Adding Glam to Your Boudoir - a Blog Hop

Is your morning routine a mad dash around your wardrobe trying to find your favorite piece of jewelry?  Has it become more of a chore than an enjoyment?  Then you need to slow down and smell the roses, and perhaps this blog hop will make your ideal morning routine a reality!  

If you're linking over from my friends Kim and Lacey's blog, Styled with Lace, welcome!  I'm so thrilled you are here!  If you're a regular reader, welcome back as I share some boudoir styling tips with you today. 

Welcome to our master suite!  The dressing area greets us as we step in, so I try to style the built-in vanity with a welcoming view.  I'm sure you've heard many times that being organized makes your morning routine much more efficient.   My goal is to keep my vanity organized while staying pretty. 

I share this vanity area with the hubby.  So nice of him to let me hog the vanity, while he gets the space of that marble dish on the right 😁

I've styled the vanity in several different ways over the months since its completion, and I always use some common elements to keep all the stuff from looking like a hot mess. 

Trays

I have two main trays on the vanity; one for perfume bottles and the other for jewelries.  The trays help to corral like items together, and make cleaning much easier.  

I love how the mirror trays add glam and sparkle to the vanity.  The perfume bottles seem to sparkle even more with the light reflected from the mirror tray.

I don't own a huge collection of perfume, just enough for the different seasons and occasions.  I'm lucky the fragrances that I love come in such pretty bottles to be displayed!

Pretty Dishes

On the jewelry tray, I keep several pretty dishes of daily jewelries for easy access; one of each for my bracelets/ bangles, rings holder and earrings.  

It's fun to discover how objects can be multi-functional. I'm using a crystal pillar candle holder as a dish for earrings, and a tea cup for my bracelets.

I love how they serve up some sparkles and add color and dimensions to the vanity.

Display Items

Some jewelry boxes are pretty enough to stand on their own as part of your vanity's decor. The rarely worn and precious pieces can be kept in their pretty boxes and displayed in a cloche. 

With such a pretty display of jewelry boxes, you would want to elevate it so that it's easily visible.  The simplest way to achieve this is to lift the display on cute books or boxes to create a beautiful vignette.  

I decorate the vanity as with any vignette, by creating different layers of height.  My tray of perfume bottles is at the lowest. The lifted display cloche creates a mid-tier.  A tall gorgeous bouquet of roses completes the vignette by adding a touch of femininity and glam to the vanity.

But we're not done!  I didn't want to hide my statement necklaces in drawers; I love seeing their colors and bling!  This glass display box heard my calling and it's perfect for the necklaces!

What's better than waking up to beautiful jewelries at your bedside table?

And those perfume samples that I collect?  I love keeping the light scents by my bed on a pretty dish.  Spritz away at bed time, and fall asleep with a delightful scent.

Your jewelries aren't only for dressing you up; by decorating with them, they become an extension of you.  I'm a believer that you should display items that you love and make you happy. Seeing the beautiful and organized display on your vanity would give you a great start to your day.  As your day ends, you once again enjoy the view of your beloved possessions as you retire for the night. 

Remember, the simplest way to pamper yourself is by beautifying your surroundings.  Then why not start with your boudoir so that it gives you a happy boost to your day?

I hope you feel inspired to look through your pretty things and find a way to display some of your favorite pieces.  Thank you for joining me here and I hope you come back soon!  Remember to sign up for our blog updates as we continue to DIY our way to add personal touches to our home.  I invite you to hop on over to Bethany's blog The Posh Home and find even more inspiration!  I am loving the ideas shared today.  Don't forget to share these ideas on Facebook or pin them on Pinterest so that you have them when you start decorating!

Don’t miss the rest of these glam boudoirs:

SheLeavesALittleSparkle.com

Moth-Design.com

LoveYourAbode.com

StyledWithLace.com

ClassyGlamLiving.com

ThePoshHome.com

LetsDazzleDarlings.com

TheBlissfulLane.com

5 Home Decor Ideas for Spring

Our recent weather in town was like a roller coaster ride.  A week of warm double digit temperature plunged to deep freeze temperature, and this week we're getting another taste of the sweet warm weather!  I'm not complaining of an early start of Spring, but welcoming the warmth full force by refreshing our home's Spring decor.

It's always fun to reinvent new ways of decorating with what you have, and I've committed to using most of our existing Spring decor accessories from years past.  

At our house, I've added some easy touches to give our decor for a fresh Spring look.  Here are 5 simple things that help bring Spring to your home.

1. Chirpy Birds, Nests, and Colourful Eggs

What's Spring without chirpy birds singing at your window (and wake you up so you can't sleep in on weekends)?  I've invited these ceramic birds into our entryway for a happy, welcoming sight.   I kept our entryway decor simple, and layered on some easter eggs and nest decor for some colours.

Here's a previous version at our old house, using the same accessories.  

2. Other Natural elements - Greenery / Floral arrangements

If your house isn't already an indoor garden, adding plants or fresh (or faux) flowers would immediately breathe new life into your home.  

For me though, I don't particularly have a green thumb.  Spending around 6 hours of awake time at home after work, minus dinner and family time, doesn't leave me much time or energy to care for plants.  I rely on my trusted faux floral friends to bring us some colours until it's time to switch to fall and winter decor. 

So, wherever I can find a spot, I would add some greenery or faux floral arrangement to liven up our neutral space.

Here in the dining room:

We haven't decorated our powder room, so a simple arrangement of hydrangeas adds some much needed colour in it.

I've moved this pot of faux orchid around our house, but I think it's finally found a home in our master ensuite.

Here in our family room, a pot of faux grass gives all the navy decor a pop of colour.

Back at our old house, we had 2 versions of Spring tablesetting.  This is the dramatic, which we used while we staged our house for sale:

This second version was what the Mr. thought didn't have enough oomph.  Very well...

Aside from the greeneries and floral arrangements, displaying fruits in the kitchen is another simple way to add some natural elements to enhance your Spring decor.

I confess, this chrome birds and twigs tray is a new addition to my Spring decor collection.  It's so unique that I just had to grab it from Homesense, even though I had no idea what to use it for...  until I ran out of room on our usual fruit tray with all those clementines the Mr. brought home from grocery shopping, and into this tray they went.

3. Colourful Art

All the greeneries and colour don't end with plants and flowers.  If you had furry pillow covers through the winter months, it's time to replace them with some Spring covers.  For me, these water colour floral cushion covers are a natural extention from the florals and plants around the house.  

Bluebellegray cushion from Chapters Indigo

Pillow cover from Craftberry Bush

Another quick and inexpensive way to add some colours around the house would be with some free printables of Spring.  I love Craftberry Bush's water colour printables and she has this cute Bless Our Nest printable for free on her website!  

If you don't have a colour printer available, it's very inexpensive to print this at a local print shop.  I usually print my quicky artwork on a light weight cardstock at Staples.  You can't beat a decent quality print for under $1!

via Craftberrybush

4. Light weight linens

From window treatments, to throws, to your bedding, it's just natural to change out the heavy weights to light weights as warm weather descends upon us.  

Replacing heavily woven drapery fabrics with lighter fabrics, such as belagian linen, doesn't only lighten the wintery feel, but also lets in more light.  You may consider a sheer-on-sheer window treatment, like this in our dining room, to get the most light through your windows.  

Are you still using flannel sheets, with Christmas themes?  Updating your bedding with some light and colourful fabrics is a great way to indulge in the spirit of Spring.  Our fabulous Canadian designers have come out with some gorgeous bedding that make us long for Spring.  

From Sarah Richardson's own textile line:

via Sarah Richardson Design

To Samantha Pynn's collection for Simons:

via Samantha Pynn pour Simons

5. Fresh Scent

Who doesn't love walking into a fresh smelling house?  I used to love plug-ins with floral scents, but recently I've grown to love clean scents.  One of my favourites is White Tea by Westin.  Yes, that's Westin as in the Westin hotel chain.  White Tea is their signature scent that welcomes you as you walk into their hotel lobby.  

I'm so glad that they actually sell this scent, but it doesn't come cheap.  My trick to prolong its usage is to use it with an oil diffuser, which most people use to disperse essential oil for aroma therapy.  

White tea oil diffuser;  Wood grain oil diffuser (affiliated links)

I put 5 drops with a medicine dropper into the diffuser's reservoir, and off it goes for about 8 hours.  The scent that comes out of it is never too strong, but just enough to travel through our ground floor.

It brings back vacation joy each time I take in a whiff of its scent.  The oil diffuser is tucked into a corner at our dining room, behind the wall of picture frames on the table.  It's not something meant to be seen; just a subtle reminder of its delicate scent will do. 

It's so tempting to shop all the beautiful new decor that the stores are carrying for Spring.  It can also be overwhelming when there're so much goodies to choose from.  If I can, I would bring the whole store home...  But with a limited budget or limited patience for shopping (like these miserable men), having a list of general decor ideas would hopefully deter you from overloading your shopping cart.   Guilty of that?

Living Room Reveal and Styling Tips

Being in a townhouse, there usually isn't a separate living room so to speak.  Since we had the builder finished the basement as a family room, it freed up space on the main floor (and no TV!).  We also didn't need the builder-designated breakfast area, which is in close proximity to the breakfast bar and dining room (c'mon we're only a family of 3).  That gave rise to the idea of a seating area in place of the breakfast area.

After months of anticipation, we finally (!!!) received the end tables we ordered back in October for the living room/ seating area.  I had decor items lined up for its arrival since our purchase, and we can now focus on beautifying our living room.  

It's been more than a year since I wrote about our living room design board, and this was what I had in mind for our living room in that post:

Deals come and go, and so our furniture choices differ from our design board.  We incorporated pieces that we love, while still staying true to our decorating style.  Here is how our living room actually turned out:

First to set the stage is of course an elegant and comfy sofa.  We've scoured through stores, but none other than the Nicole sofa by Sarah Richardson was our one true love.  The curvy sides and arms add the touch of uniqueness that distinguishes it from traditional sofas.  Plus, I love its large fluffy seat cushion, so nobody would be sitting on cushion gaps.  

Natalie Hodgins, who managed our furniture order seamlessly at Sarah Richardson Design, suggested we also include the back cushions.  We're so glad we went with her suggestion, the back cushions up the comfy factor of a tight back sofa.

With the statement art piece above the sofa as the focal point, we decided to go with a pair of end tables with acrylic legs.  The tables almost seem to disappear into the surrounding, but the chrome accents and mirror bottom shelf bring out the gleam in them.  

Its hard lines are a nice contrast to the curvy marble coffee table and delicate arms on the sofa.  We also love how the mirrored bottom shelf reflects the light from the table lamps and creates depth for whatever decor placed on it. 

Instead of using large armchairs on either side of the sofa, as in my original design board, we opted to use a pair of cane back dining armchairs from Restoration Hardware.  It was one of those decisions that was prompted by a deal, and worked out great in the end.   We already had one from our old house's home office, and saw the second one at the RH Outlet while it was running a 30% off lowest ticket price campaign.  It was a no brainer to grab it!  

Their narrow footprint streamlined the seating area, so that the living room appears less crowded than if we had used chunky armchairs. 

With our living and dining areas being next to each other, we used a silvery blue as a transition colour between the two areas.  The silvery blue tone can be found in the animal print rug, the kitchen stools, and the dining room console.  

It's All in the Details

Now that we have our essential pieces down, it's time to beautify and liven up the seating area with accessories!  This is a stark contrast to the year at our rental, which I never bothered to decorate.  It was a boring place to stay at, lacking in character without something beautiful to look at.  

Since moving in at our new house, I've purged through our old home decor accessories and curated items that we love.  I don't really work with a theme, other than a seasonal one.  However, the objects still look coherent, because they all represent us.

With a prominent piece of artwork above the sofa, we picked out neutral tones for the throw pillows.  Pulling a darker tone from the art, in this case the navy, for a contrasting pillow colour helps to ground the space that would otherwise appear washed out.

We didn't want too many accessories to crowd up the small seating area.  Afterall, if I didn't exercise control, I could easily pile up the coffee and end tables with everything I love ;-)  

In keeping with the spirit of less-is-more for this small space, instead of filling up the coffee table with books, I decided to give it some breathing space by corralling simple accessories on a tray.

I used metallics throughout to balance the strong copperish gold tone of the frame.  It helps to avoid washing out the rest of the seating area against the strong piece of art.  

Here on the pale marble coffee table, I used a mirror tray with bronze frame and an antiqued gold lantern:

And at the end table here, with the gold resin shell bowl and beige-gold toned capiz shells tray.  I love how the gold Jonathan Adler Carnaby Zebra dish echoes the animal print rug to subtly tie in the accessories.  

Just in case you're wondering, no, the seating area is not considered done until the Mr. installs the full-panel wainscoting as in my design board.  He gave me the "I've got a lot on my plate" look when I reminded him about it the other night.  I brought it up, just because...  I'll leave him alone for now, as he's still finishing up with our dressing room.   =)

It was exciting to envision this builder-designated breakfast area to be a seating area when I first saw the floor plan.  Even more fun was the design process, and now furnishing and personalizing it to suit our living style.  

We love how it is neutral enough to not fight with the artwork, and yet everything works in harmony.  This is the first room that we see when we walk into the living area, and it should naturally feel welcoming.  We wanted it to be a focal point without being too formal (ie. realistically livable with a kid).  

I think with the speed the little man dashes to the couch after coming home, we've at least managed the livable part =)

P.S.:  The wainscoting should be a piece of cake for the Mr., since he's done the wainscoting with the chair rail for our old house's living/ dining room.