home decor: transition into a toddler space

I mentioned in this post that I recently did a bit of dumpster diving. Check it out because there’s a really adorable photo of Graycen but I digress. Anyhow to summarize – apparently it was my lucky day, after all it was my birthday, and chance was on my side. I had been talking for weeks about wanting a play kitchen for our son but grumbling about how expensive those suckers are. Then low and behold, I find a wooden play kitchen stove in a pile of New York City trash.

insert image of clouds lifting, angels singing and pretty gold shoes

My friend Stacie asked if I would share some images of our find. So, if you recall, I also mentioned that we picked up a child’s table that was also being trashed. It was old school vintage and I couldn’t dare pass it up. The bigger problem was that I had just purchased a small table for Graycens room like 2 weeks prior to this find which has left us over run with kid stuff. Our living quarters are now cramped with things while I figure out our next steps but here’s where things stand as of this weekend.

You can see the before nursery photos here but basically what I ended up having to do was to move Graycen’s crib so that it’s parallel to his closet doors rather then against the wall. Not ideal but it’s working and the changes are slowly growing on me.

BEFORE:

Graycen's nursery, crib against wall

AFTER:

the rescued table and stove

Graycen's new (to him) stove

The stove shows some wear and tear but it’s definitely lovely, no? And tell me you love the painters tape as wall adhesive. I think it’s pretty clever.

And just for reference, here is what the table looked like when we found it. I was scared of what I might find under the 80’s wallpaper but apparently it was nothing scary.

the had to have kids table

Crafting with Martha Stewart

 

Martha Stewart Encyclopedia of Crafts

Last week my copy of Martha Stewarts Encyclopedia of Crafts arrived in the mail. First off, don’t let the books cover fool you about the good stuff that’s inside. That seashell trashcan she’s making looks like total sh!t (in my humble opinion that is) and how that image became the books cover simple floors me. Needless, it didn’t deter cool hipsters from purchasing it – I did. 

No, I don’t really think I’m a cool hipster but it was fun to say.

Anyhow, I finally had a few moments to fumbled threw the pages of my new book and I’m scared. How will I ever have enough money to make all this stuff? Well everything minus the crappy seashell trashcan. Not sure what my first project will be but these eggs for an Easter centerpiece sure are enticing. Gorgeous!

 

MS Metallic Eggs via MS

In the meantime I still need to come up with a good Valentine Day craft. Anyone have something good to share?

celebrate today

Our MLK days tend to be low key but I do hope that as Graycen gets older we’ll make a bigger production out of the day. This year I have plans to make a fancy feast because gorging yourself silly just screams – CELEBRATION.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have been 81 years old this year. Get out there and do something special today.

source of image unknown

more lovely ideas

Please forgive me if these images are redundant but I can’t seem to recall if I’ve already shared them. Needless, they do offer up a lot of ingenious ways to display and organize all the stuff that comes along with a well equipped workspace for us creative types.

image via country home

via country home

craft space, image via Country Living

desk envy

I think this workspace is just darling and the characterized silhouettes are simply clever.

image via valspar at Lowe's

the desk hunt

I’ve been wanting to purchase a desk for well over a year. I spoke about it for a hot minute here. Then I had a few life changes that left me re-evaluating my needs. I finally took the plunge two weeks ago. I’m still sorting out the space but thought I would share two of the desks I liked but ended up passing on for one reason or another. I ended up going in a completely different direction then these but I could have easily settled on either one and been in love.

Jett Desk in White Lacquer by Z Galleries

This is actually a dinning table in hi-gloss that I thought would work. I have a short file cabinet in white that is also hi-gloss which I thought would slide under the table nicely while also giving it more of a desk feel.

Hi-Gloss Bobby Dining Table by CB2

Bobby Dining Table from CB2

home decor: latest project

my new chest of drawers

Last year I gave myself a minor headache over which accent color I thought would go best in our living room. I had managed to narrow down my options to a bright sunny green or an even brighter yellow. I feel like yellow was everywhere last year, and I liked all the stuff I was seeing, but I also had my doubts. I was feeling like perhaps it was trendy and a fad that I would outgrow.

During the fall I did some major winter cleaning and re-organized every closet in our home. Somewhere during that process I found an old binder I had made during the time leading up to our home purchase. Finding that dusty black binder was like finding a box of my own forgotten treasures. There must have been hundreds of photos perfectly categorizes. It included paint chips and detailed instruction for each room. I can be crazy neurotic like that. What I realized while going through each and every photo was how much I loved green back then and how it’s clearly a color I still love and want to live with. That was the moment I knew it was my accent color and suddenly everything just felt right.

For my birthday I decided to forgo the usual shopping spree and instead used that money towards sprucing up a few things around the home. Fortunately I’m completely smitten with every project I took on and thank goodness because I would have cried had I went through another fiasco like the master bathroom. Think the ugliest Pepto Bismo blue you’ve never seen but that I somehow developed. It’s bad! But that’s a story for another day because both the projects I undertook last month are perfect and lovely.

I’m insanely in love with the green dresser. I think the color is bright but not too bold. It’s fresh and adds pop to the room without commanding too much attention. And I think it adds life to the space and shows the spirit and energy that’s in our home.

AFTER PHOTO: Dresser, now being referred to as a chest of drawers, repainted in green with new knobs and two coats of poly.

my "new" chest of drawers

BEFORE IMAGES: Here is the dress in it’s original state – bright white and being used in our bedroom.

dresser in it's original state

This is how the nook in our living room looked before – like toys had exploded everywhere. We ditched the floor matt, removed the photos on the wall and put the toys in boxes (or donated them).

before image of the space in our living room

I love taking a little bit of risk in my homes décor and I think the green paid off.

Of course,  apologies for the slightly fuzzy photo. Perhaps I should have waited to post this when I had a better image but I know that might take months so I’m sharing what I have. I’ll try to capture a better image and one of the living room as a whole. At some point, right?

one year older

birthday snow

Last month I celebrated my birthday.  It snowed like crazy but we braved the elements and went out for a lovely dinner. Upon dropping my son off at my aunts I found what felt like gold in a pile of trash. It was covered in snow but something about the shape of what I saw made me insist to my husband that he stop walking. I began to dust snow off this cubed box and sure enough, a painted burner appeared. It was a wooden play stove that was apparently being trashed by the local nursery. We still hadn’t went to dinner so there wasn’t really anything I could do but hope that in a few hours it would still be there.

Granted it was my birthday so sure enough, 4 hours later the play stove was still there. The snow had began to really accumulate so it took me a few attempts to relocate it in the pile of stuff that stood on the street corner. Just my luck because in my frantic state of looking for the stove I also managed to find the perfect wooden craft table for my son. By this time we had already done a crazy amount of holiday shopping so we looked rather foolish stuffing ourselves, and our loot, into a cab but we managed.

I’ve spent the last 2 weeks cleaning, sanding, lacquering and scrubbing our finds. Tonight my son got to use the table for the first time and I think he’s in love with it. For the first time that I can ever recall he played in his room, unassisted. Like one of us didn’t have to entertain him and be his personal muse.

This just might be the best birthday gift ever!

baby got a brand new stove

see it now?

a brush with fame

crap quality image by me, husbands cell phone, betsey johnson

I can’t forget to share. This year I’ve started to spot good celebrities. The latest spotting was on New Years Eve and of all places it was at the Children’s Museum. And of all people we see Betsey Johnson there. My husband was clueless as to who she was, which is never any fun. That is her above in the photos, dressed in black with crazy gold boots. It’s a crap photo taken with my husbands cell phone. Leave it to her to be the only adult that hops on the dragon. Her hair is just as crazy in person and her lipstick is just as freaky red. She was there with her daughter and granddaughter (Lulu Johnson Margulies and Ella Margulies).

I wish I was that annoying citizen that approached famous people and asked for photos with them but I’m not. I think I’ll work on that in the new year.

betsey johnson

a new year, a new me

clock faces, source of image unknown

There is something about the start of a new year that exhilarates me. I always start January with an abundance of confidence and optimism… like the world is mine. I love that feeling, that extra push to do big things and to find your happiness in life. So that’s where I am right now.

I must also mention that as of today I have been blogging for one year! Some days I thought I would never make it. Other days I just wanted to give it all up but mostly I felt good about sticking to it and seeing one year through. I can’t say to what capacity I’ll be blogging in the new year. But we’ll work it out, k?

I have big plans for twenty ten. Some are big secret plans and others I can talk about freely. And as much as I feel like I have the next year planned out there is still a lot left in the air, I think I like it that way. Given all the things I need to work on I have major plans to morph into a frugal girl. Not sure what, if any, home decor plans I’ll be working on. I do want to read more. I only read one book in 2009 so I’m gonna try and increase that by 4 more books. I know, I know, that just seems pathetically funny but it’s my goal and I’m gonna own it. I’m sticking to books that will either enlighten me, or make me a better person. I’m also excited about getting the Martha Stewart Encyclopedia of Crafts. Apparently I’m disillusioned enough to think I have that sorta time on my hands.. plus, how do MS crafts fit in with my new frugal life style. Who knows, but I hope to make it work.  I’m feeling blissfully happy about all of this right now. So to all of you –

Go forth young ones and make big things happen. Live life and enjoy it.