Designing Woman

I don't know what's gotten into me, but I'm on a major home-decor kick. I've been reading home decor blogs and flipping through magazines like crazy. I really want to revamp my apartment this summer and have created a very long list of to-do's. Not that I plan to do a complete redecoration or spend a ton of money, but I want to embellish what I have and do some flea market hunting and some sewing and maybe even a little building.

Last week, while in Dallas, I bought several home decor books (most of them from Half-Priced Book Store). I'm so excited! Not only can I read through them for inspiration, they also can BECOME part of the finished product as they make great coffee table books. I hate that the word "country" is in the title of several of these books. I do not consider my style to be "country" the way I think of "country", but I do realize that my style does fall into some sort of a country genre. It's more European country, than American country...French and English decor are my favorites. You could also describe the style I most like using the words cottage, shabby chic, and vintage. I am hoping that by the end of summer, all these things really come out in the decor of my apartment.

While in Dallas, I did some shopping and picked up some things to help me get started on some of the small and simple adjustments I want to make. Mom and I also sewed some new curtains for my windows - so fun.  I can't wait to get them hung!  I implemented my first small change this week by changing out the hardware on my TV armoire. I'd love to paint the sucker, but I'm just not brave enough to paint such a nice piece of furniture. However, it would be more my style if it was painted a lighter color. Anyway, I bought new knobs at a furniture store on Henderson in Dallas - they had several different types that looked so much like the ones at Anthropology, but were 1/2 the price. Such a great find!

Before

After (sorry, it's hard to

see the knobs in this pic)

New knobs close-up

I hope to update you with more before & after pics as I make changes thru the summer.

I am wayyyy behind in my blogging once again. Just wanted to tide you over since this was something I could knock-out quickly. Coming up are posts on : a weekend in Charlottesville, an awesome cooking class, and a week in Dallas. Hope to find some blogging time later this week/weekend!