I've been working on adding some color and interest to my home office mantel. I've held onto this Blood Is The New Black t-shirt for years, long after I've stopped wearing it, because I love the design of a little boy wheeling a heart in a barrel. But it wasn't doing much good folded in a drawer for months on end, so I decided to display it more promimently.
Continue reading "framing a t-shirt and an instagram collage" »
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I'm as addicted to Pinterest and pretty house pictures as much as the next housewife, but sometimes I get really, really, tired of seeing perfectly styled spaces. It gives me internet fatique. And envy. It gives me lots of envy.
In fact, I've never suffered from the depressive Facebook syndrome where one gets miserable reading all the happy! blessed! amazing! statuses of others, but I have been known to grump out after a half-hour spent on decor blogs.
So I thought I'd show you some of the less-than-eye-candy corners of my home.
The mantle in our pink living room is boring, boring, boring. There's a giant tv over it, which hinders the space for anything pretty. The television isn't going anywhere, so I have to work around it. I found these white-washed...sticks...at Homegoods and I liked the shape of them. I threw them in some pearlized vases and put them up on the mantle. They look so laughably terrible. The look like fingers trying to attack.
Continue reading "fingers in vases and other random things about my house" »
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In August, about two months shy of my due date, we decided to change our current girl nursery into a boy nursery, and our current second guest bedroom into a toddler bedroom. You can see what they looked like before.
Both kids rooms have been done for awhile now, but I haven't shared them here yet because it has been hard to get pictures that do them justice. I've finally decided just to throw caution to the wind and show you Pigtail's big girl room.
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I am so obsessed with wallpaper. I had dramatic red and silver paper in the bathroom in our former house, and I have moody bird wallpaper in my current home office.
I knew I wanted to do something fun in the powder room, and you can see the original wallpaper samples I pondered here. Around the same time I fell in love with this gold and cream pattern designed by one of my favorite style bloggers (who also lives in my neighborhood AND we both just had babies on the same day) Oh Joy!
At first I dismissed it because it didn't seem like it would go with the existing tile, but then it dawned on me that my entire house is a mix of silver and gold, so why not just go for it? And anyway, my home decor philosophy is "Go With What You Love, It Will Fall Into Place Somehow."
It was so bold that I decided that it should be on the ceiling, too. A white ceiling just wouldn't do in such a pretty bathroom.
I like that it's busy, almost clash-y. I kept everything else simple, with a mirror from West Elm and a square white frame from Ikea, perfect for an Instagram shot.
This is the bathroom that most guests will use. I hope it makes them smile.
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Around here, we are big fans of Restoration Hardware for basics. We always shop around - I really want to be that person that can magically transform a thrift store find - but I usually end up coming back to RH for certain things.
But lately I've found a couple of things that achieve the same look for a fraction of the cost. The first was this light fixture that replaced something very dated. This is for the bottom of the back stairs, in a little nook just by the laundry room. I see it every day, but it's not an area where you want to drop hundreds of dollars. I found this industrial-looking gem by Allen + Roth at Lowe's for $48.
Which is much cheaper than these similar ideas:
Vintage Belgian Factory Pendant $549 and Benson Pendant $199 - $499
Even more impressive was this chunky wooden mirror I found at Homegoods. (Have I mentioned that I love adore obsess over Homegoods?) I just happened to be there the morning that an "extra" truck arrived at the store and I scored several incredible things, including this mirror for $80.
Doesn't it look exactly like the Mansard Scroll Mirror for $325?
This was such a good steal, I wish that I had bought two. But I only have one pink living room and only one Indonesian tribal statue, so it's probably okay.
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I'm often a cheater. Check out how I cheated the J.Crew look here.
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In between bouts of extreme exhaustion and irrational weepiness, I've been a busy bee in the last few weeks preparing for baby.
I've caught up on my photo organization, which includes making sense of my iphoto library, backing up to a hard drive, and printing hard copies for the photo boxes.
(This does not include making photo books, which is still a high priority.)
I've organized all the linen closets, finally ditching all the stray sheets and towels and storing sheet sets in pillowcases, labeled by size.
No closet was off limits. But I was especially relieved to get Pigtail and Pirate's new closets sorted out.
I relocated my To Read pile from cluttering up my bedside table to a designated shelf in my office.
The gallery style picture frames are in position, even if every frame isn't quite filled.
I've even selected new candles, since I think that it's important that those first few weeks are helped along with as many peace-enhancing items as possible.
I'm not saying we're totally ready, but we're definitely getting close. And after my doctor's appointment yesterday, it's a good thing. All information leads us to be on a high alert.
Any day now. Any moment. Exciting and terrifying and...
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We do not have a big sweeping staircase. We have a quiet stairwell, tucked away unobtrusively. But the ceilings are very high, and there is a dramatic, tall window that floods the landings with light.
When we bought the house, a shiny brass chandelier hung in the stairwell.
I did not care for the shiny brass, but I didn't mind the shape at all. So we sprayed it white. And by "we," I mean the professional painters who were busy painting almost every inch of the house after we purchased.
The matte white looked crisp and fresh, which just made the old light stems look dingy. And it all looked a little...bare.
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This week the house has been a flurry of home TO DO's. Most importantly, we embarked on the Change the Nursery and Create a Toddler Room project.
The walls went from yellow to the most perfect green in the nursery. (Behr paint - 50% Japanese Fern, 50% Grape Leaves)
And from beige-y brown to a sophisticated gray in the soon-to-be toddler room. (Behr paint - Elephant Skin) I promise this room won't end up nearly as bland or nearly as grown up as things might appear now.
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On Thursday I gave myself permission to take a few "mental health" hours. After our leisurely stay at the lake, there is so much to do in general and in preparation for this baby. And August is crammed full of activity, so I've been using these few weeks in between to go, go, go in productivity.
When I felt my mind and spirit start to teeter a bit earlier this week, I decided to set aside a few hours on Thursday to myself, with no agenda. On the days I have help with Pigtail, I usually want to take full advantage of that time and do the things that I can't do with a toddler in tow. But I rarely use that time to do....nothing. Yesterday I laid down in my bed, in the middle of the afternoon, and read. I zoned out. I tried to stay very still when a light breeze came in through the open patio doors. I thought I would nap, but I didn't. Though after two hours I got up as rejuvenated as if I had taken a doze.
I'm glad that I did this before I had a full-blown hormonal meltdown. It's good to know your limits, to watch your own body and heart for signs that you need some space. Because it's much harder to come back from hitting a wall than to brake the moment you see it.
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For your weekend reading pleasure:
This was a fantastic interview about motherhood and balance and pretty people with makeup artist Molly Stern. (Girls Gone Child)
While we're on the subject of balance, did you read Cup of Jo's series on freelance motherhood balance? Because it was great. This was my favorite one, but they're all interesting in different ways. (Cup of Jo)
This tutorial by Amanda on how to use a group of people to curate boards together for a specific project was so useful. And then look how cute the Feather Your Nest shower turned out afterwards! Good information, good eye candy here. (Oh Amanda)
I love it when real people pull off magazine-style looks in their home. This is a great before & after, and tutorial on a striped entryway. Such an impact! (Sweet Carolina Wife)
This was timely for me. Something I've been thinking about a lot lately. Prayer Journey. (the Blah Blah Blahger)
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Over the next few days we have X-Games, book club, and lunch with a long lost friend. What about you?
Happy Weekend, HH readers!
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I'm twenty-seven weeks pregnant with baby boy, and had a timeline revelation last week. During the second trimester of pregnancy, you feel like you've been pregnant since the beginning of time and yet the birth still seems to be ages away. At least that's how I feel. But then last week I did a little math in my head and realized:
a) I have biologically 13 weeks left of this pregnancy.
b) The last 3-ish weeks don't count because by that time you're incapable of doing anything besides breathing. And moaning. And swelling.
c.) Which means I have 10 weeks left to get anything productive done.
d.) But I'll be traveling for 3-4 weeks between now and then.
e.) Which then means I have roughly 6 weeks to turn a girl nursery into a boy nursery and a guest room into a girl toddler room.
Here's what I'm working with:
To be honest, I never made a huge effort to finish out Pigtail's nursery in this new house. Yes, I know we've lived here a year. But in that time I've focused on every other part of the house except the bedrooms. Even the master bedroom is an unfinished weak spot.
To make this a boy's room we will:
-Change the yellow walls to green (yes, I know both yellow and green are unisex colors, but we're in the mood for green).
-Find either gray or brown crib bedding that we don't hate, swap the rug for a brown zebra one, replace or add new art.
(We're keeping all the furniture.)
Next door to the nursery is a spare guest room. "Spare" meaning it's not our primary guest room and I've really never made an effort in there, since we were always hoping to expand our family.
This room is tiny. Tiny.
To make this a toddler room we plan to:
-Paint it gray (matching one of the colors in the rug in the current nursery that will now be in Pigtail's big girl room).
-Replace the double bed with a twin daybed.
-Add a functional (and hopefully bright-colored) dresser.
-Add all new art.
It's quite the undertaking for just a few weeks, especially when I had zero vision about what I wanted in either room. I've been trolling Pinterest and Etsy for inspiration, and at this point we're kind of winging it, but that tends to be how I decorate anyway. Somehow it all works out.
Prepare yourself for lots of home posts over the coming months, as my To Do list has suddenly become very urgent.
Nesting isn't just a "thing." Nesting is for real, y'all.
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We have this little sign that sits on the patio at the lake house that reminds us where we are, in case for a moment we forgot.
When we arrived this summer, it greeted us a little worse for the wear. The "L" had completely broken off and within days the "e" had rolled away.
I fixed it with gorilla glue and gave it a bit of a facelife. (Beware that gorilla glue foams, so don't use too much of it. I was able to peel this excess off with a knife, but that wouldn't work if you were fixing something that you weren't about to paint.)
A couple of coats of green spray paint (because that's what color I was in the mood for) made it as good as new. Maybe a little globby, but not bad. I put it on top of the book shelf next to the huge fiberglass fish, so you don't even notice the imperfections.
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In our bedroom at the lake house, we have corner with an artists easel and art supplies for my artist husband. But the thing is, there are WAY more fun and stimulating activities at the lake than painting. So for three summers now that easel has sat empty.
I got tired of looking at it, so I bought a piece of black foam board and threw a bunch of recent pictures on it. (Note: did you know that wal-mart prints your pictures instantly with options for a matte finish AND white borders. This is amazing to me. If wal-mart can do it, why can't everywhere? Is that a dumb question?)
Now it's more interesting to look at and Pigtail will stand in front of it and name the people in the pictures. So it's cute and educational.
I've also completely organized the kitchen cabinets and laundry room, both things I've been meaning to do for ages. I won't bore you with details but suffice it to say that one gets awfully productive when they're trying to distract themselves from thinking about something.
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(We are actually doing okay over here. Quality time with friends and family has made the transition from shock to healing easier. I haven't been taking as many pictures lately, my usual desire to document has been diminished. Kind of like how it feels rude to laugh at a joke, even though that's irrational. As expected, we're learning lots about ourselves, our life, and each other. Thanks for bearing with me.)
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