DECOR

Home and Garden

July 13, 2019luxorlivingandstyle

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People often start to tell me about the many t.v. series that they watch each week. I’ve never watched one episode of Game of Thrones, Real Housewives or The Bachelor series – after season 1, so it’s been a while since the bachelor has been on my t.v. screen. While we do have a show or two that we like, we have other interests.

Since I work outside the home, I cherish my free time. I water and trim my plants, hang with the dogs and the yard is my favorite spot to sit and sip coffee while I watch the news. The real news. Not mainstream propaganda. But I digress! My point is that I do not spend a lot of time being hypnotized by the t.v. set. If I died tomorrow, I’d rather spend my day watching birds sing and fly about – because it’s what’s real, rather than sit in front of the mind control machine being spoon fed liberal insanity. (That AOC chick is clearly not well.) Actually, she’s so not well, it makes me think I actually could run for congress one day. I am at least able to write correctly and use proper grammar. I say that because I actually did read the Green New Deal. It looked like a 6th grader on meth wrote it.

I love the ancient art of homemaking and wanted to share a few photos of my summer cottage. (Yes, I am being funny!) Our home is not a cottage, or maybe it is, I don’t know. What is a cottage?

Well, according to Wikipedia…. A cottage is, typically, a small house. It may carry the connotation of being an old or old-fashioned building. In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cosy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. That’s me!

So I guess that means we have a cottage! Our home is one story, not very large and not at all a modern design on the outside. It has white columns, a covered porch across the front with black shutters at the windows. Very old school Americana. Although the interior is sort of Z’Gallerie meets Versaille..(see it here)…the outside was very basic so I decided to have the outside painted the same charcoal gray color as the inside to create the illusion of decorative continuity and drama. It was a cream color with red brick previously, and although it is darker now, it looks richer and helped to give it a more substantial, customized look.

Each spring, I try to make some yard improvements so that it will keep getting fuller and richer. I hate seeing wooden fence so it is my goal to have it all covered eventually with shrubs, trees or flowers.

I enjoy being home very much and still have more projects going on but I am pleased with how many improvements we’ve made in such a short time on the inside as well as the outside.

I am a bird lover and nature lover, so it’s been a treat to be in a scenario again where I can witness a lot of nature up close. Except for snakes. Snakes are disgusting and have no business in the circle of life. In my humble opinion.

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#GIRLBOSS GLAM ROOM UPDATE

March 4, 2019luxorlivingandstyle

You may have previously seen my blog post NEW YEAR, NEW #GIRLBOSS OFFICE SPACE . I had a personal goal of finishing within a certain time frame. Since last year, I have made a few additions! I decided to replace the antique vanity I had with a more modern white dream vanity with lighting – shown above!

I also decided to pull the white furry Pottery Barn chair out of the garage and get her recovered in charcoal gray faux fur and I love the way it turned out!

The office/makeup room is my happy place! One of my next big projects is cleaning out the garage by summer…so when I went outside to stare at it and see if the mess was still there…I realized that I had a fabulous yellow and pink vintage painting that my mom bought about 35 years ago! It was originally in our formal living room which was entirely white, except for a canary yellow jacquard sofa, I brought it into my office area of the room and it went perfectly! I love using things that are old family pieces!

I do also have a solid brass headboard that I may make into a guest futon/sofa thing…but I’m running out of room so we shall see!

The makeup vanity helps me out so much! The drawers are large enough to have everything organized and it really doesn’t get messy very often. The problem is that my pets – especially Blanca have decided they will argue over who gets to sit with me while I get ready. The know my routine, so the minute I get out of the shower, they are crowded together in my chair. Bella will whine until she gets a boost so it’s unnerving. I may decide to get a bench later so everyone can fit.

Below, you can see my desk, which I had to have so I could have a solid place all my own to work from. Bosscat Beauty is my new home based business that requires a lot of screen time right now since we primarily sell online and are working on bidding wholesale accounts and more product development.

This office/beauty room is my happy place where I can think, plan and build my life. It helps out so much to be able to have a spot to prepare for each day and focus on what I am working on at my desk or make as big a mess as I want to on my beauty table and it doesn’t bring me any unsolicited commentary from my husband. I’ve even been known to be in such a rush to get out the door, that I’ve left a half full coffee cup on my vanity until I get back home 10 hours later. Oh, the freedom! He doesn’t come in here so my personal shortcomings are not as obvious. In the rest of the house, inaction like that would require commentary!

I will share more updates to other areas soon!

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NEW YEAR, NEW #girlboss OFFICE SPACE

January 7, 2018luxorlivingandstyle 1 Comment

We are just a week shy of being in the new house for a full year. Initially, I had a goal of being 90% complete with the remodel within 3 months. As the contractors were working, I was planning the space, deciding on electrical fixtures, marble, bathroom fixtures, which furniture to keep, what to chunk and what to buy immediately. With all that was going on, I had decided that my personal office could wait until I was prepared to deal with more work!
I really needed a refresh though, because I sometimes need a quiet place to think an operate my empire. (Totally joking, but your life is your empire and mine needed focus and reorganization!)
My empire consists of my fashion management job, my new cosmetics start up, <em>Bosscat Beauty, my little blog that you’re reading, and KS Tennis USA…a local tennis business that my husband runs.
My goal was to get my office cleaned out, reorganized and decorated before year’s end so I could start 2018 with better focus! This is my reveal!
I had decided to stick with the charcoal gray paint, since that’s the base color that runs through the entire house. The house is not huge so I didn’t want to break it up with a lot of different colors.
Although I tried to go with antique desks, dealing with independent dealers was a hassle that I didn’t have time for, so I opted for the white Sasha desk from Z’Gallerie. I thought it would go well with the Jaipur Furniture reclaimed wood and steel shelving unit I purchased. I feel in love with it the minute I saw it. I did not realize though, how incredibly heavy it was. It literally sat in the hallway for a week until I found some men to help me bring it into the room. I can never move away now, because it’s literally heavier than anything else I own and it would be too much work. The unit goes beautifully with the distressed look of the laminate flooring in the office.
My thought was that the white, modern french style of the Sasha Desk would add a bright pop to the room.
Although I plan to try and add a small futon so that I can use a custom brass wall piece to the wall behind it, for now I am done!
I kept my antique vanity as my makeup table, added a vintage wood table that used to belong to my mom as a corner area. I am trying really hard to keep it sparse and have some open space. That is hard for me because I love to layer! I did decide to utilize the shelves for some fun keepsakes, and forced myself to throw out a lot!
The pink train case at the top of the shelves, was actually a creme color a few weeks ago. It is an old train case that had belonged to my mom, and it has some of her things inside. I painted it pink so it could be enjoyed and not hidden. While I was at it, I decided to paint my mannequin pink as well, and quit hiding her in the closet! I don’t know why girls love mannequins but we do! I also kept my mom’s old college yearbook and some of my old child’s books…like Charlotte’s Webb…just as nostalgia. Old things remind you of where you came from. The little white Bible was the second one ever had as a child. I’d originally had a small pink one, but it got left on the patio and it was ruined in the rain….I cried for a week!
This room is my escape pod, so of course it needed a chandelier. Chandelier’s make everything better.
Literally, I have no excuse for not accomplishing everything that I’d like to this year. I’ve created my own little corner to drink coffee and plot my days in. I have a space that has some old things, some new, and it’s just a fun little spot for me to work from home!

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED…

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TOP TWELVE SHOTS of 2017

January 1, 2018luxorlivingandstyle

1. CHANDELIER LOVER

Like most ladies, I absolutely love chandeliers! When we decided to move into a new house in January, I struck a deal with my husband. We could buy the house, which was about 10 years old, if he let me remodel the entire thing before we moved in. I didn’t want to drag it out over time while we were living there!

My vision included cramming as many chandeliers as possible into the house! Since we had visited Paris earlier in the year, I decided to use the inspiration from the Palace of Versailles for our little Texas home! The remodel went very smooth and we were able to move in on time! You can see some of the blog posts here!

2. HOME REMODELER

This is probably the fourth home I have gotten to revamp, and it gets easier each time! This time, I really got to have fun and not worry about boring things such as resale potential! My dad stated, “Well, that’s great as long as you don’t need to resell it,” after seeing the beginnings of the work! LOL! The saying goes, everything needs to be dull, safe, simple to help with selling potential….which I refer to as vomit. It was nice not having to worry about anything except what we want.

The other great thing was that my husband had literally no input! 🙂 It was heaven to not have to debate each little thing! There’s another link here. I had to have dog friendly flooring and furniture so those were really the only requirements.

As I sit here, almost a full year later, the entire decor part is complete and now I can focus on gardens and real life.

3. BIRD WATCHER

It’s always been a desire of mine, to be able to get up close and personal on a fresh bird’s nest. I’d always wanted to be able to watch the babies grow! I finally got my chance when a few months after we moved into the new house, a bird made it’s nest in a pot on my front porch!

I checked it several times a day and got to photograph the babies as they grew for a few weeks! If birds are your thing, you can see the shots here!

4. HUMMINGBIRD STALKER

I find it annoying when people always talk about how blessed they are. But OMG, I feel so blessed because I’ve always thought of hummingbirds as my favorite bird…and I have tons of them that I feed now! I spend hours trying to photograph them, and finally got a few fun shots. Not perfect or detailed, but they speak to my heart.

5. FASHION BLOGGER

I work for Johnny Was Clothing, a California brand that I love…so I blog about their clothes a lot. The shot above was actually showing off a custom dress that Eshakti sent to me, along with a Johnny Was Biya coat that I love! Although I have made some money from my blog this year, I am not one of those people that only shows you things that I want to earn a commission on by linking to an online shop. If it’s something I think is cool, but won’t make a dime for me…so be it. My blog is an ongoing commercial about clothing. What is terrible is that I could provide a lot more content due to my ongoing new supply of clothing but time is an issue. For us, if I happen to be dressed and in the mood…we snap pictures. I want to do so much more writing and hopefully this year I can get better at a lot of things…blogging being one of them!

6. LASH BOSS

I finally got to do something I’ve always wanted to do! I’ve started a new business in the cosmetics industry! After researching strip lashes for years, I took the plunge and developed my own brand, Bosscat Beauty. I designed two types of silk strip lashes and decided to start the business with one product, the Glam Edition Lash Box! The fun part was getting set up and building the first product from start to finish. Social media advertising is also fun. This next year will be about setting up retail accounts while also growing individual online sales to help promote brand awareness. I’m proud of my work so far and can’t wait to see how it goes in 2018!

7. CREATIVE DIRECTOR

One of the greatest jobs that I have with Bosscat is being able to create and design products that I hope people love! The above is just a first shot that I took for initial marketing once my boxes first came in! I will take a little time and get better at it, but it’s a start!

8. DOGMOM

Somehow I turned into a pink loving, flamingo floating, bleach blonde, dog mom. I think it’s funny as hell. I wanted to include this cell phone picture because it is so real. This past summer, each afternoon for an hour, I would try to relax outside with the girls. They love getting on floats and we just hang out and watch the birds and squirrels. It’s a little bit lonely at times to have such a simple life, but at the same time, I love peace and quiet so it’s really a cool life.

9. JAZZY LOVER

Being a dogmom, really started with adopting my Jazzy about 16 years ago. She was skinny, small, not too outgoing of a personality. She looked me straight in the eyes though, so I adopted her for the connection and her desire to understand. We knew she didn’t have much longer, so we took all three girls on a #dogcation a few months before she died. She had an accidental death three days after we moved into the new house. It has not been a year yet. I loved her and gave her a safe home for 16 years and try not to think about her accident. She was a great little dog and this year I had to say goodbye.

10. PET CEMETARY GROUNDSKEEPER

If you read #9….then you get why I created a Pet Cemetary in my yard! It’s my little special place to honor Jazzy’s life and respect her with a memorial garden while having a great prayer spot at the same time! I’ve never shared a peak before. This next spring my biggest project will be my back yard. It’s freezing right this minute and probably killing my palms and fruit trees so a big clean up will be in order.

11. WANNABE YOUTUBER

I started making a few videos again, due in part to the new Bosscat venture! It is so hard to try to come off as your true self, and look ok, and have fun! The thing is, that it really is fun to make videos if you have the time to put in! This year is going to take some serious time management in order to meet my personal goals! It would be so neat to be interesting enough to do well at videos but not sure if that’s in the cards!

12. MAKEUP ARTIST

I made time to do makeup on a new friend this past year! I met her through work and really like her so we took a day to play! Nothing feels better than doing what you love and spending time with nice people so it was a high point for me! Leilani is a total ray of sunshine!

In closing…these are just a few simple pictures that help show my year, and what is important to me. Well, some of the things anyway! I also love President Trump, Jesus and my husband. We’re not supposed to talk about politics or serious things because we want to appear neutral. It’s very hard to pretend to be neutral when there’s so many serious issues in the world and my conservative belief system is not in line with the previous status quo.

It irritates me when a woman mentions Trumps “ridiculous tax reform bill” which was only “for the rich” and he’s only President “to make more money for himself.” Most people who bitch about the tax reform agenda have not processed their own tax return or run a business so how would they know about tax code ? So yes…it’s very hard to stay neutral a lot of the time. I hope to branch out a bit and share more in the future. Blogging is very therapeutic!

Let’s have a great 2018, everyone!

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WELCOME TO MY HOME REVAMP: VOLUME 5

July 16, 2017luxorlivingandstyle

I am finally sharing the Master Bedroom portion of the remodel for the blog! I think I killed myself to get remodeled and moved within record time, so that now I just sort of drag around and have smaller goals set for myself. Goals such as revamping our tennis business web presence (especially since the main site was hacked, disabled and all the years of links were broken which caused Google to drop our page ranking which means it’s harder to find.) Too much detail, I am sure, but that is the business which pays our mortgage so it is important, but I just do not get where people have time to hang out every week in their spare time and do nothing but eat and drink and scour Facebook profiles of their frenemies. I have my empire to tend to. And by empire I mean my meager little existence in the universe.

Our kitchen cabinets just got lined because my husband took the day to get that done. I thought for sure that was a task I would be assigned so I was thrilled he did it alone while I was tending to that little side gig I call my full time job.

We are working together on a mini beauty product project, so a lot of time has gone to that for months now. More will come on that later! It’s very exciting.

As for the master bedroom portion of the remodel, I love the distressed wood laminate we used. The care is very easy and it is scratch resistant being that it’s a commercial grade.

For the walls, I really wanted a professional vibe so the easiest way to achieve that is to use a universal color theme throughout a smaller sized home. Because of this mindset – whether right or wrong, the same Behr paint in Graphic Charcoal was used.

I really spent very little money in this room…probably about $500 in total, on a new white Ralph Lauren comforter (that you can’t see because I have about 6 layers of sheet or blanket for that really fluffy look.) I also bought curtains, new lamp shades, sheets and that’s about it! The sheets are a satin silver animal print shown below! Love!

The photo above of the french door is from the outside leading into the bedroom. At first I thought it was completely unneeded to have these french doors added by the previous owner, but it’s really nice and convenient!

Most people end up focusing on their bedroom last instead of first. I feel like the bedroom is super important. It’s the place that you recharge your batteries. I feel it should be romantic. My husband was very happy with the finished product. I still have 3 rooms that do not make me super happy at this point but eventually I will execute my plans for them! I look at it as a hobby at this point and not an obsession! I will get to it when I can! The media room is the next in line for some fine tuning!

As far as the “before” shot of the room…it is below and was taken from the listing when the home was for sale. I loved the blue accent wall but it wasn’t going to work with the rest of the house. Our room is dark and cozy for TV and reading before bed. There is plenty of light through the windows during the day but the charcoal adds to the glam effect during the evening! You can check out some of the other remodel posts and pictures here for the dining room, kitchen, living room and guest bathroom!

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WELCOME TO MY HOME REVAMP: VOLUME 4

May 29, 2017luxorlivingandstyle

Welcome to the 4th installment of this monster revamp! The “before” photos of the living room are at the very bottom of the post. While the home was fine in it’s before state…it wasn’t me. Additionally, we are dog people. I really considered stress free living with our dog family members when choosing flooring and furniture colors.

With pets in mind, I am fortunate in that my chihuahua is no longer interested in jumping up on furniture, but Blanca would be a circus dog in anther life so it’s hard keeping her off of things. The dining room chair she is sitting in above…was chosen in part, because of the arms. When the chairs are pushed into the dining table, she can not get into them! This means no dog hair. That means less work. She never gets to sit in those chairs which is why she has a concerned look on her face.

There is a chaise in the living room, equipped with a white blanket. That is her spot. I throw the blanket in the washer once a week, and all her cooties and hairs come off. It really helps her from spending time on the other sofas when we are not home.

There are some random shots of the living area, some taken at different times of day…so the colors may look different from shot to shot. It’s super glammy at night, with candles lit. The crystal from the chandeliers gives off some shine. During the day however, all the windows give plenty of light yet it’s the perfect level of indirect lighting…in that you can look pretty good naked no matter if it’s day or night! 🙂

Graphic Charcoal in Behr paint is the wall color. Gray has never been a favorite of mine but I tried hard to force myself into something new. I think I have decided to redo my office into a charcoal, fuchsia combination in the future. As a side note…if you ever see anyone mention hot pink it’s because they can not spell fuschia. Just sayin.

Fuchsia (/ˈfjuːʃə/, FEW-shə) is a vivid purplish red color, named after the color of the flower of the fuchsia plant, which took its name from the 16th century German botanist Leonhart Fuchs.

For now, I am just wondering when I will have the time or desire to line the kitchen cabinets with contact paper.

The next decor post will be the master bedroom revamp!

-SDS