via Ages and ages ago my husband and I inherited an old dining room set from my husband’s grandmother that I’ve been dying to to rework with some new paint and hardware ever since. Inspiration struck recently when I stumbled across the above image via Phoenix Restoration (based in Seattle) of this hot pink lacquer buffet and now I’m itching to get going. Isn’t the above just gorg? I’m drooling over the styling too. Love those preppy navy and white striped shades. Hubba hubba.
As much as I adore a shot of hot pink, I’m thinking a more toned down palette that reworks the hot pink/navy blue/white/metallic gold accent will work beautifully with the overall decor scheme I’ve been working through in my head so I landed on a navy blue or blue gray tone for the piece.
After a quick Google Image Search for “navy blue buffet” followed quickly by a Pinterest search for the same, here we have my favorite inspiration photos for this project:
via Vintage Refined Decor on Etsy
Interestingly, I’d always had it in my mind that Benjamin Moore’s Hale Navy would be the right choice for this project after seeing so many examples of it in rooms as we decided on paint colors for our own home, but after viewing a number of refinished wood furniture, I decided I liked a more blue-gray shade for less severity. In the photo above, the Newburyport Blue is another contenter I was really impressed with after a lot of image searching through Google. In fact, the first of the batch of the blue buffet inspo photos is actually painted with that same color. What a difference a white balanced camera setting makes and good lighting, right?
This actually brings up a really important tip to remember when you approach any painting project and that is to carefully consider (and test out) how your paint selection will look in all kinds of light situations. Luckily, our dining room where this buffet will live has two enormous windows along and the room opens to the living room which has near-all-day sunshine, so I’m not worried about the color appearing too navy.
Hooray for selecting a paint color! Now to purchase a respirator so I can paint while I’m pregnant and decide if I want to chance not sanding the piece. Oh — and hardware selection. That’s a fun part I’m excited about.
I’ll keep you posted as it rolls along.
Gorgeous dollhouse design via 
The tradition of sending valentines combines two of my favorite things in the world – correspondence + paper goods. Although there are tons of gorgeous options to buy in stores, I love making my own. This year I decided to bring back a design I used back in 2008, long before I had a camera on my cell phone to snap a picture of the results unfortunately. I love being able to personalize each with favorite quotes, ink embellishments, and pretty paper scraps I’ve collected from old calendars, catalogs, and magazines.
First I gathered together some white card stock, my pretty paper scraps, a glue stick, and my favorite fine-tip black ink pen. I cut some hearts from a Tiffany’s catalog and a Victoria’s Secret “Pink” mailer, and tore out some of my favorite pages from a 2012 Audrey Hepburn desk calendar.
