Best design tip...

I learned this trick from watching various deisgners on HGTV and specifically Karen McAloon's show. So if you are trying to decorate any room, use these tips.

1. Pick a main color. This color will be your primary color and usually is your wall color since that is the largest space it will cover. This should be a color you love, not something you think you will love.
2. Pick an accent color or two. This color will compliment your main color. The best accent colors are those that are either on opposite sides of the color wheel or adjacent to your main color on the color wheel. You may opt for just one accent color or you may opt for two (or three if you absolutely can't narrow it down...but any more and it can look too busy or disjointed)
3. Pick a metal finish. This metal finish can be brushed nickel, bronze, wrought iron, silver or gold. This will be the finish of any metals you pick for the room.
4. Pick a wood grain/tone. This will be the shade of all your wood tones for the room. The easiest way to pick this if you don't have samples is to go to your local hardware or home improvement store and look at the stain samples.

Viola! You have everything you need to go shopping and decorate your room! When you are shopping for furniture, accents, rugs, fabrics, pillows, lamps and other items, make sure that they fit in the parameters you have selected. It's helpful if you take samples with you shopping. For example, my living room choices are: pumpkin orange or brick red (similar in shade often times), sage green, dark wood, bronze metal finish and light khaki. My bedroom is blue, green, black/wrought iron and white.

Never buy anything you don't LOVE. If you like it and buy it because it "matches" then you won't love it later and will likely get rid of it if you change your room. I have a variety of fun prints in dark wood stained frames. The dark wood frames match the wood grain I have in the room. All the prints are my tastes and I love them but they still go with the room since I kept the frames similar in shade.

Happy decorating! As always, you know where to find me if you need specific advice.

~AWS

What a week!

So I finally had a few minutes to sit down and chronicle my past 7 days...boy has it been a doozy! Monday started with a doctor's appt that ran late - not a big deal but it just meant I had to make some time up at work. They had me start on some different meds for my PCOS which has wreaked havoc on my system and stomach, not to mention that it apparently affects my restless legs. I now take tylenol pm every night.

By Thursday morning, after 2 nights of restless legs, poor nutrition and meetings for church, I manage to make it out to my car so I'll actually be to work on time. (a miracle in itself!) I noticed that my glove compartment was open...hmm...odd...then I look around and in my mind think "I think someone went through your car last night" but I couldn't really process it so I kept on with my normal routine. I get a block down the road and my alarm goes off that the back hatch is open. Then it FINALLY registers...someone DID go through my car! Apparently someone broke into my car (well it was unlocked) in my driveway. They took everything out of all the compartments then took a box of race shirts and posters, packed random items from the floor board and put it across the street. The only thing they took was my drivers license, which is probably in the bushes somewhere. Nevertheless, I had to go get a new license and I now lock my car doors in my driveway.

So that was my Thursday...then Friday hit. Friday was payday. Yippee! Until I couldn't log on. I patiently wait for 25 minutes on hold with Wachovia customer service to find out why. Turns out, I was part of a phishing scam. I received an email earlier in the week from Wachovia said that I had been compromised and to click on the link to check my accounts. Looked leggit so I clicked the link. The hacker could then follow my key strokes and get into my accounts. Fortunately, nothing was taken and Wachovia shut my accounts down before they could get in to them. However, I have to open all new accounts, new debit cards, new online access, change all my direct deposits, autodrafts, etc. What a pain!

So, what's the lesson? Lock your car doors always and never click on any links that ask you to verify any accounts (bank, email or otherwise!)

What's the blessing? We didn't hear the burgler so Daniel didn't go chasing after them with me following...who knows what would have happened! Nothing was stolen and no money was taken out of my accounts. It could be worse! All in all, it was just a pain.

Let's hope this week brings better tidings than last! I think I have had my fill for a while!

Pics of new additions to living room

Pics of the recently updated living room to "add color" for my husband. I only added a new rug, valances, a few new pictures and a floor lamp - not a total revamp - but it made him happy and I have to admit it does look cozier.

My first blog...

I decided almost 4 months ago to start a blog and true to form, I finally got around to doing it. Maybe it was the desire to write down all my quirky stories about my life or perhaps I was inspired by the movie Julie & Julia - nevertheless, here we are! Of course on the day that I decide to start my blog, I have writer's block. Maybe I'll start by sharing with you about my most recent house project...mandated by my husband, Daniel.

I love to decorate my house for Christmas. What am I saying, I love to decorate period. The house was wonderfully festive for the holiday season but then Christmas came and went and it was time to take it down. Daniel was not happy and made me leave it up until after New Year's (a big no-no in my book!) When I finally took it down, he was horribly distraught because he said our house was way too bland. Nevermind our living room is green with orange accents and our kitchen has pumpkin colored walls (is that not color?) He gave me an ultimatum - either add color or he would. Now for those of you who know Daniel, leaving him on his own would not be good! We'd have every color known to man in our room!

So over the past two weeks I've managed to add a brick colored rug, valances to the living room windows (miraculously found at Lowe's), newly framed water colors of Paris I've had for 5yrs, a new floor lamp and a cool new fern in a pretty pot to spruce up our living room. Pictures will follow soon...

~AWS