Target: Designer Chic with Nate Berkus

After waiting weeks in anticipation for the Nate Berkus collection to arrive, I ran out the door two Sunday's ago (sorry I'm late posting this!) to meet James for our shopping date!  Target number one did not only NOT have the Nate collection out, we were directed around by a Target team member for about 40 minutes before we politely said, thank you for your time, but we'll come back later.  How do these peeps not even know who Nate Berkus is?  For a hot second, I thought we were g to shop first in the back room, but no such luck!

Target number two featured a barely picked over FULL collection on display and in stock!  Victory!  Here are some of our faves.  I scored a small slate picture frame for my bedside table, but left most of it on the shelf for other devoted shoppers.  If only I had a bathroom in need...

Love the natural stone frames

In need of any bling to accessorize for the holidays?

This is the bathroom stuff I'm talking about!  Love!

Loved the pillows on either side of the silver one.  The silver pillow was too, well, silver.

I am so into the Herringbone / Chevron sheets.  Such a modern take on a classic fabric pattern!

Now, I'm ready for the Neiman Marcus Holiday mash-up!  And I know which local Target I'll be skipping first!

Paint Changes Everything

A few months back, I had the pleasure of working with a fun client through Widespread Solutions who wanted to give her home a facelift!  By changing the color palette on the exterior of her home and throughout the kitchen and dining areas, we were able to create a totally different look.

We selected the perfect paint colors to give the exterior of her home a clean, crisp finish.  It was previously painted a light yellow with apricot colored shutters.  Didn't Widespread Solutions do an AWESOME job?!?  I love the pop of light teal on the front door!

The kitchen and eating area also received a fresh coating in different colors.  We also selected a new color for the buffet, which was an antique piece of furniture.  The bright color and new knobs gave it more of an eclectic and "Anthropologie" type feel.

I restyled their mantle by shopping in other rooms for accessories.  It was important for her husband to incorporate pieces of art he collected through his travels.

The kitchen area itself received a fresh coating, recessed lighting, new fan, new cabinet knobs, and updated window treatment.  The cabinets were previously green and the client wanted to keep them that way, so we selected hardware to compliment and give a slightly different look.

If you live in the Richmond area and are in need of a professional paint company with old fashioned values and strong results, Widespread Solutions is your go-to!  If you are in need of a color consult or help pulling a room together, please let me know!

DIY: Mercury Glass Sconces

I purchased these sconces for a whopping $8 a piece about 8 months ago and have finally finished my simple DIY project!  I had previously come across similar items from Pottery Barn, Ballard Designs, and other retail stores which were all selling mirrored candle sconces starting at $50 a piece!  So imagine my excitement when I found these gems for a fraction of the price!

I started my project by purchasing the Krylon looking glass spray paint.  I already owned several other metallic colors I thought would be great to layer with the looking glass.  

I continued to layer all three finishes until I got the look I wanted.  The key is to keep moving your arm the entire time so nothing looks too spotty.

I also blotted the finish with a rag in between the last couple of coats to give it more of a mercury glass feel.  I was going to add some dry brushing to finish off the look, but in the end was happy with the look achieved solely through the spray paint.  I honestly think you could use this inexpensive and simple technique to 'mercury-glass' anything!

And here is the final product hanging above our bed in our master bedroom!

So tell me, what do you think?

Target: Designer Chic

I know you all probably grew very tired of hearing about the Missoni Madness that took place about a year ago.  I, however, cannot get enough of Target's designer mashups.  After lots of googling and searching for what they have in store, I am proud to say I am counting down the days until Nate Berkus' line debuts at Target this month!  In case his name is ringing a bell, but you can't recall why, he was made famous by designing for Oprah amongst other celebs, and has his own show (which unfortunately doesn't air in the small city of Richmond, VA).

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And, in the retail spirit of getting excited for Christmas before Halloween, I am even more excited to see what Target will stock its shelves with this December.  They are partnering with NEIMAN MARCUS to foster affordable styles by 24 different designers we all know and love!  Did they really just say Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg and Jason Wu?  Merry Christmas, to me!

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