The Inspired Decorator

NEW BLOG!!

2011-07-18T06:00:00.001-07:00

We are back from Maine and had a lovely vacation! My new blog is now officially up and running! I still have some work to do on it, but I hope you will stop by and check it out...

Life in the Sweet Spot

I'll be saying goodbye to this blog, but am looking forward to sharing lots of things on the new blog!

Changes

2011-06-27T06:02:00.000-07:00

Obviously, with baby #2 on the way, we're going through a lot of changes around here. The bed is gone from the guest room (which now will be referred to as the boy's room!!). I'll really miss that bed, but it went to a good home- our good friends Rachel and Kyle, moved in behind us this past weekend. Literally, I can see their house from our backyard- it's awesome. So now they will have it for their guest room. So, here is the current state of the boy's room. I am doing lots of sorting and organizing because we need to move a lot of stuff that has been stored in that room out of there.

Back to the title of this post- I am thinking about making a pretty big change around here- at the blog. I've had a realization over the past month or so that the blogs that I enjoy reading the most are the ones that are not only about decorating, but about life. Real people, living life. These women don't blog to make a living or to be famous. They don't do sponsored give aways (not that there's anything wrong with that), they just simply blog because they love it. The women that write these blogs appreciate decor, and design. They make the effort to make the space they live and raise their family enjoyable. It doesn't mean their house looks perfect all the time- it's not about that, but they care. For me, decor and design is making our home and the space we have work for me and my family, but doing it in a way that is aesthetically pleasing. As our family is growing, that means that changes need to be made, and will continue to be made.

My point to all of this is that I don't just want to blog about decor, because the reason behind the decor often comes from life. So, I want to share more about life. I am hoping that opening up on here will invoke more creativity and more posts to share with you. Over the past year, I've learned a lot, grown a lot- as a woman, wife, and mother. Sometimes I want to share those thoughts, or funny stories, but feel like this blog has only really ever been just about decorating. Our family blog doesn't really feel like the right place to share either. So, I've decided to make a new blog, where I will still talk about decorating like I have on this blog, but also add some more personal stories and thoughts.

We leave for Maine in less than a week, so I am hoping to take some time to make the transition. This week has been a little stressful for a number of reasons- one being I failed my glucose test on Monday by 5 measely points (insert frustrated face). So, now I have to take the 3 hour test tomorrow. Therefore I am doing my best to not eat/drink any sugar today, which is in turn, making me a little cranky. I never would have thought that I eat a lot of sugar, but I realize now that I just like a little somethin' somethin' now and then. Especially when you are pregnant and spending most of your time with a toddler.

But on a brighter note, I got these on sale at Anthro, and it makes drinking only water today a little more exciting....sometimes it's the little things.

Project Boys Room

2011-05-13T11:52:00.000-07:00

That's right, we're having another boy! And we couldn't be more excited! Except that I can't buy those cute girl clothes, but that leaves more money in the decorating jar!!

I may or may not have mentioned that regardless of what the sex of baby #2 was, we had decided that Aiden and the new baby would be sharing a room. The guest room on the 3rd floor is quite large and can easily accomodate multiple children. We will then turn Aiden's room into a smaller guest room.

I've already decided on a color scheme for the room: blue, orange and green. I just ordered this little scrap pack from Etsy for some inspiration. There will be some sewing projects I'm sure.

I also will be using this crib bedding because I got it for free; I love the shade of green.

I will be painting this dresser (probably green to match the bedding) to use for the baby with a changing pad on top. (sorry about the quality of the pic, it's really old and I had to pull it from the blog)

Yesterday we took an IKEA trip to finally get Aiden a bed. That's right, he's almost 3 and a half and still in his crib. He has never once tried to climb out and he's been happy in it, so we haven't really found the need to switch him yet. With the baby coming and vacations this summer requiring him to sleep in a bed, we thought it was finally time to pull the switch.

Our original thought was to just get a toddler bed. With the room-sharing and space, we thought it would be best. However, when we were at Ikea a few months ago, Rob and Aiden took to this bed...

Even though it is a loft bed, it is super safe for young kids; it's not quite 4 feet high, and getting a thinner mattress, keeps the sides raised. I would have no concerns of Aiden sleeping in this bed. However, the blue/birch color made the decorator in me cringe. There is the option to turn around the blue panels to the white side, but even with doing that, you can still see the blue. I couldn't be convinced of it. Until I found this picture:

{Cocoon Home}

OF COURSE!!! We can just paint it white, like I do everything! That looks a million times better. So, that's what we're doing:

Yesterday after getting home and while Aiden was napping, I was able to slap on 3 coats of primer and the white paint to the blue sides. It is going to take awhile to paint all the post pieces, but it will look so much better in the end.

It will be nice for Aiden to have his own little space under his bed while sharing a room with his new brother and the plus side is that once they are older, we can switch #2 from the crib to under the loft! It looks smaller, but it is actually a twin size bed, so Aiden will be able to be in it for a long time.

So, that's what I've come up with for the room so far. It is going to be really tricky over the next few months switching around the 3rd. floor, but I am convinced we can do it and get it all done in time. We will have to get rid of our guest room queen size bed because it won't fit in the new guest room, but, we'll make it all work.

And to end this post I will give some outdoor painting advice: we had this foam stuff left over from when we put down the new floor in the office. It's from Ikea and you get a huge amount (50 feet) for $20. I would highly recommend just purchasing this for outdoor painting projects! It's heavier than a tarp that can blow around and it worked SO well!

Oh Happy Day!

2011-04-25T17:09:00.000-07:00

I am very happy! First of all, it feels like spring is really here to stay. The weather this week is supposed to be gorgeous, and I am loving it! Even though my allergies are terrible, I don't even care, I love this weather!!

Secondly, the office is finally done! Last week Rob and I really cracked down and got it finished. We finished painting, stained the shelves and desk, got them up. It feels so good to have this space actually feel like an office and not just a place where we throw junk.

There is obviosuly still a ton do, but it's the fun stuff. Like organizing! There are some things that we need to get to help with that and to make sure everything has it's right place. I also want to repaint the little dresser and do some little projects like cover the bulletin board.

So, the weather is warm, the office is an office, life is good!

ps. It's really difficult to take pictures in here because it's so small, and the lighting is horrible. So, sorry for the quality of the pictures!

Spring and happy things

2011-04-12T04:27:00.000-07:00

Signs of spring have finally started to show, which makes me a happy person. The temperature hasn't been quite as warm as I prefer, but it's getting there. And once in a while we are blessed with a warm day, like yesterday where it went up past 80 degrees. I brought home some forsythia from my parent's house this past weekend.

My birthday is at the beginning of April and always reminds me that spring is coming! Even though it was rainy and cold on my actual birthday last week, it was a great day spent with my 2 boys. Aiden made me a birthday crown which he was super excited about, and Rob surprised me with this:

I've been wanting this since we started redoing the bedroom (which I realize is forever ago). Now the bedroom is almost complete. Which makes me very happy. All that is left to do is get new covers for the stools that we use as nightsands. I had tried to dye the covers we have, but it didn't turn out well. So, I found a website that sells covers and decided it would cost about the same as making them by the time I bought the fabric. There's also the fact that I just don't feel like taking the time to make them.

The closet/office space is coming a long. But, I've decided to wait and share pictures until it's done. It is kind of a mess right now and realized that it would be better to wait and reveal the finished project (whenever that is- don't hold your breath). I will say that I am giddy with excitement about the organization that the space will provide.

Here is an unexpected project I did last week that makes me SO happy.

Here's why...back when we redid the kitchen, I made new curtains for the windows, which I never loved. There is a lot of green in the kitchen, but when I got the fabric, it was not the right shade, and I just felt like it was too much green and all the different shades were fighting against each other. For the past year, every now and then I would look for fabric to make new curtains, but never find anything that feels just right.

Last week I had this inspirational epiphany to use these napkins that don't get much use since re-decorating the dining room. I love the print, and realized they would look great in the kitchen (notice above how great they look with the bins on the shelves). But, an individual napkin wasn't big enough to make one panel, so I had to add some fabric to the top. I had some gray fabric on hand that I thought would work well. So, the whole project cost me nothing! And, I love it!

Anyway, I know you are probably sick of the apologies, but I am sorry for taking so long in between posts. All I can say is, life is busy, and I have to admit that posting is not the highest priority for me, but I do enjoy it, and hope that you'll continue to check in when you can.

Finally

2011-03-07T12:24:00.000-08:00

I have been waiting to write this post for a long time...we finally got a new living room rug! I had s ome serious issues with our old shag rug. It looked great when we first got it, and I loved the softness of it, but it got gross. People always said it didn't look that bad, but if you really knew how gross that rug was, you wouldn't be ok with letting your child roll around on it. It was hard to clean because of the thick pile...let's just leave it at that.

As you know, I have been eyeing the sweater rug from West Elm for some time now. I cannot tell you how many hours I ~~wasted~~ spent looking at rugs online. I wanted something lighter, and neutral, but I also needed it to be able to hide dirt. This rug seems good for it because of the different colors of wool pulled through it.

So, over these past few weeks, I just couldn't take it anymore. I blame it on pregnancy hormones/depression from pregnancy symptoms/the fact that I hated vacuuming our rug, actually the list goes on. We had some Pottery Barn gift certificates (which can be used at West Elm), and some Christmas money that we were planning to put towards it. I was hoping that we would be able to save on shipping by going to the West Elm store in the city to purchase it, but when I called, they said that stores are no longer carrying the larger size rugs. Even though I hated to spend the extra money on shipping, I knew this was the right rug, so I just sucked it up.

So far, I'm really happy with the it. It did shed quite a bit when we first got it, but it's getting better. We'll see how it holds up, but I'm confident it will be a much better choice than the shag.

I have some progress to share in the office/closet space (thanks to my wonderful, hardworking husband), but I'll save that for another time!

I am alive, incase you were worried

2011-03-01T09:26:00.000-08:00

Hello blog world, remember me? No? That's ok...I haven't forgotten you. It's not that things have been busy as to why I haven't had a post in over a month, it's that I've had quite possibly the most difficult month of my life. I really don't want to use this time to vent and make you feel sorry for me, because the reality is, I am truly blessed. And....

I'm pregnant!

And that is exciting, joyful news. However, this pregnancy has been quite difficult thus far, but it is still truly a blessing and I remind myself of that daily. I won't get into all the details, but on top of normal pregnancy sickness, I had terrible debilitating migraines for a few weeks straight. Then, just when I was starting to feel better and feeling like my life was back to"normal", we had a scare with the pregnancy last week which was probably the most terrifying moment of my life. But, the baby and I are fine and healthy.

Anyway, I want to get back to blogging, because I truly do miss it. I would also like to get to all the things that I want to do around the house, but one thing I am learning through all of this is that I need to give up some control. That things aren't always going to get done or happen in the time line I want them to, and that's ok.

So, hopefully, I'll be back soon with new posts, and lots of inspiration!

Until then, doesn't this nursery shot make you swoon?

De-cluttering

2011-01-16T19:14:00.001-08:00

It's been almost a year since we redid the kitchen. Ever since we have owned the house , there is a corner of the kitchen that is my nemesis. No matter what I do, I cannot keep this area clutter-free. It makes me crazy. It is the place we throw keys, wallets, mail we don't want to throw out but don't have a place for ... you know the deal- every house has a place like this.

This is a picture taken last year, and it pretty much has looked the same but more cluttered. Every few weeks I would clean it out, only to have it get cluttered again within days. So, I decided I couldn't take it anymore.

We took a trip to Ikea this past week to look at stuff for the office (a work in progress). Ikea has such great organization items. It makes me happy. So we got these gord -like-pod-things and hung them on the side of the cabinet as a place to throw keys, pens, or whatever. I really wanted to get most everything off the counter. I also picked up these cute little tins which now keep tea and other hot drinks in easy reach, which is crucial this time of year.

It makes me much happier to have this space clutter-free. I have realized when you don't have a place to clutter, it makes you deal with that mail as soon as you get it, rather than add it to that corner and forget about it.

This year we have lots of plans for de-cluttering and organizing. The big one of course being the office that we are making in our old closet. I have to go through lots of stuff in the now guest room and organize everything to have its own place in the new office. The other project will be the basement at some point. We have done a lot of organizing down there already, but we want to invest in getting some shelves or other storage to help keep it organized.

And while we're on the subject of organizing, if you have kids, you know how difficult it can be to keep all their stuff organized. A constant battle for us is Aiden's toys. I like things to have a place and to be put away at the end of the day. We picked up these fabric bins from Ikea (did I mention how much I love Ikea!!) which are perfect because they slip right under the sofa for storing.

Do you have any organizing tricks or plans for 2011?

Updates

2011-01-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

I'm back! Happy New Year! The holidays were crazy busy and I am so relieved to have the Christmas decorations down and to be back to our normal schedule.

I relized that I have not shared some of the little changes we made around here in December with all the busyness of the holidays.

First, I will give you an update on the bedroom. I finally finished the curtains for the closet space. These were way more complicated than I wanted them to be. I will spare you the details. Now that they are done though, I am happy with them. I thought that maybe it would be too much white, but, now that they are up and hemmed, I do like them.

I got some new throw pillows for the bed. The yellow flower one is from Target. I think I see it on every blog I read, but it is a great pillow. The gray one is from CB2. You may (or may not ) also notice that we got rid of the Malm end tables that attach to the bed. With the new room configuration, they were too big/ So on one of our Ikea trips, we picked up these stools for $20 each. I have had plans (since getting them months ago) to change the covers. It hasn't happened yet, but it is going to happen, and maybe even this week. I'll keep you updated.

Now, I have a bit of a confession, we had this grand plan of putting tall, skinny, bookshelves on either side of the bed, in between the wall and the windows. We actually did get them, and it looked great, until we got the closet up. It was way too crowded. Book storage is a serious issue for us, so I knew I had to find another place for them. So, out into the hallway they went, right outside the bedroom, at the bottom of the 3rd floor stairs. Aiden helped me take off all the books to move them- he thought it was so much fun. I forgot to take a before picture of them in the bedroom, but here they are in the hallway.

I also hung up our long mirror which used to hang over my dresser horizontally. I like having the mirror in the hallway, and to add a little light, I hung a paper lantern pendant so that we could actually see if using the mirror.

And, speaking of light. I am really weird about light in our home. I like soft light, and I like it evenly dispersed. When we got the sectional, I got kind of stressed out about the fact that we couldn't have a light in that corner anymore. There was definitely no way a floor lamp would work, so it was actually Rob that suggested a pendant. I realized when we needed to move the dresser to put up our Christmas tree, that we would only have one lamp in the room. So, I finally gave in and ordered this pendant from CB2. It was actually a great price ($50), and it looks good too. It makes me happy.

When we took our tree down, I realized now that we have the pendant, I don't need as large of a lamp on that small dresser. So I brought this one down from upstairs, which was a wedding gift. It is from Restoration Hardware and is so nice, so I am glad that we can uses it downstairs.

I have lots of things on my to do list around here. The first being finishing up the bedroom. I think I found something for over the bed, however, I am having a hard time finding a frame that would fit it. Hope everyone had a great holiday and I am looking forward to lots of projects in 2011!

Deck the Halls

2010-12-18T12:25:00.001-08:00

I wanted to share some of my Christmas decorating, and some tips for low/no cost projects.

As I said before, twinkle lights- so cheap, easy, and instantly make everything more festive. I even used them in the kitchen.

This little tree was something new I tried this year. I simply got some branches from the backyard, spray-painted them white, stuck them in a vase, and decorated.

Wrap stuff up- I'm sure I am not the first to do this, but seriously, this is probably the easiest thing you can do. I used scraps of fabric for this little bundle of packages. It is 2 empty boxes and a book. haha- Rob was concerned about what book, but I assured him he won't be needing it between now and Christmas. And of course, frames on the wall. I tried something a little different this year- brown paper packages...

I took this card display idea from an old Domino issue....ooooh Domino! How I miss you!!

It is an easy, creative way to display Christmas cards. And it is great because every day you can add to it and change it if you need to. This large bulletin board cost under $10 at Target and then you can either use wrapping paper or fabric to cover. I used paper.

Still LOVE this Christmas banner, an Etsy purchase from last year.

Oh Christmas tree...

Sparkle on the dining room buffet

Of course, festive, new pillow covers

Also, don't hesitate to change/put away furniture if you need to accommodate a tree or whatever, especially if you have a small space. Our living room chair is up in the closet (soon to be office) for the time being and we had to move the small dresser from next to the sofa.

Hope you are enjoying this Christmas season and able to take some time to slow down from all the hustle!

An Etsy Holiday

2010-12-05T15:57:00.000-08:00

You may or may not know that I love Etsy. Unfortunately my Etsy Fridays have fallen by the wayside, but maybe I will get back into doing them after things quiet down from the holidays.

Anyway, I didn't take the complete "buy only handmade" pledge this Christmas, but I have been really trying to find gifts on Etsy before looking other places. In fact, my goal is to not do a lot of in-store shopping at all. Between Etsy and Amazon, I've been doing pretty well. Although, you do have to weed through things since there is just so much on Etsy. I would much rather be sitting in my warm house in my pjs doing that than out at a store in the freezing cold.

The one thing that I decided to do this year was purchase our Christmas cards on Etsy. I've never been a huge fan of the photo cards (only because they feel impersonal), but they do make mailing out a ton of cards so much easier. Etsy has a lot of great options, but a lot of them are to purchase the design, but you print out. Well, I am not savvy enough for that, so I was able to find a great seller with great designs at a GREAT price. They arrived yesterday and I am so pleased with how they turned out. They are also on a heavier cardstock (instead of photo paper), which I makes them much nicer.

Here are a few of the designs you can choose from- I won't post a picture of ours, only because I don't want those receiving one to see it before it arrives in the mail.

Consider Lillies

I suppose I can't really blog about any gifts that we have bought incase the recipient happens to read this. So, just one more shop to mention....

The great thing about Etsy is that you can find things that you can't find anywhwere else. One of my favorite things to look at is stationary items. I went a little crazy in this shop. She has SOOO much in her shop, and it's not more than you would spend on cute tags at Target. That's what is so great about buying handmade- it makes you feel like a better person! The money goes directly to the seller, not some huge corporation. Some people are even raising money like things for adoption (like the above store where we got our cards). So, I don't feel guilty even if I do spend a little more money on something (like gift tags!) because it just feels like the right thing to do.

Lazy Day Cottage

Anyway, love this store, and love that she literally has thousands of tags. I bought a bunch to use on gifts, and to hopefully use in some decor around the house.

Speaking of decor around the house, hopefully I will have a post about what I've done around here soon. I have a couple more things I am working on. But, here is my biggest piece of holiday decor advice- use twinkle lights inside. They make everything more festive. And use the ones on white wires- Target has them seriosuly cheap. Here's a little preview for you...

So, are you buying handmade this year? Let me know if you've found something fabulous.

Cozy

2010-11-21T20:21:00.000-08:00

It's been getting pretty chilly around here recently, so a few weeks ago, I cozied things up around here. I've been meaning to share it with you since, but time seems to get away from me.

I realize that I can officially start decorating for Christmas in less than a week and that I just ordered some fabric for Christmas pillow covers, but......I made some different pillow covers for the sofa because I felt like the ones that were on before were a little too summery. I also bought some knitted pillow covers from West Elm because I have been wanting something like these since last winter.

On an Ikea trip last week, I picked up a faux sheepskin for only $12.99 which I draped over the chair in the living room.

Also, I mentioned before that I moved the white chair that used to be in our bedroom up into the spare room. I have always loved how cozy this room feels, and this just adds to it.

That's all for now. We got curtains for the closet in the bedroom, but some tweaking needs to be done before I can share it with you.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

More in the bedroom

2010-11-02T17:40:00.000-07:00

I started this post a week ago...I can't seem to get things in order around here!

So, here's another picture update of the bedroom. This is the wall opposite of where the closet is. We moved both of our dressers onto this wall, which was obviously necessary because of the closet. Sadly,we had to get rid of the chair in the bedroom, but I realized that there might be room for the chair that I have yet to recover in the new "office space" (old closet). We moved the white chair up to the guest bedroom and it fits in perfectly up there.

I explained all the artwork we got for this wall in this previous post. We also included 2 pictures from a photo shoot last spring that my friend Christy did. She's awesome.

I made a new cover for the lampshade to make it fit in more with the overall feel of the room.

I realized once we were putting up the frames, I didn't have room for this favorite Etsy print that I got for my birthday last year, so I put it on the bookshelf where I think it fits in nicely because the green/yellow color in it perfectly matches the ceramic bottle on the top shelf.

I also wanted to mention that this vase on this shelf is made by my sister, and it is one of my favorite things.

Right after this mirror we have hanging in the living room.

So, there is a bedroom update for you. We're hoping to get curtains up around the closet some time next week. This is (obviosuly) a slow moving process, but we're getting there. I had originally thought the office would be done before Christmas, but I can probably guarantee that is not going to happen. But, I'll keep you updated!

If you're still out there- thanks for stopping by!

Closet!!

2010-10-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

The new closet is up and running. Except that we have no curtains around it yet, but, it's up!! Thanks to my wonderful, hard-working husband. He did all of it. I can and will take no credit for it. We were able to make an Ikea trip a couple weeks ago to get everything and then Rob put it together last weekend. So, over the past week we've been moving our clothes over and organizing. I've decided it's good to do projects like this so that you are forced to sort through things and get rid of things you don't need.

Here is the picture of the bare wall. This is the wall to the right as you walk in through the door from the hallway.

And here it is up (and empty)

And now with most of our things moved into it.

We wanted to include a shelf for the TV, which worked out perfectly. We don't watch much TV in the bedroom, in fact, it's not even hooked up to cable. We just use it for dvds when we want to watch the occassional movie in bed, or when we're trying to keep Aiden happy while we get dressed in the morning. So keeping it hidden in the "closet" works well.

I'm really happy with how it turned out and although we may not necessarily have more space by moving the closet into the bedroom, we have at least the same amount, and it is more organized, which is what is most important to me anyway. I am now eager to get curtains up because I feel like the room is really coming together . I'll have more updates to share this week with pictures.

Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!!

Not enough time

2010-10-11T10:42:00.000-07:00

Life is busy!! I have a whole list of projects in my head that I want to do around here, and I simply just don't have enough time. I feel like I can barely keep up with the every day to day things like laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc. So when I do take time to do a project, then those things get ignored, and then I can't function and poor Rob has to deal with my crazy. Also, we're in Phillies post-season, and if you know us at all, you know that our schedules revolve around the Phillies and we can be somewhat consumed by it all. However, I don't really look at that as a negative- this is one of the most exciting times in the Phillies baseball franchise history, and we are loving every minute of it.

The bedroom project seems to be at a standstill. The picture wall is done, but I would rather finish a few other little things before sharing more pics. I am trying to be really intentional about fabrics, so I am still picking them out. We haven't moved the closet into the bedroom yet and the next step is scheduling an Ikea trip without Aiden to get the closet pieces.

On top of everything I am trying to figure out with the bedroom, I have a whole list of little projects around here that I would like to do:

-repaint dining room table because it was never done properly

-put another coat of spray paint on the dining room chairs from last year

-cover a chair that I bought a year ago on Craigslist

-change pillows/fabric in living room for fall/winter

I'm sure there's more, my mind is just not working well today.

Anyway, the good news is that I did get one project done last week....

If you remember, a long time ago, I talked about how I wanted an IKEA Rast dresser for this space next to the sofa since our end tables didn't work with the sectional. I had one upstairs in the hall which I quickly painted and it has been in the living room since.

A couple months ago, on an Ikea trip I picked up another dresser (which is now reduced to only $30 instead of $40!!). I had seen the idea with the staining and white drawers on this blog, and loved it.

So, after the dresser sat in it's box in the basement for awhile, I finally brought it out, put it together, and over the span of about 2 weeks, got it finished.

I wanted to do it right this time, so I painted every inch of the drawers, and even lined them with leftover wallpaper.

I'm really happy with how it turned out. I still would like to get different knobs, as these I had originally bought from Anthro on sale with the idea to use them in our bathroom some day. But, these are fine for now until I find what I want.

Well, hopefully I will feel more inspired/mostivated in the upcoming weeks and I will have much more to share with you. Until then, GO PHILS!!!

Slowly but Surely

2010-09-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

The bedroom project has not been moving as quickly as I had hoped. But, whatchya gonna do? I feel like I should explain how busy things are around here, but you're probably sick of hearing that and I need to stop making excuses!

So, instead, I'll just give you some updates. First of all, the room is painted, we have a new rug, and I rearranged the bookcase.

We love how the paint color turned out- it's a very pale gray- close to the kitchen, but a little bit lighter. The rug, we got from Urban Outfitters on sale for $40. We went there on a whim and it was the only one they had in the white color, so I took it as a sign. And I love it- it's exactly what I wanted.

As I mentioned before, I didn't like how the bookshelf looked before. Much better now! Of course you're probably wondering what happened to all our books- more to come on that later.

I also ordered some Etsy prints for the bedroom. On one of the walls, we have both my dresser and Rob's dresser, side by side, so I decided to do a frame wall above the dressers. On an IKEA trip, we picked up some Ribba frames. The plan was to get the frames forist and then order prints to go in them. I find that it is hard to do it the other way around and then not be able to find frames that fit the art. Especially because I wanted all the frames to be the same.

So, here is what Rob and I came up with. We are also going to order a couple family photos too to add to these.

{Fungi from groundwork}

{little ship at sea by hisss}

{Perennial moment by papermoth}

{on the canal by study}

And, sorry, I couldn't resist this one...

{by linocutboy}

I also have this print that my sister in law got me as a birthday gift from one of my favorite Etsy stores

{mod bird by luckybluebird art}

Sometimes Etsy orders can take awhile to get here, but hopefully I will be able to get everything up soon since I already have the frames.

Hoping to make more progress soon- I'll kee you posted!

Goodbye summer- you've been good to us

2010-08-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

It's hard saying goodbye. It's been a fabulous summer. Probably the busiest we've had since being married. Rob and I got away by ourselves to Florida in June to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary, Maine in July, and Ocean City NJ a few weeks ago in August. With lots going on in between- play dates, weddings, parties. It really has been great, and we feel blessed to be able to have taken the time to go away and spend time with each other and family.

{photograph by BucksCountyFrames}

However, I am looking forward to things getting back to "normal", whatever that is. We have already started to adjust to Rob's new weekend work schedule, which so far hasn't been too bad. In fact, in some ways, it's been nicer. But there are some difficult things about it that we are figuring out. Rob is also going to start taking classes this fall to work towards his Masters in Nursing. Even though these are really big changes for Rob, and our family, I'm so proud of my husband and his motivation to provide for our family and his desire to challenge himself in his career. I also know that I will need to learn some new ways to support him in these changes.

The one nice thing about Rob's new schedule is it gives us more time to work on house projects. Last week we started on the bedroom project by getting the bedroom painted. I also found the perfect rug for the bedroom, that only cost $40. Rob and I are heading out to Ikea later this week to pick up some things and to do some planning for moving the closet into the bedroom. I don't want to post any bedroom pictures yet because there is still a lot to do. But, it is coming along, and I already love it so much more than before.

I'm starting to work on the details in the bedroom that will really make the space. I've decided that I want to use some vintage fabric in the space to soften the modern lines and tone down all the white. Etsy has been a great source to find things like this. I've been trying to find inspiration through blogs and other online sources.

Also, this book, which I got for my birthday, has some great ideas too.

I hope everyone has had a great summer, and hopefully you are doing something really fun this labor day weekend as a last hurrah.

I'll be back soon, hopefully with some bedroom progress and some Etsy Fridays again too.

home again, but not for too long

2010-07-28T06:11:00.001-07:00

We got home from a great vacation in Maine on Monday. It was lovely! We had beautiful weather and Aiden was so good on the long drive, which was one thing I was really worried about. But, it is always nice to come back home.

I've been doing lots of thinking and planning about our bedroom and closet projects, but I'm not going to be able to start anything real soon. We leave for the shore in another 2 and a half weeks, which are already filling up with busyness. I am hoping after our shore vacation that things will slow down. Aiden is going to be starting pre-school 2 mornings a week in September, which will open up more time during the week to get some things done.

So, here's something a little random, since I have made no progress on my project. In this month's "House Beautiful", I was immediately drawn to this article about this little beach bungalo...

I love the beach, and I always dream about having a little bungalo to decorate. I always feel that in a vacation home, you can do something that maybe you wouldn't necessarily do in your own home.

Which is why I love this space. All the pattern and color, I find it so charming.

I love how everything else is white, the walls, the cabinets, so that she could do whatever she wanted with everything else.

I love this wallpaper in the kids' room

You can read more about the house here.

I'm not sure that I will ever have a little beach bungalo of our own, but my wishful thinking makes me think maybe some day, someone will want me to help decorate theirs

Feeling good

2010-07-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

Over the past few days, I have taken a lot of time to think about a bedroom makeover. I have been gathering lots of inspirations from other blogs, and talking it over with Rob to figure out what we want. I also realize how important it is not to rush into things, so we can make sure we know what we want.

I realize this style furniture is way different than our bedroom, but I just love all the white and gray that is going on in here.

{Little House Blog}

One thing that is hard with our little abode is storage. There is not a lot of closet space, and with 3 bedrooms, we are limited.

I've said this before, but I keep coming back to the fact that we have this little walk through closet in between our bedroom and the bathroom that needs to be used more efficiently. ( I realized it is really hard to take pictures of the closet because it is so small)

Through talking about our bedroom makeover, I realize it would be best to be able to use this space as an office/creative/ place to store things that are currently in the spare room closet. I have always wanted a place to be able to sew, or do the bills. I also want us to be able to have all of that kind of stuff in one place, now it is tucked into little places all over the house. Rob is also going to be going back to school in the fall and I want him to have a quiet place to work. The only problem is that if we don't use it as our closet,we need a place to hang our clothes.

The inspiration on what I want to do with the closet comes easily....

{images from apartment therapy}

But we can't get into that until we have a place to hang our clothes and we are not exactly sure how to make a space for that in our bedroom. We have had bad experiences with wardrobes when we lived in our apartment. We also don't want something extremely permanent in case we try and sell the house some day and the buyers don't get my whole philosophy of giving up a walk in closet.

Enter IKEA....

We would like to do something along the lines of taking one of the walls in the bedroom and installing something like this...

We would install some kind of track system on the ceiling around it and I would make curtains out of fabric, and voilla. But, somehow, I don't think it is going to be this simple.

Luckily Rob is really good at researching the best way to do something like this and I totally trust him to help make this vision work.

We put a time frame on this whole project (since it has now become more complicated than just painting the bedroom) of finishing by Christmas. That includes the makeover of the closet space as well. I am super eager to start, but with all we have going on this summer, we may only get the bedroom painted, but I am ok with that. I really feel like these past few days I have been able to take some time to enjoy what I like to do- getting inspired, planning a project. And along the way I have realized I am not alone in wanting to re-paint my bedroom, even though I like the current color.

We're heading off to Maine this week, so I may not be here for awhile. Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Be prepared for a long post....

2010-07-08T06:18:00.001-07:00

I can't even believe how busy this summer is and every time I go to my blog, I just sit there and stare, not feeling like doing a post, but feeling guilty about the date at the top of my lost post. Then there is usually a dialog in my head that goes something like this, "no one reads or looks at this blog anyway, so does it really matter? ...But you're not supposed to be doing this blog for anyone else, it's supposed to be for you". I have been learning a lot recently about grace and through that, a lot about guilt. So, I am going to first apologize for my lack of posting to you and to myself, because when I am consistent on this little blog of mine, it means that I am being creative, and focusing on things I enjoy, taking a break from things like potty-training. But, I am not going to feel guilty about it. I am moving on, and if it is another month that goes by without a post, I am ok with that.

So, here I am....

In my last post I mentioned the re-decorating of a room. That room is our bedroom. I have struggled with our bedroom since moving in. A little over a year after moving in, we bought a new bedroom set, the Malm set from Ikea. We wanted something that was modern-feeling, and simple.

I always have all these good ideas which usually include pattern, fabrics, colors. But then when I try and execute it, it's always a disaster.

I painted our bedroom this lovely color blue a little over 2 years ago. I love this color, but am having a hard time making it work. The blue doesn't connect to anything else. Every time I try and make it connect, it never ends up working out, and I get tired of it after a few weeks.

Here are the things I like about our bedroom:

the white- white chair, white comfy bed, white curtains. I want our bedroom to feel calm and clean, a restful place- and I think white can help accomplish that.

the furniture- I love the Malm set from Ikea, and at the time, when we bought it, we didn't (and still don't) have the money to invest in really nice bedroom furniture. I already have my dream bedroom furniture picked out, well the bed anyway, and I do believe someday it will happen, but I am perfectly content with this Ikea set right now. I also was able to score the bookcase from the Pottery Barn outlet- it's West Elm, and the finish matched well with the other furniture.

the reading nook- ok, it's not really much of a nook, but more of a chair, stool and lamp on the one wall. But, I like it. This chair is also from Ikea, but it is from the AS IS room and was $35. It was marked wrong, as a side table- muahahaha. I don't feel guilty that I practically stole this from them- I know that legally, a store cannot mark something and then say that it was marked wrong and try and sell it at a different price, they have to give you the marked price. I really like having a chair in the bedroom, even if at the moment, Bailey uses it more than anyone else.

my dresser- the lamp, the mirror above it, I just like how it looks. It doesn't always look this neat though, there are usually papers, magazines, monitor, etc., thrown all over it.

the curtains- in this picture below, you can see that there is actually a design on the curtains, which I like and makes it feel acceptable to only have one on each window, and to always have them closed because they let light through. We have room darkening shades behind them that we use to sleep and in the summer it hides the air conditioner in the window when it is not in use- you can't even see it in the left window, can you?

Here are the things I dislike about the room:

the rug- I think I've mentioned before how much I dislike this rug. It's old and it is going, once I figure out what I want to replace it.

the wall space- that poster above the bed is coming down. Rob is not too happy about that fact, and it is one thing that we completely disagree on. I hung it there one day because I needed to hang something there, but it is literally from my college dorm room, and it is in a frame with no glass- real classy. Rob thinks it looks cool for some unknown reason that I really don't understand. The wall with Rob's dresser and the reading nook needs something on it. I also want to take down the 3 hooks to the left of the chair.

I would also love to have shelves above the TV, but I am not sure if that wall can handle it. Our walls are weird, and it is difficult to hang heavy things.

organization of the bookcase- I love this bookcase, but it is tricky for storing books, kind of ironic. I actually have no problem with how the books are on the shelves, but I always struggle with the top part, where the magazine boxes currently are, and those 2 random picture frames need to not be there, they look awkward.

the blue- I know I already said why I struggle with it, but just to reiterate. I really do love this color, and I want to make it work, I just don't think I can, so what I want to do, is paint the room white. AHHHH I know! What is wrong with me? I am always painting and changing things. I always love white bedrooms, and painting the room white (or the palest gray you can imagine), will pull everything together. I realize there is a lot I need to do, like get a new rug, but I think painting it white will help with all those other little things. Right now all I see is the blue, and every time I try to do something, I am always trying to make it work with the blue, and I just can't.

My hope is to do the bedroom, then move to the closet, and then to bathroom. I am thinking maybe I could use this blue in the closet or the bathroom somehow because I really do love it.

I am a little scared to paint the room. I think I am embarrassed to be changing another room, and I really hate painting, but it is the most inexpensive way to make a big change, and I really think that by doing this, it will help me in the other areas where I am stuck.

So try not to judge me, and instead, look at these white-walled bedrooms and try and understand where I am coming from.

I am hoping in my next post to explain some of my ideas in the problem areas I expressed above. Also, I have no plans to paint our room in the very near future. We leave for Maine in a week, so at least not until we get home.

(all images from apartmenttherapy)

home again

2010-06-17T06:17:00.000-07:00

It is always nice to come home again after being away. Rob and I returned from our trip to Florida a couple days ago, and while I miss that Florida sunshine and the smell of the beach, it feels good to be home.

I realized I took similar pictures upon returning from Maine last summer.

Since returning home I have a strong sense of motivation for a new decorating project. Maybe I just needed some time to relax and clear my head. I will inform and keep you updated when I actually start doing some things, but for now I am just in the brainstorming stage. But here is what I am using for inspiration- see if you can guess what room I will be working on?

Bubble

2010-06-09T05:48:00.001-07:00

I really want a George Nelson bubble lamp.

I realize that they are EVERYWHERE, but I just can't help it. I love them. I think I first fell in love back in 2006 when Jessie Randall's apartment was featured in Domino. I love everything about this apartment and have used it as inspiration many times. Here's a picture of her living room with the George Nelson saucer lamp, which is my preferred shape.

I want it for over our dining room table. I realize that the cost is a bit crazy , but I feel like it would be a good investment- we would have it FOREVER, and maybe it would even be passed down to one of our kids, who will hopefully appreciate modern design as much as we do.

So, maybe someday we will have one. The good thing is that Rob is TOTALLY on board with this one, he loves modern design. We've talked about how over time, we would like to collect some of the quintessential modern design pieces, like an Eames chair, or Rob's favorite, Saarinen's womb chair- which I still need some convincing of. Maybe because every time I see it, it is in a bright red color, which I am not too fond of. But I have sat in one and they are ridiculously comfortable.

Etsy Friday

2010-06-04T10:49:00.001-07:00

I know that Father's Day is a few weeks away, but things are so busy around here that I know I need to be planning ahead. So, I picked out a few things on Etsy that I thought were fun gifts for dad. I know that I always have a hard time buying the men in my life gifts, so hopefully this will give you some inspiration if you are in the same boat.

I thought this t-shirt was so cute, especially for new dads- you can customize the year.

{Vintage Dad t-shirt}

Bathing in Guiness? I know Rob would be a fan!

{Guinness stout handmade soap}

Rob is not a golfer but I thought this was pretty clever!

{Golf Club Laptop Decal}

I thought these were snazzy!

{Custom luggage tags}

We are pretty hardcore Phillies fans. To say that we are obsessed would probably be an understatement. We even took Aiden to the parade when he was a baby. So, I know anything to do with Phillies is always a hit. I thought this panaromic photo of the field would be nice framed in an office or in a grouping with other pictures.

{Philadelphia Phillies Panoramic}

And lastly, has anyone seen the Miller Light commercial about the guy getting a beer at the bar and he has a "satchel" or man purse?! haha, I laughed so hard when I saw that. But, anyway, here is a nice "satchel" if your man is confident enough! Or, to just use for work :)

{City Messenger}

Hope you all have a nice weekend and stay cool!

Rug saga

2010-06-01T06:15:00.000-07:00

The rug in our living room has served us well the past 3 years. We had purchased the shag rug pretty inexpensively, for an 8' x 10', at Lowe's when we moved into the house. I really love the fact that it is soft. I wanted a lighter, neutral rug, and the nice thing with shag is that it doesn't show a lot of dirt. But it is now becomming pretty matted down, and I have to vacuum it a lot and in a very specific way to help with the matting. Below is a closeup, which isn't a great picture but I realize in the above picture the rug looks brand new, but in person it looks a lot worse. I also realize that we definitley don't "need" a new rug at this point, which is why I am in no rush to get one and have been looking around for awhile now.

The other night I had a dream that Aiden peed on the rug so we had to get rid of it. Which shows that we are working on potty training, and that deep down I kind of hate this rug. So, I've been looking for a nicer rug that will last for a very long time. The thing with the living room is that it is a very high traffic area. We have no entryway in the front, so when people come in the front door, they come right into the living room, so we need soemthing that can take wear and tear. It is also obvisouly, the place we hang out the most. The problem is that I want something neutral, and lighter, especially now that we have a darker sofa. But I want something that is going to hide dirt.

I fell in love with this rug from West Elm awhile ago...

I love the fact that it is still super soft and I think that it would hide dirt well because of the darker wool woven into it. It is not very thick, but I think putting a rug pad under it would make it comfortable to hang out on and I think not having a high pile rug is better for high-traffic areas.

I originally thought when we got the new sofa that a square 8' x 8' rug would fit better in the space, but they are so hard to find, and the other night I moved the rug we have around a little bit putting it just under the front legs of the sofa, and I think it does fit better in the space and it almost makes the room feel bigger.

So, I think I will keep my eye on this West Elm rug to see if it goes on sale. We definitely want to invest in a better rug, but the frugalista in me has a hard time buying anything full price!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

2010-05-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since a post on here. I actually have 2 posts started that I never finished. Things have been so busy and it seems like things are only going to get busier as we head into the summer. I seriously have done nothing decorating-related in a long time around here. But, I'm ok with that. Aiden keeps me busier than ever these days, and I am loving every minute of it. I am trying to really take advantage of these times with him because I know they won't last forever.

We don't have a lot going on this Memorial Day weekend- getting together with some friends, just hanging out at home, doing some yard work, I love those kinds of weekends.

So, I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day and hopefully my creative inspiration will come back soon.

Etsy Friday

2010-05-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

I am in a "beach state of mind" these days. Rob and I are going to Florida in a few weeks for our 5 year Anniversary and to say that I am extrememely excited is an understatement. We are leaving Aiden with his wonderful grandparents, who, quite honestly, he probably would prefer spending time with over us. So, we aren't feeling too guilty about that especially since it will probably be awhile until we can take another trip like this alone. The J.Crew Turks and Caicos catalog arrived about 2 weeks ago and it is seriously taking every ounce of self-control that I have not to go into debt buying all of their beach-inspired clothing and bathing suits. Seriously, sometimes I just go online and make a shopping cart of everything I want just for fun. Of course, I have never actually purchased those hundreds of dollars worth of J.Crew, but sometimes that is all I need to do to get it out of my system. I may be embarrased about sharing this with you after I publish this post.

Anyway, here are a few beach-inspired Etsy items...

I really just need to buy one of these nautical bags from this seller, whom I have posted about before. I just love them.

{Sailor Tote Bag}

I think this is genius- a pillow that you fill with sand for the beach- LOVE IT! It's totally portable and easy to travel with.

{Fillow}

Pretty...

{Beach Day}

Yummy tasting lip balm that is perfect for protecting your lips from the sun and smooching ;)

{Pineapple Passionfruit SPF 15 lip balm}

And lastly, I love t-shirts like this.

{Long walks on the beach t-shirt}

I hope everyone has a great weekend! It's supposed to be a beautiful one here in the Philly area :)

Brunch

2010-05-11T05:24:00.000-07:00

This past weekend for Mother's Day, I had my mom and grandmother over on Saturday for brunch since we would be with Rob's family on Sunday.

Over the past couple of years, my grandmother has given me some things that were hers, or even her mother's.

Most recently she gave me a set of solid silver candelabras that my grandfather gave her for their 10th Anniversary (I think). They are so pretty. You can either use them with the 3, or just as single candlesticks, which I decided was more appropriate for our intimate brunch.

I also love the idea of having all different teacups at a table setting. These are the only 3 that I have from my grandmother, but I hope to collect some more over time.

Here it is all put together.

And here is a shot of my beautiful grandmother and I. My mom had to take the picture, so she didn't get to be in it, but I really enjoyed my time with them!

it's friday already?!

2010-04-30T11:16:00.000-07:00

Seriously, where did the week go? Things were very much back to normal around here this week, which brought lots of busy-ness. It's all good things of course, but, I am sorry I haven't been around here much. To be honest, there is not much decorating inspiration of any sort going on around here these days. It seems to kind of come and go, and right now I feel like my time and energy has been focused on other things. Like facebook- just joined, I'm a nerd, I know- but now I am totally hooked, which is why I didn't want to join in the first place. Anyway, it is so nice to reconnect with people, some, whom I used to be very close to, and hopefully will again. But the point is, when I can pull myself away from the computer, there is lots of laundry, cleaning, and other responsibilites to tend to. I am feeling that initial stalking obsession of facebook is wearing off, and before I know it, I will be back to my daily reads of decorating blogs- which is where I really prefer to waste time.

Anyway- so, here we are at Friday already, and I owe you not only a post, but an Etsy Friday post. So, lets see...

Mother's Day is next Sunday, and although I prefer a gift certificate for a pedicure (hint hint to Rob), I thought it would be fun to pick out some pretty things, that I know I wouldn't mind receiving!

Who doesn't love a pretty necklace?

Silver Flower Petal Necklace

These are just my style- love them! ( I take a sz 8- jk, these are pretty pricey)

Handmade Leather Flip-Flops

I love big bags for toting around all of Aiden's stuff while we are out and about

Vanilla Tote

However, when I have a date night with Rob, I prefer just a small clutch.

Full Bloom Clutch

I would use this pretty dish on my bureau to throw jewelry on at the end of the day.

Lacy Bird Bowl

Hopefully you feel inspired to go out and get your mom, or someone you love who is a mom, a great gift, I'm sure she deserves it! :) Have a happy weekend!

This too shall pass

2010-04-21T15:26:00.000-07:00

I've been having kind of a tough week...I won't get into all the details, but highlights include keys locked in the car, and Bailey (our dog) having lyme's disease. But, the toughest thing is my mom is having some minor surgery on Friday. So, of course with that on my mind, all of these other things have really been testing me this week. I usually try not to get too personal on this blog, but I know that we've all been here before. When I take some time to slow down and remember that I have a lot to be thankful for, and more blessings in life that I could have ever imagined, it makes me remember that "this too shall pass". Something my mother and my grandmother have said to me many times.

So, I'm sorry that I haven't been around too much recently, but I am sure that things will feel back to normal soon. And today is a new day- the sun is shining, and Bailey has some meds. in his system and can actually walk today. So, things are already looking up.

I won't be around tomorrow, but I will share some random inspirational images with you until I'm back.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Etsy Friday

2010-04-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

My grandparents built a house in the poconos before I was born and I have so many childhood memories there. Sadly, the house was sold a few years ago, and since then, Rob and I have been talking about the benefits of having a vacation house in the poconos. Rob's family owns a cabin in Maine, which we love, go to every summer- and plan to always do, but it is so far away. So, Rob and I talk about having a pocono house to go to on the weekends in the summer.

We dream about buying land and then building a pre-fab house on the property. It would be a really simple and modern cabin, so I think it would be fun to decorate with a vintage mountain/camping theme.

I thought I would check out Etsy to see what I could find. Lets just say there is an abundance of this stuff- I found so much that I loved, it was hard just to pick a handful to share.

I love these colors together

{Vintage Melmac Prolon picnicware}

I would make a pillow out of this fabric

{Happy campers fabric}

for this stool

{Vintage wooden folding stool}

Some signs for the kitchen

{Vintage Dr. Pepper sign}

{Vintage creamsicle sticker}

and just some fun things to decorate with:

{Cherry red lantern}

{Cream and Red enamel double-broiler}

{Vintage Coleman Summer fun Cooler}

Pretty things

2010-04-14T12:55:00.001-07:00

I received a set of nesting bowls from the Liberty of London Target line for my birthday from my MIL {that stands for mother-in-law :) }, which I was excited about because I never ended up buying anything myself from the line because Target had sold out of almost everything when it first came out.

But, when I was in Target this past week, they had gotten more stuff in and had a ton of the storage bins. They had the same print that is on the biggest bowl in the set, which I've had sitting on the shelves in the kitchen. I've been liking how the pink looks with all the green. The bins have bright green on the inside too. I've been looking for a couple bins for these shelves since we redid the kitchen, and I thought I would try these out. I thought it would be too florally, but I think I really like them. What do you think?

I also got this sweet vase from Anthro from my girlfriends as part of a birthday gift- they know me well.

I thought this pic was funny because you can see me in the lamp.

Hope everyone is having a good week!!

Etsy Friday

2010-04-09T18:29:00.001-07:00

Sorry that I am posting this at 9:30pm, but it's still technically Friday, right?!

I've had a really good week. Thinking back on it makes me happy- it was my birthday, I got a night away with Rob, lots of playing outside with Aiden, Rob's work schedule allowed him to be home more this week, I had lunch at The Tea Room with my mom, it was a good week.

So, this post is just things that are happy...no other explanation needed.

{Daisy Daisy Print}

{Sock Monkey Gift Tags}

{Mid-Century floral glasses}

{Sailor tote bag}

{Floral throw pillow}

Have a happy weekend :)

No cost project

2010-04-08T06:09:00.000-07:00

When we got the new sofa, we knew that we wouldn't be able to use both of our end tables because there wouldn't be enough room. We aren't quite ready to get rid of the end tables because we like them so much, so they are currently sitting in our basement. Which actually goes against my strong belief not to keep any thing that you don't have plans to use as to not collect a house full of clutter. So, we'll see how long they last down there.

ANYWAY... I wanted something in between the sofa and chair that wouldn't be very deep and that would offer a little bit of storage. Rob mentioned that the small Ikea dresser in the second floor hallway would probably fit perfectly. I had wanted to paint it anyway, so I thought I would paint this one and try it out in the space for a little bit to see how I liked it, and then if I wanted to get another one to put upstairs I could.

I also remembered that I bought these knobs on clearance from Anthropologie last year with plans to eventually use them in our bathroom. But, since there are no plans at this point to redecorate the bathroom, I figured I would make use of them now.

I used leftover paint from the kitchen, so it is actually a very pale gray. I think I might like bright white better, but am not sure. I am thinking that when I get another one I will paint it white and then decide which one to use in the living room and which one to put back in the hallway. It would also be a lot easier to paint before putting it together.

I also moved our end table lamps onto the buffet since we only have space to use one table lamp in the living room. The lamp that was on the buffet got moved to the living room.

So, I used everything I already had, even though I plan to get another dresser to use back up in the hall because we need the storage. But, I wanted to make sure I really liked this first before committing to buying another one. Ideally, I would love a small antique dresser, but you never find those types of things when you are looking, so I think this will work great for now- what do you think?

City Love

2010-04-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! Rob and I enjoyed an overnight in the city Friday- Saturday to celebrate my birthday. It was great. The weather all weekend was gorgeous (and still is). We had such a relaxing time just walking around, going into shops, getting coffee, going out for dinner and ending with bruch at Parc. Aiden didn't join us on this trip- we (I) needed a night away. Although, when we got back I was a little hurt that he preferred "Pop-Pop" over me, but I guess that's better than him missing us terribly while we were away. My mom assures me that he asked about us a couple times, but she may just be trying to make me feel better.

Anyway, we didn't take our camera, so these are pics from the blackberry- so, sorry for the quality.

We stayed right in Rittenhouse, which was lovely. I have never seen so many people in the park. It reminded me of college when the weather would get nice, everyone would just come and hang out on the quad.

And of course, Anthropologie is right in Rittenhouse so we had to stop by.

Although it makes me a little sick that people spend $58 for a t-shirt there, some of the smaller housewares can be affordable. Here's my anthro loot:

Hope everyone is enjoying this weather!

Etsy Friday

2010-04-02T05:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been around much this week. For some reason, it has been a very busy week. I am exhausted. So, this post is just going to be about one seller- but a good one!

I finally ordered some prints for the frames in the dining room. It has been over a year since we re-decorated the dining room and I have been looking for prints for these frames. I have just had fabric in them in the meantime.

I found a photographer whose work I love. And, he is local, in Bucks County, which I thought was great. He has a studio that is open on the weekend in New Hope, so I will need to check it out some time.

Here's the photos I picked out in the frames- I had a hard time taking pictures because of reflections, but hopefully you can see them pretty well. And, if not, you can find them at his Etsy Store.

Here are some of some others I like...actually, I really like all of them.

{Waiting for the Tides}

{Lazy Afternoon}

{Retro Laundromat}

I think these 3 would be fun to use to decorate around when I eventually make a "big boy" room for Aiden.

{Nice Day for a Ride}

{Teal Truck}

{Orange Ride}

Happy weekend and Happy Easter!

It's Here!

2010-03-29T10:55:00.001-07:00

The new sofa is here!!

It arrived Saturday and we have already been enjoying it.

It's from Ikea- the Karlstad series. I was very skeptical about buying a sofa from Ikea at first. We wanted something that would be affordable, and that would take the wear and tear of kids. So, after some online research, and this blog post, I was convinced it was a good decision. After all, Ikea caters to families with children.

Rob and I took a few Ikea trips over the past couple of months for our kitchen project. We spotted the Karlstad sofa on one of our outings and it was in this color and with the aluminum legs instead of the boxy wood ones, which is why we probably took notice of it. I LOVED the color and the fabric, which is the Korndal Medium Gray. I wanted a neutral color sofa, but have been having a difficult time with browns and tans. And the tapered steel legs were much more my style than the ones that come with the sofa.

We looked into getting the chaise version instead of the sectional at first, but decided that the sectional would provide more seating and would fit better in our space.

As with all Ikea furniture, you have to assemble it, which was actually easier than I thought it would be.

When it first arrived, I was feeling overwhelmed- see below...

But, after a rescue by grandparents to take Aiden for a few hrs., it became less overwhelming.

Once we got all the pieces out of the box, it didn't seem as scary.

Rob worked on putting the pieces together, following the wordless Ikea instructions carefully. While I put all the covers on. It is all "slip-covered", but it is tight-fitting so it doesn't look like a slipcover.

Aiden's already enjoyed the "big new couch" as he calls it, and he's right-it is so big that we can all stretch out on it comfortably!

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

Etsy Friday- organization

2010-03-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

I love to be organized. I admit that I am not always great at it- I do have drawers, closets, and areas of our home that aren't very organized. But, I feel that life is happier when you are organized. This time of year often puts people into organization frenzies. I guess it goes hand in hand with spring cleaning. I have a whole pile of things for good will- getting rid of stuff is often the first step in organization.

So today's Etsy post are some things that may inspire some organization.

There are a ton of fabric bins/baskets that you can find. Especially if you have kids, you know how important it is to have something to keep toys and books under control.

{Fabric Bin}

A good wall calendar is important to help you to remember things like birthdays, dinners, parties, etc. I know everyone is all high-tech now with their Iphones and Blackberries, but I am an old fashion kind of gal and like to have things written down.

{Vintage Wallpaper Calendar}

Etsy even has some great printable calendars where you pay a small fee, usually about $5 and then you are sent the design and then you can print it out. Doing this at Christmas would be a great way to get a couple gifts out of it too since you can print as many as you want for personal use. ( I just love this one with the Mid-century chairs!)

{Printable Calendar}

There is an area in our kitchen that just collects clutter from mail, keys, etc. A good magnet board could help in an area like that. And you can even find cute little magnets. And a key rack would help prevent losing keys.

{Black and White Magnetic Board}

{Metal Serving Tray Memo Board}

{Glass tile magnet set}

{Bicycle Key Rack}

And lastly, I came across this and just had to post it. I do all the bills in our house. My father is an accountant and taught me how to budget from a very young age. I also just enjoy it- I know, I am a nerd. I like sitting down and writing out bills (again, old fashioned, I don't pay everything online) and taking out my calculator and budgeting our money. Ok, I know, you are considering never looking at my blog again because you think I have issues, so I will stop now. When I saw this bill organizer, it just made me swoon. This is exactly the kind of thing I would love.

{Bill Calendar}

So, there you have it. Maybe you will do some organizing this weekend? Either way, hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Out with the old, waiting for the new

2010-03-25T06:04:00.000-07:00

Our new sofa is being delivered this weekend, and our old one is gone forever. So right now our living room looks like this.

It actually hasn't been that bad not having a sofa. The white chair is from our bedroom and is so comfortable, I wish that we used it more. But we won't have room for it down here with the new sofa.

Although I don't want to tell you about the sofa until we have it and I have pictures to show, I will give away that the color is gray, which is one of the reasons I am so excited about it. I felt that our current living room curtains being dark brown, wouldn't go too well with the new sofa. I got some fabric and am in the process of whipping up some new curtains. However, season 3 of Mad Men just came from Netflix and therefore I only got one curtain done. But here is a picture of the fabric. It is Waverly's Cross Section in charcoal.

I will post pictures of the sofa hopefully on Sunday or Monday. See you tomorrow for Etsy Friday!

And the "Lucky" winner is....

2010-03-24T05:37:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway! I was excited to see that people actually read my blog and hopefully enjoy doing so. I had a good time checking out all of your blogs as well.

I decided to let Aiden pick the winner- I thought that those of you who didn't win couldn't get upset with him!

I had to interrupt his morning shows, but managed to get him to pick a number.

The winner is #16 - Jhenna. Congratulations!! Just email me your information and pick out a print from LuckyBluebirdArt.

Thanks again to everyone who entered and I look forward to doing another giveaway down the road.

Happy Monday

2010-03-22T07:26:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up to gray and rainy skies. But I'm not complaining- we had a beautiful weekend with 75 degree weather and lots of sun. Although we had a busy weekend we were able to spend time outside, which was refreshing.

We had some friends over for dinner Saturday night and I got to use these napkins that I bought a while back for the first time.

I got them on clearance from Dwell Studio around Christmas time. I cannot afford stuff from Dwell Studio, but I love their designs and confess I often covet their products. These napkins were regularly $64 for a set of 4 (?!?!!) and I got them for $20 for a set of 4- so I bought 2. I just couldn't resist. They were the perfect color yellow for our dining room and now that spring is here, I certainly don't regret buying them.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway -you have 2 more days to enter!

Etsy Friday- a giveaway!

2010-03-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

The weather is gorgeous outside, so I will try and keep this short because neither of us should be on our computer right now.

I've never done a giveaway before- I have no idea how many people actually look at my blog, and that's ok with me. I keep this blog because I enjoy decorating. For me, our home and making it what it is, is something that I love. I feel blessed to be able to stay at home with our son, and it brings me joy to make our home a place that the 3 of us love being. So, I don't write this blog to become well-known. Not that I am opposed to that, or to others who have made blogging their career. But I do this mostly for me, I just hope that others enjoy it and feel inspired by it.

Ok, enough of that- so, I am doing a giveaway that is sponspored by no one, but a little gift from me to you (ok, one of you). I could spend hours on Etsy looking at all their lovely stuff, and I have mentioned LuckyBluebirdArt a few times now. I finally got around to ordering a print for the kitchen.

I mentioned to Amanda (the seller) in our Etsy convo how much I love her prints and have mentioned her a few times on my "Etsy Fridays". When my print arrived that I ordered, she also sent another print, that I had put on the blog. Isn't that just soooo sweet of her!?!

So in lieu of her kindness, I decided that I am going to do a giveaway of any one 8x10 print from LuckyBluebirdArt. I am excited about doing this giveaway because it's something that I have in my home and hope it is something that you will enjoy too. I am also happy to support an Etsy shop, and maybe it will inspire you to do so yourself.

So all you have to do is comment on this post: ETSY ME!

I will keep it open through Tuesday 3/23

I will ship anywhere in the US

I will announce the winner on Weds. and the winner can check out the shop and pick out any of the 8x10 prints.

have a happy weekend! :)

Farewell

2010-03-16T05:10:00.000-07:00

If you know me, or read this blog regularly, you know that I have been battling with our sofa for quite a while. You know that while I love this sofa, it is not conducive to life with a toddler, (or a dog). As Aiden gets older, it becomes more and more clear that the sofa is not cut out for life with a toddler- especially a toddler boy who likes to wrestle and jump. I will find buttons on the floor that popped off, the cushions aren't as comfortable as they used to be, and although I have done a good job keeping up with getting it cleaned, I will never buy a white sofa again.

I have been trying to find the perfect sofa for quite awhile- online, in stores, and I even thought about just getting a slipcover made for the current sofa. But, I never found anything that I felt really good about. I want something that will fit our lifestyle without compromising our style of decorating. We also don't want to break the bank.

So, all this to say, Rob and I found the perfect sofa. We weren't even trying- it just happened. (ok, I know this all sounds extremely cheesy) But, it does seem like fate- especially because we decided we weren't going to buy the perfect sofa until we sold our current sofa on Craigslist, for a decent price. And one day, when I was feeling frustrated with our sofa, I just decided to post it on Craigslist to see what happened. And 2 hours later, an excited girl from Philly contacted me. And she is picking it up this weekend. And we ordered our new sofa yesterday.

So, we are saying farewell to our beloved sofa. I am a little emotional- this was the first big purchase we made as a married couple and it was with us in our little West Chester apartment, moved into our first home with us, and got us through those long sleepless night when we bought Aiden home.

I'm not going to share about the new sofa yet. Lets just take this time to say goodbye.

(if you think I am a complete nutcase, I understand)

Etsy Friday

2010-03-12T08:42:00.001-08:00

My birthday is in a few weeks so I put together a little post of gifts, that I think any girl would be excited about.

I've admired this necklace for a long time- I actually noticed it when I watched the Bachelorette last year and was excited that it was an Etsy product!

{Turquise Monogramed Necklace}

What girl doesn't love pretty stationary, especially when it can be personalized?

{Leafy Personalized Cards}

We all know I'm a sucker for a pretty pillow

{Queen Annes Lace Pillow}

I don't know why, but I think "Earl Gray soap" sounds yummy. Maybe because I have had Earl Gray Ice Cream at one of our favorite restaurants in town, Majolica, and I know it sounds like a strange flavor, but it was SOOO good.

{Earl Gray Tea Soap}

And lastly, this kitchen towel is just so cheery!

{Hand Printed Flour Sack Towel}

Hope everyone has a great weekend! It is supposed to rain here all weekend, but I'll take it over snow and cold weather.

Kitchen breakdown

2010-03-08T17:26:00.000-08:00

So, as promised, I wanted to share our budget and costs for our kitchen makeover. Here is the post with before shots. Sorry to bore you with more pictures of our kitchen, but I have a hard time doing posts without pictures.

Our budget for this project was $1,000 and we were determined to stay within budget. We were doing this "Trading Spaces" style (minus the whole trading spaces/time limit part).

The whole reason for this project was to make an island to provide more counterspace. So, by using the cabinets that we already had, for the base, we saved a ton of money. It didn't take long to decide on the pre-cut butcher block from Ikea. By only spending $200 on the countertop, we were able to stretch our money.

We did repaint, which wasn't neceseary, but something we have been talking about doing, and decided now was a good time to do it. We always get Lowe's Valspar paint and have always been pleased. This particular color is Seashell Gray and I love it!

I made the curtains from 2 yards of fabric I ordered from Etsy. I can't promise that I won't change these from time to time. We all know how much I like to do simple sewing projects like this to change things up a bit. But the fabric is Michael Miller "Mod Geo" in green.

I also ordered a couple of prints for the kitchen from Etsy which I haven't shared with you yet because one hasn't arrived yet and I haven't gotten a frame for the other one, but I will let you know when I get them up.

So, here's the breakdown list:

Base Cabinets- FREE

Butcherblock countertop (Ikea): $195

3 legs for island to provide more support (Ikea): $25 each, total $75 (sorry can't find the link but they are Utby)

New light fixture (Ikea): $25

Stools for island (Overstock): $200

Knobs for cabinets (Ikea) 10 packs at $4 ea.: $40

Shelf for under potrack (Ikea): $70

Paint and supplies (Lowes): $40

Fabric: $20

Art (prints from Etsy): $40

We probably spent around $75 on other random things that came up that we needed to get like caulk, dry wall to repair the wall, etc.

TOTAL: $780

So, we still have a little over $200 left! We still need to do the backsplash, but don't anticpate that costing too much becasue we are using the most basic white subway tiles that cost less than 50 cents each. If we still have money left over I would like to get a new trashcan since ours is broken.

There you have it! I am so glad that we stayed well within our budget and were able to do all we wanted to.

Spring Break

2010-03-05T08:18:00.001-08:00

I am taking a little break from 'Etsy Fridays' today. Although, I did make a couple etsy purchases this week that I will share with you once they arrive. But, it feels like spring out today, and I am excited. Even though there are still some small patches of snow around and the ground is way too damp to take Aiden out to play - it's coming, and I say, bring it!

So yesterday, I ran down to Produce Junction, where it only cost me $5 for 3 bunches of flowers.

And I spread them all over the house.

And it makes me happy.

And it's the weekend, which means Rob is not working.

And Saturday night I get to see these girls:

Hope you all have a happy weekend!

Pocket Doors!

2010-03-02T06:01:00.000-08:00

I was reading Decor8 last week and was noticing on this post how similar the floors of the house were to ours (I love our floors). Anyway, I noticed in one of the pictures that there were pocket doors between the living and dining rooms. (I didn't want to put any pictures from the post because I think they are copywrighted, but check out the post and you will see what I am talking about). Anyway, I immediately said to Rob- we should have pocket doors in between our living and dining rooms! In which he responded, "I know, I have said that before". I have no memory of this conversation. In fact, Rob is always saying that we should knock down the wall between the living and dining rooms.

Anyway, the point is, I now really want pocket doors. It would be nice in the winter to close off the rooms to feel more cozy. Or, when entertaining, you could just go into the living room after dinner, close the doors and not feel like you need to clean up dinner right away.

apartmenttherapy

I feel like maybe at some point our house had pocket doors there. When I researched a little bit online, it said that pocket doors were really big in the 1880s and 1890s. This is exactly when our house was built.

above from Door16

I am pretty sure that we would probably need to hire someone to do this. Rob said that he could probably do it, but it seems really complicated- removing the dry wall, to install the doors inside the walls. But, I think it would be worth it in the end.

I realized I didn't have any pictures of the actual door frame so I had to snap a quick one this morning while Aiden was eating breakfast and watching TV.

Etsy Friday - Fly Away With Me

2010-02-26T06:29:00.000-08:00

I really like birds in home decor, although, I don't really have any in our home. I used to have some pillow covers that I made using fabric with birds on it, but we all know how much I like to change pillow covers.

Winter Tree with Birds Duvet Cover

Here are 2 completely different bird pillows, but I love both.

Red Bird on Branch Pillow

Black Bird Felt Cushion

I always think that if I ever have a girl, I would decorate the nursery with lots of birds. They just feel a little more girly, don't you think? Although, I think that I am destined to have all boys-Rob always rolls his eyes when I say this.

Modern/Retro Bird Mobile

Trio of Tweet Birdies

I have featured this seller before, it is one of my favorites on Etsy. Admittedly, I have not bought anything yet from this shop. But, I am trying to figure out the right place for a couple of these prints. I just love them so much. Maybe in the new kitchen, or in the 3 frames in the dining room- I am just not sure if it would be too much with the wallpaper.

Yellow Birds on Gray Tiles

And lastly, isn't this little bird just darling?

Chick-a-dee Desk topper

I hope you all have a great weekend! It is snowing here....again....seriously, make it stop.

Kitchen Update

2010-02-24T18:41:00.000-08:00

We took a little Ikea excursion last week partly to get out of the house but also to look for the stools for the island and the shelf for under the pot rack. They did not have the stools that we wanted, but in the end it all worked out for the better. We were trying to be conscious parents and thought we should get stools with backs on them. However, we realized that once Aiden is old enough to sit on the stool, he probably will be fine- he's a boy, I think he will survive. Anyway, when we got home I started looking for some stools online. I really wanted to stay in our budget. The Ikea stools were $70 each and we had planned on getting 3. So I was looking to spend around $200 total. I looked on Overstock and immediately found these stools and they were only $100 for 2. I have seen almost the exact same stool on the Pottery Barn website. Below are the pictures from the Pottery Barn website and the Overstock website. They are the exact same stool. And the price at Pottery Barn, $240- FOR ONE! Ridiculous.

So needless to say, I showed these to Rob, he loved them and said to order them right away. And they arrived today. We really only needed 3, but they came 2 together, and the price was still $200.

And, as you can see, we got the same shelf from Ikea that we have in the living room. It fits perfectly in the space and these shelves are the best. I wanted something that would provide enough storage for things like the mixer, and I plan on getting some baskets for a couple of the shelves to hold things like dish towels. I also think the open shelving makes it feel warmer, which I like.

Oh, and lastly, you may notice that the floor is fixed. We couldn't find this exact flooring anywhere, so we decided to cut a piece out of the closet and Rob did a great job of lining it all up and making it unnoticeable.

So, that's pretty much it. The last thing we have to do is the backsplash and I'm not sure when that will get done, but I think everything has really come together and I am loving the space. Aiden also enjoys climbing in the open shelves and moving the new stools all around the kitchen.

Hope you are all having a good week. I am praying that this snow storm blows right over us and completely misses. I am trying to think positively.

holy toledo

2010-02-19T12:23:00.001-08:00

I am behind on this, but I found out about the Liberty of London and Target collaboration this past weekend. Go here to check it out. I am seriosuly considering going to Target at 8am on March 14th when it is launched. The bad thing is that is daylights savings, so it is really like 7am. But I am worried that if I go later that day, all the good stuff will be gone. Who's with me?

Etsy Friday

2010-02-19T09:59:00.001-08:00

I am done with winter. It was fun when it was Christmas and that first snow fall in December, and sipping hot chocolate, snuggling on the sofa. But now, I am finished. I am craving warmer weather, being able to see the grass in the backyard, not bundling Aiden up like a snowman every time we go somewhere. I am so glad that I redid our dining room last year because it so cheery and spring-like on these long winter days. I think every house should have a yellow room.

Anyway, since I am craving that spring time weather, I thought I would share a couple spring-inspiring items from Etsy.

Love this fabric- it would go well with my pillows in the living room- I may just have to find this fabric on my own and make a much cheaper version of this lamp shade using a shade I already have.

Drum lamp shade

This little milk glass pitcher would look lovely filled with some fresh blooms, don't you think?

Milk glass pitcher

Wearing this apron while I cook may make me feel better about being stuck inside.

Cup of tea reversible apron

This bag would be perfect for trips to the farmer's market on Saturday mornings

Eco friendly organic tote

And lastly, I have to admit, I just bought this adorable little makeup bag , so it is no longer available. I figured I can throw it in my purse so that every time I reach in there for something, this will give me a small reminder that spring is not too far away. But check out the rest of the shop where it came from.

have a happy weekend!!

Kitchen complete (ok, not really)

2010-02-17T06:18:00.000-08:00

Although there are still some things that need to be done in the kitchen, the major stuff is done and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

Here's a before shot again, just so you can remember what it looked like.

And here it is now.

As you can see, we painted. I don't think I mentioned before that we were planning on doing that-mostly because I thought you might think I was crazy for repainting. But, I have been wanting to paint a room this light gray color and we figured if we were going to redo the kitchen, we might as well go all in. It was actually a pretty quick project because we didn't have to move any furniture. I got most of the painting done last week in the evenings while Aiden was sleeping and Rob was working.

I love how the cafe style curtains look. And even though the top half of the window is open, they give more privacy when closed than the bamboo shades.

So, if you remember from my little mood board, I originally planned on these knobs from anthro. In fact, my sweet sister-in-law, Gwyn, even offered to buy some for a birthday present to cut down on the cost since they were $8 each and we would need 19 of them! But, when she went to purchase them, we realized that they were sold out in the lime green color. As I thought about it more, I realized that maybe something super simple would be better. We found these stainless steel ones at IKEA (of course) and they were only $4 for a pack of 2. So it only ended up costing 40 bucks. I like the clean, simple look of these and realize that perhaps the anthro ones would have been too much in a small space. I also realized the anthro ones were quite large at an inch and a half in diameter.

We did some rearranging in the corner to the left of the stove where clutter seems to gather no matter what. If you remember, we had a monstrosity of a wall organizer that I kind of hated because it was so large. So, I just bought a couple of bowls and a little mail/pen organizer to keep our things somewhat under control.

That's all for now. We still have a couple things left to complete-getting stools for the island, the backsplash, and the corner area where we need to repair the floor and replace the kitchen cart with a shelf. But, I am already SO happy with how the kitchen looks and functions. Once everything is done, I plan on posting about our budget for this project just so you can see how affordable it was. Rob and I are firm believers in doing things on a budget, with getting good quality and the end result that you want. So, stay tuned for more to come!

Etsy Friday

2010-02-12T06:46:00.000-08:00

Summer Weeds Tea Towel

This will be a quick post as today is Aiden's birthday and I have a ton to do. I thought I would feature one seller today instead of a couple different items.

I found this store on Etsy because I love things that are screenprinted. The shop's name is Skinny Laminx and the thing that is especially awesome is that she lives in Cape Town, South Africa. That's what is so cool about Etsy- it's people all over the world and we are able to have such easy access to it.

Borrowed spoon tea towel

I also love that she explains how friendly her neighborhood is, and how someone down the road does some of her screenpriting and someone else does some sewing.

Orla Tea Towel

Most of what she makes is tea towels, and I will probably get some for the new kitchen at some point- I love the one above. But she also makes a couple aprons, pillow covers, and even sells some yardage of fabric.

Sevilla Rock Apron

I love the towel below because we all know how much I love Ikea. My sister-in-law, Gwyneth lives in Uganda and she always says how great an Ikea would do over there. Apparently Heather feels the same way about having one in Capetown.

I wish we had an IKEA tea towel

Well, I am off to run errands and bake cupcakes. Hope everyone has a great weekend and a love-filled Valentine's day!

Snowed in

2010-02-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

Things have been a little crazy around here. After our big snow storm last weekend, we got an even bigger blizzard that started Tuesday evening and finally stopped last night around midnight. I have never seen so much snow in my life, and I probably never will again. But today the sun is shining and Rob is home safe. He was working at the hospital through the storm for about 40 hours.

I made some banana bread to pass some time and of course I loved having the new island and all that counterspace to work.

We're making more progress on the kitchen, which I will share with you early next week hopefully. Aiden's birthday is tomorrow and then we are having a small get together here on Saturday with family to celebrate. So this weekend will be a little busy, but I will try to get pictures up soon.

Hope everyone in the Philly area is surviving digging out of your houses today :-)

Etsy Friday a little late

2010-02-06T13:40:00.000-08:00

Sorry I didn't do this yesterday- it was a busy day, plus I had to get ready for the big blizzard that was coming. Luckily, since we were snowed in today, I have had a lot more time on my hands. I even got to relax in my Snuggie and watch "I Love Lucy" episodes while Aiden was napping.

Anyway, with Valentine's Day just a week away, I thought I would do a Valentine's Etsy post. Now, even though a lot of people think Valentine's day is another pointless holiday created by greeting card companies, I actually really enjoy Valentine's Day. I get to have a date night with my husband and take time out of our busy lives to sit down and have great conversation. Having a toddler makes time like this precious, and necessary.

So, here are some items I picked out that put a smile on my face. And if you truly hate Valentine's day, then just skip over this post :-)

I think this poster is super fun.

Letterpress MiniPoster

I think this clutch is adorable and perfect for a date night! And at only $18 its super affordable.

Ruffle Foldover Clutch

I just LOVE the gray color of this pillowcover.

LOVE pillow cover

I would serve my special Valentine cookies on this plate.

Decoupage Plate

And lastly, this ring is a little pricy, but I think it is so pretty.

Pearl Buttercup Ring

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Kitchen Progress

2010-02-03T05:35:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, Rob and his dad worked on pulling the corner cabinet piece away from the wall. It went pretty well and there were no terrible surprises. The one wall needed some repairing, but nothing a little dry wall wouldn't fix. The thing that is probably going to be the most difficult is the floor. We knew that the newer floor wasn't installed under the cabinet, so it wasn't surprising, but we are not sure if we are going to be able to find the exact flooring. We still need to look around a little bit, and we're optimistic that we'll find something that will work. We plan on putting a shelf in that corner anyway.

I would just like to point out that I can basically take no credit for any of this. Rob and his dad did all of the work. And, on the same day, they also repaired a leak from our shower that went down into the dining room ceiling. I took some pictures just so you could get an idea what we were dealing with that day. The hole looks big in this picture, but it was really only about an inch and a half big, and now it is all patched up thanks to my wonderful husband.

On Monday, Rob and I headed off to Ikea to get the countertop and a new light fixture since we kept hitting our heads on the pendant light that we had in the kitchen. We had a successful trip and decided on this light fixture which was only $25. Oh Ikea- how I love you.

So, here is the new butcher block countertop on the current cabinets. We also had to get the legs for the one side for more support. It was Rob's idea to make it bigger on the one side so that we could store the trash can and our step stool underneath the counter. We still have to get the barstools and the shelving for the corner under the pot rack. We are going to keep the kitchen cart in the basement for some storage of things and I thought it would also be nice to have around for summer bar-b-ques.

We decided on the butcher block from Ikea because it was so affordable ($200 for this huge piece) and would allow us to use money in other areas of the kitchen- like adding a backsplash. We also decided that probably at some point we would replace all the countertops in the kitchen with something nicer anyway.

I am already so much happier working in the kitchen. I had some girlfriends over for dinner last night and having all that extra counterspace is so nice. It has made me realize that not only will it be beneficial for every day use, but also great for entertaining.

So, there is still lots to do, but I am glad we have made so much progress already!

The Kitchen: the issues and the plan

2010-01-30T12:23:00.000-08:00

So, you know now that we are doing our big kitchen project, and I am happy to say that things are already on their way. But, I first wanted to share with you why we are making some changes in the kitchen.

Here is how the kitchen looks now.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the way our kitchen is now when you first glance at it. It looks great, and we feel lucky to live in a small twin home and have a large eat-in kitchen. But, the reality is, this kitchen is not very functional. We have lived here for almost 3 years and very slowly I have become annoyed with how difficult it is to function in this kitchen. I remember when Rob mentioned this past summer making some changes in the kitchen and I thought he was crazy. But, then the more I thought about it and paid attention to my frustrations, I realized he was right.

Issue #1: Lack of usable counter space.

Our kitchen has 2 main work areas- where the sink is, and where the stove is. The counterspace next to the sink is usually taken up by our drainboard, which, even in my best efforts not to have it out all the time, pretty much has a permanent home there next to the sink. Even with a dishwasher, we need to use a drainboard. So- no counterspace is really left except maybe to pour a glass of water. The area by the stove is ok, although with the toaster and other various things taking up room, there is not much space left to work with. Plus, the area by the phone is always junked up with stuff- keys, mail, etc. I hate this, but I am not sure there is anything I can do about it. So, then there is this large piece of counterspace in the far corner of the kitchen (see above picture) that would be great to be able to use but because of its location, it can't be. We had the kitchen cart from our apartment when we were first married, and this is probably what we end up using more than any other counterspace. Which is honestly ridiculous.

Issue #2: The things that are stored in the large cabinet space in the corner are not easily accessible.

Therefore, I end up getting VERY frustrated every time I try and take a cookie sheet out of the cabinet. This results in less baking of cookies, which makes Rob very upset. I end up having to move chairs around, and sometimes even pushing the table out of the way to get things out of this cabinet.

Issue #3: It is all very awkward with the table, corner cabinet, and kitchen cart.

We love this table. In fact, we just posted it on Craigslist and are a little sad about it because it is such a great table, but the truth is, it just doesn't work in here. More counterspace is more inportant than a sit down table. Plus we have our dining table just a few feet away in the dining room. If 4 people eat at the kitchen table, we have to pull it out from the window so that person can actually sit down.

So, with all that said, the plan is to remove the above three things- getting rid of the table completely, making a large kitchen island in the center of the kitchen, and also getting rid of the kitchen cart. We are planning to put a shelf under the pot rack so that I still have some space to put things that are now on top of the corner cabinet and kitchen cart.

Sorry this post is somewhat long and boring. We are going to Ikea this afternoon to pick up a few things, so I will have an update for you later as we have begun tackling this project this past weekend. Stay tuned!

Etsy Friday -cover my wall

2010-01-29T09:06:00.000-08:00

I thought on today's "Etsy Friday" I would take a look at some wall art. It can be expensive to cover your walls. Rob and I always talk about how much we want more art for our home. But, it is difficult when art (especially original art) can be so expensive. But Etsy is a great way to get something that is more original without breaking the bank. Any kind of original art is probably going to be a little more on the pricier side, no matter who the artist is.

I tend to like paintings that are a little abstract, but not to the extreme where it looks like my 2 year old son can do it. I really like this one a lot.

sandinthesky on ETSY

There is some seriosuly fabulous photography prints for sale on Etsy. I tend to like ones that are in nature- birds, flowers, trees, skies. These are so affordable and you can usually pick which size you want, which is great. I thought this one was especially pretty.

Racetay on ETSY

One of my favorite things to look at on Etsy are the great graphic art prints. There are SO many, they are SO affordable and I love the modern feel they give. This one is from one of my favorite shops.

LuckyBluebirdArt on Etsy

And lastly, I really like sketches, and I hope no one is offended by this, but I really like nude sketches- not so much full frontal nudity, but something tasteful, like this one below. I hope you don't think I am weird, but I really would like to have some nude art in our home. Maybe hanging in the bedroom as opposed to the living room, but seriously, the human body is a beautiful thing!

emrah79 on ETSY

Well, thats all for today. Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! We are planning on starting on the kitchen project. More on that later :-)

Pretty Things

2010-01-26T07:23:00.000-08:00

Recently I came across a blog that I have become somewhat obsessed with. I try not to spend too much time looking at a lot of blogs because before I know it, 2 hrs have gone by and the laundry is still dirty, the sink is still full of dishes and I forgot the dog was outside and he almost froze to death. So, I really try and limit my time on the computer- this is another reason I refuse to join facebook.

Anyway, I have been looking at Decor8 for awhile, which is a very popular blog, but I recently realized that Holly, the writer of Decor8 has another blog, called Haus Maus, where she writes aboout living in Germany with her husband. They had a vacation place there for a couple years before recently relocating there full time. They are currently looking for a new "flat", but their current place just makes me swoon. I could look at these pictures forever- they just make me so happy. First of all, she takes great pics, and secondly, I love her decorating style. I love all the white, with the soft pastels. I am not sure I could ever decorate quite like this with a toddler around, but it is all just so pretty. It makes me realize that I really like pretty things for your home- vases, candles, fresh flowers.

The reason why I think I enjoy reading this blog a little more than Decor8 is because it is personal, it's about her and her experiences there- being an American girl in Germany. It all sounds very romantic and exciting.

Anyway, check it out if you'd like. I'm off to buy some flowers from Produce Junction!

photos from hollybecker/decor8- haus maus

Etsy Fridays (making it personal)

2010-01-22T11:08:00.000-08:00

Ok, so, I know I keep saying this, but I really do want to post more. And I really intended to do a post earlier this week, but we have been fighting colds around here for the past few days. I am feeling much better today, but Aiden is still pretty sick and now Rob is starting with it.

So, I am going to make this "Etsy Friday" post a little more personal.

Remember how I mentioned that we were planning a bigger project? Well, we are going to be making some exciting changes in the kitchen. This will probably be the biggest project we will have taken on in the house. Rob has done a lot out in the backyard (garden, deck, awesome gate/door) since moving in. But, we haven't done a whole lot inside the house besides painting/decorating, mostly because there really hasn't been anything that "needs" to be done. I am not really going to call this a renovation, because that seems a little extreme. But, the kitchen will be different when we're done (at least that's what I'm hoping!!). The main thing we are doing is making a kitchen island. There will be more changes, but I won't get into all that quite yet. Later I will post pictures of how the kitchen is now and a little more explanation of why we are changing it. We haven't started actually doing anything yet, and really have no timeline for it, so don't hold your breath for the finished product. In the meantime, here is a little taste of some things I already picked out, including bar stools, a ceiling light, and shelving from Ikea. As well as some fabric that I plan to use to make cafe-style curtains, the "Keep Calm and Carry On" sign that I have always wanted to incorporate somewhere into our home, and some Anthroplogie knobs, which I am not 100% sure of yet because of the price, but I love them.

The fabric and sign above I found on Etsy. These signs seem to be everywhere, but I think that Etsy seems to have the most color options. When it comes to finding fabric, I always turn to Etsy first. There are SO many options at such great deals. Most of my projects are pretty small, so if something doesn't seem to be the exact color I thought when I receive it, I can usually use it for something else. I have also found that a lot of times you can find remnants or "fat quarters" for sale on Etsy for a couple of dollars to make sure it is exactly what I want before ordering more yardage.

And lastly, this has nothing to do with the kitchen, but I just ordered this print for Aiden for his birthday that's coming up. He got so much for Christmas, its overwhelming, so we wanted to pick out something that he would love, but wouldn't add to all the "stuff" he already has. Aiden is obsessed with letters. I know, it's strange for an almost 2 year old to know all his letters, the sounds they make, and how to make everything he does involve letters, but he does. We didn't even really teach him intentionally. Anyway, we will frame this and hang it somewhere in his room where he can look at it and enjoy it. I am excited about it. Again, there is a lot of this kind of stuff on Etsy, but I liked this one the best and for the price.

Hope you have a happy weekend!

Etsy Fridays

2010-01-15T08:30:00.000-08:00

I am trying to be better about doing more posts. One of the reasons I don't post as much as I'd like is because I don't always have things to post about. I don't want this to become a blog where I just post pictures that I find other places. I will probably do that some times, I just don't want to make it a habit.

So, I had an idea that every Friday, ( don't hate me if I sometimes miss one or two) I will post some things I am lusting after on Etsy. For those of you who are not familiar with Etsy, you can watch an informative video here. But, basically it is people selling handmade, and vintage things. You can also buy supplies (like fabric). I haven't bought much from Etsy, but when I have, I have been pleased. It also feels good to support homemade. Sometimes the amount of choices on Etsy is overwhelming, but if you take the time to sort through it all, you can find some great treasures that you would never be able to buy anywhere else.

I'll probably stick to mostly home/decorative goods, but may occasionally post a great handbag or scarf that is just so pretty it should be mentioned.

So, here it goes.....

These would look darling in a nursery

These would look good in my living room

I'm not usually a fan of wall decals, but I like the modern look of these. I think they would look best in a modern home that is in the mountains somewhere.

These look like they are in perfect condition and I could use a new wooden salad bowl since my one from Pottery Barn is peeling.

So, there you have it. You will have to let me know if you think this is a good idea, or if you are bored with it. I won't be offended.

Hope you have a happy weekend :-)

Back to normal

2010-01-12T12:00:00.001-08:00

I think its fair to say that things are pretty much back to normal around here after the holidays- I took Aiden to story hour at the library, and a trip to Target today.

I made an Ikea trip last week and got a few things that I have been talking about getting for a long time.

Finally got this small chest of drawers for miscellaneous things that you would probably find in a bathroom or hall closet- both of which we don't have on the second floor. My original thought was to put the dresser in our walk-though closet, which is between the bathroom and our bedroom. However, it seemed too crowded because we recently moved Bailey's bed to the spot where I had originally thought of putting the dresser.

So, I put the dresser in the hallway, at the bottom of the 3rd floor stairs. With it only being 12 inches deep, it fits well and doesn't feel like it is taking up too much space.

The other thing I bought were new ceiling lamps for the hallways. The fixtures we had were fine, but not something we would have picked out. Here is the old.

I have been wanting this one from Ikea for awhile now and finally got around to getting them. Although, only the 2nd floor one is installed. We haven't gotten around to doing the 3rd floor one yet. But it is exactly the same so I wouldn't bore you with 2 sets of the same pictures anyway.

When Rob and I were at Ikea this past weekend, researching a bigger project that I will be sharing about once we start working on it, we were talking about how great Ikea is and wondering how people who don't have the luxury of living close to one survives. Of course, this is somewhat ridiculous, but I don't know where I would shop when I need affordable options if I couldn't go to Ikea.

So, that's what normal life is around here, and I'm glad to be back.

Recovering from the Holidays and the Kitchen Sink

2010-01-02T07:07:00.000-08:00

I am still recovering from the holidays around here. Things have been busy- wonderful, but busy. We were away for a few days at the beginning of the week and then New Years came so quick. I am thankful that we live so close to family and are able to do so much, but I am looking forward to some serious R&R in January.

The Christmas decorations are starting to come down. After New Years, they start to make me feel claustrophobic. I think its because we have so much more stuff after receiving all our gifts, especially now with Aiden.

Anyway, I've been especially appreciative of our kitchen sink this holiday season. That may sound ridiculous. But I LOVE our sink. I have never used another sink that is better than our sink. I can't take credit for it because when we bought the house, it was installed new by the previous owner. But I never want another sink except this one. It is SO deep and the size is perfect. The arched faucet is perfect. I have been able to wash large pots and pans, serving dishes, baby, and dog in this sink with no problem.

I have some smaller projects and maybe one larger one that I will be working on/planning in the next few weeks, so keep posted!

A Very Merry Christmas Dinner

2009-12-26T07:52:00.000-08:00

For the first time since we moved into our home, I hosted a Holiday dinner. It wasn't real big, 8 people (plus Aiden), which was the perfect number for our small abode. My wonderful husband quickly snapped some photos for me before people arrived since I was busy in the kitchen. I realized that I am so thankful that our kitchen is tucked in the back of the house, hidden, because it was a mess throughout the night!

Anyway, here is the table. The place cards tied around the napkins I bought from the same Etsy store where I bought our "Merry Chirsitmas" banner.

I set up appetizers out in the living room and the windowsill in our dining room is the perfect place to set up drinks.

There was plenty of room on the buffet and the console to set all the food so that it didn't have to be on the table.

All in all, I think it went well. I really enjoyed hosting and hope to do it again in the years to come!!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas! We are trying to recover and find a place for all of Aiden's new toys.

Deck the Halls

2009-12-20T06:38:00.000-08:00

Now that there is more than a foot of snow on the ground, it seems appropriate to do my Christmas decorating post. And not to mention the fact that Christmas is only 5 days away!!

I went with a more sliver theme this year instead of the traditional green and red.

If you feel like you need some quick and easy decorations, notice the wrapped picture frame as presents (something I have been doing since our first Christmas when we were married and in our apartment). Also, hanging ornaments in front of a mirror or window, and of course the popular ornaments in a vase or bowl.

This sparkly tree and reindeer I got from good 'ol Home Goods. I also got the white tree with the balls that match the wallpaper from there.

This is my favorite thing I purchased this year. It's from Etsy, and here is the link to the store. There are a ton of this type of thing on Etsy, but this was my favorite. I wanted something to hang in the doorway between the living and dining rooms and this fits perfectly.

So, that's pretty much it. I am hosting a small Christmas dinner (8 people), and have been planning the table settings for that, so hopefully I remember to take pictures and post.

Hope you had a good weekend!

Flash Back

2009-12-15T06:25:00.000-08:00

My aunt found these plates at a thrift store and thought of my green-accented kitchen.

I really like them. Even though I have white crate and barrel plates that I love, it is sometimes fun to mix things up a little bit.

I tried to do some research about them because they are stamped on the back. But didn't have much luck. I mostly found ebay posts sellling this stoneware- it seems like there were quite a few collections. This one is called ONDINE and I am pretty sure they are from the 70s .

It looks like at some point there were enough for 8 place settings. Some are chipped, and some are missing, but I wouldn't need to use more than 4 for us anyway. It also came with a few serving pieces, which is also great.

My mom pointed out how they match my curtains and the bright green matches my kitchenaide perfectly.

Thanks Aunt Barbara and Mom! :-)

The Rearranger

2009-12-09T17:50:00.000-08:00

We had to do some furniture rearranging due to the size of our Christmas tree.

I have to admit I don't actually hate it. I thought I would because every time Rob and I try and rearrange the furniture in the living room, it usually ends up with me throwing a temper tantrum on the floor and whining, "I knew it wasn't going to work! Why do we waste our time doing things like this?!!"

I think the reason I don't hate this is because the main problem is that wall is too big and needs more than just the chair on it. So, with the tree there, it is just right.

I assured Rob that after we take our tree down, the furniture is going back the way it was, no matter how inspired we are feeling. Plus, we can only use one of the end tables which is OK for the Christmas season, but not permanently.

The sofa saga continues

2009-12-01T09:26:00.001-08:00

Rob and I were watching one of our favorite shows ("How I Met Your Mother") last week and I was saying how much I liked Lily and Marshall's sofa. I realize that it is a little strange that I notice decor whem I am relaxing and watching tv, but I will say that Rob said he was thinking the same thing.

Mostly I love the color of it. I have been struggling thinking about what color sofa we would get because I really am not a fan of the tan/brown, neutral colors and some brighter colors are too scary for me. But, I really like this goldish yellow color.

I can't find this sofa and if anyone has any idea where this sofa is from, please share!

We were in Crate and Barrel the other day and we really liked The Troy sofa. I like the lines of it and it seems much more practical. I think that it would take better wear and tear with kids. It does come in a similar goldish color and they make a pull out bed version of it which would be ideal for us since eventually, some day (no- I'm not pregnant and not planning to be any time soon) we won't have a guestroom.

The other thing that is great about Crate and Barrel is that you can pick any custom fabric too for any of their furniture. You can even buy your own fabric for them to put on a piece of furniture.

So, there's some more sofa ranting from me. We're just trying to be very intentional about any furniture we buy in the future so it is important to know what you want!

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T06:28:00.000-08:00

I know I have been horrible about keeping up this blog for a while now. I really am sorry. It is just that things have been so busy- Bailey's had fleas, I was doing some part-time work the past 2 weeks, the weather is colder and rainy so I have had to think of ways to keep Aiden entertained. I am not making excuses, just informing you of why this blog has fallen by the wayside. Ok, maybe I am making excuses. But, I am really going to try to be better about this. Especially since Christmas decorating is one of my favorite things. I have already been collecting some new things to add to the decor this year and am excited to start decorating this weekend!! So, I promise you will see more posts on here. Even though the craziness of the holidays is upon us and there is lots of Christmas shopping/wrapping, etc. to do.

Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend filled with lots of love and yummy food! I don't know if I will ever host a Thanksgiving dinner, but if I ever do, I would use the above picture as inspiration for the table.

Happy Thanksgiving!!