Incentive

Roughly this time last month I took a virtual stroll over to the IKEA website. For years I've had my eye on their Stockholm rug, but it was always just a dream since they never ever had it in stock in Dublin. For months I would check. Months turned into years. I signed up to be notified of its return, and that too expired. Except for last month. In April they had 5 in stock.  

And boy did I. I went to there. And I got the last medium rug. WINNING. Want to know the awful thing? It's been standing in the corner of our living room ever since. 

I bought it because I knew it would fly off the shelves. And it did, since it's no longer in stock again. I should defend myself and say I'm not the type of person to buy something that lush and ignore it {quite the opposite}. I'm using our new rug as an incentive. I have a goal and I can only put it down once I've reached it. I know - silly and sappy and childish. It's not a groundbreaking goal either. But it's driving husband insane because he says I'm torturing myself by not rolling it out {to which I usually reply with a Big Lebowski reference}.

Am I crazy? Have any of you done something like this? That first question should probably be treated as a rhetorical one. Oh god I hope I'm not the only one ...

All that black and white goodness. I got my eye on the prize {and so does Juniper, as it happens}.

The streets this week

This past week I spent a lot of time out and about in Dublin. I wish I owned one of those pedometer things because we walked some serious mileage. As it happens, this week was also heavy on the graffiti factor. No complaints here. 

We checked out the All City Jam graffiti gig held in the Tivoli car park, and it was chalk full of inspiration. In hindsight, hubby and I probably should have showed up a bit later in the day as a lot of the graffiti were works-in-progress while we were there. There were some amaze-balls stuff nonetheless ... 

The pictures do zero justice. I think I'll have to creep down to the Tivoli car park later this week to see the finished work as there were some serious pieces being made. 

A stroll through the park with some aftermath of this years cherry blossoms here in Dublin. I also fed some tiny swan babies and may have talked to them for 20 minutes about how cute they were like a crazy lady. Just couldn't help myself.

Last and in no way least, I lunched at The Little Green where I ate along side the work of their featured artist this week, Bon ...

I saw all 4'6" of this, and had to have it. And I did. More to come on that tasty number once I get my hands on it this week. I'm not sure where it'll go just yet, but I'll enjoy giving it a tour of our place I'm sure. Cannot. Wait.

I hope you guys had a good weekend! I think we had our summer yesterday here in Dublin, as today is back to cold and miserable weather. I got to finally crack out the flip flops so I was a happy girl. xx A

Industry

Today was spent out and about in search of inspiration. First stop - Industry. I should hang my head in shame as this was the first time I had been. After an eerie amount of conversations this week relating back to Industry, I thought there was no better time than the present. So I went, and I proceeded to touch almost everything in the shop. I was very good and refrained from touching the staff and other customers. 

Porcelain remakes of tin cans and milk cartons add a pristine level of quirk to any kitchen. I especially adore the milk carton in glass, and I couldn't resist so one came home with me. I actually pinned it ages ago, and now I have it. It reminded me so much of primary school in Canada - my parents would give me a juice box with my lunch every day, but sometimes I'd live on the edge and buy a carton of chocolate milk. Rebel.

Bold over-sized letters? Yes please. I've wanted a huge 'C' for our apartment for ages as it's the initial of my maiden name, as well as my new married name. The over-sized 'B' will be sneaking into the next issue of House and Home as the lovely couple whose home I styled have one of their own. Very cool.

Some solid Irish graffiti representation through Lauren and Rua's new book, InsideOut; Street/Art in Ireland. I have their first book so far, and it's about time I invest in their second. Speaking of graffiti, should you be in Dublin this Saturday, the All City Jam at the Tivoli car park from 10am - 6pm is where I'll be, creeping on some of my favourite Irish graffiti artists, taking an excessive amount of photos and generally looking very out of place. I'll blog about it, no doubt.

I found so many swoon worthy pieces in Industry - gold detailed washi tape, rugged tea light holders, black twine, keyboard notepads, old and new and the perfect range of quirky pieces. All of which I want. I actually meant to pick up some of their washi tape, so it's just the perfect excuse to go back really.  

Graphic content

I've spotted some seriously ballsy uses of geometric patterns lately, and I couldn't not share them. Boy, do they pack a punch. I am particularly smitten with that graphically colourful hallway, and dare I ever consider carpet in my home, I am literally tore up from the floor up for the carpet in that last image. So much swooning. 

The old brain has decided to taken a leave of absence on me. I hasing a massive dumb today, so it's probably best I stahp typing now while I'm ahead. I hope wherever you are and whatever you're doing, Monday is treating you kindly. xx A

Image cred 1, 2 {can't find original source. Sad face.}, 3 and 4. 

DIY Friday - stuff I stole from Pinterest

For this weeks DIY Friday I compiled a short list of uber simple DIY's inspired by none other than Pinterest. It's so easy to become a serial pinner without actually putting your favourite pins into action, so I wanted to share three of the easiest pins I've found and used. I wish I could claim the below ideas as my own, but unfortunately, my conscience will not allow. On to the good stuff -

I have a thirsting passion for all things decanted so when I spotted this pin, l just had to add it to our bathroom. Do you like rich mahogany and the smell of leather bound books? If so, this pin may be just the thing for you. Ditch your ugly mouthwash bottle and proudly display it all classy in a decanter in your bathroom. Because you're so sophisticated.

This is a great pin and caught my eye as a quick way to add a bit of glam to an otherwise boring sink - adding a cute cake plate to display your washing up side kicks. Because let's face it, who actually likes standing at their sink? Speaking as someone who hasn't had a dishwasher in 9 years {except husband, of course}, I will honestly say I am not one of those people. 

Lastly, it makes me feel old to learn that cassette tapes are now being referred to as 'retro' pieces, but at least their cases are making a mini come back. This pin showed that this otherwise discarded item can be flipped to hold your phone or as I've done here because I'm a nerd, to hold business cards. Since this cassette case was scratched and a bit haggard, I spray painted it to disguise the ugly.

And as for me, as of this afternoon I am so incredibly excited to say I had my very first photo shoot styling gig for House & Home. Mind = blown. I feel so lucky to have been asked to do it and what an incredible title to be able to add to my ammunition. At long last my OCD is coming in handy ...

With that, happy Friday homies and I hope wherever you are you have a super weekend. We might have a mini BBQ celebration for dinner me thinks {any excuse really}. I hope your weekend is chalk full of grill. xx A

Work space reveal

Before now, we didn't have a work space in our apartment. We would sit in front of the TV with searing laptops on our laps and hazily go back and forth between staring at the TV and the occasional burst of work on the laptop. Enough was enough and I felt we needed a work space area in our living room. No more TV distractions. A place to sit and pound on the keyboard. So one lazy Sunday we traveled to IKEA where I scoped out options, measured, made decisions, stuffed my face with Swedish delights, swore at flatpacks, assembled, tweaked, designed, snapped branches, and finally, sat down. And here is what I ended up with ... 

Our very own mini office nook! What was in this space beforehand was a tall shelving unit holding our vast DVD and game collection. This corner got a lot of neglect, but it was a great spot to add a little work space. It's more so perfect because it is easily hidden behind our living room door which is always kept open {as seen on the right}, so you don't see the work space until you walk right into the room. 

Thanks to my inspiration pictures, there were some basics / key pieces I had in mind for our desk to make it feel more encouraging to sit at ...

1 - I added a bulletin board to give height to the desk space as well as somewhere to pin {the real meaning of pin my friends} my favourite stuff up. I decorated the bulletin board itself by spray painting thumb tacks / push pins and adding them as a decorative border as well as painting the wood trim in a deep charcoal colour.  2 - One of our wedding invitations gets pride of place. 3 - Our new lamp, especially thrifted for the new nook. 4 - My new business cards {that I still can't hand out in a professional manner. So much cringe}. 5 - My fool-proof quick and cheap revamp - an empty hot chocolate tin covered in electrical tape. 6 - I added a stack of my favourite books and magazines. Some are for visual purposes only {that top one is a catalogue and is going on 3 years old, but I love the colours on it}, along with some of my favourite magazines. Along with a desert rose I picked up on our Tunisian travels. 7 - My framed QR code cross stitch, perfect for any desk. 8 - Stay strong as one of my favourite pillow sets, picked up from TK Maxx. 9 - I went with the ALEX desk from IKEA. It was the perfect size for the limited amount of space we had in our living room, and I mean really, do I have to state the obvious? It's called ALEX. Plus it was on sale for €79. Hells yes. 

I'm pleased as punch with our mini office nook and I feel like such a grown up sitting at it. All we need now is to frame both our college degrees and hang them above the bulletin board. Too legit to quit.

xx A

DIY Friday - I love lamp

Ah, Friday. You are here at last, which means I can share my DIY Friday! This weeks DIY is a lamp revamp to {hopefully} convert those of you who may be a bit paint shy when it comes to DIY. Don't be scared. I got your back. 

As I hinted earlier this week, I sorted myself out with a small work space in our living room. I immediately started day dreaming about decorating my new desk space, and one of the key pieces on my list was a statement lamp. I preferred the idea of DIYing one, so I took to the streets of Dublin and below is what I found. Behold, the 'before' picture. Take it all in ... 

I spotted this green giant in Age Action for €25. I immediately knew it would be perfect. Once I got home I was a bit uncertain with what I wanted to do with the lamp. I knew I wanted a black lamp shade, and that's about it. So I took to Photoshop to design my lamp revamp without tearing my hair out and having to go back and repaint anything copious amounts of times {I know Maria will appreciate this level of design planning!}. 

I edited the above image and here are the options I came up with ... 

1 - My usual favourite 'Winegum' spray paint popped into mind, but I thought slight overkill. I spray everything with that colour, and I also wanted something a bit more uplifting / less dark for my desk. 

2 - This time with white. Better. I liked the idea of keeping the original gold base and keeping the gold fixture at the top. But it was still a bit blah ...

3 - All white for the sake of my Photoshopping spree. A bit too boring for me though if I'm honest. 

4 - I then focused on the lampshade and added a bit of sass. I like where this is going.

I then combined my two favourite mash ups {2 and 4} and thought to hell with it. Why not add my favourite winegum hue? There was no better place to use it than to cover up the current Exorcist-pea-green-soup cord. And here is what I came up with ... 

Yeah. I got a bit carried away with Photoshop on the cord there. That's what happens when you're stuck at home sick for a couple of days.

I was very happy with my result and got to work. I taped off the gold base, the gold light fixture at the top, as well as the plug at the base of the cord. I used masking tape and tin foil to cover all the important bits. 

I gave the lamp two coats of 'Sh. White', and the cord one coat of my favourite 'Winegum' hue {both Montana brand spray paint}. While that was drying, I tackled the lamp shade. I had picked up a black lampshade from Dunnes Stores for €8 and while I was housebound, I e-mailed husband some 'man instructions' and sent him to Hickeys to pick up one meter of black bauble trim {he did so well}. I used extra strong adhesive to fix the bauble trim to the bottom of the lamp shade {pictured drying upside down} and used paper clips to make sure it stayed in place. I let both the lampshade and lamp base dry overnight. 

Then all I did after that was assemble it. I'm quite proud with how it turned out! If you keep an open mind it just goes to show what can be done on the cheap. You don't need an unlimited budget or a mountain of supplies. If this makes you tick, I would strongly suggest visiting Pat's totes amaze blog - In My Wheele House, which is full of fab furniture DIY's that will have you running to your nearest antique or junk shop.

Early next week I'll be sharing my new little office space so keep your eyes peeled! And with that I'll leave you with some of my favourite Dublin graffiti, which is quite apt for today's post. An oldie but a goody. Happy Friday, homies! xx A