today’s first before & after comes from d*s reader kelly. she turned a sad wood paneled wall into a cheerful mural for her baby’s nursery. she hand painted the tree and cut out birds from decorative paper. the final step was using letters from a decal kit to spell out the sweet thoughts. great work, kelly!

*quick note: before & afters may run a little thin over the next month. we’re using a lot of the recent entries for the book. my apologies- i promise it will be worth it when you see everything in print!*

[have a before & after you'd like to submit for the d*s book or website? just shoot me an email right here with your images!]

CLICK HERE for marlaina’s bathroom makeover after the jump!

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the d*s team and i are hard at work pulling together our very first design*sponge book and are looking for a few NEW entries to round things out. we’ve got more homes than we can shake a stick at (thank you!) but we’d love to add some new before & afters to the mix! we’ve chosen our favorites from the archives, but are looking for great new projects to publish. so, if you’ve got a project that will be finished by the last week in october please shoot me an email with your images RIGHT HERE. we’re excited to see before & afters at all levels, from refinishing projects to gut renos. i can’t wait to see all your hard work in print!

*we also have a few spots left for new diy projects, so feel free to email any home-related diy projects as well!

i also wanted to post these cute new ceramic pharmacy bottles from pigeon toe ceramics- the studio choo gals mentioned them in their post for today and i couldn’t resist. click here for more info and to order ($22-$26 each).

the week is nearly over, and today is the second to last day of wedding posting. so if you’ve had enough of wedding talk, hold on- the end is near. in honor of thursday’s we like it wild column, today i’ll be focusing on our wedding flowers. over on the d*s guest blog i’ve posted 15 images of our bouquets, table flowers, boutonnieres, door wreath, chair swag and much, much more. CLICK HERE to check out the full post!

*more d*s wedding posts here: part 1, part 2, part 3*

Seeing as I work in a flower shop (and not just any flower shop, the end all be all of cool girl flower shops, saipua) you’d think I’d be good about keeping flowers in the house. Well, I’m not. When I do bring some home, my cats eat them or I get distracted and don’t change the water like I should. Shameful, yes? That’s when hydrangea drying comes in. Normally I’m a bit suspicious of dried flowers- too dusty, fussy and grandmotherly. But in sweet small vases, these hydrangeas look as good as new for months and will happily keep the little nooks of my apartment stocked in flowers through out the winter months. Perfect for budget minded, semi lazy, feminine flower freaks like myself. -Amy

CLICK HERE for the full post and instructions after the jump!

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moving is never fun the first time, but when you move out and then move back into the same house, what does jen altman do? she makes the most of it and redecorates! last year we got a great sneak peek into her “old place” and today we’re so pleased to be sharing the new, and improved, look at her home. it’s kind of amazing to see a fresh look at the space. click here for additional images of jen’s great space, and if you’re looking for a little extra inspiration to get you through the day, don’t miss jen’s beautiful blog, nectar & light. {thanks again, jen!} -anne

[above: our entry way... i have always been adamant about some sort of station at an entry.  it just makes sense to me to have somewhere to drop or hang anything you need to deposit as you come into the house.  we keep seasonal shoes in a basket under the table {found at Cost Plus some years ago and fitted with a glass knob from Anthropologie} - sunglasses, keys, mail and random Polaroids also find their way here.]

our dining room… we eat here, we draw here, we work here, we school here.  i found the table at an antique store down the street – it was love at first site.  the chairs are replicas of the Navy Chair by Emeco and we have two Starck Ghost Chairs that travel between our kitchen nook and the ends of the table when we need to seat six.  i love the light that bathes this room in the late afternoon.

our bedroom is my happy place {as well as our schnoodle’s – kind ludwig}  the two large pieces hanging over our bed are collages featuring zoomed in, then cropped paraphernalia collected in the six years we lived and traveled overseas.  i wrote about the project on my blog here. i always keep a stack of books next to the bed – i am currently loving science reads – i am in the midst of ‘the canon:  a whirligig tour of the beautiful basics of science’ by natalie angier; ‘longitude’ by dava sobel is up next.

CLICK HERE for the rest of Jen’s sneak peek after the jump!

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molly mcgrath of molly m designs recently launched a collection of lasercut prints that i am really digging. made with paper and bamboo veneer, each design is translated from her jewelry work, which is inspired by geometric and botanical forms. molly’s new prints come in three sizes (4×6, 12×16, and 16×20) and range from $16-$64. i’m loving the smaller pieces- they’d make such lovely cards, too. click here for more information. thanks, molly!

i also wanted to share these simple but lovely hooks from designer kirsty whyte of pure whyte. she recently launched these wooden “limpet wall hooks” at 100% design in september and i’m really loving the unpainted wooden style. i’d love to have a whole series of these in my hallway at different heights. they remind me of rose thorns coming out of the wall. so cool. click here for more info on pure whyte.