Making the old, new – painting our garden bistro set

One of our favorite features of our condo is our deck. 30 feet long (only 4 feet wide), it has views of the San Francisco Bay and the Bay Bridge, a peek of the downtown skyline (including the TransAmerica Pyramid building), potted lemon and lime trees and our beloved (pint-sized) grill.

When we bought our condo we actually negotiated to keep the previous owner’s patio bistro set. While it definitely wasn’t lovely, it was tall and fit the narrow space perfectly. To maximize our view we needed tall patio furniture and finding that is tough! So we decided to keep something functional and forgo having something more attractive. The set had a few stains we couldn’t remove (grease maybe) and was a dull, matte gray – sort of reminicent of car primer.

Recently I saw this amazing bistro table on Terrain.com and I wanted it – badly.

terrain.com bistro set

I love a good pop of color and have never seen a glossy finish that I didn’t immediately covet. But with our height requirements plus already owning a perfectly good set, I couldn’t justify the purchase (someday…). That didn’t mean I couldn’t make a few updates to my set to make it a bit more fun! So that is exactly what we did!

Table final

Using Rustoleum MULTI-PURPOSE GLOSS SPRAY in Real Orange, we transformed our gross outdoor table into a cute, bright bistro set. Two thin coats and plenty of dry-time is the way to go. Don’t forget to drape your ground and walls (that orange smudge to the left is a reflection from our glossy deck, not a terrible smudge!).

Here is a quick before and after of the project:

making the old, new - re-done garden bistro set

Certain days call for a rainbow

What a sad day.

So rather than write about how much I love Boston (a lot), how scary things like this are (very) and how amazing it is to see people come together and help each other out (extremely) – here is a little something to bring some brightness your way.

Rainbow board by StylishlyLived.com

red shoes | red shorts | red pillow | red lipstick

pink nail polish | pink top

coral perfume | coral top | orange earrings | orange trench

yellow sweater | yellow scarf | yellow watering can | yellow tote

green art print | dark green bag | mint earrings | green nail polish | green cardi | lime purse

blue hat | blue necklace | blue purse | blue china | blue earrings

purple purse | periwinkle purse | purple hair tie | purple shoe | purple chair

Brrrrr… cozy winter entertaining essentials

It is seriously chilly out there, even here in California!  We always expect a bit of nip in the air here in San Francisco, but even down south in Los Angeles the low temperatures are setting records.  As I said, “Brrrrrr!”

But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun!  While summer parties are all about fizzy cocktails, Bocce ball and cafe lights strung across a patio, winter parties are about warmth – from good friends, good drinks and a cozy fire.

Browsing around One Kings Lane tonight, I was totally inspired.  {Have you heard of One Kings Lane?  I am obsessed!  Their sales are the most interesting I have seen, I love almost everything!  And the prices are insane!  If you see it and you love it, no worries, you’ll probably be able to afford it!  If you aren’t a member, you HAVE to join!} Anyway, I was checking out their Apres Ski sale – so much cute stuff!  The sale isn’t over!  It ends Wednesday the 16th!  So I thought I would throw together a little inspiration board for you all!  Enjoy!

Winter Entertaining inspiration board

All products from One Kings Lane!

1.) Vail, where I grew up skiing.  Gotta love this print! {click to purchase}

2.) How snuggly is this cable knit pillow?  And the color?  Perfect! {click to purchase}

3.) Moscow Mules are most delicious when sipped from copper mugs! {click to purchase}

4.) If you can easily ski a Double Black Diamond – brag about it! {click to purchase}

5.) A cozy warm blanket is much needed after a day of skiing and snowman building. {click to purchase}

6 and 7.) How cute are these tiny silver mounted deers?  Probably the most chic “taxidermy” you can find! {purchase here and     here}

8.) Fondue!?  It is never a “Fon-Don’t!” And this pot is so gorgeous! {click to purchase}

9.) Rewind Champagne candle – I snagged one of these for myself! Kind of wishing I grabbed the Pinot Noir too. {click to purchase}

10.) This leather serving tray is perfect for a ski lodge, masculine but beautiful. {click to purchase}

11.) I love the idea of a fire place on a snowy terrace.  Gorgeous! {click to purchase}

12.) These tumblers are a super cute way for guests to be able to differentiate their wine from someone else’s. {click to purchase}

13.) Nothing is more warming than Coq au Vin and this is the most amazing pot I have seen to cook that delicious meal. {click to purchase}

So grab some friends, light a fire, mull some wine (here is my recipe) and don your cutest cashmere!

Painting our world

So, it seems like our Condo purchase is ACTUALLY going to happen. Buying property in San Francisco is a very rough process, so every second I have been sure something is going to fall though. Tomorrow everything is being signed (fingers crossed, breath held), so it feels okay to start planning.

The condo currently has a BIG red accent wall. I like red accent walls, I have had them before. But… this is a one bedroom condo in San Francisco and that means a red wall is “A LOT”. Also, our current taste in colors runs towards the cool end of the spectrum.

We both started out thinking that we wanted cream walls with a nice gray accent wall. Turns out, cream runs warms or looks like white. And I have been a renter for SO long that I am over white.

Then we began researching gray. Gray is a tough color. Apparently it always has an undertone: purple, blue, or green. And while you might see a tinge of the undertone in the paint card, when the paint is covering an entire wall, the undertone goes from a tinge to a ton…

So, I spent forever reading reviews and looking at colors and trying to generally understand the direction we wanted to go. And finally, we have decided (hopefully, I am demanding that we buy a sample and give it a try, so everything could change).

In our living room, our main color is going to be Benjamin Moore Coventry Gray and an accent wall of Benjamin Moore Hale Navy. A navy accent wall was never something I had considered, but it seems traditional and modern at the same time, and has a great blend of masculine and feminine elements. Plus, it is so crisp. I put together a little photo collection of the two colors below.

Hale Navy Bedroom via pinterest

Hale Navy wall via pinterest

Coventry Gray living room via pinterest

Jenna Lyons house with Coventry Gray via pinterest

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