Raw Diamonds

I am loving this new trend of fine jewelry made with raw, or unpolished, diamonds. Look at these pieces by Todd Reed. Those earrings? I am dying. Covet, covet, covet. Oh, but don't think "raw" translates to "less expensive!"

Dresses, Dresses, Dresses!

Check out Lulu's website. They have 381 dresses -- all styles from very casual to dressy. The prices of these 3 range from $37 to $62. Hard to beat that!

Eye Candy

Here are some gorgeous rooms from House Beautiful's online photo gallery. Get inspired!

J. Crew Final Sale

Final Sale at J.Crew. Here's some of the stuff I really like (at really good prices right now):

Painted Brick

We recently painted our brick exterior and are really happy with the results. Not only does it help differentiate when all the houses in a neighborhood are natural brick, but I think it gives that aged, classic look. Here are some examples:

All-American Homes

Happy Independence Day!

All images courtesy of House Beautiful

ideeli

One of my new addictions (in addition to keeping up with all the great blogs out there) is my invitation-only shopping sites. Today I want you to know about ideeli, which sells designer clothing and jewelry at MAJOR discounts. This is the stuff you see in InStyle, Lucky, etc. You can have great stuff that not everyone else in your neighborhood will be wearing from the mall. For example, check out this ABS dress: it's $39, reduced from $328. Click on the link above to join, and try it out. It's fun virtual window shopping, if nothing else, but I bet you end up buying something!

MaxStudio

Please put up with a little nepotism today. My sister is the fit model for MaxStudio, so I thought I'd show off a few of their dresses. They're well-priced and easy to wear. Here are 3, one from each price point: the Latest, the Sale, and the Super-Sale. Check 'em out.

New blogs I'm following

May has been busy as usual, sorry about not posting for a couple of weeks! I've added to my blog list on the right: check out all of these beautiful sites. Here's an image from Cote de Texas to get you inspired.

Shoe Love

Loving this from Urban Outfitters. Did you know they're a sister company of Anthropologie? A little edgier and a little less expensive. They'd look pretty with a little floral dress and bare legs.

HGTV Green Home

The HGTV Dream Home is always full of great and dramatic design inspiration. This year it's a "Green Home." Check it out, but don't enter -- it's mine!

Giveaway!

Enter for a chance to win one of these pretty rings at Marvelous Kiddo!

Faux Garage Doors

I've been wishing for new carriage house style garage doors for a while. I think it would really update our house, and our doors do show quite a bit from the street. Since our doors are in fine shape and it'd be a bit of an extravagance to replace them right now, I think I'm going to try faux-painting them to look like these. I'd also like to add the wrought iron hardware to complete the look. I have to wait for a couple of warm sunny days to get started, but I'll post befores and afters. Wish me luck!

Artecnica

You must check out the artecnica sale at ideeli! Go here quickly, these things are gorgeous and the prices fantastic! I want one of the paper lamps....where could I put it?! And the paper stars, as well. If I was decorating a girl's room right now I would be all over these.

British Wit

I love this hilarious satire of the now-famous WWII poster.....

Brighten up your Monday

Send me a note in the comments section if you are interested in buying one of these necklaces, and I'll provide all the details. Treat yourself!

Spray-painted fabric?

I've been known to spray paint most anything (my husband says he's afraid to stand still for very long). But I never thought to try it on fabric! That is, til Eddie Ross posted about it this week. He did silver spray paint on white cotton fabric -- gorgeous. He says it's holding up well (i.e., not rubbing off on anyone's clothes, I guess!). I can't wait to try this!

Chic Monday

I LOVE this look captured by the Sartorialist: I think us regular girls can rock it!

Ballard Designs

I've been a big fan of Ballard Designs for years. They have some great and affordable wallpaper, which is very in and very rich-looking right now. These are two of my favorites; one Asian-inspired and the modern trellis.

You could add one of these great mirrors as an accent. I did the antiqued tall mirrors for a client several years ago and I still love them now.

Lastly, this petite chandelier. Pretty in a bed or bath.