Burlap Message Board For The Entryway

My entryway is sad. It wants art and color and LIFE, but since the artwork is still unpacked, it's sorely lacking. Luckily, my sister made me this very cool key holder, as a housewarming present. 

But it looked a little empty, all alone on the wall. 

I found this burlap message board at Home Goods for less than $20 and I think it's just what the space needed.

Now, I have a place for tickets to upcoming shows, workout reminders, and coupons I want to have handy, but don't want to carry around. 

Like the Getty Villa :)

The frame is a distressed, espresso color, and it pairs really nicely with my dark floors and the border of the key holder. 

Here's the new look!

I still need to add more (this is waaaaay too empty for my tastes), but it's a start! It makes me happy as soon as I walk in the door. :)

Using Succulents With Flea Market Finds

On Father's Day, my parents, sister, and I went to the Long Beach Antique Market for a morning of treasure-hunting. I found lots of fun items that I'll be posting about in the next few days, but I wanted to share with you two great decorating ideas I saw there.

This is so simple, and yet so pretty. An old muffin tin (easily found at thrift stores or garage sales), some pretty succulents and a few votives round out the look. You can fill the while thing, or leave a few blank. I also think it would be fun to try other fillers - maybe sea glass, Japanese fishing floats, or even sea urchins. 

This is another simple idea - succulents in a chipped enamelware basin. I'm a fan of enamelware anyway, but add some succulents and it's so fresh. I like that they're not planted, but still in their little store pots; it looks very casual and fun. Here are two options from Etsy: this one is $17, this one is $10. 

If you haven't been to the Long Beach Antique Market, you should! It's HUGE and has over 800 sellers. This picture only shows a portion of the market...

{photo via Food &Wine - who called it one of America's Best Flea Markets}

Do you enjoy antique markets? Have you found any good decorating ideas from displays before?

Urchin Friends In The Bathroom

I picked up some green sea urchins on Ebay a while back, because they were a great deal, a great shade of green, and I was sure I could figure out a way to use them. And here's where I put them!

Right above the bathroom mirror in the guest bath.

It looks great at night, when the walls look even greener.

And the best part is...the cats can't reach them!