my summer entertaining fab wishlist!

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One of the big things that I'm super excited about for this summer is outdoor entertaining!  While we had a pretty big yard at our old place, it wasn't very entertaining friendly.  We've already had a couple parties at the new house and it's so great!  I'm hoping for many summer parties in the backyard.  We're still a long way from having our yard the way I want it to be, so window shopping is always a fun way to find inspiration.  Fab is a great place to find such inspiration because they're always rotating in new curated items that are unique.  For our backyard, I'd love to have a permanent seating area for outdoors.
Right now we just drag our kitchen table chairs outside, which is a drag, and then if people want to sit at the table indoors, they're kind of out of luck.  We've got a little fire pit, so having seating set up around that would be ideal.  I don't know if I'm the only one hung up on the idea of a rug outdoors, but I think that idea is so fun.  Instead of having a fancy brick patio, just put an indoor/outdoor rug down and voila!  Instant fanciness.  Also, non-breakable tumblers for outdoor beverage consumption?  Brilliant. Bonus that they are wood!  I've never seen such a thing!  Dan's big into beer, and is brewing a lot of homebrews this summer, so it'd be fun to throw some beer tasting parties, and a little beer flight set up would be perfect.  I'm pretty excited about summer, especially because us Pacific Northwesterners try to soak it up as much as possible before the clouds roll on in again and stick around for months.

*This post is in partnership with fab.com. Thanks for supporting those companies which help keep Delightfully Tacky alive and kicking!

living room inspiration

After we finish cleaning up the exterior of the house, the next big project in my sights is a huge DIY bookshelf in the living room.  We've got a sort of awkward wall that I haven't been able to figure out what to do with, but after seeing these images of Mattson Creative's studio space, I knew that I wanted to make a shelving unit out of pipes and wood shelves to hold art, books, and cool knick knacks.  Not only will it function as a great way to make that space beautiful and interesting, but it'll also be an awesome way to display prints!  I've got a few prints of my own, and some prints from other artists that I love, and I think a cool shelf like this would be the perfect way to show them off.  I love how the shelving at Mattson Creative has that perfect balance of art, books, and interesting, eclectic pieces to fill the space just right.  

ampersand light // sunshine print // camera print // teepee print

the earth laughs in flowers print + winnebago print are my work

I've been slowly acquiring prints and artwork, and a few of the pieces I know I'll want to display are the ones above.  I just got the "I love my family" print for Christmas, and got the camera print a few years ago.  I just got the ampersand lamp and sunshine print the other day and I'm excited to see them in action.  I love big letters saved from old signage, and while the ampersand is new, not salvaged, I think it still has that vibe.  I definitely want to find some more big letters/numbers as I absolutely love the graphic, bold look that they have.  The Winne print is one I made a couple years ago during my Brave trip, and I made the "earth laughs in flowers" print back in college.

We're planning on doing a small test run version of this in our bedroom that looks more like the smaller version below.  I want to thrift a little dresser as the base and start the shelves on top of that, and then go for the bigger, living-room version after we've figured out all the kinks!  

inspiration images via Mattson Creative + Hindsvik at Home

DIY // Faux Wood Fridge

If there's one thing I hate in the kitchen, it's a boring white fridge. My last apartment was awesome-- all the appliances were the same as they were in the 70's. Everything was made in harvest gold: fridge, oven, bathtub, toilet. It was awesome. Apparently someone decided that colored appliances were passé and that everything should be boring white. I say, "NAY!" Since I'm going through Brave withdrawals, I decided to bring a little faux wood into my life, courtesy of one little roll of fake wood contact paper!

All you need to make your refrigerator awesome is one roll of woodgrain contact paper (about $7 at a home improvement store), some scissors, and a screwdriver. You can also use an xacto knife to clean up the edges when you're done.

First, unscrew the door handles on the fridge so that you can stick the contact paper on without them getting in the way. It should be pretty easy. You might have to use a flathead screwdriver to pop off a screw cover to access the screw like in the photo on the above right.

Then you can start sticking the paper on! I measured each piece first before sticking it on. Then, just take the backing off of the top, stick it on along the top of the fridge door, and peel it off slowly as you swipe your hand down to make sure there aren't any creases or bubbles.

Just continue doing that until the doors are covered! Then you can screw the door handles back on. I was contemplating just doing the front, but since you see a lot of the side of my fridge, I decided to do the whole side as well. It was a bit easier since there were no handles to remove. The beauty of using contact paper is that it doesn't interfere with magnets, so you can still stick stuff on your fridge!

It was a super easy DIY, probably only took me an hour or so, and I'm incredibly thrilled with the results! The beautiful thing about this DIY is that it's perfect for a renter (like myself). Whenever you end up moving out of your apartment, you can just peel the contact paper right off and the fridge is like new! Now I'm brainstorming what to cover with fake wood next...

Sun-Decor!

So, I've never thought that I looked like any celebrities (though someone once mentioned I kind of looked like Helena Bonham Carter), but I saw this picture of Zooey Deschanel and I thought she looked like me! This could just be my residual self image manifesting itself as someone beautiful and talented, but either way, I'm okay with it.

I've been collecting photos of some wonderful decor for a couple weeks now and I thought I'd share with you guys! I don't know where these are from anymore, probably on ffffound and design*sponge.

I really really want to make a chalkboard wall in which ever place I live in next. I always thought they looked kind of tacky and messy, but I love the matte black and I think it would be perfect in a kitchen for documenting fun times had in a communal eating space where friends gather.

I'm going to start collecting old clocks and make a wall like this. I should probably not have it in my room if they are all going to be working since that would be loud with all that ticking. My favorite one is the one that has the date and 24 hr time.

I am really wanting to paint this color on a wall in my house. It is just perfect! I want a wall this color and a turquoise wall. (those linens are gorgeous too).

Hey look! Kind of turquoise walls! Look at those amazing pillows on that great couch. And the wallpaper in the back room!! I think seafoam green can be another wall color. I don't want beige walls in my house. White walls are even worse.

I have been feeling run down lately, probably just the last push of college taking it all out of me. I found this verse (which is a very common one), and it gave me some encouragement:

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength."

Isaiah 40:29-31.

Today I learned that one of my very good friends was beaten up as he was riding bikes home with a couple of his friends. They don't know who did it, but it seemed like possibly a hate crime since my friend is gay. I really hope it wasn't someone from my school. Who knows. It's horrifying that things like this still happen. Keep him in your prayers for healing, and pray that whoever did this gets caught and brought to justice.

Interior Tuesday

Menswear Monday will be replaced with Interior Tuesday this week.  I couldn't come up with anything I wanted to feature for boys, but did run across some really great spaces I couldn't pass up.  (Apartment therapy and Design*Sponge)

I really wish I had more furniture to play with in my apartment.  Someday a shelf could be nice to own.  Especially a shelf with a cool ladder!

Silly Girl

Today I could go off on some sort of political diatribe, but I choose not to.
Instead I am going to share with you some life inspiration (lifesperation? perhaps), which has come about from watching television. Maybe this is the mark of good television, when it inspires you to succeed in life rather than be a money-chasing, celebrity oogling nitwit who thinks they have to sleep with every man to get ahead in life/have self worth. That could be pidgeonholing, but it makes my point. Anyway, I have been watching Lipstick Jungle and Mad Men. Interestingly they are set in the same city (New York) and somewhat in the same industry (media). Of course they are set about 60 years apart. It is remarkable to me what a difference sixty years makes. We get so cocky about how advanced we are compared to the way people viewed women and minorities, but I think in 60 years we'll look back and think similar things about other issues. I guess my inspiration comes from watching how women were thought of in the 50's and 60's, and then seeing in Lipstick Jungle how women have progressed. In the 60's, portrayed by Mad Men, women are intellectually inferior, flighty, silly, shouldn't be taken too seriously, and in general inferior to all things male. These days women are known to be just as smart as men, with equal ability to do business and hold high powered positions. On one hand it kind of does look nice to just be a 50's housewife and do nothing all day except have dinner on the table at night. I imagine that would get boring rather quickly and lead to having babies which would at least give you something to do during the day. Anyway, it all makes me want to be self-sufficient and not have to rely on anyone- male or female, anyone- for support. I want to be like the women on Lipstick Jungle who have it all, can pay for their own trips to the Bahamas, their own shoes, their own jewelry. Perhaps this is all a reaction to heartbreak and not wanting to have to ever be vulnerable to another person ever again, but I guess if it gets me where I'm going I might as well feed off of it.

Okay, lets break up this sea of text with something of a little visual interest. I FINALLY got a lamp for my living room yesterday. I cannot believe how much my house finally looks like a home with just that little addition. It looks like a lamp from my grandma's house=perfect. Let's play Top Design for a sec, eh?:

Here is some sort of art piece on my wall. I don't know what to call it, it's not a painting or even a photo... we'll call it a collage. It matches the theme of my living room, though.

My senior pics! Haha. I just think they are funny because college senior picture means nothing and it's such a big deal in highschool. I suppose everything is a big deal in high school though. Especially things that shouldn't be.

This afternoon I feel like doing not much. Therefore I am reading Vogue, drinking mimosas and blogging. I have an audition for a movie role on friday. The casting director really likes me and wants me to audition, so I'm going down there. Part of me doesn't want to get the part because I wouldn't be able to go home for my birthday/thanksgiving, but then again this is a huge opportunity I should probably take if offered to me.

Wishes and Dreams

I am getting so excited about going back to school and moving into my new apartment! I have been looking at stuff online to make my apartment lovely (however, truth be told, I'm too cheap for such expensive things. I will likely buy everything from thrift stores). Here are some delightful items that I could only dream of having:

Very cool journals made out of LP's!

These are wayy too expensive, but I like their simplicity.

And here are some lovely rocks glasses, pints, etc. I really like glassware like this (especially the Sailor Jerry ones):

Candles will surely be in order:

And some fun accessories:

All of these fun things were found at Urban Outfitters and Sailor Jerry.