my friend Christie

One of my very good friends got married on January 15. I was unable to attend her Atlanta wedding due to about 5 million things going wrong the day before, but thankfully the hair piece I made for her made it to her in time. She looks so stunning and beautiful. I am so grateful she found such a wonderful, Godly man to spend her life with! I wish them so much happiness and blessings! Photos by J. O'Brien Photo.

west elm trays

I love these affordable and very cute trays from West Elm. I really love trays these days, they help me keep keys, earrings, change, etc. from getting lost, or eaten by my child! I need one for my bedside table...

rad chair

Today on designsponge, there was a "simply color" post featuring a chair(above #2). It just so happens on my excursion out this past weekend to some flea markets near our new town I found the very same chair. I told Chris they typically go for about $250 (the one above is priced at 248). Well, Chris bought the chair for me, for 10 bucks! Not too shabby...although mine isn't a crisp white covered one, its more like orange tweed, but that is easily remedied! Imagine my delight in seeing this post though this morning...I had to share it with Chris:-).

accessible modern

I keep my catalogues for inspiration...this image below is from West Elm's fall catalogue. I love the soot/ash gray walls, bronze lamp, bright yellow papery flowers contrasting with the crisp pops of white...well done!

The tailored furniture and the cozy textures give this room a modern feel that isn't cold and empty...I like when modern is accessible!

inspiration

As I was browsing through pictures on my hard drive this evening the realization of moving has finally set in. There is nothing to distract me as the date rapidly approaches. We close on November 12th! This is exciting and sort of difficult for me. I've loved our first home and I have lots of great memories tied to it. I also made it how I wanted it, and the next house needs a lot of work for it to even closely resemble "home." I have a pile of inspiration for the next place and much more room to really try a lot of things. Below are some of those ideas that are now jumping around in my head!

Love the shelf...I have something sort of similar...like the old fan perched on top...my old fan will work perfectly on my shelf!

Gosh, navy blue is going in somewhere, even if its the guest bedroom/library! I like the pops of color...its not too cheerful though...which I like!

I appreciate modern sensibility paired with plenty of vintage and antiques.

Love the shelf...white and navy blue, wood, schoolhouse pendant lighting...

The colors of this shirt, paired with navy blue? yes, please!

Teal for the back stairway to the kitchen...I'm thinking something really grand and bohemian for those dingy stairs!

Apparently we will have exposed brick in the kitchen, which I am excited about, but I also love this palette and the romantic furnishings in the bedroom...

Ok, I still need a dash of masculine, otherwise Chris might go crazy...this is how I envision it:-)

wall art

I am so in love with so many wallpapers, yet the price attached to them is sort of staggering to me. I suppose if I weren't a total cheapskate and I wasn't moving into a house with very large rooms, wallpaper could be an option...I tired myself out with the last mural I painted...perhaps I should attach a picture on the blog at some point! So I was thinking something a tad more effortless...

Cute little birdie for Keira?

I can't help it, I love the bike! Not going in my house though!

And these here things have potential! I like the ribbony look, especially on the somber background...hmmm....
(check 'em out yourself at http://www.wallsneedlove.com/)

etsy

I've got Christmas on my mind...thinking of gifts for everyone else...you can find these lovely items all on etsy...while they last!

I really need to learn how to knit! This gorgeous armchair slipcover is from biscuitscout's etsy shop.

This adorable little hat, which is quite similar to Keira's little monkey hat, is from sweetpeatoadtot's shop.

This wild ring is ridiculously awesome with Victorian flair, at lizhutnick's etsy shop.

Finally, from engrained's etsy shop, is a pin hole book camera! I love it!

wallpaper

I picture this in my next dining room. Go on www.troveline.com to see all of their edgy wallpapers. I love that people are getting more bold with their designs!

curtains!

Anthropologie's "yoruba" curtains are ridiculously cool! They take the whole pleated or smocked idea to a new level with me...love.

navy time

Ok, this pics are not sized adequately, what's new? Anyway, the following is from Urban Outfitters, I've had my eye set on it for a while now. I really love navy blue, its even better that its velvet! Price is a tad hefty($550)...

I love Ikats, not a huge fan of the lines of this chair but the fabric is great. Maybe Calico Corners has something affordable in stock. A yard or two would do the trick! (Urban Outfitters)

Thomas Paul has a collection of plates with a nautical theme and a lovely hue! Anthro has some nautical plates as well...the hubby likes these, maybe he can be persuaded:-)...

My new entryway table will be posted just as soon as I can slap on another coat of paint, the humidity does me no favors!

next place

I love stripes. How about stripes of tile? Its so cool. Maybe I'll try something like this in the next place. I've been drooling over this since we finished our bathrooms about 6 months ago, its from Living Etc.

graham & brown

Since we HAVE to move I am trying to make things exciting for myself. I have never tackled wallpaper before. I remember, when I was little, my Dad hanging it in the kitchen and there was a lot of huffing and puffing and mild expletives going on in there. Since then, according to other design sources, wallpaper seems like the greatest thing. Not only is it supposedly easier to hang its also much better looking!

All the above are from Graham & Brown out of the UK. Prices seem reasonable, I need only to convince Chris:-).

whoa

I am finally finished with my classes for this semester! Things are up in the air for the fall semester as I have agreed yet again to move. Every other week we are like "lets do it, no wait."

I am really not looking forward to packing up and moving, I love living in beautiful, historic Staunton, VA. Its just that I hate being apart from Chris, he can't stand it either. I'd like to have more babies so moving now as opposed to later would be ideal. Us living apart is a huge expense that could be sent towards the abyss of debt we are trying to pay down. So it makes sense. I just hate that I think I found the home I want and we are no where near listing ours. I better get busy! In the meantime, LOOK at this flippin' rug! I love it. There is more about it on Apartment Therapy's blog...check it out.

blurb

Have you ever seen or heard of Blurb? Go right now to www.blurb.com and make your own book! I can't wait to try it:-)

while I'm at it

So I had a full day of exploring Anthropologie's website again. These are images I keep coming back to, partly because I am redoing our bedroom and partly because they are super cool. The bed actually looks cool pushed almost against that wall. We don't have tall ceilings in our upstairs and we don't have enormous decorative windows, but I see some ideas I want to steal!



The bedding is soft and amazing looking. I have seen it in the store. I just don't want to pay full retail for it. I am not sure I have the patience to make my own version of it either. What a predicament!

need a reason...

...To make something like this...found this on Anthropologie's facebook page, by Nathalie Lete. Gosh, if only I could find fabric that cool in the mountains of Virginia!

feinedinge

This is straight from http://ohjoy.blogs.com. The above picture is of a store in Austria called Feinedinge. For one thing, I wish the outside of this joint was the front of my house and second, look at these amazing vases below! I wonder if they ship to the US...otherwise Chris and I might have to schedule a trip to Austria!

brook farm

These sweet items came from http://brookfarmgeneralstore.bigcartel.com. The stainless steel straws are for me and the wooden ipod covers are for Chris, maybe me too:-).

world market curtains

Gosh darn World market and their super cool smocked curtains! Just when I thought I had too many projects going at once I now have another idea I'd like to attempt. I don't particularly want to buy a flat panel that just has some simple tacking so I might have to try this one soon! I'm not sure where I'll alter mine, living room? bedroom?

garden design

I googled 'garden design' to see if I could find any renderings of gardens to base mine off of. This is what I found and its at http://www.creativeearth.co.uk/.

I've been dying to get out in the garden and start digging everything up but we still have about 6 inches of snow back there. Granted its nice and warm out today and I probably won't be able to get out there any time soon, so in the meantime it would be a good idea to get planning.

I got some bulbs from Costco last Saturday. I will not be able to even plant them until April. I got ranunculus, peonies, hostas and anemone. Some are shady plants some are full sun and I think after the little planning I've done I have some good ideas about how to get started. I would like to do some raised beds for vegetables and herbs and then the bulk of the flowers to run along the borders of our yard. I am also figuring in the deck/patio we would like to put in this spring. Keira will be walking soon and I'd like a nice place to sit and watch her as well as use for entertaing, etc.

I will get busy on my drawing and I will post photo of Keira's room, its come a long way!