Barnwood Urbanism

Nursery Resources

2012-02-04T11:56:00.000-05:00

Aspromised, here is my list of sources for everything in our nursery.

Crib:Sparrow Crib by Oeuf in grey. Gift from my parents. (We ordered through Amazon.It arrived in 2 days.)

CribMattress: Naturepedic, No Compromise Organic Cotton Classic 150 Mattress for$259.00 on Amazon

CribSheet: Kumari Garden, Tara in Sun by Dena Fishbein (fabric), made by me(tutorial coming soon!). Fabric from Hawthorne Threads. Unfortunately, this fabric is no longer available.

CribSkirt: Capri in Popsicle Stick by Waverley (fabric), made by me (tutorialcoming soon!). I purchased the fabric from Buyfabrics.com, as I mentioned inthis post. The price was great, but it was a hassle. At first they told me they didn’thave a single piece of fabric. Then when I finally convinced them to ship twopieces that added up to the yardage I needed, they shipped the wrong colorway!As it turns out, the popsicle stick colorway was available in the yardage Ineeded and the return process was very easy. But I still never received thematching thread I ordered.

CribBlanket: gift from and knitted by Gavin’s Nana (Jack’s mom)

SeaTurtle Wall Decal: Leen the Graphics Queen, designed by me (more about thissoon)

ChangingTable: already had this. Jack sanded it down and repainted it in Winter Snow byBenjamin Moore (Aura line). We are huge fans of Ben Moore Paint and this shade of white is so soft --like a blanket.

It used to look like this (that was a horrible DIY mistake!):

Before that it looked like this (horrible photo. The natural wood was nice, but the veneer was peeling):

ChangingPad & Cover: Off the shelf at Buy Buy Baby. The pad is fine, but the coveris terrible. The fabric got all stretched out, has no elasticity to it, anddoes not stay on the pad anymore. I’ll be making a new one soon. Stay tuned.

BookShelves: Made by Jack. Paint is Winter Snow by Benjamin Moore (Aura line). The brackets camefrom the paint store and were super cheap. So cheap, in fact, that one is bent(how I didn’t notice this when I bought them I’ll never know). I consideredspray painting them yellow, but I didn’t want to highlight the imperfection. EventuallyI’ll probably change them out for something with a little more heft and design.Like these from Anthropologie.

YellowWooden Duck Puzzle (on shelf): Mine from when I was little

Boy& Girl Bookends: gift from my aunt

Curtains:Chipper Slub Corn Yellow by Premier Prints, fabric.com. Thermal lining came from Jack B’s on Fabric Row (S 4^th Street) herein Philly. They have the best selection and prices for decorator weight fabricthat I’ve found locally. Oh yeah, and I made the curtains! I used the samemethod as I used for our living room curtains. As I mentioned in that post, thermal lining is made with a rubber backing whiletrue blackout lining is coated with lead. Jack B’s carries both, but I did notwant to introduce lead into our nursery so I went with the thermal. Make sureyou ask at the fabric store what the coating is when you ask for thermallining. Sherry from Young House Love replied to me in a comment on her blogthat the “blackout” lining in their nursery curtains is actually thermal liningpurchased from JoAnn’s (they apparently only carry the thermal, non-leadedvariety).

PaperLantern: Ikea. Jack added a toggle light switch from our local hardware store tothe standard cord (also from Ikea), which is way more convenient thanunplugging the cord to turn the light off. Why don’t Ikea cord kits come withtoggle switches in the first place?

EamesChair: This used to be in Jack’s mom’s house and was gifted to us as a weddinggift. Jack covets it and is very jealous that I’ve spent so much time in itover the last 5+ months nursing Gavin. Little does he know that this will be myreading chair for life! And aside from the fact that it’s not a rocker, it isthe perfect nursing chair.

TeddyBear Blanket: Lauren Celeste, gift from my cousins

Yellowand White Quilt: gift from Jack’s mom. Don’t you love how it pairs so well withthe curtains? Total coincidence! I had already ordered the fabric when we gotthis quilt.

GreyDuvet: Crate and Barrel from a few years ago

Bedspread:Avery Bedspread in Teal, Crate & Barrel (color no longer available)

Bedframe:Ikea. Eventually I will paint this yellow so that it resembles my inspirationphoto seen here.

Pillowshams: Capri in Popsicle Stick by Waverley (fabric), made by me

BirdPillow: Birds in Pink colorway by Galbraith & Paul (fabric), made by me(fabric purchased at the Galbraith & Paul Sample Sale last year)

BoppyPillow Cover: Marimekko (fabric), made by me. Fabric purchased by Jack’s auntat Crate&Barrel when the store located in the old TAC building in HarvardSquare, Cambridge, Mass. was closing. So sad. L That was the bestCrate&Barrel. (I know they’re all the same, but this particular one with amulti-level glass façade just shone like a light box at night. The displayspaired with draping Marimekko fabric was irresistible. Seriously, I think wewent in there every weekend just to poke around. It explains why we have such aplethora of kitchen stuff.)

MonkeyToy Bin: 3 Sprouts Organic Storage Bin, Amazon

ChristeningGown: Family heirloom

GrowthChart: gift from Mahre (my mom). I think she found it at Homegoods.

Stripedboxes: Ikea. They were hot pink and I recovered them in the Waverley fabric,but now the lids don’t fit properly…

Nightstand:Shaker-style table in maple with birch inlay, made by Jack’s stepfather

Wow.This is a ridiculously long post! So, what do you like or dislike about ournursery? What did you do in your nursery? What questions can I answer?

Before & After Series: The nursery revealed (finally!)

2012-01-22T17:47:00.000-05:00

This post has taken forever and a day to get together. For the last six months, the nursery was never quite finished and therefore not ready for photographing. There was always something I wanted to change, add, or make, which held up the publishing of the post. But I won't bore you with excuses, let's get to the Before & After!

Before:

Initially, we thought that the rear bedroom would be the nursery and we would stay in the front bedroom. Well, when the crib arrived in the mail and we shoved the guest bed (which we planned to keep in the nursery) up against the wall, we learned that we only had a 12 inch gap between the two. Holy cramped, Batman! That was just not going to work. Plus, there was no room for a nursing chair, which meant I would end up nursing in the guest bed, inevitably fall asleep, and roll over and crush the baby! (We've since gotten over this fear.) Here's a look at the cramped rear bedroom:

Then we had a conversation with our neighbors who were due to have a baby just six weeks before us. Their rowhouse is nearly identical to ours and they set up their nursery in the front bedroom. Ah ha! We decided to try it out and no sooner than we moved all the furniture that we realized we could move the Eames chair upstairs to be my nursing chair. Yes!

You could probably do without all this narrative so I'll skip ahead. Here is the gratuitous before and after reveal:

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Here are some additional detailed images:

Our Eames chair (not a reproduction) and my Boppy pillow with custom Marimekko cover

Thermal-lined curtains made by me

All the little critters

Gavin's Christening gown

Close-up of the crib sheet and crib skirt both made by me

My little guy --happy as a clam!

Hope you enjoyed the tour! In my next post, I'll list all the sources.

Update: See all our resources here.

2012 Resolutions

2012-01-14T15:38:00.000-05:00

It seems that another year has rolled by and I am posting my new year's resolutions. This past year has definitely gone by fast! Guess that comes with having a baby. Though the two weeks at the end of my pregnancy when I had left work and we were just waiting for the little guy to arrive were torturously long. Here I was at 41 weeks:

What you can't tell form this photo was how horrifically swollen my feet and ankles were. Seriously, my toes looked like little sausages. Not pretty! Of course, this little guy was totally worth everything:

But I digress. This is a post about resolutions. So here goes:

The Barnwood Urbanist's Ten Goals for 2012

1. Declutter: goal is to actually have some room in the basement to sort laundry. (Seriously, I have to make a goal for this? What happened to me?)

· Donate clothes, baby swing, household goods toGoodwill

· Donate books to Free Library of Philadelphia

· Give hand-me-downs to relatives

2. Make baby food

· Read Mommy Made before Gavin starts on solids. Which will be soon. Very soon.

· Donate breastmilk. I've got a stash in the freezer that is way more than we need.

3. Blog

· Publish 3 posts per week

o Developweekly or monthly “series”

o Committo posts on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

· Participate in “linky parties”

· Monetize blog (no sooner than August 2012)

4. Be musical

· Learn Guitar (This was my Christmas gift fromJack!)

· Practice Flute

· Introduce Classical and Jazz to Gavin

5. Exercise for cardio and to tone and build backmuscle

· Yoga 1x per week to start. Add more as timepermits.

· Run 1x per week to start. Add more as timepermits.

· Commit to the 200 sit-ups and 100 push-upstraining routines

6. Clean our house. Related to #1. If the house is less cluttered will I spend less time dealing with clutter and have a little more time to actually clean?

· Commit to a regular cleaning schedule. The haphazard schedule is not working. Really, we have to have guests coming over to have a clean house. (We are not really dirty people. It's just tough finding the time between a baby, dog, and I'm back to work full time now.)

7. Go to bed early (or at least earlier than 11).Goal is to be in bed at 10 pm.

8. Watch less TV. This will actually help with #7above.

9. Pay off one credit card

10. Winthe lottery. Hey, a girl can have one lofty goal right? And hey, you can’t win if you don’t play. ;)

What about you? What are your resolutions for 2012?

This post is linked to

The last few hints

2011-12-22T15:39:00.000-05:00

Dec 21 - The letter D.

Dec 22 - The letter G.

Long lines

2011-12-15T20:31:00.001-05:00

Just got back from the Post Office where I waited in line for 45 minutes. I realize it's the holiday season and it's the busiest time of year for the USPS, but with a constant line stretching at least 30 people do you think they could have more than one person behind the counter? Good grief!

Recent hints
Dec 15 - I can do it with Ann, but I can't do it with John. (Ann and John are Jack's aunt and uncle.)

Dec 17 - "Did I say it's made out of metal? It's made out of wood."*

Dec 18 - "I have told at least two lies."*

Dec 19 - The letter E.

Dec 20 - The letter A.

*Direct quotes (so the "I" references Jack, not me).

Five Holiday Lessons for the New Mom

2011-12-15T10:42:00.001-05:00

I don't know how some people do it. They've got a kid or two or three, a full time job, daily blog posts, and they still manage to decorate their houses for Christmas and then link up their photos to multiple "linky parties." I barely managed to get a wreath on our door last night before guests came over for dinner. Not to mention that our cellar is packed full of stuff and it's nearly impossible to even reach our Christmas decorations. I really need to have a yard sale in the spring.

I suppose I made it worse by suggesting that I make some of our Christmas gifts. And that I did not start said projects until this past Sunday. If you recall how long it took for me to sew our living room curtains (more than 3 months!), this was not the wisest decision I've ever made.

Holiday Lesson #1
If you're going to make gifts, start in early November or even October.

Holiday Lesson #2
When making holiday gifts, KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid). Do not attempt to make piping-edged pillows (hope my sister is not reading this) that you've never done before. Stick to kid-friendly crafts like this footprint reindeer (below from mommyinthebaking.com).

Holiday Lesson #3
When you think of a good idea for your husband (the best gift-giver you've ever met) --even if it's June-- buy it immediately and save it for Christmas. It will take the stress out of getting him the perfect gift come Christmastime. Either that or write it down forgodssake!

Holiday Lesson #4
Take your holiday card picture in the fall like everybody else does, design and order your cards early to get the discount, and stop belaboring the thing and making it such a big deal. Nobody cares how "designer-y" your Christmas card looks or how witty your photo caption is. Great Aunt Jo just wants a damn picture of your kid before New Year's!

Holiday Lesson #5
Forget the dream of making cookies this year.

Recent hints about my gift from the World's Most Fabulous Gift Giver (aka my husband):
Dec 10 - It was featured in an Apple advertisement.
Dec 12 - Ron Burgundy (aka Anchorman) would LOVE the material.
Dec 13 - Her name is Jasmine and she's Japanese.
Dec 14 - It was purchased from a small business on "Small Business Saturday." (I'm positive the small business is in our neighborhood because Jack was only gone about 30 minutes when he went out to get it and he did not take the car.)

More hints

2011-12-09T21:42:00.001-05:00

Hint of the day for December 9th:

It comes in many different styles -all with silly names. This one in particular can be used to describe our child.

All I can say is what?!

Hint of the day from this past Wednesday, December 7th was: it's made of metal.

Galbraith & Paul

2011-12-05T11:27:00.001-05:00

This past Saturday was the Galbraith & Paul annual sample sale. For those in the Philly area, it's an opportunity to score some fantastic deals on pillows, rugs, fabric, wallpaper, and drum shades at deep discounts. Though you can find their pillows and shades at Room & Board, their fabrics are only available to the trade at prices in excess of $100 a yard. Eek!

I went last year and learned the best deal is the scrap fabric sold by the pound for $15 per pound. I bought 3.5 pounds this year and plan to make some unique throw pillows. Some of the pieces have imperfections or the pattern isn't centered, but I think I can make them work. It's pretty chaotic at the scrap table (see pic below).

I'll post pics later this week of my purchases.

Hints from the last few days:
Dec 1 - friends Sarah & Ben were consulted
Dec 3 - there's an app for that!

Nursery Sneak Peek

2011-12-01T11:54:00.001-05:00

I promise to post pictures of the completed nursery this weekend. I'm still adding and changing things, but it's been more or less finished for a while. Here are a couple of sneak peek images to hold you over until then.

ps Yesterday's hint of the day was: I'll know what it is.

Containing stuff

2011-11-29T11:46:00.001-05:00

It's been almost four months since Gavin was born and we still don't have a good system for his dirty diapers. We are using cloth (Bumgenius, after a failed effort with gdiapers) and need to figure out a holding method that works for our small nursery that doesn't need another barrel-like item taking up precious floor space.

I've decided to make my own wetbag for the job (actually I'll probably make two for the times when the bag is in the wash). I just ordered this fabric and some PUL (polyurethane laminated) fabric. The fabric is Robert Kaufman Metro Circles in Marigold and I got it on fabric.com.

Hint of the day: At first, I won't know what to do with it.

Little hints

2011-11-28T11:05:00.001-05:00

My adoring husband has already acquired my Christmas gift. He has given me one hint a day for the past three days and will continue this until Christmas. I am one of those crazy people who love anticipation. Jack would prefer instant gratification. This is our compromise.

Hints so far:
Nov. 26 - I can't eat it.
Nov. 27 - Gavin will like it. Cooper will like it.
Nov. 28 - I can use it. I can use it with others.

If you think you've figured it out, DON'T TELL ME! :)

Birth Announcement

2011-09-25T10:19:00.001-04:00

This little guy has been keeping me busy for the past six weeks. Gavin Michael was born August 13, 2011. 9 pounds, 1 ounce and 22 inches. He's a big healthy guy!

Nursery Ideas

2011-04-22T19:30:00.001-04:00

Here are some of the things I am starting with for the nursery.

The gray and white (cream?) duvet is from Crate and Barrel from several years ago. It's a bit faded and should probably be retired soon, but it will probably stick around until the budget allows for the purchase of something new.

The teal bedspread is a recent purchase from Crate and Barrel. The yellow and white quilt is a hand-me-down from Jack's mom. I don't know the origin and it shows some signs of wear that I will have to mend and fix, but the color is perfect. It looks a little more orange in the photo, but it adds a bright fun pop of color.

I recently purchased this fabric from Fabric.com for the curtains. It is the Premier Prints Chipper Slub Texture in Corn Yellow and it was a great price. Unfortunately, it was backordered as soon as I ordered it a few weeks ago. I wasn't expecting it to even ship until mid-May, but I just received an email today saying that it shipped and will be here in less than a week. The curtains will be the biggest project for me for the nursery in part because I will be making thermal lined curtains similar to what I did in our living room. I think the pattern is reminiscent of the pattern in the quilt. What do you think?

Premier Prints Chipper Slub Texture fabric in Corn Yellow

I found this fantastic striped fabric on Buyfabrics.com a couple of months ago. I love it even more in person (I ordered a sample). The fabric is the Popsicle Stripe Capri by Waverly and was a great price on Buy Fabrics. I guess I shouldn't have waited so long to order it because now they only have limited yardage and it's in pieces. I ordered 5 yards, but it's only available in 3 1/8 yards and 3 5/8 yards. I'm rather annoyed that their customer service never answers the phone and only seems to return every third call that I make so I've yet to resolve my purchase a week after submitting my order. They've called me back twice and I missed the calls because I was in the ladies. (I'm pregnant and in the ladies room often but I'm not about to bring my phone in with me!) Anyway, I plan to use this fabric for the crib skirt and a pillow for the bed.

Popsicle Stripe Capri fabric by Waverly

This is our crib! It's the Sparrow by Oeuf and was a gift from my parents (thanks Mom!). I love the clean lines, the angled feet, and the grey color. Jack's already set it up (he put it together the day it arrived) and while it looks a bit cramped now with all the extraneous stuff in the room that needs to be cleared out, I think it's going to look fantastic with some yellow bedding to contrast with the grey. We picked the Oeuf crib because of the clean design and also because it's adjustable (designed to grow with our child from infant to toddler), it's eco-friendly (non-toxic VOC-free finishes, solid wood that is Forest Stewardship Certified), and it's in a reasonable price range for this level of design and quality.

House Tour: Guest Room/Nursery

2011-04-08T08:18:00.000-04:00

The final room in the house tour series is our guest room/nursery.

View looking into the guest room from the hallway.

This is the view into the current guest room. A double bed is tucked off to the left rear, there is a small dresser off to the front right (out of view), and the closet-thing is off to the front left (out of view). The ottoman needs to be moved down to the basement as well as some other extraneous items. Where the laundry basket and two framed pictures sit is where the crib will go.

View looking back towards the narrowest doorway.

Some the first things you may notice in this view is that there is no door to this room. I've debated going to the Habitat for Humanity Restore in New Jersey for a cheap and narrow door we could hang, but what is not clear in this photo is that the doorway is far form plumb. It's actually a couple inches narrower at the base than at the top. Somehow I think this will cause issues when looking for a door to fit so, for now we have this needs-to-be-hemmed dropcloth curtain acting as a door. The closet-thing is behind the other dropcloth curtains (which also need to be hemmed).

Inside of the closet-thing.

This is the closet-thing. The ceiling is sloped down to the right, the opening up top is too large, the hanging area is too low for dresses, there are two doors covering one shelf for no apparent reason, and in general lacks organization. It may seem crazy to some, but we are going to demo the inside of the closet-thing and put in an elfa system from The Container Store. We need to fit in some baby clothes at some point soon and because there's no room for a second dresser for Jack in our room this closet must also house all of Jack's clothes.

Ugliest DIY mistake I've ever made.

This is the dresser that will soon be transformed into a changing table. It is by far the worst DIY mistake I've ever made. It used to be stained and looked fine, but I wanted something jewel-toned for our living room (it used to be our media cabinet). Somehow we ended up with a paint color that was more Tiffany blue than the jewel-tone I intended (kind of ironic, don't you think? Tiffany blue? Jewel-toned?). Anyway, I tried a technique to make it look aged, which involved rubbing it down with stain over the paint, quickly wiping it off, and then sanding the edges to reveal the original finish beneath. I think it looks horrible. One of these days I will host a series called "Worst DIY Mistakes and the Bloggers Who Made Them." Message me if you're a candidate for participating in this series.

Guest bed.

As the guest room transforms into the nursery, the guest bed will function on a daily basis as a daybed and a place to read to the baby, relax, etc. For those of you wondering and for our future guests, we will stay in the guest room with the baby and you will get our room with the door. We think you'll be more comfortable with that arrangement unless you're open to getting up with the baby in the middle of the night.

The yellow bedside table.

This little yellow bedside table was a find at the Penn Sale last spring. Coincidentally, it actually belonged to a friend of ours who donated it to the sale. I spray painted it yellow when we moved last summer. I've been trying to implement the gray and yellow color scheme in this room for a while. Unfortunately, I don't think there will be room for this little guy once we put the crib in the room. Not sure where it will go. Yard sale?

Cooper is very curious about what goes on in this room.

So, what do you think of our place? I promise to get pictures of the kitchen, patio, and office up soon. We've got lots of projects planned for the next three months (deadline for all house projects is July 1!) so be sure to check back for updates, reveals, and before-and-afters!

House Tour: The Littlest Bathroom

2011-04-07T07:47:00.005-04:00

There used to be a bar in Boston called The Littlest Bar. It was tucked away in a basement on Province Street in Downtown Crossing. One of those places with patches on the wall from every fire house and police department in Massachusetts and beyond, The Littlest Bar was a Boston classic. It was razed to make room for luxury condos. However, this is a story about our house and The Littlest Bathroom. Day 3 of our house tour will be a quick post because our bathroom is so small. I seriously think it is only about 35 square feet, but believe it or not we actually have a clawfoot tub.

Here are some pictures of the bathroom before we made a couple of minor changes:

The Bathroom

This is the view looking into the littlest bathroom from the tiny hallway. As you can see, there's not much room to maneuver. In fact, because the house is so old and things have settled over the years (and probably not the best construction practices were ever used on this place) the floor is sloped to the point where there door does not open all the way. So, that's about as much opening as we get. Embarrassingly it's taken me months to put up a decorative shower curtain. I had intended to make one for the longest time, but Jack reminded me that I don't need to make everything in the house. However, due to how the curtain rod is hung (not very securely), we needed to add the support chain to the ceiling on the front side of the tub. This means that any shower curtain we use will need to open from the middle, which means at least doctoring an existing shower curtain into two pieces for a center opening. You can see the results below, but first more bathroom photos.

Cluttered sink area.

This is the cluttered sink area. This is literally the only storage we have in the bathroom. Unfortunately, it's not covered or shuttered. Oddly, when we moved in, there were these weird little shutters that opened and folded over the middle shelves. When we viewed the house, there were horrible little mirrors in the shutters, but they were missing when we moved in so we removed the shutters. They were pretty useless as doors and the mirrors (if they had been there) were no improvement. I have a plan to find a large mirror to extend from wall to wall here, covering most of the middle shelves. I will add some covered woven baskets for storage and we'll probably pair down the excessive toiletries.

View back towards the door.

Not much to say here except that the only other space where we could possibly add some storage will be to the left of the door below the existing shelf. I'd like to add some shelves or cubbies for towels. Jack is thinking this would be a good place to store an infant tub. Your thoughts?

Boat cleats as towel hooks

Towels

In search of some vintage towels racks for our bathroom (it came with none!), Jack discovered these boat cleats at ReStore, an architectural salvage shop here in Philly. We thought they were pretty unique to use as towel hooks.

Bathroom after shower curtain addition.

Here is the bathroom after adding a bold shower curtain from Crate and Barrel. To hang it so that it opened in the center, I cut it up the center and sewed two hems. It is super long and grazes the floor. As the fabric stretches a bit over time, I might have to change out the hooks for something a little shorter. I love the boldness the curtain adds, however, with the curtain closed, it does make the bathroom feel even smaller. I hope that when I find a giant mirror for over the sink and toilet, the mirror will compensate. We also changed out the bathmat for something more colorful. The bathmat is also from Crate and Barrel. What have you done to add some color to your house?

Cooper checking out the new bathmat.

House Tour: Master Bedroom

2011-04-06T07:27:00.000-04:00

Continuing our house tour, today I will show you our master bedroom.

View into our master bedroom from the top of the stairs.

This is our bright master bedroom. It is south facing so it gets lots of light. It also gets lots of light at night because there is a street light just outside the window. I have plans to add two more curtain panels with a ribbon detail to all four panels. Considering these two panels have been hanging for about five months without me hemming them and that I've had a second pair in the package for a month and a half, I should really get on this little project.

Our bed.

We rigged the lantern lights with paper lanterns from our wedding and a pair of Ikea Hemma cord sets. Jack outfitted the cords with switches that I had him place at arm height when we're reading in bed. The giant print is of Amsterdam and is from Ikea. The duvet is West Elm. The quilt is from the Pine Cone Hill Outlet in Lenox, MA. The pillow is crispina, which I blogged about in this post.

Dresser and the not-deep-enough closet.

The dresser is a Craigslist find from several years ago. I haven't done much with it except wipe it down with Kramer's Best Antique Improver. It's not really the right piece for this space. I'd love a long and low bureau with six drawers in sleek white with a big glamorous mirror above. Maybe next year...

Cooper makes himself at home in every room.

House Tour: Our Living Room

2011-04-05T08:25:00.001-04:00

It recently came to my attention that I have not properly given a tour of our trinity home here in Philadelphia. We live on one of those small alley-like streets in South Philly built in the mid-to-late 19th Century. At some point probably in the mid-20th Century, our standard 14'-x14' three story rowhouse was extended off the back to add our kitchen and guest room/nursery above. Needless to say, the rooms are small, but we have good cross-ventilation, a small yard/patio out back with a grill, storage in the cellar, and live in a great, walkable neighborhood.

I snapped a few pictures over the weekend while the sun was shining. The kitchen was a bit of a mess so we'll skip that room in this series of posts and we'll skip Jack's office, which is experiencing mid-semester tornado season (hahaha).

Here is our living room (click on the photo for the full size image):

View from the front door

The curtains you might remember from this post. Yes, I finally fixed them so they are not hanging 4" off the floor anymore. The back pair just brushes the floor (perfect!), while the front pair puddles ever so much (ah, what can you do?). I think they add some drama, height, and color. They are also great for our drafty windows when it's cold out.

Rear window and Eames chair (a recent gift!)

The Eames chair is a recent gift from Jack's mom. Jack's been dying to have this chair for years and it is very welcome. We initially intended for it to replace the large chair-and-a-half in the front window, but we can't seem to get Cooper out of his perch. He loves to watch the neighbors! Frankly, we'd rather allow him up in the chair-and-a-half than in the leather Eames chair so for now we have both. The ottoman that goes with the chair-and-a-half has been relegated to the guest room temporarily.

The odd bookshelf that was probably once a closet

This nook in the wall is too deep to be a regular bookshelf and was probably once a closet. I suppose it's better as a bookshelf now because the bottom half is inaccessible due to the large chair. We have some plans for the bookshelf that involve painting it a deep emerald or teal or navy. The large sea turtle pillow I scored on sale at Anthropologie last spring. I intended it for our bedroom, but it adds a nice contrasting pop of color amongst the sea of beige furniture.

Our sofa and gallery wall

We spent a long time arranging and putting up the gallery wall and now that we've lived with it for several months, we aren't happy with it. I suppose if we had used matching frames and mats for every piece it would work better, but it feels cluttered. We've got a great idea to replace it with an antique quilt. Be on the lookout for that post in the upcoming weeks. The sofa is Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams in a herringbone fabric. The center pillow is Dash & Albert and was scored at the Pine Cone Hill Outlet several years ago. The pair of orange pillow covers were an ebay find from two years ago. The large black and white print on the left in the grey barnwood frame was a gift from my dad. It is a print of the Harvard Dartmouth slalom at Tuckerman Ravine, Mount Washington, New Hampshire, April 1937. My dad owns the photograph (he purchased it from the original amateur photographer who took it) and he mats and frames it for sale mostly to ski shops in the New England area. You can find them online on his website here.

View from the kitchen to the front window (Cooper's in his favorite spot)

The rug you might remember was blogged about in this post. It's a Pottery Barn rug that I bought on ebay for a steal. It's probably my favorite thing in the living room. Someone commented asking about shedding. Yes, the rug does shed, but that is to be expected with a 100% wool hooked rug. Also, we have a dog who sheds (a lot!) so the amount of shedding is confusing to measure. Now that we've had the rug for two months I can safely say that the shedding has diminished. The rug shedding, that is. The dog continues to shed. :)

My desk (in desperate need of an organizing system)

The tiger print is a family piece from Jack's grandmother. We like to think the tiger is our protector.

Our front door and landing strip.

We want to add a narrow shelf below the mirror to create a real landing strip for keys and outgoing mail. It's looking a little naked right now.

The front window with the chair-and-a-half, which is much too big for this room, but it's terribly comfortable and Cooper clearly doesn't want it to go.

That's it! Tomorrow I'll post about what's up the enclosed circular stairs: our master bedroom!

Nursery Inspiration: Part 2 - Color Palette

2011-03-30T08:04:00.000-04:00

In my previous post, I shared some of the colors I will be using in the nursery. This image from the defunct Blueprint magazine was my initial inspiration for the yellow, gray, and teal combination. As the nursery will also double as the guest room, we'll keep the full-size bed in the room and a guest bed that is this lovely is worth giving up my own room for my guests (so they can have some privacy and we are in with the baby). Of course, our guest room/nursery is hardly this spacious.

Blueprint mag - via Blueprint Bliss

Here is the color palette I've chosen. I'm not totally sure about the green, as what I'd like to use will match a particular mirror I'm hoping can be located (more on that later). Also, I have an email in to the crib manufacturer for the paint color of the crib we will order. All the color names and codes are Benjamin Moore paints. (Click on the palette to see the full size image and read the names.)

What do you think?

Nursery Inspiration: Part 1 of many

2011-03-26T18:08:00.000-04:00

It seems that every week or so I read of another blogger who is expecting a baby. Might as well add my name to the list! Yes, we are expecting! No, we do no know if it's a boy or a girl. We have elected to be surprised. Well, I elected and Jack tried to educate himself on how to read an ultrasound in the hope that he could figure it out. (He believes it's a boy. I am not convinced he saw anything.)

As we begin to get ready for the bundle of joy to arrive (sometime in late July or early August), I have found myself surfing the intermanets for inspiration for our nursery. I've also been reading up on birth plans, doulas, breastfeeding, and baby gear, but I will limit this blog to the more design-related aspects of all things baby. (Seriously, do you really want to read about placenta encapsulation here? I didn't think so.)

First up: color! Somehow the makers of crib bedding misunderstand the whole "gender neutral" nursery thing for those of us waiting to be surprised come b-day. They seem to think gender neutral equals color neutral. I disagree. My search for bright, cheerful decor for our north-facing nursery has led me to some of the more unique and DIY-type nurseries out there in the blogosphere. Here are some of my favorites.

Norah's Nursery - Apartment Therapy

What I love the most in Norah's nursery is the bright and cheery yellow crib. The soft and watery aqua walls are also a favorite. This nursery has a little more pink in it than I think is appropriate for gender neutral, but it's a nice accent color to add once a little girl comes home.

Little P's Nursery - Apartment Therapy

This nursery for Little P, also from Ohdeedoh (an arm of Apartment Therapy), also has the sweet yellow and aqua combination. More photos and source info can be found on Me and Wee's blog. I love the crib bedding in this example.The bedding is from Nursery Works: it's called "Macaroni" in the color canary. Unfortunately, it is discontinued. Also, I've learned that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against using pillow-like crib bumpers due to the incidence of SIDS. You can read some general guidance here and here.

Graham Bedding from Serena and Lily

Maggie Bedding from Serena and Lily

These two bedding examples from Serena and Lily are beautiful, but the price tag is a little ridiculous ($395 for the Graham 3-piece set; the Maggie fitted sheet is the only piece available on their site at the moment).

Ely's Nursery - Life with Ely

This sweet example from Life with Ely is modern and cheery with a pretty spring green.

Noah's Nursery - Susan Weinroth

This example from blogger Susan Weinroth is fantastic. The yellow and aqua (is there a theme here?) combination is executed so well and I love her attention to detail. The giraffe wall decals are great and is the little pompom trim on the curtain valance. I also love the bright yellow changing pad cover. Her source is etsy seller Little Owl's Nest.

Baby Ike's Nursery - Domestic Adventure

Baby Ike's nursery by Erin at Domestic Adventure is by far my favorite that I've found thus far. The muted grey walls temper the bold yellow accents, which is a look I'm going for in our nursery. I also love the many DIY projects that she undertook throughout. She shares some very creative projects on her blog and has a long list of sources. Special thanks to Erin for letting me know the paint color of the fabulous dresser: Valspar's Dandelion Wish.

The color palette I am looking at is a soft, pale warm gray for the walls; a darker gray for the furniture to match the crib we have picked out (more details coming soon!); warm sunflower yellow for curtains and bedding; and spring green and teal/turquoise as accents. I've already selected some items and look forward to sharing them with you soon.

What were your sources of inspiration for your nursery? Were there particular colors you were drawn to? Was there a specific item around which you designed the room? Please share! Sources and links welcome!

norah's nursery tour...

Me and Wee: Nursery!

Life with Ixchel: Ely's Nursery 2009

{a look at the nursery}

The Nursery Reveal

Wanted: Wallpaper suggestions and sources

2011-02-06T21:32:00.000-05:00

My sister Betsy and her husband Pat are in the midst of a (long overdue) bathroom renovation. When they're done, I'll post a killer before-and-after. The before is pretty bad --and I can say that because I actually lived in the house after grad school for a while. Here is a progress photo:

Betsy & Pat's bathroom in progress

They've chosen a simple white subway tile for the tub surround and a classic black and white penny tile for the floor. I haven't seen the vanity since it was stripped and refinished, but they chose an antique piece and had a new top made.

They have decided to wallpaper the room and are looking to a linen shower curtain they already own for color inspiration.

Shower curtain with lime, sage, and navy stripes on an eggshell background

Has anyone ever purchased wallpaper from The Wallpaper Collective? It seems like a great resource and has been featured on Apartment Therapy and Lonny, among others. Betsy and Pat picked out three patterns, which definitely have a more modern look to them. The first, by Aimee Wilder, is a delicate graphic on a rich background:

Loops-Neon

The second, by Hygee and West, is a great design with a sweet little bird:

Daydream-China Blue and Orange

The third pattern by Mod Green Pod is more graphic and a bit whimsical:

Delight-Water/Peppercorn

All three patterns are from The Wallpaper Collective. What do you think? Do you have any suggestions on other sources for similar wallpaper patterns?

I understand ferm LIVING now carries wallpaper (known for their wallstickers). RUE featured wallpaper from Graham & Brown in their first issue (p. 50-51). Have you heard of others? From where have you ordered wallpaper? What patterns and colors do you like?

Score! Bold new area rug

2011-02-03T20:49:00.000-05:00

I saw this rug on A Life's Design a few weeks ago and fell in love with the bold contrast of the graphic. What glam!

Originally from Elle Decor

I've seen this described as Hollywood Regency style. Not sure exactly what that means, but it totally rocks. Of course the source of this beauty is Beauvais Carpets, which is only available to design professionals, which equals big $$$. So, I started looking for something similar.

I found this stunner on eBay.

Apparently, it's an "HRT" (Hard to Find) Pottery Barn rug (called "chain link"). The price was fantastic, but I didn't get it right away. And then, the listing ended. Noooo! So, I kept searching and searching. Even had Jack searching. We found some nice examples, but nothing like the original. For what we wanted to pay, the best rug designs were flatweave rugs, which I'm not so excited about because I worry it won't lay flat on our carpet (ironically).

Finally, I Googled "Pottery Barn Chain Link Rug" and found that it was relisted on eBay. Of course if I had just checked my never-checked-old-hotmail account, I would have known this because that's where all my spam eBay messages are sent. Anyway, I pulled the trigger! It should be here in about a week. I hope it will add a bit of sophistication to the living room and some nice contrast with the orange.

Until then, here's what it looks like in Emily A. Clark's living room. Love it!

From Emily A. Clark

Living Room Curtains: The Big Reveal

2011-01-31T21:53:00.002-05:00

I finally completed our living room curtains on Saturday. Check it out!

New Curtains!

First, the positives:

All four panels are exactly the same length.
The pattern matches panel-to-panel (the same way you would hang wallpaper).
The thermal lining has had an immediate effect in keeping our living room warm.
Drama! They add some desperately needed drama to our living room and makes it super cozy.
Color! While our walls are still boring Sherwin Williams Dover White (standard apartment company paint), your eye is drawn from floor to ceiling by the bold orange.

There are some problems, however. As I mentioned in my last post, I somehow managed to cut the fabric too short and since I cut and sewed all four panels to the same dimensions, all four panels are 4" too short. I decided to cheat the length by folding the top hem only 3" instead of 5" and hanging the rod 2" down from the ceiling. Good solution, right? Well, it worked pretty well for the front window where the curtain gracefully grazes the floor (ignore the crooked curtain rod --a minor measurement error, which will be fixed soon).

Front curtain gracefully touches the floor

The back window, however, lacks moulding to the right of the window, which forced me to install the rod bracket to the moulding above the window, basically at ceiling height.

Rear window - no moulding to the right of the window

So, of course the curtain on the back window is about 4" too high above the floor and looks stupid. Seriously.

Rear window with 4" gap between bottom of curtain and floor

Solutions? The solution will be to get rings with clips from which to hang the curtains and the back window curtain will at least come closer to the floor. The front window rod brackets will have to be raised to account for the length that the rings and clips will add (the crookedness will be solved, too). Additionally, the rings/clips will allow for the panels to fold nicely and hopefully open more, which will let in more natural light without resorting to using tiebacks (a throwback to the era when pickles on toothpicks were the height of sophistication). (Yes, that was a Bridget Jones reference.)

Here's a few more of the front window.

Cooper loves that he has direct viewing access to the street (he's no longer dependent on us to raise the blinds for him). Talk about eyes on the street! He's like a nosy little old lady, constantly looking out the window to see what the neighbors are doing.

Pardon the mess of dog toys on the floor

Living Room Curtains

2011-01-16T19:38:00.000-05:00

Living Room Curtain Fabric

My living room curtain project is taking ages longer than I initially thought. In fact, for the past several weekends, I've been convinced that I would have the four lined panels completed and hung by Sunday evening. Alas, they are not done yet. Only one panel is complete and for some reason for which I cannot yet account it is 4 inches shorter than it's supposed to be. Argh!

I know it's been a while since I've made curtains. It is additionally challenging to make lined curtains, despite the helpful tutorials I've found online. What I've found to be the biggest impediment to my progress is the fact that I don't have enough room anywhere in the house to lay out 100+ inches of fabric for measuring and cutting. Well, there's probably enough room on the living room floor, but I'd rather not have the new curtains covered in dog hair.

Hopefully, next weekend I will have at least two panels completed and hung. It's chilly in this living room and thermal-lined curtains will be so welcome!

If you're interested, the tutorial I've been using for the curtains can be found here on anna's nest.

New Year's Resolution - A whole new year

2011-01-03T19:46:00.000-05:00

Well, my New Year's resolution for 2010 was to start a blog. I suppose you could say that I completed that resolution, but with only a few posts I would hardly call it a successful project. With a new computer on the way (and --ahem-- other things on the way, too), I hope to log many more posts in 2011. I think this year will be easier because the new computer (new to me, anyway) has Photoshop and Illustrator, more ram, and generally works better (it has a battery that lasts longer than 1.4 minutes!) all of which will make blogging more pleasant. Yay!

I have lots of DIY projects to share in the new apartment. Jack just completed an awesome project in the kitchen yesterday that is fantastic and worthy of a post. I'm working on sewing some curtains (or are they drapes?) for the living room. There's at least one failure project that we've lived with since the summer, which I cannot wait to remedy and will be more than happy to share our lessons learned (hint: primer!).

Here's to a new year and a fresh start with the blog!

We have an apartment!

2010-06-05T10:54:00.000-04:00

We submitted a deposit on a great place in Queen Village yesterday. No, mom, it's not the place I described to you last weekend. This one is a little bigger (an extended trinity) and has a tiny "yard" (I use this term lightly; you'll understand when you see the photos of it) instead of a roofdeck (that roofdeck would have made you very nervous). It's two bedrooms plus an attic where Jack will have his office. The bathroom is tiny and the living room has some awkward nooks and crannies, but that is to be expected. It is classic Philadelphia trinity charm! The kitchen is totally workable: gas range, dishwasher (thank God!), standard size sink (we can fit the water filter under the faucet!), and room for a table. It's on a tiny dead end street that is completely car free from our unit in. Oh, and there's a washer and dryer in the cellar.

Here is an awkwardly angled photo of the outside. More pics coming soon!

A new apartment...coming soon

2010-05-26T22:50:00.000-04:00

The last few weeks have been spent trolling Craigslist for apartments. We are finally moving out of student housing in August (yay!) and hope to find a place in Queen Village, a lovely neighborhood on the eastern side of Center City here in Philadelphia. As Queen Village is the oldest neighborhood in Philly, much of the housing stock is equally old. Listings typically describe these places as "charming." I love the charm, but I'm still wrapping my head around the layout of the classic Philly "trinity." A trinity is a rowhouse, typically three stories, hence the "trinity." The kitchen is usually in the cellar and each floor is a single room. Very little space is given to circulation; the narrow circular stairs are barely wide enough for one person to negotiate. Moving furniture to upper floors is challenging so, some places have passthroughs cut into the ceiling and floor to move furniture up and down.

More to come on some of the places we've seen and our eventual new place.

Small and Cool

2010-05-04T08:36:00.000-04:00

Apartment Therapy is hosting a neat, little contest called the Small, Cool Contest. People have some really great small apartments and houses. I love the bold use of color in many of them. Here are a couple of my favorites.

This is Brynn's living area. Love the pillows! Hard to believe the whole apartment is smaller than ours at only 351 sf.

Anu's bedroom is fabulous! The wallpaper and curtains with the soft white bed is a classy combination. Anu also knows how to use pattern and wallpaper so go check out that entry and others.

Inspiration images

2010-05-02T09:30:00.000-04:00

While on the subject of home design, here are a few more images from my inspiration library.

The first I simply labeled "velvet," which I can only assume means I found it on some website called velvet or it references the fact that there is velvet in the photo. Either way, I love the blue and orange. Opposite colors on the color wheel are so striking!

This next one is from the February 2010 issue of Country Living. We are looking at couches and this couch is totally my style. The different pillows are a great touch.

The bright yellow of this entry and "landing strip" is fabulous. If it doesn't make you want to sing as you leave the house each morning, then I don't know what would. It just makes me happy! Via Apartment Therapy.

I'm off to go sing! (No, not really. Well, ok, maybe I will sing my way to the elevator and down the block.)

Master Bedroom Plans

2010-05-01T00:33:00.001-04:00

Right now we only have one bedroom, but in a few months we hope to move into a 2-bedroom place. Once we make that move, I plan to implement the following.

It all starts with Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Jason Segel is awesome, but the pillows in the hotel in Hawaii are amazing! Unfortunately, I didn't know where to find them. A few comments on Apartment Therapy let me know that others think these are beautiful, as well, but no sources were listed. After much searching, I learned that the pillows are made using a traditional Hawaiian quilting applique technique. I found a couple of potential sources, including this one from Moana Quilts:

Jack's aunt lives in Hawai'i and I plan on asking her advice on where to find the best ones. I especially love the turquoise on royal blue ones they have in the movie, but I haven't been able to find that particular color pairing online. I will post some screen shots from the movie soon.

As for the rest of the bed, I want this dreamy duvet and shams from West Elm:

I'd also add a pair of euro pillows with turquoise shams from The Company Store.

Drapes/curtains will be solid peacock blue in a silk or velvet. Inspiration comes from the master bedroom of the Stamford Wife. Love those drapes! Just gorgeous!

I would add some texture in the form of bamboo blinds for the windows and a light sand colored sisal, seagrass, or berber rug.

Finally, for a little punch I'd add a pair of lemon yellow bedside lamps in a teardrop shape.

Public Service Message

2010-03-04T15:13:00.000-05:00

I'm gonna be on the radio! I just recorded a comment for WBUR that will air towards the end of the Radio Boston show, which airs tomorrow at 1 pm (so sometime around 1:40 or 1:45). The comment is an abbreviated version of the comment I posted on the Radio Boston website in response to their segment on Vancouverism (scroll down to the 9th entry). I posted about the segment two weeks ago after my own post about Vancouver.

Friday is Walk/Ride Day

2010-02-24T21:43:00.001-05:00

Back in Cambridge, I was involved with a group known as Green Streets, an organization developed to promote alternative transportation. The group's efforts primarily focusses on encouraging children to walk or ride their bike to school on the last Friday of every month. Adults can participate, too. I promoted Walk/Ride Day at my old job.

This Friday marks the next Walk/Ride Day. Click here for more information and don't forget to wear green and go green this Friday! Hopefully folks in Philly will be shoveled out by then.

Eat your colors

2010-02-21T21:26:00.002-05:00

Long before Michael Pollan penned Food Rules, my parents taught me the importance of having a balance of colors on your plate. It's an easy nutrition lesson that is explained by the various vitamins, antioxidants and nutrients associated with the colors of different fruits and vegetables. Likewise, our kitchen reflects an eat-your-colors-like rule by bringing in pops of color to brighten and warm our otherwise dingy and dull student apartment.

A while back we relocated our favorite rug from the living room to the kitchen, totally transforming the room. A recent post on The Newlywed Diaries suggests that a rug in the kitchen is unexpected and makes the kitchen more of a living room. I definitely agree. It certainly makes it more comfortable to cook with soft, thick wool under my toes.

Here's how our kitchen looked without the rug:

Here's our kitchen now:

The rug is from Crispina Ffrench and is made from old sweaters that are dyed in bulk and woven together kind of like those loop potholders we made in Brownies. (She has a blog, too.) Of course I worry about spills and such, but the rug is relatively easy to clean because it's made of natural fibers. In fact, Crispina explains her favorite way to clean the rugs is as follows:

My favorite way to clean them is on a fresh layer of snow. Spread the dirty rug out and walk all over it (don’t wear muddy boots!) then flip the rug over onto a new spot in the fresh snow and do the same. This technique pulls all the animal hair, dust bunnies and lint balls off the surface. Spills can be cleaned with a gentle scrubbing brush and soapy water.

Hilarious! I had to try this out, especially now while Philly still has snow on the ground.

It worked reasonably well. Better than our crappy vacuum, anyway.

Here are a few more close-ups of our pretty rug. Do you have pops of color in your kitchen? Where do you find your inspiration?

Vancouverism on Radio Boston

2010-02-20T21:38:00.000-05:00

Quick follow-up to my post last week: WBUR discussed the Vancouver model on Radio Boston yesterday, including an interview with Larry Beasley.

Below is a picture I took of the seawall in the North False Creek neighborhood. The seawall is a popular recreation trail that follows the shoreline around most of downtown and maintaining and extending public access to it is a planning principle in the Central Area Plan. North False Creek is the site of the Expo 86 World's Fair and was developed by Concord Pacific.

Vancouver: The True Emerald City

2010-02-14T20:51:00.000-05:00

Watching the Winter Olympics and all the shots and stories of Vancouver makes me miss the city and my good friends there. Quick back story: I spent two years living in Vancouver when I was getting my Master's in Urban Planning at the University of British Columbia's School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP). Getting to Vancouver and discovering SCARP, began with a ski trip to Whistler in April 2002. It gave me my first dose of the beauty of British Columbia and the inspiring successes of city planning.

I arrived in late afternoon and our bus departed the airport for the 2.5 hour trek through Vancouver, over the Lions Gate Bridge, and along the Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler. We drove through the city along city streets and not a freeway, as is typical of many North American cities. The no-freeway phenomenon in Vancouver is a result of the freeway riots that took place in west coast cities in the '60s and '70s. Unlike San Francisco and Seattle, however, Vancouver citizens successfully derailed efforts to build a freeway.

Quick reminder: I was travelling from Boston, which, in early April, is generally varying shades of grey, brown, and mud. Vancouver, on the other hand, had just emerged from 5 months of winter rain. The sun was shining and everything was brilliant shades green. The city lived up to its moniker as the Emerald City. (Contrary to popular belief, Vancouver really is more an Emerald City than Seattle --read on!)

As we made our way across the city, the bus driver began his (unadvertised) tour. He told us that Vancouver had been experiencing a tremendous surge in population over the last 20 years (from 1981 to 2001 the population grew 32%) and that much of that growth was accommodated in the Downtown. This kind of growth is unprecedented in a city that did not grow by annexation during this period (Phoenix, AZ, for example, grew 67% from 1980 to 2000, but also grew in land area by annexing previously unincorporated areas). The bus driver went on to say that the City Planning department was largely responsible by encouraging a gross amount of high-rise housing in the Downtown. Development in the surrounding metropolitan area had greatly increased traffic congestion in Vancouver, as the city remained the employment center for the region. Some discussed the possibility of building a freeway to expedite travel, but the City Planning department had other ideas. Larry Beasley, then the Co-Director of Planning for the city, suggested that their strategy be to create a better jobs-housing balance. By moving people closer to the job center, it essentially eliminated the need (or at least the discussion thereof) for a freeway. (Side note: we understand that limited-access highways and freeways do not actually alleviate traffic congestion in urban areas; they concentrate it. Redundancy --options and choice in a whole transportation system-- does a lot more to move people and goods from place to place.) This is only part of what John Punter describes as The Vancouver Achievement in his book of the same name.

Our bus driver was full of anecdotes relating to city planning, including the story of the glass on One Wall Centre. From the vantage point on the bus I could see the mountains rising out of Burrard Inlet, the mist shadowing the trees of Stanley Park, and the west coast sunset. It made for a fascinating trip through the city. So fascinating that I promptly researched planning schools in Vancouver and learned of the progressive program at UBC and SCARP. Little did I know just how influential that trip would be on my career and my life. As I watch these Olympic games, I find myself looking for friends in the crowds, sights I know, and rooting for hometown heros that they may win gold in Canada's Emerald City.

Thursday is Sto-Ver Day

2010-02-11T19:53:00.000-05:00

My family has a history with Stowe, Vermont. My papa bought our house there, Barrows Brook Lodge, in 1970. Over the years, we've hosted ski weekends, Independence Day parties,weddings, reunions, Thanksgivings, Christmases, Easters, and many other gatherings. When I was young we spent whole summers there, building dams in Three Stroke Pond, watching for shooting stars, and digging around in the garden.

I have a strong phenomenological connection with the house and property. There is a particular smell that is embodied in the house. It's the smell of cut grass, wool blankets, dew, and wax. At night, it's quiet. Sometimes the quiet gets to you and a draft feels like a cold breath on your neck as you make your way upstairs for bed. Mostly, the creaks and groans are soft and comforting, like taking your skiboots off at the end of a spring day when the snow is extra heavy. You stretch your feet and crack your toes and dry out the chill by the fire. The whole house laughs when you laugh.

The sky is brighter and darker. The snow is deeper. The grass grows faster.

And I am thankful for this place.

Cymbidium and Snowflakes

2010-02-10T18:23:00.000-05:00

Today is my birthday. Mother Nature brought me a snowstorm (and a snow day from work!) and Jack bought me a cymbidium orchid. Being diehard New Englanders, however, meant that we were not derailed by the snow that has crippled much of the East Coast. We bundled up in Gore-tex and boots, dug out our car and drove to Chestnut Hill to pick up my orchid. Jack purchased it at Robertson's, a local Philadelphia florist that's been around for generations and is a Best of Philadelphia favorite. I wish I had my camera with me for the trip because the snow gave the city such a serene quality and made the drive along Lincoln Drive and MLK/West River Drive very dramatic. I did capture a couple of pictures of my beautiful orchid. Enjoy!

New Year's Resolution

2010-02-07T21:25:00.000-05:00

It's taken a month to implement one of my New Year's resolutions: to start a blog. It's a simple thing, really. The thing is that I've been laboring over how to start or, rather, what to write (and of course be witty doing it). I love reading home design blogs, but think I should really be writing about city planning and urban design since that's actually what I do for a living. On the other hand, I intended to start my Barrows Brook Farm blog, but it doesn't make much sense to write about living in Vermont when I live in Philly (more on that later).

My darling husband encouraged me to start this blog and was responsible for creating the name. It's a blend of timeless and modern; it reflects well my philosophy on design. Thanks, pooks!

So, this blog will cover a range of design-related topics and probably a few non-design topics, too. I hope you will enjoy reading it. It was Benjamin Franklin who said, "Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." I'll do my best, Ben.