Wall Art With Stickers | Contemporary Home Decor

Back when I was a little girl, the most my mom could do to decorate my room was pink wallpaper with ballet slippers on it, paint the walls (pink again, and then sea green when I hit 12) or even paint a mural (which my brother had all over one wall). When I was a teen I plastered my walls with everything from cute poems from cards, to posters of Leo DiCaprio, the BackStreet Boys, Tom Welling and Bob Skinstad…

When I reached varsity, all the black and white perfume magazine pictures came down and the walls were painted bright orange with a stylish 1950s Marilyn Monroe poster on top. But the key thing was that posters, cards and pictures were very ‘temporary’… and messy. I remember countless hardened blocks of prestick on the walls being SUCH a pain.

The great thing is that these days you can embellish any wall in your home with stylish, elegant wall stickers – ensuring creative spaces in just about every room! From silhouettes to word art, flowers to children’s teddy bears, there’s really something for everyone.  Check out My Wall Tattoos, a company that locally produces amazing wall art that can be sent anywhere in the world. I’ve put together some personal favourites – be inspired!

Elegant Kitchen Wall Art | source Vinyl Impression

Wall Stars for Kids | source Ferm Living Shop

Cross Stitch Wall Sticker | source Not on the High Street

Animal Art for Kids Rooms | source Way Fair

Kitchen Utensils Sticker | source Heart & Design

Flower Art Wall Stickers | source Home Designing

Awesome Map of the World Sticker | source Project Decor

It’s a Starry Night | source Ferm Living

Asian Inspired Blossom Trees & Bird Cages | source Impressive Interior Design

Add Pops of Colour to Your Home | Saturday Decor Inspiration

With all the emphasis on bright pops of colour in the fashion world at the moment, I don’t see why it can’t be as easily incorporated at home?! Gone are the days when classy neutrals and various shades of white dominate homes – bring on the colour!

Check out these great examples of adding pops of colour to your home, and it doesn’t all mean you have to paint entire rooms bright yellow, pink or turquoise (although you can if you wanted to!) Accessories, accessories, accessories: from colourful kitchen items, to scatter cushions and colourful lamps, there are plenty ways to add a touch of colour to any room in the house.

Happy Saturday all!

Colour Pops in the Kitchen | source Pinterest

Pretty & Peaceful in the Study | source Mint Design Blog

Gorgeous Garden on the Balcony | source Casadevalentina

MisMatched Colour on the Shelf | source Homes & Antiques

Green & Neutral in the Bathroom | source Better Homes & Gardens

Colour Box Ideas for Your Home | source Pinterest

Lilac Walls in the Office | source Apartment Therapy

Clever Shelving – Ways to Make Your Mess Disappear

It’s amazing what some clever shelving can do to clear away your junk, collectables, books, ornaments and other odds and ends we tend to accumulate! I’m on a mission at the moment at home to organise, store and shelve items that are currently making their home on top of other items, on the floor, under the table and in our laundry area… I‘m imagining the free space already!

Today I bring you some great takes on shelving solutions – from steel kitchen shelves to mounted boxes, old fashioned bathroom hook shelves to honeycomb shelving! Enjoy and I hope this inspires some DIY 🙂

Easy Kitchen Racks | source Pinterest

Wallpapered Shelving | source Design Sponge

Honeycomb Shelving | source Paper ‘n Stitch

Mounted Box Shelves | source Design Sponge

Metallic Kitchen Shelves | source Apartment Therapy

Old Fashioned Bathroom Shelves | source MarthaStewart.com

Wall to Ceiling Block Shelves | source The Pursuit Aesthetic

At the Fireside | Home Inspiration

I love a good fire. Cracking, roaring, glowing…whatever it does (as long as it doesn’t smoke out the house!), it’s a great addition to any home. My parents have the greatest fireplace – it’s big, draws really well and serves as such a good focal point in a room. A few years back they added a black fireplace to our games room – modern, easy to install and great for warming a bigger place – but I must say, I still love an old fashioned fireplace!

My aunt and uncle used to live in the ‘broekie lace’ part of Observatory in Cape Town, where their old, beautiful Victorian house had some great fireplaces – tiny, backed with mosaic and really attractive. I’ve also stayed on a farm in the Eastern Cape called Blanco (really great family memories) where they had HUGE roaring fireplaces – you could literally climb into the space they were so big. Friends of ours also have a great fireplace at their refurbished house in Rosebank – it separates two rooms with space on either side, so that it can warm and be attended to on both sides! love that feature.

Anyway as it appears to be raining and chilly most of the weekend (even though we’re off to Clanwilliam), this post is all about fantastic fireplaces – warming up your Friday!

Split Fireplace | source Houzz.com

Cosy Kitchen Fireplace | source Houzz.com

Fire on the Patio | source tinywhitedaisies.tumblr.com

Fireplace in Monochrome | source kitkadesigntoronto.com

Fireplace in Summer | source Pinterest

Country-Style Fireplace | source Houzz.com

Country Style Kitchens | Home & Decor Inspiration

I’ve always LOVED country kitchens! My favourite bits are the centre islands, hanging brassware, fresh cut flowers, white-washed wooden cupboards and vintage additions like old kettles or tins or plates… I would love to be able to have a kitchen like that someday!

If you’re thinking of country styling your kitchen, remember the following: it doesn’t have to be super neat, a little bit of ‘artfully misplaced’ items add to the overall effect; a vase of fresh flowers always wins; source vintage items from second hand shops to add to your upper most shelves as decor (think china plates, brass tourines etc); make sure there’s an element of wood – whether white washed, natural or crisply painted a white or bright colour.

Check out these awesome inspirational ideas to make your kitchen more ‘country‘:

Natural Stone Walled Kitchen | source Elle Decor

Classic Center Island Kitchen | source Pinterest

Cosy Country Kitchen | source Pinterest

French-Inspired Cream Kitchen | source Country Living

Light & Airy Country Kitchen | source Pinterest

At Home in the Country | source Pinterest

Romantic Country Kitchen | source Herblog.com

In the Kitchen This Year – Some 2012 @Home Design Ideas

Hey all 🙂 Having a chilled weekend as my hubby is off in East London and racing the 70.3 Ironman event tomorrow, but have gotten down to some good clearing, cleaning and tidying, and just made me appreciate a clean and tidy kitchen! Oh boy, sparkling, pretty and new is all I need in a kitchen.

Maybe this year’s decor/design ideas need to go domestic, ie: stop recovering your lounge suite or painting your bedroom walls – maybe it’s adding a few awesome touches to your kitchen to make it become a place you actually LIKE to be, because whether we like it or not, we all spend a fair amount of time there!

And so without further ado, here are my Kitchen Design ideas and DIY tips for 2012:

Update Your Window Space | source here.

Add A Pop of Colour | source here.

Turn Your Kitchen into a Cafe | source here.

Go Glamourous with a Lighting Fixture | source here.

Add a Quirky Touch to a Modern Space | source here.

Add a New Door to Your Pantry | source here.

Bring Out the Wrapping Paper! | source here.

Save Space & Add Removable Shelves | source here.

Yellow & Green DIY Goodness | Something for Home

I’ve been searching for great new ideas on Pinterest and slowly started accumulating a collection of amazing DIY ideas – for some reason, they were all yellow and green! And this is how this little blog post was born…

Since The Good Girls Guide is all about bringing you clever ideas, tips & tricks, I thought that some DIY inspiration before the week kicks off would be a great idea. From magnetic photo frames to inspired Chinese lanterns and a crazy stenciled wooden floor, it’s all things you CAN do yourself (or with a man lending a hand on some of the heavier tasks!)

Hope you all had a great Sunday and all the best for the week…keep these ideas for next weekend!

Magnetic Photo Frames | source here.

Grow Your Herbs on the Wall | source here.

Paper & Buttons Flower | source here.

DIY Rustic Headboard | source here.

Stencilled Wooden Floor | source here.

White-wood Chinese Lanterns | source here.

Material Flowers on Cushions | source here.