New notecards and a clean house

September 12, 2011 By

Ok, seriously, I can only think of a few things that are more fun than getting new personalized notecards or having a clean house. One of which is someone else cleaning your house for you.

I’m slightly obsessed with notecards and when we purchased some new digital papers last month, the first thing I wanted to do was create notecards with every.single.one.of.them. Alas, we do have actual clients that we have to create designs for but Beverly did whip up a design and order me some new notecards because I needed to write some thank you notes for the generous donations I’ve collected for my marathon fundraising!

Don’t you just love this new design? The orange and aqua color combo makes me so happy!

{Yes! These are in the shop now!}

In addition to new stationery, I love a clean house. Clutter-free, disinfected, dusted…while I haven’t quite tackled the clearing of the clutter {anyone have any great ideas for paper and toy storage?!} I finally feel comfortable sitting on the floor with Molly to work a puzzle. I don’t understand how it gets so dirty!

Oh, wait…an 80 lb dog and a two year old might have something to do with it.

Does anyone else feel like the condition of your home is a direct reflection of your mental state of being? When I have a clean home, everything is right with the world. The smell of Mrs. Meyer’s Lemon Verbena in the bathroom + the almond smell of the Method wood floor cleaner + no sight of dust on the tv stand = pure bliss. With the start up of school (how long can I use that excuse?) plus lots of great orders for Sweet Birdie’s Nest, marathon training and Junior League commitments, the house cleaning is the first thing to go. But this week, I resolve to get back on track! There’s laundry to be folded and cabinets to be wiped down and a dining room table to clear.

But…I got four new magazines in the mail and it’s awfully peaceful around here at naptime now. I can always clean tomorrow, right? Besides, it’s just going to get dirty again.

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{Changes} Creating a Magnetic Chalkboard Space

August 5, 2011 By

We live in a very charming {and small} home, and I’m always looking for beautiful, functional ways to maximize our space. There is a swinging door between our dining room and galley kitchen, and for obvious reasons {ahem, the toddler!} we keep it open at all times. A few years ago, I decided to make use of the space by hanging one of Ikea’s nifty magnetic strips on the door and displaying invitations, recipes, and such.

But after being part of the blogging world, I realized that I could make *much* more use out of the door. Some of my favorite bloggers {here and here} and my absolute favorite magazine endorsed magnetic primer and/or chalkboard paint to make things a little more fun and interesting. And, I’m totally embracing the idea of using what we have but making it ours. None of this waiting around for our ‘dream’ home; there’s no reason our first home can’t be exactly what I want!

SO, once I convinced the hubs that this would be a super fun project, he went with me to buy the supplies and I invited my mom to a painting party {with one roller – thanks, Mom!} while Jim was at work one day. I cleaned the door, let it dry, then used painter’s tape to frame out the panels. I had read from Jen that you needed more than the three coats of primer suggested on the can, so I went with eight, just to be sure.

After the multiple coats of primer, I was ready to get started with the chalkboard paint. I put on one coat and then Jim put the final coat on the door last Saturday while I was running.

And now, we have a fun and functional space to display our invitations and family calendar and Molly can use the bottom to draw while we’re hanging out in the kitchen. **Confession: We haven’t actually used the chalkboard function of the door yet. I don’t know what I’m waiting for…

I think it looks great! Now if only I can convince the hubs to raise the cabinets to the ceiling {I hate that space between the ceiling and the cabinets, don’t you?} and redo the backsplash, including installing a fun little shelf for display and spices. I’ll keep you posted about that project.

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They’re coming!

June 16, 2011 By

My roman shades, that is.

I have been obsessed with getting window treatments, but because of the dog, the size of our house and the cost, I kept putting it off. Then, we started watching Parenthood and I fell in love with the red and white striped roman shades in Kristina and Adam’s entryway. So I started scouring the internet for fabrics and someone to make roman shades for my family room. After some shocking quotes {remember I said cost was a factor?}, I found some reasonably priced fabric and a fellow-Etsy shop owner who makes custom window treatments.

via

I got an email yesterday that the shades {and a coordinating valence for the picture window} have shipped. And now I have cold feet, because I chose a brown and cream fabric. I love brown and cream; the family room is brown and cream. But maybe I should have been more bold and chosen a COLOR to break up the monotony of the brown and cream.

Yikes! {Shhh! Don’t tell Jim I’m second-guessing my decision. I’m sure they’ll be gorgeous! And that I’m going to want shades for the bedroom and valances in the bathroom and kitchen.} I think the window treatments will help give my space a more polished look.

Tell me: Do you have roman shades/valances/curtains in your home?

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{Inspiration} Is it a dining room? A playroom? An office?

April 27, 2011 By

Jim and I have desks upstairs, and he does an awful lot of work on his, but I feel too far removed from the action in the home if I’m upstairs. There’s not a lot for Molly to do up there {it’s just one room – all of our bedrooms and living space are downstairs} so I would never get *anything* done during the day anyway.

I got a gorgeous secretary as a gift from my mom several years ago and it’s in our family room. I use that to house my stationery, charge my computer and keep my piles of papers. {I won’t even pretend that I don’t have piles…} BUT it’s not very work friendly because I can’t spread everything out. When I grade papers, I have to have two stacks, plus space to work and a place for my coffee. When I’m working on Sweet Birdie’s Nest stuff, I often have my calendar and notebook out.

I finally migrated to the dining room table, so it often looks like this:

So imagine my frustration at having three – yes, three! – workspaces. I’ve been scouring the internet for inspiration and came across this feature at bhg.com. While the dining room in the feature is larger than mine, some of the ideas are definitely applicable. I have a huntboard and a china cabinet that both have plenty of drawers and cabinet space. I feel that if I can repurpose one drawer or cabinet, I can keep all of the necessary items at hand.

So now I’m totally inspired to make my dining room work for me! It’s the only eating space we have {the couch + tv trays don’t count, right?!}, so I’ve got to be able to quickly put things away and I’d like to be able to access my teacher’s manuals and school folders AND my SBN ideas and notebook easily. This is definitely do-able, it will just take some purging, rearranging and reorganizing. I’ll be sure to keep you posted and let you know how I make this space work for me!

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