Ikat Invasion

Not all interior and fashion trends in the States make their way to Turkey. The color 'grey' for home interiors, and Pantone's color of the year 'honeysuckle' for example have remained on the other side of the pond, for now anyway. Hence I was really surprised to see a lot of ikat prints appearing in shelves of home and fashion stores around here. Bathing suits, tea cups, trays, rugs, you name it, its got ikat all over it.

I think more than any other print this season the ikat stands out the most to me because I studied the technique in a Textiles class. I won't bore you with the details (well, that and I cant remember the exact process), but naturally when I walk into a store the print is the first thing that catches my attention. Anyway, here are pictures of some ikat items that I've come across in my window shopping expeditions, starting with a bikini below...

A catalogue picture of the bikini

DIY: Tree Mural

UPDATE: This tree mural is finally complete!!! If you want to see a more recent blog about this please click here.

I wanted to share with you a sneak peak of a project I've been working on for Noah's room.

For the longest time I didn't know what direction to go in his nursery. It wasn't until recently when we finally found a decent rug for his room that I felt like I had a good starting point. The rug (pic below) is neutral and has a playful texture similar to tree bark.

(Belated) Happy Mother's Day!

"God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers."

Although a day late, I still want to wish all my mommy and mommy-to-be friends, family and readers a Happy Mother's Day! Hope you were spoiled on your special day.

We spent a good half of the day lounging around in our pyjamas. My little man and I watched a bit of TV.

For Mother's Day my two boys surprised me with a beautiful necklace + snowflake pendant!

In the afternoon we went to visit hubby's family. Noah got all dressed up for grandma. He had a hilarious moment where he was having an intense discussion with their cat, hands flailing and all.

What has being a mom taught me? It taught me what unconditional love is all about it. It also taught me the value of time and to appreciate and cherish every moment of it. It's not until I had Noah and witnessed someone grow so quickly that I truly understood the concept of fleeting time and to make every moment worthwhile. 

DIY Project: Napkins to Throw pillows

I'm so happy to blog about a DIY project I recently completed. The other day I was looking around Zara Home and came across these table napkins with a unique ethnic print. As soon as I saw the pattern I knew they would make the perfect throw pillows to update our tired sofa. Table napkins to throw pillows you ask?

I recalled a blog from Centsational Girl (check out her blog for some seriously creative DIY projects) where she sewed napkins to pillows. I followed her simple instructions and was done in no time. Minimal effort, optimal results, and a really affordable project. The total dent to my wallet was $6 per pillow. No damage done there!

 

Love the subdued colors and eye-catching print.

 

Overnight transformation from above picture to this...

 



Voila!

 What do you guys think? I'm so thrilled with the results I keep looking over at them as I'm doing chores around the house. My husband's compliment was "Are you going to start selling them?" :). Do you think you'll try this?

Oh and side note, I blogged about these curtain tie backs a few months ago and in the last picture you can (sort of) see them installed in case you were curious what I ended up doing with them.