What I Love Wednesday: Truly Extraordinary Outdoor Living

One quick administrative note: Gmail is changing it's settings this summer, forcing me to send posts to you from a different email address so they don't get sent directly to your junk folders. This is outside any of your control and is really just FYI.  From now on all subscriber emails, whether you use gmail or something else on your end, will be coming from me at info@southshoredecorating.com. They should arrive without issue, but if not, please start by marking my email address above as safe. If that doesn't work, please let me know. Thanks!

Etsy Favorite Sellers For Home Decor and Accessories (#17)

One quick note: I want to take back my recommendation from last week on the Turkish towels, which are supposed to be so absorbent. I bought one on Etsy, and it wasn't. The kids hated it and fought over who got stuck using it. I've been seeing them all over Home Goods and places, and they are nice in theory as beach or picnic towels to just sit on, but they are not great as drying off towels. So sorry.

In this edition:

One of My Favorite Room Collections: Home Decor Eye Candy

I hope you all are having a great weekend! I have some things going on in my guest room that I hope to show you this week. Stay tuned!

THIS House Is a Dream.

I would take this house in a heart beat even if I could never ever change a thing, and I very rarely say that. It is the 5500 square foot Nashville Symphony Show House, designed by Wade Weissman and photographed by Alyssa Rosenheck. Look at how incredible this is:

50 Favorites for Friday (#228)

Hi everyone. I hope you all had a good week. It's so busy this time of year for people with children. I know we are frantic every year with sports, recitals, school awards, and the like, and this year is no different. So I have not had much time to write, but the summer is looking a bit more slow (fingers crossed). Happy Friday!

French Baroque and Chippendale Rococo Mirrors in Modern Rooms

White framed mirrors, especially in ornate styles, aren't necessarily my go-to choice. I'd normally think of them mostly for very feminine or shabby chic interiors. I don't think they have been used as much in transitional and modern decor, and they're not always the first thing that comes to mind in those settings. But that's what makes me really like them for more modern rooms - they are still a bit unusual and unexpected. I bought one for my office that just arrived, so I thought I do a post about them.  How about this first one – totally unexpected and simply amazing:

What I Love Wednesday - Outdoor String Lighting

I bought a few good strands of the big outdoor globe lights last summer and hung them around the back fence. Well, of course I was too lazy to take them down for winter. Shockingly, every single one of them made it. We had a mild winter here, but it is still New England, so I was really surprised. Especially because every other strand I have ever bought has broken even in the summer (rain, wind, etc). Anyway, here are some examples of where I'd like my backyard lighting to be:

Favorite Etsy Sellers (Week 16)

In this edition:

High Drama.

Every room needs some drama, right? Here are some that I think are good examples. I'll warn you - it's quite an eclectic mix...

Kate Spade Inspired Desk - DIY Wall Paper & ModPodge Project

You guys, I could not be more excited! Take two of my Mod Podge desk is coming out so much better, and I love it. Remember initially I used really thin paper and it was bumpy and didn't look great? The new paper came today, and while it is technically sticky back paper, it feels like really strong wallpaper. It was so easy (although matching seams was impossible, but I don't really care). It needs another coat and then I'll show the whole thing. But here is where I am at now:

Home Office Updates / 50 Favorites for Friday (Styling & Vignettes)

The table for my office came! I think I mentioned last week that even though I found that great one for 1/2 price (you can read the saga here), it was backordered until August. I was really disappointed. I'm used to waiting, but I really just want to get this project finished up for summer, so I cancelled the order. This one was about the same price and is the one I was initially going to buy, so I bought it and sprayed the legs and hardware (I messed up the hardware a bit, but can easily change that. The legs came out great):

The bench, the picture frames, the gold bookends, the marble tray, and the lamps are from Home Goods (I scored big today). I'm still working on the vignette, but it's a good start I think. Here are a few more images:

Etsy Twelve for Tuesday (Favorite Stores for Home Decor and Accessories #15)

In this edition:

Pretty Pinks: Pale, Pastel Soft Pink Rooms

I for one have not yet tired of pinks, and would love to see the color stick around for a bit in fashion and interior design. What do you think? If you are a fan, do you prefer blush pink or hot pink? I like both. Here are some of my favorites:

via

5 Gorgeous Modern Rooms With Affordable Sources

This is pretty much what I do for fun, so I thought I'd share these 5 rooms that I recently sourced (for less than the originals of course). Happy weekend everyone!

 Sofa, Wingback Chair, Cow Hide Rug,  Ottoman, Other Ottoman,  Hanging Lights,  Curtains, Mirror, Mud Cloth Pillows, Brass Lamp, Blue Vase, Wood Stool

50 Favorites for Friday #227

You guys know I've been working on my office, right? So I told you last week that I was going to Mod Podge some paper to my desk. The paper arrived today, and I started it. I had bought two sample papers - here they are:

1. Close together dots:

2. Further apart dots:

30 Bright White Rooms

Hi everyone. Thank you all for the comments about yesterday's post on how to use Google Images for the best pricing.  Posts like that take a really long time to write, so I'm grateful for the feedback. I hope you are all having the lovely weather we have now in the Northeast - enjoy your day!

These are all from One Kings Lane (speaking of...did you hear the company is up for sale?)

If You Want to Find Products for Less, You NEED To Read This Google Image Tutorial

Remember last week when you guys voted on console tables for my office? I bought one, and it wasn't even one of the six I had asked you to vote on:

Here is is at for $1020 at almost every store (here, here, here) and a bit less here, and substantially less at Wayfair for trade members (here). I almost always end up buying from Wayfair because it is almost always the best price (and customer service is incredible).

Anyway, I had initially ruled it out for price, thinking I'd prefer to pay less for this very similar one (and the one that won the reader votes) and just paint the legs:

But I didn't really want to paint the legs. So I decided to take my own advice and do a Google Image Search on the one with gold legs and see if I could find it for less, or at least something similar for less. And it worked. I got it for $510 - exactly half of the Joss & Main price.

Here's how.  

Etsy Favorite Sellers for Home Decor / Accessories (#14)

I think this is my favorite Etsy post since the first one. I hope you enjoy it!

1. Colorful Custom Pillows (here and here)

        

Simply Stunning Interior Design Portfolio: Chango & Co.

Chango & Co. has one of my favorite portfolios ever, especially their beach houses. I think you'll love this:

MUST SEE Blue and White One Kings Lane Entire Home Makeover

One Kings Lane recently did an internet makeover that is to die for. This proves how well E decorating can work! As OKL wrote:

Between running her media site, Womanista, traveling with her musician husband, Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum, and caring for their new baby, it’s no wonder Cassie Kelley hadn’t had a moment to rethink her living space. In came our team to create a fresh new look—one that puts practicality first without sacrificing Cassie’s polished style. 

 Take a look at the spaces, all photographed by Manuel Rodriguez:

50 Favorites Home Office Edition & House Updates & Reader Votes Please!

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I have so much today....skip to about half way if you only want to see the 50 Favorites.....

So I lost my entire blog format last night, and in a brief moment where I also couldn't access any of my content, I. Lost. My. S***.  It's 3:26 am now, and I got most of it back. So will I learn not to go meddle in my code? Probably not, unfortunately. Anyway, it looks different because I did as much as I can do for now and will have to pick it back up another time. For those of you with blogs: When every tutorial ever in the history of the internet tells you to back up your stuff before meddling in your code? I'm thinking they actually make a very good point.

Next, I told you yesterday how the wrong item came for my office..... I ordered a desk, but they delivered a credenza. I decided to cancel it and not have them try to track down a desk (they were out of stock). Some things are meant to be, I think, because my lovely decorator-blog friend-reader Linda emailed me this Kate Spade beauty, which I hadn't seen before:

Home Office Fail, Most Pinned Images, and Outdoor Decorating

Yesterday was disappointing in a way way only people like me (i.e., all of you), will understand. I saved for and ordered this desk from Bernhardt:

And it arrived. Or I should say, this arrived, mis-marked from the manufacturer:

Although worth a lot more, it's not what I ordered and I'm pretty bummed, mostly because I think the desk is no longer available (I apparently got the last one when I ordered it). I know you all understand. Oh well, not a big deal in the long run I guess.

Anyway, moving on.  This is my most pinned image of all time. It gets a couple thousand repins a month. It's beautiful, but it kind of surprises me that it is the most out of all 45,000 pins. Although I don't know what I would think would be first instead of it, so it's as good as any I guess:

Hermes Style Bags / What I Love Wednesday (Green Velvet Rooms)

I went back and fixed the link from yesterday's Etsy post, but wanted to put the Hermes style bags here because I felt so badly for messing it up. So many of you emailed, and I know, it was the best item on the list, so of course the link was broken! The bags are HERE and by clicking the images below.....

Etsy Favorites Sellers for Home Decor and Women's Accessories (#13)

1. Giant Clam Shells

Much to my chagrin, I have bought several of these for people at mass retailers and spent more than I had to. These are the ones I have bought (click image to view each) - they are not cheap:



And here are the Etsy ones at serious savings:  here, here, here, here, and here. Or click the images to view:

       

2. Custom Coordinates Jewelry

These are another Anthropologie find that are being done for a lot less on Etsy.  Anthro has the custom coordinates bracelet here for $140, and the Etsy ones, starting at $25 are here, here, here, here, here, and here: