A little inspiration

Going into the weekend, I'll leave you with a little inspiration for your decorating muse. Mike and I are heavily immersed in home decorating right now -- well, I'm heavily immersed, Mike's maybe more "skimming the surface" of home decorating, but he indulges me. 

*Sigh.* I have the perfect husband. 

Anyway, I'm hoping to get some photos up of the house next week and conduct a little home tour for you all. There have been quite a few changes going on here at Oakland Avenue -- Mike and I started this homeowner stuff complete novices (I know, everybody does.) But really, we're the novices of novices. We started our house with two beds (one queen and one full), a ten million pound dresser, a pretty decent book shelf, a terribly old and ugly loveseat, and a writing desk I rescued from the dumpster. Yep, that’s right, six things. Count ‘em. 

Try filling up a three bedroom house with that -- we looked like minimalists on crack. 

We had both become pretty streamlined over the years, moving all our stuff from one apartment to the next, and we shamelessly relied on our roommates to provide the rest of the goods. Of course we had all the necessities, a few plates and cups, a spatula, bed sheets, my straightener (the most important of all – Must. Avoid. The. Lion. Mane.), but really, truly, honestly, we had hardly anything. 

So. That means we had to pretty much start Oakland Avenue from scratch.

Next week, on the house tour, you’ll see that we’ve amassed quite a bit in a very, very short amount of time. Mike and I both know we’re not planning on moving for at least five years, so we’re packing it in and intentionally making friends with people who have strong backs for the day we do.

But enough about our house. Let’s look at this prettiness, shall we?

Via

Don't you just want to run, jump in all this fluffiness, then fall asleep? Oh, and after my nap, I'll just lightly spring up, slip into my wedding dress, choose one of my five pairs of white shoes to slide on, and prance right out to my beautiful backyard wedding.

Knowing me, I'd probably get my hair caught in that chandy, ruin my updo, step in a puddle of mud -- and I would definitely not look as light and delicate on my feet as I do when I'm visualizing it. Bah.

Via

Love, love, love this living room. I'm guessing that even though I'm 5'8" if I sat at the very back of that couch's seat, my legs wouldn't touch the ground. All you short girls out there, I want you to know: It's a little piece of Heaven just for me. Stay off.

Via

I'm envisioning a pretty stark room surrounding this little nook, then BAHBAM! COLOR! I absolutely go gaga for major unexpected pops of color in a room.

Via

Right after I get done talking about pops of color, I see this photo, and of course my motley design instincts love this too. And check out that vase of flowers -- its HUGE! 

Yes, I like to state the obvious.

Bijou and Boheme

"And over here we have serenity knoll." 

How in the world does one think to bring large boulders into a room and stack them up? And what if one of them fell over? Wouldn't the boulder put a hole through your floor because it'd be so heavy when it fell? Even that smaller one on the top - it'd at least put a dent in the floor.

Ahhh well, I can't question the authority of the design masters. I may not know where in the world they come up with these ideas, how they create them, and even more so --  how they live with them on a daily basis, but I do know one thing -- I LOVE IT. 

Bijou and Boheme

This is the same room as the picture above, can you tell? More sweet pops of color with a generally neutral base. Plus I love all the windows and the wood beams on the ceiling.

Now if only I could figure out how to snag everything from these photos and jam them into Oakland Avenue.