diy dream salon

My fabulous friend from California, Jana, posted her new salon on her facebook page and I had to ask her to let me share it with you. Check out what her and her husband Wes put together so she could work from home. Here's Jana:

We bought our house in July of 2011 and building an at home salon was first on our priority list.  I have always wanted to work from home and we kept this in mind while looking for our house.

My husband Wes did everything with the exception of the electrical and plumbing.  His Dad is a contractor so I definitely lucked out with all the skill and knowledge he gained from him.  He split our garage in half so that we still have some storage, but my clients never really have to see it.  I have a separate entrance that they come in from the side which is really nice!  No one has to go through my house at all!  

Wes did insulation and drywall, installed a window, put down the flooring, installed the shampoo bowl, did the lighting, and built my station.  I was in charge of the decor.  I was so stumped with decorating this space at first!  I had no idea what color scheme I wanted or what style to go with.  It's funny because I had been browsing a lot of blogs for baby nursery ideas and I actually found my inspiration there!  I had seen all these beautiful french-inspired girlie nurseries that I fell in love with.  When I found out I was having another boy I was bummed that I couldn't use those ideas.  And let's face it, where else in my house was I going to have a pink room?  I thought the salon would be the perfect place to be super girly (without being too obnoxious).

I scored that awesome mirror from Craigslist for 40 bucks!!  I had seen others on ebay that were $600 and I was almost prepared to spend that until I found that beaut :)  The salon furniture is from minervabeauty.com.  I loved the tufting and nail head trim on the styling chair.

The coat rack and magazine stand are from urbanoutfitters.com.  The magazine stand was turquoise but I spray painted it gold.  

 The armoire was another craigslist find.  I got it for a little under $200 and then  gave it a makeover.  I painted it white and used metallic gold spray paint (rustoleum pure gold) for the inlaid details.  A little hardware from Anthro and voila!  I love it.  It is a pretty old beat up piece of furniture but it works perfectly for what I need. 

The Paris poster on the wall was a random that my Sister in law saw at Joann's fabric.  She thought it was the perfect colors and style for my salon so she bought it on a whim.  It actually worked out perfectly!  I don't know that I would have chosen it myself, so I am glad she picked it up.  It really does fit well with everything.  The three frames next to the window are TJ Maxx finds that I spray painted.  I just framed some scrapbook paper that I liked.

 

And as for the stenciled wall....I used the Elegancia Allover stencil from Royaldesignstudio.com.  I was really impressed with the quality of their stencil and their customer service was fantastic.  The wall color is Bella Pink by Behr at Home Depot and the stencil color is metallic golden pearl by Martha Stewart.  We had to buy quite a bit of the gold paint since it came in small containers, but it really was the best gold I could find.  It is nice and shiny, but still went on fairly evenly.  There are a million blog posts about stenciling a wall (believe me, I read them all!) with some great tips.  All I can say is that it is REALLY hard.  Maybe that's because I'm not a seasoned DIYer, and because my husband HATES painting!  But yeah, that wall almost ended my marriage!  It is definitely a two person job and if I didn't have the "vision" it would not have been worth it at all.  But it was!  And it makes me smile every time I look at it (which is a lot :)  I found that what worked best was for one person to hold the stencil taut against the wall while the other rolls the paint on.  The trick comes in figuring out the right amount of paint to have on your roller and how much pressure to use.  Luckily we practiced a few times on a scrap piece of drywall.  It looks pretty good in these photos, but if you look too closely in real life you can see all kinds of imperfections.  But it was so much cheaper than wallpaper and I loved that I got to choose the colors.  It was a pain, but I would do it all over again!  

I love my little studio so much and so do my clients!  It is awesome to have a private space that reflects me and what I do!

 

Didn't Jana and her hubby do an amazing job? I love it! It has me wanting to paint something in my house gold really bad. Not to mention wanting to stencil...but not wanting to stencil! I'll  bet her clients feel really fancy going into such a pretty space. Thanks for letting me share Jana and best of luck with your new adventure of baby number 2 making an appearance any day now!

photography by Sara C. Walk Photography

e-design board: colorful & happy nursery

When a client asks for colorful with a lot of pattern, I am happy to oblige! 

This little girl's nursery will be a ton of fun.

We started with this bedding that they had already picked out. I have always loved a good jenny lind crib. Classic and timeless to a fault. We will layer the rest of the room with beautiful and inexpensive art and lots of color and fabric. The yellow bookshelf will add extra storage besides it being awesome. And for good measure I asked them to spray paint a chandelier a lovely raspberry color to match the bedding.

I cannot wait to see the final result!

If you are interested in an e-design board please email me at notedhome@gmail.com

happy chinese new year

This week has flown by while we were busy with our guests. It's been a blast though. We will finish up the visit tonight with a Chinese New Year Feast made by my mother in law. YUM! It's gonna be so good.

{via}

I wish this guy could come over for the party. I also wish that I had brought my camera into the Asain market yesterday. There was some pretty sweet stuff in there including the prettiest pink lotus lamps ever. I might have to make another trip in soon.

There will be some fun next week. I'm excited for that too! Have a wonderful weekend.

i'm thinking

On my mind...

{kelly wearstler}

{family circle}

This one is almost always on my mind...

{traditional home}

Super excited about a new project in the works. I'm on idea overwhelm heaven.

art behind a sofa

My wonderful in laws are visiting this week so posts may be light and/or simple because they are staying in my office. I'm really looking forward to this time with them. If I get the chance I will even try to sneak in a project while they are playing with the kids.

I did want to stop by and share this picture I found at Better Homes and Gardens.

I love this art option for behind a sofa. The height it gives looks amazing. And I love the touches of pink and orange. I hope you are have a happy Monday!

cynthia rowly

I've been loving Cynthia Rowley for years. She is just so much fun. Her fashion is amazing of course but I love her decor as well. Her home featured in Elle Decor a few years ago is still a favorite. I love her beautiful, lively interiors that are not over the top.

 {Yowza I love this kitchen!}

 Does anyone remember when she did the HGTV summer showdown years and years ago when she did the mirrored fireplace? I cannot find an image but it has been tattooed on my brain ever since.

And I love her take on accessorizing a room.

"Over accessorizing can spoil a room. That timeless fashion rule-get completely dressed, then take one thing off-also works with interiors. Edit, edit, edit. A space with excessive tchotchkes is unsettling."

I also really want her book which is a total steal. Thanks amazon!

yearversary

It's coming up on our first anniversary of being in our house. Which is nuts! A lot has changed since we moved in but some things have stayed the same since the day our friends moved our furniture in. For example the loft. The most this room has changed is when I move the sectional to vacuum underneath it. I'm determined to at least put a few pictures on the wall before our yearversary. 

I'm also going to turn 30 in a little less than three months. I'm kinda excited about it, I'll be like a grown up! Last night I got to thinking about it and I am considering one of those 30 before 30 lists for projects I want to get done at home before the big day. I'll have to see if I can think of 30 projects that are feasible with time and budgets. I know of at least 11 that I want to have done soon and won't break the bank. I'll have to put it to paper this weekend. 

One project for sure is to change up my red lamps in the front room.

{old pic}

I kind of love the red lamps but they just don't work in here. I've been trying to convince myself that they could and have avoided redoing them. And those side tables too. Come on Amber! But the lamps, the lamps need a redo first. I have a few cans of spray paint that have the best chance of making them work. And I also  really love these new Target lamps.

Which have the same vibe as my lamps. They could be yellow. But, we'll see. I might have too much yellow in there. And I've considered quite a few colors already. I'll figure out what to do exactly and then we'll officially add it to the list!

the missing piece

The last minute change we decided on last week for a client project was to add a settee that we found at an antique show and have a custom slipcover made. We are both thrilled with the addition. And now I have had slipcovers on the brain. Here are my favorites.

 cole and sons

centsational girl

 paper blog

 country living

Clearly I like the pleats a lot. There is something to be said for straight and clean too.

west elm

and ruffles too

 shabby chicks

I like the box pleated best. What's your favorite?

score!

A few months back I was lucky enough to win a giveaway over at A Blonde's DIY life from UPrinting. I never win! So I was super excited. We have had family pictures needing to be framed for longer than I want to admit. But of course once my pretty free 16 x 20 rolled canvas came to live with us, I still had the expensive task of framing it. So it sat waiting for that time. 

Last week, I needed to go get some things framed for my client and my mom says she has a wholesale account at a place that sells frames in all sizes. So I went and scored a few frames for her and a light bulb went off that I should shop for myself while I was at it.

I found a nice 24 x 28 inch frame and a mat board for $28. My dad cut the mat for me and gave me the glazier points to finish.

Later that night me, my favorite brownie spatula {thanks Ashley!} and a big chunk of cardboard finished off the back. We debated on where to put it and decided that by the front door would be nice because we would see it the most there. But, I'm never above rearranging! I am so happy with how it turned out and so thrilled to have this hanging in my home. It also makes me feel fancy which is always a plus.

Best 28 bucks ever!

client sneak peek

Well since we added the fun new change, I can only show you a peek. But, it gives you a pretty good idea. And I have to say I'm a little jealous of this master bedroom and it makes me want to work on mine super fast! The husband said he felt like he was staying at a hotel. Which made my heart happy!

Don't worry more pictures soon! Happy weekend!

not so big day

The big day was a great day. I'd say it was a perfect day even. Everything stuck right to the schedule and I was back minutes after nap time was complete. I even got to finish frosting the cake before the bus dropped off my birthday boy. Everything was just lovely. 

The master is done almost done. We decided to make a last minute change that is AWESOME. But did require us to shift the entire room over 18 inches. No biggie! But, the nice thing is that every single other thing is done. Phew! So we can focus on the family room now. Tomorrow I will post a sneak peak of the bedroom for you.

Today I'm going to huggle my kids, catch up on the laundry and get my kids rooms clean {they are out of control} Somehow that sounds like another perfect day!

big day

It's a big day my friends. And I am ready for it!

I have all the finishing touches packed up and ready to head to the install for this master bedroom. I'm bringing the pink over but you'll remember the other fabrics.

I will go finish it up during nap time/school time and be back by the time my birthday pirate gets off his bus. (but probably not before nap time is over :)

Looking forward to having his meal of choice tonight for dinner...bschetti. Love him!

amazing girl room

While Pinteresting yesterday I came across this lovely image and immediatly put a pin on it. And then I kept seeing the same image pop up all day long. It's a good one! This little girl's room by Andrika King Design is so, so sweet. I love everything about it. Especially all the color. I love pink and red together! And the headboard is so good.

I'm so glad this pin helped me find her blog Nursery Notations too. Check out her full post here.

un-limbo

This is an exciting week for me. A master bedroom install is happening Wednesday. I cannot wait to show you! Plus, everyone at my house is almost healthy again. So my outlook is much improved from a few days ago. 

I've also been helping a few friends accessorize their rooms and I will eventually show you those pictures when the are all done. And happily, there are things on my own to do list that will be getting done soon too. I feel like my New Year is starting this week since last week was a sick week.

It's nice to feel like things are happening instead of in limbo. Which I have felt in for months.

And the room with the roman shades is almost done too for those of you wondering. Just waiting on a few shipments. So fun!

So no pictures to show yet but it looks like there will be a bunch of after pictures soon! But since this post wouldn't be much of a post without a picture I will leave you with this picture of  pillows from a very happy basement I'm working on.

Happy Monday!!!

weekend project

One of my favorite things of the week is this great tutorial on turning your instagram pictures into photostrips. I love these!

Wouldn't they make great little gifts and bookmarks? They are definitely on my to do list.

a welcome distraction

So last night I was at the store getting a few prescriptions for my sick kiddos. Yes, all three. And I was feeling a little grumpy between my lack of sleep and new year detox :) Being tempted in every possible way to make a break for the freezer section to grab a frozen chocolate delight of some kind, I thought I would distract myself by browsing the magazine aisle instead.

BRILLIANCE! 

My new go to when I want something that packs on the calories can be a design mag! Same price really but nothing could occupy my mind more! I must not abuse this rule of thumb or I could get into trouble. It's only for desperate times.

Anyway, something drew me to House and Home and I grabbed it instead of my other go to picks. Why have I not been getting this mag?! It was so,so inspiring. I seriously ate it up after my kids went to bed.

I have seen this lovely image floating around Blogland and Pinterest for a little while and loved it but never clicked on the source. This whole article was fantastic. Tommy Smythe, who we love from all things Sara Richardson knocked this house out of the park.

The detail in this kitchen is amazing and I love the red lantern as much as everyone else does. I also really love the mix of brass and stainless steel.

These high gloss black walls are to die for. What room can I do that to? I think it would be fun to do a high gloss in my powder bath with lots of brass and white....my poor husband!

I would highly recommend a copy before this gem is off the shelf.

jungle cat

So, I have a confession to make. And maybe I've been avoiding this

BUT...

I do not love leopard print.

There I said it. Make of me what you will. But that's just who I am. I think there are times when I could pull off the look. Maybe to wear, I'm sure I could rock these flats okay.

{d&g-no longer available}

I might be cool enough for one leopard stool

{pinterest}

Kendi and 

Jenny always seem to pull it off flawlessly.

The funny thing is, I completely support other people and their love of any animal print. I actually just bought a kelly green and leopard notebook for a friend this weekend. But, for me I just don't think it's... me. Maybe my Mom scared me off from it. She has never been afraid of the leopard. Maybe I'm not adventurous enough, who knows. 

I think I do love giraffe print, if that helps you.

{animal print shop}

Am I alone in this? I sure hope not. If I am, just know that I support you. And I guess I'm glad I got that off my chest. I must be in a confessional mood because the other day I confessed to a friend that I'd never seen a Harry Potter movie. Do not judge me my friends.

i resolve

Like I said, New Year Resolutions are one of my very favorite things. I like to keep track of them too. We have some family ones and my hubby has his. But I thought I would share my very own over here. Keep me accountable and all.

{source via pinterest}

Be Healthy

I used to teach dance I had a built in workout that I was paid to do. And it kept me in pretty great shape. Since I do not teach currently I have let myself go a little. There's nothing like spandex and living in LA to keep you in shape. I have had highs and lows this year. I couldn't keep up with my 5 am spin class after I crashed on the couch one afternoon and didn't hear my baby crying in the next room because he had thrown up. I was so guilty and knew I couldn't function on that little sleep. I was also a grump! 

So my goal is to find what works for me and stick to it regularly and watch what I eat. I don't want to be on a diet, just eat the right size meals and eat smart. More veggies, less chocolate! And maybe, just maybe I can fit into that box of clothes in the garage. Because I will be much better dressed when that happens!

Focus on my House

It's been an adjustment to have a house, let alone fill it. I used to pass on things I loved and donate things I loved just for more space. Now we need complete rooms filled. So no budget or big budget I want to make sure my house gets attention as much as possible. Maybe even once a week...that would really be sticking to my resolution! I also think little things like flowers, a new pillow or a new picture can make a big difference and make me excited about my home.

Read

Not a magazine but a book Not just one book, at least four. I like to read. Why have I forgotten this?

Take More Pictures

I need to take A LOT more pictures than I did in 2011. I know I haven't exactly had a camera but I need more pictures of my family, house and projects. Plus, I'd like to learn how to take better pictures.

Be Organized

My house is actually super organized right now. It's a little messy upstairs with the kids out of school but all the rooms are organized. Even the coat closet and the office which are the fist to go and the last to clean. I've been working hard on a New Year's cleaning. Hopefully I can keep this in check with daily decluttering and Spring and Fall cleaning. 

I also would like to be more organized with my time. Mostly sticking to a better schedule that includes workouts, laundry and project time. 

Package

I want to be better with birthdays this year. I am terrible. It doesn't help that my husband doesn't know any of his family birthdays but I am the worst with sending cards and remembering. Maybe if I'm more organized it won't be a problem ;)

I also want to send a certain someone a package each month. Just for fun. I'm really excited about this one. I will update on this each month too.

..........................

Hope you had a great weekend and hope you had fun making your resolutions. I loved 2011. And I cannot wait to see what 2012 brings!