Baby's Room is Ready!

At long last, the baby's room is finished! Its been quite a process and my husband has done a ton of stuff to the room including new door, new wall, new lights, new baseboards and a new closet organization system!  Pretty much he has the nicest room in the house at this point.  We're really happy with the way it turned out, just walking into it makes me feel cheerful and excited, I hope that it does that for baby pickle too.

On a different note, I've decided that this is going to be my last blog post.  It was kind of a long time coming, as you can see its already been 3 months since I last posted, but I was still sad to come to realize that I no longer felt compelled to post new things.  But to be honest, Pinterest has really filled my need for noting beautiful things, commenting on art, and bookmarking crafts and future ideas.  Follow me there, I'll keep posting my new design projects as well as anything I'm selling in my Etsy shop (when I re-open it eventually!).

Thanks for looking, enjoy the photos of pickle's nursery!

The fruit of the spirit artwork I designed, printed & mounted.  We wanted something meaningful on the walls that pickle can look at and learn while growing up.  It was so fun to design!  Got the bookshelf from Ikea, lamp from Home Goods, books & toys as amazing gifts from so many generous people. 

Close-up on the fruit of the spirit artwork.  If you'd be interested in buying a set of these, you can email me through Etsy and my shop. :) I'd be willing to make more if people want to buy them. 

I hung the ABC flashcards on the wall, the designs by Lorena Siminovitch are beautiful.  Got the crib sheet from Target, my mom sewed the crib skirt with fabric I found at Joann's and the quilt over the side of the crib is also something my mom made a long time and and really inspired the 'brightly colored' theme of the room. 

I love how she picked some unusual things to illustrate for certain words, makes it so fun and unpredictable! 

Close-up on the quilt, so bright and beautiful!

The mobile! Mom crocheted the ball and I hung them, I think it turned out beautifully. 

Curtains from Walmart, zig-zag rug from Urban Outfitters. 

Another mom creation, she created the blanket to match the mobile. 

Love this bulletin board, just covered it with paper from Linwood Ave and got the grow sign for Christmas.  Also Z (my niece) made pickle the cutest 'we can't wait to meet you pickle' sign we hung up for his arrival. 

Dresser/changing table, got such a good deal at the Land of Nod outlet.  Got the bird prints from Beethings.

And a picture of the closet because Josh worked so hard to make it functional and space effective! 

Baby on the Brain

Sorry for those of you who are not interested in baby things.  But here's more stuff I'm wanting to do, make, buy for the nursery! 

Josh loves bunnies, I love sweet simple photos, its a marriage made in heaven!  From The Animal Print Shop, great, simple photos of all kinds of animals.  

From HappyasLarry Designs, awesome rug!  If only it were a little cheaper or I could make something similar...mm

As a more practical and affordable option for the floor, I got this rug from Urban Outfitters for the room.  Just to add a little brightness to the boring carpet we've got in there. 

Since I love type, and lately chunky geometric slab serif fonts like this one, I couldn't pass this up.  And I got it for Christmas, so exciting!  From William Dohman on Etsy.  And they have so many other great phrases too, this just was my favorite 'baby' phrase. 

Since I'm going all out multi-colored everything for pickle, why not this too?  Either I'll create it myself and frame it, or I'll make something similar for the birth announcement with maybe just a photo on the back.  We shall see....but love this overlapping type in block formation! Thanks for the inspiration Apple Blossom Print.

Kitchen Backsplash [Part 2]

I often try and predict home decor trends but have had little success, mostly because my experience is really just limited to my own preference and what I see online and in stores.  That's why, I enjoy reading posts like this one from Colour me Happy!  Its fun to jump on the trend band wagon, but I'm sure there are some drawbacks as well (i.e. your house being extremely dated if you don't update it frequently?). 
Anyway, I did a post on kitchen back splashes last year and here we are again with new creative ideas emerging.  Here are some kitchen backsplashes I found related to the post, enjoy!

Photo found on White Haven Interiors via Laurel Street Blog

From Southern Accents

From Decor Pad

From Vintage Modern Homes

My New Candlesticks

For the last year or so I've been on the hunt for the perfect candlesticks.  Of course, my dream set is this set of Nambe ones (found here). 

So elegant and simple.  But out of my price range, hence the hunt.  I finally found these at, of all places, home goods last week! 

I'm really excited about them!  (I'm also excited that Josh brought home another batch of beautiful flowers to brighten up the house!)  But in my hunt, I found some other ones I want to share with you. 

In time for Christmas, from Crate & Barrel.

Love the simplicity of these, also from Crate & Barrel.  I would've bought these hands down if I weren't more in the market for candlesticks for tapers, not pillars. 

From World Market, I like that these are wood, I feel as though those are hard to find. 

I like these from Pottery Barn for the organic shape to them. 

Inspired!

Today after I got home from an all-day retreat for the designers at my work and I felt really inspired! 
When I got home, I really just wanted to tackle some of the creative projects I've had in the back of my mind, but havne't gotten to yet.  I think a lot of these items will end up in my office because there isn't necessarily room in my house, but I was excited to finally put them together!  Remember all that paper I bought a few months ago, I finally used most of it.  Enjoy!

A magnetic board I covered in this hand screen-printed paper I bought 2 years ago from RiffeRaff.  I just got this magnetic/cork-board from JoAnne's a few months ago, and this was so easy to cover, just staple gunned the paper right to it. 

I've had this frame lying around, and tonight I just sanded it down to give it a more interesting texture and put the paper in without the glass.  I think its my favorite paper!  It will hopefully go perfect in our future office. 

I finally put this fabric over the cork-board in this frame and I had these matching pins to go with it perfectly.  This frame has been so many colors, gold to orange to black and now white, but I'm most happy with this white. 

Frank Lloyd Wright

This weekend I got to go tour the Frank Lloyd Wright home + studio in Oak Park, IL!  It was something I've wanted to do for a long time and I'm so excited I finally got a chance to go.
Below are some pictures of the outside of the building (no photography allowed inside) and some pictures I pulled from the interior.

Outside of his house in Oak Park

Outside of his studio

I appreciate that he's well known mostly for the home he built instead of giant sky scrapers or other such buildings.  Frank Lloyd Wright's prairie style architecture is some of my favorite.  I was actually surprised though that from the outside, his house didn't strike me immediately as being very much in his style. 
Our tour guide talked about how Wright built this home at the time when he was just developing his prairie style of architecture and actually I thought this style was more evident in the interior, especially the interior which he added later.

This dining room is very prairie style to me.  This room (added later) to the house was by far my favorite space.  The way he designed the chairs to be so high and go around the table and create an intimate dining room space is lovely.  The intricate screen he designed to go over the lights and create a serene kind of ambient light, really genius.  I loved this room. Also, you can't tell but the walls are covered in a very light linen fabric. 

Here's the drafting room in Wright's studio.  The shape of the space was really unique, and the guide explained to us how Wright used a very intricate set of chain pulleys to keep all the walls in space.  Very cool space, I can see how it would be easy to be creative in a place like that.  After this visit, I love Wright even more!  (For those who haven't already, I'd also recommend the book Loving Frank.) 

Table + Chairs Matching?

I wrote a while back in a post about dining room tables, and I wondered about the pros or cons of having a dining room table without matching chairs. 
I saw this post from Colour Me Happy today and loved her take on things!  Check it out here. 
And here's some great photos of dining room tables with mis-matched chairs, compliments of CB2 & West Elm.

Organization: Bedroom [Part 1]

One of the things I think I'm gifted with is organization.  Its not always the most glamorous gift, but Josh will confirm that I do love it when things have their very own, very specific place!  Even though it isn't the most glamorous, I'm going to share some things I do at home + some things I've seen online & in magazines that are great ways to keep organized. 
This post is kind of long, so it'll be in 2 parts and focus on things in the bedroom.  [Subsequent posts will continue through other rooms in the house].  Onto the good stuff!

One of the things in the bedroom that can get the most out of control is the jewelry I have.  This container, simply whitewashed (maybe if you know someone handy they could even make one!) is the perfect solution to holding things.  You can find it here at Wisteria.com.

On my dresser I have a little set of shiny containers (in kelly green!) that are specifically made to hold jewelry (got them at Pottery Barn).  I often sort my earrings into the little spaces or place rings, bracelets, charms etc. in them.  They also have a top/cover which is key to hiding the mess inside!

Kitchen Back-splashes

My parents recently moved into a brand new, beautiful townhouse.  It is lovely and the kitchen is out of this world!  The only thing they decided not to get done professionally was a back-splash in the kitchen.  My mom told me that we should learn how to do it ourselves...so this has been on my mind a lot lately.  In our kitchen at home, I'm not sure I'd opt for a back-splash (our counter tops are kind of dynamic and I feel like it would detract from their pizazz) but I still think they can be fantastic.  I've found some really amazing examples out there that are serving as some inspiration!

Um, hello beautiful!  Talk about making the back-splash truly the focal point of the space.  In most kitchens this might not work, but here it is lovely.

Outdoor Entertaining

I recently got a few plastic serving pieces (on clearance, yippee!) at Target from the Liberty of London collection and have now been thinking on developing a full set of outdoor entertaining-ware.  That way you're not worrying about things breaking but you're not using paper plates, which I always do.
But, I just started hunting for these pieces and want to wait to purchase until I decide what kind of theme I want.  Flowers, geometric, flourishes, bright colors, simple... I'm not sure yet and my tendency is to impulse buy, then nothing matches and I'm discontent.  However, I figured while I wait for my outdoor entertaining style to congeal, I'd share my favorite finds!

The cutest citrus cup from Pier 1.  I always for get about Pier 1 when I'm shopping for home goods, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say they could be one of the best places to find cheap, outdoor dining pieces.  Maybe not the most unique, but affordable. 

New Lonny Magazine Issue

The new Lonny Magazine issue is out!  If you're not familiar with Lonny, check it out, it really is a great digital magazine.

My Favorite Things...

In our house there are a few pieces that are my favorites, pieces I looked long and hard for, created myself or just got a great deal on and feel so lucky to have!  I finally got around to photographing them recently and here they are. 

The highlight here for me is really the old rod iron pieces in the frames.  I got these at the boutique I used to work at and the owner got them in Texas at a flea market, such a find!  I love them, they're definitely the most prominent thing in our family room, being on the wall opposite the entrance, and on the only colored wall in the room. 

A great find from the Kane County Flea Market!  This window (with 2 panes missing) hangs over our piano.  I painted the patterns on the glass to give it a little something extra, but the frame was already distressed white.  I think it brings the whole room together.

Simple, useful, got these from World Market.  Nothing super special, but I love having them in our entry way.

Unique Use for Paint

This weekend I saw a commercial for Home Depot paint.  Usually we blaze through commercials and can barely handle watching them, but this one caught my eye, even made me rewind it twice.  It wasn't the paint they were marketing, but one of the pictures of a finished product that made me look again.  It was a bright red wall with white trim, but the person who painted it (or commercial producer that made the call, whatever the case may be) decided to add a strip of blue tape a few inches in from the outside of the wall creating a beautifully stark contrast with the red paint.  Almost like a simple picture frame around the plain red wall.  This image is the best example I could find since I couldn't get a screencapture of the commercial.  Imagine this, but in a brilliant red and nothing in the center of the frame, although I do like how they've utilized this paint combination to showcase the mirror and bed.  (Image from Decor Pad)

The commercial got me thinking about how to use paint and think outside the box for decorating.  And at the same time, save myself some money!  So often I tell myself that I need to fill up every wall with a piece of art.  I've attempted to do this in our home, but it can get expensive.  (The custom framing alone, uffda!)  To that end, I've considered installing a chair rail in our 3rd bedroom and painting the lower portion of the walls one color, the top, another.  (I actually mean I've considered asking Josh to install one, I don't think I could handle something so...mathematical!)  Something similar to this image (from In Colors) but more vibrant, more contrast. 

Architectural Salvage

Architectural salvage places are some of my favorite warehouses to go to and just roam around.  It's also something that I haven't done very much of recently because I don't have that much space to store any pieces I might find and want to take home!  But that doesn't mean I don't keep track of where they are in hopes that I'll have more space one day.  :) 
Places like this really are the best for unique things like vintage signs, beautiful chandeliers, old iron gates, stone sculptures off old buildings, even old arcade games or soda machines.  In fact I bought a beautiful old wooden door at a place like this a few years ago (more on that find later...).  Despite that, I don't typically look for those larger pieces, I tend to look more for smaller accents that will fit subtly into the decor of our home.  Old door knobs, stained glass pieces, small windows, tin wall hangings, wall hooks, iron wall hangings and vintage sconces.

Dining Room Tables

One thing our house is sadly lacking, is a formal dining room.  Right now we have a simple eating area that has a small round table in it, one I inherited from my parents.  Its a great, solid oak table, but I dream of one day having a formal dining room and getting a beautiful, long dining room table to fill it! It's definitely something that's going to be an investment for us.  I'm tired of the college days, buying cheap furniture that falls apart in a couple years.  This table I want to last until we are too old to entertain anymore.
With that in mind, I've been looking and have found some beautiful items.

Something simple & rectangular is really what I'm looking for.
One of the more popular table trends I've seen in the last 5 years is having one long bench for seating on one side of a long table.  I really love this, almost adds a better sense of community to the dining experience, plus being extremely practical for fitting more people.

I love the combination of steel/metal and wood in this table.
My next question is, if the table has a matching bench, what do you do about the other chairs you'll need?  I suppose I've always thought a table should have matching chairs, but I'm warming to the idea that the chairs needn't match at all!

Oh the possibilities!