Fireplace in the Bedroom

I've been seriously considering adding a fireplace to our master bedroom. I'm not sure I can make it work logistically and/or financially as part of this project but I believe it's good to open one's mind to all the possibilities and then scale back from there. What's funny is that we barely ever use the fireplace in our living room so it's not like I'm the sort of person who always makes a fire on a chilly day. And yet I keep find myself drawn to the idea of having one in the bedroom. Something like this:

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Spray Paint Signs

There has been a lot of spray paint around here lately. And I'm not talking about DIY furniture projects. Can you guess what's up?

My long-awaited home addition is actually going to happen. I am so excited! Excuse the lame photos of utility company markings. It's all I've got to show at the moment. That and the middle photo above which is what our contractor sprayed on our lawn to mark where the new construction will be. I actually went out there after he was gone and used my own spray paint to mark out where some of the interior walls will be so I could get a true sense of the space. Here's the plan:

We are taking the bedroom at the back of the house and adding 21 feet to create a master suite. This has been my vision since we bought the house 5 1/2 years ago. I can't wait to see it all come together! I've got my work cut out for me - tile and bath fixtures and lighting and textiles and on and on. I'll be posting about it all here. Hopefully soon I will have more to show than spray paint. 

Nursery Mood Boards

I've been working on a nursery for a very special little girl who will be born this spring. Normally I start the design process by sharing inspiration photos with the client to get a sense of what they do and don't like and what direction to take with the space. In this case my client shared up front that she was drawn to Serena & Lily's Lola Bedding and that her husband had some Alexander Calder prints (similar here) that he was thinking might be good for the nursery. I felt inspired by these two very different jumping off points and created two separate mood boards for them to get a sense of what a room might look like if designed around either of those items.

(Here is the board inspired by the Lola crib Bumper)

(And this is the Calder board)

Not surprisingly they liked elements from each of the boards and wanted to try to bring some of the energy from the Calder board and blend that in with the softness of the Lola board. The mom-to-be also really liked the bird fabric from the Calder inspired room and felt like she wanted to explore some alternatives to the Lola bedding. Here is the next board I made for them:

We are continuing to tweak and refine the design. I hope to share more as the process moves along. And I really can't wait to meet the little girl who all of this is for!

Plans For 2013

Happy New Year! I am not a big resolution maker but it is hard to ignore the opportunity for reflection and planning that is offered when the calendar changes from one year to another. I definitely have found myself thinking about all the wonderful things that happened in 2012 and setting some goals for the new year ahead. We have big plans for our house in 2013 - a much thought about home addition should finally happen (yippee!) - and I am hoping to grow my business more as my son graduates from preschool and heads off to kindergarten in the fall. These are my plans for the house in 2013:

*Make this home addition happen (To Matt, our good friend and talented contractor, let's do this!)

*Zhush up our stairwell. I'm thinking of adding moulding like this:

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*Create a gallery wall with artwork from my husband and daughter. Jason was an art major in college and we have many pieces from his art shows stacked against a wall in our bedroom. And my daughter clearly inherited his talent and has already started creating a portfolio of her own. I need to hang this art so we can all enjoy it.

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*Get a new runner for the hallway. (I'm sort of cheating here because we already ordered this one.)

*Refresh the living room. (Again, we have already put some of this in motion. Details to come!)

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*Replace our entry hall light. We're not going to go quite as dramatic as these homes but aren't they gorgeous?

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(Miles Redd via here)

*Host more dinner parties and invite more friends into our home.

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I think that about covers it. Wish me luck!

Rue Magazine Gift Guide

Every blog, magazine, and website seem to be putting out their gift guides for the holidays. Most of these don't do it for me but I was impressed with the guide Rue Magazine put together. It strikes me as creative and well curated and possibly, well, useful. You can check out the full issue here. Bonus: articles on Nate Berkus and Tom Delavan. Not bad for one little issue. Go read it. 

Here are a few of the gift guide pages:

Litographs

I just discovered a very cool art source. Litographs makes prints using the text of classic books and reverses out an image representing that book. Take a look-see:

Moby Dick

Peter Pan

Wizard of Oz

Alice in Wonderland

Aren't they cool? I think they would make an amazing gallery wall in a child's room.

Litographs also has more adult fare that could work alone or as an addition to a mixed media gallery wall.

Walden

And they also come in black and white.

Ulysses

AND, for every print purchased a book is donated to a community in need. So you get to do a good deed while decorating your walls. All images from the Litographs site. Go check it out.

The Perfect Towel

I was just flipping through the new Serena and Lily catalog and found this towel:

It is a Turkish towel on one side but then (get this!) has terry cloth on the other side. I love it. I want to design our master bath around it. Maybe someday...

And then she flew...

I am not a blog writing kind of person. It feels scary to be so public with all of one's thoughts and dreams. And yet here I am. After many years of being focused on my own home, a passion for design has emerged. It really crystalized when I was helping my mom redo some rooms in her house. She went on vacation and I offered to take ownership of the project and complete it in her absence. We discussed budget, mood, specific pieces, etc. and then I went to town. I loved it! It got me thinking that maybe I want to do this more. So I began to research and read and learn. And I fell in love with this idea and all these blogs and all these women out there who seem kind of like me and do amazing work.

When I was in college I had a photo I tore out of a magazine and stuck on my wall of beautiful people jumping off a cliff into the water below. It seemed to capture the excitement of embracing life, which is how I felt then, on the cusp. But then a number of things didn't go as planned and I ended up feeling more like I'd fallen off the cliff. It wasn't exciting - it was terrifying. But I've finally clawed my way back up and I'm ready to try again. 

This is me taking a leap. 

I spent the two days on either side of New Year's Eve this year working on a headboard project for my son's room. (I'll save the details of that for another post.) I found myself hoping that it was a sign of more projects to come in the new year. And then two days later on my birthday my dad gave me this card:

It captures so much for me. So much of me. 

I've enrolled myself in a design course. I'm starting this blog. I am hopeful. Please join me on my new adventure. 1, 2, 3.....