It's Great To Be Home

Ikea Extravaganza

April 21, 2010 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 5 Comments

Whoa.

My sister-in-law is moving into her very first apartment and she asked me to come along to help her furnish and decorate her new space – how lucky am I?!? Since she’s starting from scratch, we hit up bunches of stores around town but we hit the motherlode at Ikea.

{ Kim’s holding what I believe to be the longest receipt in history. }

We’ll be fixing everything up today and probably Saturday – hopefully I’ll have a finished {or somewhat finished} space to show you guys next week! Until then, I’ll be playing around with bits of wood and screws trying to figure out how to put together a dresser, and a bed, and a sofa, and a nightstand . . . wish me luck!

Peering Into Pier 1

April 14, 2010 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 12 Comments

The other day I spent some time in Pier 1 for the first time in awhile – and I fell in love with so many things! I think I just happen to be smitten right now with all things spring. This fun and festive place setting was the first thing to catch my eye:

I love the saturated colors (shocking, I know), and the combination of solids, stripes and florals is so interesting and playful. And since it’s all melamine, you can throw an outdoor party without fretting about breaking the dishes.

The outdoor pillows were another fun splash of color – just switch them out with your current outdoor pillows for a completely new, springy look.

I think the Summer Stripe collection is my fave – and lucky me, a friend gave me the chip & dip bowl for my birthday, and I recently gave another friend the margarita pitcher. Too fun!

The polka dots on this dinnerware collection stopped me in my tracks – anyone who went to college with me can tell you that when it came to paint-penning things for our sorority functions, I was a total sucker for polka dots and would paint dots on anything that would stand still. I guess I’m still not over that. :) It’s a bit of a stretch, but the polka dots reminded me of Kate Spade’s dotted dinnerware lines, Larabee Road and Sag Harbor.

Don’t you think these birdies would look fab in a breakfast nook? I’m thinking they would be great hung in shadow boxes like these from Ikea.

More dots. :)

Nothing says Mexican Fiesta to me like this confetti stemware. Margaritas, anyone?

I’m totally loving this square tray with the silver leafed bird and foliage – I think it’s really elegant and fun at the same time. Wouldn’t it be great on top of a nightstand or end table?

These striped napkins had me wanting to make more pillows.

A trio of these lanterns would be so cute on a porch or patio – at night, filling them with flickering candles would be lovely.

I really love this 5 x 7 wool rug – and what a steal for only $199! The graphic pattern is so awesome and current, and the brown and cream tones would work perfectly in my house . . . too bad I don’t have a place for it. But a girl can dream!

Aren’t alphabet balls just the cutest? I think it would be so fun to have a bowl of them on my coffee table. If you want to DIY your own, here’s a great tutorial.

It’s no secret that I love zebra. Wouldn’t this little platter be great on a console table in the entryway for keys and spare change? Or maybe in the bathroom for earrings and other jewelry.

So that’s what’s been ringing my chimes lately. What about you?

P.S. Sorry for the fuzzy iPhone photos!

Blog Party: Inspiration Tuesday!!

August 17, 2009 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 17 Comments

Hey guys, welcome to the party! It’s Inspiration Tuesday on IGTBH!!

As you know from yesterday’s post, this blog party is all about inspiration – and today I’m inspired by gorgeous pops of yellow in home design.

It’s funny, I first came up with the idea for this post when I was admiring the bridesmaid dresses that two of my friends are wearing in an upcoming wedding – they are a trendy shade of chartreuse, which is also a big color in home decor. Those dresses got me thinking – yellow is such a fun and sunny color, so how could it be incorporated in the home?

For all you bold people out there that like to really commit, you could go whole hog with furniture in shades of lemon, acid yellow, or even buttercup:

Me, however, I’m more of a commitment-phobe – so maybe something cheap and easily changeable would be the way to go, like painting the walls:

Or you could work with what you already have and arrange your bookcases in color blocks – talk about some serious impact for zero dollars!

And yellow in accessories is lovely, too. Don’t you think feel like it instantly energizes these spaces?

And, of course, bright shocks of yellow on the wall can really make a statement – big or small. (And I think the yellow and periwinkle combo is to die for!)

So what are you inspired by today? We’d all love to swing by your blog for some inspiration – if you’d like to join in on the fun, just add your link below. Here are a few pointers:

Make sure that you add the permalink to your specific blog post (like www.itsgreattobehome.net/inspiration-tuesday), instead of your general blog address.
Give everybody an idea of what you’re inspired by in parentheses after your blog name – like Liz @ It’s Great To Be Home (yellow in home decor).
Make sure that your link works – otherwise it might get deleted (no fun!).
Try to include a link to this party somewhere in your post so that your readers can get in on the party!
Click on the other participants’ links and let them know if they’ve inspired you!

Let’s get this party started!!

Images courtesy of Apartment Therapy, Design*Sponge, desiretoinspire, Canadian House and Home, Elle Decor, My Home Ideas, GoliadAve.com, and Colour Me Happy.