Good Morning friends! As you may remember, teamed up with The Home Depot earlier this year as a DIY Influencer to host in store DIY Workshops! Teaming up with Home Depot is the perfect opportunity to share with all of you fun DIY building projects. These projects help build confidence in using power tools and share with you how to build a project from start to finish. My first project was building a  DIY Vertical Planter and hosting a work shop in Daly City. I had absolute blast hosting my first workshop, the Daly City store was lovely and everyone that attended the workshop was so nice! Click here for a picture from the lat workshop.  I'm so excited, think I could do a cartwheel level of excitement to share my second workshop. 

As you know The Home Depot is the go to spot for tools, supplies, lawn & garden and one of my favorites BBQ! BBQ is huge in our household and this project, is the perfect kickoff for Summer! Details below.

That's right, I'm building a DIY Grill Cart, perfect for summer and I'm traveling all the way from California to Colorado, how exciting is that! We do lots of grilling at our house in the Spring, Summer and Fall months and this grill cart is the perfect addition for our patio. This DIY Grill cart was designed by Ben Uyeda of Home Made Modern. If you haven't already check out his site, its full of amazing modern wood and concrete projects, you'll seriously be in aww of his projects!  

The Home Depot DIY Workshops are typically held on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the month are all about skill-building, from teaching how to tile, outdoor projects and fun seasonal projects, associates are on hand to answer questions you may have. Please Click Here to Register for the FREE DIY Workshop: Grill Cart 

Join Me! Saturday June, 2015 at 10:00 am - 11:30 

The Home Depot Denver Store # 1532

3870 Denver, Colorado  80207

I'm so looking forward to seeing all my Colorado friends, this will be my first official trip to Colorado. My last trip was a 2 hour layover at the airport when I was a teen, so being able to get off the plane and soak up the pretty views of Denver is beyond exciting for me. 

Again please register below and join me for the FREE DIY Workshop, I can't wait to enjoy beautiful Denver and talk all things DIY & Design with my Colorado friends! 

Not local to the Denver Colorado area? Please click here and register for a DIY Workshop near you! Also follow along on my Instagram /Twitter and Facebook on  June 20, 2015 and use the following hashtag #DIYWorkshop to share and see what I'm up to

Now, I only have a few hours after the workshop to explore, any places in Denver I should try to visit or have lunch at?? Thank you! 

Sponsored Post: I acknowledge that The Home Depot is partnering with me to participate in this Workshops Program. As a part of the Program, I am receiving compensation in the form of products and services, for the purpose of promoting TheHome Depot. All expressed opinions and experiences are my own words. This post complies with the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Ethics Code and applicable Federal Trade Commission guidelines. 

Favorite Vases for Flowers

So fun fact, for the past several months I've either downgraded my normal Venti vanilla latte to a non tall fat latte with no added flavors or skipped having one altogether. So less money spent weekly on what I used to deem as 'critical' latte is now spent on flowers. Totally a win win for my soul and my house looks so good dressed in flowers. Over the weekend, I picked up a few new vases to keep my flower-loving-buying heart happy, which got me thinking of my favorite vases. Some I own, and some our  on my dream wish list. 

one  Crate & Barrel Stephanie Vase // two Crate & Barrel Lucita Vase //  three JCP Jonathan Adler Vase // four Kate Spade Owl Vase // five Torre & Tagus Sicily Vase // six West Elm Curved Mercury Vase // seven  West Elm Honeycomb Vase

After, months of have The Flower Recipe Book on my Amazon wishlist, I finally treated myself to the book and couldnt be happier, its filled with all the details my flower arranging heart needed to know. Its filled with so many ideas and all the tips needed to create your own lovely arrangements.

This weekend, stop by your local market and pick up a little bouquet of flowers for your home or better yet snip some from your garden. You'll be amazed with how much flowers brighten a room, and while some may think buying flowers is frivolous expense, I say its good for the soul! Enjoy the long weekend. 

The Pleated Look

Lately, I've been very drawn to pleated drapes for my bedroom. Right now, I have some basic Ikea curtains that used to reside in our living room, way back when and live in my bedroom. They were a temporary fix, that has long over stayed their welcome. Now that I've decided they've got to go, I've been thinking about what drapery style I want in on my bedroom window and french doors. I keep going back and forth between the classic look of pinch pleated drapes or inverted box pleat drapes. Either look, I plan to update my hardware with something like this [ but in black ] and use attach rings to the pleats. 

I love the look of inverted box pleat drapes, they have this classic look with modern edge. I'm totally crushing hard on this drapery style. 

image via Pinterest

image via Pinterest

I'm also loving the classic look on pinch pleat drapes paired with ring pulls, are have that extra air of sophistication I love. 

image via Pinterest

image via Pinterest

Now to decide which classic look, I really want in my bedroom, pinch pleat or inverted box pleat. I came across this image below in Pinterest, that I wanted to share. I also love how the Cartridge pleat looks, and butterfly pleat.....decisions decisions. 

What drapery style do you love the most for your home? 

Create: A Colorful Planter for Spring

One of my plans this Spring is to add more color on patio garden beds by using a mixture of planters along with planting perennials in the ground. I recently bought two large planters, which means a visit to our local nursery was in store. 

Using planters offers an easy way to add a burst of color on your patio. For my planter, I used a mixture of perennials and few annuals. When shopping for plants for my planter, I like to place the plants I'm considering on the ground and group them together. This helps to envision how the plants will look in your planter. For my larger planter I chose Greek Sage, Dahlias, Santa Barbara Daisy and Godetia. I'm most excited about the Greek Sage, it  has a nice aromatic smell. 

Here's my planter. It's huge right!! I threw a large beach ball inside to share a better idea of how huge it is!

Extra large planters can use a lot of soil, to cut down on the cost & fill the bottom of the planter with bark of Styrofoam peanuts. For my planters, I prefer using bark on the bottom of the planter and then I cover the bark with weed barrier. The weed barrier acts a nice flat base to add the soil and plants to, plus it still allows water to pass though and drain. 

Before, adding soil and your plants to the planter,  place them inside the planter to help you decide how you want them to grow in the space. You can add the tallest plants in the center, then add the remaining plants in ascending heights. For my planter, I wanted to create a step like feature using the tallest plants in the back, then layering in the smaller sizes. 

Here's my colorful planter for spring! As I mentioned, for this planter I used a mixture of perennials and annuals. For color, I used a mixture of lavender, pinks and white flowers in my planter. 

I'm in love with how my planter turned out! I'll share where it landed on my patio very soon. 

Quick reminder, save all the tags after you plant your flowers and shrubs this year! I'm not sure about you, but I have the worst memory when it comes to plant names. Saving the tags will also help you remember how to care for you plant, and remember which plants did good in your yard and which to skip next time your out shopping. 

Lamps Your Home Needs

I love a good lamp, let's face it good lighting is everything. In my home, have many lighting options for each room, for instance in my living room we have recessed lighting and center overhead lighting. But the lighting I love using the most in my living room is our lamps. We have three lamps, two are twins and one is a cousin, lol so to speak all gourd lamps. If you have outdated or too small lamps in your home, I've put together a guide to help you swap out those dated lamps and bring in new pretty lighting. These lamps bases will look good in any room: Gourd lamps, Jug Lamps, Column lamps and Ginger Jar lamps.

Ginger Jar Lamps: Classic Porcelain Lamp // Ralph Lauren Ginger Jar Jug Lamps: Baden Glass Lamp // Martin Table Lamp // Luan Antique Brass Gourd Lamps: Abbyson White Gord Lamp // Amy Triple Gourd Lamp // Mae Long Neck Lamp // Pink Robert Abbey Lamp Column Lamps: Acrylic Lamp // Bamboo Lamp

These lamp styles are timeless and look good in both modern and classic homes. If your home is more on the modern side, consider using a more modern silhouette of the Ginger Jar Lamp and Column Lamp, since those lean towards more classic. When selecting lamps for your rooms, keep in mind the scale of the lamp. The last thing you want is a dinky pair of lamps in a large living room [ trust me ]. In the past, I've bought a dinky pair of lamps and once they where home, realized very fast they where way too small, back they went to the store. Consider looking for lamps that are 24 inches and taller, also keep in mind the diameter of the lamps, making sure they're not too wide for their intended space. 

Let's be real, lamps can be crazy expense and range in prices from $50 bucks to hundreds and hundreds of dollars. For pretty lamps at fantastic prices shop Wayfair // Overstock // Marshall's // Home Goods and Target (with most Target lamps carried in store, remember scale is key!) I've seen several amazing ginger jar lamps at Home Goods, they also carry lots of Gourd lamps. Also check out West Elm // Crate and Barrel // Lamps Plus 

If you love the thrill of the hunt,  visit your local consignment stores and thrift stores, you just might luck out and a find a perfect pair of lamps. In the past, I've found a few lamps for a steal for my home at consignment stores and thrift stores. Cheers to good lighting and happy lamp shopping. What are your favorite lamp styles? 

Quick Patio Update

Morning friends! I wanted to share a quick update today, about our patio. I recently shared my plans on transforming our patio into the perfect spot to drink coffee in the mornings and enjoy a glass or wine and s'mores at night. This space is fairly a new addition to our backyard and was added almost two summers ago, so my husband and I could enjoy the outdoors just steps away from our bedroom. 

At the end of the past two Summers, I've been buying up containers on clearance for plants. I love the mix of plants in both containers and in the ground look together placed in garden beds. I recently realized, I'm totally a cement, grey, black container type of girl. They'll be no colorful containers in my yard, lol.  

I'll be honest winters in the part of Northern California, where I live are very mild, so there's not really a lot of clean up to take care of from winter. However, we have this fantastic shade tree, that I adore but has the tinest leaves ever which me they fall everywhere. The little leaves completely cover our patio and when it got went, gunk formed. We wanted to try using a concrete cleaner and brush, before renting a pressure washer. 

We followed the directions closely and a portion of the gunk and grime has been removed, but not entirely. For instance, walking barefoot on my patio doesn't sound appealing at this time, but at least most of the grime has been washed away. This week, we'll be renting a pressure washer and cleaning off both patios. 

There's still so much to tackle in this space before I can bring in the fun [decor / candles / and textiles] We need to pressure wash our patio, build a pair of wood planters to flank the French doors [this week] continue filling in the pots with plants, I'm doing a mix of perennial water-wise plants and annuals. We also need to trellis on the fence for vines, can't wait to cover up that icky red paint....I hate painted wood fences, totally not my jam [too much upkeep for our hot climate] Lastly, drum roll please add a pergola above our French doors. I'm most excited about the pergola and of course finding the perfect daybed to lounge on. I've narrowed it down to a few options and will share them later this week. 

How's your outdoor Spring cleaning / planning going so far?