Our Dining Room: All "Done!"

(Above, some nuts in a vintage jello mold.) Well, since Jonie showed the evolution of our dining room in her recent post, I thought I would share our finally "done" dining room with you! As you might remember, here's what it looked like when we first moved in:

And here it is now:

I finally made & hung my last set of frayed linen curtains & ordered Sears' roman shades in 'natural' for all of the windows:

I went with a totally white scheme with a few hits of green. I wanted it to be insanely neutral so that I can do whatever I like on the table & have fun with colors:

Right now I have my painted white thrift store bust sitting on a stack of magazines. We use the dining table a lot as a place to just hang out: read, use the computer, etc..

The chairs are from Ballard Designs & of course they're machine washable slipcpvers. (No other type of whit would last in this house!) The thing I love most about them is that I got the ones on casters & they are So convenient!!! They're great for pulling out one-handed when you've got something in the other hand and for pulling into the living room for extra seating. I didn't even know how much we'd love them.

And notice the little gray goat skin on the left chair... (above & below) Dave tried to surprise me for our anniversary with this "rug." He ordered it off of ebay & was thinking it would fit under our lucite coffee table before we had anything under there. Not knowing, this I came home with the cowhide one day and he told me that he'd ordered me a rug for an amazing deal (like $40 I think?) & could I return mine. (I couldn't.) He said his was a goat. I asked if it was a really big goat?? He said he guessed so. Anyway, I felt really terrible until the "goat" arrived & it was about the size of our dog. So now it just gets moved around the house like the rest of our stuff. And below, I'm finally 100% satisfied & loving my cocoa bead chandelier. It really nheeded the heft of the skirted parsons chairs underneath I think:

Thank you all so much for the wonderful emails & comments & "gifts!" Have an awesome weekend!!!

xoxo,

lauren

Thank you!!! Virtual Baby Shower!!

Yesterday morning I woke up to an email in my inbox from my friend Michele of My Notting Hill informing me that she'd hosted a "virtual baby shower!" She gathered a group of special blogger friends (I have more who weren't able to attend of course! ;) and they all picked out "virtual gifts" for "Baby Pure Style" (as some wrote- cracking me up!) & explained why they were giving them. Christian & I read the post in bed & it was so much fun! It was such an awesome surprise & I'm truly touched by everyone's thoughtfulness. Thank you so much Michele & everyone for joining her!! (I also started immediately following links to shop & can't wait to get the baby owl onesie from Michele, below. There are so many more things I'm thinking of getting too- it's amazing how well they nailed me- I loved everything!)

Jonie from Cote de Texas also wrote a very sweet (so complimentary she made me blush!) and hysterical baby shower post to join in the party. She "gave" me a new set of beakers for the baby's room so I don't have to steal the baby's beakers for photo shoots!!! hahahaha (The even funnier part is that I would love more beakers!! )

And here's the photo (below) of Betsy Brown's entry demilune that first sparked my beaker-love a couple of years ago:

I just feel so lucky to have met such amazing friends over this past year. I didn't even know what blogging was before I started & now I just can't imagine what it would be like without knowing all of you. Thanks so much for making me feel so special & for all the sweet comments. You all are the best & I'm just so thankful to have you.

I'll keep you posted on baby news- just a couple of weeks left!! And we'll be cranking out the projects until then!!

xoxo,

lauren

Here are links to the posts:

Michele's Baby Shower

Joni's post

Our 70s Split Redo Part IV: Our Toddler's Bedroom

It was really important to us for our little guy- Christian (2 yrs old)- to have a fun, happy & organized room when he transitioned out of the crib/ nursery to his "big boy bed" & new room this past summer. (And of course it had to be budget-friendly!) It's a TINY space and we decorated it with jungle animals & made a really big deal out of the move and he handled it perfectly. (Straight to bed and slept through the night from the start- wahoo!) Unfortunately I don't have any 'befores' of this room. Basically just picture it empty. With a combination of thrift-store finds, Ikea pieces, some DIY items and a splurge or 2, we got just what we wanted:

The inspiration for Christian's room came from these Ikea curtain panels. They reminded me so much of some of my favorite children's books: My Father's Dragon and The Saggy Baggy Elephant.

I decided to rip out the Saggy Baggy Elephant's pages & make a big story wall for him out of all of the different animals. (We used Michael's frames on sale for $10 each)

It's a super-easy & inexpensive way to treat a wall in a kid's room. Christian loves pointing out all the different animals:

Even his lamp is a macaw (below, by Arteriors Home- inspired by an Eddie Ross creation in a House Beautiful Weekend Shopper article.) I wanted this lamp from the moment I saw it (way before I knew we were going with a jungle room) and when it came time for a lamp I was so excited to get to include it!! (I'm often tempted to take it to other rooms ;)

The trundle bed with drawers & bedding is Ikea & I have to say how impressed I am by the green velvet blanket. I wanted to go with a crazy mix of green patterns & layers throughout the room to make it feel energetic & happy:

Our dog's bed is in here for now but she never uses it (she prefers ours- argg) & it's ended up as a nice hangout spot for Christian. The rug is from Dash & Albert & it's practically wall-to-wall because I'm just not that into our plain jane white carpet.

Christian has so much fun playing with his trucks & trains on it because its stripes are roads & train tracks for him.

And a fun addition to the room is the vintage wallpaper lion from Romp. -below- (They have so many great silhouettes- adorable!!) Dave hung him across the closet door & we slit him so the doors would open properly. He surprised me with the project being finished one day without asking where the lion was supposed to go on the door. (I'd originally planned for him to be walking along the floor at the bottom.) And I came in and he was floating!!! :) (and you really can't complain at all when your man is that sweet- so the only option was to make it work.)

SO, we decided to make a hill out of (what-else - we seemed to be crazed by it lately!) chalkboard paint!! Sometimes the "mistakes" end up being the best things in a space. Now there's a whole new activity area in the room:

I pulled out the red from the berries in the curtains by using this vintage bookshelf/ cabinet piece I found for $26 at a thrift store a few years back. (below) It's great because the bottom hides toys (it's a "garage" as Christian calls it for his trucks to sleep in) and the top houses tons of books. The alligator head used to live on top of it but it started SMELLING. (I am SO not kidding.) The room started to stink because of it!!!! It was awful, so he's bagged up & on his way out.

We're hanging the red chinoiserie mirror (below) in here too because it matches perfectly & has those crazy vines all over it (and got booted from the entry ;)

And one last pic (because you know I always go overboard with pics! ;) of the room, below:

Hope you enjoyed & can't wait to show you the nursery!! (I'm waiting on the finishing touches until the baby comes so I can do the boy/ girl thing -- Only a couple more weeks!!! :)

xoxo,

lauren

Unbelievable: Jackie VonTobel

I can't contain my excitement: Jackie VonTobel (of Jackie VonTobel Home ) just launched her new fabric line & online store today!!!!! You HAVE to check it out -oh my gosh her things are SO BEAUTIFUL!! http://www.jackievontobel.com/



Her designs are too pretty for words... But I'll try of course! ;)




Everything is so fresh & energetic& happy!!!:
Lots of them are whimsical takes on the classics: enlarged florals & toile-like patterns (The design below is just perfection... It reminds me of a modern version of one of my Grandma's plates... Oh how I need it!)...



...chinoiserie in unexpected colors...



beautiful peacocks, huge paisleys with an enormous amount of white space ...



...Cheerful graphic patterns that are still curvy enough to be super-pretty. (Sometimes graphic patterns can be a bit too much for me & feel a bit trendy but not these!)



I could seriously find a spot for every one of her fabrics & pillows in my house. (I would love a closet full of her pillows to switch in & out seasonally. Just one of these would make a room!) You can choose to go with organic cotton or eco-friendly linen, depending upon the look & feel you're after.


She uses so many different color palettes & here are images of just a few:

.... had to share the greens & grays of course!!! But this blue too (below) - oh my goodness!!!

Anyway, you've got to check it out!! I am in love and cannot wait to use some of these for projects!!!

xoxo,

lauren

all images from jackievontobel.com

Forcing Paperwhites/ Narcissus Bulbs

Paperwhites or narcissus are named after the mythological character Narcissus. There a few different versions of the myth of Narcissus (some including the nymph Echo & a curse) but most end with the haughty handsome boy falling in love with his own reflection in a pond and staying there loving himself until the day he dies. (hence the term "narcissist.")

A narcissus flower is said to have bloomed in the spot after his death.

Every Winter I think about forcing paperwhite bulbs. I just love the idea of having fresh flowers all winter & of course the small is insanely good. (I tried it one year but they don't do very well when you don't water them.) But THIS year, I'm doing it. I want that smell and I want those beautiful little white fowers all over my house. A neighbor of mine forces amaryllis & other bulbs as Christmas gifts & I think it's just a perfect idea. She times them so they're in bloom when she gives them.

I'm going to give them to all of the people in my life who love themselves too much as a hint for them to change their narcissistic attitudes- it's about time! (hahahah no, totally kidding... I'll give them to the people I love too much ;)

If you're anything like me & often a little short on time (and you're giving it to someone who you think might enjoy a mini-project & the waiting & watching for blooming bulbs) then you could also make them a pretty bulb-forcing kit with all of the ingredients needed: beautiful container, stones/gravel/etc., a bulb, and directions. How perfect are these paperwhites in julep cups (real simple mag) below?!

I'm loving them on this Christmas mantle (below, Martha Stewart):

And look at this huge trough on a kitchen island from here :

And pretty much anything in an urn is gorgeous to me (image below from tickingandtoile.com):

I'm loving the wild-vintage look in the photo below (from the Netherlands Flower Bulb Information center). Clear glass vases are easy to come by (in fact, pilsner glasses from a place like Ikea would be really beautiful & affordable) and I love seeing the root systems. A very raw/ natural look:

There are so many different options for planting. One of my favorites (and I cannot find the photo I'm looking for- arg!!) is to use vintage tea cups. Oney teacups are so inexpensive at flea markets & thrift stores and would make a beautiful gift. Check out this gorgeous metal (can't tell if it's copper or something else from the pic, gardensnob.com) pot below:

And they look perfectly simple in even just a plain white pot (uniquegardens.net):

Here's a quick How-To for forcing paperwhites:

( I got the information from an article on about.com with photos by Kerry Michaels)

1. Pick your container: If it's tall, you won't need to stake the paperwhites when they eventually bloom, but if it isn't, be prepared to have stakes, chopsticks, etc.

2. Add 2-4 inches of stones, pebbles, gravel, anything non-porous to your container. (This keeps the bulbs in place & out of the water.. you just want the roots in the water.)

3. Add the bulbs. If you're doing multiple bulbs , make sure they're all at the same level & nestled into place so you can keep the roots (not bulbs under water- bulbs will rot)

4. Water & Alcohol:

***UPDATE*** I've gotten lots of great emails & comments from readers who've grown narcissus themselves and they mention adding alcohol to the water to keep the plants from becoming too leggy. They say to just use water until the first sign of a green shoot arrives and then use approx 1 part alcohol to 10 parts water or 4-6% from that point on. (There are lots of different ratios floating around out there for how much alcohol to use & the article I read said no more than 10%.)

4. They do best in a cool spot out of direct sunlight for a couple of weeks. After they root, put them in a bright warm spot to speed up flowering. (The author of the article says she just keeps them on her kitchen countr the whole time.) Once they bloom (4-6 weeks after planting) you might need to stake them with something to keep them from falling over.

The year I tried forcing paperwhites, I used a faux conch shell. I saw this article from Cottage Living (below) and just had to make one! The problem (for me) was that because it was a faux conch shell, there wasn't much room for water and so it needed daily waterings and sadly, the love just wasn't there. The bulb never actually died but it had the tiniest nub of a shoot for 3-4 months and then it was Springtime and I gave up. But I think it would work beautifully in a real conch shell like the article recommended.

Here are a few inexpensive sources I found & thought I'd share with you:

For a vase similar to the one in the image above, try here (2 for $8.98)

Buy (already started/ forced?- It was hard to tell) bulbs here: $16.95 for $25

And here there's a deal with 30 for $19.95 and 15 for $10.95

I'd also heard that Walmart has them but don't have one near me...

SO, I'm going to give it a go this year & of course I'll take pics & show you how it goes when they bloom. I'm very impatient with these sorts of things but I'm going to try my best to water the bulbs this time!! (Image below from Country Living) I want these flowers!!!

xoxo,

lauren

image #1- whiteflowerfarm.com, image 3- greayer.com