Design Inspiration: Trip to Guatemala

"Certainly, travel is more than seeing the sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living."
-Miriam Beard

There is so much to be learned from travel, no amount of schooling can teach you what you learn the first time you step onto a bus alone and venture into another country. Fending for yourself, learning a new language and meeting amazing people along the way. I believe in traveling every step of the trip taken without removing a foot from the ground(aka NO FLYING IF POSSIBLE! You miss SO much!) There is nothing quite like it. I myself travel to soak up as much design inspiration as possible. It is by far the greatest investment of a designers time. Period.

About three month's ago I traveled down to Guatemala by route of bus. Four hard days and I was out of Mexico(my second trip through the country so I didn't stop too much) and onto a small river boat going down the Rio Usmacinta(the river that runs the natural border of Mexico and Guatemala.) I managed to get over the border with a few bucks left in my pocket and I was in Guatemala! It was quite a trip and I got ton's of great ideas as well as nearly having my bus hijacked, food poisioning and parasites(that struck much later...) But let me tell you, ITS ALL WORTH IT FOR THE IDEAS AND INSPIRATION! LIVE, TRAVEL,DESIGN.

Dark Decor

I feel like the edge of black can make or break a room. For this arrangement I threw together some paper roses, a few assorted religious pieces, a tassle that broke off of my ceiling fan and some pyracantha(which ended up being dried pyracantha since this has been sitting for awhile!) to get a dark romantic look going on. 

Now I dismantel one of my favorite winter floral arrangements and move into a lighter spring look. I have six varieties of sunflowers growing in the garden as well as Zinnia, Purple cone flower and a cosmos. I'm so excited to make some fresh arrangements when the blooms start! Just thought I would post this up before I say goodbye and move onto this seasons look!

Everybody's working for the weekend

Things have been hectic this spring break, I worked nearly everyday! Tomorrow is my first day off and I am so excited to catch some sleep, wake up and have breakfast in the sunroom, take the dog to the vet(and on some extended walks) and simply relax for a few hours. Today after work I made a cheap floral arrangement with a few Texas native plants

The Anaqua's are blooming all over the old part of the city(where I live) The tree's have these amazing cluster's of white star shaped flowers and are breathtaking every time I look out the window! It's amazing how you don't notice something so beautiful until a certain point in your life. 

I cut some of those and paired them with some Blue Bonnets the Texas wildflower(ILLEGAL to cut, except I grew them so HAH!) in a low sphere shaped vase to give off a bonsai effect.

The Anaqua blossom's were free and the Bluebonnet's cost $2.49 for a six pack back when I planted them in winter. The vase was thrifted and the seashell's inside it were picked up on the beach. Beauty is as expensive as you make it, native plant's are unique to the area and make fantastic floral arrangements. So get out there,find something that makes you happy when you look at it and then incorporate its elements into your life. Happiness is contagious.

Patio preview and "Casual Elegance"

I have been busy at work on my patio seating area/pergola in the garden! Lots of digging, leveling and bricklaying going on but it's going to be amazing! I am going with Casual Elegance...actually that's the nicer way to say CHEAP as possible! The bricks are all salvaged from an old 1930's building. I love the three crosses and when used in mass(no pun intended) they have an almost Spanish quality to them. Imagine this patio with a jasmine covered pergola above it. A table looking over the whole garden, a few friends and some good eats. More to come soon!

Simple style fix: Cachepots

I love cachepots. Easy, simple fix to hide that plastic planter you have your plant potted in. That's right, DON'T ever repot your plant in some heavy pot again, just slip the plastic pot in there and stuff a little spanish moss around the top. Simple, stylish and low maintenance. The best part is you can make these out of nearly anything! Use your imagination! 

Mine is made out of an old doctor's bag I picked up at a garage sale for a buck. Mary Poppin's anyone?

SAND STEALER!!!

The charge for stealing sand off of the city beach here in Corpus Christi is 25 to life. Not really, but it could be illegal. Who knows. I spent the day shoveling bags and bags of sand and hauling them up the seawall to my car(HEAVY!). Why? All for the base of the patio/pergola/dining area that I'm building out in the garden. My little mantra while I was shoveling sand goes something like this "You want to be a designer, you want to be a designer, you want to be a designer..." Needless to say, I got it done after two trips, a guy yelling "SAND STEALER!!!" at me and various ackward looks from evening joggers. Tomorrow I start setting the bricks for my brand new patio!

In other news, I have a new and wonderful addition to my life. Mickey!(Pictured here with subzero eyes...) I adopted this little guy a few days ago and I couldn't be happier. He's a three year old Lhasa Apso(mix I think, but the humane society said he was pure. I don't care!) It's great to come home to some life and not just a quite apartment. I love him already.