Month: September 2012

Home Office ReVamp

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    ….and then there was the “home office” room to contend with.

     This room has some walls that are 12 feet high, was all white, has an inversion table in it (which is one of those things you hang upside down like a bat on, in order to stretch out your spine and muscles.)  This belongs to the athlete in the house and will not be going anywhere, period.  The room also comes with some very dated off white leather sofas which I do not like. At all. Period.  Additionally, there is a computer workstation to deal with.  

      Unfortunately my husband loves the sofas so in light of all the other changes I’ve made…this  sofa debate will just have to wait, so I had to work with it.  Here is  a  photo of the room after I’d already added the framed lion print, end table, coffee table and lamps, but before actually beginning the painting process.   You can see that even with adding pieces, the room is still “blah.” 

decor, home decor, home office, revamp home office, animal print decor, Luxor Living      This  room totally changes with paint to accent the 12 foot ceilings and wall nook .  I chose black again, as the accent wall in the nooked area, for drama and depth, yet a different color than the living room  for the other walls to add a touch of variety, yet still flows with the rest of the home.  

     I would normally never place a sofa in front of a window however, in this case, I am dealing with one entire wall taken up with a huge TV(another debate) as well as the conversion table contraption so I am having to do the best I can to fix up the man cave.

     This room flows now with the rest of the house and it’s functional and cozy.  He likes the warm, manly colors and doesn’t mind the dark brown and black animal print window swag or pillow!  


     The colors I used here were “Francesca” by Martha Stewart  for the black  and “Molasses” by Eddie Bauer Home. The goal was to use serious paint colors in order to compensate for the unstructured, bright creme leather set.  (Did I mention yet that I  do not care for these???)  A side note would be that if you’ve never picked out paint colors…it’s very hard.  It never looks  the same as the tiny swatch, so if you don’t trust yourself, just use one of the recommended design colors at the paint center you go to.  Each brand  has interior design cards in different hues, that mix and match great interior colors and give you good ideas.   

     Again, these colors throughout this house are masculine and warm, which will go great with dark wood flooring which I plan to have installed in the future, which will look expensive and be highly durable as well which is important since the long term plan is to turn this home into another rental property.                                   

 The next two rooms will be great fun,and include a total master bedroom overhaul !

-September 29,2012

–SDS

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LIVING ROOM ReVamp CONTINUED

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    Finally, here we have the rest of the “Living Room Re-Vamp.”  This was a hard room in so many ways!  First of all, it’s small. Second,  I had hell getting my husband to agree to get rid of his white pimp sectional, and third…there is not one “solid” wall.  Each wall has either windows, archways or doorways which causes complications.

     The black accent wall in the living room, continues into the kitchen and wraps around behind the divider archways.  This was intentionally done to join the rooms visually as well as highlight the archways more.

     The bar area opening is used as a shelf with candles and  a silver mirrored photo arrangement. Bar stool would have taken up too much room .

     The mirror over the fireplace adds drama and it’s a family heirloom which I love.  Candles lining the mantle add to my fun “Gothic Latin Romance” theme.  The fireplace actually has candles in it as well.  They provide ambiance when lit and are low maintenance.

     This end table is perfect for the small room.  I can not stand to see TV remote controls lined up or thrown around, so I used this brass dish to store remotes as out of site as possible. 

                                                                                                 These 30 year old brass wall plates are 35 inches each from top to bottom and make a statement against the black accent wall.

Black cross embellished candles

in iron wall sconces add to the drama and theme. 

 I’ve yet to attack the TV situation (that is a delicate issue with men)  so for now, I will move forward to the next room…the home office!

Coming soon…”Home Office Re-Vamp”…this will be a challenge!

-September 23, 2012

–SDS

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ALONG CAME BELLA

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pet adoption, tales, chihuahua

 

     It was common knowledge that Jazzy needed  a friend to hang out with.  A non-human friend.  So for years, I played with the idea, however knowing that the odds of adopting two low maintenance, people-like dogs in a row, was not likely, I went for it.

     There was open adoption one day about 2 years ago, right when it was about to be time for me to start working from home.  I knew this would give me more time to attempt and train whatever new beast I’d found.


     The adoption event was at The Galleria Mall in Houston, and there looked to be, a small, low maintenance, three year old Chihuahua named “Bandita.” 

chihuahua

      She had been a caged breeder dog (who would want more of these, I am not sure) and when the breeder was done with her, she took her to the pound to be destroyed, where the rescue group then came to save her. I paid my $26 pet adoption fee to the rescue group, changed her name to Bella ,and took her home to see what would happen, and hope for the best.

     I was told that she was friendly with children and other pets as well as being house broken.  None of which, I soon learned, was true.

pet adoption, chihuahua, dog in diapers

     She soon got along great with Jazzy, but she was not even almost potty trained, and she ran after the UPS delivery man like a wild wolverine.(Actually, he only laughed at her in the beginning, I guess because a wild chihuahua chasing you down, while wearing a pink and white checkered diaper, is actually kind of funny! (Yes, she had to wear doggy diapers for 6 months while I was trying to potty train her.)She tortured anyone who passed by the front of the house if we were outside.  She became very possessive over me, and to this day she feels that it is her job to manage the household. 

dogboudoir

   She’s very jealous of Jazzy, and always wants to be the center of attention.  She has watched our interactions with Jazzy, and learned some vocabulary and is smart. However, just because she knows what you want, doesn’t mean she wants to do it.

     The good part? the good part, is that Jazzy has a friend and they actually do play a lot. Bella is finally out of diapers, and she loves nothing better  than to sit in your lap during movie nights at home on the sofa. She thinks she runs things, so we have to straighten out her attitude at times, but from the life of a caged breeder, she has come a long way and we were able to save a life and give a pet a home! 


     

     It is sad to see her lick on Jazzy’s fur, as if she were one of her babies. Jazzy isn’t sure what to think about it, but lets it go. 

     In addition, she does radiate plenty of love in her own little bossy way and fills our home with another little heart that cares when you come back home and walk through the door. 


     Again I say, it’s a crap shoot, however it is rewarding to know you’ve given a little heart a place to call home.

September 17, 2012

–SDS

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HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN WEDDING PHOTO BOOK ONLINE (on the cheap!)

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     Somehow, when we planned our small wedding last year, it grew and got more complicated than I cared for.  The one thing we both knew we wanted was to have at least a few nice photos to remember the day with.


     I’ve had friends get married in the past that had paid thousands of dollars for a photographer to snap their every move, as well as pay thousands for a published “photo book.”


     I, on the other hand, knew that I only cared to have a few great pictures, rather than the current trend of having the photographer snap 1,500 average pictures.  I also knew, I would create and publish my wedding book, on my own, online, for 1/20th of the price others pay.


     I chose to mix black and white prints with some color prints to add a professional touch to the album.

     My husband, for one year, kept asking me to put the photos in an album, but I never did. I had secretly decided to make him the photo book and give it to him on our 1 year anniversary, which I just did in April.


     I chose, and edited the photos online using PhotoShop to crop or brighten or change to black & white.  One picture, my 14 year old cousin had taken with her Iphone and I edited and added to the album.

     

     I then researched and found a site called blurb.com to help me create and edit the book!

     This is a copy of mine, take a look! The link is below if you decide to try your own!

     My wedding photo book was shipped to my front door for under $70 within a few weeks of completing it online. 

     My next photo project will be just clearing all the old pictures off my computers and making a regular photo album again with blurb.com !

-September 14, 2012

–SDS

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LIVING ROOM REVAMP

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     All I can say is “UGH” to the way it looked before! When I moved in, all white walls, white-ish furniture, and one tan wall.

     When I first met my husband, after seeing his house, I ran away for about 4 or 5 months.  He traveled a lot for work, and the house seemed so cold and sterile that it appeared to be a home that nobody really lived in.  I assumed he had a wife and family in another state!  Even the pantry was so organized, that I got sort of freaked out because it reminded me of the Julia Roberts  “Sleeping With the Enemy” movie.

     While I love to be organized, it doesn’t freak me out if things get a bit out of whack, and I am able to prioritize and let things go.  If getting to work on time, means I can’t make the bed one morning or get the clothes out of the dryer and put them up, then so be it. My universe will not spin out of control. So there are differences between myself and the man I married.

     Ok, but back to the house.  It was just white and simple and not one thing was on the wall, and that’s the sort of thing that kills my soul! Here’s the “before” shot …

…and as you can tell, I’ve already added a few wall accessories, which had to be done delicately due to the fact that my husband thought his world was perfect already the way it was…blank, empty and without a soul.  There was some good architecture, but it wasn’t being enhanced with paint, so one wall or archway blended into the next.

      Now, the tiny entry way to the front door is accented with the same color as the guest bathroom and the paint contrast helped to enhance the archway as well.


     I prefer to be surrounded by things I love, colors, prints…things that are an extension of me, as opposed to being surrounded by nothing stimulating. 

            It’s not all about looks either.  There is a photo from  the 1940’s of my Granny standing in front of a old classic car, an old metal lantern that had belonged to my mom as a little girl, and a lot of books that were gifts, and well, more crystal.


This is a fabulous piece that I love, because it was from the house I grew up in.  It has great detail as well as storage!

     

     My challenges were trying to make a home my own, yet keep it a little manly, for him.  I have coined this look “Latin Goth” due to a lot of crosses and iron, mixed with darker hues and drama! (Ken is Latin and he supplies the drama!)

(Living Room Re-Vamp…to be continued) 

-September 12, 2012. 

–SDS

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BEST $86 I’VE EVER SPENT

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The Best $86 Investment I’ve Ever Made


 

     Having adopted dogs in the past, I’d already figured out that it was much more rewarding to be able to help save a life and share a home, than to pay hundreds of dollars for a dog with a special label in the perfect color.

 

     Years ago, Chad just showed up at my front door, which meant he’d been “dumped” off the dirt road in the country which had no other homes on it for miles.  He was a plain, black medium sized guy. After a few days of feeding him and keeping him outside, I couldn’t live with the guilt anymore, one night when it began to rain, so I let him inside.


 

     I’d placed a blanket on the floor, next to the front door, and told him to stay there.  The next morning I’d woken up, he was still there in his spot!

 

     He was the perfect dog.  Once we  decided to build him a doghouse, he started getting in it before it was finished, as we were building it. He knew it was his house.

 

     The thing about Chad, is that he was all about me. He did whatever I asked, looked me in the eye, longing to know what I was saying and wanted to please. (Gosh, it sounds like I am talking about a sappy man!)  I learned from that point on, the impact kindness and compassion could make to an animal.

 

     I believe a pet is a gift from God,  period.  They long to be a companion and friend. 

 

     Chad went on to an untimely death that made me cry uncontrollably for days.  I decided to be happy about the good life he did have for a few years, and only to adopt my pets from that moment forward.

 

     With that in mind, after a while I’d adopted a puppy, Dylan from the local pound. 

 

      The staff at the pound said a country man had just brought in his 3rd batch of puppies! IGNORANT! So in a cage, I see 9 black puppies running a muck.   I decide to offset the ignorance, I would have to take one home. 

 

     I read books on how to pick the best puppy out of a litter, followed the guidelines, and chose Dylan.  


     He was a plain black half deutsch hound and who knows what.  He grew into a fabulous house pet. My husband (of that era) was totally in love with Dylan, so I made the hard decision, to allow my husband to keep Dylan when we divorced years later.  I knew Dylan would have a good home and it would free me up to give another pet a home.

 

     Which brings me to about 10 years ago.   I’d been visiting adoption centers for a few months, waiting for the perfect pet that moved my heart.  Pets can be work, so you must choose wisely!

 

 

     Then I saw her.  Tiny, dark, shaking, scared of all the noise and the other dogs barking from their cages at the open adoption at Petco. I watched her eyes. She was smart, focusing on my eyes showed that she was trying to assess me.  I held her in my arms, for 10 seconds and knew she was mine.

 

     Jazzy Lee cost me $86.  I’ve have her for ten years. She is smart, low maintenance, understands many words, is friendly to all and she has been there for me through rough times.  She is the most important thing I own, and  wish desperately to be able to tell her that!


 

     When she has done something wrong in the past, such as accidentally get locked in my closet, get frustrated and chew up a sequined top…we have “conversations” in which she gets so embarrassed that she looks away.

 

     Two weeks ago, while visiting Carmel, California…we had run into so many pet owners.  They all introduced their pet as a “rescue.” The cutest one was “Wink” who only had one eye! One lady, Patty , in Half Moon Bay had a greyhound she’d adopted. These were all successful, enlightened people that were proud to tell about the pets they’d adopted.

JAZZY, terrier mix breed, Luxor dog

    If you are ever thinking of purchasing a pet, please go to a local shelter, just to see what they have.  Maybe you could save a life. There is one in Houston that has rows and rows of full bred dogs, that people give up. A lot of people do not understand how to communicate with animals so they give up on them.  I have found it’s usually the person.

 

     Again this blog is about the things I love that inspire me, my Jazzy is one of those things. The joy she’s brought into my home is priceless…all from a skinny, scrappy little dog with no home.

IMG_20141121_094913

    One Jazzy ….price $86.oo   Ten years of joy and companionship…priceless.

 

(coming next….”Bella…because Jazzy needs a friend)


-September 10, 2012

–SDS

 

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