a Rafflecopter giveaway

Win the CB2 and Novogratz Brazil Getaway

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of CB2. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you heard that CB2 has teamed up with husband and wife design duo Robert and Cortney Novogratz to form a collection of items that was inspired by the Novogratz's vacation home in Brazil?  The CB2 and Novogratz Collection debuts May 2^nd. The collection is full of bright and vibrant pieces with some warm wood tones mixed in.
Do you want to see some of my favorite pieces?  Of course you do!
The Dupla Credenza is a perfect blend of clean lines and bright  colors. And don't even get me started on that Soneca Pendant Lamp.  Drooling.  Want it.  Need it.

An outdoor swing is totally on my summer wish list. I have the perfect spot for it under our deck!

I'm also a board game nerd who is a sucker for stylish looking board games.  The boa sorte backgammon board makes me want to learn backgammon stat.

Now the most exciting part, enter to win the CB2 and Novogratz Brasil Sweepstakes.
-You and 3 of your friends could win a one week stay at the vacation home of CB2 collaborators Robert and Cortney Novogratz in beautiful Trancoso, Brazil.
-10 other lucky winners will receive a CB2 gift card worth $100 along with a personally signed copy of the book “Home by Novogratz”
-Enter via cb2.com/sweeps . Sweepstakes will run from May 2^nd through June 3^rd.
Follow CB2 on their social media channels for updates on the sweepstakes!
-Twitter: CB2Tweets
-Pinterest: CB2
-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cb2
The only catch is that you have to take me with you if you win.  I kid.  I kid.  Sort of.  I promise to learn backgammon by then.
What your favorite piece in the collection?  Are you a big CB2 or Novogratz fan?  What's your favorite board game?

Easy Lily Display

This post brought to you by iBulb. All opinions are 100% mine.

I’m beginning to think that Spring may never arrive in Iowa. It was here for a today and then it was gone again.

I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands. I think the easiest way to cheer up a room is to add fresh flowers. I made a trip to a local grocery store and picked up some lilies.



Lilies are such a charming flower. There are many varieties to choose from.  Lilies are easy to find at your local grocery store, garden center or flower shop.

I whipped up this cute little arrangement that I think would make a great gift for Mother’s Day, bridal showers, birthdays, yourself etc. I’m always on the lookout for inexpensive yet meaningful gifts. Lilies for the win!

To make this arrangement, I picked up a planter box and some paint markers.



I picked out a word that I thought would look great on the window box. You could use a monograph, name, special phrase, special date, etc.



I placed the print on top of a piece of carbon paper and traced the word onto the window box.



I then used a paint pen to trace and fill in the letters.



I was pleasantly surprised with the paint pens. They were super easy to use. If you can trace, you can use a paint pen. I do recommend practicing on a piece of scrap wood to get used to the amount of pressure needed. You don’t want to push too hard or the paint will run.



I placed a potted Peace Lily in the center. I then placed cut Stargazer Lilies into a Mason jar on each side. Easy peasy.


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There you have it. An easy, inexpensive gift for someone special. Like yourself.

If you were looking for more lily and bulb inspiration ideas, be sure to check out this Pinterest page.

Are you a lily fan? Any other great flower gift ideas? What’s your favorite flower?

My Colortopia's Show Your Colors

Today I’m excited to share with you all a new section over at My Colortopia called Show Your Colors. 

As a refresher, My Colortopia is a site that provides inspiration, tools, and advice (from the Colortopia team) to help you build confidence throughout the painting process (selecting colors, buying the paint, getting it on the walls).

Show Your Colors features before & after photos submitted by MyColortopia readers. Who doesn’t like sharing? This over sharer is all about another spot on the interweb to show off our fun makeovers!

The site is really easy to use.  Just set up an account, enter some basic info, and upload your photos.

Easy, peasy. 

I shared our powder room.  The boring sage just wasn’t doing it for me.  I love the color in our kitchen but it just didn’t seem right in our bathroom.  I decided that black and white was the way to go.

I also shared our guest bedroom.  Again, I wasn’t loving the color.  I actually don’t mind it in our main living area but it wasn’t working in this small room.  Grey paint and some new bedding gave some life to an otherwise bleh room.

The widget below will give you an idea of how the site works. There are a lot of awesome room makeovers.  Maybe one will even inspire you to bust out that paintbrush!

Be sure to visit My Colortopia's Show Your Colors and upload your room makeovers!

Have you completed any room makeovers lately?  Did you find any inspiration over at Show Your Colors?

***I have partnered with Glidden/Akzo Nobel paints to write this post but the thoughts/opinions expressed are my very own.***

Kwikset Smartkey Review + $50 Home Depot Giveaway

Thanks for heading on over to the land of no ads!

This is a sponsored post but hear me out because it’s a little different than those other bloggers just trying to make a buck.  And there is a $50 Home Depot gift card giveaway for you…but you have to read first.  There will be a quiz.  That might be a lie but you should read and find out.

I was recently contacted about installing and reviewing the Kwikset Smartkey Lock system.

Hey, guess what?  We already have the Kwikset Smartkey system and we love it!  And they still agreed to compensate me to write this post.  We don’t mess around here at Décor and the Dog.

What am I talking about?  This pretty little lock set on our front door.



We chose our Kwikset Smartkey System three years ago when we were building our house for the following reasons:

• The Kwikset SmartKey would allow us to quickly and easily re-key our locks without removing them from the door.  This was extremely helpful during the building process.  We could hand out keys to the contractors that we used.  After their services were complete, we changed the locks. The ability to change the locks gave me peace of mind because lost, loaned or unreturned keys became useless.
  
• We liked the looks of the set and the price.  We chose the Arlington in Venetian Bronze. (Find it at Home Depot here!) I really liked the almost quatrefoil appearance of the lock.  I’m a sucker for quatrefoil (ie. see blog header).
  
• I’m a freak.  I watched way too many episodes of Dateline as a teenager.  I’m super paranoid about people breaking into our house.  (It makes total sense to be on oversharer on the internet….I know.)  I liked that the SmartKey deadbolts have passed the most stringent lock picking standards and offer ANSI/BHMA certified Grade 1 security. Grade 1 security is the highest level of tested residential security available in the industry.  Grade 1, dear readers.  Grade 1.  I mean, I do have a pretty ferocious looking guard dog but you can never be too safe.

Did I mention the set looks pretty?





Changing the keys is super easy.  I’d demonstrate but it’s raining and dark out.  This pretty visual from the Kwikset website shows how easy it is.  Even I can do it.  Seriously. Me. The girl that can’t cook oatmeal.



Over the past few years the ability to change our keys has been quite useful.  Like that time when our warm floor in our bathroom stopped working.  (Yes, everyone needs a warm floor in their bathroom.)  Here’s your key electrician man.   Or that time that the water was leaking underneath the dishwasher and then the floors warped.  Here you go independent flooring guy.

We’ve also found that the ability to change keys has been useful with the Ike man.



We don’t like to leave him home alone for extended periods of time.  It’s nice to be able to hand out a key to neighbors or friends to help look after him.  It’s also nice to be able to change the locks when you give your guests (ahem, your brother) a key for the week-end.  Wouldn’t want anyone over staying their welcome now, would we?

Kwikset SmartKey deadbolts can be purchased online at homedepot.com and at your local The Home Depot store. Check out Home Depot on facebook and the Twitter.

And now the really good stuff.  A giveaway for you!!

• PRIZE: One $50 Home Depot gift card
  
• TO ENTER: Tell me something that you're afraid of/want to be protected from.  Robbers? Heights? Spiders?  Family members that overstay their welcome?
  
• GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Sunday, March 25th at 11:59 PM CST
  
• NUMBER OF WINNERS: One
  
• OTHER STUFF: The winner will be selected using random.org and announced on Monday, March 26th.  Check back to see if you are the lucky winner!

The Home Depot partnered with bloggers such as me to help promote their KwikSet Lock product. As part of this promotion, I received compensation. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about the products. The Home Depot believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. The Home Depot’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.

My Image Inspiration

Do you all remember when I introduced you to My Colortopia awhile back?  (If not, you can read more about it here!)

Today I’d like to share with you a fun tool from My Colortopia.  It’s called My Image Inspiration.  You upload of a photo that inspires you.  It could be a favorite vacation photo, piece of fabric, or art. The My Image Inspiration tool will then pick color palettes to help you pull your room together.

I recently decided to start tackling my office.  I’ve been drooling over houndstooth and decided the office would be the perfect place for a houndstooth rug.  What room isn’t perfect for houndstooth?

Image via RugsUSA

I uploaded the rug photo into the My Image Inspiration tool and it suggested 3 colors for me.  I decided to choose the Leather Brown because it is very close to the current wall color in the office. (Lucky!)



After choosing the Leather Brown, the tool gave me two color palettes that would work with my the rug and wall color.  I have been struggling with what accent color to use.  Do I go the boring route and stick with creams/browns or do I pull in some colors? Navy was the only color I could come up with but I just wasn’t feeling it.



I’m now inspired by the second color palette.  The name of the yellow is “Extra Virgin Olive Oil”.  I think the color would work well for curtains or pillows.  Or it could work nicely for accessories on my shelves. Or maybe behind my built-ins.  Oh my, this reminds me of how much work I have ahead of me!

I’m going to be honest with you.  I was skeptical that this tool would be useful for me.  A lot of times these type of programs don’t really assist me in my decorating.  I am inspired by that mustardy yellow though.  It’s just about perfect.

I think the tool was most helpful for me because I had a piece (the rug) that I wanted to build the room around.  Luckily I had previously chosen a wall color that worked well and was suggested by the tool.

The tool would also be helpful for those rooms that you are still deciding on.  Grab that piece of fabric that you just had to have a 6 months ago but haven’t touched since.  Upload a photo of it into My Image Inspiration.  You never know.  It might just spark a whole new room make-over that your husband will be oh-so pumped about.  Or is that just my husband?

Head on over to My Image Inspiration and upload that photo.  Let me know what you think of the results!  I’d also love to see a screenshot of your upload.  Add it our newly created Flickr group!  (It’s lonely.  It needs photo friends.)

**I have partnered with Glidden/Akzo Nobel paints to write this post but the thoughts/opinions expressed are my very own.  You know I’d never sell my blog’s soul for money.  Chocolate maybe but never money.***

My Colortopia

Do you struggle with picking out paint colors?  Do the terms flat, semi-gloss, and eggshell make you all nervous and confused?  Do you have a beautiful rug that you want to match and coordinate colors to but you're not sure where to start?

My Colortopia to the rescue!!

This newly launched site provides inspiration, tools, and advice (from the Colortopia team) to help you build confidence throughout the painting process (selecting colors, buying the paint, getting it on the walls).

The Colortopia Team is composed of some amazing bloggers that post helpful tips and strategies that they use to tackle the challenging issues of paint selection and color palette.

When selecting paint colors for our home, we chose colors that made us feel relaxed but still made a statement.  We prefer to be surrounded by calming colors likes blues, greens, and tans.  Colors like reds and oranges make us antsy.  And you don’t want an antsy Michelle!

Are you unsure which colors suit you and your personality?  The following quiz may help!

The quiz suggested blues and tans for my quiet, beach loving self.  I'd say that's a pretty close match!

Did you feel the quiz provide you with colors that would work well in your home?  What is your biggest struggle when it comes to picking out paint?  Tell me all about the favorite color combo the quiz selected for you.  

 

 ***I have partnered with Glidden/Akzo Nobel paints to write this post but the thoughts/opinions expressed are my very own.***