Room and Board Sample Sale

The end of the year is full of great deals. Even things that never go on sale will have some discounts. Room and Board offers high quality furniture. Their prices are fixed throughout the year, but every year after Christmas, they will have a sample sale for all the discontinued items. Sale goes up to 50%.

Here are the dates of the sale per location:
Chicago Downtown: December 26 to January 4
Skokie: December 26 to January 5
Oak Brook: December 26 to January 11

Enjoy!

Everyday Design

The great thing about the design world is there's no limit. You can design and redesign anything. Even the most mundane stuff can be beautiful. Everything from a toilet brush to a paperclip can be beautified. Here're a few simple things that someone put a lot of thought into.

Placemat


Trash can and toilet paper storage combo


Toilet

The List Goes On

Sorry for my lack of motivation in the last few months. My place is pretty much set but still lacks identity and pop. Most of the walls are still bare. I've been focusing on being domestic; cooking and cleaning A LOT. I never thought I'll be able to cook. I've always had other people cooking for me. Even now, my boyfriend, Matt, is a great cook, but he's hardly home early enough to make dinner. To my surprise, cooking is actually really fun. I love taking something out of the oven. It's like a science project.

Can't believe the leaves have turned, and the holiday season is around the corner. With the new mortgage and the economic downturn, we've decided to be more creative in our gift giving. There will be a lot of sewing and baking. My list of to do's are ever expanding. I promise I will be more consistent in my blogging. Stay tuned.

Bridal Decor

A friend of mine is getting married, so I had the honor of planning her bridal shower. The card was a simple DIY project. A cut out of tree branches on top and daisy on the bottom. Her wedding will be outdoors with chinese lanterns. To carry on the theme, I had glued paper dots to look like they're hanging from the tree.


The shower was a casual tropical theme. I placed flowers in a simple vase (could use any glass jar)and then in a paper bag. I was inspired by Rachel Ray's Carmel Tower for the center piece. It's inexpensive, easy, but impressive looking.

Mygazines.com

A friend just shared a very cool site with me.
Do you ever find yourself at a bookstore for hours trying to flip through all your favorite magazines? I have a few subscriptions to my favorites like Domino, Metropolitan Home and Elle Decor, but there's so much more.
Mygazines is a site that lets you read your favorite magazines cover to cover. They have hundreds of magazines on almost every genre. And it's FREE!!! It also lets you archive or forward articles. Enjoy!

Ceiling

The ceiling is probably the most commonly over looked area in a home. It occupies a lot of square footage, but yet most people leave it untouched. I think people are afraid to mess with it because it might make a space smaller or it'll just not that important.

In the right application, the ceiling does not only add to the room, it might be the attention grabber. I found a few examples of what you can do with your ceiling.

Coffered ceilings add classic elegance and architectural detail.


Guilded ceilings gives a luxurous and vintage look.


Painted ceilings are playful and original. It's also a great way to bring a ceiling down if you live in a loft.


Suspended ceilings can add drama to any room.

Chicago Fests

I apologize I've taken a month off from blogging to enjoy the summer. Summer is an awesome time to explore the city. There are festivals all over every weekend. Some of the great ones coming up are Black Thai International Arts, Bucktown Arts Fest and Renegade Craft Fair. You can find one of a kind pieces for very resonable prices. I also enjoy supporting independent artists.

On another note, I just found out Jayson Home & Garden is moving and they're closing their outlet location. Jayson offers a very unique selection of home furnishing, accessories and frames. Their style is a cross between shabby chic and classic modern. Now they're taking an extra 20% off their already 75% off items.