Kid Space

Want to amp up our playroom and make it more fun. This rug is in there now which is my inspiration. Walls are cream, floor is dark grey carpet (basement berber). Plan mode...kids will love the teepee, pillows and bean bag...

Rug (have)
Shelves (have)
Teepee (I think this would make a fun xmas gift)
Sherpa (xmas!)
Ikat Pillow
Floor pillows
Turquoise pouf
Black pouf (similar one)
wire baskets (have similar ones)
Colorful art 
Owl art
Print (will make)

And I'd love to hang their paintings and drawings all over the place! Little artists make me smile.

      cheers

Space Envy

I LOVE Belgian style. It's beautiful. Has history, authentic. Simple, linen, relaxed, stylish, clean. Probably why I tend to drool when I walk into Restoration Hardware. Just love it!

These spaces are gorgeous.

Ahhh, so pleasing to the eye for me. Grey tones, natural finishes and linens...love! I hope to take my family to Belgium one day. It's just gorgeous! And the crepes and frites are to die for! :)

   cheers

Lamps

So I've been keeping my eye on some bedside lamps. My budget is small. Yo, Target...check them out.

This one is from Restoration Hardware. Love the mercury.



$225 w/o shade



Target lookalike. Close enough...and prettier in person.

$35.99 w/o shade



These are NICE; I've looked em over several times at West Elm.

$69 with shade

$149 with shade

 Target options...and I will say they are much nicer looking in person. Pick out your own shade too and no shipping charge if you hit the store.

$39.99 w/o shade

I believe $39.99 as well, in store only

Not bad if you want to save a little cash. Similar looks.

    cheers

Perfect Chaos

After an emotional week we decided to stay busy. This past weekend was bedroom swapping so we can fit two kiddos into one room. How did we ever end up with so much stuff and where are we going to put it? We would have been better off moving into a bigger house. (I hinted for quite some time; husband didn't catch on, but we do love our home). Look at this mess in the midst of it and that's just the dining room clutter!!! Scary when you can barely find your child in the house. Where's Rory?

Did you find her?

My Dad also wired in some new plugs, cables and lights and worked his tail off for us again. Nothing is ever an easy task in our bungalow. We have holes in walls (due to old home issues per usual), spackling all over, toys array and accessories spread in corners. Not sure where our Christmas tree will fit this year? Planning and arranging for new baby is crazy in a two bedroom home, but we shall manage. Adding on is not going to happen, but basement detail is on the arise; However, getting a contractor or anyone for that matter to get back to us for a bid is IMPOSSIBLE. What is up people? Quit leading us on, you have an anal pregnant lady growing by the hour that is starting to flip out! I'm swollen from all the chaos and that is not cool. Watch out or I will start calling you myself. My husband has been quite patient (and tolerating my behavior thus far). Not sure how I'll do when we actually get started and have to move everything from the basement to the dining room, the yard, the garage? Not a clue where it will end up. I will lose my shit sanity eventually.

Now that the crib is set up Rory is asking for the baby. She wants "bean" now. I told her he's still cooking and he'll come around in March. Sunday night while putting Rory to sleep she says, "Momma, where is that baby? Is he cooking french fries in there!" haha... I lost it. She is hilarious! And I love her dearly for being a perfect angel while we were decluttering, cleaning and organizing. Amongst the craziness, she played with every toy, clothing and accessory in sight while feeding her babies and her cat. :) Kitty let her cuddle her with a blanket, feed her with a bottle and a spoon for at least an hour. I'm shocked Rory walked away without a scratch.

Notice outfit: summer dress, leggings, warmers on her arms, butterfly wings upside down, tank top and at one point she had on a hello kitty fedora, large yellow earrings and a scarf as a sash. I'm lucky she loves accessories. 

 We had a very productive weekend thanks to the help of my parentals. Couldn't have done it without them. Looking forward to seeing it all come together. Loving the rooms thus far, found sweet bedding for Rory so that helps me figure out the rest of their room. Paint colors, curtains, details, etc....yay to finally getting to work on the fun stuff. Boo to all the disasters that come out of improving our sweet home. Sorry Mom. Rear ended in her new vehicle minutes after she left us. Go figure. We always hit some bad luck during or after a project. Thankfully she is fine. Onto more home improving. I'm sure fixing out our basement will bring us some awesome surprise. But let's hope this baby does not arrive early and stays a cookn'. We have work ahead of us and I have no time to flip my lid!

   cheers

Happy Happy

Happy Halloween! Rory says, "I'm a Princess Indian!!" She is so excited to trick or treat with her friends tonight!

Indian Princess

Also, Happy Baby Reveal to us! Klint's birthday was Friday so I decided to surprise him with a cake last minute. More so because I ran out of time to make the pumpkin pie I had promised him AND because I just couldn't wait till Xmas to find out the sex of this baby. Also, I thought it'd be nice to do this surprise with just the three of us on Klint's special day. (Thx for the idea LLL; totally ripped it off!) He sent me a text that morning asking me, "Do you think it's a girl?" So I got the itch and just ran to Rene's Bakery and asked if they'd do a baby/birthday cake for us! They were so kind, took my enveloped ultrasound pic and made me a quick little sweet cake (this is why I love them and their croissants SO SO much).

Klint and I were both really nervous, anxious, whatever you want to call it. ;) Rory just wanted to eat cake! We all made our guesses and this is how it turned out:

Rory thinks baby's in her belly, ha! Needless to say, we were a little shocked. I think we were both thinking the other way around would be easier on us, but we can take this on! Rory still may not totally get it, but she definitely enjoyed the cake...

My husband loves having his sweet little girl, but I think he'll be a very proud pops to a boy! We're excited!

Should make things interesting. Now to plan a room that characterizes both boy and girl stuff! Oh, and to collect on all things boy.

   cheers

Obsessed!

With these Little Darlings...how cute cute cute!!! I'm melting over those faces.

I just love them! I want to buy every single one...


Check out The Animal Print Shop...so many sweet pics!

   cheers

Clear Stuff

Not sure about you, but for some reason I adore Plexi Furniture. I've been dying for a little desk to hide somewhere in our house for the laptop. And I think the little kid chairs are adorable. Feels good for a small home b/c it's not so bulky and/or showy. It sort of disappears. Expensive though...and could be falling off the market a bit, maybe? Harder to find around town now. Buying something with reclaimed wood might make me feel better, but I can still like clear acrylic a whole lot...

Plexi-Craft

     

CB2 peekaboo console



Lights! Love love love clear glass fixtures. They were impossible to find when I was in search of them last year and/or way out of my price range. Not frosted, not textured, no waves, no color, just plain clear glass people! Now they are showing up in a few more places. Go figure. The traditional style will forever be a part of my home in some form. But I see a lot of industrial and modern looking ones too...which I love. Would buy any of these from West Elm!! 

Industrial Pendant

Globe

Rustic Jars

Some beautiful finds here...several clear glass choices. All hand crafted. Sign up for their catalogue.

Schoolhouse Electric Period Lighting Fixtures

Sundance Pendant Vintage handblown glass



CB2 Firefly Pendant lamp

 

Anthropologie Decanter Lamp



Knobs

Our 1920's home has all the original doorknobs. Would NEVER change them, my fave! They look like this ...

Anthro Diamond-Cut Doorknob

Anthropologie has great hardware! :) Many choices. Can't wait to start shopping them for the old dresser I'm my husband is going to refinish for kids room! 



DIY clear Anthropologie hardware

 

What clear gear do you love? 


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Crème de la crème

Croissants are my very fave and helping review them for work is like heaven! :) Buttery and gooey, chocolate, raspberry, almond...ahhh... I could eat you everyday and I seriously would if you were in front of me. Je t'aime! You remind me of Paris...walking around, eating the freshest foods, drinking a bottle of wine (yes, I was in college) and people watching. Lovely times. Happy Friday!!!!

Saw this wallpaper the other day while searching Rory room ideas. La Belle France!
 

C'est Magnifique Wallpaper found at where else? Anthropologie

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Room update

Back to Rory's big girl room. Now I can't decide. Because, well, with a new one on the way, we might have to add on or have kids share a room while little? Buy a new house? I don't know! Up in the air at this point. I have some ideas for her room though.

We ended up with a vintage white floor sample bed + trundle from Pottery Barn Kids. It's perfect for her! Very girly! Color juices flowing with light pink, some light gray and pops of a turquoise color. Some black n white/off white goodies too. She has a black vintage toy chest already, a gold vintage mirror and a faint black chandelier. I also have an old window frame that I may reuse, paint the pains black chalkboard paint and hang it low on the wall for Rory to write on. She has a white nightstand I want to paint pink or turquoise. I am on the search for a vintage grayish dresser. Or something I can strip and paint. Not sure my mother-in-law will allow me to refinish Klint's baby crib, but I'm tempted if we have a room share situation. If it's a girl I'll keep the room super frilly. And if it's a boy, I might have to add more grays and blues or I'll just change my mind all together and start over. That's what I do. YIKES. Decisions.

Dresser, canvas pillow and bin, peacock painting all found on Etsy. Bedspread, blue pillow and rug from Urban. Bird stencils bought on Joss & Main. Hook from Anthropologie. Already have the black n white bin, bed, window frame and sheepskin rug. So...it's a start. I'm loving it thus far. But I have to wait and see. Should I buy some stuff now or hope that it's still there in a few weeks?

   cheers

Owls

They are everywhere! And I adore them!

Hooks at Urban Outfitters

 



Pillow from Bellamina (Etsy)



Anthro Cookie Jar

Decals found everywhere



Cute cute onsie



Vintage necklace



Backpack



The Land of Nod Nightlight



Dwell Studio blanket

      cheers 



Kitchen Makeover

I won't go into too much detail, but this was the most stressful biggest project we've taken on. Our little bungalow needed a kitchen remodel the moment we bought it. Reeeeeally wanted it done before Rory was born, but instead we started a year later and a shiny new kitchen was born. Project #3 turned into project #133. It's awesome, worth the wait! With help from fam and friends, Klint knocked it out of the park. It only took me 101 decisions to make, but I think it turned out perfect for what we need and great for resale. Still have lots of "things" to do around the corner, but at least we have a sweet looking room. We love it! Now if only we could add another 500-1000 square feet to our home; we'd stay for a long time.
Yes of course there was a disaster. Dad, the electrician, was helping one weekend. Again, I think he's the bad luck bug, maybe? You see, we decided to swap the gas stove in place of where the fridge called home. Things were moved a bit. Something was wiggled and tinkered in the basement, sparks flew upstairs. Flames were coming out from the kitchen floor. Thankfully Klint and Dad were right there; well, took a bit for them to figure out the extinguisher, but the house did not blow up. Whew. It could have been scary. It was not the electrician's fault, he is a professional. Our house could have blown at any given moment...a piece was missing or something was loose on the stove for years. Whatever it was, I don't remember exactly, thankfully someone was watching over us.

Before and afters. Not the best display of befores, but you get the picture peeps! HUGE transformation.

 Before...

Old Kitchen (less ugly 1990's wall paper and linoleum)

 

Stuff everywhere, no space what-so-ever, cabinets were not even worthy of refacing

  

Pre dining room wall




Sub floor, post double layered linoleum + stove that almost burnt down our home (it's now in our rental but it was properly installed this time)




Pre kitchen wall



After... o.meh.g. The dishwasher alone = happy wife mama chef! I wanted a grey kitchen. Got it, though I realize after looking at my pics I may need to add some color pieces to bring some more life to it.

Wall out, added bar





Stove and hood replace fridge wall





Fridge now where stove originally was



Semi custom cabinets with pullout drawers = life savor

Sub floor was stained ebony to keep some character. Love having wood floors in kitchen. So easy to clean.



Love the black granite composite sink and we centered it with the original window



Anthro cracked-like metal pendant lights

Splurged on the center light. It's impossible to find really nice clear glass fixtures that cost less than a fortune. Really.



 

Quartzite counter tops look similar to concrete = way cheaper

 

Added a raw piece of wood for shelf to throw in a bit of rustic with all the modern mix. Easy access to my books and spices too. Custom corner cabinets would have cost us too much, so we spent $20 on the brackets and it works great.



Much more functional. All for half the price it would have cost a contractor. Double smiles!

 

      cheers