smitten with DOMINO

I know, I know. Domino is such an obvious thing to love when you love decorating. But I happened to go to Borders this evening while hubby and his brother were tearing our walls apart, and I flipped through the new Domino decorating book, and it's fabulous. I mean, I knew it was fabulous from the raves on my favorite decor blogs, but it's so fabulous, I put it on hold so I can buy it tomorrow with my Borders rewards coupon.

And a wonderful thing to note is that when you buy the book, you get a free subscription to Domino magazine for a year. I'd say it's a win/win. Beyond, the fabulosity of the book (I wonder how many times you are allowed to say "fabulous" in a post), Domino magazine always has inspiring decor ideas, innovative small space solutions, fabulous home tours, and more. And their website is a huge collection of all of the inspiration from their magazine, as well as online goodies and galleries not found in the mag.

Let me share some of the beauties with you to inspire you to check out Domino for yourself:

from Temo Callahan's house tour

from the kitchen and bathroom before-and-afters photo gallery.
I love before and afters because I hope that someday our house becomes a before-and-after.

from the paint combinations photo gallery


from Kate Bollick's house tour


from the domino decorating contest winner

So, what are you doing tomorrow? That's right- going out to buy your very own Domino mag.

DEMOLITION begins!

No, I'm not dreaming- the remodel has begun!

BEFORE:

DURING:

The exposed brick is half of a chimney that only ended up going partway into our attic. Instead of removing it, one of the previous occupants built a bizarre shelf around it. You can see the shelf in the first photo.

The haze would be dust. Don't worry- we're borrowing an air purifier.

AFTER:

It's not beautiful yet, but it's one whole room! We are now able to fit more than 3 people in our living room. With 6 siblings on hubby's side alone, space is not a luxury, it's a necessity.

YAY!

peek-a-BOO

Here is the Peeping Tom's view of our kitchen from the backyard. This way you won't have to be a Peeping Tom.

antiquing TREASURES

Don't worry, I ended up finding a few treasures during my antiquing adventure, and they were all in my price range.

I've been falling in love with milk glass lately. I have a few vases already and found this lamp for $8. It will be perfect for our living room. I'm going to find a bright lampshade for it- maybe red or tangerine.

I found this vintage suitcase in a corner where everything was 60% off because the seller was retiring. I ended up paying $2 for it. You can't beat that! I'd love to find a couple more to make a stack of them. The most fabulous thing about vintage suitcases is that they are great storage. I have a million throws and blankets, so 3 of them are hiding in this suitcase now. But I have approximately 999,997 left to store... 

Hubby and I were talking about getting a globe last time we visited the Antique Mall, so I went ahead and got this one because I loved the colors and it was 20% off. I think I paid $18 for it.

Okay, so this was not on my list. I was looking through a pile of sheet music and when I saw the title of this song and the cover, I had to take a closer look. This song is hilarious, and the cover fits in with our living room color scheme perfectly. I'm excited to frame and hang it... after the construction is done. I've included the lyrics to this song below. I hope it makes you smile as much as it did me.

Eve Wasn't Modest Till She Ate That Apple

Everybody loves a girl who's modest,

Everybody loves a girl who's shy,

When a girl is modest and retiring

You can bet she'll always get by

Modesty began in the garden of Eden,

In every book you'll find

I'll admit it started in the Garden of Eden

But just bear this in mind

Just suppose that every girl was modest,

Just suppose that every girl was shy,

There would be no dust when days are windy

To blow right in the naughty man's eye

We'd have better business in our marriage market,

Each man would surely mate

When they start proposing they can see what they're getting,

That's why some hesitate.

Eve wasn't modest till she ate that apple

That old apple to blame

The minute she ate it,

she felt humiliated and hid behind the apple tree till darkness came

If one little apple made the first girl modest,

It ought to work now as well as then

Once they only wore a leaf

Clothes are getting just as brief,

If every mother's daughter, wears dresses any shorter,

We'll have to pass the apples again.

Eve wasn't modest till she ate that apple

That old apple to blame

The minute that she ate it,

she felt humiliated and hid behind the apple tree till darkness came

If one little apple made the first girl modest,

It ought to work now as well as then

Way back in the olden days

Men were fooled by girlie ways,

For then we never knew them,

but now we see right through them,

We'll have to pass the apples again.

Composed by Albert Von Tilzer

and published in 1917- can you believe that?

SEBASTOPOL antique tour

I took a trip to a couple of our local Sebastopol antique shops the other day to see if there were any treasures waiting for me. Or actually, let me rephrase that. I went to see if there were any affordable treasures waiting for me. There are always treasures that are out of my price range. Here's a fraction of a tour for you:

This corner held tons of vintage signs, tins, clocks, and various other things.

These horses reminded me of my dear friend who collected horses as a little girl. 

One of the antique stores had a whole upstairs loft full of used and antique books. Too many to look through in a drive-by visit.

I loved these little bambis and mushrooms. But they were not on my list of things to look for. I had to stay focused.

My favorite objects to look at but not buy were these little peanut salt and pepper shakers. They are too funny. You tell me- what do their expressions mean? Are they about to be turned into peanut butter?

FINALLY under construction

We are finally under construction! The wall in between our living spaces is coming out. I'll post photos of the process very soon.

YAY!