Drawer Knobs inspiration

I NEED to replace these knobs on our new Vintage TV stand/dresser.

Here is my inspiration collage.

The goal here is to DIY replicate one of the designs above on plain, round, wooden knobs. I have 12 knobs to work on, so I want to pick the simplest one possible, and that I am the most least likely to mess up. I really like the writing on the knobs in the bottom right picture from Vintage Sky, but I am not sure if I can pull it off. Next, I am wondering if I can find a pearl paint for the bottom left knob, which seems the easiest design to replicate from Anthropologie. For the top right, I would need to figure out a technique to create a mercury glass effect, also from Anthropologie. I like the crab a lot in the top left picture from Vintage Sky, and I think that should be simple to draw and trace onto a knob.

Thoughts? I need to get this going, I am so done looking at the original knobs, they are much too plain!!

Metal Bed Set: After

Here is the newly painted Oil Rubbed Bronze beauty! I am quite happy with the results. This was a very quick project and very forgiving paint to work with. I got the Rustoleum Metallic spray paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze from Home Depot. I went through 3 1/2 cans. I used a Matte Clear protective spray on the foot board only since I figured it would get the most abuse from the children. Oh..they have been warned about playing and hanging on the new bed!

Here is the before, the after, the Pottery Barn inspiration, and the logo on the $10 box spring! Serta by Vera WANG! really? 10 each?! Unused! Holy Moly!

My Master Bedroom Inspiration Board:

1) Lots of pillows, maybe a little less ruffle than the ones from Memento Designs. But seriously, how gorgeous is her bed!?! And all the pages on the wall!?! Hmmm...maybe when we become homeowners and I know I'm never moving again! Ever..
2) Pretty quilt with blues like this Pottery Barn one
3) White or Linen Flowing Bed Skirt/Dust Ruffle like Bucket of Burplap's as well as some of her rustic, farmhouse style elements

4) White Flowing curtains like Buckets of Burlap's

oh and maybe this candle too

New Master Bed

Out with the old, and FINALLY IN with the NEW! We have always had a platform bed since we bought our Eastern King mattress almost 8 years ago! First, we purchased a platform bed set from IKEA, which eventually fell apart after so many moves. Then I bought this bed online which wasn't made of the most solid wood.

My style began to change and this bed no longer fit with the look I was going for. It's a little too modern with an Asian flare. I wanted more rustic, pottery barn, traditional. Also, I felt like we really needed to add a box spring to lift us up higher! I decided to sell the bed frame and start hunting for a replacement on craigslist after checking out blogs for some ideas. So for almost 2 months, we have had our single mattress on the floor...It was getting old and I really couldn't wait any longer to be at a normal height while sleeping.
Lucky for us, I went to the local thrift shops yesterday and found a really nice metal king sized frame! I googled metal frames on my Droid phone and found that Pottery Barn sold a similar frame for $1200!

I quickly purchased the bed I found at thrift for $65! All we needed now was a box spring (or two twin ones to fit our king). And some paint to change the golden brass color to a darkened one to match the PB style above. I found two twin box springs on Craigslist for $10 each!

Stay tuned for the "after" shots! I am soooo happy with my purchase! Grinning eary to ear! And to think I still made a profit selling our old bed after buying this thrifty find!

Dining table for $12.50

Right before Christmas 2010, during my first thrift shop experience, I spied a lonely dining table in the corner, I took a look at the price tag which said $25. The thrift store was taking off 50% of all furniture, so that brought the table down to $12.50. I could have sworn they forgot a zero in there...but who am I to argue with a bargain and a half!?!! We really needed a new dining table big enough to fit some dinner guests. This table also came with a leaf! PERFECT SIZE to finally replace our 4 top tiny table.






I saw the potential right away for a barn/farm style makeover. I knew it needed some TLC, it needed to be stripped and re-stained, maybe even painted. I let it sit in our dining room like this for a couple of weeks until I could decide the details of it's face lift. Lucky for me, hubby was eager to get the project started, so he rushed me a little and together we chose to re-stain the top, and paint the bottom half black for a two-toned farm style look.
We stripped and stained the top, sanded it down and applied a Bombay Mahogany stain.
Next we spray painted the bottom half with black satin, let it dry, and I went around the table with my drummel to add some distressed details. The chairs were already ours from our previous dining table, so all I did was prime the chairs and spray paint them with the black satin paint used on the table.
I really like this idea from Sunny Days for the chairs, but haven't gotten that far yet!
Here is our "after" photo






I also went ahead and painted the two drawer fronts of our old IKEA shelving unit with the black satin. They use to be a dark gray color. Here is a shot of the whole dining room

Displaying frames on a wall

Pardon my interuption in blogging lately! I've been so busy with life in general, but mostly with...Moving! Moving-in can feel like an eternity. Especially when you move during summer when your kids are out of school and you're an at home mom. I have found this process is taking a little longer than usual this time around. We are moving into more square footage, so maybe that's contributing to the lengthy stage of unpacking and decorating the new place.

I'm at the stage where I need to get some of our family pictures up on the wall in the foyer, master bedroom, and the two kids' bedrooms. My husband and I picked out 4 frames to group together from Aaron Brothers. Can't beat their PENNY SALE! ;) I anticipated hanging these 4 frames on the wall in the foyer area. Only, after figuring out which photos I want to display and which frame they should go in, I have found myself re-thinking the original design layout. We decided to go with two rustic, dark wood frames, a more cottage style, white-washed one, and a silver toned one. Looking at these all together with the pictures in them is driving me nuts! I need some inspiration!!

It's so hard for me to commit to a design idea, but I find that when I finally do, I'm very happy with the outcome.

Here are a couple ideas and inspiration I have found surfing the net.


Not only do I love the design of all these frames together, I especially love the bead board wall behind them. I think this design element adds the perfect touch.

traditional bedroom design

This I like! I like the idea of the shelf holding all the frames, that way you can rearrange them without putting more holes in the walls! I really like the way that the mat boards bring unity to the display.

eclectic living room design by new york architect Roger Hirsch Architect

I think I will do something like this and use a combination of picture frames and some other wall decor for the foyer area.

eclectic bedroom design

Some wall decor ideas are: a metal letter of the first letter in our last name, an array of vintage keys such as these:

From Pottery Barn


a framed picture of coral or sea life like these from Pier 1

and an earthy decorative mirror from World Market

Whatever I decide to do, I will post pics when it's finished! (Hopefully by the weekend).

Yummy Lentil Soup Recipe

Nuggets of sausage give a little meatball action to this hearty, no-fuss soup chock-full of healthy escarole and lentils.

Lentil Soup with Italian Sausage and Escarole
1 2/3 cups lentils (11 ounces), rinsed well
5 cups water
3 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped, divided
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound sweet Italian sausage links, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 pound escarole, chopped (4 cups packed)
1 to 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar



1. Chop up all of your vegetables

2. Simmer lentils, water, broth, bay leaf, and half of garlic in a 4-quart pot, uncovered, 12 minutes.


3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a wide heavy 5- to 6-quart pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Brown sausage, about 7 minutes. Transfer sausage with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

4. Reduce heat to medium and cook onion, carrots, celery, remaining garlic,
1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add sausage and lentils with cooking liquid and simmer, uncovered, until lentils are tender,
3 to 5 minutes.

5. Stir in escarole and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in vinegar to taste and season with salt and pepper. Discard bay leaf.

Top with croutons for some crunch! And I recommend adding some Maggi Seasoning, something I learned from my German Grandmother. I think you can find it in the hispanic section in the grocery store. Otherwise, if you want to order the Authentic German bottle, click on the picture.


My husband suggested that next time we make this, we should chop the sausage up smaller instead of cutting bite sized pieces, so the consistency would be more like chopped meat in chili. This is a good recipe to make for dinner on a Sunday because there is a good amount left over for lunch the next day!

I hope you enjoy!

How to edit your precious photos in Photoshop

I found this amazing tutorial on Amanda's Blog and boy has it come in handy. I did a photoshoot with my daughter, Jayme one day for some images to put on her model card. She wants to be a model, and who am I to stop her!? Anyway, I'm not the best photographer, I guess I did ok with my ideas and composition, but I have a point and shoot Canon digital Rebel and for the most part, I just aim and click, nothing fancy about it. Sometimes the picture doesn't turn out quite how I want it. It can be too dark or end up a slightly out of focus. This tutorial helps you lighten your photos, warm up the tone, and make your image crisp & sharp. Check out the difference, all thanks to this Tutorial



To get this result, I followed each step of the tutorial up until Amanda adds the B&W action. I hope you will get as much use out of this tutorial as I do! :)