b+w

cyber monday is hard!!

i think it might be a bigger shopping day than the day after thanksgiving.

i got a million and one emails telling me all the great deals to be had and how easy it was to do with a few clicks....

i don't shop on black friday because i don't like the hoards of masses of people. so that's easy. i just don't go.

but i found it really hard to sit at my desk and not shop for myself.

for me, not for christmas gifts. for me!

so i decided, one thing.

i'd get something small to get it out of my system.

and then sit on my hands for the whole rest of the day unless i was being selfless and buying a gift for someone else. or in fact, getting some real work done. at work, ha.

so i headed to f21.

i'm into the whole black and white stripes thing more than ever right now... remember here. and they didn't disappoint in that arena:

here

here

here

here

here

here

this faux leather was tempting...

but you have to be careful at f21. some of their stuff can look so cheap (bc it is), so this one i had to see in person.

and i haven't seen it in person, but you can get yours here.

here

and finally settled on this:

here.

it was free shipping.

and the sweater itself was only like $17.

after that, i made it through the whole rest of the day without spending all of my savings account :)

did you find it as hard as i did?

online shopping is so dangerously easy.

soo, happy post-cyber-monday-tuesday.

hope you survived.

what did you get!!!??!!

i wanna hear.

JILL

in a land of color....

sometimes less color is a little bit more.

and i have to remind myself that, here's why:

cool neutrals mixed with warm neutrals.

even without an overload of colors,

a perfect mix can still feel very textured, very full, very colorful.

to achieve this yourself:

mix shades of grey with wood, copper, brass, gold, cream, camel and/or brown.

(and i'm telling you, brown and grey is one of my favorite combos.)

JILL

and sorry for the lame blogging this week.

no excuses.

will do better.

happy friday.

{images via apartment therapy, brittany stiles, brittany stiles, west elm blog, marcus design, inc, and the niagra novice}

just when.

just when i thought it was safe to post all the mirror-metallic shoes that i've found around the web, the world shows me these.

this always happens!

but have you ever seen anything so beautiful?

i would get re-married for the opportunity to make these my wedding shoes.

to husband again, of course.

mid-october wedding....

and a short little ensemble to show off my shoes.

maybe like this:

in a room that looks like this:

and tables for our brunch reception set like this:

serving these things side by side:

{dessert is the best part of a meal, even if it is mid-afternoon!}

gold spun cotton candy?! absolutely.

color scheme of blush pink, gold, and shades of gray.

mmm. glammy.

JILL

{shoes via frya rose london, persephone dress and bellini earrings via bhldn, chandie via this is glamorous, table setting via pink preppy lilly lover, cake via inspired by this, gold!!! cotton candy via pinterest}

remain neutral.

seriously, there is a serious misconception that black and brown don't go together.

if black/gray is a neutral and can go with anything,

and brown is a neutral and can go with anything...

why oh why can't they go together?

they can. and they do.

really well.

winter is kinda synonymous with duller, more neutral colors.

embrace them!

wearing a mix of gray, black and brown is far more interesting and textural than all black or all brown.

i've been sporting my black leggings with my brown boots lately like it's my job.

(partly because i like the look, partly because leggings are a gift from God)

but you know me, i crave color. so there have also been lots of hot pink lips :)

if you don't believe me. maybe you'll believe these:

pretty, huh?

xo.

JILL

{images from the top: tumblr, prepaganda, pinterest, decor8, elle decor, fashionologie, atlantic-pacific, lemonadeandivy, elle decor, tumblr, mintox, 9t05chic, tumblr, tumblr, tumblr, prepaganda}

i like you, too.

i feel like i have decor schizophrenia alot of the times.

i am drawn to alot of differing ideals and colors and styles.

i could go with crazy color just as much as i could go all neutral.

(which has made it difficult at times when it comes to the stuff i want in my own house...)

especially when it comes to kids rooms, i always thought i'd always go the color route.

until i saw the scheme nicole, from me oh my, whipped up for her baby boy.

holy gorgeousness.

the textures, brass accents, fabrics, and pattern, and more brass- had me singing a different tune.

i can't wait to see the end results.

you can go here for all the details.

do you feel like that sometimes, too

--or is it just me and that means i'm crazy :)

JILL

match made in heaven.

that mushroomy gray with brass. i die.

then add that shade o magenta? perfection.

i could however, leave the blue pillow in another room. you?

JILL

chic to sheets

i came across these letterpress cards by studio on fire earlier this week and then somehow ran into this fabulous display of yellow and white and black and gray bedding found on martha.

so perfect together.

xoxo

elle.

how rude.

in my very best michelle tanner voice... "how rude." that is what i think of you, behr paint chip creator. i think you made it a little harder for those of us (me) who may or may not be the most organized individual......

remember this post, about my chair i re-upholstered, that lives in my family room? well, in the photos you see my white walls, camel carpet, and wood trim. i told you i was working on the white-ness of the space, and since then i have painted all the trim (i emphasize that because it was a j-o-b) white, and the walls........ light gray.

at least i meant for them to be light grey. back to the organization part from earlier. when i finally settled on a color-- behr silver drop-- i headed back to home depot to buy it. i forgot the chip at home (unorganized) but i didn't turn around because i knew it was the middle color in the chip trio and it started with silver. how many of those can there be, right?

mistake.

here's the paint chip trio. with silver drop in the middle there. pretty, right?

the behr paint company has ANOTHER paint chip trio in another gray tone, and the middle color, yep... silver screen.

i picked up the chip (below but i didn't take a photo of that one)... saw it as light gray, middle color, silver screen... sounds right.

and i then came home with the wrong color.

i noticed it wasn't the right one as soon as i got home and looked at the chip (that i forgot). i'm no diva and they were pretty similar... and i was ready to paint, so i used it. i did 2 full coats thinking it'd get better...

and got this:

(via decor pad)

lavender gray. during the day, it was actually alright but when sun went down and the lights came on... purple.

it was all i could see.

(via nicky kehoe)

don't get me wrong, especially in the above space, it looks great. just not exactly what i was going for.

i tried for 2 whole weeks to convince myself it was the one, and only because i didn't want to repaint all over again. i even told elle that i had chosen a lavender gray (i did choose it, just by accident ;)).

i was looking for something more like this:

(via apartment therapy)

and this:

(via unknown)

and this:

(via unknown)

so now, you know where i'll be and what i'll be doing this weekend.

fixing my walls. with silver drop.

behr- you are tied with benjamin moore for my favorite paint brand, and i still like ya... i just think naming 2 very similar tones of gray, in the same spot on their chips, with almost identical names is a flub. personal opinion.

now i'll be taking the chip with me every time.

anyone else do something like this?


xo
JILL

cozy and playful

martha stewart october 2010

it was so much fun seeing jill and her husband's fam this weekend. i told them they all needed to move here ;)

here is a room to check out while i get caught up on my full post. martha says by mixing textures and patterns a bed dressed in gray and black feels both cozy and playful. i just love this.

more in a bit...

xoxo

elle.