scandi style

I use to be anti-Facebook. It weirded me out. But I love that it has reconnected me with old friends I've lost touch with over the years. One such friend happens to be a talented interior designer.

Since I will be making some major furniture purchases soon, I want to make smart decisions for once. Instead of buying things on impulse and hoping that they work together, I want to come up with as much of a plan as possible to avoid buyers remorse. I needed a bit of direction and to define my style once and for all. I needed a consultation.

After throwing a bunch of ideas at my wonderful friend, it was decided that my style is Scandinavian. Why didn't I know this? I'm very drawn to whimsical graphic prints like Marrimekko and designers like Alvar Aalto and Arne Jacobsen make me swoon. I don't like super mod pieces, but I love a good mid-century danish modern table. Oh, and I love IKEA...but who doesn't?

But even though I'm into bold & color, I am also very drawn to light & airy...things like Belgian linen. White-washed furniture. Blues and greens. Vintage chandeliers. Apothecary-style bottles. It makes me go "ahhh."

At first glance, it seemed my tastes were disparate. But upon further research, there is a definition for this soothing style that also happens to claim its roots in Scandinavia. The "Gustavian" (as in King Gustav III of Sweden) style was Sweden's response to the popular Louis XVI style of the time. The elements are similar, but the Swede interpretation was more indicative of their natural surroundings...a much lighter version. Distressed furniture, lots of blue & white and a bit of sparkle define the style. I was so inspired that I put together a little mood board:

I finally have a design style...Scandinavian!! It makes me feel much less schizo knowing that at least all of the looks I love hail from the same region of the world. I guess sometimes you need someone else to connect the dots for you.

13 months

Dearest CW,

I have to admit that this is my favorite age so far! You are doing so many new things and are such a barrel of fun lately! You started walking on May 6 and nothing can stop you now. There are cabinets to open, rooms to be explored, plugs to pull, shoes to eat...you are a little man with an agenda! Your current favorite objects include keys, phones, shoes and balloons. We had a little party for you and your friends on May 8 and two weeks later, you are still playing with the balloons (I don't know how they've stayed inflated).

You have very strong legs and are extremely flexible. You have this trick you do where you balance things on your toes while laying on your back. It's hysterical and you know it, so you do it often for me...sometimes we even do it together! :)

You're very smart. When I say "where's my nose?" you point right to it. When I say "where's your lion?" you go right to him, bury your face in his fur and squeal with delight. It's the cutest thing. You are starting to understand cause & effect now and how most of your toys work. It's fascinating to watch you figure things out. My current favorite thing you do started within the past couple of days. You retrieve a book from "your" shelf on the bookcase, climb into my lap and put the book in my hand. When I'm done reading, you put the book right back in my hand. I think I read "Who am I: Insects" about 20 times today. That's ok though...it thrills me to pieces that you love books! I will read to you for as long as you want.

You are such a good eater! We usually do cheese toast and applesauce for breakfast during the week and pancakes on the weekends. I have a feeling you're going to love Grammie's oatmeal pancakes...maybe she will make them for you this summer! Lunch is usually pasta and veggies or a chicken & cheese quesadilla with a banana or peaches. You love vegetables and the green ones are your favorite. If I give you mixed veggies, you will literally sit there and pick out all of the peas and butter beans first. I wish I could be like you!

You're very good at sharing. All day you offer your toys to me and you even try to feed me during mealtimes. I hope this continues!

It's amazing to me that a baby can go from completely helpless to walking around in one year! You've turned into a little boy in just a matter of weeks. I just love to watch you and your chubby little legs toddle around the house, picking things up and exploring. If only I could know what's going on in that little head of yours. But my favorite thing is when you turn around and give me that precious smile. It lights up my world.

All my love,

Mommy

out with the old

It's almost time to leave Nigeria, so I've been purging and organizing like nobody's business. I've managed to sell all of the junk and make a respectable sum to fund my new furniture purchases. Nigerians will buy anything. They'll haggle for it, but they'll buy it. We brought a bunch of stuff to sell at the community yard sale this morning and I actually sold all but 3 items. Amazing.

I even had a lady offer to buy my couch (furniture is extremely expensive here) and I'm considering it because it's a random slate blue color that's very hard to match. I can't remember why I bought it in the first place...I should have listened to my interior design boss at the time and gone with something classic. So I've been looking at sofas for fun and did a little mock up of what a different sofa would look like with my new Orla Kiely pillows and pouf (yes, I managed to smuggle those in as well):

I'm not sure about the sofa yet, but I think I like it. It's the "movie walnut" sofa from CB2 and has great reviews (all 62 of them). It's a very deep, lounge-y sofa that will be perfect for watching movies and curling up with the fam. I think it's also a very simple shape that could work with either traditional or modern accents. I've always been a fan of the Baldwin tuxedo sofa, but definitely can't afford it (even the Williams-Sonoma version runs over $3K). This one comes close though...the sides & back are the same height and I love the single mattress-like cushion...perfect for napping!

What do you think?

first steps

C started walking today! Christiana let go of him and off he went!

hable does prints!

I was looking at pillows on the Hable Construction website the other day and discovered that they are doing a limited run of hand-printed posters! The first one is called Cookies (my personal fav):

and the second one is called Geraniums:

Love! Takes me back to my 3 am printmaking nights at Duke Hall. Get 'em while they're hot!

boudior redux v.5

Ok, this is it. After countless designs, I think I've finally come up with the final plan. There a couple of reasons why the plan got revised again. 1) I ordered the Anthropologie curtains and hung them up in our bedroom. They're gorgeous and striking, but they hurt my eyes. It was just too much for a bedroom...perhaps better for a dining or living room. 2) After our recent trip to London and visiting various furniture stores, I fell in love with all things Orla Kiely. You may remember her line for Target last year, which included the green pear motif and a retro flower power-esque pattern. She also (obviously) has a regular line, but the U.S. website only carries her wallpaper and lampshades. I fell in love with this particular pattern (a stylized version of hydrangeas, my favorite flower!), but wallpaper does not work for my transient lifestyle:

So, imagine my delight when I discovered that the U.K. sells Orla duvets, pillows and placemats!! Of course I bought them all (I figured I could always ebay them if they didn't work out), and the duvet works beautifully with the rest of my furniture plan and color scheme:

Here's the breakdown:

1. Bed...I ended up going with the "Colette" from Crate & Barrel. It took my breath away when I first laid eyes on it at the Clarendon store almost 4 years ago. It took awhile to convince my husband, but I think he's on board now. I feel like it's the perfect blend of classic and modern and fits my "retro romantic" style. I like that it's a low platform and padded all the way around...no more bumping my shin in the middle of the night. Finally, a grown up bed! Now all I need is that Tempurpedic mattress...

2. Nightstands...I also fell in love with these whilst furniture shopping. They're from Arhaus and got them for a steal. One was a floor sample, marked on clearance, and the other was 15% off. Score!

3. Lamps...oh how I love these Anthropologie lamps. I was completely dismayed when I went to order these lamps online and discovered that they were no longer available. They had magically disappeared. So I went to the store to investigate, only to discover they were also on clearance, marked down by $100! They had one left and they called around to find me another. Thank you Lord! The only bummer...lampshade NOT included, of course. I had to plunk down some more dough for RH shades that worked (believe me, I tried the Walmart ones). Thankfully they were 20% off!

4. Duvet...Orla Kiely!!!

So that's it! I've made the mistake in the past of buying things on impulse and not really thinking about how they would work together. This time I've spent a lot of time defining my style, doing research and making sure that I LOVE each and every item before I plunk down hard-earned cash. I think it's going to pay off...we won't move in our new house until September, but stay tuned for the results!