month of thankfulness at meet me in philadelphia

Today I'm over at my friend's 'house', Meet Me in Philadelphia, sharing what I am most thankful for this year. Go over and check it out!

And Ashley, thank you for not only being a great friend, but also for teaching me how to spell Philadelphia. xo

fess up friday - the makeriesta

Happy Fess Up Friday y'all! Today I've got my friend Gwen from The Makeriesta over to share. Gwen is a fellow Missouri girl, which already makes her awesome. But on top of that, her design skills are out of this world, she can create a party wonderland overnight and she is single handedly going to turn my hair into an enviable mane of glory. Yes, she is just that good. Welcome Gwen!

I've had something on my mind for a bit now, and when Elizabeth asked me about fessing up I knew exactly what I wanted to get off my chest.

If you've ever ventured over to my blog, you've probably seen pictures like this.

Our living area is my favorite space in the house.  It definitely reflects my personal taste, and I enjoy spending time in it.

When our second child, a girl, was born the nursery was transformed into a more feminine space.

And my son got a big boy bed in our old office.  The office had to find a new home, and there was really only one place for it to fit.  My husband finished the basement right after we got married.  He claimed the space as his and I really didn't mind.  It gave him some personal space and me the freedom to do just about whatever the heck I wanted with the upstairs.  We had an understanding: the upstairs was my domain, the downstairs was his.

But the more kids we add, the less basement he has to claim.  Our office area moved to the corner and Micah gave up his pool table to make room for a craft table he built me for my birthday a few years ago - really nice, I know.

You see, open shelving sounds like a good idea, until you have a 1 year old who likes to pull out and rearrange EVERYTHING.



Cue the bad, florescent lighting.  The basement is full of Micah's bachelor essentials: the microfiber sectional that dog hair clings to, the leg lamp, the mini fridge full of beer (perfect size for your children to grab you a cold one) and way too many gaming systems and accessories.  Not to mention the art…Marilyn and Bob Marley.

The kid's toys are certainly not doing the space any favors.  This is where the less attractive ones go to die.  I talked in this post about what I prefer toys to look like, but you can't help what kids want and what others buy for your children.  The reason they're everywhere?  Most nights my husband takes them for a bit so I can have some time to get things done, and they are little tornadoes down there. Oh, and Micah's CDs?  A tower of history that my daughter, Milly, loves to rummage through.

  

And this is where the magic happens.  Looks magical doesn't it?  I curl up in that Mizzou Snuggie until the wee hours of the night writing and editing and brainstorming.  I never spent too much time down here before I started blogging.  It was a place to pay bills and sync my phone.  Now I spend more time here than upstairs most days, and it's not very inspiring.

We do plan to make some changes soon.  First on the list is turning the storage area under the stairs into a kids space to lessen the clutter and hopefully keep them out of our things a bit more.  I'd also love to give the desk space some of my personality (clearly it's lacking any at this point).  Micah doesn't really want me touching what little he has left, but he's a stylish guy who I believe deserves a much better looking room to relax at the end of the day. 

Phew.  I feel better now.  I guess I wanted to share this today to show that just because some of my rooms look nice and put together, that's not a reflection of my home as a whole.  Making your home "you" is a process and something that can't be rushed. 

Thanks for the free therapy, Elizabeth!

You aren't alone Gwen. We all have 'that space' in our home, right?!

the 12 days of christmas tour of homes

What?!

I go from no posts to two posts in two days? I am just that exciting. True.

It is rather important to me to take the time to enjoy the season/holiday we are in and not jump ahead to the next one. Poor Thanksgiving gets run right over with the excitement for the big daddy of the year - Christmas. So I exercise as much strength as I can to not pull out anything for Christmas, not even a song on the radio, until Thanksgiving is over. The excitement is even bigger then when we finally unwrap all of those great things that stay in a closet 11 months of the year.

But, I am also one for planning ahead and I love to mark things down on my calendar. So with that in mind, I'm excited to let you know that I'll be joining several other fabulous bloggers this year for The 12 Days of Christmas Tour of Homes.

Now not only does this mean you have 11 days of holiday eye candy to look forward to, but best of all, on the 12 day will be a great link up party so that you can share your holiday home as well! I can smell the pine and peppermint already.

So mark you calendars and get ready for some holiday cheer!!

the dog ate my homework and pop-up shopping

I've missed you!

I'm not going to bore you with any excuses as to why I've been MIA just know that I miss y'all terribly when I'm not on my normal schedule. I feel like a big part of my day is missing. And now, I want to sing this song to tell you how sorry I am... just kidding. We would no longer be friends if I sung to you.

Things will return to normal as quickly as possible, so just hang with me. And because I can't leave you empty handed (that would make this the most boring post on record) I want to make sure you know about this little treat Santa has dropped in our laps.

My very favorite Australian, Anna Spiro, opened up her Christmas Pop-Up Shop this morning and things are gong fast. Head over there if you are like me and would love nothing more than to spend an afternoon shopping at Black & Spiro but you don't have the extra couple grand for a ticket down to the southern hemisphere.

Have a great day and happy shopping!

fess up friday - chez v

Have I got a yarn to weave for you today. I've got my partner in crime Emily from Chez V over for Fess Up Friday today and we've got a good one for you. Freshen up your drink and enjoy. And Zuck, if you want to use us for a Facebook commercial, we're open to offers. Emily, fess up with Part 1...

Is there anything better than the thrill of the chase?  Well here is a little ditty for you about a desperate chase, the power of social media, and the
kindness of strangers.  As a linking participant of the One Room Challenge, I was on a frenzied search to locate a pair of affordable sconces for my bedroom plan aka Project Chinoisy Safari Chic.

With little time, I knew my search would be a lot like trying to avoid bread and cheese.  Not gonna happen.  On a Wednesday, mid-challenge, I headed to IKEA in search of some drapes to hack.  Imagine my glee when I stumbled across the Ranarp clamp spotlights.  I was completely smitten upon first sight considering all the other sconces I was contemplating for my ORC room carried hefty price tags and long lead times.
The Ranarp - $19.99.  Say what?!  Done and done.

But like all too-good-to-be-true dreams, I awoke from my design euphoric nirvana state only to realize that they were sold out.  Of course you are, little gorgy industrial glam thingy, you!  Immediately, I sent out a request on Instagram asking if anyone knew of any in stock anywhere.  Like the shot heard round the world, my fellow design soldiers started rallying to the call, one of which was one of my favorite gals in all of blogland, Elizabeth.  It seems she too was on the hunt for the coveted Ranarps.

  

In the meantime, while my little was busy hopping herself up on a cinnamon roll, I sweet talked a very accommodating IKEA customer service guy into doing a country wide inventory search (which I do not necessarily suggest as it took forever and garnered a lot of evil side eye from the long customer svc queue) only to discover that the lamps were indeed, sold out everywhere with the exception of 17 in Paramus, NJ and 3 in Houston, TX.  I shared this info with Elizabeth and thus began a dual mission to score these lamps through one of our varied networks.

We schemed, we commiserated, we called, emailed, blogged, IG’d and FB’d in an attempt to reach anyone who had peeps near Paramus, NJ or Houston all to no avail.  I even contacted my master finder-of-all-things bestie in Berlin, Germany.
This is the kinda gal who has a vast network of contacts willing and ready to do her bidding.  She said, yes, she could probably pull it off but to keep checking with other sources as it would take a few to orchestrate.
Meanwhile, on Friday evening of that same week, at 7pm, my sister’s father-in-law, who lives in NJ, happened to be near the Paramus store, and agreed to go pick some up, but would I mind calling to verify stock first.  Hoo-ray!!!!  No problem!!!! Except when I called IKEA another very nice customer svc lady informed me that no, in fact, Paramus did not have ANY in stock.  Is it possible that all 17 sold out in 2 days?!  No, turns out that when my customer svc dude did the country wide search, the 17 he ‘found’ in the Paramus, NJ store where actually in the Elizabeth, NJ store.  Which was no where near where my sister’s father-in-law happened to be at said moment.  Wha wha wha.

via

Are you still with me?
I know, me neither.
I am exhausted just retelling it. 
Clearly it was time for wine and more commiseration.  Off went another email to Elizabeth detailing how the Holy Grail had slipped through our fingers, yet again.  At which point, I hand off the story baton to her which involves that Friday evening spent feverishly exchanging updates via email over many glasses of wine on my side and probably many G &Ts on hers while my much ignored and frustrated husband could not understand even a little bit about what all the fuss was about.  Thankfully, Elizabeth’s hubster could!

kisses,  mrs. V

Part 2...

It was not a good night for Emily and me. As y'all may have gathered, I can get myself a wicked case of tunnel vision when I want something. I am like Miley Cyrus when she sees a foam finger - I cannot be stopped.
After days of back and forth, and a Friday night spent emailing at a rapid pace, we were left empty handed. Damn that IKEA customer service rep and his lack of New Jersey geographic knowledge. My New Jersey adjacent sources were tapped as well and worst of all I was running out of gin.

Luckily this happened just as the hubs was finishing his movie. "Are you two still talking about those dumb lights?" he said (in an ultra supportive voice). I updated him on the latest and he said, "let's just put this on Facebook". And like that he sent out an SOS on his feed.

Just an hour and a half later he had a response from a friend from high school (which was in Chicago) who now lives in Dallas. Yes, Dallas is not Houston, but she has a friend who lives in Houston who would probably be up for it. "She loves to shop."

Good lord, we might have a winner. I told Emily right away and we both held our breath as my husband texted Dallas and Dallas texted Houston and back again. Houston was in, we just needed to confirm in the AM that the IKEA store did in fact have the lights in stock and she would be there as soon as they opened.

So a perfect stranger agreed to go to IKEA on the worst IKEA day of the week a Saturday to pick up three lights, the LAST three lights in stock in the lower 48, for two crazy ladies in two different states that she had never met. Emily and I squealed and lit a candle that some early bird Texan wouldn't get our lights before our shopping angel arrived.

I had already committed to go to an auction that morning with a client so I called IKEA on my way and they were as (un)helpful as ever, telling me that it 'looks like there are 3 available' but they couldn't be sure. Awesome.

So we waited, and waited, and just as I lost a bid on some fab ginger jars this popped up on my phone.

Three left and they were all ours. I cheered silently and forwarded the picture to Emily. IKEA, I love you again.

As if this woman couldn't get any better, she sent a few more texts asking if there were any other forms of the RANARP we wanted while she was there (the desk lamp is especially lovely). Can this wonderful person please move to St. Louis so I can hug her?!

She shipped them out first thing Monday and on Wednesday morning I had the best package on my doorstep along with the sweetest note (on fab monogramed stationary I might add). Not only did this woman make this trip for people she doesn't even know to a store that is crazy on a quite day but she did it all while sick. And my favorite part - "I took it upon myself to also buy the lightbulbs that were recommended for the light, just in case." I love her.

So in the end this

and this

would not have been possible without our little slice of heaven in Texas. Thank you Marnie and Ann for your kindness. Emily and I would like to buy you ladies a drink.

Have you ever been desperate to get your hands on something? Ever need something and then when you find out it is hard to get it becomes an obsession? Ever want to kiss a stranger?

i've got my sources

One of the best parts about the ORC is hearing everyones comments. It is so interesting what people notice and what sparks their interest. I've had several source requests so I thought I'd lay it all out nice and neat, just like this room was - for about an hour. I am happy to report it is now perfectly trashed, and will probably stay that way for the foreseeable future. Also, the sun finally came out so I got some more true-to-life pictures.

The rug towards the front of the room is an outdoor rug from Home Decorators and I love it. I may or may not have spilled a small bit of paint on it and it wiped up as though it were water. (thank god it was latex). Trust that I'm not the only messy one in the house though, the girls have dropped and spilled on it as well and it always cleans up like a champ. And to know that I can take it out in the spring and hose it down makes mamma very happy.

The vintage rug in the play area was found in an antique store down in Sarasota, FL. It is soft and plush and very well warn. And because of its...age spots I know it can take a beating from toy strollers, legos, and the occasional glitter nail polish and still look great.

The white stools were purchased several years ago at my favorite local antique store and have been in just about every room in the house and every color in the rainbow. I had just barely enough Les Touches to cover them and I love how they tie the red accents from the front of the house to the back of the room.

The console is an outdoor buffet table. It folds up, has a zinc top and weights practically nothing.

The blue and white is from my collection that has made its way around the house and the lovely brass hardware is from Rejuvenation.

The backs of the bookshelves are planked, just like the far wall. Tutorial to come soon.

The fabric for the slipcovers is plain white denim from housefabric.com (they are local for me). All the fabric was prewashed and the slipcovers were made without piping to prevent shrinkage when they are washed. And they will be washed. Frequently.

The red and white pillow is from Etsy, the white table used to be black, the mirror is from the side of the road (classy) and the toy under the table is probably Fisher-Price. (real life)

The plaid fabric, floral fabric and blue and white fabric are all from housefabric.com. They know me well there.

The color on the chairs is Rust-Oleum Lemongrass. The green pillow is from World Market (although I don't think it is available any more) and the ikat pillow is from Etsy. Rainbow Pom-pom garland from Furbish and sconce from IKEA.

I told you it was a sunny day. Can you believe all of this light came in from the door at the top of the stairs?!

I think that about covers it. Do you have furniture that you recycle from one room to the next? Ever dump something in storage for a while and all of a sudden it seems new and exciting? How excited do you think HouseFabric.com is going to be when they hear I'm actually sewing now?

where do you want to go

Good gracious y'all!! Thank you so much for your response to the One Room Challenge. Not only am I grateful for all of you, but I had such a great time looking thru all of the fabulous rooms of the other ladies as well as all the amazing linking party participants.  There is some serious talent out there, and I was thrilled to be apart of it. I'll be back on Wednesday with details and sources on the room.

And if you follow me on Instagram (which you totally should by the way) then you know on top of the ORC excitement, I had some other big stuff going on as well. More on that as soon as I can share.

So all of this action has left me exhausted and hankering for a trip somewhere. I was raised a traveler. I've been to each of the lower 48, all by car thank you very much, so I've gotten to see so many great places. And maybe it is coming down from a stressful few weeks, or the fact that winter is approaching and I'm getting ready to hibernate, but I want to hit the road.

Maine

Charleston, SC

California Redwoods

Breckenridge, CO

my girls on the beach in Sarasota

Where do you want to go? Where is your favorite place to travel? Who wants to go on a road trip?

one room challenge - week 6 aka the reveal!

Week six is finally here and I have crossed the finish line. Picture me squirting gin water all over my face. Wahoo!

I've said it before but it should be said again - six weeks is not as long as it sounds and I was down to the wire on this project. It can be confirmed that I am a down to the minute girl.

But enough jabbing, let's get to the pictures. I won't do much talking today (as hard as that is to believe), I'll just show the goods. Oh, with one note - this is a basement AKA - NO light. And no matter how many 'learn how to use your camera' tutorials I pin, I just don't have the patience. So be kind. A professional photographer I am not...obviously.

As a reminder, here is where we started six weeks ago.

Here was my inspiration board for the space.

And here we are today.

The old office table from Goodwill and my mis-matched chairs have all gotten a paint job and are ready for lots of arts and crafts. The chalkboard was mine growing up and got a fresh coat of red paint (the girls' color choice).

Clearly I am not a chalkboard artist, but the girls are. The quote is my new mantra. I'm going to use it to justify my consistently messy house.

I planked the back of the bookshelves to coordinate with the plank wall and then filled them with my blue and white overflow and lots 'o books. The numbers on the left are old score board numbers I got at a church yard sale years ago and represent our anniversary - May 20.

I made those pillows. With a sewing machine. Its true. Not a big deal to most but a huge accomplishment for me. I am still amazed.

The old $8 chairs got white denim slipcovers (perfect to wash when needed) and look so very good. I am in love with their skirts. And they looks smashing with their Goodwill makeover lamps.

The dollhouse was made years ago by a family friend and was passed down to the girls when my niece went to college. The sign that hangs above is from my grandparent's farm. The same farmhouse where the 'homework chair' that sits over at the creative station came from.

The girls are big into photos (mostly of themselves) so I took an old metal tray and turned it into a magnetic photo board. Push pins often end up on the floor and then stuck in someone's toe (that would be mine) at our house so magnets sounded like a safer bet. Now we can switch, add and rearrange on a whim. And trust me, we have a lot of whims at our house.

The coffee table got a fresh coat of paint and a new plexi glass - aka unbreakable - top. And I'm madly in love with the indoor/outdoor rug. It feels great, looks great and takes a beating like a champ.

So there she blows. All done and being trashed by the girls as we speak. Just as it should be. I'll be sharing more details, sources, and tutorials over the coming weeks so be sure to stay tuned. And thank you all for following along. I hope you had as much fun as I did.

A special huge thank you to my dear friend Linda for including me on this fun adventure, and to all my fellow challenge mates. Excellent work ladies!

Please take time to look over all of their beautiful spaces. This is a fun day!! 

Calling it Home 

Chinoiserie Chic 

Classic Casual Home 

Cottage and Vine 

Design Addict Mom 

Design Crisis 

Design Indulgence 

Design Manifest 

The English Room 

The Green Room Interiors 

Henhurst Interiors  

Maddie's Nest 

Mix And Chic 

My Notting Hill 

Pawleys Island Posh 

The Pink Pagoda 

Shelter 

Simple Details 

The Vault Files 

Now let's break out the celebratory drinks!! Cheers all!