Marie Antoinette Inspired Room

I recently received a request from a sweet reader who is in love with Sophia Coppola's movie rendition of Marie Antoinette. I myself enjoy that movie for all of the beautiful set and costume designs and the unique, "pop" twist on the classic and tragic French story. This reader asked if I could write a post about creating a Marie Antoinette inspired space. The answer, of course, was YES! I was thrilled to start working on this. So, knowing that she was in love with the movie, I followed that edgy, elegant, luxurious feel to make the mood board above.

Now, for the breakdown.

furniture
Whether you live in a dorm room or apartment, you must gather some furniture for this look. However, creating a lavish space like this can be quite expensive. So, avoid going to real stores for this stuff and instead hit up every single thrift store, antique mall, flea market, and yard sale that you hear about. You can find fantastic basics at these places that may have some beautiful ornate details. For example, if you find a side table that has a similar shape to the one above, but it is a nasty brown color, buy it! Some paint and a little bit of free time to DIY can transform that table from drab to fabulous enough for Marie, herself! Things like chairs, tables, large mirrors, and chandeliers can all be found and made over. Save your money on these items!

bedding
The bedding shown above is from Urban Outfitters, but it runs pretty expensive. There may be better deals elsewhere, but just keep this style in mind. When trying to replicate bedding for an Antoinette room, stick with really light pastels, layers, and luxurious looking fabrics. Add decorative pillows into the mix like the ones shown above with more vibrant hues of pink, blue, and purple or even gold and yellow.

decor
Of course, sprinkling beautiful decorative pillows to places in the room other than the bed will help a lot. Find some ornate frames, both for tabletop and walls, and fill them with lavish photos of French shoe designs or even the Marie Antoinette Vogue cover. Use pretty cake stands to display jewelry and other small accessories while channeling Marie's love of all things sweet. Buy some gorgeous lighting from Target like the faux chandelier and fancy crystal lamp shown above. Also, this is one of the only times that it is completely acceptable to leave out a few pairs of your prettiest shoes for decor purposes. Run by a fabric store and pick up some shiny, silky fabrics to hang as drapes. You could even buy some ornate patterned fabrics that echo a Frenchy wallpaper to hang on the wall for a focal point. The possibilities are endless!

So, you see, creating a decadent interior like that of Marie Antoinette's isn't as complicated as it may seem! If you need any extra help, watch the video below to see a glimpse of her unique, elegant, yet edgy style in the movie Marie Antoinette.

TOMS Ballet Flats - Spring '12

The title pretty much says it all! TOMS has officially released pictures of their upcoming Spring collection of ballet flats and I am thrilled! I don't own a pair of classic TOMS shoes because they honestly have never spiked my interest. However, ballet flats in general are a shoe after my own heart! You better believe that I am on the email notification waiting list for when these babies go up for sale. You, too, can easily sign up to be on the list. Oh la la. Just saying "the list" sounds so exclusive! I have a feeling that they are going to sell like hotcakes! 

Oh, Hello 2012!

I have a feeling that 2012 is going to be an exceptional year! I certainly have high hopes for it. Much like 2008, when I graduated high school,  2012 is going to be full of change, emotion, and adventure! My final semester of college, graduation, and my possible move to Parsons for Interior Design grad school will definitely be major life steps. It's going to be a big year!

So, what comes along with a big year? A lot of New Year's resolutions, of course! I have quite a few things that I would love to accomplish this year.

lose weight
That's the big one this year! During freshman year of college I managed to gain the always talked about and dreaded "freshman 15". I have done a smashing job at maintaining that extra 15 pounds all throughout college by eating bad foods, pulling lots of all nighters, and not getting enough exercise. Now, I just want to make this clear that I am not condoning any kind of un-safe weight loss or insinuating that everyone should lose weight and be thin. I personally feel the need to get back in shape and support a healthier lifestyle with better eating habits. Not being fit and healthy has made me feel somewhat uncomfortable. So, that's why I want to lose weight. Plus, I want to look like a stylin' fashionista if I move up to New York City!

First Apartment Melting Pot

You have heard me talk about the excitement of moving into and living in your own very first apartment. Well, Alex felt the exact same way about her adorable first studio apartment. Alex describes the apartment as "a big melting pot of industrial-chic, flea market/DIY, a touch of mid-century modern, with a few girly flourishes just for fun, all executed on a teeny-weeny, recent-college-grad budget". She wanted everything in the apartment to represent herself and her own personal style.

Subtracting Calories From Your Starbucks Drink

If you are anything like me, Starbucks is a pretty big staple in your college life. I study there, sometimes get coffee before my morning class or a long night of homework, meet up with friends there, and before I got internet at my apartment, I managed Just Flew The Coop there. I would usually just order a drink off the menu "as is" without changing the type of milk or anything. Well, at the beginning of this month I began a diet new eating lifestyle. I basically count calories. It helps me keep track of what I put in my body so that I make way healthier choices. I love it, but doing this meant I had to cut out a lot of little extras from my diet. Starbucks was about to get cut when I thought "Wait a minute. What if I alter what I order so that I am not just drinking all of my calories?".

When it comes to Starbucks drinks, it's unfortunately really easy to down close to 400 and even 500 calories a beverage. That's more than most of us should be consuming in a meal! I decided to put an end to this amount of calorie consumption per Starbucks trip in my life and I will teach you how to do the same in yours!

Thursday Thoughts: My Pinterest Obsession

By now I am sure most of you have heard of Pinterest. It's one of the latest and most popular online trends. I know I have mentioned it here more than once or twice.

I am constantly on Pinterest just pinning, pinning, and pinning some more. The concept of Pinterest is that you can create virtual bulletin boards for things you find anywhere on the web. You can pin beautiful things, inspirational things, funny things. Basically whatever your heart desires! I am always surfing the net and finding things I love. Before Pinterest (I can hardly imagine such a time anymore) my desktop hated me because I always overloaded it with unorganized images pulled from the web. Now, I just pin it onto one of my super organized Pinterest boards.

School Spirit In Style

These stylish gals are reppin' the Razorbacks and decking their college abode out in true University of Arkansas style. I absolutely love what they have done here because it shows that there is a tasteful way to decorate your room in your school colors! With team colors like red, white, and black it would be hard to not have a chic space. Using bold, graphic patterns they added a lot of modern fun to the small living space. And when I say small, I mean small! The room is only 9x9 ft! These girls could teach everyone a thing or to about filling a small space with big style!