{lively style: bedroom updates}

Today I thought I'd share some updated photos of my bedroom!  Lots has changed since you last saw it...

^^that beautiful blanket was hand-knit by my grandma!

I really love my room, although I wish it looked a little less cluttered! {I've been having a love/hate thing with my gallery wall.} I have a few more things to do -- namely, upholster the desk bench & add some art above the piano -- but other than that it's pretty much complete. It definitely feels like home. 

Resources:

EQ3 Yellow Mirror | Crate & Barrel Leaning Bookcase | West Elm Curtains (not available) | Crate & Barrel Table Cloth (Bedskirt) | West Elm Bedding | Anthropologie Hanging Mirror (not available) | IKEA Chair | IKEA Dresser | West Elm Rug | CB2 Coat Rack |

Desk was a Craigslist find. Bench was from a vintage flea market. Frames are IKEA & Goodwill (art here). Dresser knobs are from Anthropologie. 

ps. One last note...although it may not seem like it, I designed on a budget! Every single item was bought: 1) with the help of a gift card, 2) from the outlet/factory, 3) on sale, 4) via Craigslist/flea market, 5) a gift. I also DIYed some art & the lamp.

{lively interiors: poufs from one king's lane}

When One King's Lane asked me to participate in their Pouf-a-Palooza, I immediately thought YES. And then when they asked me to pick my favorite pouf of the six below, choose seven other pieces from their collection, & design a mood board around it? Double yes. Any chance to dream up & style room & I'm
t h e r e.

I was so torn between which pouf to choose! Should I go bold with #1 & design a really cool office? Or---since I'm in summer mode---design a cozy, beachy living room with #6? I actually started & stopped three different rooms with three different poufs before my final idea came to me. I just couldn't make up my mind.

And then it came to me: design a room for my little sister.

Let me tell you about Sophie for a hot minute. The girl is the best. THE BEST. After years of hoping & wishing & praying for a little sister, I got the ultimate one. She's spunky, girly, hilarious, talented, & awesome all bundled up in a package. This entire week she's been on my mind, not only because I miss her like crazy, but because she's turning the big 1-0 tomorrow. I've been feeling rather nostalgic about her upcoming birthday because oh my gosh she is growing up way too fast. I mean, she was born yesterday.

Sophie is knee-deep in those pre-teen {or is is tween?} years that we all like to forget, so her style is rather, um, interesting. One day she'll do the shorts over the leggings thing & the next she'll wear a cute skirt & sweater. There's a lot of neon & stacked rubber bracelets & crazy nail polish. But ya gotta love the girl through it all. Her room is the same story. Bright pink + zebra print + cookie-cutter white bedroom furniture.

So. I decided to design for Sophie. With this pouf:

When she's 13 or 14, past the tweeny years, this is the room I imagine for her. She's an incredibly talented dancer, so I thought this would be the most perfect, elegant space for a beautiful ballerina to grow in to.

rug | dresser | pouf | chair | pillow | solo ballerina | four ballerinas | headboard 

Can't you see Sophie curling up with her mini iPad book on that chair & sticking her feet up on that lovely pouf? So comfy. {& that dresser slays me; it's a work of art.}

Check out all of the poufs One King's Lane has in their collection. Every style, pattern, color, & size you want, they have. Poufs are one of my favorite pieces to have in a home because they're so adaptable. Depending on the style, they can be seats, or ottomans or even side tables. I dare you not to find a pouf for your home from their selection.

Go find yours!

ps. budget? what budget? ha. since this was a make-believe challenge, I went balls to the walls & designed a pretty expensive room. it was way more fun that way.

**This post was sponsored by One King's Lane, an affiliate of Lively Liv. I wasn't paid to write this. All opinions & ideas are my own. 

{lively interiors: my gallery wall}

I'm so excited to show you my gallery wall today!  It's not at ALL finished, but it's a good start. I've collected frames, prints, & paintings for about two years now, so I had quite the selection to choose from. It was hard to decide what to hang!

Since I had so many frames, I had to first figure out a layout. My room looked like this many nights:

After about five different layouts, I felt like the wall looked too crowded. It was also totally unbalanced, {aka the left side}, so I shifted everything over & eliminated a few small photos. In the end, I was totally over-thinking it & making myself crazy, so I just grabbed a hammer, some nails, & started hanging.

Here's the wall before:

And now the after!

I decided to do all white & tan frames, since they would pop against the gray, & not do black frames. {The idea of black frames with all that dark brown trim in the room had me feeling stressed.} I also hung two hangers that brought in more wood tones. The calendar already came with the frame, so I mimicked the look with just a regular pants hanger I had in the closet. I love that it matches one another in a quirky way, while not making the wall too frame-heavy. The best part? You can change up the art whenever you want! 

^^"be happy" painting by me

1. calendar from a local SF store

2. childhood photo

3. childhood photo

4. paint-by-numbers by Dylan & I

5. childhood photo

6. section of my watercolor sketch book…just my practice doodles

7. IKEA print

8. IKEA print

I'm going to hang some additional frames/mirrors on the thin slab of wall to the right of my bed, as well as add one more photo {or two?} below the butterfly print. But I'm not in a rush. I'm very happy with how it looks for now. It makes the room feel so much more homey! 

If you're curious about the other side of my room, here's one corner. Since I was hanging everything else, I finally got around to putting up a mirror.

^^vogue painting by me, framed shells are by my aunt

Thanks for looking & reading! If you have any more questions about where I got anything or how I decided to hang them, leave a comment! 

{vintage lamp makeover}

Since my room only has one window & a tiny light fixture, I needed more light! Specifically one by my bed. I almost ran to Target & bought one for $40, but I decided to mosey over to Goodwill to see if they had anything. 

They did!

$10 of beaded, dated, ugly goodness. Get rid of the shade & this thing is a gem.

{BTW…I totally carried this lamp on the bus ride home. Sans bag {because SF is anti-plastic/paper bag & I never remember to carry an eco-friendly one} & I got LOTS of fun stares.} 

^^just a few cracks, but nothing a little paint can't fix

The next day I braved the rain & stopped by a flea market I'd heard great things about. 30 steps in I found this pink, vintage beauty. It's over 20 years old, allows an abundance of light {obviously} & is oh so gorgeous. The pink? I die.

I came home, rolled up my sleeves, & spray painted the heck out of the stand. Good as new. But when I pulled the painting tape off of the base, I accidentally ripped off the felt bottom. I was mad at myself for 5 seconds, but then I saw this:

A happy mistake. I just so happened to have some sturdy black felt, so I traced the base & stuck it right back on.

Perfect!

For $20 total, I'm so happy with this little makeover. It not only allows ample light, but it looks amazing too.

obsessed with those curves^^

Fits right in!

^^notice anything else? :)

{three cheers for painted walls}

The second I moved into my room, I knew I wanted to paint. The walls were off-white, riddled with puddy patches, &, well…. so boring. I would've been more okay with the walls had they been stark white, {because I'm newly obsessed with fresh white walls}, but they weren't. The cream walls + incandescent lightbulb + limited natural light created a yellow tint throughout the room & I was dying to get them covered.

Once the landlord approved my request to paint, I headed over to Benjamin Moore's website & picked out some colors. I knew I wanted a shade of gray for a few reasons: 1) it would match my carpet, 2) it goes with everything, & 3) it's my favorite color.

Guys. There are SO MANY GRAYS. 

Grays with blue undertones, green undertones, yellow undertones, brown undertones. Grays that look gray when it's on it's own, but is actually blue when it's next to anything white. I seriously drove myself crazy with the options. I thought the hardware store was going to start charging me because I was taking so many paint swatches.

After taking this color test, I can proudly say I have absolutely flawless color vision. {It took me five minutes & I got a perfect score of zero. What what!} So I was VERY particular about what gray I wanted.

The finalists were comped up in Photoshop...

^^pretend there's a space in between gull & wing

Gray Horse & Cliffside were in the lead until I found Gull Wing Gray & Rockport Gray. Gull Wing bordered on an ashy blue, while Rockport leaned towards greige. I figured it was better to try out really different gray tones than two similar ones, so I headed off to the hardware store to get some samples.

Before I tried them out on the actual walls, I painted two pieces of foam core. Totally recommend doing this. Both looked pretty good against my carpet, so I taped them to the walls & stepped back.

If you look at the picture on the left, Rockport Gray--the top color---looks green, does it not?!  I only see green. Granted, this photo was taken at 10pm & the only light was the ceiling light fixture, but Gull Wing was the clear winner. I loved it even more right up against the trim. 

{I still really like Rockport Gray & think it looks great in a room with tons of windows/natural light, but sadly my room is not one of them.}

Finally! A decision! Hooray! I sent the color to my landlord, cleared out my room, went to work, & came home to this…

The classic before & after:

^^the walls look a gazillion feet tall here, but the rounded ceiling 

actually starts about 1.5 feet above the trim

I'm TOTALLY thrilled with the color. {And clearly I was so excited to photograph it for you that I couldn't even bother to straighten the cord mess & picture frames under my desk.} 

The curtains, carpet, & walls all look ah.mah.zing together. I also really like how the color changes throughout the day. Sometimes it looks like a really light gray, other times it looks dark, & other times it looks blue. But the kicker? No matter what time of day, it never looks bad :)  {or green} Most importantly, the space feels much more mine. I love it.

So…do you think I made the right choice??

PS. I was totally down to paint the walls myself, but San Francisco rental laws are weird & I wasn't allowed. My amazing landlord had to hire someone & I just had to pay for paint & labor. In the end I was relieved a professional did the job though, because all of the trim made me very nervous! I would've totally messed it up.

PPS. I promise there are other sides to my room...I just haven't shown you them yet. Maybe when I clean it? 

{a little dresser update}

I love IKEA, but I hate that "standard" look. I don't want someone to walk into my room & think…oh, that's from IKEA. You know? My dresser does that, & it was time to do something about it.

After finalizing the colors in my mood board, I've been looking for anything coral to add to my room. Lo & behold…Anthropologie had something. Knobs, to be exact. In the sale section.

In CORAL.

And they only had six left!

Meant to be.

You have to wait a little bit longer to see the full thing. But it was the perfect pop of color that was needed. Does it still look like it's from IKEA? Heck yes. But it's not as boring as it was before. I have one more idea for this dresser that I'm mulling over, but for now, the knobs are good enough.

**Sorry for the terribly colored photos. Ugh.