Bamboo Friday with Marshall Watson

Where have I been?

Did y'all know about Marshall Watson and just not tell me??

Good grief. He has a fabulous book out and everything. 

This is the image that got me. 

Fabulous bamboo console table in the entryway of this Bahamian home. 

So I'm hooked already - you had me at Bahamas and bamboo.

But, look at that lamp.

I zoomed in.

I don't know a thing about it except that the shape reminds me of a plain lamp

 my mother had when I was young. 

I think this could be a great DIY.

I think you could go all "John Derian" on a soft turquoise blue-green jug lamp base.

A little antiquing and crackle glaze, maybe, and you could have something very similar by just investing a bit of time, decoupage glue and a thrifted lamp. 

So this is Bamboo Friday with a little DIY idea as a bonus. 

Have a great weekend and let me know if you DIY a sea creature lamp!

For The Birds and a Budget DIY

Audubon prints are everywhere. 

They are even being billed as a popular new "trend" on some of the trendiest blogs.

I grew up with Audubon prints so I find them neither new or trendy but classic, timeless and, to me, part of Southern decorating. Always.

But it is fun to see my favorite Audubon prints being used on favorite blogs and sites.

#itsthelittlethings

I'm obviously partial to the shore and tropical birds.

I have the Flamingo in my downstairs powder room. 
I've changed things around in there over the years but the big, pink bird stays!

The most recent change in the Powder Room was to paint the mirror and cabinet to match each other and in a fabulous, rich pink. 

SW Grenadine.

It changed the whole room!

The image below was on a favorite blog, Chinoiserie Chic,

 but it is actually in the home of Junell at Seekers Bazaar.

I have the American White Pelican in my Library.

It's a One Room Challenge from a couple of years ago. 

Everything in there is black - the walls, trim, bookcases- and he's the perfect moody guy to watch over things.

Here is Mr. Pelican in a post from a great blog, Forever Cottage.



Designer Holly Mathis uses BIG Audubon bird prints like nobody's business!

(That room plus such a cute pooch!)

And just recently, I redid my Entryway and a favorite Audubon print found its way in!

(Sorry for the reflections in all the pictures. The photo shoot trick is to take the glass out. I'm happy I got it framed the first time so that wasn't in my plans.)

I have always loved this pink bird too. 

This one was a DIY and under $25.00!
Yes, big and gorgeous and under $25.00.
Keep reading!


Audubon prints can be expensive but if you want the look without needing the print to be old or rare then this DIY is for you. 
I first found out from the Painted Hive blog about free high resolution downloads from the Audubon Society.
The Roseate Spoonbill in my entryway is 20x30 and  cost less than $15.00 to print on matte photo paper. I spray painted an IKEA frame gold that cost about $10.00.
I sent the image to Walgreen's photo center, added a coupon code for 40% off (they run online coupons constantly!) and picked it up an hour later. 
I popped it in the frame and it was ready to go!

I'll definitely be doing this again!!
#itsthelittlethings

First - Get Organized.

So much of social media and blogging right now is all about getting organized after the holidays. 

I feel inspired to purge, paint and organize at the start of the year. 

I'm off to a slow start because I missed the first several days of 2018 

because I had the plague :(

No kidding - worst flu or whatever. Ever.

But back to organizing.

I bought a faux bamboo china cabinet a couple of years ago. 

From seeing it online to texting the seller to loading it in my husbands truck 

was about an hour and a half. 

I do not mess around.

However, we had already turned our dining room into a Library.

Did we need a china cabinet?

The plan was always to put it in the Master Bathroom!

Yep, you read that right.

We do not have a linen closet or any storage space in the MB but we had a good sized L-shaped layout that would accommodate a big bamboo china cabinet.

My husband was less sure about this plan but we loaded it up, got rid of the cigarette smoke smell and carried it up to the MB.

And then a coat of fabulous coral deliciousness!

Sherwin Williams Ravishing Coral. 

And suddenly that dingy yellow-y cream china cabinet was ravishing.

I wanted the openness of the glass doors so I started collecting every wicker and rattan suitcase I could find. They all came from yard sales and thrift shops 

and not one cost over $5.00.

They hold a multitude of not pretty items and are easy to pull in and out. 

There are stacks of towels and a few decorative items but mostly 

there is just storage for all those odds and ends that are necessary in a bathroom.

This is one of my favorite storage solutions ever- china cabinet turned linen closet.

#itsthelittlethings

See more of this Master Bathroom here,

Happy 2018!

I say this all the time and it's probably trite and overused to some of you but...

It really is "the little things" that get us through the hour, the day, the week, life, if we choose to find the joy in them. 

So I'm going to be focusing on the little things in my life that make my day, hour, minute sing.

And try to remember to share them with you. Here. This year.

So, one of the first "little things" that made me happy in 2018 was an image from my January 2018 Southern Living. It technically arrived in 2017 but I didn't open it until after the holidays. 

And half the blogs in the world have been "recapping" the article or analyzing or whatever. In my opinion it doesn't require any commentary. It's fabulous and I want to live in this room. Every day.

Here is the image - I know you've seen it by now :)

It is the home of designer Allison Allen from Atlanta.

(I love alliteration, too!)

But what caught my eye and made me smile was the white mirror on white wall action!!

If you remember this was a major decision in my last One Room Challenge and I'm still loving it at my house and I'm feeling pretty excited that this room that has gone viral has that same element.

#itsthelittlethings

Here is my white mirror on my white wall.

Freshened up for January with a fern in a freshly polished brass container.

(You can see the mirror's Christmas look here.)