The Big Beauty Room Reveal Is Finally Here!

 It all started back in January with a post titled "My Normal, Boring Daily Life".  Now, four months later, it is finally totally and completely FINISHED!  Yes, the time has finally arrived.  My new "Beauty Room" is complete.  The last decorative item has been placed.  No more painting, sewing, or hunting for decorative pieces.  It is finished!

Now my regular blog readers know exactly what I'm talking about, but any new readers that have stumbled across this post may be slightly perplexed so I will first do a quick summary.

My son moved out of the house last August.  His bedroom had not been touched since he was a little boy and it really showed signs of wear and tear.  It needed to be redecorated for aesthetic reasons, but we weren't quite sure what to do with it.  Since it's a very tiny room, at first I was just going to make it a walk-in closet.  But my children wanted to keep a bed in the room for visiting and my husband thought removing a bedroom would lower the resale value of the house.  So then I decided to make it a walk-in closet/bedroom.  That did not work out because the bed took up so much space, there wasn't much room left for shelves and clothing rods:  one side of the room is a large window, another side a closet, leaving only a small wall for shelves.  And that's when I discovered THE BEAUTY ROOM concept.  Believe it or not, prior to this redecoration project, I had no idea such rooms even existed.  But it was the perfect solution to my small, unused room in my house.  I could still use the room as a guest room, but I had an extra closet for all my clothes, and a pretty place in the house just for me!

Now with the exception of the bed, all these pictures will be 'AFTER' pictures.  If you want to see 'Before' or 'How-To' posts, here is the list of links to everything I have been posting since January.

The Beginning:  Tearing the Room Apart
Getting Somewhere:  The Drapes and Flooring
Making Progress:  Bed Construction and New Furniture
Personalized Art Work For The Room
How to Make a Customized Floral Arrangement
A Custom Made End Table
Handmade Pillow Case and Duvet Cover
How to Make a Pillow Sham
How to Make a Bed Skirt
How to Make a Bow Pillow

And now, without further ado, lets begin the tour of my new beauty room!

This is the only wall space available in the room.  We decided to put a cozy chair in the corner with a end table.  I selected inspirational wall art that had something to do with beauty to coordinate with the theme of the room.  Plus it's great motivation when getting dressed for the day!

The space above the moulding was long and narrow and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to hang some of my hats.

 I found these pretty silver hooks at a home improvement store and had my handy-dandy husband make some wood blocks to adhere them to.

 We picked up this pretty ornate silver and crystal wall organizer/hanger at Kirklands.  We thought the design went perfectly with the room and that it would be great to display some of my favorite necklaces.

This is the view of the room when your standing in the doorway and looking to your right.

 I've been hinting about my new amazing day bed for months, and I'm so excited to finally reveal it!  Wa-la!  Here it is!  Isn't it gorgeous?

 The bed was a design that my husband and I worked on together.  I first looked on Pinterest for ideas, and then we talked and came up with the design that incorporated their ideas, but fit the awkward space in our room.

The room has angled ceilings, so after building a wooden base to fit from wall to wall, my husband then built the shelves to fit the angled part of the ceiling.  The shelves were built not just for decorative reasons, but also because the the space was a little longer than the mattress and it needed to be filled in.  After the shelves were constructed, he then built a frame or faux wall, around the bed. I then painted everything with a high gloss white paint.

All the bedding was custom made by myself.  We hung sparkly, sheer curtains inside the frame that can be open and closed for a more romantic feel.  We found the wrought iron piece at Kirklands, but it was originally black.  We spray painted it white to match the room better.

Under the bed there is room for 10 under-the-bed storage containers.  I put items in here I don't wear often or have way too much of...like tee shirts!

Every tote is well-organized and labeled so I can find items easily.  I also roll my items to keep wrinkles at bay and also so I can fit as much as possible inside every tote.

I know I said the room was finished, and it is, but I'm still looking for more little treasures to put on my shelves.  I don't want to just buy anything to fill the space.  I want it to have personal meaning to me as well as functionality.

Many of my readers know I just returned home from a trip to Las Vegas where we stayed at the Flamingo Hotel.  Well in a gift shop inside the hotel they sold these beautiful hand-blown glass flamingoes.  I thought it was the perfect souvenir, for it would not only look great in my new beauty room, but it would remind me of my trip...plus, I really do love flamingoes!

The book is just a notebook, but I loved the gold embossed title...it's so me!  And again, the pink and black colors with the picture of the Eiffel tower made it the perfect accent piece for the room.

What's a beauty room without beautiful flowers?  I made this arrangement myself and you can see how by clicking on the link above "How to Make a Customized Floral Arrangement".

On the bottom shelf I placed a gorgeous shell shaped pink bowl I found at HomeGoods along with a vintage purse and pink women's bible I already owned.  I found the gold 'A' at T.J. Maxx.

 When the shelves were put in and the bed was complete we felt something was missing for the wall space above the bed.  We then began our search for the piece that would complete our bed nook and tie everything together.  This wrought iron piece from Kirklands did just that!

As I stated earlier, it was black so we spray painted it white.  It could have worked if we left it black because there are some black accents in the room, but I just thought it looked better white.  Always remember when shopping for items for your home, if you find something that you think would look great for your space, but it's not quite perfect, you may be able to alter it to fit your space better.

Here is the opposite set of shelves.

I found these pretty jeweled boxes at Ross. I store my headbands inside of them.

The middle shelf holds an empty Sephora Bag.  I thought it went perfectly with the theme of the room, and it costs me nothing (well, other than the $50 worth of make up I bought inside!).

I also have one of my personalized art work pieces on this shelf, along with a pretty silver bowl from T.J. Maxx to hold more headbands.

This "Dream" metal piece I found at Michaels.  I thought it was the perfect sentiment to put near a bed.  I then completed the vignette with a fashion book and a candle.

The bottom shelf I'm still working on finding items to place there.  In the meantime, I just filled it with some Vegas souvenirs.

 This is a close up of the sheers that hang by the bed.  They have pretty silver sparkly threads woven through them.

And here is a picture of how we hung the sheers.  A silver curtain rod was placed behind the cornice.

 And for those of you who want to see and know more, we also made an 11+ minute video.  The beginning of the video is a bit dark because the light from the window hits the camera, but when I move away from the window, you will be able to see everything more clearly.  I also show the INSIDE of my closet in this video and explain how I organize all my clothes and cosmetics.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Sheer Floral Top and Linen Shorts

It sure has been a hot summer so far in Wisconsin.  Kind of scary considering it's only June.  We are not use to hot temperatures like this in the north.  We've had several days in the nineties already, and more to come this weekend.  Which brings me to my topic:  what do I like to wear when it's broiling hot outside?

My favorite items to wear when the temperature rises are linen shorts, thin camisoles, and a sheer top to wear over the camisole with sandals or flip flops on my feet (or better yet, bare foot).

Everything I'm wearing in today's post is old except for the floral top.  I picked it up on my last vacation in Florida for only $6.99.  I love sheer tops because they provide coverage, yet keep me cool and comfortable as well.

The linen shorts are from J.C. Penney and were last seen in THIS POST.

 I accessorized with yellow jewelry because there was a hint of yellow in the top.  I carried a nude cross body bag.

Linen is the perfect fabric to wear during the summer.  Here are some interesting facts I found out about the benefits of wearing linen clothes in summer:

The weave of  linen fabric lets more airflow through the fabric and allows the body to breathe.

Linen is capable of absorbing moisture and quickly yielding it again.  Meaning, it will absorb your sweat and never field wet as water evaporates off linen quickly.

Linen is a good conductor of heat for it quickly allows heat to escape through the fabric.

So there you have it...the perfect fabric to wear during the summer:  LINEN!  And a combination elastic/drawstring waist doesn't hurt either!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

The Flamingo Hotel and The Vegas Strip

This is a continuation of a travel series of a road trip I took to Vegas with my husband in late May.  To start the series from the beginning, read THIS POST.  The rest of the posts are HERE, and HERE,  in chronological order.

The evening of our third day of vacation we arrived in Las Vegas.  We arrived around supper time so we decided to check into our hotel, get a quick bite to eat, and then walk the Vegas strip to see the lights.

When deciding on a hotel for Vegas I talked to a lot of friends who had been there and I read a lot of reviews on Hotel.com.  No one seemed to agree on any hotel, it didn't matter if it was a two star or a five star hotel, someone had a problem.  I finally made my decision based on three factors:

1) Did they offer free parking?  

That was extremely important as I had a car that would have to be parked for three whole days and I did not want a huge additional cost.

2)Location, location, location

My husband and I wanted to be right on the strip so we could walk to everything.  We had already lived in our car for three whole days to get there, we did not want to fight Vegas traffic once we there.

3) Good Value for The Price

I like five star hotels as much as the next person, but spending $300 to $400 a night just to lay my head on a pillow for a few hours isn't my cup of tea.  When my husband and I travel, we are out having fun and we don't spend that much time in our room, so why spend a fortune on it?

After looking at every hotel on the strip, we chose The Flamingo!  Now, the Flamingo has a bad reputation and a lot of terrible reviews on Hotels.com, but  I chose it anyway because I loved the price (I got the room for an average of only $45.00 a night plus the resort fee), free parking, location (it's not only ON the strip but right in the MIDDLE of the strip....making everything nearby a close walk), and it's vintage appeal.  The Flamingo is the oldest hotel on the strip.  They have a saying "We didn't build on the strip, the strip built around us!".  I love history, and I especially love the glamorous art deco period, so I thought this was the perfect hotel for me.  And I was right!  We loved our stay!

We chose a "High Roller Room", which has an amazing view of the High Roller Ride and the mountains.  These rooms have also been redecorated in the past couple of years, making them the nicest rooms in the hotel.  From what I could understand from other reviews on Trip Advisor is that  there are two parts to this hotel.  One part is newly renovated and upgraded, and the other is not.  All the bad reviews seemed to come from people who did not stay in a renovated room.  So if your booking a hotel with the Flamingo...choose a High Roller room!  It's only $11.00 more and you will enjoy your stay so much more.

This was one of the nicest hotel rooms I've ever stayed in.  We loved the art deco design...just look at that headboard!  And the pink walls to coordinate with the pink Flamingo concept is so fun!  It is a very glamorous room with a walk-shower, frosted glass sliding doors on both the bathroom and closet, a lighted closet, plasma t.v., CD player with stereo sound, safe, coffee maker and refrigerator.

The bathroom mirror even had a t.v. screen built in! I had never seen that before, but I loved it.

The maid service and staff were all excellent.  Our check-in clerk was extremely helpful and welcoming.  I heard a lot of horror stories about checking in and rooms getting broken into, but we didn't experience any of it.  Yes, there's a lot more people checking in at this hotel and you do have to wait a bit in comparison to a travel stop hotel on a highway....but that's Vegas!  There's just that many more people.  These hotels hold a few thousand people, not just a few hundred.

After we checked into our room, we needed to get some dinner.  I said in my last travel post that my husband almost fell over exhaustion and lack of food, so getting dinner a.s.a.p was a top priority.  Luckily there was a great pizza place right in the hotel where you get a huge slice of pizza for $7.00 so that's what we did.  We didn't think my husband could handle walking around looking for the perfect place to eat and then waiting for food, so the 'fast food' option seemed the best at the time.  And even though it was fast, it was good!  We enjoyed every bite!

After dinner, my husband felt more like his old self, so we started to explore.  First up, the Flamingo gardens.  We could see the gardens from our hotel room and they looked absolutely breath-taking!  They are lovely paths filled with flowers and animals...parrots, turtles, ducks, and of course FLAMINGOES!!!!!

Of course we had to stop and take my picture in front of the Flamingo fountain!

This waterfall/pond area went in a complete circle around the grounds, you can even see the waterfalls from inside the hotel lobby.  There are beautiful koi and all sorts of ducks and turtles in the water too!

After we were done exploring the gardens, we went out to the strip.  The first thing that blew my mind were the outdoor escalators.  Being from the midwest, I've never seen anything like that before. Even my husband was stunned.  "Doesn't it ever rain here?" he asked.  "How can they have escalators outside?"

Many of the intersections are closed to foot traffic and they redirect the pedestrians up an escalator, across a bridge, and down another escalator just to get to the other side of the street.  Now you know why I had such a hard time with my high heeled shoes that I wore to a Celine Dion concert (see THIS POST):  because even though a place may seem close by, it's actually quite the walk and adventure to get there.

For a desert, they have a lot of water features in Vegas.  And each and every one of them is absolutely breath-taking.  Just don't expect to find any drinking fountains in Vegas.  There are none.  I'm serious.  None.  Zero.  Nada.  I was absolutely dying of thirst when I was in Vegas and I couldn't find a public drinking fountain anywhere.  I looked in every hotel lobby, by every restroom, in every establishment, nothing!  Again, as a midwesterner, I found this shocking.  Don't they have laws in this state requiring public drinking fountains?  Apparently not.  I was so thirsty, but all the drinks I saw for sale were too expensive I couldn't stomach paying that.  They wanted $7.00 for a water bottle or a fountain drink.  Are you kidding me?  Not in this life time.  I finally went to the bathroom, cupped my hands, and drank out of the sink.  I know that sounds gross, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.  I felt so dehydrated.  Eventually I found locals selling water bottles, soda, and beer out of a cooler on rollers for $1.00 each.  I bought a water bottle off of them.  Apparently in Vegas, if they keep moving and don't set up a stand on the strip, they can get away with it.

Before we left for Vegas everyone told us to be sure to visit the Bellagio Hotel and check out their gardens and water show.  I will save the pictures of the Bellagio Gardens for a Sunday Garden Post, but here are a few pictures of the inside of this fabulous hotel.

I loved these colorful umbrellas handing from the ceiling.

All the hotels have exquisite and expensive stores inside of them.  We didn't go inside any of the stores for they were all out of my price range, but we enjoyed window shopping.  The Bellagio has beautiful, ornate glass ceilings that let in gorgeous natural light.

Like I said, a little out of my price range.  A Gucci/Prada girl I am not.  But it was fun to window shop.

Perhaps that was the most amazing thing about Vegas that I didn't know:  the mix of social classes.  In Vegas you will see the wealthy people dressed to the nines and driving expensive cars, but then you will also see middle and lower class people, and even extreme poverty (there are lots of homeless people in Vegas).   Generally, the nicer the hotel the more wealthy people you will see, but if there's an attraction at the hotel the general public is interested in, you will see all sorts of people from many different social classes there.

The later it becomes the more rowdy and crowded the streets became.  I must admit, I really didn't like Vegas after dark.  The streets get so crowded you are literally walking shoulder to shoulder with other people.  I did enjoy looking at all the pretty lights, however, I still prefer New York's Time Square lights over Vegas lights.

We left our DSLR back in our room because we were afraid of looking too touristy and didn't want to become a target.  Stupid decision, because everyone in Vegas is a tourist and everyone is snapping pictures.  So these pictures were all taken either with an IPhone or little pocket camera, thus, not the best quality.  The next morning, when we walked the other half of the strip, we took the DSLR with us and had much nicer pictures!

We walked into so many different hotel lobbies that I can hardly keep them all straight in my mind.  I have no idea which hotel this was, but we thought all these light strands were simply magical!

Seeing all the famous Vegas hotels in person was a lot of fun.  I've seen so many pictures of the New York, New York hotel, the Venetian, and others it was a blast to walk down the street, identify them and scream "Oh look, the Mirage!"  or "The Tropicana!".   It was really exciting to finally see in real life what I have only seen pictures of before.

The Excalibur Hotel looked gorgeous lit up at night.

Here is another night view of the New York, New York hotel.  I just love the Empire State Building topper and the roller coaster.  No, we did not go on that ride!

Hard Rock Cafe's are always fun places to eat, and this Vegas one was no exception!  Love that giant, illuminated guitar.

The Bellagio Water show was spectacular...as expected.  It's hard to get a good view though, as people line up early against the railing and wait for each show to begin.  We saw it twice while we were in Vegas, and both times we ended up at an end instead of right in the middle where I wanted to be.  But it was still pretty and fun to watch.

The Flamingo Hotel is located smack in the middle of the strip.  It took us all night, about four or five hours, just to walk from our hotel to the south end of the strip and back.  When we left, it was light outside, and when we returned it was dark so  now we got to see our own hotel lit up...it was so pretty!

We were both exhausted after a long travel day and then walking on the strip, so we called it a night with intentions of seeing the north side of the strip in the morning.

And it's a good thing we are early risers, because we had amazing sunrises to wake up to each morning with views like this!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE and Travel Tuesday!

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