Oceanside Guest Bedroom Inspiration

Hi all.  It's been a little quiet on the home front.  I have been extremely busy crafting (well, between entertaining out-of-town guests, traveling, and keeping house).  I have tons of things to share with you, but getting around to blogging has been a little difficult.

I have been very preoccupied with preparing our guest bedroom.   I LOVE relaxing weekends at the beach.  My wonderful in-laws have a house on Cape Canaveral and the beach is only two blocks away.  Dreamy!  I love the relaxed color palettes of the ocean and thought, "Wouldn't it be nice to bring the beach to my guests?"  Haha, I didn't really think that, but I did think it would be nice to look in there from time to time and reminisce of relaxing summers on the beach.

As far as how to recreate such a memory, I don't like anything too kitschy, but I do like the creams, whites, blues, greens, greys and the sunlight sparkling off the waters of the ocean.  I've since secured a full size bed from a local wholesaler (I hate full size beds but the room is too small to accommodate a larger bed!), and a set of lamps and nightstands/end-tables from Craigslist.  Actually, the nightstands and lamps were only $75 total.  Not bad if I do say so myself.  I have plans for transforming the nightstands but I will leave that to be a surprise.  I did want to share with you the ideas I am working with for this room.  I've started to build a headboard (yes, build...more on that later in a separate post) and have plenty other things up my sleeve.

Let's start with the bed:

I love love LOVE upholstered headboards!  I love all the pretty shapes, colors, fabrics, heights, and embellishments!  I love the diamond-tufted ones, and tailored with nails like the one pictured above.  After much deliberating, I've settled on a sand-colored  headboard without tufting.  I also like the bronze nails accentuating the shape of the headboard.  I've seen similar headboards on the websites of Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel ranging between $300 - $500.  Now that's a DIY project right there!

I've seen sunburst mirrors all over magazines and Pinterest, and although I'm usually not a fan of the latest trends in decor, the idea has grown on me.  I think the thought of one above the headboard would resemble the sun rising in the morning sky.  The only thing I can't decide on is whether I want a silver one or a gold one.  I bought antique gold upholstery nails for the headboard, and am planning on incorporating chrome elsewhere in the room.  I'm a little nervous about three different-colored metals in one room.  What do you think?

Since most of these babies run around $200+, I think it's safe to say that I will be whipping up some elbow grease and go the DIY route.  Which leads me to my next element: mercury glass.  I've just discovered this beautiful metal.  I saw some mercury glass votives at Michael's and fell in love with the look.

What is an seaside-inspired room without some beach elements?

I love the color turquoise and it is a lovely reminder of the ocean.  This looks like it is upholstered foam board with gold upholstery nails.  I like that they mixed in a silver sunburst mirror with gold accents in the room, like the gold pillows and a gold lampshade.  All of a sudden I am feeling a little more confident about my antique gold upholstery nails for the headboard and mercury glass accessories.

What's a guest bedroom without a nice place to sit on?  I saw this online and was inspired by the colors of the chair:

 Last, but not least, I have a few ideas for incorporating the sea (without being too kitschy).  They probably will not end up being on pillows but I liked how these looked:

I will post updates on here really soon!

Kirkland-worthy Homemade Wall Art

Don't you just love a well-decorated house? It's warm and inviting and cozy having an esthetically pleasing space around you. Unfortunately sometimes that comes with a price. Fortunately you can do this on a budget.

I found the idea on this lovely lady's site: Dream Home DIY. I have been wanting to complete this project for over a month now but haven't found the time. It honestly only took less than 20 minutes so I could have had this on the wall a long time ago.

What you'll need:

Ribbon ($2)

Key from Hobby Lobby ($9)

14x18 or 16x20 frame with matting ($18)

Upholstery spray adhesive ($5)

Burlap ($2)

Total cost: under $40. I already had some of these items so it truly did not cost me as much money.

First, carefully remove the glass from the frame and set aside.

Have the upholstery spray adhesive, burlap, and a pair of scissors handy. Look at what is hidden underneath the glass. Chances are you have a piece of cardboard to glue your burlap onto. Burlap has an open weave, so you don't want to glue it onto a light-colored background.

Cut your burlap to a size larger than the matting's opening, preferably to the size of the backing. Lay it on the cardboard backing making sure it covers the area completely. Glue one-half of the fabric to the cardboard. Smooth out any wrinkles and reposition as necessary. Work quickly so the glue does not dry and the fabric adheres incorrectly.

Glue the other half down and allow to dry for a few minutes.

Lay the matting, burlap and any other paper included in the frame. Top off with the glass for support, and finish by reinserting the back of the frame.

Play around with the position of the key so that it's to your liking. I didn't want the bottom of the key hanging below the edge of the matting so I positioned it a bit higher.

Use the spray adhesive and spray the underside of the key on the sections that touch the burlap. (I would do this over the sink or outside). Set the key on the frame on the desired location and let set for about 10 minutes. Take about 15" of ribbon and insert through the loop at the top of the key.

Carefully flip the frame over and securely tie the ribbon through the frame hanger. Careful not to tie too tightly or else the adhesive pulls away from the burlap.

Cut off any extra ribbon that would interfere with hanging. I placed a dab of toothpaste on the hook and pressed it onto the wall to have the exact location for the hook.

There you have it! The easiest project ever that goes nicely in a living room or dining room. About 20 minutes start to finish. I love it!!

Reupholstering Chairs Completed

Sorry for the delay in posting the completed pictures! I have been done for a week or so now, but with everything going on I haven't gotten a chance for a final 'after' picture. But before I reveal that, let me remind you of the 'before' shot:

And here is the after:

I love it! I love the brown richness of the metal now after spray painting it. I like both the before and after looks but now this also reflects a little of me in it.

This is so easy anyone could do it. Don't be discouraged. The first seat I reupholstered coincidentally was also the most beat up one, but the rest were relatively a breeze. View the process here:

Reupholstering Chair Seats Part 1 and Reupholstering Chair Seats Part 2.

Curried Chicken Sandwich with Homemade Olive Oil Mayonnaise and Ciabatta

adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis

I made this DELICIOUS meal for lunch for my husband and I a few days ago and have been meaning to blog about it.  This was absolutely, hands down, the BEST curried chicken salad I have ever had!  I love watching Giada DeLaurentiis  on her show, Everyday Italian.  She has such delicate yet appetizing recipes that I felt inspired to make something special for the hubs (ain't he spoiled?).

I perused her site and came across an entry for curried chicken salad.  Looked great, but I had neither bread nor mayo on hand.  So I made my own.  Find the recipe for ciabatta bread on an earlier post.  You can use rotisserie chicken from your local supermarket, but since I did not feel like making the 25-mile round trip to the store I just cooked my own.  I also did not have mayo on hand, so I found a recipe online and added it to this.

Chicken

INGREDIENTS:

2 organic  chicken breasts with rib meat

a pinch of salt

1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1 tsp. Goya Adobo powder

1/2 cup lemon juice

3 tbsp. oil of vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS:

Cut your chicken breast into bite sized pieces and place in a large mixing bowl.  Set a large skillet over high heat and pour the vegetable oil in the skillet to warm.  Sprinkle all of the dry ingredients over the chicken, then pour the lemon juice and mix well.  After the pan is hot, pour the seasoned chicken into the skillet and cover for 2 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium heat and flip the chicken over so both sides are equally browned.  Brown as much as your heart desires!  Once chicken is cooked (about 10-15 minutes), cover and remove skillet from burner to let cool.  Shred with a fork for easier mixing with curry sauce.

Curry Sauce

1 1/2 tbsp. Jamaican powder curry (this curry is not spicy) 

1 1/2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

2 1/2 tsp. honey 

1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger 

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. mayonnaise

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl, stirring constantly until all of the curry and ginger powder have mixed thoroughly.  Pour over the cooked chicken and mix so that the chicken is evenly coated. Serve the curried chicken on a bed of greens on your bread.  I made my ciabatta bread from scratch.  We had no bread at home at the time, but I also secretly wanted to make this bread!  It was delish!

Homemade olive oil mayonnaise

This recipe was adapted from Amy when I ran out of mayo to make my Curried Chicken sandwich.

INGREDIENTS:

2 organic egg yolks

1/2 tsp. ground mustard

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. white vinegar

1 cup to 1 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil (optional; you may use canola oil or vegetable oil) 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine all of the ingredients (except for the olive oil) until it is somewhat thick.

2. Slowly pour in the olive oil, little by little, as you continue to stir.  The mixture will slowly turn lighter in color (and less yellow).  Store  your mayo in a container and refrigerate*.

*Since there are raw eggs in this mayo (and no preservatives) use within 4 days or dispose of it.