Drafting Central

There’s a new addition to Suite D and this lady is very excited about it! 

Ta-da… my very own, new2me drafting table!

I found this bad boy on Craigslist for $70.00 – which really is a steal – these can sell for hundreds, and mine is in great condition.  It came with a Vyco board and parallel bar already installed, which saved me lots of hassle and extra pennies. 

Another great thing is that it folds up into practically nothing.  It just collapses down and can flush right up against a wall if I ever want to hide or store it.  But let’s face it… at this point, I’m going to have a hard time pulling myself away from it, so hiding it is just unspeakable. 

I got it from a former interior design student, which I like – I feel like there is a Karate Kid bond happening… maybe some day I’ll pass this lovely thing on to a new interior design student, and with it, my wealth of knowledge.  And when that happens, let’s hope that I am replacing it with one of these …

A girl can dream. 

xxx

To Do

I’ve got big plans for the home that I’m going to build from the ground up, and have been pinning decorating ideas for my custom designed interior for quite some time… Oh, that’s not happening you say?  Well, some day it will.  In the mean time, I’ve been slacking on projects that I actually CAN do that will improve the home room that we live in NOW. 

So this is what’s on the docket:

1. Paint Ikea dresser (high gloss navy blue) & replace hardware

2. Paint bedside table minty/pistachio color & replace hardware

3. Build and upholster headboard

4. Update artwork and complete gallery wall (south wall of bedroom)

5. Re-finish and paint bench at foot of the bed (white)

4. Re-finish and paint kitchen table and chairs (of course, this one isn’t exactly a priority, since it is, and will be for a while, sitting in storage)

5. Help mom re-upholster her dining room chairs… oh yeah, in there is learn how to re-upholster furniture (!)

6. Get jute rug out of storage unit for bedroom (save for winter)

7. Make throw pillows for the bed

8. Re-organize closet/storage space – aka get rid of a bunch of crap

9. Find larger artwork/mirror/something for above the bed

8. Make large panel curtains

My To-Do board on Pinterest just keeps growing, so expect this list to grow right along with it.  These are all going to be fun projects and I think they will make our room feel much more put-together… so bear with me while I try to tackle each of these – hopefully sooner rather than later - please send your anti-procrastinating thoughts my way!

xxx

First Day of School

I had some serious déjà vu last week when I left for my first day of Interior Design classes.  As I walked out the front door of my parents home, dew still on the car windows, book bag slung over my shoulders, Mom asked me if I wanted her to take my first day of school picture.  I eagerly replied with a Hell Yes.  This girl has always been excited to start school!

Yes, I did bring my teacher flowers on the first day of pre-school, thankyouverymuch.

There is no denying that I’m living at my parents house with my husband, starting school again, fully willing to accept my mom’s offer to pack my lunch.  Life is weird.  But, here we are. 

One of my assignments this week is to find five things that inspire me.  Inspire literally means to breathe in.  So I’ve been thinking about where my style and taste derives from.  What nudges me in the direction to like something enough to put it in my home?  What aspects of my life breathe their way into my design? 

Here’s what I’ve got so far:

Travel: One of the most inspiring things is to discover new places and cultures.  I have a very clear picture in my head of riding on a train in the south of France when I was 12 years old, speeding through what felt like endless fields of sunflowers.  Miles and miles of racing through bright yellow and green flashes with a bright blue sky background.  The colors alone have stuck with me all those years.  Unfortunately, I don't have an actual picture of this... but the one in my head does just fine for me! 

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Killarney, Ireland

 Fresh flowers: Whenever I see fresh flowers in a home, it instantly feels more put together.  Flowers inspire me to go the distance and complete a home, not just leave it in progress forever.  They inspire me with their colors and natural beauty – I could plan out an entire room based around one big vase of hydrangeas.  They just make me smile… and shouldn’t the space you spend all your time in be a place that makes you smile?

Seasons: Seasons show us the vast range of colors and styles mother nature has to offer.  They literally explode our color palette with changes and surprise and delight me every time we transition from one to the next.

Imagine a cold, grey winter in Ohio… the trees are stripped to their branches and their natural brown’s and ivory’s sparkle in those few days of sunshine… our color palette is full of neutrals that set a perfect background.

Quickly comes Spring and bright green grass peeps through the white snow.  Crazy blue skies and almost too-perfectly pink and yellow tulips are everywhere.

With Summer comes the many blues of water… deep blue at lake homes and sea blue at beaches… aqua and celadon blue during vacations to tropical islands.  All the while, the bright yellow sun sets the stage and the Kelley green grass is stronger than ever.

Then comes the oranges and reds of fall… and purples too!  There are the quintessential images of children playing in piles of crunchy brown leaves, running around the orange pumpkin patches and settling into a more rustic color tone before we arrive back to the neutrals of winter. 

Homes: This might sound obvious… but the structure of a home can make me go crazy with inspiration!  Have you ever taken a walk down the street and looked around at the homes?  Probably.  If you’re like me, then you’re simultaneously dreaming up what is inside.  How does the floor plan flow?  What are their colors?  Have they re-modeled the kitchen?  Are the wood floors original?  And then, I can get going on imagining how I would fill the space.   This can keep me busy for hours.  In our old neighborhood in Columbus, we were surrounded by very old, historic homes.  John and I would go on these walks and literally oogle over them, sometimes catching ourselves standing still in front of one for a tad too long… forgetting that someone actually *lucky for them* lives inside.  For me, looking at the structure and history of a home is incredibly exciting – it is a blank slate with the potential to be whatever you want it to be.  It’s a rush!

My challenge to you is to take a walk through the streets of historic Georgetown and imagine yourself in one of the 18^th century brownstones – what would you do with it?  Ohh, I’m excited just thinking about it!

     

I’m stuck deciding on my final source of inspiration, mainly because I can’t narrow it down.  There is so much around me that is inspiring – the ocean, the trees (ok, nature in general), my family and friends, Pinterest (no denying I find TONS of inspiration there), blogs and magazines, books and movies, art – old and new, pieces of furniture or shapes and structures.  Too much inspiration really isn’t a bad problem to have. 

xxx

Incorporating Sentimental Pieces

I love to decorate with things that have sentimental value.  Printing out an old family picture adds a lot more cozy to a home than a print that’s been manufactured millions of times at World Market.  No offense to those prints – there can be very nice ones that absolutely add charm to a room… but if I have the choice, I will use something that has meaning to me. 

We don’t have much space of our own, so I like to make what we do have feel like us.  In lieu of programs at our wedding, we framed a big chalkboard with white molding and wrote in the names of the people in our bridal party.  We displayed it with our guest book so that everyone saw it and knew who was who when they were walking down the aisle. 

The chalkboard frame itself was way too cute to get rid of, so we had plans to wipe off the bridal party names and use it for something else… but still in our newlywed glow, we decided to keep it as is.  So, we hung it in our room as a reminder of our special day, and all the special people who were involved. 

Here she is! 

I love that this piece is entirely unique to us.  Every time I look at it I think about our wedding day and of all our amazing friends.  It’s a nice reminder of how lucky we are! 

xxx