Category: Home Highlights

Oh-oh, those summer days…

Oh, poor neglected little blog.  Sorry to have ignored you so long.  It’s just that it’s been so nice out, and there have been so many fun summery things to do.  (Not to mention the house projects!) I have been thinking about you though.  I’ve been taking lots of pictures (see below!) & promise to be back soon!

xoxo,
Annie

I’m curioius… what’s your most very favorite summer activity?

Inherited Beauty

The funny thing about buying a house is that it doesn’t come with a user guide.  Even vacation houses have a little guestbook for people to share the highlights of their stay.  Can you imagine a little book with a  message from each person who owned this old house, a little glimpse into their lives and their experiences here?  How fun would that be?

We’ve had such a blast trying to figure out, say, where the light switch for the little lamppost near our sidewalk was (in the basement, naturally) and why the electricians who “completely redid all the electric in the house” used frayed cloth wire from the 1900’s for the wiring in the bedroom (ahem).    But among all the idiosyncrasies of this house there is a lot of charm.  I have to admit, I’m even developing a little keenness for some of the quirky little things that were on my “to eradicate in the first week” list.  But here is one of my absolute favorite things we’ve inherited with the house: a crazy beautiful, mature climbing rose scaling the lattice on our porch.

I cannot even count the blooms, and there are hundreds of little buds still to come.  I feel like I’ve inherited the reward for others’ faithful stewardship of this sweet plant, and hope earnestly that I can keep it thriving.  Any tips from my gardening guru friends?

Gold Star for Pier 1 Imports

I’ve never really been a huge fan of Pier 1 Imports. It’s not like I don’t have things from Pier 1 that I love. In fact, my mental tally of random Pier 1 things I own and love is almost, almost making me consider rewriting that last sentence. But when I walk into Pier 1, there’s just so much stuff, and I feel like so much of it is just reproductions of things that would be really cool if they were actually vintage wire egg baskets, or genuine candlesticks from Morocco.

So why, you ask, am I giving Pier 1 a big, fat gold star today? Well, let me tell you.

Numero Uno: This little ad landed on my table the other morning, smack dab in the middle of our self-quarantined week of the everything virus. My husband usually gets the mail at the end of his work day, and it’s my little treat to look over it at breakfast: hoping for a hand-written letter, contentedly settling for a fun flyer, or disdaining those purely junk-mail days. This week, Pier 1 gets big props from this average sized mama for featuring a model who looks like a real (albeit beautiful and voluptuous) person. Check her out! Her waist is not smaller than her neck! I’ve been pretty impressed with the big Dove campaign for Real Beauty, but, you’ve got to admit, there was a lot of hype about it: Look at us, we’re making a positive impact on young girl’s body image. Given the airbrushing and eating disorders that color our country, the hoopla was probably necessary. But Pier 1 takes it a step farther, in my opinion, showing us how far we’ve come, by featuring this lovely looking lady sans all the exhibition. The fact that it stuck out to me indicates that we (or maybe just I?) still have room to grow, but, still, way to go, Pier 1: Way. To. Go. And as if that wasn’t enough to earn a gold star…

Numero Deux: I was totally inspired by this table (as shown in the flyer here); it took everything in me not to whip out my paints and start distressing my table legs. As I’ve thought about our big move, I’ve been trying to figure out how to incorporate our basic Ikea table, that looks something like this into a more finished dining room in the new house. I’ve been thinking Pottery Barn Farmhouse style, and this look definitely farmhouses it up. I’m super excited to work on the distressed look.

Who knows, maybe I’ll even shop Pier 1 for a few chairs to match,you know, now that they’re on my good side and all, mass wire baskets notwithstanding.

Wine Crates, Repurposed

Our little abode is quite a hodge-podge, almost equal parts Ikea and garage sale vintage treasures. One of my favorite little finds is an incredibly sturdy wine crate we found just before our wedding, as we were on the hunt for items to fill our first apartment. It’s held lots of different collections and served several functions, but right now it’s part side table, part shelf.If you have  an affinity for wine crates, check out the collection that Grace from Poetic Home put together last spring.  The inspiration she shared on repurposing wine crates, along with the many other tastefully selected treasures she highlights on her site, has made it one of my favorites.  Here’s a few more inspiring ideas to get your creative engines running!{a} Through Poetic Home, I stumbled upon this image, one of many lovely photographs of the home of Tracy and Michelle (by The Selby)

{b} Design Sponge offers a fun tutorial on creating a display case from your wine crate.

{c} Delightful Rachel, from Heart of Light, created these lovely little outdoor planters using wine crates.

Little Farmer’s Delight

This is the mobile that started it all. I came across it at Crabtree & Evelyn, when Ted and I were in Enlgand on business the spring I was pregnant with Laura.  We didn’t know the baby’s gender, and this little mobile (suspended from the fan, with all it’s little beads and pins) became the inspiration that linked my childhood across the street from a dairy farm to our new nursery’s decor.

In our small home, the girls’ bedroom doubles as sleeping quarters and play room, so I’ve really tried to make it an inviting, fun, creative place to play and rest.  The baby crib was gifted to us by a family whose youngest had graduated to a Thomas bed. My mom and I sewed the gingham curtains together.

I painted four little animals on canvas with acrylic, and my parents found this tree, a (sadly, no longer available) Pottery Barn Kids wall sticker. (It helped me overcome my grief at not being able to paint – apartment rules.)

My dad built these cedar “shudders” to flank the large mural I created.  The little train was inspired by one of my husband’s favorite spots, the Moodna Viaduct.

The bright canopy from Ikea transformed Laura’s toddler bed into a royal sleeping chamber.

Our very talented, and dear, dear family friend Ruth quilted Laura’s gorgeous bedspread, with hand stitched Noah’s Ark animals on the large white squares.  Laura at play at her farm stand: at ten dollars, it was my garage sale bargain of the year.

Thanks for visiting.  Hope you’re inspired to be creative & play at your house this weekend!

Domino

When I first discovered Design Blogs, a little over a year ago, it seemed like the image of this book was as common as a Search button.  Released in October of 2008, Domino magazine’s editors put together this “room by room decorating guide” before the magazine folded in January 2009.  New to the design realm, I didn’t understand what a treasure it is until I checked it out of our library this weekend.  Beyond the hundreds of inspirational images of perfectly styled bathrooms and kitchens and bedrooms, the book contains tons of practical information, a little black book of for finding retailers & products, and much more.  It’s an incredibly practical tool and a design text book rolled into one, with lots of eye candy to boot.  Check it out.

Sweeten Up Your Cherry Pie

Recently, I made my first homemade pie crust.  For lack of Crisco, I forwent the family recipe and tried this little doozy instead. (Be sure to read the comments on lessening the salt!)  Here are a few items to sweeten up the baking and serving process!  I’m absolutely gaga over the Anthropologie dessert plates, and the colors featured in the measuring cups and spoons bring me right back to my early 80’s Tupperware childhood.  Here’s my finished product, below.  Happy Baking!

{a} Melamine Measureing Cups & Spoons by Williams Sonoma (44.00USD)

{b} Scenic Dessert Plates by Anthropologie (12.00USD)

{c} Vic Firth Gourmet Maple Rolling Pin by Target

{d} Emile Henry Artisan Ruffled Pie Dish by Williams Sonoma (18.00USD)

Of Fall Leaves & Light Fixtures

Thanks to Playful Learning’s Leaf Family Project, we’ve had no end of acorn, fall leaf, and pine needle collections making their way into our home this month. Of all the places these leaves have wound up, here’s my personal favorite.  I ironed a few of my favorite little leaves between wax paper, and popped them onto the little shades on the chandelier above our dining room table, along with a little bittersweet vine.  I love fall!

Bread Box

At the risk of sounding like the children’s literature critic that I desperately wish I was, I would like to suggest that if you are not familiar with Rosemary Wells, you have a gaping hole in your literary life.  My daughter and I believed we had exhausted our library’s collection of Wells’ Max and Ruby series, a favorite of my sagacious three year old, when we stumbled upon Max Counts His Chickens in the Counting Collection section of the picture books. (Sneaky, sneaky!)  All this to say, Max’s sister, Ruby, finds her ninth chicken (the marshmallow peep variety) in the bread box, which began my pondering the topic of bread box altogether.

Not that I haven’t considered the subject before.  Every time I pass them in the Ikea marketplace, I wish they had a selection that tipped the functionality vs. style scale a bit more to the latter.   But Rosemary got me itching for one, so I began my search, from a surprisingly small pool of options, if you rule out the plain wood and metal lunch box variety, which didn’t suit my taste.  Here are my top picks:

{a} Summergirl Breadbox:: nothing but breadboxes by the Summer Girl Shop, on Etsy $50.00 USD

{b} Vintage Blue Painted Bread Box::  by Royal Oak Cottage, a lovely Etsy Vintage Shop $45.00USD

{c} Vintage Enamel Ware Breadbox:: by McCune’s Sporting Collectibles, not the most 2.0 website on the planet, but some pretty nice finds in their Kitchenalia & Household Bygones section $175.00

Globes

The globe that sits on the console table in our dining room may be my favorite garage sale find of all time.  It’s earth tone pallet blends with so many of the items in our home, while subtly tying in elements we’ve collected from our journeys around the world, along with the many souvenirs our globe-trotting friends have added to the collection! I love pulling it down to show my daughter the route a loved one is flying across the country (or world) or showing her where different wares and goods stem from.   A beautiful piece, an educational tool, and all for under $5.00!  If you’re not so lucky as to find your global treasure at a tag sale, here are some nice runners up:

{a}Pottery Barn : One of my first go-to’s for stylish replica’s, these 5 and 7 inch globes are subdued color scheme could go anywhere. $29.00-$39.00 USD

{b} Every Eskimo : This tin coin collecting globe is tiny, but packs a powerful style punch!  $18.00 USD

{c} Hindsvik Vintage : Just the description on this amazing vintage wares Etsy shop brought me right back to fourth grade: “This Rand McNally Old school Globe features Textured Mountains, ranges, types of land and vegetation” I think this is my fav. $33.00 USD

{d} Target : Classy and full of old world charm, I love the contrast of the dark wood base. $24.99 USD