trip: Idaho

We had a great time in Idaho visiting family this weekend! It was so much fun to spend time with Krystal and Hazel! We're so glad they were able to make it out from NY. J's cousin Nick got married in Idaho Falls on the 7th. Cachet was a beautiful bride. We feel so blessed to be able to make it up there and spend so much time with J's extended family!

I got mysteriously ill while there and had a miserable drive home. Luckily it passed fast. My stomach is still weak from throwing up but other than that and an occasional headache I'm as good as new!

fun: Modern Traditional

I've had a hard time defining my design style. I used to be traditional. Now I'm more contemporary. The problem is there are still some traditional pieces that I LOVE. The internal conflict has been how do I combine these two design styles?

Woodson and Rummerfield are in LA and I definitely like some things that they've done. I love how they mixed traditional with modern for this homeowner.


Dark chocolate is not a traditional wall color. I love how they paired that with the updated antique headboard. The mirrored side table and lamps I LOVE and I think this room is super cute!
I love the classic lines of the chair and table contrasting with the retro mirror.



The chairs table and stair railing are more modern but the chandelier and nick knacks are traditional. I love how warm this combination makes the room feel.


I also love this chair by Philippe Starck. It's a Louise the XVI chair that has been done in Lucite-a clear acrylic. It's no wonder this chair has been advertised as the Ghost chair!




Here's a peak at what inspires me. What inspires you?

fun: The 9th Ward

Our friend Megan introduced us to this blog and I find it HILARIOUS! I especially like this one.

project: Finished (Almost)

This is mainly for my mom. Every time I talk to her she asks me about currant and past projects. So Mom, here's our most recent completed projects! I can't wait for your feedback!

The 2nd kid bedroom

This one is intended for the older kids (if we get any). I want to thank everyone who helped us get this room together. Thank you so much for the bunk beds, toy storage, bookshelf, money donations, paint, time and effort that were so instrumental for us to get this room put together. Thank you!

I've found it hard to decorate for kids you don't know. This is not how I'd decorate a little girls room or a little boys room but this is my take on a generic kids room.

The bunk beds were given to us and the great number comforter are from IKEA along with the table, chairs and craft storage.

I want to fill these frames with cork board so it's easy to switch out kid art. If that really happens or not, remains to be seen but that's my current idea!

M, the little girl I watch, loves to color and paint in this room!

Nursery

We finally got the dresser painted while Mom and A where here this fall! Now, this is my favorite dresser.

We've been wanting to redo this chair.


I think the ottoman turned out AWESOME!

Basement Family Room/BYU Cougar Room!

Almost everything came from KSL (a local TV station that has free online classifieds).

I hate the shininess of the paint! I walked into the paint store I wanted eggshell and somehow walked out of there with semi-gloss! I'm trying to figure out if I want to try and do some sort of tone on tone paint treatment or just plain repaint it. You can tell on this last picture that the back half of the room is not painted.

obsession: Annoying!

How many of you Utahans are finding it ANNOYING to have to dial 1-801-XXX-XXXX or 1-385-XXX-XXXX to call anyone!? I know it is primarily the Realtors and other small business owners that wanted it this way. But GRRRRRR!

As a REALTOR I can see why one would prefer this. If you've spent years in the business and have purchased special numbers like 1-801-XXX-Home or any othermarketing gimmick it could be detrimental to your business to start all over with a different area code. All the business cards and letterhead to be replaces ect ect ect. So legislators thought it would be a briliant idea to let everyone keep thier number and just assign the new area code only to new numbers.

But what about the young and the elderly. How much more difficult is it going to be for them if I, as a young 25 year old, can't keep it strait? Does this bug anyone else?

project: Ottoman

I've loved the idea of a round cocktail ottoman (one that doubles for a coffee table) for my front room for a LONG time. I started looking for one and found that they were expensive! I finally found one the right size for a "reasonable" price. The only problem was is looks like this:

That picture doesn't make it look too bad but it is really ugly! I plan to recover it and found this fabric that I thought would work.

I'm really torn. the color is OK but I'm not in love with the pattern. It makes it look too formal. Here's a close up on the fabric

These are also fabrics I like:

fun: BYU Game

Last night we were at the BYU Utah game. It was a blast to go out with our friend Jake and it was even better b/c we won this one!

We were in the nose bleed seats-I mean it we were in the last row- and we were in the old people section. At BYU that translates into anything not near the student section. These fans watch the game as if they were at home- lifelessly. =(

It was a white out and the students did a great job wearing the "white" ;) color. LOL. This shot was taken 1 hour before game time and the student section was packed and all in white! Go BYU!

project: Drum Shade Chandelier

(FYI-The prices are links to the sites where these products are available)

I've been wanting to do a drum shade chandelier with the FREE chandelier I got off KSL this fall. This is the look I've been looking for:

$500

Watching HGTV Myles of Style made this one:

$230

I actually don't love IT but I love the idea. She took off the opaque shade and added wound wide chiffon ribbon around the shade to get a similar look. (I think I would've been happy with the shade the way it was) The biggest problem with this chandelier is it cost $230. The bargin shopper in me thinks that's too much. I mean why would I do it myself when I could have this one from overstock?

$119

Lucky, or unlucky for me I already have the chandelier. I just need to bite the bullet and go find a shade that would fit!

trips: Weekend Get-a-way!

I love Midway! We got away for the weekend and stayed at the Homestead. The place was great! (the food was awful.)

Here's a recap of my Birthday weekend!

E trying to X country ski. Notice I'm on my butt!

J and E at the awesome dueling ice carving competition at Soldier Hollow.

So we left our camera at home and this is the best we could do with the cameras on our phones. This is an eagle standing on one wing.

This is a giraffe it even had spots! course you can't see that with the camera phone. =)

They must have known we were celebrating my birthday because they also gave a fireworks show! We were so lucky to go during Winterfest. I think it will be a great family tradition to go up every February and celebrate winter with the great town of Midway!


We ate at this little "whole in the wall" in Heber called the Hub. I love those little places that feel like they've been around 4ever! Not something you'd find easily in Utah County!

foster: Adoption?!

We got a call for a permanent placement. It was a heart wrenching story. I wasn't prepared for our first call to be an adoption call! After much thought and prayer we decided it wasn't the right time or situation for our family. =( The good news is, we're being considered for children.