A Warm and Cheery Living Room

Did you know there's a digital issue of Martha Stewart Living available for iPads? I haven't downloaded it since I don't have an iPad (ah..someday!) but I've heard great things about it.

Lucky for those of us without an iPad, some of the features are posted on Martha's website. One such feature is the warm and cheery living room of decorating editor Rebecca Robertson:

There are so many beautiful details to love -like the trim detail on the lamp shades, the white sawn balusters that were adhered to the walls to create a graphic statement, the Ikea glass front cabinets embellished with radiator grill material, and the DIY coffee table trays she made using baking sheets, zigzag fabric, and Plexiglass.

Do you have an iPad? Have you downloaded the magazine? If so, please do tell about the other fabulous features!

A Little Inspiration...

...or shall I say a lot of inspiration?....

Take a look at these beautiful accent walls....

...guess what?!? It's not wallpaper! Read on...

The living room in the first set of photos is from the home of Jesse of Good Girl Gone Glad. Jesse used a stencil she downloaded from Jones Design Company and painted on the pattern using a small craft paint brush and a high gloss paint one shade lighter than the main wall color.

The master bedroom in the second set of photos was designed by Rethink Design Studio. They created an accent wall in lieu of a headboard by designing a graphic template, repeating the design, printing it on a large scale printer, and tracing the outline with a gold metallic Sharpie marker.

The living room in the third set of photos is from the home of Maria of Layers of Meaning. Maria and her husband created the chevron wall using painter's tape and three coats of paint (main color was Sherwin Williams Amazing Gray and accent color was Glidden Smooth Stone).

I think these all turned out SO great! The look of wallpaper without the cost or commitment of wallpaper? Yes please!

Have you tried (or would you try) doing something like this in your own home?

p.s. for more inspiration click here, here, here, here, and here!