Everybody in the House of Love

Looking forward to a weekend at the beach with a few of my best gal pals -  kicking off with The Royal Wedding wedding at 6AM EST Friday - Ginny, George and I will be up early to watch it live....a few key items to set the mood  for the big "to do" as my Nana likes to call any big event...

Union Jack Bunting

Knit the Royals set

The T-Mobile Royal Wedding Entrance - love that crazy Harry...and Camilla's sweet rumpbump moves!

Spotted Dick - because Rosie Pope says thats what you eat with the Royals

Royal Wedding Paperdolls - we can act out the big event - of course with British Accents

A Tracey Hat

The Lighter Brighter Family Room

We did it!  Home Sweet Hanna survived its first DIY paint job!

We feel a true sense of pride when sitting in the family room - the once 70s wood paneled (knots included) room is now brighter and lighter - and overall just feels more Hanna like!  We seriously underestimated this project - what started as a weekend quickie turned into a 9 day paint-athon....complete with accent bookshelves (as mentioned here) - before and after pics are below....

Masters were on - so the TV stayed in the room till the last possible moment...

Yes...this is my painting outfit...complete with William Sonoma green ribbon as a belt!

The first paintstroke...no turning back now!

Primed and ready for PAINT

The finished product.....new and improved Home Sweet Hanna

 Although there were moments when Brian and I both would have loved to call it quits - we had a great time hanging out, listening to music (mostly GirlTalk and a "Long Skirt, Short Jacket" Pandora station we love), drinking beers, and chatting....time flies when you're having fun...I mean painting....

Finials for the Frugal Minded

Before moving into Home Sweet Hanna - I'm not sure I knew what a finial was....but with my new interest in window treatments I have quickly come to see how expensive drapery rod hardware can be...

We started our search at Restoration Hardware and fell in love with these cast iron beauties...love the rusty color and industrial finish...

 They come with a few finial options but we really liked the "Ball" - see below

$99 (on-sale now for $75) - here

We also looked at Pottery Barn....

$89 - check them out here

PB had a few Cast Iron options....again we liked the "ball" option but the rod was very skinny and did not seem substantial enough for our triple window...

With my luck on our living room drapery hardware I browsed the selection on "the O" and found this set that is nearly identical to the Restoration Hardware guys listed above...

$38.49 - here

These hollow balls are not as heavy as the solid Restoration Hardware finials - but they look very similar and are actually easier to hang without worrying about the extra weight causing our our new drapes to come crashing down.

Will report back soon with pictures of the installed drapes and the painted (FINALLY!) wood paneled family room....it's looking super cozy in there!

"Classical foundation with a layer of playful punctuation"

Yesterday Trad Home hit the virtual newsstand compliments of Lonny and Traditional Home - I must say I loved the video featuring Jonathan Adler and Charlotte Moss.  What a fun pair!  The duo gave their point of view of traditional design.  My favorite line was from Jonathan Adler talking about how traditional design is not stuffy - but "a classical foundation with a layer of playful punctuation."  This statement sums up my approach to Home Sweet Hanna - check out the full video here.  And a few favorites of my favorite  Charlotte Moss designs below...

Elephant Belt - where are you?

LOVE this elephant belt from the Tibi Olivia Palermo photo shoot - have been searching the web trying to find the belt to no avail.  Any thoughts?

I found these two cute ones from Kate Spade - Pineapples and Kissing Frogs...but I've got a fever...and the only prescription is more elephants....

Apparently some are available on Ebay (see here)- but I have not been able to find something as cute as Olivia's....

DVF Home - Brilliant

What is there not to love about the Diane Von Furstenberg Home collection - High Gloss has a great interview with Diane this month - check it out here.  Her inspiration "is defined from the treasured destinations in my life and in my home."

Who wouldn't love a little interior design help from Diane...

At least we can now all have a taste with her brilliant home collection

That floral china is gorgeous and the "cut out" accent pillows would be pretty in a guest room......

If you are visiting London (and super wealthy) you can always get a taste of what it would be like to live in Diane's home by staying in the DVF Claridge Hotel Suite....complete with his and her Wrap Dress-esque bathrobes...see below (pics from Hotel Chatter)

 

Brian get your (staple) gun!

Window treatments can be very expensive - for our living room I found a deal on beautiful lush drapes (see post here) - but  for our guest bedrooms I want to dress our venetian blinded windows without the cost, formality, and weight of heavy drapery panels....Enter no sew Pelmet Boxes - (tutorials here and here)

I first saw the images and tutorial on Little Green Notebook, love the cute shape and bright fabric - image below  (she also has a tutorial)

Many a blogger has now mastered this look...

Crazy Domestic

When I Grow Up

Off Beat Home

Brian does not know that he is about to be recruited for this project (he is a whiz with the staple gun) - but I have purchased all of the materials and we will be getting our pelmet on this week!

The fabric is a gorgeous Trina Turk design that I purchased on The Designers Attic awhile back....

Wish us luck!