Upholstered Headboards Round-Up

Although I am a fan of our modern bed frame with a rectangular headboard and plain black color, I would be lying if I said that I don't sometimes get the urge to upholster it.  And I honestly think that eventually I will.  Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge has a tutorial inside of her book, Design*Sponge At Home, and I suppose that is where I realized that an upholstered headboard is not something I would have to buy, but is instead something that I could make.  I'm not sure when or if I'll take the plunge into upholstered headboard heaven, but I thought I'd post some beautiful inspiration this afternoon to just get my creative juices flowing.

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What do you think of upholstered headboards?

Have you ever attempted to DIY?

love, maria

Laundry Room Organization

Hey there, friends!  :-)

It's pretty rare these days for me to do an evening post, but I just couldn't wait until tomorrow morning to write up this entry!  ;-)  I was very, very busy today organizing our laundry room.  The before was downright ugly -- and messy to boot!  We live in an 800 square foot apartment, and our laundry room is very small.  But hey, we count ourselves lucky that we actually have both a full-size washer and dryer inside of our apartment!  We definitely lucked out on that front.  There are two shelving units, and each one was stacked with stuff.  Plus, did I mention that there were things piled in its entirety?  We basically had to pull everything out in order to wash our clothes, and then throw everything back in.  It was awful.

Just to tell you -- both units were also topped with randomness, and it was basically insanity.  And the dust, OMG.  Enough to send you into an allergy attack!  

Before I go on, I just want to tell you that my goal today was not to make this laundry room necessarily pretty.  We just spent quite a bit of money yesterday on new furniture, so the last thing I wanted to do was spend a lot on this space, too -- especially because we have a door covering it.  I really was going for function.  I just wanted a friendly space that didn't make me want to cry every time I opened the door.  Know what I mean?

This is what my living room looked like when I emptied the space.  Can you even believe there was that much stuff piled up in there?!  Where did it all come from?  I was shocked. 

I began to throw stuff in the "It's Going In the Trash" pile.  Basically, anything that I forgot was up there, no longer wanted, or was broken, I tossed.  Yes, it may be been slightly wasteful and I'm sure that I could have donated it; but I wanted everything out, NOW.  It was only me doing this project, and we don't have a garage, and, and, and -- I'm trying to justify myself to my fellow DIY Divas as to why I threw out a scratched lamp that could have easily been painted.   But the thing is, I've been saying "I'm going to spray paint this," or "I can totally use this!" for months now, and I haven't.  So, I tossed a lot.  And I actually feel great about it.  

Okay.  Whew.  Glad I got that off my chest.  Moving on.

On the left shelf, I was left with this -- just our nested suitcases, and some room to stack the plastic bins that I was planning on buying.

And this was the right shelf -- just my hubby's army bag.  It was too heavy to get down, so I left it there.

I put up this little "shelf" to store some of my crafty supplies that I don't keep in my craft bins (which are in the bedroom right now, but that room is next for organization!).  The "shelf" is actually made out of a piece of metal that came with our Ikea bookcase -- it is the piece that you are supposed to use to bolt it to the wall; but we don't have any little ones yet, so it's better served here!

I also hung up this little basket and filled it with leftover toilet paper.  I know, I'm weird.  But we keep our extra toilet paper in the laundry room, and this was a way to get it out of the raggedy bag and into something a tad cuter.

See it coming together?  I also hung up our drying rack!  Easy to grab, off the floor -- I like it!

At that point, I was making quite a bit of progress on the floor.  I had piled everything up into items that I felt should be boxed together, and then I went to The Container Store to pick up some plastic bins and a couple of shelves...

And now, I'll show you how everything came together...

This is the left shelf, after.  The bin of books are my blogging and design books that I usually read into daily, so I placed them there for easy access.  Next to the book bin are my husband's tool kits.

The iron rests here now -- not on the floor.  This is below the left shelf, and above the dryer.

This is on the right shelf.  Miscellaneous items -- very easy access, and no clutter!

These bins are located on the right shelf, as well.  The top is for any decor that I am not currently using, and also seasonal wreaths.  And the bottom bin houses my design books -- I've got a lot of them, and they were cluttering the top of the washing machine before!

And these bins are to the right of the larger bins.  Miscellaneous tools, booklets and light bulbs, and plugs are inside of these cuties.  Oh, and if you're wondering what the labels are made out of -- it's just scrapbook paper and a sharpie.  I used my scrapbooking tape roll to place these labels on the bins for easy removal if and when I need to change them out!

Here is the new laundry essentials shelf.  This is, of course, above the washing machine (and below the right shelf).

Here is my (new) broom and my trusty feather duster.  Easy peasy!

On the wall, I added some old photographs with drying clips (we are in the laundry room, after all!).  I think it adds just a touch of cuteness to the space and is sort of fun.  :-)

And finally, here it is!

Nothing spectacular, but definitely a whole lot better!  ;-)

I really am very happy with it.  I feel accomplished, and it really takes a lot of anxiety out of me now that I can open that door and not be overwhelmed by how totally messy it is.  I'm proud of myself because most of the resources I used I already had -- I didn't have to buy much at all.  My husband isn't home from work yet, but I can't wait until he sees what I've been up to all day!  ;-)  I think he'll be pleasantly surprised!

Oh, and by the way, I realized this morning that the pictures I took and put on the blog of my new furniture are kind of fuzzy, so here are two new ones that better showcase what we did:

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I hope you all have a wonderful night!  I will catch you back here in the AM, and thanks for letting me share my new laundry room with you all!

Have you tackled any organizational projects lately?

love, maria

PS: I'm linking-up with 52 Mantels for Thursdays Are Your Days.

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