TOP TWELVE SHOTS of 2017

Omni Chandelier, Z'Gallerie, home decor, glam decor, Luxor Living and Style , Houston blogger, blog, Top Houston style, home decor

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!  

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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.

birds nest, day old birds, bird lover, Luxor Living and Style, bird lover, baby birds

 

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!

hummingbird

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.

Biya coat, Eshakti dress, Luxor Living and Style, style blogger in Houston, Top blogs, Johnny Was,

 

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!

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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 BeautyI designed two types of silk strip lashes and decided to start the business with one product, the Glam Edition Lash BoxThe 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!

Glam Edition LAsh Box, top lashes, silk lashes, Huda, luxury lashes, animal free, vegan

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!

dogmom

 

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.

pet cemetary, home pet memorial,

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.

Bosscat Beauty, Luxor Living and Style, Glam Edition Lash Box, silk lashes, American lashes

 

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: VOL 2

Omni Chandelier from Z'Gallerie, Luxor Living and Style, Top Houston Blog, Rooms to Go, dining table, At Home chairs, Exa Wall, art collection, charcoal paint, gold metallic paint, Ralph Lauren Metallic paint, Behr paint in, Graphic Charcoal, home decor blog, The Woodlands, Texas, home remodel , checkerboard flooring, interior design

The Woodlands, Texas, Real Estate, Flip or Flop, remodel

Dining Room “BEFORE”

If you have not already seen Volume 1 of my remodel, you may want to back up and take a look.  It’s a really fun remodel that we did that was heavily influenced by the trip to Paris earlier in the year. Versaille, and all the other old world glam really spoke to me so we decided to have fun and use Paris as inspiration!

Any of the “before” photos you see…were simply the ones from the real estate listing before we purchased it.  We completed the remodel before moving in.  While the house was fine on the inside, it was beige.  It didn’t speak to my soul.

The light fixtures and chandeliers really add to the mood that I was trying to create. The chandelier is named the Omni and came from ZGallerie.  The gold framed mirror was one that belonged to my mom over 35 years ago and used to hang in the dining room of my childhood home.  Looking back, mom took tons of photos of home scenes, yard scenes etc and we always made fun of her and did not understand why she did it.  She was actually blogging for herself  suppose before blogging was a thing. I should compose a “Home Style 1980 Edition” and it would be the world’s first home decor blog post.  Add that to my list of things to do.

In the reflection of my wall mirror, you can see that we used the artwork that we had done in Paris. It is more so due to the memory of being in Montmarte with all of the artists set up in the town square, and Mr. Sjoberg leaving me sitting there for my portrait for 2 and a half hours while he got to go piddle around – than it is for the actual item in itself. All I really had wanted was to get a cheap piece of art to bring home, but Mr Sjoberg decided I would get drawn. So here you have it. Cheap Paris art.

Mom’s house from 1980

We wanted an ornate, old world styled table but good Lawd… I did NOT want matching chairs and the typical “set” look.  I found the chairs one day and decided to mix up the colors, using the two black for each end as a statement.

Why on earth did I decide to paint the ceiling in Ralph Lauren Metallic Gold?  Basically, I knew I had a lot of art that I inherited that all had been framed in gold.  I wanted to mix crystal, gold and silvers.  The skylight in the entry hall, the art niches and the dining room ceiling were the only areas gold paint was used, but I feel it was just enough to add crazy glam, and to forgive the presence of my gold framed art. Just think of it as a two toned Rolex.

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The white trim around the lighting helps to promote my idea of backdating the look.  A friend claimed the house has a 1920’s look when he came over. Oh joy! Somebody gets it! Another person said, “Oh.  Well is that the original flooring or the new?”  She doesn’t get me. The super large porcelain tiles are really my dream flooring.   I have to admit that the choice of flooring was also inspired by the famous Kris Jenner entry hall and primarily the same large black and white checkerboard styled flooring.

Kris Jenner entry hall, Kris Jenner flooringdenim1-4247

My entry hall, while not nearly as impressive, still has it’s high point in that the sky light above adds a fun zap of architecture. The metallic effects of the Ralph Lauren paint,  really show up well during different times of day as the lighting changes. I feel that the floor mirror in the entry adds some dimension. With all of the weird angles, it adds even more to the mix. Mirrors are a huge element throughout the house so I had wanted to carry the theme beginning with the entry.

I carried the checkerboard flooring through the entire house, except the bedrooms which have a wood laminate.  One of my main issues with the house initially, was that there was quite a variety of flooring throughout. It’s not a large house, so I felt two flooring changes were enough. Let me also add, most contractors hate to lay flooring in the diamond style, but it is imperative if you want to create the correct effect.  Laying it in the typical squared direction is going to give your floor a common, cheap effect. Actually it will also give your flooring more of a 50’s look. There is an area of Versaille that has the flooring in a diamond shape, so even they had sense back in the day.

As far as Versaille goes…it felt wrong. The sinful opulence was disturbing to us both.  I didn’t really feel that the greed of the “royals” was something to celebrate.  It made me thin of the poor, common people of France and how wrong they were done. Well…and so it continues but that’s another story. My appreciation of the architecture and art was overshadowed by the sadness of how families were treated back then. Hence, the French Revolution. Actually they could use another one right about now.

Omni Chandelier from Z'Gallerie, Luxor Living and Style, Top Houston Blog, Rooms to Go, dining table, At Home chairs, Exa Wall, art collection, charcoal paint, gold metallic paint, Ralph Lauren Metallic paint, Behr paint in, Graphic Charcoal, home decor blog, The Woodlands, Texas, home remodel , checkerboard flooring, interior design

Omni Chandelier from Z’Gallerie

IMG_20170416_183450_732

ZGallerie, Omni Chandelier, gold metallic paint, home decor, charcoal walls,

As for me and my house…there is a mindfulness about budget.  The chandelier was $900. The table, which also comes with a second leaf to extend it…was literally from Rooms to Go.  I never thought I would shop there, but it happened.  The table was only $900 because  I did not want the chairs that came with it.  Ick.  Instead I found chairs at the AtHome store which I’d never heard of before.  They cost $1200 but I thought they were worth it.

I believe in give and take with budgeting because I know of too many people who drive Mercedes but are constantly having to borrow money because they can’t budget themselves. I tried hard to use what I have, mixed with some new items in order to create a place we like to call home minus the stress over funding!

gray chair, home decor, charcoal interior

It is not easy taking great interior shots.  I need to get new camera lenses, and take a class! Add this to my list of things to do.

I hope you like my little retro French inspired dining room revamp!

The next interior post will be the kitchen and breakfast room revamp!  Beware, there are more chandeliers but then you can never have too much fabulousness. Stay posted!

-SDS

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marble bathroom, Chloe mirror, Luxor IMG_4174 20161228_155130-2

 

 

 

 

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