Because It's Awesome: April 2014

One Room Challenge // Week 5

April 30, 2014

hello! here we are again, my friends. down to the last week of the one room challenge. if you're just joining for the first time, 19 other bloggers and myself have been invited by linda of calling it home to redecorate a space from start to finish in 6 short weeks. in other words, we all signed up for the state of perpetual anxiety we're in.

alas, the end is near.

to recap my office progress: week one // week two // week three // week four

this week, our house was plagued with infant viruses. i'm not sure if you all know this or not, but infant germs will make you 1,000,000 times more ill than drinking pure acid. those little babes pack a mean punch. babycakes was down and brought us all down with her.

bless her.

luckily, i was still able to function just enough. hooray!

the marbled paper arrived and i immediately knew that it could not be hidden away as drawer liners.

now i'm debating hiding it away on the closet walls instead.

yay?? nay?? this goes against the no-fuss approach i was originally after, but it sure is purty.

i have loved the look since that 2012 issue of lonny mag. you know the one.

lonny magazine

dreamyyyyyyyyyyy.

the gumball machine got a fancy little makeover.

after much much much waffling, i made art decisions.

our dear, sweet, kind friends at minted said they would *try* to get things to me in time.

pssshhhhh.

this beauty arrived mere days later and is pure perfection!!!!

as a sucker for abstract art, photography is always something i like, but have a hard time committing to. i'm very particular about subject matter. i heart the black and white contrast, simplicity and architectural aspects of this image. although, minted did have a lot of great art to choose from.

i cringed a little when i saw that one of the other participants went for the same piece.

what can i say? girl has good taste :)

now to get finishing touches in place. big reveal next week!!

let's see how everyone else is doing:

Chez V

Mimosa Lane

- o x o x -

*big thank you to minted for your generous ORC sponsorship!*

Our House // Ava's Nursery on Style Me Pretty Living

April 28, 2014

hello! happy monday, friends. hope you are refreshed after a very fabulous weekend.

i won't mince words. i am completely thrilled to finally reveal ava's nursery today! i know this has been long overdue. you may recall that we did not find out whether we were having a boy or a girl, so the plan started out like this. well, it is such a thrill to send you over to one of the loveliest corners of the interwebs, style me pretty living, to see where we ended up.

ava is excited to share, too.

view the full tour here.

photos by the very talented and ever lovely emily hart of nina & b photography.

TGIF

April 25, 2014

enjoy your weekend!

hope to see you monday for some fun news.

via because it's awesome on instagram

- o x o x -

Artist // Amy Joy Watson

April 24, 2014

as if you can't tell by her name alone, artist amy joy watson is obviously one of the coolest people around.

i mean, check out these sculptures!

delicious like candy.

more here.

- o x o x -

One Room Challenge // Week 4

April 23, 2014

week four. over halfway there, kids. so...this is the week that i suspect most of us start to feel the crunch. i'm a little stressed and i'm not even attempting anything all that ambitious compared to some of these rock stars (that includes you, linker uppers).

let's see what we've accomplished this week...

(quasi apologies for taking photos right before sundown. i mean, no one really wants to share good photos until the final reveal so i care but don't care. this is not how i intend to show the real deal.)

closet doors got a sassy new coat of black paint.

they haven't been rehung because i'm not finished painting inside.

shocker.

at first, i thought i wanted to paint the back of the room door black as well.

but i've reconsidered. i think it might weigh that corner down too much.

the rug is in and i'm obsessed.

persian rugs foreva!!!

i took the hardware off the burl dresser for another round of cleaning.

it wasn't 100% and that drove me nuts. fingers crossed they don't require paint.

painting brass is like killing kittens. it's very sad. you don't do it.

i like the gumball machine. excited to show you what color i settled on!

later.

sorrynotsorry for the blurry pic.

definitely need to get the art situation figured out quickly.

consulting my inspiration on the regular to keep myself in check. edit edit edit.

ordered samples of each of these for drawer liners.

because details, y'all. details.

the other side of the room leaves a bit to be desired.

i'm still debating whether i want drapes. maybe sheers just to soften the windows?

why are window treatments so difficult?

the brass and lucite table from week 2 is an excellent printer perch next to the desk.

i'm all over the cork board situation, but will find another and hang them vertically for scale.

and for maximum inspiration in my face at all times.

my trusty assistant agrees.

he literally tried to be in every picture.

not sure the parsons chair or ficus will stay. perhaps one, but probably not both.

all in all, we're coming right along.

there has been much progress on the elimination of paper piles, so i am pleased.

now to get everything filed and stored away in a painted closet and lined drawers...

next week we'll talk finishing touches!

and probably last minute additions that i am out of my mind to consider.

what are our other ORC friends up to this week?

Chez V

Mimosa Lane

- o x o x -

This and That // 1

April 21, 2014

hello! happy monday. i hope you all had a wonderful weekend. eric and i took full advantage of the b-e-a-utiful weather in kansas city by lounging around, drinking adult beverages and soaking up the sun.

just kidding. but we did take advantage.

eric cut down a giant (dead) pine tree in the backyard.

sad that we lost it.

but pretty baller that he took care of that himself and saved us some serious monies!

then we admired the ones that are still alive.

i gave some closet doors a seriously delicious makeover.

(more on that in wednesday's ORC post)

we did some sleeping in.

monkey butt!!!!

and then i did my best to get caught up on inventory.

holy brass attack.

guys, relax. i sell it, i don't keep it all.

we celebrated our accomplishments and some fun news!

(that i get to share very very soon!!)

yesterday we assessed our mint crop.

can you say MOJITO?

pretty sure you wouldn't be able to if you put all of that to good use.

especially in a few weeks when it's fully grown.

i pondered what to do with the last bare wall in our formal.

there will probably be brass.

and we celebrated Easter with the fam.

in bunny ears and polka dots. dah.

so it was a full one.

today, i'm over at classically b talking about 4 of my favorite things.

think spring. because that's pretty much all i'm thinking about these days.

also, there's this to start your week:

truth.

kid president is wise.

- o x o x -

One Room Challenge // Week 3

April 16, 2014

soooo....welcome back to pure chaos, also known as week 3 of the one room challenge. you guys have been so supportive up to this point -- huge thank you!!! if you're here to see progress -- and i suspect you are -- your socks will remain intact this week. i've accomplished several things, but they're not impressive as major room transformations go. i don't need to make excuses, but i blame baby and an (incredible) out of town wedding over the weekend.

somehow still made progress, so WINNING.

successes:

- removed all dresser hardware and cleaned it up. brillo pad and barkeepers friend to the rescue! (also, i'm kind of a liar. my loving husband did this while i put ze bebe to bed two consecutive nights.)

this:

to this:

shameless plug:

look at all of that delicious soon-to-be shop inventory!!

- removed existing dresser drawer liners and wiped all drawers down. discovered bank statements from 1987.

- removed closet doors and emptied closet for reorganization and painting. (yes, this deserves its own bullet.)

- emptied and photographed armoire to be sold. still waiting to remove it from the room...

- reconfigured layout.

- solved for new office chair solution. will use one of the brass milo baughman dining chairs and list the old (but virtually new) white leather one on craigs.

- actually started using my desk again!

hopefuls by next wednesday:

- paint closet. possibly add shelving. (don't tell the husband he will be helping again next week.)

- paint room and closet doors and rehang.

- remove armoire.

- reattach all dresser hardware.

- bring in rug for a dose of color.

(vintage persian formerly in the family room)

- paint gumball machine.

yessir. i'm going there.

i should have it brass dipped.

the week ahead is going to be full of MAJOR progress. can't wait to get to it!

aaaand now we see what the others are up to this week.

Chez V

Mimosa Lane

Verandah House

- o x o x -

One Room Challenge // Week 2

April 9, 2014

hey hey hey! so, it's week two of the one room challenge and i feel like i'm already behind. mostly because everyone seems to have a solid plan and i'm still acquiring furniture. yummy pieces like zees:

truthfully, i'm not much of a planner so this works for me.

to elaborate on last week's explanation for this room, i have every intention of working with what i already have as much as possible. if we're blessed with another bambino someday, this room's primary function will shift to my step-daughter's room/guest room with secondary use as an office. so no maaaaaaajor overhaul at this point. which is great because it gives me an opportunity to flex my design muscles and experiment a bit.

at the risk of being a total blogger cliche, i've decided to go with white walls. one because i hope to photograph inventory in here so clean and bright is necessary. two, it's uncomplicated and classic. three - and most importantly - i had a can of benjamin moore white dove left over after repainting our formal and kitchen last year. it's the most delicious warm white and it looks fantastic.

see?