New Master

my hubby has given up...he let me re-decorate our bedroom and a few other spaces in the house. the biggest project so far has been our room. i am one of those people that loves to look through magazines and blogs, but i have no idea how to make it happen! now, we are still not completely finished, but i am busting to share what we have so far! some of you have seen little pics here and there on the web, so i am going to share the secrets too...especially about the awesome canvases.

so to start...this is all about my new friend, Holly Mathis. she is native houstonian and an amazing decorator. i was introduced to her through my sweet college friend, tara. tara lives in michigan, but found holly's blog and contracted her to help her via internet with some things in her house. you should see tara's new eat in kitchen, especially the table...so awesome!! so, i started following holly's blog this summer and couldnt wait to have her help me once we settled into a place. holly has been AMAZING!!!! no matter where you live, if you have a few problem areas or even a big project, contact her! she is super on top of things, even with having two small boys and a busy husband at home. she has told me when to splurge and when to save (yes, curtains from ikea!). she is fun and southern and has amazing personal style which all translate into my ideal spaces! so...THANK YOU HOLLY!!! contact her, follow her blog, stalk her, whatever...you will not be sorry! ps. i should tell you about her cute little henry, who is my new best friend and home hair client...he is hysterical!

ok, so i dont have the before pics, holly does, sorry. but there was nothing "wrong" with what we had, it just wasnt us and it wasnt perfect for our room here. everything but the bed frame is new. i have yet to hang the curtains, because target was short one curtain rod when i went, but that will happen soon. we have decided not to paint our room for now, but we will probably paint the bathroom in the future when we do an overhaul there...i need my new cousin joe lanser to come visit me for that project :)

so here is the bed:

all bedding is from www.potterybarn.com. the quilt is the kalamkari (no longer available) quilt with matching standard shams (2) and euro shams (2). i scooped them up at an awesome price when they went on clearance. there are also 2 ruffled linen euro shams and 2 monogram throw pillows. peter is not a huge fan of all the pillows, but they look awesome! thanks, holly!

i took this in the natural light (tons of it in our room...there are 4 HUGE windows all along one wall). i really like this sunburst mirror from www.wisteria.com. it came super fast after i ordered it too. i bought most of the things for the room just before or during big president's day sales...huge advantage. i also used an online coupon i found for this and they offered free shipping. great savings...thanks holly! this is just under 30", perfect for our big room!

i struggled to get a good picture of these new lamps. originally, we were looking at some really awesome (and HUGE) lamps from pottery barn, but these steal of a deal we found at home goods (home goods is owned by marshalls, and i love it! really close to our house too!). peter hated the idea of spending $100+ per lamps when we found these crackled mirror lamps for $45 each. i am not in love with the shades, but they work for now! they have a simple silver base then the crackled mirror glass which you can sometimes see through. they are really pretty when turned on!

these new end tables are from restoration hardware...the camden 3 drawer closed. the picture on the website is much better, i didnt feel like closing the blinds to get a good shot. this is one of those things we splurged on, but they will last forever. holy smokes are they heavy!! and they are cedar drawers...i love opening them to smell them. we did get a deal during presidents day weekend, but not a ton. :) we had to find tall end tables since the bed is so high. i have to literally jump up on to our bed, but it is perfect for my 6'9" hubby! anyway, these are an awesome addition to the room! thanks, holly!!! ps. like my canes cup on the coaster? my throat has been dry at night lately...dont judge!

cute, huh? i love having a seating area in our room! see...lots of windows! so, there are two chairs, but i am only showing one because the other has a bunch of stuff on it, of course! these pretty linen chairs are from www.overstock.com. they came as a set of two for a great price, but i cant seem to find the link for them. maybe they sold out, sorry! the cute side table is from www.urbanoutfitters.com. it has the cutest claw feet...perfect for this space. i probably would have not thought to look there for a side table. thanks, holly!!! yes, she is helping me right now with accessories, including something for this table. the pillow is one from the bed, i just put them there when i havent made the bed yet.

oh my! this is the other wall . you can see that i was sitting on the bed when i took this photo. there are so many awesome pieces!

i am calling this huge basket from home goods, my returns basket. right now it is full of things that i need to return. i am not good at that, but maybe having them there where i see them everyday will force me to do it! this basket is huge and awesome and i love the colors. it matches the bedding perfectly! eventually it will hold extra throw blankets, i hope! thanks for the idea, holly!!

isnt this beautiful? all the other pics that i have taken make it look small for some reason, but its not. it is shallow, but perfect for the room. i just love the color. holly found it on www.homedecorators.com. home decorators is an online store owned by home depot. this key console had a small chip under a hinge (no one will ever notice) and when i called the company they were so awesome to work with. rather than replacing the whole piece they gave me a very generous coupon to use. they offered a lower cash option, but i like a few other things, so it was fine for me. since peter and i each have our own walk in closet, we dont really need dressers in our room. this is a perfect statement piece that i can also put extra linens in. i am so glad that holly introduced me to home decorators...thanks!!

oh my lanta!! these are my favorite things about the room right now. i love the monogram pillows too, but these...gash! they just came yesterday! when holly first told me  (and showed me the idea board) i was unsure. they are huge! 30"x40" each. and they were going to be SUPER expensive. i thought i would have to wait a long time and do 100 home hair clients before i could get them, but of course holly came through again. holly told me about www.onekingslane.com it is a website that offers daily emails with super sweet deals (think groupon) for home decorations and accessories. the day she told me about it the website we had wanted to order the canvases from was offering a deal. i quickly signed up, added holly as my referral and bought the deal. i got $15 off my first purchase because holly referred me (if you like the site, put me or holly as your referral. you and i (or holly) will get $15 credit when you make your first purchase. my email address is asloeser@gmail.com. holly's is ehmathis@gmail.com) so these canvases came from www.chiccanvas.com. they should be $216 each plus $15 for shipping. i paid $83 each plus the $15 for shipping. wow! THANK YOU HOLLY!!! they are perfect. peter thinks its weird to wake up to such a huge picture of himself, but that side of the room needed the drama. they came ready to hang and dont weigh very much, so they went up immediately! thanks, handy hubby!!

so, can you tell that i love my room? i cant wait to finish up a few other projects with holly's help. we have done new pillows in the living room, new lighting in the eat in kitchen, new lamps for the guest rooms and we have so many other projects on the list. i just need to work a little. does anyone need a haircut? maybe a new color for spring?? :) i am more than excited thinking about holly helping me with a nursery...

go to www.hollymathisinteriors.com now! book her! tell her i sent you! :)

blessings, ALo