Amazing website

I know my dad is going to be so annoyed that this is another design post and not pictures of the kids but I had to share this...

You all know that I couldn't find a sofa under $1,000.

This. website. is. AMAZING!!
http://www.customsofadesign.com/

A few things to entice you to check it out:

Why yes, that is the Collette bed from C&B that STARTS at $1,600. CSD's price starts at $899!


I loved this Chesterfield sofa but never found one less than $1,500. CSD's Bianca sofa starts at $899. Must be their magic number...














ahhh.... I'm in love

Classic Nate

You know how there are some people who say what everyone else is thinking? Well, that's Nate






We walked over to DQ after dinner tonight.

Nate and Andy both got cones dipped in sprinkles.

On the walk back Chris picked Andy up to run across the street. The bouncing made Andy drop his cone.

On the sidewalk.

Upside down.

Sprinkles everywhere.

Andy began to cry.

Nate says, " BOY, I'M SURE GLAD THAT WASN'T MINE!"

Chris and I just looked at each other and laughed.
It was too innocent to be malicious.

Chris salvaged the base of the cone and the ice cream that was in that. Andy looked at the pathetic offer of a cone and took it.

"Tee tu" (Thank you)

A few minutes after we got home. Nate gave Andy his ice cream cone.



I have such great kids.

Inspiration

"We live in a world where knowledge is
developing at an ever-accelerating rate.

Drink deeply from the ever-springing well
of wisdom and human experience.

If you should stop now, you will only stunt
your intellectual and spiritual growth.

Keep everlastingly at it.

Read. Read, Read.

Read the word of God
in sacred books of scripture.
Read from the great literature of the ages.
Read what is being said in our day and time
and what will be said in the future."

( Gordon B. Hinckley, Commencement Address,
Brigham Young University, April 27, 1995)


i miss him.

Know-it-all

I have been searching up and down for an affordable version of this sofa by John Derian for Cisco Brothers. With it's clean lines and minimalistic feel I thought I needed a modern furniture store. I have struck out every where I have tried.

This afternoon I gave up. Decided I am not going to find something I can afford. Instead of ordering a sofa for $X why don't I get one off of Craig's list with good bones and reupholster it and spend a fraction of the cost. Neither one is going to be exactly what I want. So why pay more?

That's when my education began.

I have spend a ridiculous amount of time online looking for anything that came close to that sofa from millions of websites. Nothing. Then I start searching Craig's List and Ebay for antique sofas and voowalla! These are from the Federal period. The second one, Sheraton style. Grrr... really wish I had taken History of Interiors in school.




Another one I oogled from Jayson Home and Garden
and it's antique counterpart. (take off the skirting and smooth out the pillow- very similar). Point being. This entire month I thought I was this new, modern woman. Not true my friends. In fact, It's the opposite (not that it bothers me, I am just relieved to have a direction to look to).

A few more of the originals:

I promise you, this style is going to come back strong.

Craig's List

I am in the market for chairs I can recycle

Okay, the last one is a bit eccentric. But isn't the first one fabulous? Reupholstered in a velvet.... I emailed out to see if any of these are available... Yay for Craig's list and yay for living in a big city with lots of Craig's list postings!

Renters Unite!

I have been neglecting my blog again because of my decorating obsession. I have decided that slip covering my sofa is not going to solve the problem. I don't like big, overstuffed furniture anymore. That's just not me. My Cape Cod bedroom, not me. So disguising the problem isn't going to solve it. (excerpt from the speech I gave Chris). So, I am getting a new sofa. I have been obsessing over how I want to do my living room. I came across a few decorating tricks for renters. Enjoy. (and book mark the blog for those links for future reference. She has good stuff).

Graphic Wallpaper done with TAPE!
Here a trellis pattern is done, but I don't see why you couldn't do any graphic design

http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2010/01/temporary-wallpaper-alternative.html

Contact Paper!
http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2010/02/contact-paper-wallpaper.html

Ugly student housing sink?
http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2010/02/no-sew-pedestal-sink-skirt.html
I am too lazy to copy the pic for this- shades made from mini blinds
http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2009/02/make-shades-out-of-mini-blinds.html
...
and one more. Make an ottoman out of a $20 Craig's list coffee table
http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2009/03/make-ottoman-from-coffee-table.html


this one is really amazing.
http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2009/12/silver-leaf-dressers.html

Sorry, I just can't stop.
Here's an amazing transformation of an IKEA dresser
http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2009/12/hack-of-all-hacks.html

front facing bookshelves
http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2009/11/rain-gutter-bookshelves.html
she's amazing.

Giant, custom poster anyone? You can use any image and create it yourself and print in out of your computer
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/howto-free-and-huge-custom-poster-for-your-wall/



and just for fun, feast your eyes on this bad boy

in a different fabric, of course.

It's called "the canopy chair".
Cheapest I've found starts "on sale" at $3,500.
'sigh'.
I totally would have bought it if it was 1/7 of the price.
Totally.

Andy

Andy will be 18 months next week. He is really starting to come in to his own. As my second, I view him as such a baby still (where as Nate was on his way to manhood by this age). Today he found a cat toy and brought it to me and I said, "that's for the kitty. Go give it to Kitkat" and he walked across the room, looked under the chair, and tried to lure the cat out with the toy. I just watched and realized he is not the baby I treat him as. Then I started to panic and think maybe he won't be ask inquisitive and curious and smart as Nate is because I don't explain anything to him or talk to him. You know the mom-guilt that comes whenever you realize you have done something wrong or misread a situation.
I think I treat him as a baby as a self-defense mechanism. I tell Nate we can't have another baby yet because Andy is still a baby. Only one baby at a time (and ever time I say that I say a prayer under my breath that we won't have twins because that is the type of thing that would happen to me. I make a claim and then the Lord proves me wrong- such as "We won't take a job any farther north than Iowa). So I feel like I am hanging on to his "babiness" just for the joy of having a baby in the house.

Ways he tells me he is not a baby:

Hates to be carried or held. Ever.

When I say, "Okay, Nate. It's time to go." Andy gets his shoes and sits by the door and waits for me to put them on.

After dinner he walks up to the tub (and climbs in- clothes and all)

He refuses to sit in a high chair anymore. He insists on sitting next to Nate (and then steals Nate's milk when he isn't looking)

Book of the week

I can't believe it has been a week already! since my last post. Chris had a conference at work and didn't return home until 10 every night. My parents were here for 2 days working on Chris's honey-do list. My mom ironed 30 dress shirts! Bless her heart. Unfortunately, that was only a little more than half. At least she got me motivated. I will take a picture of my dad's projects and post this week. (I am hosting book club so my house has to be clean and I will take a picture then :)

I have halted the brainstorming because I decided that I need to educate myself before I dive in and waste a lot of money on something that isn't going to feel right and I will have to replace.

I have 15 design books checked out from the library right now.

Book recommendation of the week-
FLIP! for Decorating by Elizabeth Mayhew

Elizabeth is the lifestyle expert for NBC's Today show and special projects editor for House Beautiful magazine. So, I guess she's qualified :)
http://www.elizabethmayhew.com/Good tips:

*Paint walls the same hue as your sofa or largest piece of furniture and watch the furniture recede into space.
*Paint the ceiling in a tone or two lighter than the walls0 but not necessarily white- it will appear higher
*buy a solid color sofa. You'll never have to be married to one style.

Great things in this book:
*No-fail paint color favorites
*an entire section on windows. How to pick what type of treatment you need and out of what fabric, sizes, where you should hang it, how far you should let it fall, how wide, etc. Also, tips for different design problems/privacy issues, how to "upgrade" off the rack curtains,
*Sections on living room, dining room, bedroom, family room
*how to buy a sofa, which sofa is right for you
*how to arrange your furniture, **WHERE TO START** she suggests a few options as your starting point and then how you should proceed from there

Okay, that is only the first 1/6 of the book... I would probably write down EVERYTHING in this book so to save us both some time- just go check it out!

p.s. These are the curtains she designed for her living room. I want them!!!
-

Musing

Why do these rooms POP

(guess I didn't get the memo that all fabulous design is blue, yellow and white)






while these rooms FLOP?


How can I call those flops? They are beautiful. It's true. They are nice, but they aren't amazing. I don't look at them a drool. They are boring. The problem is... I am boring. I like neat and nice and practical and 'gasp' monochromatic. The difference in the two sets of rooms a combination between warm and cool colors. To create interest. An alternative warm color is what takes a room from weak to wow. You can see what I mean with flop picture #3. Your eye is immediately drawn to the widow shade that is slightly yellowish and feels warm. Same with the small orange shell in flop picture #2. Visually, you desperately want a balance. I love monochromatic. It's safe. It's comfortable. It's easy. But, alas, I see. It's boring.

The fabric for the chair and my favorite rug choices.

I don't want to do a green rug. So that means I need to come up with another plan to include green. AND I need to figure out how to work in a warm color to add interest. Pillows. Artwork. Hmm.... I guess I probably shouldn't do my blue velvet chair... Any suggestions? Anyone else struggling to shake monochromatic disorder?

'sigh'
I need to go to design school.

My dues

This should cover it.

DECEMBER

i love to catch them "reading"
(and I really love it when they entertain themselves)

We celebrated Christmas on our own this year. First time. We had to work out a few bumps because I didn't really know what to plan. Next year I will be prepared. We went to a nursing home and sang carols/ read the Nativity story on Christmas Eve afternoon with some friends from the ward. We swapped the Jetta for a van with Ben the week before Christmas and he brought up mom's Nativity re-enactment attire and manger. We used them at the nursing home and Nate loved it. So we did it again as a family that night. It really made Christmas for Nate. I am thinking about doing a "night in Bethlehem" on Christmas night next year (and if it goes well, from there on out) where we eat ethnic food, dress up, play games, etc. all from that time. I think Nate will really get in to it and it will help he remember what Christmas is about. Maybe Christmas Eve we can read scriptures from the prophets foretelling of Christ's birth and we can "prepare for his birth" and then the next night we can re-enact the Christmas story and have our "night in Bethlehem".... we will see......

well... the rest are on FB (I can upload faster)

JANUARY

My parents came up for a few days to spend time with the boys and babysit so I could attend Chris's swearing in ceremony in Madison on January 19th.

His paperwork was not processed in time for him to be sworn in with most July bar acceptants in October, so his group was pretty small. For this reason, they were sworn in in the Wisconsin Supreme Court hearing room by the Supreme Court Chief Justice, herself. She was sassy, witty and sarcastic. I loved her.

Then he signed his name in a very big book that has been signed by all Wisconsin Bar Members since the beginning.(this book is only one of many volumes. But you get the point. Tradition. Important. Cool)

That's all folks. Go to FB for the rest.

Rugs A Bound

I am impressed by Rugs Abound. Free Shipping. 20% off some rugs.


Basilica

Rain

Frontier



This all come in other colors too, in case you were wondering.