Project: Organic Pillow Cases

I'm in love with this organic cotton flannel. Fanfare. By Cloud 9. It's for the boy, who aggressively buries his face into his pillow at bedtime. Easy-peasy. The best kind of project.

Project: Updating Exterior House Colors

First off, I did not paint the house myself. I hired professionals. I chose the colors.

BEFORE

AFTER

Second, yes, I should have taken a picture of the house from the same angle. I forgot what the old photo looked like. Duh!

I want... THIS play kitchen. Drool...

I doubt my kids would even notice the difference. But OMG... I love this! But sooo expensive! Those are all Plan Toy pieces!

Wishlist: Scraplights

Amazing lights made out of recycled cardboard boxes. Love, love, love them! Order from Graypants.

Wishlist: Brownstone in Brooklyn

This is my dream home. All of it. Vintage and modern. But all with a sense of history and tradition.

Orange rubber floor

There's something about this orange floor that I really like. Not for the kitchen, necessarily, but for a general work space. Maybe even in a kids' playroom. Hmm... something to think about..

I Want... Vintage Swiss Army Blanket!

I unconsciously scour flea markets and vendor stalls abroad for woolen textiles. I never mean to buy them, but somehow, the fuzzy wool always pulls me in. So now I'm finally admitting it. I'm a blanket addict. The most coveted of them all: the vintage Swiss Army blanket! How I wish I had one of these!

The new rug

I keep calling it the new rug. We've had it for 3 months and I'm only now getting around to posting a photo. It's a beautiful felt rug from Peace Industry. It's the Norooz, in nutmeg, with camel, ochre, peach, and plum. I LOVE it. It's scratchier than I remembered. I thought maybe due to Peace Industry's change from Iranian rugs to Turkish rugs, but it's probably just my own faulty memory. That is my cute daughter, wondering why I plopped her down on the ground.

Inspiration images for nursery

Random photos I collected that made me ooh and aah. I think all of them from Ohdeedoh.

Mirrors in kitchens

I love mirrors. I think every room should have a mirror. Even unusual spaces like kitchens. Here's a photo from House Beautiful with just that. A bit formal, but still neat. I'd place it lower, though, closer to the countertop.

I want... flowered leather cushions

Love these cushions. Was this from Emma's design blog? I'm finally catching up with posting, but unfortunately I've lost the references to all these photos I've been saving! Garhg. Must clean up computer.

I want... Vintage Flower Frogs!

There's something very beautiful about this picture. I wish I'd written down its source. Was it Martha Stewart? It got me thinking that I need some frogs. But it's been 2 years, and I still haven't found any in flea markets/garage sales...

Hanging Art

Gathering ideas for hanging art quickly and cheaply. I mean, if your art costs $5, hanging it shouldn't cost $50! . I like the clean look of wire and metal clips.

There was a neat post on AT a while ago where a couple hung their paper art using wooden trouser hangers! I really wish I could find that post again...

I want... Hable Construction storage hideaway, bushel and hamper

Drooling after these for several years now. Ridiculously expensive, but if money were no object.. I'd get me several of these for toys, firewood, laundry, did I mention toys?

Project: poplar pet gates

dining room/kitchen gate

BEFORE: hallway barricade

When puppy Jack first came home, a couple of wastebaskets in the doorway were enough to keep him in the kitchen. Very quickly though, two serious barricades of random stuff were necessary to keep Jack penned in. Yuck. I considered buying baby gates, but the options out there were so horrible (or they looked passable, but were too expensive to buy two), I decided to make my own. We had leftover poplar from our window sashes project and while searching online, I serendipitously found this. Perfect(!), although my gates would be much smaller in scale to fit the doorways. I also had constraints with the direction in which the gates could swing. I decided to forgo the caster (as much as I love casters) because my floors are fairly uneven. It was a bit hard to find hinges that would work for me (thanks finally to OSH!), and a latch that I could attach to the outside. Then I had to meet T's perfectionist-engineer requirements. But all in all, I'm very happy with the results. And having a clear hallway again, PRICELESS!

AFTER: hallway/kitchen gate

interfering with the work

yum, let me chew on this!

Vincent van Duysen

I'm a big admirer of Vincent van Duysen's ceramic containers. I love the organic combination of wood and earthware. Maybe someday the budget will allow. For now, it's just nice to see them when they do pop up in magazines and blogs.

wall decor

I'm adding this to my reference portfolio of cool wall ideas. From AT. I only like the paint job, not the whole burlap/plaster business. The raindrops would be so cute in a kid's room.

More from PB

Do we like this, the Calhoun pendant? I'm trying to imagine it in my kitchen, over the breakfast table... Hmm, it's not too expensive...

I like the general look of this flatware too. I guess it's time to stop into a store and feel their weight in my hands.

Accordion light

I'm not usually a fan of Pottery Barn, but they have a couple cool things in their new catalog. For my ever-so-slow bathroom remodel, I've been looking for new lighting. This accordion sconce would look neat over a mirror. But I'll keep looking until I find something a bit more affordable!

Project: Office Windows

The old, leaky, southwest-facing office windows. And by leaky I don't mean just air, but also water! The paint job by the previous owner was seriously suffering and one of the panes was cracked from a too-vigorous fly-swatting incident. In a pinch, we caulked like crazy to ride out the winter and vowed that these would be the next to get replaced. Even the siding beneath the windows was cracking from all the sun and rain. When we took out the window we found incredibly shoddy carpentry beneath. We had to properly rebuild the rough opening, frame out the window, build the sashes, waterproof, put up new siding, trim, and paint, paint, paint.

Time to completion: about 4 full weeks spread out over several months.