Flea Market Finds?

Not quite. More like shopping at Mom's. My Mother's home contains a plethora of treasures. Whenever I am visiting, there is always something new to catch my eye. But the other day, it wasn't the newest items that caught my attention, but some of her "older" ones.

1. A set of 2 wooden rustic looking trays. What I love about these trays are not just that they are big in size, but deep as well. They are sturdy and will be helpful when I want to take brunch out on the patio. I don't have to juggle plates and cups on my small flat trays anymore.

2. An art book of Monet's Years in Giverny. The last time I was in France, I really wanted to do the day trip out to Giverny, but we just didn't have enough time. This book will hold me over until I eventually do make it out there!

3. Silver antique looking vase. I'm imagining bright pink peonies or cornflower blue hydrangeas as a centerpiece for brunch.

4. Vintage glass bottle. This will be a perfect bud vase for my kitchen window sill or perhaps it will hold a sprig of lavender in my guest bathroom.

5. Small Ball jar. I can never have enough of these. They can hold paperclips, buttons, pencils, flowers or candles. I wanted this one, because it was an interesting size and shape.

I love flea markets, but this trip to Mom's saved me a little bit of time and money! Thanks Mom! Can't wait to do it again. *wink*

Alternate Use for Household Items

In a post last year, I mentioned that I love scented candles and my all time favorite is the Fresh Sake candle. The jars are so pretty and they come with a lid so I thought it would be such a waste to throw them out when the candle had finished burning. It is amazing how easy they are to clean out. I burn them so completely, that when the flame finally dies, there really is no excess wax to clean up. All I do is pop out the wick and wash out the glass with soap and water. I now use them for my cotton face pads and swabs in the bathroom.

More Jars!

More jars in my bathroom! One for my soaps and one for all my beauty samples. I've somehow accumulated so many that they were spilling from every corner of my bathroom (they are great for travel). Now they are all neatly contained and what's even better is that they are now visible so I can actually use them. I love how it looks!

Candy Jars

I really love the look of old apothecaries and confectioneries. It's not just because I like things that are vintage looking, but I realized that there is something about glass jars that makes whatever they are holding appear so much more appealing. So lately I've been shopping for a lot of glass hurricanes, apothecary jars, fish bowls, crocks and canisters to hold the usual household items, with the hopes that it will make them look more fun and less ordinary. I put things like nail polish, pretty soaps, paper clips and flowers in them and they look great! Above is a picture of one of my Husbands and my favorite snacks: sour gummy watermelons. We buy them in bulk, throw them into a glass jar and include a cute little scoop. The result is a look of an old general store!

Knobs

 

I love reading decor magazines and design blogs! They are so inspiring and people have such creative ideas. I'm always thinking of ways to spruce up our home, but unfortunately I can't redecorate every time something inspires me. But there are lots of little things that one can do to change the look of their place, like painting the walls a fresh color, whimsical wallpaper, or moving around furniture. My thing lately is knobs! Different knobs can really change the whole look of a dated piece of furniture. I really like the ones from Anthropologie! Keep in mind that it might take a few tries to get the right look. I had to make several trips to Anthro to return and exchange. But eventually, you'll discover what works. I might consider changing my door knobs too!

Candles

I love love love scented candles! Not only do I love the soft flickering glow, but I like how they can really affect and improve my mood. They can be soothing, relaxing and oftentimes they carry me away to another place. They can create a mini getaway right there in your home. I prefer scents that are milder and therefore most of my candles are sweet or fruity. I'm not a big fan of heavier muskier scents. Having said that, although the scent is light, I need the candle to be fragrant. Not strong and overpowering, just aromatic. There are so many candles out there that are scented, but when you light them, you don't even notice it. So now, when I buy candles, I am very particular.

Above are my favorites. (Clockwise from the top: Voyage in violet, Archipelago in peony, Jonathan Adler in shelter island, Fresh in sake, Tocca in cleopatra). The Voyage one they sell at the Peninsula Hotel Spa. That smell is so pleasant and distinct and the whole hotel smells like it. So when I burn it at home, I am immediately at ease like I am at the spa. It also reminds me of my wedding and the wedding night that we spent there! So that is definitely a very special one for me. But my all time number one favorite is the sake candle from Fresh. It is AMAZING. I've gifted it to so many people, because every time anyone comes over and it's burning, they always ask what it is. It's a great hostess gift as well.

I don't just love candles, but I also like pretty candlesticks, unique votive holders and creative candle centerpieces. It's amazing how much they can change the look and smell of your place! Just remember to trim the wick and wipe down the jar. Most of the jars can be cleaned out and used for something else.

Let me know what your favorite candles and scents are!

Oktoberfest in a Treasure-Filled Apartment - II

I was going to include the following pics in the previous post, but I changed my mind and created a part II. I felt that KF's adorable apartment deserved a post of it's own. The apartment is an amazing space filled with all sorts of treasures. There are so many unique and special items that you could really spend hours looking at everything. Which is saying a lot considering the size of most New York apartments. But even in the modest space, she has managed to arrange everything just so. It is almost too perfect, like a set of a photo shoot, which is sort of what I turned it into!

Paint

So when we bought our home about a year and a half ago, we had a lot of fun things done to the place. Paint was one of the them and it really helped make the place look homey. But in the time we've been living here, we've made a few bumps and brusies on the walls. There were window treatments, misplaced nails, a cute nephew and moved around furniture that added to the marks.

So FINALLY I've decided it is time to touch up the paint. J and I don't know much about home repair, but we've been learning little by little and by watching closely when workmen come to our home. But I really don't know about paint, especially since I was out of town when our place was initially being painted. But how hard could a few touch ups be?

I had to make my way to Dunn-Edwards because the paint I had leftover from before had gone bad. Whoops. They had great service at the store, gave me a few tips, and even gave me a pretty lady discount! My mom donated a tiny cute sponge brush to my cause. The result was clean touched up walls all over the house in less than 30 minutes. Yay!