Black Beauty

Is anyone else kind of tired of seeing the white kitchen? Yes, they are very classic and extremely beautiful, but I'm completely enamored by black cabinetry. Much to husband's dismay, I will paint our boring builder grade cabinets to recreate one of these beauties:

The Lettered Cottage

Gwyneth Paltrow's Hamptons House

Country Living
And my absolute favorite:

House Beautiful

Explosion

All I want to do is be in my house and work on all the projects that are constantly buzzing through my head. Between chalkboard walls, the perfect paint colors and rug selections my head might very well EXPLODE if I can't put these creative ideas to use soon!

My latest project fantasies? I can't wait to make pelmet boxes a la Little Green Notebook:



I'm thinking probably our sun room. Or one of the extra bedrooms. Or maybe the master bathroom. Not sure which yet, but what I DO know is that I just snagged these fabrics that will come in handy for said pelmet boxes, among other projects. (Chevron lampshade? yes, please!)

via Pink Polka Dot Studio

Glitch

No progress on the house lately due to reasons I would rather not discuss. In the meantime I leave you with images I can't get out of my head.

All those paper lanterns would be so perfect in a guest bedroom or a little girl's nursery.

I'm crazy over the wood paneling and then that black outlining trim. Incredible.

I think I'll have to paint my staircase completely white. Somehow, husband will have to be drugged so I can pull this off.

Between the paint color and that light, this bedroom is perfection.

Secret Spot

No, ZGallerie is no secret to everyone out there in the design world, but in my little nook of the country it's unknown and has become my dirty little design secret. Is it selfish that I'd like to keep it that way? Except from my mom, of course.

Anyways, I've been AGONIZING over living room curtains for the past few months. In the front of the to-be "estate" is the formal living room and dining room split by a foyer. Two windows in the front of each room, so when standing in the foyer you look to either side and see windows. I just received my fantastic custom made black and white chevron drapes for the dining room and I wanted to keep the black and white theme going across. I'm obsessed with symmetry and cohesiveness, people. But I just could not find the right thing. Too much black, too floral, too expensive, too sheer ...

I almost settled on these (not black) West Elm panels when I stumbled across this perfection at ZGallerie:

Black and white, right price, and I love the geometrical pattern which is kind of in tune with the chevron of the dining room curtains. Other things will have to wait. These are destined to be mine!

Here are some other things I'm loving:

I have a thing for white accessories. How cute is that elephant?

I realize the zebra thing is a trend right now, but I want this in the foyer. Goes with the whole black and white theme and normal rectangular sisal rugs by the door are sooo boring.

I love that they sell the whole pillow and and not just the pillow covers.

Progress!

We snuck inside. Husband in the future sunroom!

Can't wait to see what progress is being made this week!

Mismatched

I like the casual vibe that non-matching chairs give out.

But knowing me I'm a little too anal to actually do it in my own house.

Serenity Now

It would be so so so nice to just curl up in bed on a cool fall day with magazines and hot chocolate. I can't even call in a sick day to do so because of the current living conditions. This is my perfect bedroom. I can't wait until December so I can do just that in a room just like this.

BAM!

We stalked the site everyday for more than a week and NOTHING. Then one night the in-laws drove by and BAM...we have a house! As soon as the roof goes on and the stairwell is set we can go inside!

Wants

Brace yourselves, it's a doozy.

White Ektorp!

These pulls and knobs. It's all in the details, people.

This couch, upholstered in charcoal

Crate and Barrel pillows

This gorge West Elm mirror (on sale!)

Two of these counter stools

Hettle pillows

Other things I need, that I should've thought about sooner: a (black) mailbox! garage door openers! and ceiling fans!

Either the counter stools or the C&B pillows will be on their way to me by the end of the weekend. Any votes?

Basement and Wood

I almost cried when we drove up over a week ago and saw that progress was FINALLY being made.We have a walkout door and one giant window so Jimbo won't die from lack of Vitamin D in his man cave.And today we saw wood! We've been told that the end of October is a pretty good possibility. Oh, but they better not be teasing me.

The Lamp is Nice

Pottery Barn

But it's the wall color I'm entranced by. I NEEEEEEED this color in my bedroom. Does anyone know what color it is? My guess is a Benjamin Moore paint since it's from PB.


Oh, and if you're really interested the lamp is on sale here.


House progress photos coming soon ....

Inspiration Purge

All of these photos inspire me in some way. I need to clear off my desktop, so I've purged them all on here, mostly for my own benefit. I tried to clump them into some type of sensible categories.

Group 1:
Because gray is the greatest color ever used for wall paint (although my dad, a painter, may disagree).

Group 2:

This next set is a mish-mash of things I love. It's either the white couch, the tan walls with bright white curtains, or something about the coordination of the curtains that got me in the following photos:

(The white curtains with rattan shades is what draws me to this room.)

Group 3:
Green makes me happy. I plan on having lots of green surprises in my house.

Group 4:

I'm not much for prints or patterns, but chevron makes my heart go pitter patter. I'm having custom black and white chevron curtains made for my (green) dining room. It's going to be so rad.

West Elm rug. I super love it!

Group 5:
Chalkboard paint is the greatest invention on the planet.

(Jenna Lyons' nursery. If I could trade lives with anybody it'd be her.)

Group 6:

I love the drama of black. I'd like to pull it off in either the powder room or the stairwell leading upstairs. Husband will probably say no way.

Group 7:
Dining inspiration. A farm table, old or new or whatever, is a MUST for the sunroom.

Group 8:

Miscellaneous.

Turquoise makes me almost as happy as green.

We have this duvet cover. I'm thinking grays and whites for our own master bedroom, but I really like the yellow pops and the bluey gray walls.

I like ferns. And we're going to have a front porch, so I'm brainstorming ways to style it without it becoming crowded.

*Disclaimer: Unfortunately I've been saving these images at random and do not have the sources for each one. I do not take credit for any of these images and if any of them are yours and you want to be credited please let me know.