The House That Fun Built

So as you read in my last post, my fiance and I are getting ready to close on a new house! So of course I'm now looking for decor inspiration on the internets (yes, internet can be plural)...

Side Note: Thanks to all of you who posted Pinterest tips in the comments on my last post - I feel like such a moron for not knowing the obvious, lol, so thanks for clearing it up for me... doh! Computer Engineering degree what? Le Sigh.

Look what I stumbled upon this morning - a three story house that has stairs and slides! How cool is this!?!? Yes, it may be intended for families with kids...but hey, grown ups can have fun too, right?

The stick figures 'modeling' the slide action are hilarious.
I love the gymnast dismount landing at the bottom of the slide. Perfect 10!

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My very beachy condo decor...

Last July when I moved into my 'very close to the beach' condo, I decided I wanted to decorate the condo with nautical and beachy decor to celebrate my new location.

I had so much fun shopping for beach-themed decor online and at local Charleston stores. I'm very fortunate that the local Marshalls and T.J. Maxx are filled to the gills (no pun intended) with beachy items.

I had every intention of taking photos of my finished spaces, but Halloween arrived and much of this decor was replaced with Halloween decorations. Then it was Christmas...

And then finally things were back to normal and I could take some photos and share them on the blog... here are pictures from the main living space of the condo where my favorite decor is located. The bathrooms carry on the beach theme, but aren't nearly as interesting as the main rooms.

I love walls with different frames scattered across it and tried to create a mini version of this on one of my walls - I bought a pack of Charleston notecards from a local shop that were on clearance and framed them in clearance frames from T.J. Maxx. And yes, that would be my thermostat framed, lol. The table runner over the dresser is made from straw placemats (also on clearance) from Target that I connected together with twine I bought at Lowes.

I've collected a few Ernest Lee palm tree paintings over the years, and they worked perfectly with my decor. Ernest Lee is an eclectic artist that roams Columbia, SC - nicknamed the 'chicken man'.

Remember this post where I had a decor dilemma with some tricky wall space?

Decided upon wooden, blue oars and a DIY wreath... purchased wreath from Michaels and decorated with glued on bag of sea glass, also from Michaels.

And yes..that would be my Electra beach cruiser parked in the den. I paid entirely too much for that thing to let it sit outside and rust away with the salty sea air. While not ideal squeezed into an already tiny condo, the bike hasn't been in the way too terribly much... and I kind of love how it's right below a painting of a beach cruiser on the beach.

Hope you're having a fabulous Monday... even if 'fabulous Monday' might just be an oxymoron... :)

Wordless Wednesday: Anthropologie Store Displays

Photo Credits: decor8, keeyool, scout magazine, lucky mag, apartment therapy, glam nest, style on a string, creative thursday, anthropologie + you

Bringing the beach indoors

I recently fell in love with a sea turtle pillow from Anthro, and when it went on sale I snagged it up. I love the colors in it and it looks great with my brown couches.

So the other night when I was trying to find the motivation to continue unpacking and I looked over at the pillow and had an inspiration...since I now live only five minutes from the beach, I'm going to decorate my condo with a beach/nautical theme. My guest bathroom is already beach themed and my bathroom has a palm tree theme -- so why not turn my condo into my own little beach bungalow.

TJ Maxx and Marshalls in Mt. Pleasant have a ton of cute beach decor - so I snagged up a bunch of fun things there... I love those stores.

And I've been surfing the Web looking for some great accents and here's what I've gotten so far:

I love this painting because I can now ride MY cruiser to the beach!

Anthro Curtains!

I need your interior decorating expertise...I have this wall right above the open bar area of my kitchen - and it will be right above my long brown couch. It's such a weird spot and I have no idea what to put there. I'll already have paintings on other walls, so I don't want to overkill with another painting...but I'm really stumped on what to put up there.

Nevermind the stuff all over the counter top...
I'm still unpacking...that 'stuff' won't be there necessarily.

I thought about a ship wheel like this one, but I am afraid of going overkill with the whole nautical theme.

Other ideas I'm throwing around is maybe finding a long horizontal beach sign - something like "Life at the beach..blah blah". I also considered making my own - finding some old wood, painting it, and putting a beachy quote on it.

Another idea... buying three or four different looking clocks and setting them each to a different beach city time with the city name below each one: Charleston, Costa Rica, Hawaii, Sydney... but then I thought it might get annoying having four ticking clocks right above my head while watching TV or reading. Plus, I don't really have any connections to those other cities...and the other beaches I do have a connection to are all in the Eastern time zone.

Finally...I'm thinking maybe a wooden oar. Hanging it at a diagonal and then putting that wooden beachy sign below it. But I'm not in love with that idea...

So I'm stumped... what's an easy, affordable decorating idea for that weird spot - something that will carry the theme, but not be overkill.... please comment with your ideas, links, etc. Help!