Feminine Bathroom {Vagabond Villa}

 

My style of home decorating is very eclectic.  I tend to lean towards bright colors, bold patterns, and a mix of ethnic fabrics.  When we moved into our Vagabond Villa the bathroom had pastel yellow and pink tiles.... everywhere... and drab {poorly painted} yellow walls.  Ugh.  Well, I just couldn't see how I would make my usual style work.  So I took a complete 180!  I embraced the pastels and went very sweet and feminine.

Autumn & Dias de los Muertos

 

I love Autumn; it is one of my favorite times of the year!  I love the leaves falling, the crisp air in the evening, the jewel tone sweaters, but most of all the Mexican tradition of Dias de los Muertos has always captured my heart.  It is so vibrant and reflective - I particularly love to see the altars that people create for their loved ones.

Poufs.... and more poufs!

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This oh-so-colorful pouf with patchwork fabric is so boho!

I love the mirror on top too - using it as a table.

I'm a pouf addict right now.  I looked at them for months in all the stores... and on Pinterest... and kept looking and finally  - when one I loved went on sale in early July - I pounced on a pouf! 

Bold ~ Beautiful ~ Bohemian Rugs!

A good rug can make or break a space.  And I love wild, bohemian rugs!  Which some might think are too much and overbearing... but I simply adore eclectic patterns, bold colors, and risks in decor.  And a bright, beautiful rug is fantastic for any room! Here are some of my most recent favorites, found via Pinterest.

Bohemian / Mexicana Budget Dining Room

 

 

I'm a thrifter.  I love scouring craigslist's FREE section, visiting second-hand stores, and finding new ways to decorate with random things.  My style is eclectic, colorful, boho.  I'm enamoured with religious iconography and Mexicana.  All of this is reflected in our little cottage, which still doesn't have a name.  I want to call it Cherryland Cottage because we live in Cherryland, but Dave has taken to calling it Mockingbird Heights - partly because we have a mockingbird in the palm tree in the front yard and partly because that's what The Munsters' home was called.  Whatever we end up calling our cottage, more and more it's beginning to reflect our style.

Happy Birthday America!

Bohemian Repurposed American Flags

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I love the Fourth of July!  Maybe it's the summer weather... or the fresh fruits galore... or memories of spending them lakeside when I was a child with family, friends, and fireworks.  Whatever it is, it's one of my favorite holidays.  As my husband and I feverishly create a beautiful outdoor space in our new {to us} cottage's backyard... I can't help but daydream of Fourth of July gatherings to come!

Here are some of my favorite inspirations around the web right now!

A Quick Patchwork Curtain.

Fabric / Fat Quarters & My Pattern

I don't think anyone else would be able to decipher my pattern scribbles - but they make sense to me!


My latest DIY project is to make curtains for our bedroom. I've been collecting scarves to make bohemian scarf curtains for the larger windows, but I've also been lusting after patchwork curtains on Pinterest.  So I decided to grab some fat quarters yesterday {half price at Joann Fabric!} and give the patchwork curtains a try. And I love them!

Laundry Room {Cherryland Cottage}

The other half of our pantry is our laundry room.  We didn't have a washer and dryer in our apartment, so we are pretty excited to have a laundry room of our own.  In fact, when we went to buy our new washer and dryer, we felt like married adults for the first time - buying major home appliances!  We're a tad dorky, but Wow! it was exciting to make such a big purchase together!

Pantry Build {Cherryland Cottage}

If you know anything about the San Francisco Bay Area, you know rents are ridiculously high.  Therefore, to find a rental that isn't an apartment, has a yard, is within a reasonable commute*, and affordable.... well, it has it's challenges.  We were fortunate recently to find such a cottage, with history and charm, and a yard perfectly sized for us.  {History and charm is my way of saying the cottage is old, strangely built in sections, and has plenty of quirks.}  Most importantly though, it is affordable and 25 minutes to work!

A Summer Solstice Gathering

We've moved into our new/old cottage and I can't wait to have friends over for a backyard soirée. I'm daydreaming of celebrating our new home with a Summer Solstice Gathering. I'm not sure if I will actually have the day off from work yet, but if I do... here are some ideas that I hope to put to good use.

{I've also recently learned that Summer Solstice is also called Litha - an interesting informational can be found here.}

All White Decor

White Twine Orbs in the Trees

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White Lanterns in the Trees

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White Lights in the Trees

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Dress to Impress

Floral Crowns

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White, Flowing Dresses....

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Create Together

Create a God's Eye

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..or Create a Sun

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...or Other Activities

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Gather To Eat

Fruits and Nuts

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...and Cheeses

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....and Summer Salads.

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Ch-ch-ch-changes....

The beautiful thing about life, is that it ebbs and flows like the ocean tides.  If you're willing to move in her waves and let her take you where she so desires... you will find yourself surrounded by new experiences.

In my absense from blogging many things have changed in my life.  Every one for the better.  That last sentence is tough to write, because one of the changes was putting our white cat down.  Mr. Shudders suffered from seizures and we tried a variety of medications to help him.  One worked for a few months, then his suffering returned.  It was sad, indeed, but a relief to know he wasn't suffering anymore.  And a relief on our schedule constraints, as the medication had to be administered every 8 hours.  He is missed, but we know he isn't suffering and that makes it a little easier.

We have also decided to move.  We wanted a less expensive place, so we can start saving for a home of our own one day.  We also wanted a little more privacy, a little space for gardening, and I wanted a shorter commute for work.  We've found all these things and will be moving tomorrow.  Many posts will follow with photos of DIYs I've done around the place, to make it our own.

I have also made the difficult decision to discontinue my non-profit/gift economy project I developed a few years ago.  I had created an online space for people to share their skills with each other.  And when the website didn't seem to attract people, I began hosting skill shares in my community.  The hope was that these skill shares would encourage people to share their skills on a regular basis on the website.  It didn't quite work out that way.  So I decided, although I still think it is a wonderful idea, that it's just not the right time.  Maybe one day in the future, I will work on a project like this again.

A large part of my soul is my vagabond spirit.  After getting married, my husband and I ran into some tough times financially.  Then with having to care for out ill cat, we just didn't have the ability to go very far, for very long.  Last month a dear friend rescued me from that rut.  As it turned out, it was just a few days after we put our cat down, that I had the opportunity to go to Barcelona, Spain.  And so I did.  I left my grieving husband at home (our Mr. Shudders was his very first pet) and I flew from San Francisco to Philadelphia to Barcelona!  I spent 3 days/nights there, mostly exploring solo, and enjoyed every moment of it.  It allowed me to be free again.... free to roam, explore, meet new people, try new foods... it was wonderful.  I will definitely share more in a future post.

And lastly, I had closed my etsy store, temporarily, this past winter.  I was feeling overwhelmed with life and needed a break from the responsibility.  Now that I will have more free time (without working on my non-profit) and feel a sense of renewed energy in creating and crafting, I look forward to re-opening my store in a couple of months with new, handmade goods for the masses!

So... life has offered me some amazing gifts... and I look foward to sharing them with my husband, my family, my friends and my readers!

xo-vz

Our Bohemian Valances.

 The Inspiration.

 

I saw a few beautiful photos of Bohemian inspired rooms with these gorgeous Toran curtains.  But if I can make something, instead of buying it - I will.

Scrap Fabric Pillow Slip Cover

My latest craft project... a throw pillow for our bed made from scraps!

It was kind of fun after it was made to name all the different projects it represents.  =D

And the zebra throw pillows behind it are new-to-me.  I found them at a thrift store for $2.99 a piece on my most recent trip to Boston. 

Our Wedding Themed Bedroom.

Our bedroom has become my place to display our wedding mementos. It seems like the most logical room, to do so, anyway.

We've always had an art gallery in our living room - walls filled with Dave's artwork. I wouldn't want to change this at all, as I love to look at his art and I hope it serves as inspiration for Dave to continue creating.

Our kitchen has begun to take on a Mexican/Southwestern theme... which I'm pretty certain doesn't work quite right with the 70s tile on our counters and back splash or all of our new appliances that are black and stainless steel. However, I'm sure it will all come together at some point - and if it doesn't, it's just a kitchen.

Our office/craft/guest room (which used to be our bedroom) is covered in punk rock posters and looks more like a teenage boy's bedroom than a married couple's multi-purpose room. I cannot make a single complaint about this, however, as Dave has given me full reigns on the bedroom... which I've turned into a walk down wedding day lane.

We have our newly upholstered dresser, which I've already shared, upholstered with our table runners from our reception. I've put a monogrammed, burlap pillow case on our bed, which was originally from our wedding ceremony seating. I've also displayed our guestbooks in our bedroom and hung wedding photos on our bedroom walls.







Most recently, I framed our BRIDE and GROOM signs. I had printed these out for our sweetheart table at the reception, but we ended up not having our own table and sitting with our family and friends. So, with a couple of dollar store frames, these little signs now hang on our wall.







I probably won't get too much more carried away with this theme, although I do want to upholster our night stand to match our dresser!

Wedding Decor - Upcycle!

Some of you may remember these table runners, that I sewed from burlap and Dave screen printed with our monogram for our wedding reception.


There's a tutorial HERE on how to make these fabulous table runners.





I recently upcycled them to redo our dresser. With a little brown paint and the old table runners used to upholster the drawer fronts, it looks like brand new! I especially love re-using the monogram/ruffles on the top! All we need now are some new drawer pulls and it's a whole new dresser!


PS - That's our "guestbook" on top of the dresser, too! Love it! So glad we decided to do the wood slice.

Nesting Bug.

This past week I've been tweaking out with the nesting bug!

I'm not sure if it's because the holidays are over and the decorations are down... as I often associate the holidays with a warm fuzzy, home and family feeling. Or if it's just pure insanity, but I can't stop thinking about painting our walls.

I'm craving vibrant colors in every room... yellows and oranges in the kitchen, greens in the bedroom, blues in the living room, purples in our guest room and a romantic taupe in the bathroom.

I'm envisioning a sunset-like stack of stripes in the kitchen in 70's hues of marigold and burnt orange. Or a mountain scenery of waves of violets and lavenders on the guest bedroom wall.

Will this happen? Only time will tell.