Decor Theme: Ombre Effect

I'm constantly coming up with wild ideas for feature pieces for my blog. Right now I've got a few main themes throughout my blog, including Before and Afters, "Decor Theme," Follow Fridays and "Inside the Exterior," but nothing that I really love.

I thought of this blog post last night while eating Whole Fruit's dairy free Raspberry sorbet. I can't decide if this post should fall into the Decor Theme category, or if I should create a new blogger series, and call it something like "Friday's 5 Favorite Things," and focus on one theme each Friday.. Ah! If I had all the time in the world to blog I would do this, belieeeeve me. But since I am trying to crunch this post out before heading into the office, I just don't know what to do. I also really want to start my QuarDecor Etsy Shop ASAP, but that's a whole different can of worms.

Well here goes, let me know what you think in the comments below. Do you own (or want) anything "ombre"? If you do, snap a pic and send it to me at QuarDecor@gmail.com!

Happy Friday Everyone! This weekend I plan to step up my thrift store hunting. I want to build my stock pile of stuff to paint, reupholster and refinish before the AAU basketball season gets into full swing!

Gastro Appointment

Today I finally have my gastroenterology appointment at Fletcher Allen in Burlington. I have been waiting for this appointment for MONTHS. It was supposed to be in the first week of March, but then they pushed it back a couple of weeks.

For those of you who don't know I have a lot of stomach problems. In the past 3 years I have developed severe lactose intolerance. I have been diagnosed with terrible acid reflux and I can't eat most foods without getting painful stomach aches. Most mornings after I eat a delicious dinner, I wake up dizzy and nauseous.

I relish the days I used to eat anything at anytime and never feel sick. Now I find myself sticking to my "safe foods" which include apples, apple sauce, grapes, plain air popped popcorn, rice, tea and water. It's boring and I hate it.

To keep my hope alive, or to torture myself, I frequent FoodGawker.com and FindingVegan.com ... they are pretty amazing. You can see my favorites on Food Gawker here. A lot of the times I will comb through these recipe ideas and pull out things I think I would like to try to make, for other people, because I know my stomach could never handle it.

These Coconut Macaroon Nutella Nests will be perfect for me to bring home for Easter... but I can't eat them: I am allergic to Nutella, due to the hazelnuts and dairy ingredients.

There is so much dairy in this sweet treat, so I may also make some Vegan Coconut and Lime Macaroons for myself!

Well I am looking forward to getting some answers soon regarding my tummy problems and I'll keep everyone posted :)

Happy Thursday!!

Bed is Built!

This weekend Mike and I divvied up a bunch of errands. He was in charge of switching my tires and catching the mouse that has been living in our kitchen snack cabinet, while I finally got to taking down the Christmas lights and scrub-cleaning the bathroom.

One thing we did together was build the glorious new king size bed frame! The Chameleon Spice White Bed Frame turned out to be as amazing as I had expected. The headboard has 3 removable upholstered panels that can be customized with any fabric. The color that it comes covered in works just fine for now, it's a soft "camel" color as Mike says.

[via my instagram]

The bed is really big, I mean it's massive.  Look how much space it takes up in the room:

We also ordered 4 curtain panels for the bay window, and this week we plan to get those curtains up!

Today is Monday, pretty much my least favorite day of the week, but I am still trying to smile. I am running my first AAU basketball practice tomorrow. I've been coaching this practice in my dreams for the past few weeks so I think I am ready :) Have a good day everyone!

Before & After: Crafty Hamper

I found this awesome wicker hamper at the Goodwill for $10, bought a pillow case at Salvation Army for $1 and snagged a can of spray paint in one of my weekly trips to Loews for $8. It was in that trip that I also bought my first staple gun! I love it so much, I want to reupholster everything in the house!

But I started with this hamper. I took a before picture of it on my iPhone, but i stupidly deleted it one day... so this is all I have to show for it's beforeness. It was dark blue wicker with a hideous flower fabric on the top. So I decided to beach it up!

Well I love it! It's so fresh and beachy :) I can't wait to start using this hamper again... I've just been throwing my clothes in a heap on the floor in front of the washing machine...

This weekend Mike and I will be taking my snow tires off my Subaru (finally!), do a little thrift store hunting, and building the King Size Chameleon bed frame for the master bedroom! So excited.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Curtain Crazed

Mike and I have been trying to figure out what kind of curtains we want to hang on the gorgeous bay window in the master bedroom.

I really like the color scheme and the feel of this living room, designed by my FAVE, Tobi Fairley, and I hope to emulate it in the bedroom. But since we already have that shade of blue on the walls, we are thinking about going with a heavier, neutral tone for the curtains.

Now the next step is either finding the perfect curtains at retail, or making my own. I am leaning toward hand made so we can make sure they fit perfectly. So much to do, and so so so little time, ever. So worth it.

For the Love of Spring!

A March heat wave has struck Vermont, and we are loving it! A number of Vermont cities have hit record temperatures since Sunday, according to the National Weather Service in South Burlington.

After work, Mike and I took a walk through the muddy backyard to chop down some trees to clear the trail for his Go-Karts and Dirt Bike. I really should have worked on preparing my garden for the spring, but I didn't have it in my after a long morning of travelling back to Vermont, and then a long day of work. But I am planning on using some of the chopped wood to build a rustic fence around the big garden patch to keep the deer from munching on my grub!

[via Instagram]

Take Me Back: Ireland 2007

Today I am in New York City with my best friends celebrating St. Patrick's Day! As a tribute to the day o' green, here are some pictures from my family trip to Ireland back in 2007.

Green Hair!

I finally did it! I dyed the tips of my hair!! I bought some cheap (hopefully) temporary hair dye and sprayed the tips this morning before coming into work (no one has even noticed lol)

I actually REALLY want to do this to my hair with blue or turquoise for the summer, so I figured this was a good excuse to try out some color! * August 2012 update: I did it! Look at my blue hair! *

I also made green cake balls for the office:

And obviously just painted my nails green for the weekend like I said I would!!

I'm pretty sad I won't get a chance to make any fun sweet treats this weekend, but I am looking forward to hanging out with my besties in NYC. My flight to JFK is at 5:03 pm today :) Happy Friday everyone! And I hope everyone has a great happy, safe St. Patrick's Day tomorrow.

Before and After: Master Bedroom Painted!

Mike and I finally finished painting the master bedroom! After helping him pick out this amazing shade of blue, we worked tirelessly to prep, putty, sand and wash the ceilings and walls, then painted for days. 

Here is the raw before and after:

Do ya love it? We also had the carpet cleaned last night by a pro, so it's ready for furniture! The king size mattress is already here (you can see it rolled up in the "after" picture) and the white Chameleon bed frame is going to be shipped to the house this weekend. The dressing room closets are all cleared out, ready to filled up with clothes!

I am getting ready to fly down to New York this weekend for a city-wide St. Patrick's Day Celebration. Janice, Maria, Frank, Anuj and I are going on the "Saint Paddy's Luck of the Irish Pub Crawl" on Saturday! Then on Sunday I am looking forward to relaxing at the house in Rye with Rita and a few of the sibs, and sleeping in the beautifully decorated guest bedroom :) Happy Thursday!

Quick Trip to Canada: Grasscloth and Other Stuff

This weekend Elly and I drove up to Canada to visit her mom and go to a Sens NHL hockey game. It was super fun, but only after we hit a few snags on the way up... as described so colorfully by Elly on her blog.

Lara (Elly's momma) and her husband Barry live in a beautiful home on a golf course in a suburb outside of Ottawa. Much of our discussions over the weekend revolved around politics, babies and home decor. L & B are currently remodeling their open kitchen and living room space, and recently updated the walls with a soft tan grasscloth.

I didn't realize how common grasscloth is used to cover walls, but it's awesome! It's possible to DIY, but I'm sure it can be very difficult as well... Take this story over at Centsational Girl's blog. Sounds tricky, but worth the hard work.

While I totally enjoyed my trip to maple country, I'm happy to be back in America :)  Happy Monday!

Kate Jackson Design

Happy Hump Day. In a few hours we will be halfway through the work week. Even as I say that, the little voice in my head let's out a big sigh and asks myself, "only halfway there???"

From Kate Jackson's "about me:"

Kate's approach to design differs from other designers in that she has the unique ability to seamlessly meld the old with the new, using furniture and finds discovered at antique shops and consignment stores complimented by stylish accessories found anywhere from eBay to high end boutiques. 

Love. Now here is your chance to love... [kate jackson design]

Living Room Inspiration

Mike and I have started thinking about how we want to redo the living room. We need to paint it first, but I have a few ideas in mind of how I want to decorate it... Just in time for garage sales and flea markets, WOO! Just like everything else in our lives, this room is going to be on a tight budget.

You know how the kids in the Nutcracker have visions of sugar plum fairies dancing in their heads? Well I literally have dreams about furniture, floating around in my brain space, accompanied by cozy throw blankets and plush rugs, alongside a palette of pastel paint colors and dimly lit table lamps...

Anyways, Happy Friday!