And you thought it was going to be a decorated pumpkin! Nope.

I came across this in the latest issue (Nov) of Country Living and I swear I must have stared at this image 50 times! The home owner, Sean Scherer, a fabulous antiques dealer in NY, affixed a series of vintage Pompeii postcards (45 of them!) with bookbinder’s glue on a large canvas. In my opinion, it works so well because 1) it is a series and 2) the cards are within the same color scheme. 

It is inspired me so much that I spent literally hours in cyber world trying to find a large lot of vintage cards with a similar feel. No luck. BUT my search led me to something new and different that works even better for me.

As of this weekend I have started a new collection, folks!

Something that I have never seen before! I will not tell you until a few of my bids have gone through — so you guys won’t snap them up before me! I will show you in a few days. Very excited over here!

Happy new week & Happy Halloween!

I feel blessed. I don’t need many glossy design magazines anymore! I can totally rely on my many talented and creative blog friends to keep me interested, inspired, current and well informed about the best design sources. So today, I am opening the doors (read: forcing myself in without ringing the door bell!) to seven blog friends homes to share what new interior projects have kept them busy lately. (More friends will be stalked for sure!).

1) First up my dear friend Nancy. She wanted to give her lonely looking living room wall a makeover. She and Hubby and a creative friend measured, leveled and cut out some inexpensive MDF strips and with some serious elbow grease they took the wall from this…

To this! What a masterpiece! A whole different room! (More here).

2) The lovely Erica recently gave her living area fireplace a new look with marble tile. She took it from this…

To this! How absolutely divine! Note: she is still deciding on the mantel piece. (More here).

(Erica is not only super stylish she is also incredibly generous. She recently featured a mouse box from my store on her blog, which led to a BIG design name picking it up for a magazine. Hope to show you soon!).

3. I have mentioned the friendly, upbeat and (oh so energetic!) Tina and her incredible home/castle/mansion before. Folks, you need to follow her weekly – Thursday – home updates. (She is moving in with her family in November. Now that is when the real fun begins — when she will begin to decorate her fantastic home).

The new kitchen is going in. (This is just a tiny corner…).

 And the kitchen eating nook. Look at that amazing architecture!

(More here).

Tina just presented me with a Versatile Blogger Award. What an honor! Thank you so much Tina! But all the fantastic blog awards should really go to you.

4. My close blog friend Greet is busy with many design projects for picky, sophisticated clients. She has started to share moodboards for a living room and dining area she is working on.

Here is one of her inspiration images. I LOVE this room. So stunning. And leaving it to Greet will make it even more amazing! Follow her! (More here).

5. The talented (and witty!) Ms. Sherry is constantly showering us with all kinds of lovely projects she is working on. In many cases it is just a matter of simple and smart styling, without breaking the bank, to get the mega bucks look.

She took a client’s eating area from beige…

To chic! (More here).

 6. Wonderful Casey showed us what she did with a guest room. (Not her own but belonging to a client). I absolutely LOVE the cozy feel and the colors & textures! Very, very nice!

And this is what it looked like before. Talk about a transformation! (More here).

7. And then finally my close blog friend Donna who soon will share her master bedroom re-do. She just shared a sneak peek of her new vanity. She found an antique, gray painted chest which she had converted to hold two sinks. She wanted something old as a focal point in the brand new bathroom. Can’t wait to see more of this! Mixing old with new is so my melody. (More here).

One of the friendly editors over at Houzz (over 600,000 ideabooks are stored at Houzz and many industry designers show their portfolios without any image overlap) asked if  they could feature my home. The feature went live yesterday.

Thank you Vanessa and Houzz! Many of you have already seen areas from my home (I need to take more images and show what new things I have been working on!) but I have many new readers who might be interested. Hop over here and say hello, if you have a moment!

Hugs to you all & happy cyber hopping!

Did everyone see this, except me? Overlays. Two smart ladies (Cheryle Rhuda and Danika Herrick) came up with the brilliant idea of designing chic overlays which customers can buy by the square foot to give furniture unique custom looks. The idea became a business under the name O’verlays. O’verlays are lightweight, decorative fretwork panels that come in several patterns and sizes. The panels are made of a composite material that allows greater flexibility and less splintering than original wood panels. Just paint and glue them on.

 I think this would be a perfect DIY project for a room where a little bit of glamour is needed (and how perfect for dorm rooms)! The solutions are endless.

Another company which I am sure most of you have heard of is Bemz. Bemz has created a fruitful business around the furniture giant Ikea. Bemz make slipcovers for most of Ikea’s classic upholstered furniture. So now your armchair can also have a very custom look. The slipcovers are now sold and marketed in 35 countries. Impressive business idea, I must say.

Yep, a Bemz slipcover for a basic Ikea sofa.

 Bemz founder and CEO, Lesley Pennington says:

The covers are simply a means to an end. People today want to express their individuality through their lifestyle choices. They want to take a mass-market product like an IKEA sofa and create a unique ”one of a kind” product, which reflects their individuality and personal style.

Bemz has teamed up with several well known fabric designers. You can now get a slipcover for your Ikea headboard in Designers Guild’s colorful and luxurious fabric.

Lovely fabrics my Katarina Wiklund.

I actually ordered some slipcovers for Ikea’s Parson (Henriksdal) chairs a few years. This post reminds me that I should dig them up. They have survived a few washes and they are gray!

Happy New Week.

 Images: no. 1-5 via O’verlays, no. 6-10 via Bemz.

Just glanced through the November issue of House Beautiful. Came to this page and almost flipped. This kitchen is totally me. I like every single thing about this stunning room. (In the magazine you see the entire island and the glass refrigerator and everything. This is just a small snippet!). Gray it is of course. And classic elements are mixed with modern touches. The architecture is beautiful. But I also really like the light hardwood floors. We have dark floors in our kitchen and they are pretty but not very practical. I am so glad to see that gray actually pairs very well with the right kind of blond floors. (No dark floors in my future kitchen).

I also absolutely LOVE the backsplash — acid-washed Seagrass limestone from Classic Tile. The prettiest tile I have seen in a long time. Scroll back and look again!

BTW, the “Vintage Toledo Barstools” are from Restoration Hardware. (On sale right now).

If/when (!) Hubby and I say, ok build your dream kitchen, I will show him this. A social, warm, relaxed and gray kitchen with THAT exact backsplash.

The mahogany-topped island really adds warmth to the entire room.

The designers behind this kitchen are the super talented (and witty!) Parrish Chilcoat & Joe Lucas. This is what they said in the magazine about the kitchen:

How did you make that big kitchen look so damn sexy?

PC: The island, cabinetry, backsplash, and stove hood: gray, gray, gray, gray.

What makes gray so great?

PC: It goes with all the electronics in homes these days, and it’s a more interesting backdrop for colorful furniture and accessories.

JL: Gray also has a crispness against white. It’s slightly industrial. And it goes with my hair.

Any downside?

PC: You have to be careful with gray — it has just as many subtle variations as white. You don’t want it to look dirty.

The designers painted the cabinets and island in two different shades of gray: Farrow & Ball’s Down Pipe (warmer) on the cabinets and Benjamin Moore’s Chelsea Gray on the island.

I recommend that you look at the full spread (page 97, folks!) in the actual magazine (House Beautiful, Nov. issue). The room is much more than this picture shows!

Hugs to you all.

All images (except no. 3 via Life123) via House Beautiful. Photographs by Victoria Pearson.

I can’t say we are Halloween crazy over here, but with three kids I create a little bit of a Halloween atmosphere at our home (I use most of the same decorations year after year). Costumes have already been picked out – this year 1 Raccoon, 1 Hermione (Harry Potter) and 1 knight.

I snapped this picture of my oldest (Frida, 9) the other day when she was playing with the closest to a rat that we have here – our spoiled hamster!

The “kitshy” Halloween tree has been decorated. Still going strong after eight years, I believe. (All things are handmade by artisans).

I also brought out some of the stencil drawings I made last year, on old book pages, if you remember. I keep hanging them on the branches I decoupaged and that you have seen me use as a display for all kinds of  holidays. When it works it works!

A simple wreath on the front door. And a few decorations in the front. Nothing to write home about — but good enough.

 I am still looking for a good cookie/pastry recipe to stick to every year. Perhaps just simple stenciled cupcakes. (Michael’s sells stencils by Martha Stewart).

Here are some other inspirational Halloween decorations I have come across recently.

Paint some plastic animals in flat, black paint. Cut some pushpins and hot glue them on the animal faces. Use a marker to make some pupils on the eyes. I must say that I would jump every single time I passed these spooky creatures at my house! (Inspiration via Sweet Paul).

Spray paint some branches and decorate with black ravens. Simple and dramatic.

 Now I realize, for the first time (!), why I should bring home some old bird cages from the flea market!

And give the chandelier a spooky makeover! This I must try at some point.

Any fun Halloween traditions over at your home?

Warm hugs!

 Images: 1-8 via Splendid Willow, 9, Martha Stewart, 10 via Sweet Paul, 11-13 via Better Homes & Gardens.