I'm back...

I've been having trouble coming back to blogging after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School...   I'll be honest that every time I try to write something, I can't because the things I write about here are mostly frivolous & pretty inconsequential, and it seems ridiculous to be writing about those things like everything's okay when it isn't.

I know so many of us feel this way and that the pain won't ever fully go away for most of us...  And that's okay because it means we love and we care.

There are times when I look at my profession- decorating houses- and feel like what I'm doing is crazy when there are so many more important, life-changing things that need to be done.  There's been a stirring in me for a while now to use it to help others more.  I don't think there's any greater pain than losing someone you love and I know I want to somehow try to ease this pain for others.  Dave & I have been doing a lot of talking about it over the past few months & have some ideas cooking...

I've also heard that the students at Sandy Hook will be returning to school in a new building after the new year & that they are trying to turn the new school into a "winter wonderland" by filling it with thousands of paper snowflakes.  You &/or your kids can make snowflakes & send them to the PTA for them to hang.  Here's the write-up I read: "When school resumes for Sandy Hook, it will be in a new building. Parent-volunteers are working to ensure that the students are welcomed back by a winter wonderland with the entire school decorated with as many unique snowflakes as possible. We encourage senders to be as creative as possible, remembering that no two snowflakes are alike. Please make and send snowflakes by January 12, 2013." 

{image via here}

Please send all snowflakes and donations to:  
Connecticut PTSA 
60 Connolly Parkway 
Building 12, Suite 103 
Hamden, CT 06514

It's a simple project that can hopefully make some of the kids feel a little less frightened when they go back to school...

So...  I probably won't be talking about it much & I'll continue to write about the frivolous little things in life, but it will always be with me...  I won't ever stop praying for & thinking about all of the families in pain and I'll always worry a little more about my own babies.

{Our Christmas Eve snowfall}

I hope you had a happy holiday & this year, Christmas was really special for our family...  I'll be back after the New Year & am taking the time with my family & trying to savor every minute of it- and also to keep my eye from twitching when I look around at the mess that is my house.   ;) 

{My littlest one- Luke or "Louie" as we call him-sorry kid!!;)-  all tuckered out from the Christmas excitement}

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read my blog {and for not emailing me about the constant typos that I know are present ;)  and for coming along for the ride.   I truly value your time & your encouragement.  My very best to you & yours.

Heartbroken

 

 

I don't really have words for Friday.  I don't think many do.   

 

We've been holding our babies especially close and my heart truly breaks for the parents who can't. 

 

 I feel immense pride in the heroic teachers & administrators who died to protect the children, and it hurts so badly that these all of these beautiful lives are gone.     

 

Please take care of you & yours.

~Lauren 

image via here.

Pretty Little Friday

Happy Friday!!  I wanted to pop in really quickly to say good luck with the holiday rush.  I try to periodically remind myself to appreciate the little things & so much of that for me (and I'm sure many of you ;) is about seeing the beauty in the every day...

Being able to sit down & share a meal with friends or family, having a moment to yourself, and yes, even appreciating the pretty produce at the grocery store...

{Would love to do a fabric based on these leafy clementines}

 

I am (as always) terribly behind in my holiday shopping (meaning I haven't done any;) but I've also learned that this is a time to be enjoyed & even savored.  This time wants to fly away.  The anticipation in our house full of boys is really cool and it brings back those Christmas-kid feelings I used to have.  Lately, life (although crazy-sort-of-losing-it-busy) has been exciting & special...  Full of lightning-quick days interspersed with moments where I notice something & really take it in...  and feel thankful for it.  I've been reminding myself to slow down and appreciate and I do think it's working.

Sending hugs & love your way and hoping you get some time to take the moments in.



If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Into Golds...

For a while now I've been noticing that gold tones have really been catching my eye.  I've always been into brass & the warmth that gold tones can bring to a home but I'm wanting it more & more in my own home in things likes fabrics & art...

 

{Loved the way Christian's hair matched some of the leaves this Fall}

I haven't been able to get this orangey-mustard beauty out of my mind since I saw it on my friend Seleta's blog, years ago for her Thanksgiving tablesettings:

I came across this gorgeous tree this Fall & it reminds me of the chandy:

I love the gold tones mixed with earthy & moody ones.

 I first became conscious of how much I was loving golds when I did the boys' room at my dad's lake cottage this summer:

 

 

There's something about those mustard throws that I couldn't stop thinking about.  (Yes, I know, other people have more important things to think about...  but I occupy my brain with ponderings of color ;)  Just thinking about this room since we left it makes me happy & in the strangest way, redoing this bedroom made us start thinking of moving this past July.  It was just a tiny itch, but with us, an itch can lead to a serious rash & we were off to a new place!

 

I came across this beautiful ancient Egyptian Wall painting on wreckorated.blogspot.com and am crazy about it:

 

 

 

Around the same time I did the boys' bedroom this summer, I finished "buttercup" and naturally, it was yellows & earth tones:

 

 

I'm really not one for "trends" & knowing what's "of the moment" but I do think I have my own little love affairs with colors & objects & themes in design.  I start to notice them in life & in photos & just ccan't seem to get enough of them. Whether they're current or not, I never really care or am aware, but they're right on for me. 

 

 

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Our New Closet & My Closet Makeover Tips

Our closet was installed yesterday & I feel so much more organized!!!  Until yesterday, we kept some of our clothes down stairs, some in the garage and also split them up between the boys' bedrooms and the loft family room.  (We're really going to miss hopping around the house half-clothed looking for pants!! ;) ;)  Our closet is where the master bathroom used to be and is about ninfeet by five feet:

{Drawers & hanging space on the right side & shoes shelves on the left...  my super-sweet husband was very okay with me using the majority of the closet (the right side/ he's got the back) } 

 

We swapped the locations of the master bathroom and closet because we moved our master bedroom entry to a different spot.  (Originally you entered the master bedroom from the foyer and also from the back family room, which is now our office.  We've closed off the back family room to become our office & the entry to our bedroom is in the dining room- which sounds so odd but isn't that bad.  We didn't want our bedroom entry to be the first thing you saw when you walked in the house-for privacy issues- and so have closed off that doorway too. ;)   We also swapped the bathroom and closet locations because I was able to get a skylight in the bathroom in its new location for some natural light- which is so key in good bathroom lighting.  (I've been applying makeup TERRIBLY since I've moved here because there's no window in the current bathroom and I keep seeing bad blush lines & such on my face when I get into the car -or worse- spy a mirror at a client's house!!!  

 

The (elfa) closet was barely in before I started loading it up yesterday evening:

 

My favorite part are these little valet & jewely drawers:

 

Here's a pic of the closet now that most of our stuff is in it:

 

 

I've lost my other box of shoes in the move.  (Not that I have a ton like most girls do...  My problem lies more with lamps & chairs ;) ;)

 

We've always had matching wooden hangers, (ours are ikea) which makes a huge difference in how a closet looks & feels.  Since was no real "decorating" to be done in here, the hangers are pretty much it.  Putting our clothes in the closet with the wooden hangers & the bright lighting, made them feel a little nicer somehow... It made me like the things I've slowly started to loathe.  (Why do we do this?!!! )

 

We hang our pants to free up drawer space:

 

 

In addition to the drawers in the closet, we'll have a dresser in our bedroom.  We want the closet to be the area where we can go to grab outfits & real clothes, and the dresser in our bedroom will be where we keep our pjs, underclothes and -most importantly- our "work sweats." ;) ;)

 

Here's a cool feature we chose for Dave's ties:

 

It rolls in and out and I love seeing how much Dave likes his gadgets- the tie rack & a valet where he can hang outfits---  He will deny loving them but his face lit up when he saw them so I know the truth ;)

 

It was so fun to organize my costume jewelry which has finally been freed from its ziploc bags!!

 

I love how the little wood cover slides from side to side:

We still have more work to do in here (more searching for long-lost items & I need to get baskets for the shelves) but I'm feeling SOOOO close to normal!! 

You probably know all of this anyway, but I thought I'd share a few of my closet makeover tips:  (I've used these tips even when I've had a teensy closet.)

1) Ditch everything you haven't worn in a year.  (And continue to ditch monthly and/or whenever you bring in new clothes or shoes.)

2) Matching hangers.

3) Separate out: his & hers and then- dresses (long and short), pants, tops & jackets, etc.

4) Color code  your wardrobe...  I do the rainbow & then I have a bigger section for white, since I have & wear so much of it.

5) Good lighting...  It's really important that you can see everything you have.

6) ** So important for me- It's nice to have a spot/drawer/whatever for those things that are clean -because you tried them on or wore them for a second- that you don't have time to put back right away. It keeps them from ending up on the chair in your bedroom.

7) A fresh coat of paint on the walls

8) Matching containers for loose items likes belts or scarves or hats or bags... It feels so much better when you use 1 or 2 style of container throughout the closet because then your eye focus on the differences in the clothes and not on the mish-mash of containers.  If you can label them, even better.

9) A mirror close-by or in if possible. (Ours is just outsidde the door because it we don't have room)

10) An at-a-glance-philosphy...  Try to make everything you can (it's not always possible) be visible at a glance so things are easy to find & you can get ready quickly.

I have never had a closet like this before & I'm feeling very spoiled by it.  It's not a huge closet by any means, but it's more than I ever could have imagined.  (To be honest, with my Catholic guilt, I'm DEFINITELY feeling spoiled.)  We were able to get everything on sale during the Container Store's Fall sale & adding the few cool little gadgets in the closet really makes it feel special & I'm so glad we did.  We've always fought for space in our closets before & to have something that we planned out ourselves & that works so perfectly for us feels like such a luxury.  After yesterday, I decided that I think organization might be the biggest luxury for me.  (or one of them ;) ;)  What do you think?


If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Doors

We are almost there with our house renovation (downstairs at least ;)  and one of the last things that needs to happen before we can move downstairs into our bedroom is adding doors.  They are set to arrive today (eeeeek!!)

 

 

I don't have anything as cool as the barn doors (above) going in but I loved the picture. 

 

I have a thing for black & white mixed with warm wood tones & then a little bit of color (in accents- especially green!! ;) ;) sprinkled about, so I've settled on doing black doors for our house.  We have mostly ivory walls & wood floors & seagrass throughout the house, so I thought doing the doors in black would give me that palette I love.  The doors are arriving unpainted & I need to decide on the paint finish today. 

 

I am leaning towards a low or no sheen look & so I loooove the flat look of the barn doors in the pic above..

 

Here are some really beautiful high-gloss blue doors that are so dark they look black (the reverse of Superman's hair ;):

 

 

{Nate Berkus}

 

I love the stark contrast of the black doors (below) against the white and of course in combination with the warm wood floors:

 

 

 

{The books add more of the warmth & age that I love & the purple & green from the lilac arrangement is just the right amount of color for me personally.}

 

The sheen on these doors below is really pretty:

 

 

It's probably a semi-gloss.

 

And again, it's the wood on that clock that does it for me.

 

The dutch doors (below) from one of Thomas O'Brien's homes are sooooooo amazing.. 

{I loooooove this kitchen!!!  So simple & spare & fresh!! I love the modern-vintage-farmhouseish feel.}

 

I've decided on 3 panel doors like this one:

 

 

I wanted something that feels both old & modern at the same time.  I was looking for some interest, but nothing with any frills or curves.

 

I think they'll look really similar to this door (below) except I think trim is a bit simpler on mine...

 

 

{House Beautiful}

 

The home above is perfection to me.  I've posted this photo multiple times on the blog & I just loooove the mood of this room.  It's got that neutral yet warm palette I love and that overall relaxed natural feeling.  This feels like the type of house I'd love coming home to...  All of those warm woods and the ivory walls with the hit of black...  The branch in the Ball jar make it for me!!  I hope our home feels something like this (although it's a contemporary house, so the style will be really different.) as far as mood goes.



If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.