Move Over Sarah Richardson... a new Blue and Yellow Laundry Room Redo!

Okay... please don't move over Sarah... Keep inspiring me!  You are amazing!!

 Here's my inspiration... from Sarah's House... the basement laundry room Sarah created when she renovated a 1970's backsplit.  I forget what Sarah's cost was... a little under $20,000... but let's face it... Sarah has more money than me.. .and mine was an update and not a reno... so my cost... about $300... but the bones were good when I started...

 I couldn't find a store that had the tile I wanted to match the pretty glass tiles that Sarah used (and they were essential!)... but a wonderful seller on eBay did... I only needed 8 square feet... about $130 including shipping.
Joan J asks: "Did you do the tiling of the backsplash yourself? It's gorgeous".  Dixie answers... "Yes, I sure did... I did all the updates myself!"

 my yellow paint color (after sampling about 3 different colors)... from Lowe's National Trust for Historic Preservation line... 3004-4B Homestead Resort Tea Room Yellow... this paint is super thick and went on with ease... I love it!

 I found accessories at Glory B's in Geronimo (the fan, once rusty green, now sunny yellow... baskets at MJ Designs after Easter basket sale... and some things I already had owned for years... the yellow pitcher from Martha Stewart at KMart about 10-years ago...

 The washer and dryer... also about 10-years old and still keeping the Maytag man at bay... glass containers for Borax and Oxy Clean from Target... cabinets were already white, I just replaced the handles from ugly white plastic to trendy brushed chrome.. another eBay find for only $3 per handle.

 A fabric redo of my message board (you'll see the before photos at the end of this post), where I hang my sunglasses collection and extra reading glasses... this idea came from another blogger, whose name I forget... but thank you to her whoever she is!

faux flowers (Sarah's were live plants!), vintage Ball canning jars that my sweet Ricky purchased for me on eBay when I told him they were just too expensive... and 3-monkeys... hear-no, see-no, speak-no... purchased at Tuesday Morning a few months ago for $9.99...

There are still a few things to finish... curtains over the window... a skirt to hide the hot water heater... installation of the vintage tole chandy to replace the industrial lighting... touch-up painting in a few places... but that will be done soon...

and here as promised... the before...

cluttered... disorganized... and absolutely no personality...

Thank you Sarah Richardson... keep decorating, sharing and inspiring... and if I ever win the Lottery... I'll call you...

Joining in

 Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

I love my new laundry room... down here in French Lique...

Blue Monday with Sarah Richardson...

I love looking at the rustic distressed style of painted furniture that is so popular today... but it doesn't fit MY STYLE... The sleek perfectly painted style of Sarah Richardson... fits me perfectly...

One of my favorite design style elements from Sarah Richardson is vintage painted furniture...

So here ya go... two of my favorite BLUE perfectly painted Sarah Richardson chest-of-drawers...

Simply Perfect...

Simply Sarah Richardson...

wishing you well Miss Sally on Blue Monday... down here in French Lique...

Perfect Pink Decor from Sarah...

I absolutely LOVE Sarah Richardson's design style... If I ever win the lottery...(note to self: buy a lottery ticket)... I'll call Sarah and invite her to Texas to design my whole house... top to bottom... and it will definately have some PINK!

There's Sarah Richardson Design... Here...

Room Service... Here...

and my favorite...

Sarah's House... Here...

Visit Sarah... and then drop back by How Sweet the Sound

for Pink Saturday...

loving Pink... down here in French Lique...

The big plan for the laundry room... on Blue Monday... Sarah's House inspiration!

I absolutely L-O-V-E Sarah Richardson... I especially enjoy her series, "Sarah's House"... This laundry room is in a suburban back-split home built in the 1960's... I've been wanting to decorate my plain-Jane laundry room for years... and so... now the laundry room is my next project...

Sarah's House Season 2 basement laundry room... My inspiration!

The hardest thing to find... a comparable glass tile.. but I did find it... on eBay...

So my newly decorated guest room has become the staging room for the new laundry room...

 Lots of yellow and BLUE.... stay tuned for the grand finale'... down here in French Lique...
I'm linking to Sally's Blue Monday... drop by to see who else is Blue this Monday!

A Repost and Credit Where Credit is Due...

Metamorphosis Monday is hosted by one of my favorite decorating bloggers, Susan at Between Naps on the Porch... If you'd like to see more of Metamorphosis Monday participants, link here to visit Between Naps on the Porch...
If you think you've seen this post before... you have. Yesterday while searching on the internet for another inspiration... I ran across the inspriation for my book Metamorphosis and wanted to give credit where the credit is due... read on...

Original Post
In the beginning, my books were crammed into this little flimsy bookcase and one other similar in my office... the books also resided on the floor, stacked in piles around the room, in the closet... well, you get the idea... though they were loved, they were certainly not cared for...

So, the first step... get the books to the dining room table and sort them... first by subject matter and then by size... and here they stayed for a couple of weeks...
until Ricky put my two large bookcases together... purchased at Target on sale for $80 each... a good buy considering the alternatives... Then I put the books on the bookcase in similar order as they were on the dining table... awaiting their next transformation...
I found a lovely idea in one of the many decorating and organizing magazines I consume each month. For the life of me I can't find the original inspiration; but when I do I will certainly give them credit here... In the meantime, just know that I was inspired by someone else's work...

UPDATE: I found my original inspiration... FLN Sarah Richardson's Room Service in an episode titled Moment's Notice... Now you can see what I saw... and give credit where credit is due... thanks Sarah... you're an inspiration!

I have found that in decorating, like the rest of my life, I'm very eclectic. In the bedroom, I like the serenity of Traditional; but in my pink bedroom, I like Shabby French...

In my office, I tend to lean more toward Traditional with a little French flair, lots of clean lines and organization... and so...

The book project.

You're going to need one of those craft cutting sheets made for a rotary cutter, a rotary cutter, a long straight edge... mine is a metal yardstick... and vellum by the roll. Oh, and of course, some books... lots and lots of books...
I found it easiest to measure the book's dust jacket, and then stick with the same size book when cutting the vellum...
be careful cutting... those rotary cutters are sharp!
I managed to get a little less than half of the books covered before I ran out of the two rolls of vellum. This is going to be a little more expensive than I had originally thought... but look!
Pretty books, all covered in vellum... I can still read most of the titles, but the books... they look so pretty and organized... I like this... I really really like this!
Hobby Lobby is closed on Sunday... good thing.. that means I don't feel compelled to run into town and buy more rolls of vellum! It can wait a few days... There is much more to be done in getting my office redecorate/declutter project finished... down here in French Lique!