“Hi there Centsational Girl readers, Jennifer here from Style Your Life. As a full time wardrobe stylist, this time of year is all about spring cleaning and refreshing our wardrobes. I did some online shopping with you in mind, and these are the eight pieces I think are must haves for your spring wardrobe!

 

I don’t know about you but I am loving the colorful looks for spring. Bold color trends are still going strong into 2013. My favorite colors are turquoise, pink, and coral – they make my job easier since they are universally flattering, and everyone can wear these three colors.

 

Here are my 8 picks for bringing more color to your closet this season:

 

 

1. A Casual Tee - I love that these stylish yet comfy tees are dressier then a plain old tee shirt!

 

Turquoise pleated sleeve top / Pink lace tee / Yellow zipper back tee

 

2. A Spring Weight Cardigan - With the fluctuating temps of spring, layering is critical! This piece is a wardrobe staple.

 

Coral Beaded Cardigan / Summer Weight  Blue Cashmere Cardigan / Kelly Green Cotton Cardigan

 

 

 

 

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Hey everyone, are you getting excited for the long weekend?  We’ve got plans to make a quick trip to a special location to celebrate the last official weekend of summer, but I can *almost* feel fall in the air!  

I’ve invited Shannon of AKA Design back to share with you a list of five natural elements that make it easy and inexpensive to transition your home for fall.  Welcome back Shannon!

“Hi everybody!  Some say spring is a time for new beginnings and perhaps that’s true.  But to me, fall has always been the season to begin exciting new adventures.  Maybe it’s because I fondly remember school starting each fall, with new classes, friends and teachers (truthfully it was the pristine new binders and perfectly sharpened pencil crayons that got me!).  Or that the cooler weather is so crisp and refreshing after the summer heat. Or maybe it’s that Christmas (and all the joy that comes with it) is right around the corner once autumn arrives.  Who knows.  But, I do know that fall is one of my absolute favourite seasons for decorating!

Decorating in autumn is made fabulous by its sheer simplicity – all you need to do is bring the outdoors in using various elements from nature and you instantly cozy up a space!  Here are a five natural elements that make transitioning to fall easy. 

1.  Pumpkins & Gourds  In the fall, there are so many readily available pumpkins and gourds in various shapes, sizes and colours.  There are real and faux versions, as well as painted, glittered, and blinged out squash varieties. They can be stacked up, lined up or used to create any manner of vignette. 

Pottery Barn

 

My Home Ideas

 

Country Living

 

Better Homes & Gardens

 

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Hi everyone, I have a special guest today!  I love a great DIY project, especially this one that combines power tools, beautiful fabric, and nailhead trim to create a custom X leg bench (or ottoman) for extra seating or staging around the house – X base furniture is a favorite of mine, offering a stylish alternative to straight legs, and the smaller upholstered benches look especially fantastic at the end of beds.  Today, I invited Jennifer of The Chronicles of Home to share her technique on how to make your own X leg bench.

“Hello CG readers, I’m so thrilled to be guest posting for Kate today, on one of my all-time favorite blogs, while she’s on vacation!  And perhaps equally excited to be sharing a tutorial with you on how to make this cute X-leg upholstered bench.

Whether you call them X leg stools, X leg ottomans, or X leg benches, they’re extremely versatile pieces that can be used for extra seating anywhere you need it because they’re so lightweight and moveable.  They can be stored away against a wall or under a table when not in use, grouped around a coffee table, used as a coffee table alone or in a pair, or grouped at the bottom of a bed.  The possibilities are practically endless!

I’ve had my eye on a pair of them for my living room for awhile now but decided I wanted to try my hand at making them myself instead of buying them, both to cut costs and because I love making furniture and seeing how things go together.  My two primary inspiration pieces were these:

I liked the chunky legs on the bench at left and the streamlined, nailhead-studded top of the one on the right.  I tend to be a visual thinker so took an old piece of cardboard and drew a sketch of the finished piece.  I’d recommend doing the same so you have a reference to be sure your angles are cut correctly.

 

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Hello hello all, I’m still in in “Hotlanta” today, but enjoying the faces and people I’ve met here at the Haven Conference, we’re all so happy it’s been a great success so far, and the Haven team really appreciates all the support from our amazing sponsor brands! 

My final visitor in this “Summer Is” series is my good friend Melissa from The Inspired Room.  She’s a fellow west coast gal who I’ve traveled with to several events, and we’ve become good friends over the years.  She writes all about home decorating and design and loves the topic as much as I do, please welcome Melissa!

Hello! My name is Melissa and I’m from The Inspired Room. I’m so honored today that my lovely friend Kate invited me here to share what summer is to me! I do love summer! While Fall has always been considered my most favorite season (I’m a sit-by-a-cozy-fire-kind-of-girl, what can I say?) there is so much to enjoy about summer! While it is hard to narrow down all of my summer favorites, I’m happy to share a few with you today.

When I think of summer, I dream of relaxing on cool evenings in a lovely outdoor space, sipping cold drinks with friends in the warm summer sun, wonderful family vacations at our beach front home and lightening up the decor inside and out with fun summer accessories and vibrant color.  I love to indulge all my senses in every season, so as soon as summer arrives I always fill my home with the most refreshing summer scents!  I’m currently loving the tropical fruit candle called Volcano from Anthropologie.

I’m so glad summer is finally here and I intend to enjoy every minute of it!

Sources: 1. Country Living 2. Martha Stewart 3. The Inspired Room 4. Dash & Albert 5. The Inspired Room 6. The Inspired Room

I want to thank Melissa and my three friends Myra, Chris, and Melissa for taking over the blog during these past two days and sharing their summer favorites.  Don’t forget to enter the ‘Boost Your Roost’ contest for a chance to win a $20,000 home renovation – it’s easy to enter and it could be YOU!

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