Ador

Guest Post from Houzz!

Hello everyone! My name is Becky and I'm a contributor at Houzz, a home design site focused on helping design professionals and homeowners manage the remodeling and decorating process. Thanks so much to Melissa for having me!

One of my favorite European imports are bistro chairs, and of course the bistro/cafe culture that comes with them. You can bring that feeling of relaxing with a chocolate croissant in Paris or a cappuccino in an Italian hill town home by adding these stylish chairs to your decor. From Thonet's bentwood chairs to Xavier Pauchard's industrial Marias A chairs, there's a cafe chair for everyone. To give them a fresh look, choose colorful chairs or paint them yourself. Here's a look at three styles of bistro chairs in three very different dining rooms.

eclectic dining room design by atlanta interior designer Dayka Robinson

The original iconic bentwood chair was designed by Michael Thonet way back in 1859. Many imitations have followed, and their popularity has never waned. In fact, by 1930, the Thonet company had sold fifty million of them, which is great news for us, as it makes it easy to find vintage versions on the market. This set takes on a sunny new life in bright yellow, adding a punch of color to this eclectic dining room.

eclectic living room design by media and blogs Dreamy Whites

This style of classic French folding bistro chairs date back to the 1880s. Their convenient portability is a big part of their appeal – you can fold them up and tote them out to the patio or garden whenever you need an extra outdoor seat. They also are very easy to store, though I can't imagine not wanting to show them off at all times. Painted in a peeling soft mint, they add to the charm of this Shabby Chic dining room.

Basket Wall in Dining Room modern dining room

modern dining room design by los angeles home staging Madison Modern Home

Finally, the youngest bistro chair I'll show you is the Marais A chair. It was designed by French metalworker Xavier Pauchard back in 1934 and is available in an array of bright colors today. I can heartily endorse them as these are the chairs I have in my own dining room and I love them.

All of the chairs I've shown you look great in a set, but they also mix and match incredibly well in just about any group of chairs and in a wide variety of room styles. Consider bringing some European bistro flavor to your home!

Find more dining room inspiration from Alabama interior designers and more design professionals at Houzz.

nursery tree mural

I have been neglecting my blog big time! Sorry!

So I thought I would share a fun project I worked on last weekend, a tree mural!

I painted this for my sweet cousin Brittany! She is expecting a baby girl soon (tomorrow!) and wanted a tree painted in her nursery to coordinate with the crib bedding.

It was a lot of fun working on this and I love how it turned out!

The letters hanging from the branch pulls everything together perfectly!

Peyton is going to look so cute in her precious nursery!

Guest Post from Design Shuffle!

Hello, all! It's Mari here from Design Shuffle, a social networking site for designers and design enthusiasts. It's a fabulous place to explore interior design. As a writer for Design Shuffle, I get to visit lovely online places like Ador to share some of my favorite rooms.

Today's guest post is about squares and stripes in décor. We love the look of geometric patterns in interior spaces—and they are seen everywhere, on the floor, the walls, the ceiling and in furnishings and decorative accessories. As you pour over the interior design photos on your favorite blogs and websites, notice all the squares and stripes. It will only take and minute because they're immediately visible and you'll have so much fun. How about starting with these eight images we've brought to share with you? Enjoy!

Adding squares and stripes is so easy with carpet tiles like these striped squares from Flor. Beautiful in just about any room, I think they're perfect for spaces with modern style.

Stripes are perfect for living room designs. This contemporary office is surrounded by wide stripes. Painting all four walls in such high-contrast stripes is not for the faint of heart, but it does look lovely in this masculine space.

Squares and Stripes

A doorway draped in black and white stripes leads to this lovely little dining nook with fireplace. Purple planters add perfect pops of color.

Squares and Stripes

Looking for dining room design ideas? Crisp and fresh, this contemporary dining room is all dressed up and ready for dinner. Red and white stripes of varying widths is daring, but oh so beautiful. Add a buffet in glossy deep yellow and the word that comes to mind is jubilant. Not ready to use this many stripes? It would be easy to choose just one or two of these colorful decorating ideas.

Squares and Stripes

More wide stripes show up in this eclectic bath. These yellow and white ones go up the wall and onto the ceiling. I love the star-studded mirror that repeats the yellow and white theme.

Squares and Stripes

How perfect is this big, bold and beautiful plaid taffeta floor-length tablecloth? It's definitely a creative use of squares in décor.

This gigantic gallery fills a wall with color and squares. Choosing identical frames for square artwork makes for big visual impact against a red background

One of the masters of squares and stripes, Jean Paul Gaultier shows how joyful he feels about the lovely contemporary furnishings he designs. Decorative cushions and pillows are perhaps the easiest way to add squares and stripes to your interior designs. Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

Stripes are one of the hottest trends this year! What do you think about them? Need more inspiration? Check out Design Shuffle to find the best designs from top Los Angeles interior designers, New York interior designers and many others!

my valentine

For Valentine's Day I left small gifts for Jake to open every hour while I was at work. They were pretty cheesy, but he had fun with it. The first 9 gifts were fruit or candy with a little tag that said "We're just Mint to be!" or "I go Bananas over you!"

The 10th gift he opened at 5 was the one I was most excited about! The box said "We are Picture perfect!", and inside was a custom made...

View-Master!

I used some of our favorite pictures of the two of us and designed the reel on Image3D!

The website was easy to use and I love how it turned out!

The picture in the middle is so adorable! I saw it on Pinterest a while ago and loved how it looked like Jake and me with our glasses on!

Such a special gift!

I make a card for Jake every year and since my guy is very techy I thought a QR code card would be perfect!

I used the Google QR code generator for the front and inside! No words on this card! He loved it, and had fun using his phone to read the card!

Husband did a good job as well! He sent me roses at work, built shelves in my craft cabinet, and surprised me with red velvet cheesecake from Hamilton's! I love my forever Valentine!