Seagrass is In!

Ok, so I know you've seen a million pictures of my bedroom before, but I'm finally feeling really good about it because we got our wall-to-wall seagrass installed this weekend, so be patient with me while I show you more pics! 

Here it is when we bought the house last year:

{yummy!!}

It has wall-to-wall cream carpeting and it did not fare well with our family & lifestyle.  So as you might remember from this post, we painted the paneling & added a chandelier and cheapie roman shades and curtains.  (Both of which I'd eventually like to upgrade...  But I also want to replace the back window with a set of steel french doors and a little balcony too so there's always something, right?)  Anyway, we found the antique brass headboard on the side of the road near our house and it's still to this day one of my best trash picks.  I used a lot of what I had to put together a white room that I could just "not think" in (ie completely relax).  Anyway, we're still mnissing a few things like a bedskirt and the perfect massive white hide rug but here's what it looks like now:

My $13 repainted Gustavian chair moves around the room:

And I think it looks best like this:

We are loving the seagrass!!!   We've had it in our basement family room/ office for over a year so we knew what we were getting into.  Typically, it would hurt my feet late at night & really in early in the morning.  BUT, now that it's been in the bedroom for a few days, I guess I've gotten used to it.  Seagrass is hard & rough but not scratchy.  (For more detailed info on seagrass & other natural rug materials & my thoughts on them , check out this post here.)  I plan on adding a soft white cow hide under the bed so when our feet first hit the floor it feels super-soft but I'm honestly surprised at how okay my feet are now.

Christian doesn't mind it either... 

I added thse old orange velvet striped pillows I made a bunch of years ago because I wanted to warm it up for Fall.  (Our dog uses them more than we do & her usual spot it curled up between them...  rough life.)

Here's a picture of what it was like before with the big body pillow & some other white bedding. 

(I switch it up all the time & am very weird about clean sheets/ bedding. We usually change our sheets at least twice/ week but I'm happiest changing them every other day, but too lazy to actually do it most of the time. I love the smell & feel of just-out-of the-wash-sheets and it's kind of one of those little free luxuries we can provide for ourselves... well, really me because I think dave could care less. (And, since our dog loves to sleep on the bed-- and in the bed when it's cold-- it's not unusual for met to come into the room to find paw prints on the bed. However, (and here's my little white bedding arguement/ rant: Some people say that white bedding isn't practical when you have dogs & kids & I couldn't disagree more. You see, I want to know when there's something dirty on my bed, not camoflauge it. I'm not saying that you have to have white bedding if you have dogs/ kids, only that if you do want it, it's great for germaphobes and people like me who don't mind washing the bedding frequently... But the white quilt and duvet only get washed every couple of weeks which is basically whenever the dog gets dirty paws on them.) Sorry for that! :)

And now onto the not-so-pretty (but oh-so-wonderful) dark secret of our bedroom.  WE HAVE A TV IN OUR BEDROOM.  (gasp!!)  I got it for Dave for his birthday this past May and since we don't have cable, it only works to watch movies from the dvd player or online.   We installed it behind the door when you first walk in.  Most people don't even notice it when they're getting a tour until we point it out, but when we close the door at night, it's prefect for watching movies in bed.  I know all about all of the "no TVs in the bedroom" rules and the supposed effects on people's love lives & all of that, but we love it.  I love snuggling up in bed and watching a good movie... especially when I'm sick. 

We rigged it so that the dvd player and laptop station are hidden in our closet which, as  you can see, runs right behind the TV. 

I'll show you more pics in here when I get some wallpaper and a chandelier up.  (hahaha which will be a good long while!)

Here's a quick pic of my jewely on the wall which is so insanely practical.  I'm thinking of adding more of this near the vanirty area in our bathroom because I really only wear the stuff that's out.  (Except all summer long I've been wearing my Kayce Hughes wooden beaded necklace and pretty much nothing else.  I'm going to do a post on it soon because it's one of the best pieces of jewelry I've ever owned and you probably need it ;)

And here's one last pic of my room as it looks about 1/3 of the time:

But, I'm working reeeeeally hard on making my bed every morning.  (Skillsets for 20-somethings- I should teach a class! ha)  I've done it every day since Thursday, which is when the new seagrass went it...  I find it's so much more satisfying to make your bed when you like your room.  Hope you enjoyed the tour and don't be surprised when I show you every angle & then some again when I finally find my hide ;) 

Have a beautiful day!!!

*Paint is FreshAire Choice's "Beach Pearl" (the no VOC brand @ Home Depot)
*Seagrass is available through Lauren Liess Interiors and was installed by the Tolvin Carpet Customizer (he's the best!!)
*Brass apothecary lamp- Robert Abbey
*Bedding-a mix of custom, Target & West Elm
*Nightstand dressers & Curtains- Ikea
*Roman Shades- Sears
*All else is vintage/ antique

If you want to know more about seagrass check out this post 
If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Antique Wheat Grinder

Anyone know the official name?  Found it and love it.  It used to be used for grinding up wheat into flour.

I love finding beautiful things I never even knew existed.  This one has a pretty gold nailhead design. 

The Pure Style Home online store is opening up soon and & I can't wait!!

If you're in the DC area this weekend, be sure to go to the DC flea!!  Eddie & Jaithan are here & would love it if you could come!!  They're the best!!  Check here for details.

Client Project Kitchen & Family Room Plans

I often show 'before & afters' on the blog with explanations of why decisions were made, but I rarely show in-progress projects.  It's mostly because, as a reader, I myself love the instant gratification of a good 'before & after' and partly because work in progress never looks as good as it does when finished, and I don't want you to think I'm awful ;) 

BUT...  because my mind's often  always on my projects and because I used my blog as a bit of an inspiration board of sorts and a place to communicate with people, I often feel like I'm sort of keeping a main component of myself/ my creative process off of the blog.  SO...  I've decided to try to start sharing a few in-progess projects with you.  You'll have to forgive the COMPLETE lack of styling and completion in the projects but I do think you might enjoy seeing where it all starts. 

So, without further ado, I want to share some before pictures of a project I've been working on for a while.  My client's name is Ira and she has two beautiful little girls & a husband.  They entertain a lot with other families and want their family room (below) to seat more people, be stylish yet comfortable, and feel young and happy (like them!).  Here it is when I first visited, 'before':

It's a massive family-friendly space with a huge TV in a nook next to the fireplace.  They hang out in here every day.  Ira has an amazing sense of style & taste but felt her home was lacking something.  It was beautiful and a bit serious and wasn't as personal as she wanted it to be.  Ira tends to like primarly cool colors with a hit of warmth injected.  I'd describe her style as "sophistcated pretty..."  She likes an elegant mix of classic and modern with a youthful edge.  When she has something to show me that she likes, I know it's going to be beautiful. 

Part of what makes design so  rewarding is helping people figure out their own personal style and helping them translate it into their homes.  Everyone has her own unique style and I love looking at rooms and making decisions through my clients' eyes...  it's almost like putting on a pair of colored glasses because once you learn who your client is design-wise, you need to put on their "glasses" when designing.  Of course, it's still your eyes looking through the glasses so you never lose sight of your aesthetic and beliefs and knowledge, but you do see things differently than you would for yourself. 

Anyway, the family room is open to the kitchen.  Below is a photo of Ira's kitchen before:

{Before-- LOVE the fixture!}

Ira wanted to lighten it up & cool it down.  She chose a warm white/ cream and you can see the newly installed cabinetry:

{Mid-project/ Now}

We're going with a pale gray-blue on the walls in both the kitchen and family room.

{Mid Project/ Now}

We've chosen these beautiful glass mosaic tiles for the backsplash and are running them up the entire wall over the sink/ around the windows:

Here's the chandelier for over the table:

Here's a quick pic of some of the fabrics we're using in the family room:

I love them all!!  The warm kind of camel-golden fabric towards the top-left is an existing sofa Ira has in the basement that we're moving upstairs.  We're using Windsor's Smith's white & blue-gray linen on the curtains and this on the custom English arm sofa:

At the base of the sofa, we're having nailheads placed to outline the curvey design of the fabric.  We're also doing two tufted wingchairs in a blue-gray mohaire velvet (swoon!!!) and I found this cool vintage sunburst table for the coffee table: 

I love its distression and warmth.  It will be really beautiful with the gold tones of the existing sofa.

Here's the existing sofa fabric and the ottoman fabric:

Here'a c lose-up of the Windsor Smith fabric I'm in love with:

And one last photo of an embroidered linen for a pillow on the existing sofa:

There's so much more to share with you & I'll keep you updated along the way.  The hardwood floors have been installed and it's soon to be painted. 

More Outside Love

Everything tastes better when you're outside, doesn't it?

So now that our backyard is in better shape and the weather's getting a bit cooler, we're outside as much as possible.  Yesterday was the boys' first day at daycare and Christian didn't want to leave when we went to pick him up so I guess that's a good sign.  Dave made this yummy dinner above:  Grilled flounder stuffed with crabmeat (ala Trader Joe's- we love their frozen fish) with black beans & rice, and salata.  {Did you notice the leaf that fell from the tree above.. Here comes Fall!!}

After dinner we all enjoyed a fire:

And then we put the kids to bed & enjoyed this:

We've just recently reminded ourselves that we need to savor the little things...  to take pleasure in the every day.  Have a beautiful one!!

*After reading the comments, I should add here that the black beans & rice shown is boxed Zatarain's & if you don't have time to make it from scratch, this stuff is THE BEST.  (Try all of their flavors...  We love the jambalaya and dirty rice and adding sausage & shrimp & fresh herbs makes it Heaven!)

Pure Project # 16: Spruce Up the Yard

When we first moved into our house a year and a half ago, the back patio/ yard looked like this:

{Haha love how a rainy day makes it look even worse..}

The first thing we did was ditch the pine trees and make garden beds around the patio.  I inititally filled them with hand-me-down plants from family & friends.  I LOVE getting hand-me-down flowers and my mom's given us at least 4 truckloads of plants from her overflowing gardens.  The thing was, our back garden beds really needed some structure and with all of the mismatched full-sun flowers, it had more of a country cottage feel and I wanted it to feel a bit more classical & balanced.  (I can't find any pics of it in the flower garden stage.)  SO, this weekend, we finally bit the bullet and bought shrubs (japanese dwarf holly which bears a striking resemblance to boxwood and costs way less) to line our back patio.  We've started with 3 on each side and got 1 side planted.  (babysitting time runs out ;)

I moved my basil around so that it grows between the holly and I love the contrast of the light & dark greens next to each other.  I also added a rown of asparagus fern (a new love!!) and some other herbs in front.

In the Springtime, I'll really pack in the front row with herbs and more fern but we're leaving it like this for this year.  Even though it's a bit more bare than I like, it still has has the structured feel I've been craving and it finaly feels as if we're on our way out here. 

Here's a picture of the garden we made yesterday along the side of our fence.  It's filled with black-eyed susans, zinnias, succulents, daisies and other hand-me-down flowers.  They're all pretty much at the end of their season and I'm hoping that they come back nicely next year.   There's also a lilac bush & a forsythia that have been hanging on for me all summer so I hope they do better here ...  (Or I water them.)

We also FINALLY painted the kids' playhouse shed.  Here's a photo if it before.. (sorry I don't have a real exterior shot of when it was tan)

And here it is now:

We painted it the same color as our house.  And here's a couple of peeks of the inside:

I've been loving this bench:

This is so pathetic but I got a little teary (not coming-out-of-your-eyes-teary but cheesy-emotional-kodak-commercial teary)  in here the other day because it was just so nice hanging out with the little guys & seeing everything we imagined play out.  I was lying on the bench playing with Justin and Christian was making us "soup" and it was just so relaxing & exaclty as I'd hoped for.  (When you have little ones you know that those moments are typically fleeting but you also learn to appreciate them & savor them when you get them.)

Anyway, Christian has also been sprucing up his playhouse.  He found this feather and a bunch of acorns on walks:

These magnolia leaves fell from a neighbor's tree and look great with his sticks:

And look what we found in a spiderweb:

{kind of sad but still beautiful}

And here's one last pic of the playhouse...  I am SO relieved that we finally got it painted!!  It took less than an hour:

(We more than cut corners here:  the back is still not painted and it's gone on my list for when all of the actually important stuff is finished.)

We also got to most of Dave's work shed but still need to finish painting, add steps, and get the holly bushes in the ground. 

It feels so good to have crossed these items off of our list.  And I have to admit, that as much as I hate putting out the dough for shrubs/ bushes, it made an insane difference in the look & feel of our yard.  SO, this week's project is to spruce up your yard for Fall and if you've been meaning to get some bushes, I'm telling you, go for it.  You won't regret it and getting the foundation right makes such a difference.   

If you's like to share pictures of your Fall yard projects, I'd love it if you could link up here!!

House of Commons of Canada

The House of Commons of Canada dahu (French: Chambre des communes du Canada) is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign (represented by the Governor General) and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament (MPs). Members are elected by simple plurality ('first-past-the-post' system) in each of the country's electoral districts, which are colloquially known as ridings. MPs hold office until Parliament is dissolved and serve for limited terms of up to five years after an election, but historically terms end before their expiry and the sitting government typically dissolves parliament within four years of an election according to a long-standing convention. Seats in the House of Commons are distributed roughly in proportion to the population of each province and territory. However, some ridings are more populous than others and the Canadian constitution contains some special provisions regarding provincial representation; thus, there is some interprovincial and regional malapportionment based on population.

The House of Commons was established in 1867, when the Constitution Act, 1867 created the Dominion of Canada, and was modelled on the British House of Commons. The "lower" of the two houses making up the parliament, the House of Commons in practice holds far more power than the upper house, the Senate. Although the approval of both Houses is necessary for legislation, the Senate very rarely rejects bills passed by the Commons (though the Senate does occasionally amend bills). Moreover, the Government of Canada is responsible solely to the House of Commons. The Prime Minister stays in office only as long as he or she retains the support of the lower house.

It is widely thought that "Commons" is a shortening of the word "commoners". However, the term derives from the Anglo-Norman word communes, referring to the geographic and collective "communities" of their parliamentary representatives and not the third estate, the commonality.[citation needed] This distinction is made clear in the official French name of the body, la Chambre des communes. Canada and the United Kingdom remain the only countries to use the name "House of Commons" for the Lower House of Parliament.

The Canadian House of Commons chamber is located in the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario.