Month: July 2008

Creative Eye Candy to Inspire You From Michal Negrin

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Today I’ve decided to pass along some luscious bits of eye candy to spark some fresh ideas for creating newly decorated spaces your home.

Sorry guys, but I’m afraid that this post is going to be mostly pulling the heart strings of the gals 😉

Sarah, a friend of mine, recently sent me a link to a store that she had found while on vacation with her family. She let me know ahead of time, that the prices cater to the high end customer… and she was VERY right in her perception 😉 But… being the creative souls that we are, I know that all we have to do is, take a peek into the home of Michal Negrin to gain a fresh excitement for pulling our bits & bobs together in beautifully creative ways!

The store is called Michal Negrin

Please do yourself a favor & at least window shop around the store, because you’ll come away with such a warm feeling of femininity & romance 😉 It’s no wonder as Michal takes great joy in helping women feel & reflect romance, femininity, love and style, which is something we can all appreciate!

I suggest watching the video a couple of times! Then, as you look around the inside of this home, look at the rooms as a whole, as well as the individual pieces that pull the look together.

Then you will be able to look through your stash of items that you use to decorate with, and pull together a look uniquely yours! You will also know what types of things to keep your eyes open for at the yard sales, junk sales, thrift shops, and other places of inexpensive finds that you frequent.

Let me know what kinds of ideas that you came up with in the comment section below!

Enjoy!



Check out her fashions – an absolute FEAST for the eyes!



Here’s a little animated video showing how we can turn our world (our home) into what we would like for it be!

Garden Sheds Offer a Unique Focal Point in Your Cottage Garden

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cottage

I wanted to share a recent letter from our email bag. Bill needed some help coming up with a few creative ideas for his new cottage garden project. He is trying to pull together a little cottage garden complete with raised beds and a Victorian style chicken coop, where an old above ground swimming pool used to be.

As I share with Bill, I hope a few of these ideas will also give you the creative boost that you need to get started on your own garden projects!

Pearl,
I enjoyed seeing the display of boxes. I have made a couple of Halloween boxes out of cigar boxes. They were appreciated. We have a church auction in October and I plan to make more boxes.

Help me out here….I have an 8′ x 10′ garden shed that has been used for chickens and is currently occupied by rabbits. I would like to re-paint it and decorate it in a Victorian style.

We recently removed an 18′ round above ground pool from the yard. I am making two 4′ x 8′ raised beds to put in this area, and I will also be using some wrought iron type fencing with it.

Any decorating ideas would be appreciated.

Bill


Dear Bill,

When you’re starting from scratch, you have so many wonderful options! You could do just about anything you can imagine to your little building!

Here are a few ideas to get you started.

You could…

  • Simply give it a pretty coat of paint


  • Paint a mural on the outside to make it look like a victorian house


  • Add a few wooden elements from an old Victorian house (can be found at salvage yards)


  • Put in a few stained glass windows – or paint the current windows with glass paint to look like stained glass windows… you can’t tell the difference from a short distance!



    • South side


    Inside view of window

    Closeup of right front window

  • Add a pretty front door, which you’ve painted a pretty color 😉


  • Add some wooden window shutters


  • Add a cupola on top


  • Put shingles, recycled slate, or tin on the roof


  • After you paint, add some white picket fencing around the outside of the building (you could nail it right to the sides)



    • Garden Shed with Hanging Tipsy Pots by snowbunny

  • Add a few window boxes & fill with pretty flowers & climbing vines such as morning glories


  • Add a few stones around the front to plant a “little cottage garden” inside


  • Lay down some flagstones for a cobblestone path


  • Make a little wattle fence to go around the Victorian cottage


  • If you don’t have any windows, hang up an empty window frame & treat it like a real window


    • Don’t let the fear of the “expected price tag” keep you from getting started with this wonderful project! Many times, you will be able to get these elements for free or very low cost if you think creatively!

    Here’s where to start:

    – Yard sales
    – Flea markets
    – Salvage yards
    – CraigsList.com
    – Free section of newspaper
    – Along the curb (many times you’ll see a free sign)
    – Beside a dumpster
    – Construction sites, they will usually let you have discarded items free!
    – Check with your local township to see what houses are scheduled to come down in your area, then go have a look & see if you can use anything in your project… ask for it 😉

    Here are some more beautiful pictures of Garden Sheds to give you even some more ideas!

    My Dream Garden Shed

    garden shed

    Garden Shed

    garden shed chapel

    Garden Shed

    Bonnies potting shed with window

    Here is a very tiny house (used as a light in the cottage garden), that you can quickly gather ideas from.
    Victorian Cottage

    And… if all else fails & you can’t decide what to do with your garden shed… try this 😉

    GardenShed