+ the new house +

color splash

2011-05-09T10:41:00.001-04:00

so yesterday when i was playing with the little man, this happened.

roy g. biv, meet H.

H, meet RGB.

we had fun sorting colors, or mashing them together.

and, this just in: i am starting to love color. not just a little but a LOT OF COLOR.

i always use to think the kiddie toys would drive me crazy. give me the constant urge to throw them all in a closet + slam the door shut. walk around with blinders on.

but i'm actually kind of loving it. in fact, its inspiring. life with color is ever so full + happy feeling. it makes me want to ~~paint the town red~~ paint the whole house white so that all the bright toys can truly pop. am i crazy? probably. maybe. but i'm also just proud to be a MOM. [happy belated mother's day, everyone!]

when in doubt, go in the closet.

2011-05-04T08:35:00.000-04:00

not to sulk. not to hide. not to play hide + sulk.

you could play hide + seek though, if you're into that.

what i mean is, when you're stuck for a decor scheme or theme or anything in between, take a minute to go into your closet and see what it speaks to you. i kind of did this in reverse when it came to my master bedroom. as i was looking around the mostly-completed room [* no room is ever really complete to me!] i realized that my shoe collection was represented surprisingly well in the decor.

here's an example.

all of these shoes [which aren't ALL of my shoes, as the hubs would be quick to point out....hey i buy them cheap, folks!] were purchased anywhere from a year to six years ago so it shows that your taste kind of curates itself. as you change + your tastes change + you shop + you make your goodwill deposits. or goodwill collections, as the case may be!

see how various elements are all picked up here? the strong + traditional deep brown wood tones of the bed + garage sale table. the circular motif of the shelves + the side tables. the glitz + glitter of the silver lamps, tory candle, garden stool + chrome legs of the chairs, and the gold + purple pops of color scattered throughout the space.

yummy.

kind of neat, right?

its always fun to appreciate the details of how your clothing + accessories compliment your home, since they reside there too. especially when you're looking at these feline footies....meeeeOWWww.

now you might look into your closet + say, all i see is a deep dark blackity-black hole. and not because you're blessed with an amazingly ginormous closet, but because all you buy is black or neutrals. fear not! it probably speaks to either your love of accessories, that pop off of black + neutrals so well, or, your love of a beachy chic vibe or pared-down fresh country aesthetic. and either of these realizations is a-ok too. in that case layering is the key so that you still get a really rich looking space....ie: lots of texture + patterns [subtle ones even, in different sizes] like sheepskin, various wood furniture pieces, canvas or grasscloth materials, and matte + laquered pieces.

like so.

via modern interior decoration

see all the cozy creamy whites layered here? the painted brick, the slipcovered furniture, the throws, the lamps + lampshades, the cushy rug....

or like so.

via apartment therapy

see all the moody blues + contrasting textures here? the wood slatted boards, the thick knits, the gobs of throw pillows, the canvas-ish chair at stage right....ya i'm picturing the owner of this home wearing blue jeans + comfy sweaters fairly frequently.

so hey. do i read too much into things sometimes? [like are you thinking, SHOES LIZ? THEY'RE JUST SHOES!] yeah, sure. probably. ok definitely! but if it helps to get you thinking about your own design sensibilities a bit....and inspires you at all with your own home....then i'm glad i could help.

because i'll still be over here reading into things too much, so at least now i can tell myself its productive behavior.

she said, he said.

2011-04-24T13:32:00.000-04:00

there is one part of the master that got left out. in print + in reality. and its this lovely little light fixture.

isn't it just the most amazingly hexa-penta-octa-whatever you call it?! um, I KNOW.

well there was someone who didn't quite agree, and since he shares our home, and well built our home, i have to give him a little credit + take his opinion into consideration too.

let me explain why i loved it for our bedroom. it was a marshalls special, first of all, and you know i loves me some marshalls. ok lots of marshalls. ok marshalls as often as i can justify stepping foot in the store. its from the ralph lauren home collection and the suggested retail was something ridiculous like $450. ya. uh huh. and we got it for $150, thanks to the eagle-eye spotting of my very good friend. so needless to say it was a great deal in terms of high quality, high style lighting pieces. but mostly, i just loved the look of it! the modern geometric shape with the classically glamorous pale gold color....the sleek connector pieces....the exposed bulb position in the center....

i thought it would be such a fun sculptural item to hang either centered over back of the bed....

....or off centered over by the shelf + chairs in the corner. see that space there dialing 1-800-HOT-PENDANT? yep, to my eye, that corner was calling ralph's name loud + clear.

it even played so well off the side table bases. see?

and don't forget the fun diamond like shadow that is cast over the bed [see above picture]. that would have been a fun tie-in as well.

but i have to give the hubs props, because we do pride ourselves on doing decor as affordably + diy as we can, and saving every dollar that can be saved. so to allocate $150 on one light [plus the cost of an electrician hard-wiring it] when the room is already looking quite swell....its true, we really can live without it.

barely.

ok no really we can. i just might sniffle from time to time thinking of all those sexy angles + that sultry sheen. but who knows, maybe the hubs saved my life. it was an extremely heavy pendant + who wants that crashing down on their noggin as they dream the night away? not i!

+ + +

ps. emily, are you listening? this fixture would look amazing in one of your spaces. better make a trip to michigan asap. just sayin'. oh + thanks for sharing your talents with us each week on secrets from a stylist!

the master!

2011-04-19T22:26:00.002-04:00

i feel like our master bedroom now glitters + winks at me each time i peek down the hallway at it. see it there through the doorway, saying hello? enticing you onward? beckoning you with its come hither throw pillows?

bla bla bla; ready for pictures? i thought so.

here we go!

you likes so far?

so the colors in here ended up being a story of neutrals....white + a bit of black, grey + a bit of gold, silver + a bit of brown. with a dash of mustard + eggplant. you know, to keep things yummy.

you might recognize some pieces that migrated their way in here....but there are also a few new friends that joined the MBR crew.

we moved the lack coffee table from the sunroom to the end of our bed....and the white eames repro chairs have taken up residence in the corner. along with the silver garden stool from our bathroom.

but the circle du soleil happening above that arrangement is all new. as in, handmade by +the new house+ crew: the hubs and myself.

here are a few more angles of my new favorite item in the house.

so how'd we do it? its actually an idea out of a recent countryhome issue, from the authors of home from the hardware store. i guess it never hurts to step out of your usual comfort zone....seeing as i'd normally never be perusing a country style magazine. but it worked out for me this time! basically it involved cutting down concrete form tubes....the hubs handled that part....and wrapping them in woodgrain contact paper. and making up an organic arrangement. and screwing them together, and hanging it up as our new wall art slash functioning shelf!

i. am. in. LOVE.

the fact that we made the piece with our own four hands + it was cheap + looks so totally unique + modern....well....enough said.

now while we heavily debated craigslisting our bed [love those new verbs nowadays, ehhhh kids?] + getting something more sleek, in the end, i'm really happy with the warmth + height + structure that it gives to the room.

see those fun diamond or hex-like shadows on the ceiling? i actually never notice them myself in person but i'm loving them in the photo here.

i'm not sure the effect translates here in pictures, but the room just seems to glow with warmth + calm.

did you think warmth could happen with gray? i'm telling you, it can! this particular coverlet came from meijer of all places....our twenty-four hour grocery store, for you out-of-towners....and the basketweave sort of stitching and dove gray shade both look soft + inviting....vs. cold + stark like you might expect with gray in the boudoir.

the lamps, which i've mentioned before, have an almost molten appearance. like liquid light.

and the curtains which we plucked from ikea seem to mirror the dimply waves of the lamp bases. [i'm talking about the pattern, people! i KNOW the wrinkles are there, i'm just pretending i don't need to iron them]

even the lampshades want to get in on the swirly fun.

the bedside candle is a voluspa i picked up from a ~~local boutique~~ store at the mall for a great price. i love their art deco-esque candle tins and i lurrrrrrve this particular scent: blanc suede. its like there's a faintly cologne scented tuxedo jacket draped nearby, fresh from a glorious evening black-tie affair. or so my brain tells me, as i drift off to sleep.

lets see, what other details haven't we covered?

well the other art in the room was switched out with our hall canvases, since the grey worked much better than uber bright citron yellow.

the throw on the lack bench [a tj maxxionista find] adds a little more luxe, and its working as an in-between while i hunt down the perfect bench cushion fabric.

the mustardy gold scarf on the chair adds more warmth + color + ease.

and on the refurbished dresser, an eclectic mix of gold, silver and the aforementioned purpley eggplant.

were you astute enough to notice the jaggedy ann candle going on in the photo above? yes my tb candle had an encounter with a one year old, and you can see who won. and you can guess who cried. ok it was more of a screamy yelp....a strangled screlp sound....but thankfully no one was injured and it still sortof works as a decorative item.

so thats how things are looking at the moment, with a few things yet on my checklist. such as the bench cushion, and a touch more artwork. i dig that this necklace sort of describes the whole space: clearly contemporary with a mixture of metals, light and dark, hard and soft, and ok i'll stop now.

hoedown lowdown: fourth + final

2011-04-17T23:03:00.002-04:00

you all ready for this? duhduh..duhduh duh duh..

ok 90's music aside, lets get down to the last of the dirty deets!

i knew for party food i did not want to be stressed + running around coordinating the timing of a meal for everyone [we anticipated about 30 guests, a mix of adults + kiddos]. and i thought a mid-afternoon time slot would work well for attending church in the morning while giving some evening time for family relaxing as well. so naturally a snack concept was born.

let's peek at where more of that patterned hobster lobster paper ended up. on menu boards!

i really wanted the mix of cowboy + indian to be everywhere, so again i juxtaposed the 'painted' looking paper with the fun + funky, modern-western looking paper. and the cork squares were a couple of spares i had on hand....again from the back entry corkboard diy project we'd made last year.

i love all the variations of red + blue going on here....with a few itty bitty pops of teal....and white + grey to anchor everything, like the kitchen colors.

for the other menu board, i made a games menu.

again....more paper scraps, leftover cork, and junk drawer pins. and i bought a few bandanas for less than a dollar each to scatter about as decor, as well. while i had horseys from cracker barrel and hula 'lasso' hoops from canada to play with, illegal jarts for the arrow throwing + more hay hoops for the ring toss....by far the best game of the day was tumbleweed bowling. its amazing what you can do with six empty gerber snack containers + some 'tumbleweed' spheres from target!

this particular board was hiding another little arrangement....a pop of color, if you will.

POP!

i bought cherry + raspberry for two shades of red, and grape for blue. and stuck them floral-bouquet style into a leftover ball from the foyer filter foof i'd made. the vase + books i snagged from around the house.

speaking of pops....remember this teaser?

yep, those happened. and all the time spent taste-testing + pop-sticking + chocolate-dipping was oh so worth it for the final result.

that birthday cake be poppin'! i did rows of chocolate with chocolate frosting + yellow cake with vanilla frosting, all according to the instructions on bakerella's lovely blog.

much thanks to ms. bakerella for such an amazing idea....it made the whole food display, of that i am sure!

its hard to pick a favorite, but i think i love the red + white + blue ones best.

no, the smooth chocolate.

NO, THE RED SUGAR SPRINKLES!

ok i love them all.

for the base, i used a large styrofoam rectangle and for a modern pebble-bed effect, i used more navy beans that were sitting around in the pantry. and ribbon, pinned tight around the perimeter for a sleak, trim modern effect.

as for the rest of the food....i made a crunchy toffee chex mix [thanks dawn for the recipe!], and had apples + more candy to complete things.

cute cupcake liners for scooping smaller amounts of candy into....love the uneven striping....

another tumbleweed that must have blown in from the street....

i chose dishes with star motifs as another subtle western reference....

and blue striped dishes to play off the color scheme....

and lined up fun red cups + straws for milk. because every cake pop needs a milky companion!

now before you pop an eyeball straining to see those garlands in the background....allow me to explain. about the time my husband was ready to lock me in a closet to stop the decoration rampage, i managed to sweet talk him into helping me hang up a photo wall to commemorate the little man's big first year.

i used yarn + tape + push pins + some of the past year's favorite and most meaningful photos. and was teary + TIRED + ecstatic when i viewed the result. ....yes it was 11 pm the night before, y'all, and this mama was whipped!

but to see all the printed photos in a flickr-esque mix of streamer-y strands of color, in a perfectly imperfect arrangement, contrasted with our gallery-wall-for-a-day....well....i was really kinda verklempt.

it was so delightful to see how the colors worked + the garlands echoed the fireplace banner as well. and if you're wondering how the photos look so neatly strung along the line, it was the hubs who suggested using loops of tape to hang the photos....for minimal possibility of damage to each picture + also for a nice clean garland effect.

and since we used the spacing of the ikea wall art hangers [on the insistance of the hubs, naturally], all the push pin holes will be hidden and it was a minimally invasive project. if you squint your peepers again for a second, you can see how the top row showed the mini man's growth photographed from week one to month eleven. compared to a sock monkey. of course.

+ how to finish another long winded party post? why with the party favors, naturally!

some mod round cherry-sour candies with a little name flag on each. hopefully a little za-za-zing to finish the day on a memorable note. just for the ~~kids~~ VIPs, you know.

hoedown lowdown: take trois

2011-04-15T13:51:00.000-04:00

that's three, people. come on!! [arrested development, anyone? anyone?!]

let's see....i'll cover the frou frou first.

i was inspired by a blog post i read about a coffee filter foof. and while ms. jones of jones design company used frilly feminine white for her foof, i decided i needed something a little more manly + natural-toned for mine.

so brown filters i bought + a western foof was won. well, made. by me. and yes it took hours. i'd like to say it was quick! and easy! and fun! but i intended to make three and only finished one if that tells you anything. in short, it involves hot glue gunning folded filters to a round styrofoam ball.

i love the mod round look of it for party decor + i thought the sandy tan color added a nice dirt-like color to the decor. no seriously. because there's something inherently western about dirt, isn't there?

but it really did take quite a long time + patience so in the end, i opted for a dose of free decor mixed with it. ie: christmas ornaments. ie: gold twine-y balls that in my mind, look like tumbleweeds + play well with the color of the foof.

i thought it made for some fun impact when you walk in the front door. and the little man took to waving at the balls every time we passed by them so you know that warmed my wee heart.

while we're hanging around the front door....for a warm welcome to our guests i made a quickie sign out of a straw wreath i bought for under $2 from hobby lobby, added some ribbon [scored on sale] and a sign using cork left from our DIY corkboard project, seen here, and more of the leftover paper. done + done!

i love the simple modern look and the mix of indian ['painted' paper] + cowboy [straw wreath, red ribbon]. and the cork worked really well with the other natural colors i had going, and also served to weigh down the sign a bit.

oh + speaking of free stuff. for more decor fun, i stacked some of H's wooden stacking toys + ceramic ball [a gift] and made a little arrangement with mr. rhino....

....who i couldn't resist harpooning with a diffuser-arrow, like i'd been doing some hunting around the house bow + arrow style. which i did, but that's beside the point. hey-o! o! o! o! o!

can you see the single teardrop mr. rhino is shedding? the poor guy. never saw it coming.

oh + those billy ball ish things in the vase up there? some easter decor i spotted while passing through the floral section at meijer. they were an icky shade of pale blue until i re-painted them with some of the arrow paint to make them a beauteously bold sky blue. kinda fun, considering i thought real flowers were definitely not an option for a boy party.

speaking of non-floral 'floral' arrangements [you follow me?], i still need to tend to the food portion of posting + wrap up this party talk! yep, thats a hint about some of the food details. but you're probably sick of scrolling for today, so i'll give you a breather before we feast on those facts. until then!

hoedown lowdown: take two

2011-04-14T14:49:00.000-04:00

as i mentioned yesterday, i tried to use my birthday party materials as wisely as possible + save every wee bit of paper for some project or other.

so when i discovered a pair of square canvases stored away in a cupboard, i decided to DIY some silhouettes for them as foyer decor.

for the cowboy, i traced the silhouette from this book cover:

via outwestmktg.com

i had contemplated buying the book itself for display, since i love the cover images + text + color so much, but i just couldn't cough up the twenty bones that would have required. so instead: DIY silhouette art. the denim-esque paper is kinda fitting for the cowboy, wouldn't you say?

for my indian, i googled something totally out there like 'indian silhouette' and got this bad boy.

via spreadshirt.com

and since i was feeling particularly crazy, i free-hand drew that silhouette onto the polka-dot paper by looking at the computer screen. and then cut it out with scissors. and i think it turned out quite well!

perhaps my favorite thing about the silhouettes were their....uh....silhouettes. i mean, doesn't that cowdude look like he means serious business, hanging out over there? he's got the sun at his back + a shotgun at his side. yeeeehaw!

and what is that twisty thing in all the shots? well around valentine's day i was inspired by this post, and decided to use the yarn + wire concept to personal the canvases with the birthday boy's name. i just shaped the wire into cursive letters in a fun made-up font and then [laboriously, ie: not quickly,] wrapped the wire with gray yarn. gray, so that hopefully it can stick around as his room decor for a long time + not clash with anything.

i like how the yarn is reminiscent of rope....and i think parts of the name look kind of lasso-ish to mesh with the whole cowboy theme.

on the subject of getting carried away....er, i mean more decor details, i had my diffuser sitting on the same console as the canvases + decided to attack that too. paper scraps? nay, instant arrow tips!

i also cut more scrappy triangular pieces to jazz up our kitchen chandelier. kinda fun to see the flags flying up there + i love how they tie in to the banner on the fireplace.

that scrapbook paper had a couple more uses yet, lest you think i'm finished already with party posting! coming soon: food details + free stuff + foof fest '11.

the lowdown on the hoedown: part one

2011-04-12T22:23:00.001-04:00

so....its come + gone! the little man's big day. and in honor of his year of growing from nine to twenty-two pounds, from a small seed to a certified sprout, from a dark-skinned dark-haired babe to a mini man with flowing fair locks.... well.... a good old-fashioned [yet modern] cowboy + indian party was in order. clearly!

and you must know i've been planning it for a while. would you expect any less of me? the hubs uses the word 'obsessing' but i find that really harsh and all too accurate. so let's just say planning. ok? ok.

i'll start with my inspiration for the whole shindig. these arrows.

totally cute, right? vintage-inspired arrows that were DIYed by danielle thompson + posted on her blog. i loved the concept and decided then + there that my own homemade arrows had to be made and shebang! a cowboy 'n indian theme was in the works.

so i eventually made my way to hobby lobby and started on a color story of my own....since i wanted to be able to re-use as many decorations/materials as possible [YES: STILL DUTCH], i thought back to the colors i had been picturing for hart's eventual big boy room. and from there i settled on mainly grays, blues, reds and some natural brown tones.

i also decided pretty early on to scrap the extra fuss of using washi tape + fabric for the arrow-making, and instead settled on paint alone. its cheap, its easy, its forgiving.

and here's how they turned out!

the secret [shhh!] is that i really only finished two of the arrows. in the end, i decided that i really loved the look of the arrows shooting up out of vases and that to clutter up the ends with feathers + felt wouldn't have worked as well. plus, it saved time.

and those pebble-y vase fillers? [free] navy beans from the pantry.

i used painter's tape for the stripes which worked beautifully, especially when the tape was pressed down really well [you can see some of the stripes have a little imperfection which probably bothers only me]. i wanted a mixture of colors + striping effects so i painted some of the arrows solid grey or white first, then started in with the stripes using two shades of blue, as well as bright red, dark red + grey. the ends are actually eraser tips in blue, light grey + teal.

the teal was a happy accident. i LOVE the contrast of the teal with the grey, blue, red + white color scheme. www.love.org.

here they are in action the morning of the party. can you see how they became my jumping-off point for everything else? i'm so happy with the vintage-athletic vibe of all the various stripes.

after making up these ten arrows, using ten dowels from a pack, i still had five eraser ends left over. they happened to be bright green + purple....but like the third arrowhead from the left, i just painted them! presto change-o, grey + blue arrowheads.

then i bought five long dowels, painted 'em up and i instantly had an arrangement by my sink that only cost $3 more [the long dowels were $.59 each].

and quiver me timbers! doesn't that vase look like an arrow quiver?! uh huh. that's exactly what i thought.

after i looked up the word quiver, which my parents taught me this weekend.

i thought the tomatoes were a fun addition too. natural decor is the best! so sayeth mr. berkus, anyway.

as i chose my paint + felt colors for the arrows, i also picked out paper colors to use for various decorations around the house. first up: a paper banner for the fireplace.

i really wanted an eclectic yet complimentary mixture of patterns, for that modern country feel. so from the hordes of hobblobb paper options, i chose deep blue with stars, solid dark red, blue + red gingham, red polka-dot, and a faded denim looking pattern. oh! and of course that siouxper cool paper in the middle [did i really just say SIOUXper?! worst pun ever?]....the painted looking tan sheet. the blue, red and black 'brushstrokes' added that perfect native american feel.

once that was accomplished, i started using scraps of leftover paper for other projects. next up on stage? a modern pair of silhouettes....some teeny tiny arrow toppers....and some sail-like scraps for the chandy. stay tuned!

pop! goes the birthday boy

2011-04-04T14:20:00.000-04:00

so someone has a birthday this week and someone's mom is going slightly insane planning decorations for the party. insane as in borderline obsessed. as in i want to quit my job and start planning your children's birthday parties full time. wait. forgot. i already quit my job. so....event planning here i come!

because SRSLY. i'm about to have a bad case of the shakes when this week ends, from diy decoration withdrawal.

trust me, there are oodles more photos to come from the party [oodles? is that word even in use anymore?] and i've also got lots of decor to discuss! spoiler alert! the master bedroom....is done?! stay tuned!

splash happy

2011-04-04T09:07:00.000-04:00

we all need a clean slate once in a while, right? and spring is a fitting time to be cleaning said slate. in other words, its time for a fresh start + some new posts about the happy happenings of the new house lately.

after a little time away, spent with family + friends, dishes + laundry, cheerios + chocolate cake, i'm back to say hello and to take a stab at some decor + party planning posts. thank you all for your patience. in my head i would love to be a daily blogger + spill all the beans that rattle around up there, but in my heart i know i need to concentrate first on being [attempting to be?] a good mom + wife. so i'll get as much out there as i can but i'll beg for your forgiveness when i'm frolicking on frog-hunts with my son instead.

and besides, who wants to think about tapping on a laptop when there are a million little splashes of bathwater to capture in your hair + lens?

too cool for stool

2011-02-18T18:29:00.001-05:00

remember the asian influence we were treating our as....behinds to previously? well....no more. thank you craig for your lists + your random strangers + their open pocketbooks! yep, we've sold that world market-made trio and instead invited a family of four to join us on the island.

except we're feeling anything but LOST when it comes to our new stools. we're loving their leggier nature and the industrial 'chem lab chic' look.

i spotted them on overstock a while back and when the christmas dust settled in our household, it was time to do the swaperoo. it doesn't hurt that they're a close cousin [read: knockoff] of these mid-century studio stools, which go for $245 each. two-forty-fiiiive. loves me a good deal, after all.

i'm enjoying the fact that when you walk into our kitchen part of you wonders where the formaldehyde and bunsen burners are hiding since your inner bio chem nerd is raring to run out + play.

it does add yet another gray element to our household [indeed, i'm suffering from a bit of an obsesh] but all the prettier playground for the pops of colored accessories to well....pop....against.

happy valentine's!

2011-02-14T07:00:00.028-05:00

U R A

TRUE LOVE

MY BABY

LOVE ME

LET'S TALK

ALL MINE

happy v day everyone! hope you enjoyed our little valentine's shoot....it was late in the day so the lighting was less than perfect, but we made the best of it.

oh.

wait.

i seem to have lost you. you're off scrounging for candy hearts, aren't you!

walk the line

2011-02-07T09:23:00.001-05:00

we finally made a couple more tweaks to the master bedroom. and i say we intentionally, as i've recruited the hubs to help get the show on the road.

in fact it was he who gave a second skin to the spashy punch of artwork we've added to the room. originally these canvases were the set i'd made for the living room....but they're now enjoying a new life as the cuppa key lime juice we're drinking in every morning as we wake up. they're literally the same key lime colored spray paint, that the hubs combined with white paint [obv] for a new much crisper look. in person you can still see the multitude of tiny drips on the canvas tops....which are now the sides....that i liked so much on the original version that i did.

and i think i love them. nay, i know i love them.

i give full credit to the hubs for the off-center placement and handiwork....which i then ran with. like literally ran around as an excited puppy might do, grabbing decor to pair with the new wall hangings.

and i ended up with this arrangement. very happy, am i.

the chair is one of two i'd bought on overstock a while ago when i began to merge into bedroom scheme 2: glorified modified. the silver pillow's also been around a few months, courtesy of tj maxx. the branch is a piece of curly willow i was given by a friend [thank you j!] and the vase is a pottery barn outlet find for the price of $11, or in other words, a price so cheap i would have to be pre-registered at the loony bin if i were to pass it up.

the table is a beat up ole gal i bought at a garage sale many moons ago, for $8. i love the diamond detailing and even the old handle on it....and while the surface scratches have multiplied + intensified over the years and i talk + talk of painting it, for some reason i love the imperfection and the age of it too much to paint it perfect. even though sometimes she begs me for a lovely new coat of dove gray to adorn her with.

last but not least, i'm loving the peek-a-boo ikea artichoke complementing the new arrangement from the bathroom next door. another little touch of mod + organic paired with the linear impact of the art.

even H is enjoying hanging with the new group.

what do you think....did my original 'art' do it for ya or do you prefer round two, husband edition? ie....WHO WINS?

there goes my graydar

2011-02-05T15:44:00.000-05:00

yup. again.

i encountered two containers of these l'il grey pups today at meijer for a buck apiece [clearance, yo!] and was just intrigued enough to purchase. i mean srrrriously, decor for less than a mcdrink from mcdonalds? i'm lovin' it.

i know. they're grey, and they're moss. well....'moss', would be more accurate. and when you combine grey + moss you get gross, in celebrity-couple speak, which is humorous, but not a desirable descriptor for decor.

so what are your thoughts? because i'm well aware there is good moss, and bad moss. as in, kate moss. and kate moss.

they're kind of like fuzzy rocks i've decided. fuzzy ladies-underwear-colored rocks, according to the hubs. but as i am wont to do, i've become attached already and am quite enjoying them. especially in our primarily yellow-grey-splashoforange living room scheme happening at the moment.

so i think they'll stay, which comes as no surprise to my hubbers, who has grown accustomed to a life of decor railroading. llllllove you!

+ + +

oh....and bonus points to those who noticed that this is our coffee table insert, as seen here. we're in the process of refinishing our table since it has been well-loved in the last five years. don't those homeless moss look quite forlorn on the window seat?

out of order

2011-01-28T23:13:00.001-05:00

puff daddy would be a good name for the little tyke after the eating of tiny star shaped puffs saved our colorado trip, one day at a time. whoever invented tiny dissolvable snacks for tots, i thank you. over and over again. who would have thought such a thing could distract a baby for two hours on a plane? ok maybe most parents knew this, but i'm clearly still a noob.

with that said, here are a few more pics from our trip. all in all, mr. H did so very well and we're thrilled to have made the memories + snapped the shots that will last for years to come. [commence weeping worthy of bachelor woman. what's that? which one? does it matter?]

some of us are content to look + not taste. others, not.

possibly my favorite....that tiny squeak of a cleft....the glistening nose....THE LASHES. oh yes and the EARS, DID I MENTION THE EARS?

from his perch 8000+ feet above sea level. clearly this kid owns the world. ok maybe not the world, but a woman. ME.

and lastly, peering down over the crunch + sparkle of snow-bedecked chicago on our last night of vacation. you might think i'm swooning for the petite paw or the perfectly curled lash thats screaming for a maybelline contract, but its the monster that kills me. gaaaRRRRRRRRRR!!! here i come! slobberslobberslobber!

yup.

this one's a framer.

skirting the issue

2011-01-26T21:57:00.001-05:00

i got an early start on spring cleaning this year.

i got out a box.

i filled it with clothes.

i placed it by the back door.

i wrote out a list for goodwill.

and i patted myself on the back.

and i walked by that box. which i filled too big, so i can't lift it by myself to get it into the car. i walked by it again. and again. and again, the day after that.

and a few things may have snuck back out.

so either i'm really resourceful or someone needs to re-explain to me what spring cleaning means.

but i'm thinking these could be really fun throw pillows. like, cut 'em up, sew 'em back together [who? not sure. i am still mostly clueless about sewing] around a pillow form and call it a day.

as for where....let's see. i picture this guy in the living room.

maybe him too. because layered patterns are the coolest.

and this gal seems like she'd be an awfully fun playmate in the guest room. beading + pom poms, oh my! the navy-white duo would be a nice crisp pop against all the solid + patterned green in there.

my gray-dar is most certainly going off with this one! see how the 'stitching' is a lovely light gray? i know. how did i dare to donate it. oh yeah. so someone else could enjoy it. and because its too small. right.

ideally, the pom poms would be salvageable for trim on the pillow. because pom poms are my fave.

so....thoughts? have you ever kept an item of clothing so that you could re-use a piece of it? or am i as crazy as i feel sometimes?

cya, co.

2011-01-07T23:12:00.001-05:00

so we're freshly back from colorado. gllllghhhhgorgeousness. that's the slobbery sound of me drooling as i reminisce.

here is a peek. you know, of the peaks.

the first three photos are from estes park. this next one is a reservoir near nederveld, co....in the mountains above that beautiful hippie-den, boulder.

the rest are a mixture from estes, and the mountains near boulder + golden.

this one really makes me take pause. the feeling of topping the world, framed in 4x6:

c'est vraiment incroyable, n'est-ce pas?! translation: those views are totally dope. yup. i said dope.

i snapped the majority of our photos however the hubs took what is arguably the best picture of all....the snap of that amazing fallen tree we drove past in estes park. here's another view of it....have you ever been so smitten with something dead before? [don't answer that]

in attempt to embrace the concept of editing, and avoid the reaction of too-long-did-not-listen, i'll finish up with these last few photos. as you can see, we had an absolutely lovely time. thanks so much to our friends for drawing us out to denver + for being the consummate hosts!

happy new year!

2011-01-01T08:00:00.004-05:00

from our backyard to yours....

hate it or love it....isn't winter breathtaking? here's to a spectacular year ahead!

get in line

2010-12-29T09:08:00.005-05:00

so the lightbulb went off a little late this year [lightbulllb!], but next year i have a fun idea for our kitchen chandelier. i mean, its already dressed to the nines 24-7 with [coughfauxcough] crystals aplenty dripping from its entire length. but you know me! i love to switch it up if i can.

....in fact, see here how i originally had the crystals displayed. oh + bring your magnifying glass. [eeps. sorry folks, that was the old template.]

i'm picturing either clusters of glossy ornaments strung all the way along the main bar [with the crystals still in place], or, using an approach like the foyer chandy this year + hanging a very minimalist row of orbs in a straight line parallel to the chrome bar. with the crystals removed, so that the lights bounce off the sparkly ornaments alone. oh and trust me, i'd find a place to use those crystals too....somewhere else where they'd have a completely different spin.

i have a couple other tardy-to-the-party ideas for next year as well, but i'll just have to wait on that for approximately 11 months. this year was just a little too whirlwind [we already took down our tree....SHHHH....i know].

+ + +

oh and here's a little aside, while i'm looking at the picture above. thoughts on our white grates-on-black-wall look we have been rocking out for over a year now since we moved in? yeah i mean that glowing white rectangle that's been staring you in the eye while you try desperately to ignore it and move on to prettier pastures.

every so often we [interpretation: i] debate painting it black + changing out the outlet covers on that wall to black as well, but we always come back to the conclusion of leaving them all white. personally, i think it gives a more urban air to our singular inky wall. and, leaving them white = no work or expense. but i always notice in other homes where grates have been painted to disappear into the wall color [hmm. so perhaps that defeats the purpose? well i do have an especially nosy eye, i'll admit.] anyway. if you have an opinion, feel free to share!

while i'm at it

2010-12-27T20:00:00.002-05:00

i know, i know. i have a son. but i JUST CAN'T HELP MYSELF.

after doing a baby-done-growed-up boy's room post i feel compelled to follow it with a big girl bedroom moodboard [ish].

because i'm a girl's girl, and while i love my son, I CAN DREAM. TRY AND STOP ME.

here's what i'd do if i had a daughter's room to transition in the near future:

+ a splash of scandi style. red, pink, light blue and white, white, white.

+ fresh, whimsical, but not overly feminine. a bit of edge.

+ large scale fairly neutral pieces that could easily move into other areas of the house later on. because we can try and lie to ourselves that baby girls won't fall in love with dora and minnie mouse and three thousand shades of pink, purple, and that pinnacle palette-topper purpley-pink....but let's not. let's just accept it as fact and move on.

via etsy

via life interiors

via classy mirrors

via kaboodle

via pottery barn

via rubie green

via yvestown

ok i better stop now. i am loving this scheme wayyyy too much and i still have a son to think about! maybe the hubs will let me decorate the spare bedroom as a big girl room....for myself.

biggie smalls

2010-12-26T19:07:00.003-05:00

well it seems time does indeed fly. here we are about to jump into january '11 and my mind keeps wandering to what i'll want to do with baby H's big boy room [SPOILER ALERT: not announcing anything here! sorry folks. we're just enjoying the one!] i merely mean the wee man isn't so wee anymore and it will be fun to re-decorate a room for him that suits a little boy vs. a teeny tiny beebee. plus, we didn't find out H's gender before his arrival so it would be my first time decorating specifically for him.

on that note....here are my initial thoughts!

+ eclectic will be a key word [again, and yet even more this time]. a fun mix of things that don't look like a pre-packaged set.

+ a bit of a traveled look would be a plus. like, this little boy has been places. like, this little boy must have dual citizenship to a foreign country. oh yeah. HE DOES. could totally tell from his room.

+ a bolder dose of pattern and/or artwork. something large scale.

here are some images for you. shaken, not stirred.

via ACL

via shoponline2011

via designova

via cococozy

via etsy

i definitely wouldn't be buying all new gear. let's get that straight, right from the get-go. those of the perceptive eye would note that the antlers + ikea canvases are already owned. as are the chartreuse ikea pillows which i think would be sharp with hits of red, grey + tiny touches of blue in the room as well. the dangerous book for boys was an amazingly spot-on christmas gift to our little tyke, and we were also gifted a much-loved-upon vintage bowling pin. ours has hot pink details, but i think H is oozing enough manliness to make even a dash of hot pink in his room seem ever so cool.

as for other elements in his current nursery, many would be easy enough to switch over to a whole new scheme. the vintage pendant light? paint it! the letters? spray 'em, baby! the curtains? re-trim in a new color! why not!

so now you know what decorating dallying my brain's been doing....anything to distract me from that pesky master boudoir that i can't seem to finish. oh + speaking of master....we would never forget the master rhino himself who would be a perfect fit for our all-grown-up-little-boy room.

you like?

the halls are decked. 2010 edition.

2010-12-25T07:00:00.003-05:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

if you've been to our place around christmas time you'd know we like to do a twist every year on what we've done before. nothing too crazy....i mean we have yet to do a carmen-miranda-as-chiquita-banana-lady theme [let alone a katie perry as carmen miranda as chiquita banana lady theme] or anything like that....but we just like to rearrange things a bit each year without dropping more coin. here's a shot of last year in case you were curious.

with all that preface i give you....christmas: version 12.10.

it was the hub's idea to set up the tree in the dining room this year. last year, we enjoyed a sparkle bedecked window scape in the sunroom. me likee the sparklee.

well this time around i have to give the hubs credit for creating some lovely ambiance as we arrive home at night in the dark....we get to see this number all lit up [in the non-wasted sense of the phrase] and charming.

as you can see we had to rearrange the furniture a tad to get our festive tree all cozied up to the window. there's a touch of awkwardness to the layout [hello there, pendant hanging in front of the tree lighting up nothing in particular. how are you?], but we think its pretty fun for the holiday season.

the little man certainly loves it.

we pushed the table up tight against the wall + removed three of the chairs so things would be a little less cluttery in that corner. and i rummaged through the basement to find these beauteous mitsumata branches [crate + barrel a few years back] which i sprinkled with silver stars. oh and the pine cones, you say? i actually started spray painting them silver, got distracted by other things, went looking for them in the basement a few days later and decided i kinda liked the depth they have with the dark brown peeping out from their metallic silver coats.

here's a look at the chairs we pulled from the living room. i grabbed a couple throw pillows from a closet + stole the silver stool from our bathroom. and it was good.

the console table [which usually sits beneath the dining room canvas] also needed to get a move on.

off it went to the angled wall by the staircase, and i created a little neutral christmas decor look with some family photos in frames + mr. rhino.

mr. rhino who was begging to get in on the fun. who were we to deny him?

to polish off what we quickly monikered 'the christmas room', i added a dose of sparkle to the nearby foyer chandelier. more re-mixing, as i merely took some silver sequined ornaments from the tree + strung them up with floss [yes, like there's a piece of spinach sunbathing on your front tooth, floss]. pretty AND minty fresh.

i hardly think i need mention how pretty it is at night with the lights sparkling off these silver snowdrops-raindrops-whatever you imagine these to be.

and in the kitchen + living room, its mainly just some silver sparkle + an added dash of color representing this fair season. we've had a lovely christmas enjoying all the sparkle + shine and more than anything else are so thankful for the greatest gift of all....JESUS CHRIST!

its tree time!

2010-12-15T15:52:00.001-05:00

so we were definitely on the late side of things with our christmas tree this year. as in, we waited until we had scarcely two weeks between us + christmas before scrambling out the door, bundled infant in tow, to do the only kind of outdoor hunting i'll ever do: tree hunting!

we found the cutest little family-run farm out in the boondocks of rolling hilly farmland and cud-chewing cows and off we were. juuuust the three of us, we can make it if we try....juuuust the three of us, the hubs, babe + iiiiiii....

we managed to find a pint-sized tree for H, purely for photo op purposes....

and here's the whole fam jam in the midst of a group huddle....do we like this tree? why yes, i think we do!

one of our troupe was casting a suspicious eye on the whole affair....

but even he eventually came back around.

mmmm....zipperrrrrrr....

so with a few swift slashes of the saw, we laid that baby to rest + enjoyed a complimentary (read: extremely bumpy but incredibly memorable) hay ride back up the hill....partaking in some hot cocoa + christmas cookies while our tree was wrapped up.

christmas traditions with a mini man....does it get any better?!

next up: decorations, 2010 edition!

master of the house

2010-12-14T22:26:00.000-05:00

ok, so i give in. i'm finally going to share some shots of our very unfinished master bedroom. so you can see that just like you, i hit road blocks here + there with decor choices. yes, even year-and-a-half long road blocks.

first of all, let's take a peek at two visions i had for the room.

idea a....my initial thought for the space. hollywood regency....glamour....a scoshe [scosh? scoach? i love scotch. scotchy scotch scotch.] kelly wearstler....lots of black + white + a bit of gold.

to the tune of this metro home bedroom....

[yeah and btdubs, that wall, its totally handpainted. amazing huh?!]

or this:

via curbly

idea b....a softer look. loads of whites....airy....fresh....eclectic. perhaps some pink, some red, some pale gold, some gray.

via keeping it realtor

via windlost

and here's our room in its current condition:

our room has always been white, back from when i picked all the paint colors during the building process....i just knew from the start that i wanted a light + breezy cloudy cream puff of a boudoir. to be honest, i would have done many more white walls in our house for a truly contemporary feel but i scared myself out of it from a practicality standpoint. i figured our bedroom was the safest place to go wintery white since only the hubs + i would be in there [vs. the rest of the house being a kid zone eventually].

now you may recall the dresser reference from months past. well that little diddy turned out quite well, if i do say so myself. a dozen odd coats of spray paint is all it took. [um, yes, that was sarcasm....spraypainting a single vase = fun. spraypainting a six foot long dresser = not fun]. we picked up those fun futuristic knobs from menards, home of good deals and boy-part jokes aplenty.

all in all we've got some lovely components going on, i'd say. but its pretty much been a frozen winterscape for a while now of dresser....bed....side tables....and yeah. that's it.

anyone wanna unleash their inner sarah richardson + give me some feedback? black + white hollywood glam, or ultra light ultra mod? speak up, y'all!

goodbye green

2010-12-03T14:00:00.005-05:00

so for a short intermission between fall + the christmas season that's already arrived but i'm ignoring until we have a tree up, i'm enjoying a little dash of blue + orange in the kitchen. basically the other day i went on a spree through the house removing all things green because i was just so....over....it a la those hills we all know + miss like cray cray. and yes i know, i'll have to succumb to green again shortly as our christmas tree will be, naturally, green. but hey. i thrive on variety! especially in my wardrobe + house decor! no worries, hubs, not in my men. [xoxo!]

once i pared things down to orange + blue in the kitchen, which was quick + easy, i moved to the back entryway and rearranged some things there on the fly, and for free, to suit my new distaste for that earthy color of yore. i nabbed some random cards that i thought looked sweet + eclectic together, and that remind me of special people in our lives, and set those on the locker shelves. i jumped the junk drawer like white on rice for some freebie pens + additional ephemera of the orange/aqua/blue/pink variety. and i switched out our rug for a cheapie pier one number in tiffany blue, that i'd been storing away for a while.

then i hit the living room. green throw pillows, be gone! vases, best ye hide! we are doing it simple and we are doing it yellow. yellow + grey + black + white. totally trendy but totally my favorite color palette of the moment.

tinsel time! my only christmas-y decorations that have come out to play so far.

and for the new simplified color scheme, i opted for a b + w image of six-months-prego-moi shot by the hubs on vacation last january.

a photo i snapped on the same dominican republic vacation last winter, of a peeling but oh so colorful little shack.

another free kohl's pillow! mmmmm pleatinggggggg. nice work, wang!

so those are our tweener color schemes for the main living area, which tie in well to the sunroom, and i'm sure i'll be giving a christmas shakedown soon too. shakedown as in lots of deets + pics of my 2010 decorations, not shakedown as in holding our tree over your head and dousing you with torrents of needles. BECAUSE OUR TREE WILL BE REAL. THAT YOU CAN COUNT ON. sticky sap, pricked fingertips, and weeks of guilt over forgetting to water that 10" triangular thing in the corner. yup. the whole bit!

des colores

2010-11-18T07:54:00.001-05:00

oh i'm sorry, was it november now?

i was just enjoying a quiet crunchy sunday morning complete with cranberry orange biscotti and a mitt sized mug of tea when i realized that while i've been generously doting on strangers' blogs i've scarcely taken a peep at my own.

here are some things of note around our household....via photos snapped in the last couple of weeks.

color, as predicted, has moved in.

with all her crazy baggage and flare for the dramatic and i-just-don't-care-if-i-match-the-paint-OR-decor attitude. she tends to leave her belongings everywhere and hogs all the attention when kids come to visit.

but in exchange for a little one like this?

i'd make that barter any day of the week.

oh and antlers. have i not mentioned antlers?

antlers are what i get for eating half my weight in cakes + getting latte drunk on my birthday. a moment of giddiness resulting in a present to myself from 1955 complete with a hunting tag and $20 worth of explanation to my husband when i got home. trust me though....i have plans.

and lastly, a wee bit of progress on the white box project. ie: the decor project that never ends, our bedroom. now if only i could un-stall myself and finish the darn thing!

the canvas, people!

2010-10-29T15:08:00.000-04:00

so back to the canvas topic. if you recall, i'd had a less than positive encounter with the online company called the canvas people. after an order + a reorder of a stretched canvas that gave me the blues twice over, i had pretty much given up on getting anything close to our photo. despite a very friendly customer service representative. and despite me being very hopeful to have things all work out in the end. because i like people to like me! and i like to like people! even canvas people!

wellllll out of the blue [ok i did not even try to do that. i swear. it just happened.] i was checking the mailbox this week and BAM. large. padded. envelope. label that reads 'the canvas people'. raised eyebrow. quickened pace for return up driveway to house.

and....what's black + white + grey all over? this guy!

basically during my last interaction with the company, which took place the first week of september, i left off emailing a b + w image of our photo and....well never heard anything beyond that point. so i pretty much gave up and started bonding with the two blues brothers up on the mantle.

fast forward to now, and there's a chicagoan triptych happening up there. i gotta say, i'm feeling pretty impressed with how everything ended up considering my total dollars dropped totaled $15, and i have three small canvases to play with + display with.

thank you tcp! talk about going the extra mile to make your customer happy.

hook, line and sink[er]

2010-10-23T08:03:00.000-04:00

and now you know how i get ready in the morning. or the afternoon. let's be honest.

laiiiiid back. with my mind on my mommy and my mommy on my mind.

k + e

2010-10-20T13:45:00.000-04:00

i try not to overload the blog with images of interiors from magazine sites or other blogs [albeit gorgeous and infinitely inspiring] as i feel there's already plenty of that to go around. i figure i might as well stick with what i know, which is me + mine, and pretend i know what i'm talking about.

anyway. fast forward to this morning and this site [sight?]. um, talk about a match made in blogger heaven. me loves the bold striping, handmade aesthetic, classic colors, funky fauna, and HELLO THE NAMES.

k + e = 4evah

ignore the hiss + focus on the thomas paul pillow center stage! among others!

now i am well aware that the hubs and i don't have the most original names on the planet. i mean, we're practically poster children for the eighties, along with all the jennifers, justins and jessicas out there [you know who you are]. but come on. kinda fun to run into this when wandering the interweb.

if you're curious, elizabeth from peacock feathers is an event planner in philly [so we have that in common too! ....yes i'm joking]. who had these banners custom-made as decoration for her wedding day last june. and who shares an interest in all things fashion + interior design/decor. so that part we do share. now if only we could share that neon acrylic tray....meowww! how fun is that?

the rule of four

2010-10-18T07:00:00.002-04:00

so i know i've talked before about the not-so-very-secret-anymore-designer-secret of grouping things in threes. its visually pleasing and creates some instant cohesiveness within your room's decor [as opposed to plunking a lot of single items everywhere and hoping that they'll magically tie in together somehow].

well to take it a step further, i actually like to buy things in fours. when i have four like items, i have the freedom to do a grouping of three in one part of the room, and reference the shape/color of said items elsewhere with the single piece. and occasionally, it can look nice to break up the menage a trois trick with a grouping of four for a little surprise. in other words....you have options. and you don't have to kick yourself later, which is awkward and unpleasant, for not buying anything else that 'goes' with whatever display item you want to work with. you've got an instant entourage that can roll two, three or four-deep depending on if you're after some symmetry or a three's company sorta feel.

some examples....

a grouping of grasses that's been moving its way around the house, one room at a time. their missing comrade is by the back door, adding a little [faux] life to the telephone table there.

in the hub's office, three of four egg vases are scattered throughout the bookshelf. humpty and dumpty occupy one cube of the unit while a single sits atop a stack of books. and the fourth is taking a breather in the closet right now, but he'll get his time to shine again soon too.

and then there's G to the power of four....a gaggle of glass bottles filled with scottish water of all things. they're out in full effect since i'm really enjoying the look of the whole set to contrast a grouping of three apples casually placed nearby.

last note for the day....i don't purchase anything + everything in fours. i mean, that could get a little crazy. i've got a chamillion dollar college education in about 18 years to plan for, after all! what i do like to do is snag multiples when the going's good....ie: cheap.

the white top/black bottom vases were $2 each on clearance. the grasses were $8 each, a little steeper, but they're oh-so-flexible with lots of decor schemes. and the agua bottles were $2-ish a piece which was easy to justify considering i can always swig the contents if there's a drought.

so don't go telling your husband later that it was me who told you to buy four rock-tastic tiffany vases. that was all you.

+ + +

if you get a chance, find a copy of the rule of four. i was surprised by how much i enjoyed it!

jagged little pillow

2010-10-17T10:13:00.000-04:00

ahem [clears throat]

dearest kohl's:

it is with deepest gratitude that i thank you for another free gift card to your store. i do so enjoy the spending of your own money on your own merchandise. after browsing your multitude of racks, stacks and displays i have returned to my most humble abode bearing a veritable princess of pillows. she is sharp and she is soft. she is jagged and she is straight. she is tough and she is fair. and now, she is mine.

kind regards,

[e]liz

brass junkie

2010-10-13T13:37:00.000-04:00

so i went goodwill hunting last week. funny how that conjures up images of a classic 90's flick and some pretty awesome 90's hair. ahhh, the early days of the bromance. before brody jenner gave it a whole new meaning and a competition to boot. anyway, there is a fairly new goodwill that popped up in town and i've been meaning to check it out for a while.

and was i looking specifically for a new crew of brass candlesticks? no! that's precisely the point! you don't wander into the GW for something you need. you wander in to find something you DON'T need! um....wait. that came out wrong.

for $12 though i carried home what i like to think of as the brass pack....five clean-lined, streamlined, almost art deco-like stems that are pretty on their own, or functioning as candle holders. they're really quite heavy as well, which makes the price tag of about $2.20 per stick seem decent.

it wouldn't feel like a goodwill treasure if it wasn't coated in dust, right??

i could definitely also spraypaint them if the mood struck, but i have to say, i'm feeling a new appreciation for brass these days. caveat: not just any ole brass. i'm not rushing out to home depot to switch out all my doorknobs & bath fixtures to shiny glitzy gold. however brass with a bit of an aged patina seems to be just the right juxtaposition to our new home + its decor.

this is where i plunked the quints for now. makes the dining room console a tad busy so some rearranging is in order....but i do love the smoky charcoal paint paired with the gilded metallic gleam of the set.

and yes, i'm a big BIG fan of ms. emily henderson, recent hgtv design star, prop stylist and shelter blogger, who frequently dabbles in decorative items of the brass variety. take this space....

via hgtv

i'd venture to say it wouldn't be nearly as successful without the beauty of the brass accents for warmth + contrast. without them all of the cool tones shown would be too monochromatic and cold. not that i don't die for that chrome-legged chair and its geometric pal....and the huge grey canvas....and the white cube-y coffee table....and the pinstripes....and the....

oh and i know. some of you aren't reading this because you've already had a small heart attack and have passed out on your keyboards because you've heard me bashing brass as long as you've known me.

well....what can i say? maybe being 28 has made me just a little more....brash. if you will.

rocktober

2010-10-12T21:44:00.000-04:00

so we've been rockin' out october this year with a few special events. the wee one is newly six months old....

....the hubs and i are each celebrating birthdays this week. oh, and i along with the country of canada celebrated thanksgiving this past weekend.

....and once again, i've let life supercede blog. however do not despair, there are a few new posts in the draft pipeline. and i'll be cranking them out just as soon as i can!

all you need is love

2010-10-01T08:36:00.000-04:00

some shots we took at our party the other day. love was, as they say, in the air.

and now these three remain: faith, hope and love. but the greatest of these is love.

1 corinthians 13:13 [niv]

origami. or, origam me?

2010-09-28T11:52:00.001-04:00

i can't recall if i mentioned the second set of canvases to grace our home following my last ikea trip, but all the same i'm excited to share them. like the set in our hallway, they're equally cheap + easy [on the eyes]. except instead of echoing the excitement of city living, these call to mind a more natural environment.

they're ikea's fabric take on origami animals. totally two-dimensional but just as ready to have a good time.

and next to that pillow pairing? me loves.

fee-fi-fo-fall

2010-09-23T21:16:00.000-04:00

fall is here!

....although the weather seems to be acting in direction opposition to that fact. we're sweating in our living room at the moment, at 9:00 at night in late september. the windows are flung wide + the screens are saving us from a flying fleet of assailants drawn toward our lovely lit living room.

well hey. we can at least pretend its chilly + cidery outside, right?

i swear i did not place that solitary autumnal emblem there....that burnished brown oak leaf just happened to be in the perfect place for the picture.

mum....mum....mummy....mummy....mom....mom....lois....

look mom! a PUNKIN!!!!

boy, is it ever tiring staring at beautiful new fall decorations.

now at least i can admit that this post totally turned into a shameless excuse to post baby pictures. but really, can you blame me? those cheeks just beg to be documented as regularly as an old man on bran.

what comes before part b?

2010-09-22T19:45:00.001-04:00

so i threw a little soiree this past weekend. it was a busy but beautiful few days of planning + preparing culminating in an affair to be remembered.

i thought i'd share some of the decorations i scrapped together....scrapped being code for 'found around the house or made for a total of $10' [not including necessities like some disposable plates, cups, utensils, etc.].

first up: a couple of haute houndstooth takeout containers that hail from my baby shower in february. they were originally used to house game gifts for me like baby cloths + spoons.

some paper tent signs i made to label the desserts....the aqua houndstooth i had from baby shower invites i made earlier this summer, and the aqua + green 'tents' are envelopes that i cut + folded to be propped up by the various platters.

on one counter, i put two framed 8x10 professional photos of H. one is black + white and the other had a beautiful pop of blue that worked with the party's main colors of green, blue + orange. since the party was for H, i thought it was a fun homage and it also meant some more free decor!

also going along with that theme were the orange porcelain koi i pulled from the nursery, and a bit of wild zebra fabric in green + white that i wrapped around a book. i never did end up neatening the edges + getting everything perfectly tucked as i would have liked, but it still provided a pretty punch in the corner.

let me flag the next little details for you. i thought it would be fun to jazz up the labeling of the various soups i'd made so i created these pendant shaped flags to go with each main dish. the paper is more of the aqua houndstooth, and the orange is leftover from the frame project.

i used bamboo skewers from my pantry for the flagpoles + poked them into the back of four little pier one potted grasses [faux, naturally] that rotate around the house on a consistent basis. i first planned to stick 'em smack dab in the middle of each pot but since the bottom isn't really soil it was much easier to dig them into the small space between the 'plant' + pot.

the center of the island held a cluster of items that went with the general color story of blue, orange + green. one of our green vases held another of the orange poufs from my february baby shower [are you starting to see that i don't like throwing things away?]

near the pouf i plopped some of the mini moss pieces from the set that i display in our coffee table insert. the dish is one that my mom gave me for my birthday last year, and the books have no relationship to the party decor other than their cover colors....or in case things got really boring, and people stopped talking + started reading. thankfully, not the case.

the orange tumblers i'm sure you recognize from recent kitchen posts, and that green peacock of a glass out in front is from a colorful set of handmade dishes from mexico that my mom-in-law gifted us with when we were newly married. each of these glasses ended up holding bright beautiful wildflowers that i plucked from the woods near our lot.

oh and this guy? just the star of the show. no big deal. pllllllhhhhhh.

are you wondering where i spent those ten bones i bragged about? ok fine. here is the tissue paper portion of my tale.

for $10, or two $5 packs of tissue paper, i created more poufs like the orange one mentioned earlier that my girlfriend had crafted for me. except in more boyish shades of blue + green mainly, with a few other colors to [a] use up the tissue packs and [b] make things not-so-perfect and coordinated. my attempt at being casual, in other words. i can pretend to not be a perfectionist, right?

although i wasn't as sure how the striped poufs would end up, since i'd never seen them done before, they ended up being my favorite.

i also took a twist on the usual pouf format by mixing colors in each one to give a little more depth of color, to liven things up, and for the practical purpose of having to buy less tissue paper [since each pack had just a few sheets of each shade].

mmmm. love. and for an easy centerpiece on the kitchen table i grabbed the mirrored tray from the sunroom + filled it with reflective items like the votives + coasters so that more of the poufy pom pom color would sparkle. the coasters were also of course for people's drinks who ate there during the fiesta. and the green zeeby fabric is the same as the swatch that wrapped the book [above].

lastly i hung a few poufs in the sunroom....

....and in dedication to my dutch heritage, even used the clippings from the pouf production as a simple display of decor on the mantle. i couldn't let them go to waste, could i?!

i liked how this grouping on the living room mantle carried some of the party colors through from the kitchen, and also how the effect became like a pool of water....with all those blue + green + aqua tones. and yet the decorations didn't scream 'boy' either, with fire truck reds + construction zone yellows. it was subtle speak for 'H is a male, but we are not yet to the disney phase....and thank goodness for that'.

all in all, i think it worked out quite nicely. a lovely time was had by all and it was worth every bit of effort beforehand.

canvassing the neighborhood

2010-09-16T22:33:00.000-04:00

so hide your kiiids, hide your wife, and hideyourhusbandtoo. if you don't want to hear about another el cheapo ikea decor item, that is.

i've had this particular project in mind for a while, and i'll be the first to admit its not the most creative thought out there as its straight out of the ikea showroom. but hey, toss me some creds for picking the fabric + placement? i'm speaking about the fabric-stretched-over-simple-wooden-frames iconic ikea look that is fairly easy breezy and definitely cheapy cheapy.

while i'd had a different idea in mind for filling in the upstairs hallway, as soon as we made these canvases i knew they needed to go straight to the second floor. they did not pass go. they did not collect $200. and they didn't cost nearly $200 either.

in fact, here's a breakdown:

+ two wooden frames....$5 each

+ one yard of fabric....$6/yard

= $8/canvas or $16/set

not too shabby! and the labor? um, free. thanks hubs! the canvases actually come with tacks so its a pretty straightforward project. some ironing, tic-tack-toeing and you're totally there. and i've got some lovely fabric scraps to play with later, too.

i especially love the sky-liney effect [hey, what isn't a word these days. i mean, srrrriously] of this particular section of the fabric we chose.

at least, to my eye, its all lofty downtown living like....in an abstract artsy way. mmmm. love.

and i think the slate grey + alabaster white should be long-lasting decor colors to work with. hot pink or yellow or kelly green would be perfect pops off this palette.

oh + as for where we hung them? i like to position wall decor under a lighting source if it works out....usually under an existing can light [to save on additional wiring costs of a new fixture]. so we did just that and now they're the highlight of the hall!

rhi rhi mix

2010-09-11T12:35:00.002-04:00

under my umb-er-ella..ella..ella..eh..eh..eh....

so on this rainy football day i thought i'd do a post with a recent remix in the nursery. pretty subtle switchup, but it just goes to show how little tweaks in your home's interior landscape can be fun + make you happy. and that's what its all about, right?

now that we decidedly have a boy [remember, i planned this nursery with the possibility that a little queen bee could occupy it!], i wanted to rid the room of yellow for now and go full bore blue + orange with the shadow box trinkets.

before:

+ after:

i told you. subtle. but i'm really enjoying this new set-up so much more from my rocking chair across the room. there are still varying heights for visual interest and a main palette of blue, orange and some brown to ground things. isn't it funny how even the paint in this pic appears more ice blue/gray than the picture above? no i didn't repaint....again....[within a year of building i begged my husband to repaint the nursery for our new babe, from tan to gray]. i think its just the orange lamp that casts a warmer glow in the before photo.

anywho.

i stole the big ben clock from my laundry room, for another old, antique-y looking item in the room. love the chipping paint + aged aqua patina of it. a garage sale find from six years ago!

and the orange party pouf is from my baby shower back in february....beautiful memories encapsulated in a pretty paper pouf.

and have i mentioned this tongue-in-cheek combo before? a little GQ reference for my mini manly man.

if you haven't done much in the way of decor remixing in your home, i highly recommend it. its william wallace-approved free [FREEDOMMM!] + its good for the soul....especially in snowy winter months when you're stuck inside all the time. and i'm addicted to it, if you couldn't tell!

just call me timba-liz.

curtain call

2010-09-09T19:34:00.000-04:00

so remember this hint from a while back? [at the bottom of the post] ok just humor me + say you do.

well we whipped up a little headboard project the other night and i think it turned out pretty ok! especially for free!

we had the thick nautica shower curtain on hand [a leftover-but-not-forgotten-about item from our last house], as well as the plywood [from the construction of our current home] and the tacks [from an ikea project soon to be blogged]. we'd been talking about this simple idea for a while [obv. i mean, the date on that post was JANUARY. as in EIGHT MONTHS AGO.] but the actual doing of it escaped us while we were busy with other areas of the house.

note....the walls seem verrry green here!

they're not nearly so yellowy-green, i swear!

anywho, c'est fini. all it took was some ironing by me + gruntwork by the hubs....ie: cutting the wood + carefully tacking the curtain in place so it was taut [like a tiger], with the ribbing lined up as neatly as we could manage considering the seaming didn't run completely straight.

i was going for dramatic so i had kevin hang it up, up, up + away....then wondered if perhaps i scaled a little too much wall with it. well, i guess i just provided myself a good excuse to need [ahem] new euro shams or oversized square pillows down the road, to fill a little more of that real estate.

what do you think? fairly dece for a couple rooks in the headboard department? it certainly works out well considering that company's coming calling next weekend. now if only i could speed up my progress on the master bedroom from snail status so i could get another side table/lamp going in there for some added hospitality....

at least i did get three of my photographs developed + framed finally. at the moment they're leaning on top of the headboard but i do think i'd like them more permanently hung right above it. at least now we've got some good incentive....gotta git 'er done before our guests arrive!

bloom!

2010-09-08T18:18:00.001-04:00

there's nothing quite like cuttings from your own garden, is there??

the front beds were looking pretty sparse at this point in the year so we said 'off with their heads!' to these few remaining blossoms. and now i can't stop staring at them. why don't i get fresh flowers more often?! someone? anyone??

as if that wasn't enough luscious eye candy for the kitchen, the nearby table holds a few more treats. held in a few of the tumblers mentioned in yesterday's post.

i might as well be at a tennis match for all the ping-ponging my eyes are doing from one batch of blooms to the other....its adding some serious life to this space!

crystals + cut flowers? my oh my, company must be coming!

out with the old, in with the orange

2010-09-06T09:20:00.001-04:00

so i've got a bit of a switchup going on in the kitchen at present. i'd been enjoying an uncharacteristic combo of red + lime while i cooked this summer, but i've replaced the red for a season with its warm + equally autumnal neighbor, orange.

you're looking at some new tumblers that are adding a punch of marmalade moxy to our counters + cupboards....deliciously fresh + fun, aren't they? one thing i love about these cb2 glasses that each is hand-blown so there are lovely uniquenesses to each one.

they were co-stars at a baby shower i had the pleasure of attending this summer + the friend throwing it was kind enough to sell them to me afterward for a great discounted price. here's one quietly trying to steal the show....as if that was possible with the gorgeous mama-to-be being honored that day:

so tumble me twelve new glasses + suddenly my kitchen is really poppin' with modern flair.

and i couldn't let them be the odd orange out, now could i? so i had to pick up this saucy sesame seed oil from tj maxx to round things out.

now let's take a step back + see how things are cooking..er..looking:

i realize that critics would say i'm still a nancy when it comes to the color wheel....but for my own residence i prefer the stark nature of neutrals popped with a couple key hues. and i find it makes the food being prepared really sparkle....rather than get lost in a melange of decor colors + patterns. heck, i can pretend i'm top chefing it. with 1/1000th the skill set.

see?

yum.

and to be fair, let's acknowledge that the floor counts too. i know the ceiling commonly gets touted as the fifth wall of a room, but what about where you walk? i think our hardwoods should count for the color + warmth they provide underfoot.

what do you think? does a carefully edited color palette do it for you or are you of the fiestaware familia?

five on five

2010-09-05T21:27:00.003-04:00

five months old today. can you hear the thunderous footsteps coming your way?

we're not quite to walking yet with this little guy but he can definitely hold himself up + loves to stand or 'walk' with help.

he's also a giggling, blathering, bubbling machine who loves to disturb the peace wherever he happens to be. which is oftentimes outside....oh, how this wanne-be-boy-scout loves the great out-of-doors. he could watch trees + waves + birds + bugs for hours. which makes me a little afraid for the upcoming indoor months of winter....i guess it'll just be 'one day at a time', as many a mama must have said before me.

happy five, beautiful boy!

frederik meijer gaffe

2010-09-04T21:58:00.002-04:00

so....my trip to fmg the other day. not to be confused with the bfg.

no, its the fmg i speak of and i was quite excited to get my photog on and gather some inspirational shots. if you haven't visited the gardens before, especially during the current chihuly exhibit, i am here to tell you it is basically art porn. between the incredible flowers, towering tropical plants, and sculptures of all sorts....well its a feast for the eyes + mind.

i happened to choose a balmy 92 degree day to go traipsing through the gardens with a friend + her lovely daughter, and of course my main man H. it was a perfect day, heat exhaustion aside, and i was snapping away to my heart's content.

well, all did not end well. once home i discovered two things. in the busyness of baby-handling i'd not noticed that our camera [a panasonic fz35] was still set on manual focus, when i'd been assuming i was still working on auto focus. dohhh. result: many MANY blurry photos. secondly, there were water spots in a couple places where the lens needed cleaning. more awesomeness.

here's some of what i salvaged. a recap in photos: the good, the bad + the blurred.

still a beautiful trip in all respects, just with a bit of bitter aftertaste....like not capturing even one clear image of these fabulous violet fronds [despite taking no less than 20 photos of them]. they'll just have to serve as a dreamy reminder of a summer day well spent.

oh + in case you wondered....i'm sure some of these will be rotating into the mantle frame for future enjoyment!

the canvas debacle

2010-09-03T08:35:00.001-04:00

so about a year and a half ago the hubs and i snapped this photo in downtown chicago of the hancock building. kinda love how crisp the picture turned out with the sky all whited out + the graphic lines of the building's facade. gorgeousness.

enter an email i received a few weeks back, promoting an online company called 'the canvas people'. the email promised a free* 8x10 canvas, which of course the * = not free. in other words, i pay the shipping, they make the canvas for free. still, not bad. [or if you love a good scottish accent like i do, no' BADDD!]

so for $14.95 i ordered one up, thinking it could be a nice personal yet professional looking touch....to have a custom stretched canvas on display with a snap taken by yours truly. i chose this particular pic since it both has special meaning to me [a laugh-filled trip with our sister + brother-in-law] + also has a neutral quality that would easily work in different rooms throughout the house.

well, phase two of my order went something like this. went to mailbox. face lit up with excitement. eagerly skipped back into house. snip-snip-snipped open envelope.

face melts into frown.

head cocks to side.

....and, disappointment.

here's why:

no need to adjust your monitors, folks, the canvas came back BLUE. now, i realize there is an element of blue in the grays of the original picture. and i'm ok with that. because the overall aesthetic is still mainly gray. however the canvas came and basically blew the blue up to smurfesque proportions.

that, and it was damaged. in not one but two places.

hence me with puzzled puppy dog expression. i mean, is THIS what free gets you nowadays? [ok, yes, i'm chuckling a little when i say that. just a little though.]

so off i went to chase the wild goose through the world wide web in an attempt to return the canvas. after sending off a message to a totally ambiguous sounding email address on the website, lo + behold i received a prompt reply in my inbox just a few hours later! i was pleasantly surprised to hear from an actual person....like with a name + everything....who said they would be happy to send me another canvas.

ok, sure!

well. a couple days later came the rinse + repeat part of my story:

went to mailbox. face lit up with excitement. eagerly skipped back into house. snip-snip-snipped open envelope.

face melts into frown.

head cocks to side.

....and, disappointment.

my smurf canvas had morphed into an even more smurf-like aqua blue! here's a close-up:

i do understand that when printing on canvas, the tonal qualities of the colors can change as the ink seeps into canvas differently than when one is printing on photo paper. i just can't quite get over how my 'correction' canvas strayed even more than the first, after i pointed out that the colors were too blue.

well at this point i've emailed the customer service rep again so we'll see what happens. for now, i've got a pair of true blue twins that i'm sure i'll find a place for eventually. as the hubs pointed out, if we could get a third one in a shade like green, it could actually be kind of a fun triptych.

but there's something to be said about getting an item as you ordered it, don't you agree?

how is it possible..

2010-09-02T22:35:00.000-04:00

that even after i spent all day with this little monster, i'm still thinking about him now that he's in bed?

hmm. maybe because he just woke up. [%^$*]

alpha-bow

2010-09-02T16:46:00.000-04:00

sometimes the simplest things can take your breath away. how sweet is this rainbow colored magnetic alphabet? and what a marvelous idea! i'm not sure myself on how i think the fabric letters would hold up to a wee one, but i love the image + idea of it.

especially on a dark + rainy newly septembered day.

the etsy shop is called beyondtheseam. click only if you dare to enter the infamous etsy timewarp! i don't know about you, but every time i enter, i lose at least an hour of my life that i can't get back....hence a lack of my over-posting about etsy shop finds. thanks to younghouselove for featuring this gem earlier this week.

lack luster

2010-08-31T22:19:00.002-04:00

i got sucked into that deep dark swedish wormhole again. oh, you of the multi-floored furniture displays. you of the friendly flags + the meatballs + the dandelions from outer space. you....you!

this time i left not lacking a coffee table for the sunroom. ahh, the sunroom. its been a slow progression since move-in day last july [that's july 2009, people] but we're finally getting there. the hubs spotted this member of the lack crew and upon further inspection we decided it could make a pretty dandy addition to the house.

+ its cheap [and therefore we won't cry if the kiddo goes to town on it someday, a la this]

+ it has low, clean lines

+ it has a useful shelf for storing books or some slim baskets with small toys

+ it could easily migrate and become a bench with a cushion or some other functional piece in the house

so without further ado....here shines the sunroom with her new furniture arrangement. the only problem: i'm starting to really like her now + its going to be hard to acquiese ownership of her to the baby once he turns into a living terror and we need to cage him in there on a semi-permanent basis to keep him from destroying the rest of our home. because that is what babies do, isn't it??

i would still like to replace the stock white square legs with chrome or nickel peg legs. for a little extra panache.

but it can wait while i work on enjoying the last of summer in our fishbowl room.

so as i said, progress. some things old, some things new, some things borrowed [that branch! from nature! HELLO!], some things....with a view.

clear as day

2010-08-30T23:16:00.002-04:00

a photo a day....keeps the a.d.d. decorator at bay?

so maybe i'm not switching out mantle-top photos every day of the week, but i like having the setup for it. i decided on a whim to print some extra [read: non-baby] photos last week while ordering up a good 80 prints or so of the little man. and yes i got the prints for free and yes i am dutch. since its nearly impossible for me to keep things in the same place for long, decor-wise, i thought it'd be convenient to have a frame available that would go with anything + would display atmospheric photos well, to correspond with whatever else is happening in the room at the time.

right now, this 5x7 acrylic frame sits on our fireplace mantle but it could just as easily migrate to another alcove of our abode. but i'm enjoying the mantle location since the mood in our living room has mucho possibility for change....being that most elements of the room are a neutral foil for a variety of accessories.

i currently have mainly citrusy yellow + green tones flavoring our surroundings. so first i went for a pop of sky blue....literally....with a photo i snapped this spring. for some crisp + clouded contrast.

after a week or so i decided to go with the shot shown above, that coincided with the existing accent colors. this pup is a print that hails from a winter trip to domican republic. just what the d.r. ordered, eh? ehhh? [har..har....har] i was smitten with this street-side stand spilling over with golden greens + yellows.

future candidates for office include....

strawberry kisses [for a touch of warmth + texture]

wheels [are for whimsy]

cheerful chairs [that tell a story]

....and many more. the options are endless, really! and if there's a certain color or pattern i'd like injected into the space i can always seek it out, snap it + print it. i like the personal story behind each photo as well, that briefly transports me back to the day + place i photographed that particular moment.

clearly, this frame looks to be $12 well spent [finally that 20% off coupon came in handy!].

[hi]atus

2010-08-29T22:50:00.003-04:00

dear blog, how i've missed you. i caught a case of summer, but not to worry, i'm all better now and feeling almost fall-ishly fabulous. i've got all kinds of delicious things to show + tell. an update on the master bedroom, an inspiration trip to see the chihuly exhibit, and a multitude of decor re-mixes around the house.

talk soon,

[e]liz

i will lift up mine eyes to the hills

2010-08-06T16:45:00.001-04:00

our little man turned four today. four months, that is. might as well be four years though for how fast this is all going.

[sniff]

now that al gore is finished inventing the internet perhaps he can work on slowing down the passage of time. i'll have my people contact his people. we'll let you know.

thanks again to jen....for editing my photo!

hot[el]

2010-08-05T22:43:00.002-04:00

back in january, at the start of our vacation, we stayed one night at a park + fly hotel in detroit. we chose it for its cheapness however were sweetly surprised by its interior. especially considering it fit the bill so nicely, budget-wise.

let me share....

the foyer had a screen made of metal ball chains. and a super slick fireplace.

and great furniture. and striking colors, with a backdrop of stark white.

the hallway by the elevators had a trio of lingerie lights....sexy sheer drum pendants that virtually glowed. and cast beautiful shadows on the ceiling.

the bar sparkled beneath track lights + tray ceilings.

heck, even the carpeting was eye candy.

i contemplated cutting out a square of it to take with me, but somehow i knew that crossed the line of what could be considered complimentary....

it seemed that everywhere i turned there was an interesting texture to behold.

clearly the room numbers did not disappoint, nor did the room itself. it was a refreshing twist on the usual dose of stuffy faded fabrics, flimsy worn furniture and outdated lamps.

i took special pleasure in noting that the bathroom faucet was not only off-center, which is a great way to customize the look of a vanity without adding much cost, but also happened to be from the same kohler line as our tub filler.

[BIG SIGH]. just looking through these photos again makes me yearn to escape to somewhere....even just for a night. say for a stay here, here or here!

....someday.

text appeal

2010-08-05T13:32:00.002-04:00

so briefly back to the laundry room. [briefs....so punny]

you may have noticed another little snippet of text in the room, aside from big red that is. if you're curious as to why it looks familiar....it was my test board for the living room artwork. i did a trial run before spraying the actual canvas so that i could be sure i liked the layout + application of the paint. when a friend came over a while back and saw it laying in my painting zone she suggested displaying it too....and you know i love a free piece of pretty, so i had to agree that i should give it a go. so for now its going all fat joe and leaning back on the counter, same as the poster, to keep the laundry room atmosphere casual.

sure its a little rough around the edges....and inside the edges too....but i like the raw construction look of it.

caught one!

2010-08-04T10:23:00.001-04:00

father + son fishing on the dock at the cottage.

chevy chase

2010-08-03T06:18:00.001-04:00

who knew shopping for wipes could be this fun.

during a routine diaper + wipe run this morning i had the pleasure of discovering this cheeky chevron'd queen.

and while i debated finding an excuse to keep the container on our main floor for viewing pleasure, it did eventually make it upstairs to the nursery. i can't promise it'll stay there though!

let's hear it for huggies!

wired.

2010-08-02T22:27:00.002-04:00

while soaking in one of michigan's sleepy summer beach towns a couple months ago, i encountered this wiry sculpture.

after one sighting it was deposited in my memory bank....until just the right time for a withdrawal. i particularly appreciated the simple form + perfectly proportionate amount of quirk.

this july we were wandering back through the shop and my husband made the unfortunate disclaimer that i could have the air apparent rhino....only if he were made by hand.

he was.

and therefore our household gained a pet that day. just the kind of pet i like, too. no maintenance. easy on the eyes. an utter lack of mysterious smells.

for now he's positioned at our kitchen table + with the big new york print on the black wall, it feels a little like night at the museum in the middle of our house. with free admission.

like lucite or acrylic objets, it simultaneously adds to the space while visually taking up no room at all. which works out well considering our kitchen table is in the middle of three rooms, so too many heavy decorative items would really break things up.

a lot to learn

2010-07-27T22:42:00.002-04:00

so i'm definitely a noob when it comes to photography. my sister-in-law, on the other hand, has been honing her skills for quite a while now. i was treated this weekend with a few shots she snapped with her fancy schmance slr camera. and for the special occasion, we produced the biggest crocodile tear that we could....

thank you jen!

the master plan

2010-07-26T22:33:00.001-04:00

so you may have noticed a complete + utter lack of posting regarding our master bedroom....save for a mention on this checklist from HALF A YEAR AGO [oy vey! talk about an accountability plan gone awry].

reason being, its a total white box challenge. the space is sparsely adorned with our canopy bed, a garage sale side table, and a dapper pair of damask curtains from pier one....the product of a coupon we received when we purchased our living room couches.

ok, and one more pier one item, that dark horse in the corner there....a carved wood wall hanging that we've had since our last house, that has yet to earn a permanent spot in the new house.

the good news is that after sleeping on it for over a year....[mmhmm. sleeping on it. you'll get it in a minute]....i've finally hatched a plan that excites me. the bad news is i'm not quite ready to spill the whole scheme yet. but the post is already in the works!

wheeee!

2010-07-22T19:37:00.001-04:00

we're having lots of fun over here at +the new house+. my mom is here to visit which is a huge treat for me. together, we just conquered another michigan beach day....filled with sprinkling skies, armfuls of baby gear, squawking flocks of seagulls + hot humid air.

and now one of us thinks he can leap tall buildings.

splash

2010-07-20T10:52:00.001-04:00

with michigan having a summer dripping with heat + sunshine, i'm dreaming of this in my backyard....

via freshome

twisted sister

2010-07-18T22:57:00.001-04:00

this bunch of twisty branches on our dining room console table is adding just the sweetest bit of wild to an otherwise crisply defined room....

its just a few remnant curly willow sticks left from our wedding reception. i know, i know. me + my free decorative accents.

gotta love stickin' it to a space using sculptural branches though. i've actually got a few more on tap that i've got to find a place for still....i need to decide whether i want to paint them or dress them up somehow. more on that later!

how clean is too clean?

2010-07-17T21:59:00.001-04:00

sometimes i'll catch myself looking at a room + thinking....it looks a little TOO clean. and when i say clean, i mean neat. because i'm admittedly a neat-freak, as opposed to a clean-freak. [one look at my dark walnut floors will confirm this. dust unabashedly resides there.] but when it comes to mess....well i don't mess around.

anyway sometimes i'll catch myself living a little too near the neat side of things + too far from the freshly lived in look.

one example was our bathroom, as shown in this pic i recently posted. i really like a picked-up bath where the statements themselves can shine....pretty fixtures, lovely lighting, the texture of the tile....etc. but sometimes things look prettier when you dabble in disarray.

a little more interesting, no?

while it might seem funny to some, to force things by purposefully creating clutter, i'm rather enjoying it myself.

how about you? is everything categorically organized behind closed doors? ....or do you like to leave evidence of 'life' living on the surfaces in your home?

as we walk in fields of gold

2010-07-16T23:14:00.001-04:00

so after jjjjust finishing this post about our living room, i happen to discover a little treasure in our basement. nothing like going subterranean to add some spice to your decor.

in this case its a little old painting....that to most people might not have any value. i promptly subbed in this piece + the 3 metallic votives in place of the ikea patterned tin + tory burch candle that had been occupying the space for a while.

i can remember growing up with this in my parents' house though, and i'd forgotten that i inherited it when they downsized their home. to my eye, it has a simple charm. somehow the spattering of simple brushstrokes captures my gaze + transports me....and i rather enjoy the rough wooden 'frame', if you can even call the simple edge pieces that.

sometimes decor really is at its best when its simple, and meaningful.

now if only i could get that sting song out of my head.

see the west wind move like a lover so
upon the fields of barley....

jump!

2010-07-15T10:24:00.002-04:00

someone has discovered the jumperoo. and loves it.

all dressed up + nowhere to go

2010-07-14T21:47:00.003-04:00

i picked up this six foot long dresser off craigs list today. i have a special spot in mind for it, actually [more on that later].

as for the finish....looks like i have my work cut out for me!

keep clean + carry on

2010-07-12T22:22:00.003-04:00

so you already knew i crushed on the crisp, punchy look of a certain war poster....as evidenced in this post of the past.

well i'd actually envisioned it in our laundry room, to start with. i liked the idea of being able to run in there on a harried day, slam the door shut, take a deep breath [and perhaps a slug, or five, of wine] and let the poster do the talking. in fact i'd sourced it out in a laundry list of different colors on etsy. i was leaning toward something in the cool tones....perhaps navy, or lime, or a splash of watery aqua. something to compliment the cool clean color palette of white + grey.

well. kinda forgot about hunting it down after moving into the house. that is, until i stumbled upon this version at tj maxx a few months ago. ahoy matey! i don't think i could have come much closer to having the proverbial pop of red.

the price was the same as most etsy poster versions buuut the fun factor here is that its already mounted on a wooden backboard so no frame needed. between the savings there + not paying for shipping [not to mention that hot red hue] it was a pretty swell deal!

and did i talk bout the high gloss finish yet? because there's a high gloss finish. which just so happens to reflect the same shiny sheen as the laundry floor.

definitely meant to be together....and i really enjoy how its yet another element in the room of sparkly clean goodness.

speedy gonzalez

2010-07-11T21:37:00.002-04:00

the little man is racing along through his wardrobe. when he was just about a month + a half old, i took this shot as i folded up a load of laundry to be stored away for a future baby [whether it be ours or someone else's. don't get any ideas now!].

i call it ode to 0-3....as it signals my saying goodbye to the teeny tiny tot phase.

he grew out of a lot of the onesies quickly since he was born a hefty 9 lbs 8 oz. now at 3 months old and about 14.5 lbs, he's already sitting pretty in some 6-9 month onesies. it breaks my heart in a way, but i guess you can't keep them tiny forever!

the good news is now we're enjoying fun things like....

bubbles. lots + lots of bubbles.

and the eating of everything in sight.

a slice of key lime pie

2010-07-08T22:50:00.002-04:00

once i got our drippety-drop painting hung to the right of our fireplace, i felt as though the skinny slice of wall to the left of our fireplace was craving some attention as well. and since we'd already delved into black + white territory i really wanted to add visual pizzazz across the way.

so....i picked up a couple of canvases at le lob de hob, a.k.a. hobby lobby, and went to town. well i went to town first, literally speaking, then i....ok never mind.

i wanted a shade of chartreuse to play off the nearby sunroom flor carpet + ikea pillows. however since i hoped to work with the medium of spray paint, my options were more limited than if i were to use a custom-mixed can of paint. [but if anyone knows of a way you can get custom colors in spray paint, let me know!] so i scanned through what was available at my local menarrrrds, knowing that bright was the order of the day, and preferably in a yellow or green tone. and straight out of florida was a can called 'key lime', beckoning me with its neon green brilliance.

trust me when i say that the picture doesn't show quite how brrrright green this baby glows.

so spray i did and after a couple days of tomfoolery in my basement i came up with this pair:

on the top canvas i like how it looks like sound waves. in fact, i'm hearing the geico music just looking at it.

and the bottom canvas i love for its bold overall impact. and the way, hung like this, the paint looks like its spreading out from itself from the negative space between the two canvases.

and as for the mysterious 8th + Q reference? i wanted to include text on this particular piece [let the records note that i feel quite pretentious referring to said project as a 'piece'] but wasn't sure yet what words i'd use. 8th + Q is a local intersection and my hubs actually suggested the idea. i was smitten from the start and set out to stencil that sucker on there.

i actually really like how the outlines are not crisp in all areas but instead give the blurred effect of an old photograph. especially the H, which looks like it came straight from an old picture of a city street sign [in my head, anyway]. kevin also gets the credit with inventing our own 'and' sign from a 3.....as the ampersand stencil was too curvaceous for the desired look.

i'm still not positive that i'm finished with the top canvas. right now, its got that smoky line trailing up the right side, which adds an element of imperfection but also hints at being incomplete. so, we'll see. it might still go all california style and get a little work done.

for now, here's our living room as it stands.

+++

editor's note: many toys were relocated in the making of this post.

gratitude

2010-07-07T16:57:00.000-04:00

we received so many lovely gifts in celebration of baby h's arrival....and i'm embarrassed to see how far behind i've become in thanking everyone appropriately. this morning i'm enjoying the vibrant colors as i write the last few cards + basking again in the blessings bestowed on us these past few months. thank you all!

its fun to think of this rainbow heading out across two countries over the next week or so....