Kids Brand: State

hi there! we had a very fun and also a slightly stressful weekend in boston for my brother-in-law's wedding. stressful only because c&f were in the wedding and having little kids out late multiple nights with tons of people around them that they don't really know is kind of exhausting. also getting them ready and getting myself ready is always interesting! but thankfully my parents were there to help. the boys did an awesome job walking down the aisle (with me ;) but we are all happy to get back into our routine now.

my little party animals!

so speaking of kids, i recently came across this brand called state that i can't get out of my mind. i saw it in a local kids shop called fritz and gigi (boston locals - it's a must visit - they are under new ownership and they have so many cute new things). anyway, the best part is that for every backpack purchased, state gives away a bag packed with essentials to under privileged kids in the US. win win.

whether you have kids or not, these would make great gifts for the little people in your life! and oh yeah, happy halloween!! i can't wait to see pics of everyone's little monsters all dressed up today :) 

SaveSaveSave

Nursery E-Design

good lord i have been flat out lately. if i owe you an email or a text or a call i'm sorry!! we also have a family wedding this weekend and my boys are in the wedding which is cute but always adds a little stress! i've rented three dresses from rent the runway so i'm hoping they 1. all show up (i got screwed once before hence three) and 2. at least one looks decent. pretty much defeats the purpose of renting when you rent 3!! lol  side note - why doesn't blogger have emojis?! kills me.

i have a bunch of projects that should be wrapping up by the end of the year, and some before that, so i'm excited to share what i've been working on with you. even i get surprised by how much time this stuff takes. not in a bad way but it's hard when you struggle with patience (me!!). in the meantime i wanted to share a nursery that i worked on for an e-design client. i actually created a couple of different looks but i loved them all. such a sucker for nurseries!

my client wanted a place to take a catnap in the room so i added a daybed which could one day serve as a big boy bed. the glider is a placeholder as they are inheriting one from a friend. but i think a mom, i mean baby, could be very happy here. we all know who it's really for after all ;)

Pins I've Pinned And Posts I've Liked

various family members thought i should remove the political commentary that i had here before - so i'm taking their advice. although part of me feels like this is my blog and i can write what i want. ;) hopefully no one was put off by my (very brief) thoughts about the election!

anyway! super late post today but wanted to do an pinterest/instagram post really quick! pins first...

the brick. the kitchen. the giant window. my god i weep!!

via cedar hill farmhouse

i'm a sucker for a good nook and this is a good nook. ;)

via pencil shavings studio

this laundry room is what dreams are made of.

kate marker interiors

insta faves...

how fun is this beach house bedroom? so well thought out!

@victoriabalsoninteriors

this dining room is so good. i love a round table!

@beckiowens

are you guys following dina holland's home renovation? these cabinets and and that counter plus those floors. i'm hoping she'll just adopt me.

@honeyandfitz

have a great weekend!!!

Blog Update

happy monday friends!! i did a few blog updates recently including the subscribe feature that i mentioned before but also fixed the instagram feed which had gone all wonky and officially added a "for sale" section along the top. now you can easily access an ever-rotating bunch of items! the newest addition is this dining room table from restoration hardware. currently sells for $1,795, asking $650.

in other news, we were devastated to find out last weekend that the house we rented this past summer on nantucket, and had lined up to rent again this year, is going up for sale and can't be rented. SO sad. i spent about 4-5 days straight bleery-eyed searching for another place that was in our budget, not already rented, and has a pool. not the easiest feat especially given the location we want. we realized just how spoiled we were in that other house so we had to expand our search a little but found a new one that looks amazing. i'm very optimistic that we'll be just as happy!

is it june yet?! (this post wins the award for most random post ever but that's what i've got for today!)

Kitchen Runners

hola! i wanted to thank a new reader for pointing out that my blog didn't have the "subscribe by email" function and now i'm happy to report that's fixed! so if you'd like to subscribe, just scroll down there until you see that little box. and let me know if you have any trouble!

jumping right in... as you may have seen a little while back on my instagram, i was testing out some dash & albert runners for our kitchen. the problem was none of them were looking just right to me. (but don't worry, many of them looked fab in our upstairs hall which needs a little runner refresh!) so i decided to go back to looking for a vintage persian runner for the kitchen. the tough part was the size - nothing bigger than about 2'8" and somewhere between 7-9'. so many of these old turkish runners are 3-4' wide and while beautiful, that's just too big. as a side note - that size could have worked for the other side of our island where there's more space BUT the counter stools are on that side and i decided that trying to pull stools out over the edge of a rug was going to be annoying.

so i gathered up a bunch of images that helped me make up my mind!

natalie myers via domino

elizabeth lawson design

studio mcgee

jamie keskin design

studio mcgee

studio mcgee

amber interiors

SaveSave

Lamps As A Styling Tool

we are on day four of an extra long weekend and i am ready for school to be back!! anyone feeling the same? i get to go check in on a project i've been working on and i'm excited to see the space again! today though i want to talk about lighting.

obviously at a very basic level, a lamp is meant to be used to provide light in a dark space. but would you call me crazy if sometimes i were to say to put a lamp somewhere that there isn't a plug? or maybe even a sconce on a wall where there isn't any electrical! lighting is functional but also such an amazing styling tool. i've thought about using this idea at our desk in our office. i also recently suggested adding a lamp to a console in a client's home and her home is an older one where outlets aren't necessarily placed where they would be in a newer home.

some examples... but let me preface them by saying i'm NOT implying that these are all examples of using a lamp only for styling purposes. they might be but i really don't know! what i AM saying is that they are is well-styled spaces and one of the reasons is the lighting!

lexi westergard design

park and oak design

sarah sherman samuel

waiting on martha

brian paquette via mydomaine

restoration hardware

house beautiful 

so are you convinced or am i a nut job?! :)

Vaulted Ceilings

i'm currently having a moment with vaulted ceilings. in particular, vaulted tongue and groove with beams ceilings. :) i actually think we could vault the ceiling in our master bedroom which is over our garage and the attic space above is empty. but that isn't in the cards so in the meantime, i just sit and oggle over pictures of these ceilings. #nerdalert

these first three are by blackband designs who deserves a blog post of their very own. 

uh can we talk about this pool situation?

via hgtv

this hall!!

via houzz

i could see this room being in a house on nantucket. so so pretty.

modern organic interiors

our ceiling, while smaller, would be be similar in that the center beam would go across the long way. the drapery in this room makes me weak in the knees.

sonja from @jshomedesign

love love this space. just perfect.

tim barber

ah-mazing.

via styleathome

i've had this room pinned for so long and the ceiling is only one of the reasons why. obviously.

opal design group

a little bit different than the upside down V shape but equally pretty.

studio mcgee

anyone have it? done it? like it? love it?