DIY Funky Bathroom Tray - Target Dollar Bin Challenge

Good morning!  :-)  Happy happy Monday.

Well, I've been hyping up the beginning of my new series starting on the blog this week, and I'm so excited to bring it to you today!

The Target Dollar Bin Challenge!

All right -- here's how it works!  Bi-monthly, I am going to head on over to my local Tar-jay, peruse the dollar bin section (one of the best parts about Target, if you ask me!), and make something using item(s) that I find in the ever-amazing BINS.  Then, I'll share it with you on the blog, and y'all will get the chance to make it using the same materials because I promise to post the craft up quickly after I do it...that way the products will still be there!  :-)  This idea has been a-brewin' in my head for some time, and I think it's a good way for me to challenge my creativity and come up with crafts on my own, instead of always consulting Pinterest (though I love it).  Obviously, in this day in age, it is hard to be 100% original, so I can't say that my craft idea isn't already out there, but mine will have a bit of a spin because of the source of my materials!  :-)

So, here we go!!

DIY Funky Bathroom Tray

What You'll Need...

Wrapping paper (my pick from the Dollar Bin!) - $2.00

A white frame (this was a 3-pack for $5)

Scissors

What You'll Do...

This is simple-simple and literally takes five minutes.  For two.  I wasn't fancy about this.  I didn't want to Mod Podge the wrapping paper down because I wanted the freedom to change it up whenever the mood may strike me.  So - 

1. If your frame has a little stand on the back of it, take that off. 

2. Take out the insert of the frame and roughly use it as a point of reference in tracing your wrapping paper cutout.  I was not meticulous about this since I knew that I was just going to put the back on top of it.  I folded the extra edges in, and put the back of the frame back on.

Done.  As in, finished.

Oh, look -- now there's two!  One for me, one for my mom.

And that's it!  I use mine to hold my perfume, makeup primer, and select jewelry.  Simple, inexpensive ($8), and looks cute!  :-)

There you have it, people!  The first addition to my Target Dollar Bin Challenge!  I have added a tab up at the top of my blog where all of the projects will be located for easy access.  I'm so looking forward to starting this journey with you!  

If you'd like to take part in this challenge, send me an e-mail with your project and pictures and I'll share it on All Things Luxurious!  :-)

I hope you all have an awesome day -- I'm going back to school today after taking a three-year break.  I am so nervous!

Any advice for me for my first day?  Are you doing anything fun this week?  Did you have a good weekend?

love,

maria

Don't miss this weekend's posts!

Design Crush: Natural Wood Shelving

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Linking up!

Suitcase Side Tables

I really love the look of using stacked vintage suitcases as a side table.  It is such an interesting touch to a room, and I very much enjoy how it makes a space look -- understated, yet stylish.  I'm not sure if I would employ this decorating idea in my own home, but possibly in my hopeful woodsy vacation home someday.  We'll see.  ;-)  Until then, I do love looking at inspiration pictures of this idea.

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What are your thoughts about this decorating idea?

love,

maria

Our Patio: A Work In Progress

Hey there, friends!  :-)  Happy Wednesday to you!

Last week, I got the urge to spruce up our patio.  My husband and I have been living in our apartment for over a year, and we had yet to take advantage of the space we have outdoors.  Yes, that means we missed an entire beautiful Arizona Fall, Winter, and Spring -- no dinner or wine on the patio; no parties with extra room to flow to and from; and no morning coffee or blogging out there, either.  Tragic.

The thing is, we did not have the money to spend on anything grandiose out there.  So I told my hubby that I was going to become a lurker on Craigslist (only half kidding) and I started to peruse.  But that night before bed, I remembered that we had an unused card table hiding away in our coat closet.  Waste of space much?  I used to use it as my crafting table, but I have since retired to the dining table because it makes our space look much less cluttered -- I can't work when I am in a cluttered environment!  So, from there, I was on the hunt for chairs.

The first chair I came across that I thought was sorta cute and modern was this one from Target.

Pretty standard, but I liked that it was a greige color.  I looked at other places like Walmart and Lowe's, and each store had the same type of chair in some really fun different colors, but they were all sold out! I decided to get two of these chairs from Target, and, standard Maria behavior, couldn't sleep that night because I was so worried they were going to be gone once I got to the store in the morning!  (Sort of like the night my Anthro table runner kept me up!)  But, to make a patio makeover story that much happier, I bought two of these chairs, and a pretty tablecloth to go over the card table.

Although it is very hot outside right now (and will be for the next several weeks), I have enjoyed a few cool-ish early mornings out here, blogging, checking my e-mail, and drinking my coffee.  Greyson and I also sat out there last night and drank our wine and talked -- very fun.  I'm really looking forward to late September, when we start to have the kind of amazing weather that usually sticks through the late winter months.  Love!

The total cost for this space was $38.  And I love that since I didn't spend a ton of money on any piece of this, it'll be easy to change out next summer if I want to go with a totally different style of tablecloth -- now that I know that these chairs come in so many different colors, I have options.  And I loooove options.  ;-)

For now, you can find me here.

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What do you think?

Have you spruced up your patio yet this summer?  Has it even been cool enough for you to sit outside?

love,

maria

P.S. If you like what you see, follow me on Bloglovin'!  I'm new!  ;-)

DIY Coffee Table Books

Last week while perusing one of my favorite blogs, Centsational Girl, I came upon a post that she had written about what to do with the "dog-eared pages" in your life.  You know -- the magazine photos that you tear out of House Beautiful and Dwell and save for inspiration.  I happen to have a problem with this.  I save, save, save, then forget, forget, forget.  I even had a family friend gift to me many of her favorite tear sheets and provide me with a binder full of amazing inspiration from a real interior decorator's perspective.  I hadn't gone through those pages yet, but I decided to take a look.

The first thing I did was go through all of the sheets and decide what was relevant to my design and decorating tastes and what wasn't.  This was a great exercise for me -- really taking a look at a photo and deciding if it just appealed to me, or if I would want it or an aspect of the pictured design for my own home.  I figured that anything that I like to marvel at from afar but not use within my own home, I would recycle.  

I made three categories with my tear sheets -- Interiors, Vacation Cabin, and Details -- and realized that these would make great coffee table books, full of all of the pictures that I love to look at.  Grey and I dream to have a cabin in a woodsy area someday, and I have tons of ideas for that, so I'm really glad that I included our hopeful home in the categories.  The Details book was to hold many things -- ideas for place settings, holiday decorating, how-to's, color schemes...  Anything detail-oriented.  

I found a beautiful canvas book at Michael's, and I decided to start on that particular afternoon with my Interior tear sheets.  I'm sure you can guess how this went...  You just need a glue stick and a book of your choice, and, of course, your inspiration.  :-)

There is still a lot of room left in the book to fill as more inspiration falls into my lap, and I have two other books in the works.  I have already flipped through this many times while waiting for my husband to get ready for a date, or passing the time between appointments.  It just makes me happy to see all of the aspects of what makes my decorating style unique in one place.  :-)

love,

maria

I Love New Furniture!

Hey, there!  :-)

How are you all doing?  Well, my husband and I had a very busy day yesterday.  We updated quite a few things in our apartment, and we made some real progress!  *Happy dance*!  My brother was nice enough to help us with the furniture moving process -- and to lug the boxes from our truck to our apartment.  We had a purple couch that we lovingly donated to my grandmother, and she was so excited about the new addition to her living room.  :-)  We then were off to Ikea to pick up some goodies!

Because we already knew what we were going for, we saved a lot of time by just going straight into the warehouse and grabbing the boxes; then we loaded them up, and carefully drove them home.  It sounds like all of that took a short amount of time, but in reality, it was about a five-hour journey (including time at my grandmother's and lunch!).  By the time we got home, it was already four-thirty!

My brother went home, and Greyson and I decided to work on the sofa.  This was not fun, and there was a lot of lifting, pulling, and pushing -- but we got it all fixed up, and now it looks like this:

It's really the color of dark denim -- this picture almost makes it look a little bit purple.  It's really comfortable and much more modern than the one we had, so we are in love.  Eventually, we are planning on purchasing different legs for it (just $20 at Ikea), but they were out of stock, so we had to leave without them.

Our other purchase at Ikea was a really cool bookshelf.  But my plan was never to use it for books.  My cabinets have been scarily full of serveware and mugs and pitchers and...well...you get the idea.  Just frighteningly full.  I wanted a place to showcase my pretty dishes in an easy-to-access way, and I definitely got it!

This shelf is off to the right of the dining table.  On the other side of the table, I have put a little hutch that I am using for Greyson's grandmom's glassware that she gave to us when we went to New Jersey last month.

I have had this hutch for my entire life, and I do plan on painting it eventually, once I decide on a color.  ;-)  But I'm liking the way this looks for right now.

We made so much progress on our little apartment yesterday, and I am so excited.  Here is the dining area as it stands right now:

Much less hodge-podged than before, I'd have to say.  I'm so happy with it, and we're even looking forward to hosting a game night or small get-together soon to show our new space off!  ;-)  I'm going to take this opportunity to say that I love my husband so much, and he is so patient with me.  Change freaks me out, but he said that he was proud of me for powering through it yesterday and getting everything done in one day.  I'm proud of myself, too!  And I'm proud to have such a handy husband who, thankfully, knows how to put things together, or else I would probably still be sitting in the middle of the bookcase with my head in my hands.  

Thanks so much for letting me share these new updates with you.  We are so excited!  

love, maria

Kitchen Chalkboards: A Love Affair

I am slightly obsessed with chalkboards.  In the kitchen.  Mmmmmm.  I can't help myself!  There's something so perfect about a little (or big, I'm not picky) space to write down the week's menu, groceries that are needed, or love notes to your husband.  Because that would totally happen if we had a chalkboard in our kitchen -- love notes.  All the time.  I'm serious!  (Honey, are you reading this?)

I've been seeing this so much around blog- and Pinterest-land.  It may be sort of on the trendy side, but the awesome thing about chalkboard paint is that you can, well, just paint over it!  Easy peasy.  So, why not, right?  My sister-in-law and her husband moved into a house with an entire wall in the dining area of the kitchen dedicated to chalkboard fun.  My sweet family members decided that they didn't want the whole wall decked out, but they wanted a large enough space to have fun with!  So, they placed a beautiful border around the part that they did want, and it looks fabulous!  It's such a cool addition to their space, and I love thinking about how fun it will be for their kids someday when they have them -- they will literally get to draw on the wall!  And honestly, what kid doesn't want to draw on the wall, right?

Anyway, here's some awesome chalkboard kitchen inspiration for all of you who have the same design crush this morning as I do.

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I want to know what you think:  Chalkboards in the kitchen -- fabulous do, or no-way don't?

We all know how I feel about this subject.  Lol!

love, maria

Offices: The Bolder, The Better!

I don't know about you, but when it comes to creating an office space, I am a huge fan of boldness.  Give me bright colors, busy wallpaper, and interesting accent furniture and I'm a happy girl.  My husband, on the other hand, does not share my sentiments for wild decor, so it looks as though I am going to have to live out my bold office inspiration on All Things Luxurious this morning, and not in our apartment.  ;-)

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I love how this office has two separate workspaces up against the same wall -- seemingly one for a male, and one for a female (judging on the color of the chairs!).  I also really appreciate the two separate lighting options for this space -- it really gives them room some nice visual interest.  And the colors?  Of course I'm in love!  ;-)

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This is a nice bohemian-inspired space.  I love that the desk area is flanked by two floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and the pop of the lime green workspace is really bright and peppy.  All of the furniture is a little mis-matchy, but the flow is fantastic -- the space definitely feels planned out and well done.

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Okay, I really like that stenciled accent flowery accent wall.  Very fun.  Two workstations again -- a nice luxury in an office; this looks to be part office, part craft room, which I really like!  This is sort of what I hope for my husband and I to have at some point -- two areas for us both to work on different things.  (Probably without the flowery wall, though.  I'll have to work on that.)

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In this office, I really like how the accessories are the accents.  The room itself is all white, but with the addition of the boxes, chairs, and window treatments, this space become bold and colorful.  Plus, polka dot chairs are my friend.  ;-)

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This space is fabulous.  Look at that rich, luxurious burnt-orange of the shelving in the background!  And the zebra-print throw rug underneath the modern-glam black desk is perfection.  I also love the teal lamps mixed with the stripes of teal on the chair cushions.  

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An office with bright pink walls.  What more could a girl want?  This office is also a fabulous example of how a Persian rug can totally work in a modern space.  It's definitely one of my favorite decorating inspirations, and it works perfectly in this room.

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Bold and daring, a chevron rug is one of the coolest accessories you can add to any room, and they are super trendy right now.  I really like this space -- and that desk is absolutely gorgeous!

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This is a fabulous example of old-Hollywood glamour.  That tufted burnt-orange stool; the glossy black desk with the brass hardware; those lustrous blue walls -- doesn't this office make you think of an old hotel that you would've seen in a movie like Breakfast at Tiffany's?

Which of these offices is your favorite?

Do you like boldness when it comes to home offices?

love, maria

Design Surprises

I am a huge fan of quirky design.  If there is something unexpected or surprising in a room, it instantly makes me feel more at home, and more at ease.  I don't know why -- it's just something that I love.  :-)  People who are daring with design and throw in those quirks garner a lot of respect from me -- it takes imagination and boldness to want to make a room a bit eccentric!

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Check out these curvy bookshelves.  I love how the ones on the right are of the 'normal' variety, but to the left?  Those definitely have character.  The top shelves on the right are also pretty interesting with the diagonal cubbies.  Love it!  :-)

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A funky monkey sits atop a mantel of sorts amongst beautiful Spring-like decor.  A cutesy little additive that instantly makes the on-looker smile.

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Instead of an actual mirror above the bathroom sink, this one is drawn on with chalk.  Imagine the luxury of changing the shape of your bathroom "mirror" any time you want!  ;-)  A glass with toothbrushes and a bar of soap are also drawn onto this space -- a lovely, quirky touch.

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A suitcase bookshelf wall.  Interesting, different, and imaginative -- I absolutely love this idea.  The best part about it is that these suitcases look totally vintage. I love that!  :-)

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One sink with two spouts.  Just utilitarian enough to downplay the other feminine elements in this bathroom!

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Carved wood on a staircase.  Possibly not the most quirky of touches, but doesn't it add such a lovely texture to such a simple space?

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A bed with a cardboard base.  I think this is just the neatest idea!  And the addition of the drawers underneath provides both functional storage and a funky element to this bed frame.

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A giant lamp looks both silly and utterly cool in this living room, creating the illusion that every piece of furniture is smaller than it actually is.

How do you feel about inviting some funkiness into your home?

Do you have anything quirky that you love about a room that you have decorated?

love, maria