Archive for October, 2010
The Benjamin Button-ization Of Our Style
Maybe it was a comment one of you made recently or just a quiet moment of looking around our house, but lately we’ve been noticing that our style is getting younger. Perhaps it’s a mid-life design crisis? We’ll just call it the latest stage in our constantly evolving sensibility (read: indecisiveness), but we couldn’t help but share this observation to see if anyone else has noticed it in our house – or in your own.
STAGE 1: “Wait, you mean I can paint these walls whatever color I want???”
In all likelihood, Sherry or I actually said something like this when we made that giant leap from renters to homeowners. After years of white walls and temporary furnishings, that pent up frustration unleashed itself within hours of closing on this house back in 2006. The result was a kaleidoscope color scheme throughout the house and lots of meager apartment decor trying desperately to fill up an entire house. Case in point:
STAGE 2: “Okay, let’s be serious now. We’re homeowners. That means we’re, like, adults.”
Our transition into this stage happened right after we started blogging (and if you’ve read our archives, you can spot it occurring in posts like this, this and more recently this). Somewhere along the line we decided that our house needed to “grow up” and look like a real home that real adult people lived in. In reality, this blog is mostly a documentation of that growing up process. You know, an attempt to bring some sophistication to our design choices, acquire real furniture, and renovate rooms so they function better for the way we live. And that’s how we got to the room designs that you guys are probably most familiar with.
STAGE 3: “Wait a second – why are we in a rush to turn into stodgy neutral-loving ‘grown ups’?”
Here’s where the aging backwards a la Benjamin Button comes into play (aka: design regression). Thanks to the addition of Clara, Sherry and I realized – only subconsciously at first – that we could have more fun with our style. Our house could cheerfully boast more color, take itself less seriously, and even delve into the playful category. The catalyst for this being Clara’s nursery, of course (although last year’s citrus themed Christmas decor – instead of our usual silver scheme – was an even earlier tip off that this phase was coming).
We always intended for her nursery to be a fun kids room, but we never expected that whimsy would trickle into other spaces as well. I guess in realizing that we want Clara to enjoy her surroundings as much as we do and that we no longer need to prove our adulthood (we have a baby for pete’s sake) we became open to letting some more fun and color find its way around our home. Like the pig hooks hanging in our office…
…and this banner we made for a BabyCenter post that ended up cheering up our living room fireplace.
Even the bold pattern of the Clara rug in our den is a big step for us.
It doesn’t mean we’ll be converting the master bedroom into a moonbounce or painting the kitchen ceiling hot pink, but we’re kind of excited by the freedom to loosen up and pepper some more fun, color, and pattern into our next house. Heck, it’s not like we’re getting any younger…
Anyone else noticing that they’re moving into a new “phase” of decorating? Has your style flipped or flopped due to getting your own place, getting married, having a baby, getting hired (or fired) or any other stage-of-life occurrence?
So Thankful It’s Scary
You guys know that we like to take a moment each month to thank our sponsors (you know, the people who help keep our site up and running… and make the other 40+ posts possible). But this month we’re getting Missy Elliott on you. Aka: putting our thing down, flipping it, and reversing it (read: trying something different). Instead of just naming them and generally dropping a quick description of their company as a whole, we’re giving you a snapshot of one thing that we’re loving from each of them (in quick thumbnail and bullet form). Call it getting a bit more personal if you will. And doing a little virtual window shopping, which we’re always down for.
Oh and at the very bottom of this post we’ve also collected all of the discounts they’re offering into one quick spot, so you can scroll down to save some loot. You might just find a picture of Burger worked in there too- you know, just for good measure.
|
|
 |
|
|
- Tons of personalized items, like this illustrated plate, from Sarah + Abraham.
- Cardboard Safari‘s spooky Halloween decor, like this new pumpkin/black cat wreath.
- Virtual room makeover advice from pro interior designers via My Design Guide.
- Durock Tile Membrane = waterproof underlayment in roll form. Tiling here I come!
|
|
|
|
|
- Mounted text art commemorating famous cities (like NYC) from Red Letter Words.
- Natural soy Bar None Candles in unique scents like baby powder, sangria, & bamboo.
- The industrial chic look that Shades of Light is rocking in their latest catalog.
- Online tutorials and free DIY tiling workshops every Saturday at The Tile Shop.
|
|
|
|
|
- City skyline vinyl decals from WallQuotes.com and their custom decal design tool.
- This spa glass tile (amongst others) from The Glass Mosiac Oulet, aka Design for Less.
- The Pierre mirror from Z Gallerie. Sherry says: “ooh, sparkly…”
- All of the colorful custom wood frames to choose from when design a Frame The Date.
|
|
|
|
|
- Personalized “Home Sweet Home” print from Name Your Design.
- These aqua stone earrings from Lisa Leonard Designs that Sherry loves.
- Fun vintage finds, like these pink glass goblets on virtual flea market Ruby Plaza.
- This salt & pepper print from Freshline (it also boasts my wife’s initials).
|
|
|
|
|
- Colorful sustainably printed goods from Smock Paper like this peacock pad.
- The latest issue of Fresh Home that’s getting us in the mood for fall!
- The cheery and education Alpha Tower print on canvas by Hoot Design Co.
- Customizable rivet rings made from recycled materials by Heart & Stone Jewelry.
|
|
|
|
|
- Photoshop overlays from Vol. 25 that make awesome photos more awesome.
- Crazy discounts from BULX like this half off food processor (baby food anyone?).
- Kid-friendly prints like this Stacked Dogs canvas from Trendy Peas.
- This pic of baby Burger making a call on his foot phone. Not a sponsor, we just liked it.
And now for the JUICY DISCOUNTS:
- The Tile Shop: 10% off when you use the code YHL10
- WallQuotes.com: 15% off with the code YHL15
- Freshline: 10% off any orders with the code YHL10
- Smock Paper: 15% off any order with code YHL10 (through October 22nd)
- Heart & Stone Jewelry: 10% off your purchase with the code YHL10
- BULX: $20 off your first order with code YHL
Our Cups Runneth Over
When we spotted these odd little metal cups for $1.50 a pop at Goodwill (which you may have noticed in our recent Halloween post) we decided to take them home for a speedy little spray paint makeover. We fell in love with the little cut-out shape and since we already had yellow and white spray paint around (thanks to this project and this project) we got right to work.
Our concept was to make the inside of each cup yellow and the outside of each one white, just for a little two-tone fun. So we thought up a few ways that might work when it came to accomplishing that effect. First we debated spraying the whole thing white and then covering the outside with painter’s tape and then spraying in the inside yellow. But we reasoned that it would be harder to spray the inside of the cups (and the painter’s tape might peel off the new-ish paint) so we decided to start by spraying the inside of each cup with yellow paint, which of course got on the outside a bit as well:
Then instead of messing with painter’s tape we decided to try rolling up a piece of white paper and slipping it into each cup (to hopefully shield the yellow spray painted interior from the coat of white spray paint that we then applied to the outside).
Here’s what it looked like after that coat of white was added:
We had no idea if it would actually work, so when we removed the rolled up piece of paper from each cup after the paint dried, we were pleasantly surprised to see that we were left with a nearly perfect result:
And it honestly only took about three minutes to complete the entire project (not counting the five hour drying period that we allowed for after spraying the yellow and before slipping in the white sheets of paper in and spraying the outside white).
We love the idea of using them for flameless candles so the yellow interiors are illuminated without the risk of setting our whole house on fire. You know, because that would be bad.
What about you guys? Are you spray painting anything in a two tone finish? Are you morally opposed to faux candles because you think they’re tacky (you know those small battery operated fake-os)? I must admit I resisted them for a while but for things like this they’re tres handy.
Leave a comment
NOooooooooOOOoooooo
I was going to do it. I was finally going to buy the Coco mirror from West Elm that I’ve been obsessing over forever. Yes, we’re moving, but it’s such a classic piece that it could be hung anywhere in this house or the next one. And I was just gonna go for it- all $199 of it. Even though I’m usually too cheap to buy things full price (even if I’m head over heels in love) I had this whole talk with myself about putting on my big girl pants and bucking up and just splurging for something that I’m 99.9% certain would make me happy for decades. Then I saw this when I clicked the link.
No longer available? I want to die.
Psst- We announced our big winner for this week’s contest at the end of Monday’s original contest post. Click here to see if it’s you.
Katie Bower In The House
Well not anymore, but she was this weekend. Along with her main man Jeremy and their adorable bambino Will (who happens to be betrothed to Clara so back off all you other baby ladies). And if you don’t know who the heck I’m talking about, you can catch up on the Bowers over at their blog: Bower Power.
We had tons of fun feeding them, showing them around, rehearsing/performing a baby wedding, and just generally having a grand old time from Friday all the way through Sunday.
We even squeezed in a little video (as is the tradition whenever we’re together- check out this original one along with these three shot during our rendezvous in Nashville last summer: hotel inspiration part 1, hotel inspiration part 2 and shopping for DIY inspiration). We went back to our table setting roots this time and took some basic items that everyone should have (white plates, glass cups, regular old silverware, etc). Then we added five things to create three different looks for your table. Granted these aren’t the types of tablesettings where there’s tons of room for giant cassarole dishes in the middle of the table, so they’ll work better for people who entertain like we do (we serve food in the kitchen and people then bring their plates back to the table to eat it). Or you can just take some color and item ideas from the set ups and adapt them to work for the way you serve food (by leaving room in the middle of the table for platters, etc).
And for those at work who can’t watch a video, if you mute it you can see the set ups and read each of the five items without sound so it’ll still make sense. Hooray for no-sound work video options, eh? Oh, and you can watch it here on YouTube too.
And of course we got footage of Clara and Will doing their thing. Is it just me or are they extremely cute together? (Catch ‘em below on Vimeo or here and here on YouTube)
So that’s what we were doing this weekend. Having tons o’ fun with the Bowers and singing a lot of “here comes the bride.” Thanks for the fun Katie, Jeremy, and Will!
Baby & family pics by Katie (come on, you know we’re not that good).
