Style Lush

Jewelry Wrangling

by Christina

Last week I copped to hoarding accessories. After writing that post I realized that I needed to revisit my system for keeping them organized. I asked Twitter for ideas for storing my big rings and one of the tips was the ceramic egg holder from Anthropologie (similar), which I have, but I was using it poorly. It was full of earrings that didn't quite fit along with rings and really it was a heap. I don't have a lot of space so I knew I needed something a little unconventional so I looked through closet organization and then ended up in the kitchen section. I chose this.

A glass condiment dish and some command strips and turned it into this.

 

 

You can see it hanging on the wall to the right. I put my dangle earrings around the edge, my bracelets inside and put my rings in the egg holder where they should have been all along.

So much better. Now I can really see what I have, and that I sadly, do not need anymore jewelry. Never stopped me with shoes.....

(personal photos)

 

 

Makeover your medicine cabinet

by Christina

To hear the story told, kitchens and bathrooms sell houses. Neither of these rooms sold me my house, its price tag and the desired number of bedrooms did. It was the best house we could afford at the time, and that meant a house with bathrooms and a kitchen that need a gut job. Because sadly, good taste doesnt automatically come with a matching trust fund, am I right?

What I'm getting at here, is my bathrooms are short on luxury and feeling homey. They feel a little more like the builder basic special circa 1992. I was in the mood for a project so I decided to hit up the master and the kids baths. Both have medicine cabinets that needed some organizing but then I took it a step farther and lined them with fabric.

 This is not mine, my fabric is just like this but in green. I'm using this photo because my cabinet is full of band aids and deodorant and other unattractive things, But, the back, the back is beautiful!

Here's how I did it.

I took out the shelves and used a paper grocery bag to make a template. I smashed the bag into the hole, traced around it, cut it out and then cut my fabric to size. Then I used Elmer's spray adhesive on the back of the cabinet and the back of the fabric. That's it. Easy and it took maybe 15 minutes to do 2 cabinets. Totally cute. Not a dream master bath but whateve's, I'll take my happy in bits and pieces.

(image via paloma81.blogspot.com)

How to wear plaid like a woman

by Christina

I posted a photo of myself on instagram this week of me in a top I love and lo, this post was born.

I graduated high school in the Pacific North West in the 90's so plaid seemed a bit grungy and masculine to me, in theory. It's big this season so I did what middle aged slaves to the junior section at Target do, I tried it on.  I liked it. I brought it home and while it has pink in it, it still felt a little manish. So I added a necklace, wore dark wash skinny jeans and patent leather bubble gum pink flats. Viola, I'm a woman, not Eddie Vedder!

How do you do this yourself?

1. Button downs are typically boxy so a) wear them with something form fitting on the bottom or b) belt it.

2. Accessorize: Roll up the selves and have yo'self an arm party! (sorry, sorry) Or wear a big pair of earrings or a statement necklace over the shirt.

3. Wear it to the office! with a pencil skirt, great heels and pearls. Like a lady does!

4. Grab a scarf, and wear it with another pattern. Like flowers or dots. (Yes, I'm serious!)

However you do, try it. Pattern is fun and color will makes you happy! Here are a few I like.

Old Navy $16.99

J Crew $59.99

And mine, Target, $19.99

 

,

Are you into this trend or does it better suit the boys?

(Images via: me, Old Navy, Jcrew and Target)

A facelift for my kitchen

by Christina

My kitchen is the heart of my home and it is stuck in the 90's. A gut would be our dream but it's not going to happen for a while. We've lived in this house with this ugly kitchen for 6 years, and that's long enough!

I have it all planned out! That's the easy part, there's no sanding or fumes when you're planning. Here's a shot of my kitchen as is, today.

 And this is my plan! 

 

The island will be painted Mediterranean by Sherwin Williams and the rest of the cabinetry will be Creamy, also by SW. This part of the plan is solid. Here's where I ask you if I'm nuts. I have light fixtures that I like, we put them in just after we moved in, unfortunately, finding hardware in this same tone that I like and is affordable is proving impossible. So, I've chosen some in an oil rubbed bronze, and I am in love with them. But this week we got a new dishwasher in stainless and the old black one went to live on a dishwasher farm. So now I'm looking at a kitchen with 3 metals. stainless, antique brass and oil rubbed bronze. I think I'm cool with it. Even if we were doing this as a forever option, I wouldn't choose silver or pewter hardware so, yeah, looks like I'm going to have 3 metals in here.

What do you think, am I crazy for choosing mixed metals, or a blue island?

(personal photos)

14 hour lipcolor? We'll see

by Christina

I was in the market for two new shades for fall and winter. A perfect nude and a light berry. I found both by Maybelline.

I was hunting for colors, not long wear, but it seems that most lip color come with a long last promise. I brought home a Super Stay 10 hour Stain Gloss #180 and a Super Stay 14 hour lipstick # 25. First, the colors are perfect. Exactly what I was needing. The nude (#25) is perfect for a dark eye, pale lip face. I love it, but it promises 14 hours of wear. I wore it to a picnic and after my first drink and a slider, I went to check on it. It was so-so, slight color remaining but it didn't look freshly applied. In the car on the way home, about 3 hours later, it was completely gone. Not even a hit of color, just my bare lips. I'm okay with this, because the shade is perfect. I'm not so busy I cannot reapply, but since it had such big claims I wanted to see if it could live up to it's promise.

Next up, the stain gloss, again, I love the color! I tested this one out at home, put it on in the morning before my first cup of coffee and that combined with a few toddler kisses, it was a goner. Oh, well. As with the previous color, I'm not upset, although I did think a stain would last longer than a stick.

All in all, I'm still happy with my choices. I appreciate that the colors on the exterior of each product was exactly what i was purchasing, something that is very hard to come by in the world of drug store cosmetics. But if you need something to last your day, keep shopping.

(personal photo)

Loving Revlon Moon Candy

By Christina

One look at the display for this new nail color and I was sold. I'd never seen anything that promised this look, I've seen it on pinterest and crazy nail blogs that require 16 steps to achieve but this looked fast and like something I could do. A double ended bottle, one of a solid color and the other of some flake looking foil? glitter? I didn't know, but I wanted to try it. I chose galaxy. It did not disappoint.

My color is the one at the far left. It's so pretty. I did find that you have to fish for the glitter a little, and it took 2 heavy coats to get a really solid look but it's incredible. Glitter is more of a sparkle but these are really dimensional, I don't know exactly what this stuff is but it's fancy! And I love it!

(Photo from: Nouveaucheap - Revlon doesn't have these on their website)

If I Had a Million Dollars: Tiffany Handbags

by Christina

I was just made aware that coveted little blue box has grown, to a box large enough to hold even more of our dreams! I don't spend a lot on my clothes but I do on shoes, bags and accessories so when I found out about this line my browser could not keep up with my smokin fingers.

I was not dissapointed. I'd like these two.

There are pages and pages of bags to covet. Sadly, they are all one zillion dollars. But it sure is fun to look.

(Photos via tiffany dot com)

Let's Talk Hair

by Christina

For some reason I've been wondering about my own mop. I think, at 35, I've found the do for life, the right length for my hair type and full bangs that I love both down or side swept. It's straight and flat but not too thin and I'm pretty happy with it. When I get bored, I adjust the all-over length or add in some layers. But, I'm wondering about the life of this look.

Not me, but my bangs look this way.

My hope is that since my color is a warm brown (okay, fine, it's gray) and I'm not doing crazy things to it that it will last for a long time.  What do you think the life line is on any particular hair do? Clearly the perm has gone away, but Farrah's feathers are back. 

Do you change your hair as you get bored or as trends dictates or have you found the look that's working for you, too?

(photo via look book)

Boring room? Paint the door.

by Christina

Painting doors is an idea as old as paint. You see front doors in every color of the rainbow, but have you put any thought into painting your interior doors? This week I painted two in my home. The backside of my front door and the same in my oldest son's room. Please, enjoy these super high quality ipod photos.

 

 

I'm hooked! I want to paint more, I want the inside of my powder room door, and maybe my laundry room door, and for sure the backside of the door in my other boys room, too. I LOVE this look. It's fast, about 20 minutes total, for two coats and cheap, I used a sample pot for each which are $3! Three bucks, 20 minutes, massive change in a space. If you rent, this would be a really easy way to bring in some color without much investment, it would be just as easy to paint over before that final walk through. Where ever or how ever you live, this is fun and a little unexpected, I think.

What do you think, is this look for you?

Metalic Spray Paint

by Christina

I have this little end table that while cheap, I quite like. Perfect size and cute, but then I sourced this for a client and couldn't get it out of my mind.

 That vintage mirrored top, amazing. So I started looking around to see if I could find maybe a mercury glass treatment, which I did, but it is for glass, not painted wood. I wasn't satisfied so I then turned to a plain mirror idea, no good. in the end I decided to go for the chrome color by Rust-Oleum

 

 A $6 can of spray paint so no big deal, if it doesn't turn out I paint it back to black. So, did it work?

I guess, I mean it's silver and a little shiny, which is better than flat black. It's not gorgeous and it certainly isn't the foxed mirror table that I so adore. But, I'm not painting it back to black either so I don't mind it. Worth the six bucks? Sure. Best project ever, not so much.

(photos via west elm and me)