Living Room Tour Part 3: Chairs and Settee

I bought these chairs off Craigslist a year or two ago planning to have them upholstered. The fabric was pretty but worn out and dirty. Jenny suggested we recover them in this little yellow velvet trellis material. I really liked the tiny pattern and velvet is so soft. I had them upholstered by Cortland Upholstery. For the price and the turn around time (less than a week) I was VERY pleased with the job they did. They also picked up and dropped off the chairs. We topped them off with some stripey pillows.






I knew I wanted some other sort of bench seating but I was having a hard time finding something the right size. Jenny suggested this little Nate Berkus Settee (it was sold out but now it is back in stock.) It is just long enough you can kind of curl up on it and I loved the ikat fabric. The ottoman I bought at a flea market a year or two ago was reupholstered in this pretty yellow and white pattern. The art is a print my brother made by Richard Prince (with an interesting back story right here.) The lemon pillow is from Jonathan Adler and we had another made out of some orange velvet.



Tomorrow I'll post the rest of the pictures.

Living Room Tour Part 2: Home Office

One of the changes we made that has probably made the biggest difference in how we live is moving our home office from a desk to an armoire that we could close up when we weren't using it. (Jenny's idea!) To all those city dwellers that don't have a proper room for an office I highly recommend this set-up. I'm genuinely sad we didn't figure this out five years ago. Because it is a tall corner unit there is SO MUCH storage and underneath it hides my unsightly behemoth printer. We ended up buying this IKEA armoire used off Craigslist for $100. Then Jenny suggested we paint it Benjamin Moore's Casco Bay and that we change out the hardware to these pretty brass rings. Painting it was a NIGHTMARE just because it is so huge and there was so much to paint. But we are very happy with how it turned out.

Paul and I both spend a lot of time at the computer and it is so nice to be able to close it up when we entertain or when we want to prevent grubby two-year-old hands from getting into all our stuff.

Citrus Orchard Wedding Shoot

This pretty photoshoot is my favorite wedding thing I've seen in a long time. I especially love the dresses. There are a bazillion more photos so go take a look if you haven't seen them yet. Photography by Jill Thomas and Styled by Amorology Weddings.




via Style Me Pretty

Living Room Tour Part 1: Toy Area

We live in a one bedroom apartment on Nob Hill in San Francisco with 1.5 kids. The living room is the most used room in the house. It is Moses' play area, the TV area, it is where we host guests, and it is my home office. That is a lot of use for one room. The key to keeping it organized and clean (most of the time) is for everything to have a place. I put a lot of thought into Moses' toy area. I was inspired after I read this article about Lisa Mahar, the owner of Kid O. Then I did some research and went through and made a list of all the types of toys and activities that two-year-olds like to do. (I did a big post about it last December right here.) I tried to choose good quality toys that were beautiful and interesting.

Some sources: For toys etc refer to this post here. The plastic bins are from Container Store. The shelf I got off Craigslist and was ugly but I liked the shape. Jenny (my decorator) suggested I paint it Benjamin Moore's Celery Salt. The little table is from IKEA. And my sister in law Liz told me about the little Bertoia kid chairs. The painting was one I recreated after I saw it in a Kate Spade store a few years ago. Then I put my collection of mini globes on top.

The system has worked out perfectly since I set it up a few months ago. Moses can see his toys and plays with them all the time (instead of being buried in a toy basket like before.) The best part is that it is easy for him to clean up his toys after plays with them, because everything has a place.

Oil Paintings

Last weekend I framed all the old oil paintings I've been collecting and hung them. The bedroom is looking so good. I can't wait until it is done. First we laid them out on the floor to decide a composition we liked. Here is a little peek at the work in progress, we took this quick photo on our Fuji Instax Mini so we could remember the order.

Instant Film

Ever since I got that old polaroid camera for Paul we've fallen in love with instant film all over again. I love the 4"x 5" size, I love that each photo is one-of-a-kind, and I love that it is instant. The Fuji film I bought off ebay ends up being around .70 cents per exposure which is cheaper than when Polaroid was affordable. We have a large ever-growing pile of photos sitting next to the computer. For more information on the camera go here.

Pretty Flowers

Feeling like spring flowers this week. The blossoms on the trees are starting to bloom in San Francisco.

JCrew Belt $35 | B.Poetic Shoe Clip $28 | EmersonMade 3 Dahlias $42 | Wren Handmade Hairclips $10

Basic Black Flats

Last week I asked for recommendations for simple black ballet flats on twitter.
The pair I've worn religiously are worn out. Simple flats are harder to find than you would think. I had a lot of good suggestions and I made a little roundup of my favorites.

A. Repetto Ballet Flats $200
B. Delman Flats $170
C. Gap Flats $40
D. Target Mossimo Flats $13
E. Bloch Ballet Flats $125
F. Calvin Klein Lexa $98

Rainbow Party

Two wonderful party ideas that have me inspired lately:

First, a rainbow cake. It is so wonderful!




Second, a balloon party. I'm still not sick of balloons. I buy them every time I go to the grocery store and they make me happy EVERY time. This could be pulled off for not too much money, it would just take some time to blow them all up.



cake via @dariusmonsef via snippet & ink and balloons via we heart it (If you know the original source on these photos please let me know.)

Stripes

I'm definitely going through a stripe phase right now. I just bought two stripey vintage dresses off ebay and my new bedding is stripey plus the table cloth I just made has stripes. Here are a few other stripey things I noticed around. A stripe sheets. B Stripe top. C Stripe Sweater D Striped Toms

Circus

My favorite Anthropologie catalog in a long time.

Art Opening

I'm not sure where the week went, I can't believe it is Friday already. Paul has a one-man show at a gallery here in San Francisco that opened this week. It turned out really beautiful and I'm so proud of him. The opening reception is Sunday from 2pm-6pm. Stop by if you are in the area, the show will be up for the next month. If you can't make it you can see most of his show online right here. The picture below is of Paul getting ready for the show in his studio.


STUDIO Gallery
1815 Polk Street
(between Washington and Jackson)
San Francisco, CA 94109



p.s. I have lots of good posts ready for next week, including some of my newly decorated living room.

Sibella Court

Soft and pretty styling by Sibella Court, who has a book called Etcetera (that I just ordered) and a store in Australia, The Society Inc.



via The Brass Petal a very sweet new blog.

Flirt with Adventure

This little video on the Kate Spade site is sweet. It pushes all my buttons: a cute girl in a stripey coat with pinwheels.

Quick Birthday Party

We threw together a little party last minute for my birthday yesterday. It came together really easy with all the help from my friends. Liz made a big pot of Ina's Chicken Tortilla Soup and my friend Michelle made me a beautiful cake and some cookies. (Thanks Liz and Michelle!) Then all I had to do was make sure the house was clean and get drinks.







I made a tablecloth from this Ikea fabric last week. I just got two yards and then hemmed the edge. The total cost ended up being $16. I also picked up some new serving dishes while I was in CB2. The plato platter was $10 and these modern serving bowls were $6/each. They looked modern and pretty.

30 Things Before I'm 30

I made a list of 30 things I wanted to finish before I was 30. I finished almost half and made significant progress on another seven. So I'm feeling pretty good about it. I love lists.


1. Go sailing again with Paul
2. Have lunch with 15 different friends. -only nine!
3. Go on an overnight get-away with Paul -didn't finish
4. Read 2 new books
5. Feel like every room in my house is "decorated" This one is almost done so I'm counting it.
6. Organize filing system
7. Go to the dentist
8. Hire cleaning lady back
9. Clean out storage space Half done!
10. Have a giant garage sale Nope, Will have to wait until spring.
11. Throw a simple 30th birthday party
12. Set up an awesome play area for Moses
13. Sell one of my letterpresses almost!
14. Finish organizing/setting up studio -didn't finish
15. Send out letterpress Christmas cards -nope
16. Sign up for farm produce box -nope
17. Don't use any disposable grocery sacks -failed
18. Organize Insurance information
19. Research treatments for clefts and local hospital programs
20. Read the Book of Mormon -part of it
21. Finish Christmas Shopping by December 1st -I finished 95% by the 1st so I'm counting this
22. Get Life Insurance Policy set up and get a Will
23. Finish Moses' baby book -still working on it
24. Throw a Christmas Party
25. Submit Tax Materials to Accountant by Jan 31
26. Get babysitting Co-op going again -nope
27. Get a massage (or two)
28. Date night once a week -We did this about half the time.
29. Make photo albums: one for each year of our marriage + vacations. -still working on it
30. Nest and make the new baby some beautiful things

Thirty

I turn 30 on Sunday and it feels so anticlimactic. This baby is showing signs he is coming earlier than his due date (my first was 3 weeks early) so I ended up canceling the party I was planning. We were going to do a dinner party for 20 people and I was going to buy pregnant suits in bulk make everyone wear one so I wouldn't be the only one with a 9 month belly. (It makes me laugh everytime I think about people having to wear muumuus to my party.) I'm trying real hard not to feel sorry for myself because I know its a dumb reason but I REALLY like a good party. We'll probably throw something small together last minute but in the mean time I'm going to pout for an hour or two.

PS: Onto a topic of people who have real problems- I donated this morning to Doctors without Borders. They are already in Haiti and have an infrastructure set up.



This picture taken about a year ago by Juliann Wheeler.

Highwaisted Swimsuits

Joanna posted about this lovely swimsuit this morning and it got me excited about swimsuit season when I realized all these pretty suits will cover any stretchmarks leftover from this baby. Hooray for when trends perfectly coincide with the needs of your body!

Find the suits here, here, here, and here. (The first is the most affordable of the four.)

Marta Tumblers

We have been married for almost five years now and we woke up one morning last week and realized we were running low on our everyday glasses. So I've been on the hunt for new ones. These chic Marta glasses from CB2 have gotten rave reviews in Domino and GQ and appear to be a knock off of these designer tumblers but for a fraction of the price, only $2 a pop. They are thin and may be apt to break easier but since they are so affordable durability isn't a big issue for me.

Classes in San Francisco

There are two classes coming up that will be held here in our art studio in San Francisco. First Andy Kane is coming from Portland to teach a screenprinting class. It is this Saturday (January 16th) and there are still a few spots open. Registration information is here.

Next, Nicole Gerulat is teaching her Photo 101 class coming up in February. Registration information is here.

I've taken both classes and I highly recommend both of them.