Chic Shelf 2

Y'all, last week, major dreamzzz were fulfilled when I scored a lucite shelf to display my Dansk cast iron candleholder hoard on:

Now, this fabulousness needs to be hung, and hung well-- if y'all know what I'm talkin' about! OH SHIOT! Seriously, the candleholders are cast iron, so safety must be accomplished here, but I'm certainly not sacrificing chic-ery in the process either. I'm not THAT giving! I want the shelf to appear as if it's floating on the wall, like this:

I've seen those brackets for glass shelves-- surely there's something out there for an 8' long shelf? I mean, 8' is pretty standard in terms of shelf length, right? Here goes PJ down the diy rabbit hole...see folks, this shiot happens to me ALL THE TIME. Cool idea, then trying to find the pieces and parts to make said cool idea a reality-- isn't always cool. In fact hardly EVER. Many, many a day/week/month is spent searching all over for the right piece to make an idea work. And more oft than not, I have to end up making what I need. Guess that's how I got my DIY groove on in the first place. Custom IS next to Godliness. But for this, I really didn't sink too much time into finding a potential bracket, b/c we were already trolling Big Reuse when we found the shelf, it didn't take too long to uncover this baby, which, naturally, someone had put in a corner...the SHADE:

This is a chrome, glass door metal bracket of sorts (think it was originally intended for a shower door?)...it's almost as long as the shelf and has pre-existing mounting holes. It's almost a perfect fit on one side of the shelf. And it's only $8. This place is SERVING ME SERIOUS VALUE, y'all!

There's gonna need to be some hardcore safety mounting to my wall for this scenario-- but honestly, y'all, ALL mounting should be safe -- YES! I'll also have to secure the lucite shelf from below (note the pre-existing holes on underside of bracket) for even more OCD safety. In theory, this SHOULD work. I think. Dylan, cast here as 'hunky engineer', seems more confident about this method, but kindly reminds me that the SAFEST solution would be to use L brackets...how thoughtful. 'Cause y'all know looking at a narsty bracket holding up all my cast iron sculpture is the very definition of artful display. But what if my L brackets were pretty AND functional? Enter lucite L bracket from stage right, betch:

Are you kidding me with THIS? GORG! The problem here is these brackets are custom and run $15 EACH. I need at least 4. Kinda spendy for me, since the shelf was only $5. Then I started thinking about alternate L brackets made from metal that I wouldn't mind looking at and immediately I thought of brass! Holla! If y'all aren't aware, brass is baaaaaack! Way back. And the combo of brass and lucite is giving me a raging case of style chills. Taking to the interwebs like a brass bat outta hell, here's what I dug up:

Simple, straightforward and available in a few sassy finishes from Signature Hardware, but the polished brass shiot cost $32.95 EACH. How rude.

These antiqued brass babies from Liz's Antique Hardware are also kinda hawt:

But at $95 EACH they got real ugly, real quick. Damn! Why has brass gotta break a betch?! These kids from House of Antique Hardware are cute, and at $11.95/each, they're not cra cra, but I'm not convinced I could write home about them:

Then, I started searching for generic, simple brackets that I could potentially spray paint gold. Rabbit hole, right? SEE!!! Though, gotta say that the spray on metallics don't always melt in my mouth. But then shut the F&$K y'all, look what I found on Ebay! WHAT?!?!?!?:

2-set of vintage Baldwin brass shelf bracket babies for $10 value dollas!!! Betch got me 2 sets (total 4 brackets) for $20 + shipping!!!! Now, that's some good and tasty, DIY y'all...Yum!

I mean. #brassobsessed. Needless to say, I'm MORE THAN happy about these brackets and how amazing they're going to look paired with my lucite shelf! Be sure to check back for the big brass betch REVEAL soon!

A blouse becomes a room!

Y'all I was style-slapped full on when I spotted this fab blouse/coat at an upstate vintage boutique several months ago:

The colors, the pattern, the quilting...I mean...shut the F%&K YOU?!:

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I've been known to SLAY THEM with all kinds of blouse realness in my day, but rather than rock this betch as intended, I got revved up thinking on how amazing she'd look as a room! So behold, y'all...using this blouse as my jumping off point, here's what I came up with:

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Apologies for my lame photoshop skillzzz...but, y'all get what kinds of living room dreamzzz are being fulfilled here, right? Are you just DYING?

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Lurv! The fuschia sofa is just serving LIFE. Then the mix of leather and rattan side chairs provide great texture, but also help dial down some of that sofa LIFE. 'Cause believe it or not y'all, I DID try and imagine that a man might live in this room (see green leather chair), along with his scrumptiously chic, wife-about-town. Oh and they're unlimited budget. To this end, I also thought the moroccan inspired rug really helped to ground all the glamour that's oozing all over the place b/c of it's neutral color and texture. And I just lurv how the trellis pattern plays off the quilted pattern in the blouse. Same with the tufted seat cushion of the LIFE sofa. The coffee table, light fixture, console, mirror, floor lamp (yes, that giant gold leaf thing is a floor lamp and sad panda alert: sold out on eBay), bench (also sold out on Huntersalley, pillows (1, 2, 3, 4 & 5)...even the artwork (1, 2, 3) are just slaying me. Oh and I can't forget that sheepskin slung in that rattan chair and that sweet side table-- both IKEA-- I KNOW, right?!

Y'all, this room is BEYOND HAWT! Of course, I could've kept going for days, adding more and more 'licious...but, I think it's an awesome mix of high/low, chic/silly and totally nails the concept of blouse as room. What do y'all think?