Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!

We weathered Sandy in one piece.  Thank Goodness.  I hope all of you are safe and sound.  Half of our wooden fence blew away into our neighbor's yard, but other than that we're all good.  Kids are back to school today and we are gearing up for the festivities this evening.  This past weekend we had some halloween fun with a halloween party and the town halloween stroll!


I used pinterest as inspiration to help decorate for the halloween party.  I loved these mummy juice boxes.  


Well, they were pretty easy to make and Luke had the brilliant idea of making the mummies have scary faces!


Then we wanted to try to make these skeleton cupcakes.  Pinterest makes it look so easy!


Well, let's just say ours didn't turn out that well.  Luke kept saying, "Mommy he doesn't look scary!"


Ugh!  We quickly scratched that idea and instead went with vanilla frosted cupcakes with orange and black sprinkles.


A little better!  All in all good fun!  The kids loved them and had a great time apple bobbing, pinata swinging and sticking their hands into bowls of jello and thinking it was monkey brains!!


Happy Halloween!!


Sunday, October 28, 2012

Simply Inspired

Given we're probably going to lose power the next couple of days thanks to Frankenstorm, I wanted to post this image.  I can't stop thinking about it.


I'm loving the monochromatic background specifically the painted trim and white walls, the slipcovered furniture, the warm wood tones, asian inspired touches, diamond sisal, and the touches of coral, blue and yellow.  The yellow coffee table really works in this space and it is the bit of unexpected that keeps this room so interesting.  To see more of his 278 year old Rhode Island home, go here.  

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Embrace the Unexpected

Lately, I have been inspired by traditional antique furnishings - think english chestnut and mahogany.  The key to making these classic furnishings feel fresh is by adding a quirky or unexpected item into the mix.  Hello lucite!  Just enough to make the room feel a little hip and updated especially if you have a small space.


If you like this look, you should check out Rachel's NYC apartment on Design Sponge!  I adore everything in her home!  And, I mean everything!  I love the addition of the ghost chair. I'd like to think I would not tire of this design iconic piece.

Meg Lonergan

Meg Lonergan, who owns LeSueur Interiors, was recently published in November's BHG.  Fellow blogger, Ashley, has done a wonderful post on her interiors and style.


Always a favorite.  The unexpected lucite stool next to the english secretary is just the perfect example of embracing the unexpected.


Lauren McGrath from Good Bones Great Pieces did a similar look here with a bobbin turned leg desk paired with a lucite stool.  Her apartment was published in Traditional Home.

So, I better start saving my pennies because a classic antique piece paired with lucite doesn't come cheap!!  

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Fall around the house

I love this time of year!  New England is so vibrant and alive.  Last weekend, we did the typical fall festival with the kids - hay rides, corn mazes, pumpkin painting and hay throwing!  So fun.  Luke is at an age where he loves decorating the house for the holidays.  So, that is what we have been doing.  Here are some of mommy's decorations...


Two years ago, I made these halloween silhouette plates.  See here.  I really like them in our kitchen.  They're 'halloweenish' without being too theme-y.


Our fireplace mantel sans artwork.  I haven't even gotten around to unpacking any of our art/pictures yet.  How sad....but, I love the dentil molding underneath the mantel.  And, I couldn't resist adding a couple of little pumpkins.

Okay, and now we're posting Luke's decorations.  We do this every year.....rats on the staircase.


I don't even have the runner rods installed yet.  C'mon what is more important - runner rods or rats??  I realize that this is the first time I'm posting pictures of the inside of our new house.  


More rats on our front door.  I love the diamond pattern in our entryway which was originally done by the pervious owner.  Definitely staying!  As for the walls, believe it or not, the color has grown on me.  I like it for now, but not forever.  There are too many other things that need my attention that are higher up on the priority list!

Hope everyone has a fabulous fall weekend!!


Monday, October 15, 2012

A Passageway & A One Off Piece

The amount of space we have for our so called mudroom is what I would classify as a passageway. A small space that juts off the entry with a door to go down to our basement.  The space is no more than 2 feet deep and 4 feet wide.

This space will have to serve as the 'so-called' mudroom - a place to hang your coats and take off your shoes when you come in from the outside.  Luckily, we also have two hall closets by the powder room which can house coats and jackets not used on a daily basis.  This space is priority right now because currently everyone drops their jackets and shoes on the kitchen floor when they come in from the outside and it is driving me nuts!

Since this space is just a passageway, many of the below photos are my inspiration.


A passageway is just enough space for some type of coat/hat rack on the wall.

 

Hopefully, I can find a small bench to work in the space too! 



Have you noticed (in the above photos) that all the hooks used are some type of one of a kind coat/hat rack?  Mostly, vintage.  I love that!  I've been scouring ebay and etsy for some one-off pieces.  There is so much out there you guys!  It has been really fun.  I need to make a decision fast, though, because it won't be long until we also have hats, mittens and boots to add to the mix!  Wish me luck!  


Friday, October 12, 2012

My Little Helper

I couldn't help but take a couple of snapshots yesterday of little E helping me take measurements.  She had so much fun playing with the tape measure.



 


Watching her have so much fun made my week!

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Roofing & Other Updates

Based on reader feedback, the consensus was to go with pewter gray for the color of our roof shingles.  I hemmed and hawed about it.  Made a decision, only to rethink it.  Have you been here before?  Anyway, we made the eleventh hour decision to go (away from my initial choice of fox hollow gray) with pewter gray.  It definitely seemed the most versatile color.  Contractors showed up Monday and began their demo and reconstruction (we have 2 courses of shingles laid on top of shakes....which means everything has to come off and a new plywood substrate put down before the new shingles go on).  So, here is the progress.


This shows the new roof on the garage with the shed in the foreground; the shed has the old shingles, which provides a good contrast between old and new.  Note: the shed will be re-shingled too.


Here is a broader view of the pewter gray on the garage and the back of the house.  These were taken in the evening so the lighting is off, but you get the idea.

So far we are happy with how things are panning out and I really like the color.  I will post more photos and another roof update later.

In other news, I put a bid in on a persian rug on ebay (see post here) and 29 bids later, she was mine!! Here she is....


This is the seller....there are some great rugs....check out this one!  Anyway, I'll post an update when she is happily settled in our kitchen!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Double Duty

Before we bought our house, I knew I wanted an oriental/persian rug in our kitchen.  However, never did I think I would be considering a couple of them for just the kitchen.  Huh?  Well, our kitchen is a nice size and the dilemma is that our kitchen flooring is all white tile. Yuck and double yuck especially when you have little ones and the side entrance is off the kitchen.

I'm not ready (at least, just yet) to tear out the white tile and put in hardwood.  So, I want to hide the tile with rugs, but since it is a larger space I'm considering more than one rug.

Here are some images I found that get pretty excited about the idea.







Note that all the images have hardwood floors which I think is a great backdrop for oriental/persian rugs.  I'm not sure about white tile?  But, I think if I do a good job covering most of the tile, it won't look that bad.  

The good thing with using more than one of these rugs (in the same room) is anything goes;  in other words, any mix of color and pattern works.  The bad thing is that this could get pricey.  The answer?  I'm going to have to take it slow.  Buy one.  Live with it a while and then build from there.  Now, the hard part....which one to buy????

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

My Friend's Dining Room

Way back when, I mentioned I was helping a good friend (and fellow Villanova graduate :)) with her dining room.  It still isn't complete, but she's made progress.  When we started discussing options, the room was empty except for the current paint color on the walls and the chandelier.  She wanted to invest in furniture, a rug and much needed window treatments.  And she wanted to leave the wall color and chandelier in tact.

When we were discussing dining room tables, she knew she wanted a turned leg table; something similar to a farm table look, but less rustic.  You might remember the inspiration post here?  She narrowed down her choices and ended up picking a classic turned leg table with a beautiful set of chairs and sideboard.


For the windows, I suggested paneled drapes using the allora fabric from calico corners.  I liked how it has a neutral background, but incorporates the red to tie in her walls and the aqua blues to tie in her artwork.




Since we already had a significant amount of color from the walls, we decided on a neutral rug.  She wanted it to be practical and affordable, because with two children under the age of six, a dog and a cat, accidents were bound to happen! So, I suggested the jewel jute diamond patterned rug, mentioned here.  


She really has done a great job putting this all together and it shows.  I love how she styled her sideboard too!


This is still a work in progress and next up she hopes to replace the mirror with a larger one, add some parsons head chairs to soften the wood tones (I really want her to do the parsons chairs in a pale blue buffalo check!) and perhaps a new chandelier.   

And, next Monday, we will be trying paint colors for her living room!  Fun, fun, fun!