Home Design Image: March 2008

Girls Beds

I stumbled across this photo on Apartment Tharapy a few weeks ago (sorry, no link) and haven't stopped thinking about these gorgeous beds since.

I would LOVE to have a beautiful pair of antique twin beds for the girls in our next apartment. I saw some that looked just like these (upholstered in a different fabric) the last time I was at ABC. I'm sure they cost a gajillion dollars though so I'll probably stick to stalking craigslist for the next year.

I stopped in to PBK during one of my (many) shopping excursions while we were on vacation in Arizona this week. I really like this newer line of furniture called Olivia. These could maybe be an alternative to the style of beds in the first photo, although it would be a distant second place. I am dying over the upholstered look.

"This Is" for sure going to be in my house someday soon

Decades ago, Miroslav Sasek wrote and illustrated a beautiful children's travel book series called "This Is..." featuring incredible places and the people that live there.

Places like Paris, London, New York, Ireland, San Francisco, Rome and others.

I love framing pages from books. I can't wait to use a few of these in a pretty little grouping in my girl's next room. The colors are amazing, not to mention the subject matter.

Saw it on Ali Loves Curtis

Spring Garden - Urban Style

My mom has such a green thumb. She is always out working in her yard. Every time we visit her I get the itch to start a garden.

Since we live in Boston and are without a yard and soon we'll be moving to New York and won't have a yard there either, I was excited to see these two posts about bringing flowers and plants inside on Another Shade of Gray when I was browsing through her archives.

I love fresh flowers. This sliver vase from Smith & Hawken is so beautiful and is perfect for those single blooms or a small branch of spring blossoms. This particular vase is currently out of stock (besides, it's a little pricey), so I'm on the look out for something similar, elsewhere.

I am really excited about this book. Artificial plants are usually pretty tacky and I am sick of the same old same old house plants. Hopefully this book all about indoor gardening will help me bring the outdoors, in - but in a fresh new way.

Etsy Art for Kid's Rooms

I love searching for art on etsy. It's affordable and abundant.

Holly (of decor8) wrote an incredible post this week for Real Simple's blog all about her 60 favorite etsy artists for children's rooms or nurseries.

I could easily spend an entire day staring at these images (with my face three inches from my screen). There are so many of these artists I would love to have in my home.

About a year ago I ordered two prints from one of these featured artists, Mandy from Belle and Boo. Mandy was an absolute joy to work with and the prints are beyond beautiful.

"Lost"

"Found"

I purchased a large print of "Found" and a smaller print of "Lost", put them in mismatched frames that were painted the same color, and propped the smaller against the larger on a shelf in the girls room. You can sort of see it here below (a pic from my post about my girls' room).

A Little String = Hours of Fun

Some of my most memorable expeiences in elementary school include hopscotch, pogs (sadly), hand-clapping routines, cherry bomb drops from the monkey bars (at least until the time I broke my arm doing it), jumping ropes and especially string tricks.

My favorite was Jacob's Ladder.

I was really excited when I saw this book on Bluelines today.

I would love a copy so Grace and I can learn together. This would be perfect to have on hand for those long, horrible Boston winters when we're stuck indoors with nothing to do.

Throw Pillows

I love these embroidered pillows from Williams-Sonoma Home.

On sale now (although still sort of pricey -- but what did you really expect from WSH?).

Cool Tips from a VERY Cool Photographer

I am a huge fan of photographer Paul Costello's work. I think his pictures are stunning, so you can imagine how excited I was when I saw this post on Decorno, where he shares his insider tips on the best way to photograph interiors.

My favorite tip is to double the exposure your meter suggests. That's how he gets all the rooms in his photos to look so bright.

So if you're like me and you like photography and interior design, then get your geek on here.

Teach Them While They're Young

Both of my girls have a pair of these skinny jeans from Old Navy. Although Claire's chubby little thighs look a sort of silly in them, I get compliments galore and people are always wanting to know where to find them.

On sale now at Old Navy for $9.99 and I bet they're even cheaper in the store if you can find the right size.

Elephant Doorstop

I love unexpected details in a room. It's fun to throw in a couple conversation pieces - items that draw in the eye and that can't be immediately tagged as Pottery Barn or IKEA.

We like to keep the door to our walk-in closet open (I'm in there a lot and plus I keep my jewelry on shelves mounted to the inside of the door) so we needed a doorstop. I scored this little (he's only about 4" tall) antique doorstop from eBay for $7 (that includes shipping - and this guy weighs about 3 lbs).

A little weird? yes. Unexpected and fun? Definitely.

We're pretty much done with our bedroom. We got a new duvet (classic white with gray trim). Now I just need to photoshop some family photos (using this tutorial I saw on Photojojo on how to get the cross-processing look) and we're in business. I plan to finish with that project after we get back from vacation.

Desktop Wallpaper

I love wallpaper. For my walls and for my desktop.

So give your mac or PC a little face lift for free here.

Hable Construction

I love the unique and distinct prints from Hable Construction. I'm a big fan.

That's why I was so excited to see that they have partnered up with Pottery Barn Kids, providing some great fabric choices for the PBK nursery chairs (upholstered rockers and gliders).