Design
The Magazine Rack that Could
Decor
The Magazine Rack that Could
Is it completely weird that I have been looking for a magazine rack for over a year? It isn't that magazine racks are difficult to come by, but a good-looking one for a reasonable price, is. Which, sadly, is exactly why I have been storing all my magazines in a basket in the living room. Now, […]
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January 16, 2014
Design
A Passed-Down Piano
Decor
A Passed-Down Piano
This home is full of interesting angles and indents when it comes to the walls, especially in the great room. The wall in the living room (on the opposite side of this wall is the reading room) has been a little tricky. We always thought it would be a prime spot for some bookcases, but […]
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January 14, 2014
Design
The Nursery Gets a Rug
Decor
The Nursery Gets a Rug
The area rug for the nursery arrived in the last 24 hours, so the corners are still a little curled, but the rich color is a stunner! It's the Bursa wool rug in merlot (currently sold out) from West Elm. We had actually been going back and forth getting the 9x12 navy one for our […]
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January 9, 2014
Design
The Studio Project
Art
The Studio Project
Last week I mentioned that I wanted to start painting again. The first 6 months of last year, I was working on commissions and selling paintings and prints out of my Etsy shop almost daily and it was everything I imagined myself doing while I studied art in college. More, even. I had my own […]
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January 8, 2014
Design
And Now, Our 2013 Christmas Card
Art
And Now, Our 2013 Christmas Card
So last year we started the tradition (I guess we can call it that now that this is our second year doing it!) to commission an illustration of our family for our Christmas card. Once again, we hired my friend from art school whom we've kept in touch with, Lance Fry, and once again he […]
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December 19, 2013
Design
The Art of Gift Hiding
Decor
The Art of Gift Hiding
When I was growing up, after I uncovered the truth, you know the truth, and suddenly came to the realization that all of our Christmas presents HAD to be in the house somewhere--I got curious. I never remember hunting for them or anything, but I might poke in my parents' closet with a terribly pounding […]
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December 12, 2013
Design
DIY Christmas Gift: Family Tree
Art
DIY Christmas Gift: Family Tree
While I still have some shopping to do before Christmas, I have found that homemade gifts are always well-received so Chris and I have tried to incorporate that into our holiday gifting plans each year as well. This family tree project took me 20 minutes and is as sentimental for anyone as it is pretty […]
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December 11, 2013
Design
The Best Calendars for 2014
Art
The Best Calendars for 2014
When we were growing up, every year for Christmas, my sisters and I always got a calendar for Christmas. We were a big calendaring family--which I guess you kind of have to be when you have 5 kids with 5 different activities going on. Every Sunday night we all had to break out our calendars […]
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December 4, 2013
Design
Art For A Nursery or Child's Room
Art
Art For A Nursery or Child's Room
Sometimes, when I am having a particularly stressful day or moment, I start planning the nursery in my head. I guess it is my happy place. We'll probably start the nursery after the new year, but I can't stop myself from gathering ideas, or as this post illustrates--art. Is there anything sweeter than art for […]
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November 18, 2013
Design
Decorating the Front Door for Christmas. Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.
Decor
Decorating the Front Door for Christmas. Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.
We decked the halls (okay, just the front of our house) really early this year. Back in July, Home Depot contacted me and asked us to participate in their Holiday Style Challenge this year. They sent us a room full of mystery boxes containing more Christmas stuff then we knew what to do with and […]
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November 14, 2013
Design
Project Book Shelving: The Plans
Inspiration
Project Book Shelving: The Plans
We mentioned after we painted the reading room, that we wanted to revisit it soon. Our books are still boxed up in the garage and we are anxious to give them a more permanent home. Now that our costume party is over and the bathroom is done-zo, we're ready to build some shelving in here. […]
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November 11, 2013
Design
The Beaumont Coffee Table
Decor
The Beaumont Coffee Table
It's interesting moving into a new house and trying to make your not-so-old (actually pretty new!) furniture work. Our living room has 99 problems and the coffee table was definitely one. One that we felt like we could address before adding a fireplace and window--which we still hope to do within the year. The coffee […]
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October 31, 2013
Design
$1000 to Rejuvenation. Mmm, yeah.
Inspiration
$1000 to Rejuvenation. Mmm, yeah.
Our friends at Rejuvenation, one of our first and long time partners, are holding a little instagram contest and we are their target market. I say "we," as in "us" as in "you!" We, that are constantly renovating and always striving to improve our spaces. The winner gets $1000 worth of lights and hardware from […]
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October 9, 2013
Design
Shopping the House for the Living Room
Decor
Shopping the House for the Living Room
We came to terms with something about our new house this weekend: we just don't have enough stuff to furnish the whole thing right now. Our new house is 1000 more square feet than our last house (which was 1000 more square feet than our apartment before that). When we moved our stuff into this […]
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October 7, 2013
Design
A Journey in Indecisiveness and also Deciding On Our Main Paint Color.
Inspiration
A Journey in Indecisiveness and also Deciding On Our Main Paint Color.
We are no strangers to dark paint. Painting a few walls in our last home's living room a blueish-greenish-almost black (Crave by Kwal Paint) made for one of our favorite before and afters. But I think there were a few things that made that dark paint really work. First, the huge window that let light […]
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September 25, 2013
Design
Day One
Inspiration
Day One
We closed on our new-ish house yesterday! It was terribly anti-climatic, a formality really. Mostly because we had been living there for a few weeks anyway. We already had the keys. We've already started on a few little projects, but now that things are official--we're calling yesterday our "first day." Let the renovation calendar begin! […]
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September 24, 2013
Design
Making Joint Decorating Decisions
Sourcing & Planning
Making Joint Decorating Decisions
The very first piece of furniture Chris and I ever bought together was a large, off-white sectional. We walked into the store, saw it, sat on it and decided to buy it--it being the floor model because that's all our still-in-college funds could afford. The sectional was huge, u-shaped, and our apartment was small. We […]
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September 9, 2013
Design
A Functional Entryway
Inspiration
A Functional Entryway
One thing this house isn't shy on is hooks. Perhaps you've gathered that from Instagram: As an update, I found two more sets in the garage. 16!! The slightly humorous thing about this all is that there is absolutely no convenient place to hang our bags when we walk in the house, whether through the […]
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August 29, 2013
Design
Art For the New House
Art
Art For the New House
Once we packed up all of the art, photos and frames in our last house, I suddenly felt disconnected from it. It no longer felt like our house and now that we're here in this new house, with still blank walls, we are still feeling a sense of disconnect. Art warms a home, at least […]
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August 27, 2013
Design
An Update + Dream Laundry and Joint Closet
Inspiration
An Update + Dream Laundry and Joint Closet
As you may have heard, read or gathered--we have had some bumps in our road--mainly we have yet to receive the money for the sale of our house and it all comes down to today. If we don't receive the money today, then we will lose our new house. And if we do, we can […]
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August 20, 2013
