No, no, not that blue velvet (though some people certainly want it, maybe you). I’m talking about blue velvet chairs, yum. Velvet phones, flocked chairs, I love it all.

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Repurposed teacups? Yes, please! This is a fun bit of DIY that anyone with unused pretty teacups or a thrift store nearby can do without much trouble. The things one can make from a teacup range in difficulty from easy projects (think tiny planters for succulents) to involved projects involving wiring and cutting, so no worries if you’re not all that crafty. Here are seven ways you can repurpose your teacups and prettify your environment at the same time.

I wrote about Domestic Construction’s teacup chandeliers way back in the day, but at $60 for one DIY is the order of the day (at least in my household). DIY it with some thrift store teacups, some Ikea pendant kits, and something to hang ‘em from.

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I am not ashamed to say that I have a lot of stuff on my walls, but even I felt a little crazy looking at this picture. Maybe it wouldn’t drive me batty, but it would definitely be the most distracting part of my whole house. Why, I wonder, would someone want people to pause there? It seems like it would be uncomfortable – here, stop and look around in this narrow, confined space. But maybe I’m alone in feeling this way. To find out, I created a little poll. Please cast your vote, and then explain yourself in the comments if you feel pressed to say more!

(Image via Elle Decor * Design by Steven Gambrel * Photo by Eric Piasecki)

What to do, what to do with a Greek key rug… It’s a popular pattern nowadays, though I’d wager it’s never fallen out of fashion in any major way. This pattern, also known as a Greek fret or meander, is not one pattern, but rather many, because it’s just a decorative border constructed from a continuous line, shaped into a repeated motif.

To answer my original questions, here are a few things you can do with a black and white Greek key rug:

Er, I realized after the fact that the second and fourth pic are different areas of the same room. Still good for ideas, though!

(Images via: 1, 2/4, 3)

I count one, two, three… four patterns in this pretty pink and gray bathroom. There’s the flamingo (or as my daughter calls them, flamenco) wallpaper, two hand towels with paisleys, a third hand towel featuring a different pattern, and the the pattern on the tablecloth, which could be anything for all I can see. Mixing patterns – or mixing too many patterns – is sometimes considered a decorating no-no, but if your patterns come from the same palette and aren’t crazy complicated, you should be golden!

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I have no clue how or wear to buy these – other than ‘in Thailand’ and ‘using Thailand money’ or here – but the whole collection is just too cute not to share. It’s Propaganda’s Use Me line, featuring dishware, laundry stuff, bags, and other odds and ends that are ready to do your bidding with a smile.

Adorable! I’m in love!

Sea glass? Yes, please. It’s one of my things. Like the carved wooden masks I mentioned the other day and a certain print featuring naughty words that I just can’t seem to take out of my living room, I love me some sea glass. Having lived by the seashore all of my life, I’ve been pocketing it for as long as I can remember. My grandparents always had bowls of it around – they lived on the water – and when I called Costa Rica home, there was tons of it because glass bottles are still popular there for soda and tonic water. I always figured sea glass (or beach glass) was just one of those things you see and pick up.

I still grab it when I go to the beach, which is a lot, all year round.

What I didn’t know was that beach glass is apparently not just one of my things. Nope, it’s an industry and a hobby and a something people make money off of. Not near a coast? You can buy a bucket of beach glass. There is jewelry that features chunks of beach glass, and cosmetics inspired by it in fashion colors. There is, if you can believe it, even a book geared toward people like me who like to find beach Glass, called The Sea Glass Hunter’s Handbook. And other books besides!

But a $90 sea glass wreath from L.L. Bean? That’s where I have to draw the line. I probably have enough beach glass right here in my house to DIY a beach glass wreath but I’m going to do no such thing. this one is admittedly very cute, but it just seems like a waste of perfectly good beach glass. It’s also how I think of the sea glass jewelry I see at local arts fairs – I just can’t imagine anyone who’s lived all their lives on the coast buying a pair of sea glass earrings. Or an indoor-only sea glass wreath, especially since it’s not even real beach glass. It’s just tumbled glass, boo.

as seen on

I can’t for the life of me recall where I heard it, but once upon a time someone said something to me like: You can tell where someone is on the class ladder by what’s hanging on their walls. Members of the upper classes hang art. Members of the lower classes hang family portraits.

I guess that makes my own house solidly middle class, with it’s carved wooden masks, framed portraits, art prints, paintings, and such? I have about as many masks as I do photographs of people hanging on my walls.

So I want you to tell me what you think about the above statement.

Is this more representative of an upper class or upper middle class lifestyle than, say, this:

Are paintings and sculptures the only acceptable upper class embellishments? Where do artsy photos fit in? What would you say about this:

I included the third example because it is in a way the compromise between the two, with artful photographs mixed in with portraits. Or does the rule only apply when you’re talking about photos taken at Sears or something like that? Personally, I definitely think art is important, but I don’t agree that you can pigeonhole someone just because of what’s hanging on his or her walls. That said, what *is* on your walls, and what do you think your choices say about you?

Sometimes color is where it’s at, and sometimes white is the way to go. I’m a big fan of plain white pitchers, which can go pretty much anyway and with pretty much everything. While a pitcher might be used for lemonade or sangria, more often than not I see white pitchers used for display purposes. Think vases and the like.

Of course, there aren’t always plain white pitchers to be had (for cheap), so it pays to be on the lookout for farmhouse style pitchers that you like in uggo colors and patterns. A few – okay, more than a few – coats of white spray paint, and you have yourself the perfect pitcher for display. Not, however, for food, as spray painted kitchenware and edibles should not mix.

I have to say that I am all at once inspired and mortified by this amazing girls’ room put together by Christina of Full House – inspired because oh em gee she did everything for less than $250 and mortified because I’d started to feel like my daughter’s room was coming together just a little bit and good lord it certainly is not in comparison.

I cry that I was not born with the gene that lets some people do amazing things on a tiny budget. But to all of you I say if you’ve got it, flaunt it! You can see how Christina did it here at Little Green Notebook!