Finding Inspiration In Your Decorating

For some, decorating style comes easy and for others they know what they like but they have to find their inspiration in other places. When you love styles like Pottery Barn, West Elm or Anthropologie, it's easy to pop open their catalogs or hit their websites and find styles you like and try to replicate them. I still do that very often. For instance, I've always LOVED quilts but the look of them reminded me of Little House on the Prarie or and old lady's home, which I didn't aspire to emulate. I've had a quilt on my bed now for about 2 years and my husband and I cannot part with it. It's a solid color quilt but as I've really fallen in love with farm house decor, I am seeing the appeal and the style in quilts of all patterns and styles and enjoying the way they can shape the decor of a room.

I found a new site called Dot & Bo and they feature all different decorating styles ... the urban dweller, bohemian, urban cowboy, you name it, they have it. I am a person that loves to mix old with new. I like a craftsman style home with retro farmhouse accents and a little modern thrown in. I like to mix them and create my own kind of style. My bathroom is a great example of this. I have half beadboard walls, a modern stone tile floor, eclectic lighting and a clawfoot tub. In addition, I have an ultra modern shower stall with a floor to ceiling glass door. I adore my bathroom. I am getting ready to refresh it by painting it a bold gray modern color.

In thumbing through the Dot & Bo catalog, I came across a brightly painted hot pink Buddah ...... very similar to the one I found a few weeks ago at Salvation Army for $2.99 and re-painted a bright aqua to match my living room (although I think mine was much cuter). Remember him? They are selling something similar on their site for $36.99! My Buddah re-do instantly became more rewarding!

My point? Don't try to re-create the catalogs. Find your style and own it. You might surprise yourself how hip your ideas and style really are and you might find someone emulating you!

2.99 Thrifted Buddah Re-Do

I thought you'd all like to see the transformation of the Buddah statue that I scored for $2.99 the other day.  I am thrilled with the outcome!! It looks like something from Pier I!  What do you think?

Living Room For A New Year: A Clean Slate

Each season, when I take down the holiday decor, I am left with a clean slate that is my living room. It's so energizing. A clean canvas ... permission to do anything I want. Well, not really. I'm married to someone who is very discriminating when it comes to the decor. It's gotten easier over the years. I'm not sure if it's because he likes what I do or because he realizes I'm much easier to deal with when I'm happy and anyone who knows me knows that I am dependent on my environment and surroundings for happiness.

Truth be known, by the time Christmas is over, I am ready to get rid of the Christmas clutter. Yes, it's warm and cozy by the twinkle of the Christmas lights but I relish in the lack of clutter when it's all over. I've decided to revisit the aqua accent color of the past. It looks lovely with my Sherwin Williams "Portabello" colored accent wall and brown leather chairs. I've accumulated a few aqua pieces and although, it's not completely done yet, I'm on my way to refreshing our decor.

The coffee table and the mantle are always challenging. This year, I'm going for a more clean look on the coffee table. I've acquired a basket-type tray for three bucks from a thrift store and it seems to be a perfect foundation for the first coffee tablescape of the year. Paired with a lovely candle that my daughter's friend gave to us for Christmas in a glass vase repurposed from a floral delivery, a small little aqua bird from Michael's that I just HAD to have because it made me smile and a vase with some pretty faux hydrangeas in it. It's all simple and I'm inclined to just leave it this way. What do you think?

The mantle. The mantle is never easy but when I perfect it, I'm so pleased. I'm not there yet. I've learned a lot on Pinterest about layering on mantles. I decided to pull out some silver candle holders that I purchased from Salvation Army for Christmas. They looked so lovely in my Christmas decor that I couldn't bear to part with them when I put away the Christmas stuff. I bought them at different times from different stores. Two of the three are Nordstrom metal candle holders. I scored them for 3 bucks each! Shawn's urn of ashes has a permanent place on this mantle and goes quiet nicely with the silver candlesticks. I think he'd be pleased. I took one of the gorgeous aqua vases that my mother-in-law gifted to me for my last birthday and placed it strategically and took a little eucalyptus from a vase elsewhere in the house for a little added height. I had made a cute little sign out of a picture frame with our name and the year we were married and I never did anything with it. It found a perfect place on this mantle. I'm so pleased with its addition. I also included this blue bottle that my father gave to me when they were digging up the ground beneath his former company. It appears that these bottles can be found in the ground here in Chicago if you dig deep enough. Blue glass has always intrigued me. I believe, although completely unrelated, that ice water tastes best from a cobalt glass. Not sure why, but it seems to make perfect sense. In any event, I'm not done with the mantle yet but I'll be sure to post a picture when I am.

The side tables are usually pretty bare, just a lamp and a picture or two usually. I decided to change that up too. I took two of my favorite silly poetry books and stacked them with our annual photo books on one of the tables and put a lovely aqua pitcher that was the vase for an edible arrangement we received from a friend. It looks lovely, I think!

On the other table, a salvaged candleholder from a thrift store with a lovely aqua candle that I bought on clearance at Home Goods. The lamp on this table is one of my favorites. A find from thrifting last year. It is one of those old double chain lamps with the two bulbs. It's metal. I'm forever looking for a finial to fit this lamp, it didn't have one when I bought it. Also on this table is one of those cute wine cork cages. A way to showcase the corks from all the wine we drink! I picked this up at Home Goods on clearance recently ... a different way to use the corks as decor.

Lastly is the sideboard or butler or whatever you choose to call this piece of furniture. The runner is something I picked up while thrifting as well for 2 dollars. It goes perfectly on this piece to protect the finish. My husband's prized humidor claims permanent residence here. I love the bulldog ceramic that we bought at Home Goods. Reminds me of our bulldog, Ella. I love the tall ginger jar with pinecones in it. I saw it on a decorating site and just had to replicate it.

Then there is this wall. I hate that we don't have a "real" entryway. I'd kill for a mudroom at our entrance but we don't have one. I'm happy that we kept this little half wall and put the granite on the top of it. I'm currently in search for a great rug for this tile. As for the wall, I have big plans for this wall. My husband is going to take down the little coat hook board and make our own more rustic looking piece ... longer and more stately to bring more dimension to the entryway. I'd love to find a little bench for next to the mirror as well.

I'm excited about the first livingroom of the year. What do you think?

Thrifting New

I'm pretty excited when I'm thrifting, not looking for anything in particular, and it happens. The find. The deal that makes this all so addicting. Today, I stopped at the Salvation Army on the north side of the City and landed (no pun intended) 5 Lands End mock turtlenecks, with the tags still on, all for thirty bucks. Lucky me, white tags were 25% off today and so they were even cheaper than I thought when I checked out. It's a little late in the season but in Chicago we are assured winter until at least April or May so I still have some time left to wear them. I did notice that the prices in the City, albeit not a ritzy neighborhood at all, are a bit higher than they are in the suburbs. I'm not sure what the strategic retail thinking is on this practice considering the people in my neighborhood can afford the higher prices more than the people can in this particular neighborhood.

So I headed back to the burbs.....

College students love thrift stores. I once asked my son if it embarrassed him when I came to visit with a big "black bag" full of clothes. He said "Mom, we all go there!" All the better for me. I've gotten him some great clothes as a result of thrifting. Almost new Michael Kors ties, Banana Republic dress shirts, Lucky jeans, etc. My daughter also really enjoys finding great things and doesn't mind the occasional hand me down. I scored her a really cute puffy winter vest. Very stylish and again, Lands End! $6.99.

My best find was a black Buddha statue for 2.99. I had my husband stop at Menards on the way home and pick me up a can of spray paint in an aqua-ish color and I've decided that I will spray paint this and give it a place on the mantle in the livingroom. I'm really excited! No one will have anything like it and it made me smile!

This Is Where It Begins

Happy New Year! 2015 and later this year I will turn 46. Boy, has time flown. My son turns 23 this year and graduates college, my daughter graduates high school and my youngest will enter his sophomore year in high school. My husband Casey and I will be married 7 years this year and we continue to grow, change and learn ... from one another and from the world. I decided to create the Bleu Buddha as a means to share with the world, the things that make me the happiest, be it recipes, a quote, a story, a project or an accomplishment. Through this blog I hope to inspire others to find what makes them happy and share it with the world.

This year, my husband and I will continue our journey in health and fitness together, losing weight and achieving wellness. We continue to work on our home and there is always a project or two or ten in the works. We both have careers outside the home so this keeps us pretty busy. We'll work this year to achieve better balance. I have this lust for thrifting. I love thrift stores, finding things, repurposing them or keeping them just as they are and I've created some amazing things. I love country cottage decor and love mixing different genres of design. For example, our master bath has a clawfoot tub with bead board walls and a modern glass enclosed shower stall and a modern vanity. I love the contrast and I'm always striving to do that in my house. My dream is to someday own an old farmhouse and be able to thrift everything to decorate it. For now, I just enjoy bringing the elements into my cozy little 4-bedroom ranch home. I'm looking forward to sharing all of that with you!

I'm sure the question on everyone's mind is "what is with the Buddha?" I'm not a Buddhist, per se, but I do really admire the teachings of Buddha and would like to be more serious about practicing it. I'm still learning how to incorporate some of it into my life as a believe it's much more of a lifestyle than a religion. The truth is, the Buddhist beliefs make me happy and I saw a little blue Buddha statue once and I felt happy. There really isn't much more to it.

I follow a lot of different Bloggers online and have my favorites. It's my hope to share some of those in future posts. Most of all, I'd love to know about the people who read my blog. You hate to think you are just writing and no one is really reading or cares about what your writing. While that might be the case, if you stop by, let me know what you think. I'm open to thoughts, suggestions, feedback, ideas and I don't mind being challenged. The purpose of this blog is to inspire others to find happiness and I'd love to learn from my audience. For that reason, I plan to participate in link parties, sponsoring give aways and things of that nature. If you have any other ideas about how I can be more visible, I am most certainly interested in your thoughts and ideas.

So my first question is .... what makes you smile? The cheerful barista that wishes you a good day when he/she delivers your morning cup of java? Being addressed by your first name when you call a customer service line seeking to solve a problem? The warm sun on your arm through your car window on a cold winter day? The perfect shade of lipstick? A heated blanket when your watching a good movie on the couch? That one wine that you would foresake all others for? Whatever it is, I'd love to hear it ... please share!

Here's to a happy, healthy and prosperous 2015 with a lot to smile about!