Winterizing Our Bedroom

Hello Lovelies, Earlier this year, I updated our bedding, with a new duvet and euro pillows. The results, a fresh fun bed that I Love- here's a refresher:

And yes, this picture is further proof that our lion cat, Ferris is King of his own domain.

Well, as the weather turns colder, and the day and nights darker- the spring and summer like euro shams feel inappropriate. I wanted cozy pillow shams with some darkness and weight- does that even make sense?? I also wanted to stick to the current color scheme of the room and spend as little money as possible to complete this task.

Little did I know- euro shams are hard to come by and a bit pricey. Here's what I found:

This one has the weight and texture I am going for, but I want it in a darker color:

This euro sham from Pottery Barn is almost there, but I still want something darker and for $34 each sham- it needs to be cheaper.

These shams from the Crate and Barrel Outlet are perfect- I love both the green and pink and they are super on sale- one problem- they only have the standard size left. Urg.

I also like the idea of maybe mixing in some flannel and plaid- but again no Euro. One would think that Martha would be all about a fancy Euro pillow?

Are you sensing my frustration? Who knew that Euro Shams could cause so many problems.
I finally decided to take matters into my own hands.....

After a quick $20 trip to JoAnn's and about two chick flicks later (yes, I cut and sew with only the best entertainment), I had properly winterized our bedroom:

I found a super comfy cozy flannel and I updated the bolster pillow with left over fabric from our wedding. I even had the brilliant idea to bring the basket out of the closet to avoid the pillows from collecting the mad amount of animal hair that collects on the floor:

Why I think this update works? Well, I stayed in the current color palette of the room- blues, greens (and pinks)- but I deleted the more 'spring-like' pink. I also mixed fabric with great textures and heavier weights. Here's a closer look at the flannel and the super awesome corduroy that is on the back side of the new pillows:

I even switched the Molly Mutt animal beds, and made Huck pose once again.

Before:

After:

Huck wasn't as excited about the 'winterizing' of the bedroom. Mr. Spice didn't quite understand it either. But it's amazing how a few quick changes can really change the look of a room.

Do you winterize any room in your house? Or do you think I am crazy pants too?

Wallpapered Doors

Did everyone have a great Thanksgiving weekend?? I still feel stuffed. So stuffed, I am using someone else's inspiration for this post.

Recently, I did a style board for a guest bedroom for the awesome Marissa at MarissaMakes. (Style board to come- promise). Well, she provided me with a bit of style inspiration that I want to share with all of you:

Wallpapered Doors- in her case - closet doors:

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Super cute, right?

Well, I noticed this super cute idea being used in one of my favorite movies the other night:

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Do you know the movie?

Fun with a great impact, right? Marisa- thanks for providing Today's inspiration. And check out even more wallpapered doors at Apartment Therapy.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Lovelies, I have so much to be Thankful for- one of them being you- my reader!! I am so grateful that you guys have supported me over the year as I try to live a more passionate life!!

This weekend is HUGE for a number of reasons (1) Mr. Spice has four days off in a row!! That's more days off than he's had in the last 6 weeks combined; (2) Thanksgiving Dinner with the entire Sugar Clan- 6 kids under 6 and 11 adults; (3) a Family Photo with the FANTABULOUS Amanda from Blueberry Photography, and (4) a Sugar Family Traditional Crab Feed!! Yummers.

My stomach is already full.

Hope all of you have a great pair of stretchy pants to change into!

Peace, love and Stuffing. Have a fantastic weekend!

Wood you like to eat here?

As Thanksgiving is in a few days, I am obsessing over the look of wooden tables. Alas, I don't have a table big enough to have anyone over for a big Thanksgiving Dinner, but some day.... I will, and here's some inspiration for my future dining table:

This is from the same blue door house I featured before.

With these next three, I don't know what I love more, the chandlers or the tables?


Can you believe Michelle at Three Men and a Lady redid this table all by herself:

So bright, light and airy.

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What kind of table will you be having your Thanksgiving Dinner off of this year?

Inspirational DIY Projects

I am knee deep in Thanksgiving Day recipes, Holiday Decorating and doing some awesome Style Boards.

I realize that I am using some amazing inspiration that I've gleaned from other awesome bloggers over the years, and that I should take a moment to share my favorite DIY Blog posts. I hope someone out there can use these posts to help spiff up a room for the holidays.

First, a few ways to fancy up that old dresser you have sitting around.

Jason from Retrograde did a great Ikea-hack:


And Kate at Censational Girl did a really fancy pants version right here:


Of course, the masters at Young House Love (I used this as inspiration for my own project that I've yet to post about- bad blogger) did an awesome redo of a Craigslist dresser for their nursery:


Moving on to curtains. I've discovered two rules, whereever you can (1) curtains should be floor length and (2) the higher you hang them, the taller a room will feel. Personally, every window in our house (except the one in the bathroom- cause that would be weird) is covered with an Ikea Shear. So cheap and easy. Speaking of cheap and easy- check out this AWESOME curtain update from High Heeled Foot in the Door. LOVE the added pop of color:

Finally, dresser tops. I knew the rule of odds (grouping things in odd numbers looks the best) but I didn't know the whole height ratio aspect thing, but now that I've done it, it totally works. Check out Kate from two Bower Power's post:

And here is how I tried to put her words of advice in action at the Sugar & Spice household:


Whew, that as a lot of DIY inspiration. I really hope this helps some of you my lovely readers. And please, let me know if you try out any of these fancy pants ideas. Ok, now that you know where my inspiration comes from.... more style boards.

Happy Friday Loves

Urg. TGIF to the MAX. (yes, I am fifth grade girl who says to the max). Anywho, I have had a few minor bums this week- including one where I may or may not have ruined our MacBook. YIKES!

Soooo, I am working on pulling a few post together today for next week, and then hopefully, I will be back in action by the first of December- when I want to dazzle you with inspirational design and festive Chrismukkah posts until the end of the year!!

For the weekend, I leave you with a quandary. I think this picture is divine, but it seems a bit difficult to plug in a lamp on a coffee table.

Just sayin.

Gotta chalk this one up to a stlyist for the photo. What do you think?

A Bit Blue

Feeling a bit blue; like I am trying to ride the wave of live and not quite succeeding. Taking a few days off of the blog world to set myself straight.


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Thanks to A Cup of Jo for sharing these posters featured on Minga.

Hope you all are hanging on. I'll be back soon...

Happy Monday

Good Morning Lovelies. Even though it's 75 degrees out today in San Francisco (ummm, November, I want you back), I was busy working away on my first DIY Holiday project (Hanukkah is in just over two weeks- yikes).

And while my efforts aren't ready to be posted on the whole world wide web thing, here's a glimpse of the new color palette that I am using to 'Winterize' our bedroom.

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Ummm. Yeah, I have been running around (in shorts and flip flops) trying to figure out how to cozy up our bedroom. Needless to say, Mr. Spice may officially think I am crazy, but the good news for me- he's legally stuck with me. Ha.

What do you think of the green and peacock blue- swoon. I love it.

Wow to Mellow, Yellow

I almost forgot to post today!!! Yikes. Well, no matter how you slice it, Yellow Makes a Statement.

Over the top:

A Fun Mix:


Splash o'yellow:


mellow. yellow.


Happy Friday! I can't wait to get started on my first Holiday DIY this weekend!! Whoot Whoot.

All I want for Chrismukkah....

Typically, I don't even want people to mention Chrismukkah until after Thanksgiving, but this year, I have holiday zeal coming out of my arse.* Good thing too because Hanukkah is coming early this year (December 2nd).

So early in fact, that Mr. Spice and I have been talking about what we want for Chrismukkah since July!! Yep, I said July.

You'll might think I am crazy, but this present requires some prior planning and savings.

This is what I want:

Holy latkes Batman!!!

No, we didn't win the lottery and I am not buying a helicopter for Chrismukkah. BUT as part of a super duper holiday vacation to the Kona Coast with Mr. Spice's family-- we are going to splurge even more, and gift each other a helicopter ride around the big island!!!

Seriously, I have been dreaming of this helicopter ride for months. One- I have never been on a helicopter and two, HAWAII, hello!!!! Just the vacation that this girl desperately needs, and Mr. Spice totally deserves.

Anyway, the point of this post is more than just to share my excitement (sorry, my Mom told me bragging was a no no in Kindergarten), but really, I want to ask your advise. Has anyone ever been on a helicopter ride on the big island??? I've been looking on Trip Advisor,** but I am wondering if anyone has first hand experience and could offer up a recommendation??

I think it's between Safari and Blue Hawaiian.

Anyone, anyone? Well, in that case, are you asking for anything super big for the holidays?

*My holiday craziness is totally going to pay off to you the reader- I already have a holiday giveaway up my sleeve.

**We planned our entire honeymoon on Trip Advisor- and that trip was awesomeness.

Killer Clock

Totally stumped on what to do with a big empty wall space?? A wall in our living room is dying for some inspiration:



source: Desire to Inspire

I even saw some $10 clocks at Target that I almost bought to replicated this.

How do you tell time in your living room?

7x7 Design Issue

I've said it before, I'll say it again, I heart 7x7 Magazine. Every month I read the whole magazine cover to cover as soon as it lands in my mail box, and this month I about died when I realized it was the yearly DESIGN ISSUE.

I've been waiting all month to share the kick ass small design spaces that are featured in the magazine, and they are finally featured on-line. Most San Francisco apartments (within my small budget) are charming, funky and small- this garden apartment that they feature proves that design matters:







Plus, she has a super cool robot collection and that chair, I die:



Check out the rest of the small spaces here.

Love SF Design.

Product Review: Shutterfly*

Mama Sugar is a Shuttefly maniac. So over the years I have done my fair share of ordering from them. I'll admit, I don't always share my pictures via shutterfly like I use to, but in one realm Shutterfly excels- Cards and Notes.

Due to Mama Sugar's Shutterfly maniac status, she gets free codes for their notes all the time- and a few times- she's passed the code on to me. Score. I've ordered a bunch of thank you cards recently from other sites, and to be honest- I was really disappointed by the quality. On the other hand, Shutterfly note cards are thick, high quality cards. In fact, I only use them for extra special Thank You cards. (Yes, I am a thank you card geek)

Last year, I really wanted to show off our amazing wedding photos with a fantastic Holiday Card. But since we are a Chrismukkah household, I had to find just the right holiday neutral cards at just the right price, I finally ordered these awesome 2010 New Years Card.

I still have this card plastered on our fridge.

Due to the amazingness of our card last year, and since Mr. Spice still doesn't understand the whole holiday card thing, I wasn't going to do holiday cards this year. BUT Shutterfly is doing a promotion to bloggers for 50 free holiday cards- and I just couldn't pass that up. Not only do I already love Shutterfly cards (proof above) - this was just the kick in the pants I needed to avoid being a holiday grinch.

So Lovely readers, what holiday card or New Years card do you think screams Sugar & Spice:

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Do you send out holiday cards??

PS Get excited- I am officially on the Holiday Bandwagon.

*Technically, this is a sponsored post since I am getting free cards, but I'd support Shutterfly free cards or not.

Manly Wall Paper Inspiration

Men, Men, Men... Manly, men, men.

For some reason, I feel like I have been surrounded by manly wallpaper inspiration lately- and I don't think I am making this up.

First, the Driskill Hotel- Austin, Texas. I loved this hotel. It was old and oh, so Texas. Go big or go home- right? Nothing says Texas like oil rigs and cowboys. This was the wall paper in the bathroom:


And check out the rest of the room- LOVE the orange ceiling and the fur throw. Hook'em.


Next up, closer to home, Taverna Aventine. I love the feeling and the manliness of this bar. And they make a damn fine happy hour cocktail for $6 and popcorn with truffle oil (yes, please). Check out the wall paper:

And the rest of the manly-men atmosphere. Mini-library and everything.

And just to round out my manly men post- a few more pics of Austin from South Commonwealth. If you didn't get enough pizza the first time get 'more' pizza next door:

Or Mr. Spice's favorite new store, I kept calling it Stud, but Stag was a super cool, hip, and manly sort of place that I wish wasn't thousands of miles away. (I actually got Mr. Spice to shop for once)

PS They were even just written up in GQ Magazine- that's right, my Husband is so ahead of the GQ curve.

So that's my Manly Friday Round Up. Have a Hansome Weekend (Ha- my attempt at being manly and witty.)

Stlye Board: Black Wall

Months ago Michelle (aka Mrs. Duckling) at Blissful Musings, told me about her design dilemma in her new apartment: A Big Black Wall in her bedroom. The previous tenants painted the wall black, so what could be a big fat YIKES moment, is really the jumping off point to a fantastic design challenge.

First, a picture of her space with the new bedding, canvas' and cute side chair:

I love that the room already has a color palette and uses varying patterns (which is very fashionable right now), so I set a few parameters for this room:

1. Make the comforter and the black wall look purposeful.
2. Be mindful of California earthquakes- aka don't hang heavy objects over beds.
3. Somehow introduce light and texture into the room to tie it all together.
4. Stay within the current color palette- whites, neutrals and teal.

All in all, I got so excited about this black wall 'challenge' that I went a bit over board and created five style boards for Michelle. As you can tell, the last two were just a chance for me to have fun in the space and think outside the box a bit.

#1: Framed.
Before I even saw pictures of the space, I thought empty frames would create a dramatic look against a black wall. It also means a fun DIY project- I'd suggest Goodwill for the frames and a high gloss spray paint. I also added some teal accessories to bring in an extra pop of color, some texture, and I contrasted the teal lamp with a white one to lighten and brighten up the room. (As you can tell in all of these style boards- I used contrasting lamps to kind of create a male and female side of the bed).

Frames. Lund Photography.

A. Crate and Barrel, Teal, $79. B. Crate and Barrel, White $129.

C. West Elm Throw, $39 (+20% off) D. West Elm Vases- $6-12.

#2: Bright and Light.
Once I saw the canvas' that Michelle already had in her space, I wanted to use them to create balance and again, bring in accessories to create light and texture. I love the look of white sheers- they allow light into the space, but keep it airy. I also thought that hanging mirrors behind the bedside lamps would allow the light to reflect around the room, and I just couldn't resist that owl lamp from West Elm.

A&B: Pottery Barn, Mirrors, $79-99. C. Crate and Barrel, Teal, $79. D. West Elm, $99

Pillows: CB2 White, $39.95 and Teal, 39.95. C&B, Sheer Curtains

Pillows CB2 White, $39.95 and Teal, 39.95.

#3 Balance and Texture.

I'll be honest, this is my favorite board. I love the two canvas' that Michelle already has, but with that big black wall- they need to make a larger impact- so why not hang three. Again, the sheers and fun contrasting lamps bring in light, and the Ikea throw and CB2 pillows bring in a lot of texture.

A. Target, $39.99 B. Pottery Barn, $99. C. Ikea Sheepskin throw.

Pillows CB2 White, $39.95 and Teal, 39.95.

#4: Metallic.
This space has a darker, more grown up feel, yet I think the reality of using the round mirrors behind the lamps- would make the space brighter. Plus, I wanted to give Michelle an option of not hanging anything above the bed, which meant using more dramatic accessories. I also used a heavy curtain to add to the drama.

A&B. West Elm Mirrors, Mosaic and White, $24-99. C. West Elm, $149.

D. West Elm, $149. E. Ikea Sheepskin throw. West Elm Pillow. Metallic, $34. West Elm, Curtains, $35-47.

#5: Nature: Wood and Fur.
Ok, here's where I go a little crazy. Again, this one has the same ideas as before- texture, contrasting lamps, but I went with a nature and fur theme. The cardboard deer head is so fun, and the four frames from West Elm are all on sale. I'll admit that the pillows would be a splurge, but they are just so fluffy!! In any case, I thought that the natural elements would create a cozy organic vibe.

A. West Elm Wall Art, Sale: $19.99 to 24.99 West Elm, Deer. $12. B. Bed, Bath and Beyond, $169. C. Target, $39.99 D. West Elm Throw, $39 (+20% off). West Elm Pillows. Fur $59-129.

Alright, that's how I would dress up a black wall to create a lighter, balanced space. And the good news, Michelle is on board. She's really digging the opportunity for a fun DIY project with the frames and I think she is just as in love with the Owl Lamp as I am.

Which style board do you like the best? Are you overwhelmed with all the options?

Need some style help yourself- email me at sugarspicelivin@gmail.com, and I promise to do my best in solving your design dilemma!