Nate Berkus Associates

I was watching Nate a loooong time ago when he gave a tour of his design studios in Chicago. I was dyying over the industrial ruggedness of them. I scoured the web for pictures and finally happened upon some great ones in the latest edition of Lonny Magazine.

I love the open shelving and all the samples hanging on the sides of the shelves. I love the exposed ceiling and all the lighting.

*Martha

Client Project - Modern French Country Living Room

Several months ago we finished a client project and we never got around to posting the design boards. Here they are!

A little background and description: The client's living room is small but multi-purpose, so it needed to serve as an entryway, family room and entertainment room. She wanted to keep a few items and buy a few items, plus she needed more storage/shelving, seating and art.

The first board shows several pieces of her furniture she wanted to keep: the couch, side table, bench and mirror. We gave her a fabric option to use to reupholster the bench. The framed music is a visual idea of what the sheet music would look like on the wall (more on that below). The picture gallery wall is an example of something we suggested she put over her couch - a combination of art and family photos.

The design board below shows all the products we chose for her living room. Her color scheme is light blues, browns, grays and cremes. They love French things, so we found a couple accessories to reflect that; the sheet music is French sheet music from Etsy which we recommended she frame to put on the wall. The ladder serves to heighten the small room as well as for shelving and to add visual interest. We recommended wall sconces instead of floor lamps for lighting since floor space was limited. Multiple ottomans are to serve as flat surfaces as well as additional seating.

The design board below features some additional options to switch out or substitute, since the client admitted she gets tired of things easily. She also likes vintage items, so we added a few more of those.

This was done on a budget of just over $1,000, meaning all the items on the middle board add up to just over $1,000. Killer, right? The most expensive items were the rug, the drapes (which she might even sew herself, saving even more money) and the furniture. By keeping a few items she already liked, mixing in a few additional large pieces, plus accessories, she can have a total room makeover for not much money! She doesn't even have to buy everything at once - this type of thing can happen gradually over time. Buy a pillow here, an ottoman there and before you know it, your space can come together. That is what I love about these e-design boards - you can see everything together at once, and then you get to mull over it and do the rest at your pace. 

Hope you enjoyed it!

Click here to read more about starting an e-design board for yourself.

*Martha

A Picnic Perhaps?

The 4th of July is my favorite holiday! And how perfect that it's a 3-day weekend this time! And how perfect that there will be sun in Seattle at this perfect time! And how perfect that I threw out my picnic basket that I got for our wedding because I thought we'd never use it! NOT! I can't believe I did that, but it's true. I did. And I don't know what to do this weekend without it. Hopefully you'll have your own perfect picnic, perhaps with some of these fun items I found for you. Have a great one! (Someone please buy that grill! It's so rad.)

1. Mini paper lantern string
2. Patriotic paper bunting
3. Picnic basket
4. Condiment jars with tray
5. Stripe beach towels
6. Adirondack chair

7. Ribbed vase

8. Beverage tub
9. Outdoor rug

10. Tray table

11. Charcoal grill


*Martha

Do You Pinterest?

{Pinterest}

Hey there! It is rare that I have two hands free to type, but I do at the moment, so I'm here! I am alive and surviving! Well, actually, I've had help for most of the month but all my help went back home (thanks Granny Nannies!) and today is my first official day alone with the kids. The stars aligned and they are simultaneously napping. So far so good...


I know I am so late to jump on this bandwagon, but last night I finally dug into the obsession that is Pinterest. I had approximately one finger to use on my keyboard while my son slept on my chest, so it was perfect! Just pin, pin, pin. That site is addicting! Are you on Pinterest? What do you like about it? Dislike? I love that it's made bookmarking design-oriented things so easy and I love seeing what other people are into. I would love to become your Pinterest friend. Will you follow me and I'll follow you? Or if you want to be invited, I can invite you. It's sooo exclusive like that. (Not.)


In the meantime, I'm hoping to get back to this blog. It depends on how often the stars align with my little ones and their sleep, so wish me luck! 


Martha

Sienna & Noah's Nursery

Little Mr. Noah Hullinger Ware came a three days early on May 27! In fact, I was at Target getting one more thing for the nursery when my water broke! His early arrival caught me off guard because my daughter came four days late but since he has been such a good sleeper, I was able to hurry and get pictures of his finished nursery before he really makes me start working. 

Here is Sienna's side. Not much changed here except I painted her crib white to match the one I bought for Noah. Painting that crib was NOT fun. I repeat: NOT fun at all. But now that it's done, I love how it freshens up the room. And, like I said, it matches Noah's crib; it would have royally bugged me if they didn't match even though for a long time I was hoping to buy a natural wood colored crib for Noah to match Sienna's but decided it would be too hard to get the exact right tone of blonde wood. 

Here is their closet. Her side of diapers and blankets, his side of diapers and blankets (except I just realized their diapers are switched in this photo - oops) with wipes in the middle. I like having the metal baskets so I can be well aware when I am running low on supplies. And it looks like I am low on wipes!

The room is small, so in order to keep the big glider in the room we ended up putting the dresser in the closet. I actually really like that we can put everything away at the end of the day or during nap time and close the doors so all distractions are out of view and the kids can just focus on sleeping.

And, yes, that is a shower caddie. I wanted some more shelves at the changing station and liked how this matched the baskets above. The knobs are yellow flowers from World Market, on sale (4 for $7) - a much more sensible option than Anthropologie knobs I always pine for. I added the knobs to that bird tray (in case you can't tell what that is on the right) I got at an antique shop in Oregon awhile ago which turned it into something to hang things from.

I made the changing pad on the top of the dresser by cutting down the mattress that came with my son's portable crib and then making a couple slip covers out of cheap fabric. The other cover is green polka dot.

Here's Noah's side. I bought him a portable crib since he will be transported from room to room for several months for nighttime and naps. Right now he is sleeping next to me on the couch! The sleep situation is always evolving, so I know this portable crib will be put to excellent use.

The reversible pillow is from Target. See? Boy side:

And girl side:

And, finally, my favorite accessory in the room: that $4 red stool from a thrift store. It's perfect as a side table for stacking books for story time.

I hope you enjoyed my little nursery tour! I really enjoyed putting it together. What I love the most about it is that it's not too matchy matchy, not too blue or pink saturated and not too cutesy. It was not easy figuring out how to make sure two genders were represented, but it became a bit easier when I let go of stringent boy/girl color schemes or mainstream nursery styles and instead collected/made little pieces along the way that made me happy. When I go in that room it just makes me happy! And that's the kind of environment I want for my happy little kiddies.

Horse Art

It's the Kentucky Derby this weekend! Let's celebrate with some horsey art. I saw this huge, amazing horse painting in the lobby of Hotel 1000, where my hubby and I stayed last weekend for our 5th anniversary.  I really love it. I stared at it for awhile. It's so big, it really consumes you.

White stallion anyone? I think "white" and "wild" when I see this portrait. So rad.

A little more abstract here.

And an amazing blown up print; love that brilliant sky, too!

If you didn't get a chance to don a large hat for the Royal Wedding, go ahead and do it while watching the races! You have my permission. Have a good one.


*Martha

Bathroom Decor

My current bathroom decor is sad ... it's definitely the room I've most neglected. While looking for inspiration, I came across several photos from Lonny that have a theme: picture groupings, many of them black and white. It hadn't occurred to me to do a picture grouping in a bathroom, that's more of a thing in living rooms, right?

Nope! I think the bathroom is a great place to have fun with your decor, make it less serious than other rooms perhaps.

It can still feel posh, too.

And I always love a good striped bathroom. Just bookmarking this one for someday when I can paint!

*Martha

Modern Minimalism in Utah

Speaking of doing unexpected things in unexpected places (as I talked about in my Monday post), I have loved this other Utah house for quite some time. It speaks to my modern minimalist soul in every way. It's also super duper green. Read more about it here (it uses almost zero energy during the day!)

What do you think? Too bare bones for you? Does it the rectangle shape bring your soul discomfort? Too many windows without drapes?

*Martha

Hot Air Balloon Canvas

I'm almost finished with my boy/girl nursery, and this hot air balloon canvas is one of the final projects. It's been hanging over my head for a long time because I knew what I wanted but couldn't find a way to execute it. I have been searching for some old book with big pictures or drawings of hot air balloons to cut out, but that never panned out. Then I saw a post by Stephmodo; she had done a hot air balloon party for her daughter and used this wrapping paper from Clover, a kids' store near my house. Isn't it adorable? Vintage looking and everything. 

I thought it'd be perfect until I started cutting each balloon out and putting them all over my 24 x 30 inch canvas I had already spray painted blue. The scale wasn't working; the balloons were just too tiny. So, I started doing my own thing. 

I cut templates for three different sized balloons and baskets and used them to cut simple balloons out of my own paper.

I added some frills. Hopefully they are still boyish-enough frills. Are they? I kept having to remind myself that this is for a BOY and not a girl. I don't know - maybe when I meet him, I'll realize the error of my frills and tear it down and try again. But for now, I actually really like it. I incorporated the tiny, vintage balloons from the wrapping paper and the canvas looked like this:

I stared at it for days because something about it was BUGGING me. I tore off the tiny balloons because I feel like they were trying too hard to fit in, plus it felt a little too busy with them there. 

And now it looks like this:

I like it sooooo much better. I realize it's very kitschy, especially those hilarious clouds. But I like it; kitschy works for me, and it'll go better with the hot air balloon mobile, too.

What do you think? Were the tiny, vintage balloons working? Or was I right to rip them off? 

And what about you - have you attempted your own artwork for your children's rooms? Is it something you're proud of and love to see every time you hang out in the nursery? That is my one criteria for things in the nursery: do I love seeing it every time I go in? Or does it just BUG? I will hang this thing up and know soon enough if it bugs ... and if it does, I'll tear it down and start over on something else.

*Martha

Old Mercantile Turned House

The other day I was in Anthropologie and picked up Anthology magazine, which I had heard about but never seen. It's a cross between a book and magazine, very sturdy. It was full of loveliness. Most fascinating was an article about a couple who turned an old mercantile into a house. It's in a small town in Southern Utah (my home state). Here's what it looked like before:

And I couldn't get many pictures of after, but here are a couple from the magazine:

Ahhh, it's so cool. You should pick up Anthology just to see it. I love when people do unexpected things in unexpected places.


*Martha