Tuesday, 4 June 2013

Charming One-of-a-Kind Teapot Floor Lamp!






This is one of those transformations that turns out so fantastic, that it pains me to sell the piece!









Are you curious to find out what you are looking at?










Well, let's take a look...starting with the before!






I purchased a vintage heavy floor lamp table at our local thrift store several months ago. It looked like this...



I knew it needed some work, but thought if I

Monday, 3 June 2013

A Little Playroom Grows Up Just a Bit ...

Once upon a time, a precious little boy used to have fun in this space ... banging on his little drums ... playing at his little table ... pretending he could read his little picture books.  

And, theeen, without our approval, he started to grow up!  Sadly, it was time to let go of his "little, little" boy playroom.  *Sniff, sniff.*

As much as I wasn't ready ... it was time for a change for our then 6 year old.

BEFORE:


AFTER!  Here's his "big, little boy" hang out room today!  


One thing I didn't want to let go of was the primary color scheme ... wanted this space to still feel "alive."


We traded his light blue sofa for a brown microfiber one and threw on a couple of pillows from Pottery Barn that used to be in our great room.


The British flag pillow is from a local fabric shop (Fabric Showcase) and adds a great punch of color.  The blue lamps are from a local furniture shop, and the side tables are from none other than Home Goods.

I then ordered this piece of art from "art.com."  I loved it the minute I spotted it because it's a bit vintage, full of great colors, annnnd my husband is from "Joisey":


It was then on to the curtains!  I wanted something "vintagey-nautical," full of primary colors.  When I spotted the below fabric at Fabric Showcase, I knew it just might work!  I chose to do only the upper 1/4 of the panels in the patterned fabric and opted for a solid navy blue fabric below ....


Simple cording that resembles nautical rope seperates the two:


BEFORE: Bye bye cubicles that housed bins full of trains, dinosaurs and little characters (sigh):


AFTER:  We traded the open cubicles for a console that hides his electronics, along with his video games and DVDs.



Simple colorful canvases from Bed, Bath and Beyond were added to the wall on one side of the TV ...


And, fun subway art from Hobby Lobby was added to the other:


And, for those who are wondering where we store all of his toys ... let's just say the closet full of shelves and clear bins hides a LOT ... here's a peek at one side of it.


ONE day, we'll add "regular" accent chairs in here.  For now, these "Big Joe" bean bag chairs fit the bill.  They're pretty comfy ... 


AND great for kids to jump into ... see?!  My airborne "Ninja Turtle" landed safely in the chair!  LOL


Here's hoping he enjoys his playroom like this for a few years ... NOT ready for "tween" room decorating anytime soon!

Thanks a bunch for stopping by!

Come play here:

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia/Tuesday's Treasures

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Saturday, 1 June 2013

How to Easily Clean a Granite Sink




Have you ever wondered how to keep your granite sink looking new? I can show you how to easily accomplish this, but let's start with the ugly...




We have a lot of minerals in our water and it doesn't take long for our granite sinks to look like this!
All you need to do first is to clean the sink with a non-abrasive cleaner. I use this...


After it is clean, then wipe the sinks dry. With a

Friday, 31 May 2013

Sunitha Murthy's Happiest Moment!!

I have been away from blogging these days and I have lots of reason for that and will be away for few more days. Just popped in to share a sweet moment that my blog reader Sunitha Murthy mailed me as an entry for 'Mother's Day Party & Giveaway' .  I have extended the last date of the giveaway to 20th June as I'll be away from blogging, please bear with me :) Read on what Sunitha has shared about proud Mommy moment.

'We will generally buy Bisleri 20lt can for drinking and my husband will keep the can in my kitchen as we don't feel like allowing strangers inside. My husband was out of station, so I was trying to lift the can and place it in my kitchen. Suddenly my son who is 4 yrs old told me to move and started rolling the can on the floor and kept it in the kitchen. It was my most happiest moment and I realized that my son was growing older.'

That's indeed a proud moment and sweet memory to cherish. Thank you so much Sunitha for sharing such a sweet moment with us.

Dear readers if you also want to share such lovely memories then simply write me at designdecoranddisha@gmail.com or just blog about it and link it here.

Linking this to 'Mother's Day Party & Giveaway' on behalf of Sunitha.





Thursday, 30 May 2013

The Traveling Chairs ...

Not too long ago, I scooped up these awesome chairs from World Market, knowing that they'd be perfect in our SITTING room! 


TA DAAAAAA!  Don't they look great in our DINING room?  LOL ... oops, sitting room ... please don't be too upset!


You know you've been there ... buying a piece you know would be perfect in a certain spot, only to get it/them home and place it/them somewhere else instead!  

They really are rather fun in here ... love the texture they add:


They're super comfy, especially with added pillows perched on them that match our new curtains!  


While you're in here, you can see our buffet with its simple vignette:




To tie in with the mustard yellow in the print on the sideboard, I added a yellow plate (had on hand) to two of our floating shelves:


Chunky candlesticks that used to be bronze were painted with both Old White (Annie Sloane) and Smoky Mountain (CeCe):


There, that's better!


I also pulled a couple of platters I had tucked away and placed them on the wall in the corner:


While I LOVE our new chairs in the dining room, I have a feeling they'll be traveling all over our house, including our sitting room someday!


Don't you just love your pieces that travel, too?

Thanks for stopping by,

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Wednesday, 29 May 2013

Cute Owl & Pigs!


 


Just a quick baby gift...




Inspiration was the cute owl bedding chosen by the mommy from Baby's r us.




 



 Stool purchased unfinished at Hobby Lobby.


 I hope baby Simon likes it!

Then an old high school friend asked me to paint a third rocker for her third granddaughter. She gave me information like, cute pigs, and flowers.

















 I hope that Josi gets a lot of

Monday, 27 May 2013

Cute Teacup Light





 
Let's make this cute

Teacup Light!


It is easy to do once you have mastered drilling china with a diamond ceramic drill bit.


You can find tutorials on the web for that.

Next...



You will need to purchase a candle bulb light kit like this...



And have your drilled teacup and saucer like this...


Then just unscrew the light kit, following the package directions, and thread the cord