creation station

i had a few days off last week 

so I did a few upgrades to the decor in my life. 

Quick, cheap and pretty. 

Don't read into that. 

Remember that fabric I found at the thrift store? Well, I love it. Just as it is.

So much so that I made up a few throw pillows inspired by the fabric.

Gorgeous, GORGEOUS storm grey-blue LINEN. 

$19 a yard.

or, what I paid for it:

50 cents for the yard.

Tip: Go straight to the odds and ends scrap box in the back of the fabric store. 

This bit of beauty had 4 scissor cuts running down the middle. Sad.

Not really sad. More inspirational. 

Enter the pleat. Nothing wrong with some textured throw pillows.

What else did I find? Beautiful, natural white linen: another 50 cents. 

Part of what I loved about the natural linen was that it was the last part of the roll where the fabric makers mark size, weight and eventually sign off on their creation. I love it.
You can buy inexpensive pre-made pillows at the fabric store, in pretty much any size. Or, if you just happen to have some batting laying around and want some special sizes and squish-factor, which I just happen to, that takes the cost down to, yes, $1.00 for 4 pillows. That is something I very much like.

I'm searching for the right bed-side lamp for myself. I like to read at night. I also don't like to shine a giant overhead light... pretty much ever. After living in this house for about 2 years, I still don't have a bedside lamp. What I have been using is a battery powered camping lantern that might be the ugliest and most awkward late-night reading situation ever.
So, day off + kid movies + minor/temporary/frustrated creativity =

A temporary fix.

And, I might say, not an ugly one.

Yes, yes, those are coffee filters (just one of the millions of ways people use them) and those are battery-powered LED's left-over from christmas and its hanging from a ribbon I happened to have.
that makes this cost... lets seeee... free. $0. Which, for a temporary fix, you just don't get any better.

Well, that was Friday afternoon. 

Tuesday was a bucket of die, a leftover can of spray paint and voila:

Sad, old door mat is now a stripey and inviting one. Easy.

A no-longer-bland curtain

and a hanging bottle planter with a sprouting spider plant

(eventually this is going into the office

when I get around to moving that giant furniture... more on that later)

and this is Dani... helping... or just sitting in the shade, being cute.

and this is a quick, super-secret look into future projects:

because what is the best use for a giant mirrored closet door?

outlining new ideas with the man. He's pretty creative too.

go do something!!

-L