I live in a little suburb of Austin, which is the capitol of everything awesome.  Okay, maybe LA and NYC take the titles of the Capitols of Awesome, but Austin is easily the runner up.  I’m probably a bit biased, but we really do have the best of everything.

Last week, a new awesomeness came to Austin – the Country Living Fair.  For the past 9 years, Country Living (yes, the magazine) gathers some of the country’s best artisans, antique dealers, presenters and chefs and brings them all into one place.  It’s seriously like the magazine comes to life!  The CL Fair is normally held in Columbus, Ohio and Atlanta, Georgia, but we were lucky to have them add Austin in the mix this year.

Rustoleum (one of my favorite DIY brands out there) is a major sponsor of the CL Fair, and they sent me some passes so that a friend and I could check it out.  We had a blast taking the morning to shop for vintage and handmade goods, and I took my trusty ‘ole camera so I could capture the awesomeness for you.

I could spend days and days wandering through vintage shops, so the shopping was definitely my favorite part.  It’s been nearly a week later, and I’m still kicking myself for not picking up this concrete poodle statue.  I’ve noticed that I, quite on accident, have started adding a fun animal figurine to every room of my home, and this would have been a great addition.

Aren’t these chairs darling?  I wanted two of them (they came in red, too), but I didn’t take any home.  They were priced at around $150 a piece (for a reproduction!), and I thought that seemed a little crazy.  Maybe they were made with magic fairy dust or something and I just didn’t realize it.

I was absolutely enamored with these red lighted stars from an old carnival sign.  I really have a special place in my heart for old signs like this, and I have a special place in my home for these particular signs.  Too bad I couldn’t afford them.

I did end up bringing home a few other old carnival signs, but you’ll have to wait to see those…

I also thought this little house was adorable.  Couldn’t you see it on a little table on your front porch surrounded by little plants?  So cute!  I’m sure that the lady in the background doesn’t think it’s so cute that her rear is now on view for the whole world to see.  Sorry, Lady!

As you may have noticed from my remarks, the prices for the vintage items were a little steep.  But, I will have to say that I am becoming more and more willing to pay a bit more for vintage.  Now that I have my little nearly 2-year old (!) in tow most of the time, I don’t really have the time (or patience) to pick through things for the best deal.  I’m happy to pay a bit of a premium for someone to do the picking, hauling and cleaning for me.  Perhaps that will change once Miss Em starts preschool in the fall.  I’ve read some other reviews regarding the pricing of goods at the Austin CL Fair, so that’s just my 2 cents on the issue.

There were also a few gorgeous tablescapes set up by Country Living, and this one featuring faux butterfly specimens was my favorite.  I think it would be a cheap and easy DIY, and it would really set a great theme for a spring or summer party table.

Besides the vintage goods and antique dealers, there were tons of hand crafted goodies by independent artisans.  I met an artist named Shawna Robinson who has a business named Happy Chair.  I must have stopped by her booth 3 or 4 times.  I have never seen such artistry put into a piece of furniture, let alone dozens of pieces.  Unfortunately, the photos I took of her pieces at the CL Fair didn’t turn out because of the lighting situation, but I’m going to connect with Shawna so that I can get some better photos to share with you.  You are going to flip.  I’ve never seen anything like it.

There were other handmade items that I wanted to share with you, as well.  I thought this pair of dachshund pillows were just too darling.  Why didn’t I think of that?

I mentioned my friends at Rustoleum earlier, and they were there to show off some of their wonderful products.  If you follow me on Facebook, you saw my ridiculous delight last week about Rustoleum’s new Furniture Transformations product.  It’s very similar to their Cabinet Transformations product that I have tested and love, except the Furniture kit comes in array of bright, delicious colors – Bright red.  Apple Green.  Lagoon Blue.  Nom, nom, nom.

I’m going to be testing out this product in the coming weeks, so look for a review soon.  I can’t remember the last time I was so excited about a new DIY product.

If you live near Columbus or Atlanta, I definitely recommend checking out the Country Living Fair when it comes to your area.  Whether you are going to hear the great speakers (we sat in on talk by Cari Cucksey from HGTV’s Cash and Cari), eat some yummy Southern food, or search through the vintage or handmade goods, its worth a trip.  I walked away with exactly what I was looking for, and you might, too!

P.S. I have totally forgotten to announce the winner of the $50 Container Store gift card from Apartment Guide.  Congrats to Caryn!  Please email me so we can get the card to you.

If you haven’t noticed, I have an unholy obsession with the color blue.  I can’t even say it’s a universal obsession, as I don’t find it much in my clothing – the winner there is green.  Instead, I just want to paint every room in my house blue.

I do know the exact beginning of this obsession, so I guess that’s a good thing.  You see, Tom is red/green color blind.  To him, red looks gray and green looks light gray.  That leads to another discussion about “is the blue I see the same blue that you see,” but we’ll save that one for a different day.  When we started planning a color scheme for this house, I was naturally drawn to green.  But since Tom doesn’t interpret green the same way I do, he asked if green (in large quantities) could be avoided.  I guess that blue creates almost the same feeling to me as green does, so we painted our first walls in the house blue (Smoked Turquoise by Glidden).  And just about every other room has followed in it’s blue footsteps in some form or another.

The thing I’ve learned over time about bringing one color throughout the house is that that color works best in varied hues.  If I were to use Smoked Turquoise in every single room, my home would quickly look old and tired.  Instead, I use a combination of light blues, dark blues, bright blues and muted blues.  This gives my home the illusion of being pulled together without making every room feel the same.

This technique can be used with much success in single rooms, as well.  There’s no need for all shades of the same hue to be identical.  Layering tonal color creates a lot of dimension in your room.

via Domino Magazine

When you think about color, don’t think about it in terms of the primary, secondary and tertiary colors that we learned about in junior high art class.  Color, when used in combination, can have so much more depth and dimension than that.  A medium blue wall, a navy throw and a cobalt ottoman can easily live in harmony with each other.

via Domino Magazine

If you want to keep your color palate much simpler, you can still offer a range of color tones.  This white room is pulled together by the bright blue artwork and navy rug.  If both were navy, the room would have a lot less depth.

Whatever main color you are drawn to, using layers of that color makes it easy to pull the theme throughout your entire home while still creating interest.  Do you use tonal color in your home?