[Zei on Home Deco & Design] Lil' house in the City

I love watching HGTV Design Star on Lifestyle network. Last night's episode of season 6 was cute in all levels. The last three designers took on the tiny house challenge. The task was to design a tiny house, just 86 sq. meters complete with a bedroom, living room, bathroom, kitchen and dining area. Just thinking of how the contestants would take it on made me giddy. Imagine, fitting all the required amenities in such a tiny tiny space. Here's a photo of the tiny house to give you an idea,

Photo from www.tinyhousetalk.com

Photo from www.tinyhousedesign.com

It's really tiny, don't you think? Anyway, to make things more stressful, they were just given 30 minutes to plan and just 2 days to finish everything. I guess that's why they were the last three standing. I just love how the three designers made such quaint and functional living spaces out of the 86 sq meter rectangular box they were given to work wit. It just goes to show that the possibilities are endless when it comes to designing your home, no matter how small or big the obstacles are.

Here's Karl's tiny house from www.charmingdecor.blogspot.com

Here's Mark's take on the tiny house from www.redoitdesigns.wordpress.com

And here's Meg's real life little house on the prairie from www.condo-blues.com

Watching shows like Design Star makes me really want to take my interior decorating (even if it's just for our home for now) to a higher level.

[Zei on Home Deco & Design] Outdoor dining set almost complete

I've said in my old post that I've been looking for a cheap outdoor set to give a bit of character to our bare front porch/lanai and I've finally made it happen. I bought a cheap aluminum table from National bookstore (yep, they have tables there too, albeit small ones) and matched it with our colorful plastic chairs bought by my mom. Here it is in its unfinished glory. Unfinished since I'm still on the lookout for a reasonably priced outdoor hang umbrella, for that al fresco dining feel. Thanks to my VL and SL conversion, I have extra money to complete my outdoor dining project.

How about you guys, what's your latest home project?

[Zei on Home Deco & Design] Weekend Project!

I just love weekend projects! This weekend's project is the wall art I've had in my home bucket list from my previous post here. Anyway, I wanted to make our plain white wall exciting, but I didn't want to just put up more frames or paintings, so I thought of something that I liked - words and color. So this is what I came up with - some sort of letter puzzle with our names.

This was the plan on paper

Tada! My latest wall art!

I just love it. Rich suggested that we just put the words Faith, Hope and Love in some other part of our house. And I agreed since it might look too busy with all the words. The words are actually with me already, but I haven't decided where to put them. So that's probably gonna be my next simple project. So stay tuned. If you wanna do a similar project, you can order the carton letters from Tod's Country Crafts in SM Megamall. =)

How about you guys, did you have your own weekend project? =) Hope it went as planned and you're happy with the end result. =)

[Zei on Home Deco & Design] Home bucket list

I think the nesting stage hasn't left me even after pregnancy. I always seem to want to do something to prettify our home. So off the top of my head, here are the four things I'd like to do when I find the time and the resources to make it happen.

1) I want to have a yellow accent wall

2) I want to install some sort of wall art to our plain white wall that leads to our bedrooms

3) I want a cooler looking kitchen

4) I want to find a cheap but nice outdoor sitting/dining set for our bare front porch

Seems doable this year, yes? I just need to find time to look at my options and canvass for important pieces. And maybe I'll set aside a weekend to do that wall art thing since I've got something up my sleeve already (will post about it once it materializes).

How about you? Do you have home projects planned for this year?

Photo credits: www.pinterest.com / www.alfresia.co.uk / www.mydiychat.com / www.kitchenisms.com

Friday dreaming

Since it's lunchtime and it's the last day of the work week, I'm allowing my mind to wander - today, I'm dreaming about beautiful and cozy backyard lounges. I'm making it my future project, to prettify our backyard, which is currently just a rectangular patch of Bermuda grass. My goal is to have it pretty and ready for Zia's future birthday parties - since I plan to throw her birthday shindigs at home (with the exceptions of her 1st, 7th, 12th/13th and 18th birthdays). Here are some inspirations from the Internet to get things started.

Outdoor dinner party, anyone?

Photo credit: www.interiordesignphotos.co.uk

Just like in the Hamptons!

Photo credit: www.myhomeideas.com

I love this! So mod!

Photo credit: www.myhomeideas.com

Photo credit: www.fromsingletomarried.com

Photo credit: www.austinlivesoutdoors.com

Thank God it's Friday! Weekend, here I come! =)

My Christmas/Forever-until-I-get-it wish list

It's 52 days before Christmas and what better way to spice up my countdown than by sharing my Christmas wish list. This list isn't actually just limited to Christmas, which is why I'm also calling it my Forever-until-I-get-it wish list.

MY wish list

1. VNC Green satchel (http://www.facebook.com/#!/vncphilippines)

2. Elle Emmi peep-toe wedges (http://www.kaboodle.com/)

3. Dooney and Bourke Spicy Satchel in Black black/Black/Kelly Green (http://www.shopstyle.com/) 4. Guess Groovy Rhombus bag in black (http://www.4trees-lemon.com/) 5. Fridge-to-go in pink (http://www.fridge-to-go.com/) 6. Lactation cookies (http://www.smartparenting.com.ph/)

7. Lots and lots of stored milk supply for Zia when I go back to work (http://www.littlebayi.blogspot.com/)

8. Mamaway nursing tank with built-in-bra in black and white (http://www.mamaway.multiply.com/)

9. Forever 21 shopping spree (http://www.stylesilove.blogspot.com/)


10. Makeover to get me out of my maternity leave/stay at home rut

11. 1-year subscription to Real Living magazine (http://www.summitmedia.com.ph/)

My wish list for Rich & I

1. Master bedroom makeover (http://www.1blondesambition-home.blogspot.com/)

2. Trip to anywhere (http://www.tonyocruz.com/)

3. A smaller car (http://www.mazdapits.com/)

My wish list for Zia

1. Your Baby can Read DVD set (http://www.whosmybaby.com/) 2. Lamaze cloth books (http://www.babysoft.com/)
3. Dr. Seuss Book collection (http://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/)

4. Shopping spree at Baby Gap & Zara Baby

5. Manuella yellow kitty bag (http://www.babygadget.net/)
6. Dwell Studio crib bedding set (http://www.modernurbanbaby.com/)

7. Aprica Marshmallow Fruit Car seat bed (http://www.safensound.com.my/)

8. Infant vaccine spree at The Medical City (good until she's 1)

9. A college plan

My wish list for our home

1. A kitchen makeover

2. Shopping spree at Dimensione & Howards Storage World

3. A blue bladeless fan (we already have one in pink for Zia's room) (http://www.ft.com/)

4. mp3 speakers (http://www.mp3speaker-s.net/)

5. Additional wall decals (we have a couple installed already) (http://www.facebook.com/#!/refreshfashion)

And of course, there are the intangible ones for all of us such as good health, wisdom, safety, love and happiness. Go jot down the things you'd love to have now! Remember, it could extend beyond Christmas so big ticket items could be listed. =p

Happy wish list making everyone! ;)

*Photo website sources listed beside item

Those pretty round things

We'll be having guests over in a couple of days and each time there's an upcoming house event, I get new 'what ifs' when it comes to adding some accents for our home. Today's what if is all about those pretty round things - topiaries! Might look for an artificial one this weekend (might not be able to maintain a live one inside the house). Meanwhile, here are some pretty topiaries used as accents for the home. :)

Photos from: www.countryliving.com, www.homedecorators.com and www.squidoo.com

It's almost the weekend! Happy vibes coming my (and your) way!

The fruits of my nesting

So as promised, I'll be posting pictures of the fruits of my nesting. I just have 1 more left in my list, which I'll probably do soon - I haven't put up photos along the stairs because I haven't found the right frames, but I know I will. :) So for now, here's our newly refurbished home, ready to welcome more guests and of course, our newest addition.

Loving our new blue green bench MTO from Mandaue Foam with the Bungalow 300 throws from Dimensione. =)

It wasn't part of my list, but we also put up a new drop 'chandelier' for our living area, courtesy of my father dear. =p

In keeping with our burst of color theme to contrast with our mostly black and silver kitchen, I got these colorful Holly stools from Dimensione for our small breakfast nook.

Don't you just love colors? Now I can teach baby about colors, not only through books, but also through our furniture. =) P.S. I'd like to thank my fairy parents for making my mini home makeover a success. Hearts. <3

Must own a couple of these

"To ensure a successful mix, I treat cushions and other accessories as the shoes and handbags of the home. The right shoe can really make an outfit -- and equally, if you have the wrong shoes, you can feel old-fashioned in the smartest of suits." - Nina Campbell

Note to self -- must buy a couple of these cheery Bungalow 300 throw pillows for our home. =p Maybe tonight or this weekend. =p The colors will definitely pop out from our gray sala walls and mostly black furniture. I love it. What's not to love? It's colorful, modern and Filipino-made. Yay!

Happy lights!

Well, it's been a week since I posted about the 'nesting' stage I'm in and amazingly, an unexpected pouring of blessing allowed us to get things started. :) Thanks to Ortigas Home Depot, we got to replace our old lamps in our dining room and kitchen with new spanking ones. :) Here are the before and after pictures. :) Plus, my wonderful father bought us new door knobs to replace the ones we had that were damaged. So that's two down on my previuos list of things I want to do for the house. :) Can't wait to move on to the next projects. ;)

BEFORE

AFTER

Our new drop lamp for the dining room which replaced our dated lamp with ceiling fan

Finally, happy colors for our kitchen from our new ceramic lamps

Must be in the 'Nesting' Stage (Updated)

We're almost in our 6 and a half month mark so it's really just a few more months before we bring our sweet pea into our home. And along with the progression of my pregnancy is this so-called 'Nesting' Stage, which usually occurs (they say) in the last trimester, but sometimes earlier for others. It's the period when the mom-to-be, for some reason, feels the need to organize stuff - maybe for the coming baby or for other reasons. It's kinda true for me since, now, more than ever, I really really want to finish up all the plans for our house that took a back seat because of the pregnancy. Anyway, just to start me off, I decided to make a list. At least a list would be start since I'm still trying to figure out the financing that would come with this nesting. So here are the things I want to do:

1. Install the two full length mirrors in our TV room divider - CHECK! (Thanks Motherdear!)

2. Replace old lamps in our kitchen and in the dining room - CHECK!

3. Put up photos along our stairs

4. Buy the green wooden bench for our kitchen - CHECK! (Although now, it'll be for the living area)

5. Remove all our stuff in the other room so we could start preparing it as a nursery

6. Buy a shoe cabinet - CHECK!

7. Fix our door knobs - CHECK! (Thanks dad!)

8. As soon as all the stuff have been removed in the 'nursery', repaint the walls and cabinets and install aircon

9. Fix nursery

Those are the stuff, the timeline, ASAP, the budget, well... that's probably where the hurdle will be, but I know somehow, someone will make it happen. haha. :)

That's all for now. :) Will definitely give updates as soon as something (at least 1 in my list) sees the light of day. :) *Fingers++ crossed*