: Kids Room

The living room of the HGTV dream home includes elegant interiors that make this residence a dream residence for all of us. The living room of this home looks unbelievably attractive with bold wall color paints and includes blue color palette.

Hgtv Dream House: Kitchen

This space includes world class furnishings that reward a striking look to the overall space. The living room of this home is one of the most desirable parts of this home that is decorated with fanciful accessories and artwork shine.

Hgtv Dream House: Build your Dream House

The dining room of this home is also a dream come true for all of us. The dining room looks amazingly appealing with native as well as western style decoration. The grace and the alluring designs that one can find in the rooms of the HGTV dream home can be rarely found in other homes of the world.

Hgtv Dream House: Dream

This home appears superb and extremely stylish and can attract the guests like never before. The dining room of the HGTV dream home is made exceptionally stylish with inclusions such as rustic accessories and abstract art. Guests can feel excited by getting into this world clash home. Families can enjoy get together in the family room of this dream home.

The family room includes all those inclusions that are required to make the guests feel comfortable such as gas fireplace.

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The Perfect Day

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In almost a year and a half of blogging I have shared several DIY projects, lots of thrift store goodies, and numerous photos of the decor in my home. So that might lead you to believe that a perfect day for me would be when I've made something wonderful, or purchased an awesome thrift store find, or have my home or yard decorated to perfection.

But that's not the case.

An example of my idea of a perfect day happened last weekend. Son #2 got a wild idea to jump on a motorcycle and ride it in our backyard. Within seconds son #3 was on another motorcycle and both were circling the yard making a large figure eight track while #4 son ran around shooting them both with a nerf gun. Of course, I grabbed the movie camera to document the fun. No, I wasn't concerned that their antics would ruin my beautiful yard. As my hubby has said for years, "We're raising sons, not grass."
So you see, although I post a lot of pretty things on this blog, those really aren't the things that matter most to me. I make my home and yard pretty for one purpose only, so that my family will have beautiful places to make wonderful lifetime memories.

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Where to Shop & Eat in LA

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We've been meaning to share with you our favorite list of where to shop and eat in LA. It occured to us whenever we travel--that how nice it would be to have someone shares the local spots--as if they were your friend.

Well, we'd like to consider you our friend, and here is our short list:

Where to shop for home furnishings:

Most of the home furnishing stores are located in the West Hollywood/Melrose area--but our favorites is Weego, which is located in Santa Monica. Their stuff is very much our style, fresh and fun and colorful. Decently-priced too..

Another fabulous store is Grace Home in Brentwood. In fact this is our favorite store in all of LA. It's small but it's done very well. Pricey though.

Where to shop for clothes

For clothes/shoes shopping, the better stores are located on Robertson Blvd/Melrose Blvd. Rodeo Drive is actually quite boring and stuffy.

A great place for outlet shopping is the Camarillo outlet, which is about 30-40 minutes from LA. Here you'll find some very high-end stores like Saks, Neiman Marcus, Dolce & Gabana. Shop wisely though. Not everything is a bargain.

Where to eat

For eating, our favorite thing to do in the world, a marvelous place to try is Beechwood in Marina Del Rey. Their sweet potatoes fries and Angus burger are to die for. So yummy.

Gjelina on Abbott Kinney in Venice opened about a year ago and got rave reviews. The food is excellent.

For amazing Chinese food, try the San Gabriel/Abraham area. Check the LA Times food section for the latest spots.

For Vietnamese food, you'll have to drive down little Saigon off Bolsa in Anaheim.

What to do:

A very LA thing to do, is to see a classic movie at the Hollywood Cemetary in the summer. Click here for movie schedule.

Go rollerblading along Santa Monica & Venice. You can go for miles, and the people watching part is a blast.

Have a drink at Shutters or Casa Del Mar and watch the sunset... At night, go to the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica and have a drink by the pool while laying beneath the palm tree. It's a marvelous bar at night. Beautiful & young crowd.

For updated listing of things to do, check out Caroline on Crack, an LA blog.

Would you like to share your list? We'd love to have it! Please send us your favorite spots in your town, with some pictures if possible, and we'll publish it.

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Thrifty Family Room Finds

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I picked up a couple of goodies at the thrift store that look great in my family room. The first is this clock that I paid one whole dollar for. I placed it in a thrifted tray on the door sofa table. Now hubby knows the time and where to find the remote.
I also found this wool rug for ten dollars. It's in great shape and the colors and bold pattern are perfect in the family room. And yes, I put a rug, on top of a rug, on top of my painted floor. I'm sure that some people would cringe, but hey, it's my home and I can choose to not listen to "some people."

To see other blogger's great finds,
go to Southern Hospitality

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