happy living Design

Farrow & Ball's new 2011 colours

Lovely.  See them here.

wallpaper by amy butler

at Graham & Brown

Have a look.

a white bathroom and a bold print

I know.  Another white room?  But with a Josef Frank textile as a shower curtain.  I think it's entirely perfect, although maybe not entirely practical.  I'm suspicious of white tile floors.  They show every spec of dirt.  But the owners of this house in Bel Air probably have a housekeeper to clean the bathrooms everyday.  I still love this bath.

by m. design interiors via Remodelista and Roseland Greene

P.S.  This Josef Frank fabric is $250 per yard and has a 3 yard minimum.  I would look at Ikea for something with the same impact but a bit more affordability.

Kheri's room

I have my parents to thank for taking the trip to Ikea with me, my dad for putting together 3 bookcases and hanging the shades and Annisia for coming in March to have tea and help me put the room together.  Carl was working 80 hour weeks leading up to Kheri's arrival...tax season...so I was on my own!  There are still quite a few things I need to do, such as hang more pictures, but rather than have the room completely 'finished' when she arrived I decided to let it evolve.  So like everything else that I do around here, it is a work in progress.

crib: It was mother-in-law's when she was a baby and then my husband's.  Check current crib safety guidelines if using an old crib or cradle.

rocking chair: craisglist

bookcases: Ikea Expedit, of course!

white baskets: Ikea Agen

blue round baskets: our local dollar store

breastfeeding stool: By Medela at babiesrus

multi-colored blanket: knitted by Aunt Jill

green knitted blanket: knitted by my great-grandmother

animal pillows in crib: Zid Zid Kids

bamboo roman shades: JC Penny

mobile: James Cornell & Annisia Cialone (architects & furniture designers for Starting Small)

'Fiona and Her Cub' picture: Creative Thursday

mobile: by Elena of Shoosha

changing table: another piece from my in-laws' attic

changing pad and cover: LA Baby and Bobby from Target

white baskets: Container Store

We were lucky to have been given the crib and changing table by Carl's parents.  (Otherwise I probably would have headed to Walmart.)  They are usually the big ticket items in a baby's room.  We debated on getting a glider but I just couldn't spend the money on something that I didn't really like in the first place and I don't regret it.  Honestly, the first several weeks I breast fed in the old La-Z-Boy chair in our living room, on the couch or in our bedroom in a big armchair.  The most expensive items we purchased were the Ikea Expedit bookcases.  As long as you don't get swept up into the frenzy that has become 'setting up the baby's room' I don't think you have to spend a lot of money.

wall color is Irish Spring, trim color is Super White both by Benjamin Moore

before pictures

and pictures of when we were using it as our temporary bedroom while redoing ours

clawfoot bathtubs - a little cost saving tip

I absolutely love the look of clawfoot bathtubs with their undersides painted black.  Matte, glossy, semi.  Whatever.  A high end fixture manufacturer (I won't name names) has been making this tub for awhile now and it. is. pricey.  Absurdly pricey.  On a recent restoration project I was working on, we proposed using aforementioned tub, which the client loved, but budget restrictions forced us to look for an alternative.

We ended up using a less expensive but lovely clawfoot tub with a white underside and had the painter paint it and the legs black.  It cost us one third what the other tub would have.  He used an industrial spray-on enamel, something you can find at a good paint store like Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore.  I also think it is something you could definitely DIY, with someone to help with the heavy lifting!

Credit: photos are from Living Etc. and Marie Claire Mason both via Design is Mine.

colors : jcrew

When I envision what our house will look like once we are done rejuvenating it, say in 5 years...ok, maybe 10...I always think about it relative to its simple Cape Cod form on the outside and how I can invoke a casual, beachy and classic feel to the inside.  I have long looked to the muted colors of Mud's gorgeous ceramics for color inspiration.  But lately (and really since the second half of last year) the Jcrew catalog has been an unexpected source of ideas and it's really buzzing around the blogosphere lately.  This is my favorite image of the current catalog.  Pastels are not what they once were and pastels paired with black...ohh.  Love.  Ohh.  The possibilities.

chalkboard door of my very own

I forgot to show you this!  After my mini-obsession with chalkboard paint, I finally used it at our house on the closet door in my studio.

 

I doubt I will ever actually draw or write on the door with chalk.  I just love the matte blackness of it! I am planning on painting the front of our pantry door in our kitchen too.

A couple of notes:  The doors throughout our house are cheap hollow-core, natural (ugly) finish doors.  These are the first two that I have painted.  I used (2) coats of Benjamin Moore primer and so far have applied (1) one finish coat of chalkboard paint (the brush-on kind) and Benjamin Moore Super White (my favorite white paint) semi-gloss on each door respectively.  They both need (1) one additional finish coat.  Really easy and fun.

lovely wall covering

 

by flickr member linsmika.

autumn

It's almost here.  I love each of the seasons in a different way, but if I had to pick one, autumn is my favorite.  The weather, the clothes, the pumpkins, the leaves (even the raking)...

Matthew Mead always has yumminess to share.  You can preview his new Halloween book here.

 

The Company Store has their site stocked full of their Fall and Halloween collections.

 

 

And very soon we'll be running out to the orchard on chilly saturday mornings for fresh apple cider donuts and coffee.  I can't wait!

Menu Verner Panton Brunch Series

from danskdesign.nu's online shop.  Super cute.