Inspiration strikes

I found this amazing living room, styled by Sasa Antic, via Oh Joy! and it brought my entire (current) design aestheic into focus. I've been loving the simplicity of Scandanavian design--white washed with bright bursts of color, but we also have a good deal of black furniture that I love and I've been struggling with how to incorporate that well in our new place.

I've also been head over heels for midcentury design lately, especially the Cherner Arm Chair:

I looooooooooooove this chair. Elementary school children could sing songs about me and this chair sitting in a tree, and I'd just be cool with it. It comes in many finishes, but my favorite is the classic walnut. I really love how in the Sasa Antic living room she incorporates white, black, and wood finish so easily. You would think, "Ah, just mix and match!" but somehow it's not that easy! Designers somehow put it all together and it looks eccletic and chic. If it's done incorrectly it just looks like you couldn't make up your mind.

I think I've settled (for now) on a table and chairs. What do you think? I'm planning to get 1 Cherner chair and 5 Jake chairs. Or maybe 4 Jake chairs and hold off to find another arm chair to accompany the Cherner.

I have no idea whether or not we'll have carpet in our next home(s), but I can't help admiring these regardless:

Oh, and art of course. Here are some of my latest favorites:

To sit and eat

New and (hopefully!) Improved!

Things are happenin' around here and I've had this rehaul in the works for quite some time. It's been slow going on the blog lately, but I hope to begin posting more regularly once again. I am a re-arranger at heart, and I suppose revamping my blog is just another way of moving the furniture around.

To any of you guys who'd followed on the google follower link--I can't seem to get it reinstalled properly. If you'd still like to be a follower (that sounds weird to me...) please sign up using the networked blogs link instead! I think it's available for others outside of facebook too...

I have other updates and items I hope to include in the coming days, but for now, I'm just happy to have the new look operational. I hope you like it as much as I do!

Right up my alley

I may be way behind on discovering this, but I've just found this cool website, polyvore.com for creating collages from images and text around the web. It seems it is used primarily for fashion and interior design collages, but I can many other creative applications. It has a great user interface and a bookmark you can add to your link bar so that any image found on the web can be easily clipped while on that site for use in a collage. For years now I've kept clippings from magazines and websites, but have always struggled for the best way to organize them. I've printed them out and put the in page protected binders, I've created inspiration bulletin boards, I've archived them through my amazon.com wishlist and my tumblr or here on my blog.

The thing I like so much about polyvore is that you're able to quickly resize, rearrange, bring to the forefront or send to the back any image in the set. You can of course do this sort of thing in photoshop, but it takes more time as that's not photoshop's sole function, as in polyvore. Bighugelabs.com has a neat collage feature, but they automatically crop and scale images, and sometimes the result leaves something to be desired.

I'm already excited by the possibilities for this tool as a way of visualizing a set of items. Back in March, there was a sale at DWR that nearly made me lose my mind in a frenzy of I need a dining table RIGHT NOW. I know I am susceptible to the urgency of a limited time "good deal" and so I was able to regain my sanity before I acted rashly. I like to comparsion shop, and sometimes it's hard to get a good idea about your options unless you can see them side by side. For example, with the tables, viewing them next to one another makes it easy to find strengths and weaknesses--i.e. I like the legs on this one, but prefer this other color, etc. With polyvore I can add images of chairs too to mix and match potentials there as well.

As we get ready for our big move, part of the preparation has been in selling some of our old things to clean house and pare down our possesions. I don't want to drag around a bunch of stuff I don't love, even if I'm not the one physically doing the dragging. Doing this, I've realized how much my tastes have changed over the past 4 years. As a 22 year old, I had no idea what kind of things I would really use when setting up a wedding registry, and thus many things I thought we really needed, we haven't used at all. For instance, we registered for a beautiful pattern of fine china and have used it maybe on two occasions. It's a lovely pattern, but I'm not convinced it was the best choice for our needs. I assembled our living room here piece by piece with no real plan, and it shows. Now, I like an ecclectic style in design, but there are certain pieces and colors that mix and match better than others. The more I look at images, the more I learn, and I think I've finally internalized the fact that decorating is a process, not something I should expect to do all at once. Of course, Justin lovingly shakes his head at all of this--from the satisfaction I get from comparing tables to my fickle nature and the difficulty I sometimes have making decisions.

Anyway, all that is to say, I think that polyvore will be a useful tool to help me visualize and catalogue ideas. Feel free to weigh in on the things that I post, to help me see flaws in my logic or point out things you like too!

Here's my first quick mock up. So...we already have a bed. It's a sleigh bed we bought in Oklahoma for cheap after we were married and it's perfectly functional. It's totally fine. And I want a different one. I've told myself that after I work on getting things we really need (like a dining table), in a few years I can replace our bed with a new one. Lately I've been really into canopy beds, and these are a few I've really been taken by. Unfortunately, my favorite one (bottom center by Niermann Weeks) is sold only to "the trade," meaning designers, and the selling price to me would be in the range of $8,000. Yeah.....How do I always gravitate to the most expensive possible choice?

Tables!!!

Okay, I could use your opinion. Sometimes I am capable of making quick, decisive decisions, even major decisions. Other times...not so much...

I was looking at DWR and found this table, part of the Cross Collection. It is included in a special sale they're offering for a limited time only (of course) and this more than anything else has prompted me to feel I MUST HAVE A DINING TABLE NOW!!! --Even though if I were to buy a table, I couldn't actually see it until after moving back to the states. The sale is a good one--one worth acting on now rather that later, but I can't help worry that I'm being pressured into making a rash decision. Since I have your attention, I wonder if I could ask your opinion. Here is my DWR table in all its glory. I would order it in the darker finish:

But here it is with the two leaf extensions in:

Here it is from the side. (Just in case that wasn't totally obvious...)

And a detail:

The DWR table has a solid oak base with oak veneer top. I really like its modern yet classic design, the unique legs, and the fact I feel it could serve casually or formally.

But then I began comparing to all the other tables I've come across lately. Here's the Benchwright Dining Table from Pottery Barn that I'm also really diggin'. I like the farm house look and the heavy weight of it. It's made of solid birch and poplar and has an unfininshed look to it.

Here it is with its leaf extensions in...

Here are details of the finish, etc. I think the wood is maybe even more in keeping with what we already have, but I'm not totally sold on the "worn in" look. Great for casual, tablecloth required for formal I think. Still, it looks super sturdy, and it wouldn't show wear and tear as much because it would just continue to add character...

Then here's one that gives the farm house look, but is a bit more refined...

And finally, the Manchester Dining Table from ZGallerie. It's made of cherry veneer over "engineered wood" and the base is of "select solid woods." Hmmmm....

So what do you think? The sale ends at DWR on March 18.

Jung Logo

For the third assignment in my Digital Tools class, we were tasked with creating a logo for a local business. This is what I came up with for the Jung hair salon in downtown Baumholder.

Only 348 days early

So for being really excited for 2009, I seem to somehow be stuck around Christmas. I have taken all the decorations down (not that I put them all up this year, but we did manage the tree). I've been trying to clean up a bit, and part of that process has been to go through a stack of magazines, pulling bits of inspiration before tossing them. I came across these lovely plates from Rosanna and, upon seeing they were on sale, had to treat myself to them.

Don't worry...plates 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, & 12 do exist.

I've been meaning to post these pictures for over a week now. Kellen was home on leave over the holidays and he and Julia came over one afternoon to meet Evie and exchange Christmas presents. Chokydar was THRILLED to have them over and could scarcely contain her enthusiasm.

Julia gave me the BEST present. Way back--I forget how long ago now, time passes so oddly...I posted about the trip, Julia and I went to K-town to eat Thai food and visited H&M. While we were walking around the shopping area that day we passed a shop. It had already closed for the day, but displayed in the window was the most awesome cuckoo clock. It's somewhat a tradition to get a cuckoo clock while stationed in Germany, but the really ornate traditional ones aren't quite my style. When I saw this one I fell in love and mused out loud to Julia that I'd have to come back and get it. Of course, I hadn't yet gone back and she remembered me liking it and picked it up for my Christmas present. She's the best.

...As an aside, you can sort of see the progress of my Christmas stockings in the background of picture with Kellen and Julia. They weren't finished in time for Christmas, but I wasn't really in any hurry to have them done this year. I have them pieced together and am working on quilting them now. Probably sometime in July I'll have them done and can show you the results!

Odds and ends

Just a few pictures I've been meaning to post. The first three are my finds from our trip to Trier last week. Was that last week?? I can't believe Christmas is tomorrow. The magnet, very roughly translates to "I've been on a diet for two weeks and have lost 14 days." The coasters are also from Trier. I LOVE the one with "wine stains."

Then there's my infamous Pottery Barn modular linen tiles. I have two hung together to the left of my desk and the other four above a bookself. Now I just need to find things to pin on them...

This room could even cheer up Baumholder

I lived in the same house from birth until I left for college. I have a great fondness for the memories that are attached to "home" and it was something that I worried would bother me about the military lifestyle. Since we've been married, Justin and I have only made one (maybe two and a half if you count us moving home from college and then me joining him in OK after the wedding) move, from Oklahoma to Germany.

I messed up that move, not knowing the ins and outs of the system for moving overseas...there are different shipments and in my naivete I misunderstood what should go with which shipment. Basically it's a fast ship for essentials and a slower one for everything else. I understood it, instead of fast and slow, as big and small. Don't ask me how I got mixed up...those were confusing days in retrospect.

Well, because we didn't have many big things, when they came first to pick up those items, I let them take all of those items I deemed "big." The bed, the Pink Chair, the crappy table and chair set that we never put together correctly, and the bookcase. I think that was just about it. When the movers came the next time to get the "small things" (what was really the essential shipment), they were like, "Whoa. You're going to be over your weight limit. All of this stuff should have gone with the other shipment." I was upset, but it all worked out just fine, and I'll know better for our next move.

Even though it's still not for a little while, every day bring us closer to moving back to the states and I get more and more excited about it every day. As much as moving is a hassle, I think there are positive aspects to it as well. For one, I think it will help me keep our lives as uncluttered as possible because the more stuff you have, the more stuff you have to move, and that's a great motivator to pare things down.

Another thing about moving that is both a positive and negative is the fact that you get to/have to redecorate. Our current place has LOTS of built in storage space, especially in the bedrooms and kitchen. This being the case, we don't even have a dresser for our bedroom. We have "wooden" flooring, so here we have rugs. You get the idea. While I can imagine this might become a headache as we move from place to place, it's also an opportunity to renew our surroundings and keep things fresh.

As a child, I always LOVED it when my mother would decide to rearrange the furniture. Don't ask me why, but I got a huge kick out of shoving the couches around the living room and my sister and I used to move our furniture around in our shared bedroom for fun as well. Yes, that's right--I said for fun.

Anyway, I really enjoy getting design inspiration, and I saw an AWESOME room over at Apartment Therapy Ohdeedoh that I just had to share.

Isn't it fabulous?

Click here for the whole slideshow!

New Project Underway

I owe so much of my creativity to my mother. When I was growing up, she was always working on some project or another...okay, more like 5 or 6 some projects or another. ;) I loved watching her and she would often give me scraps to make my own creations while she worked. I especially loved the holiday projects, and although I don't remember her making them, our homemade Christmas stockings have always had a special place in my heart. They are green (her favorite) and white mostly and have our names sewn into the top in cursive. After Justin and I married and I moved to join him in Oklahoma that September, one of the things I set about to do was make Christmas stockings for us. The fabric that I found wasn't exactly what I had in mind and I ended up setting out without an entirely well worked out plan for their design. The shape was based on my mother's design, as well as the patched toe and heel.

We moved to Germany a few days before Christmas that year, and as you can see, I only had time to finish Justin's stocking. Mine was in pieces and we just hung the "guts" and laid my goodies in front on the hotel room floor. After Christmas had passed, I changed my mind about the whole design (as I often do) and planned to come up with a new idea for the following year. I found some great fabric online and after (way too much) deliberation settled on a design that pleased me.

This go around I was much more pleased with the outcome and actually finished 3 stockings: one for me, one for Justin, and one for Chokydar. I'd done this maybe around October, and by the time I'd decided I'd like to order more fabric so I could make matching stockings for our future children, the fabric was sold out. Try as I might, I could not find any more any where.

SO, this year I again have searched out fabric and now that I think I've settled on some that I like, I'm going to get a whole bunch of it so that hopefully, I can make some stockings to last. Third times the charm?

Thank you, IKEA

Germany is a lovely country. I have certainly enjoyed our time here and I'm so grateful that we had the opportunity to be here. But I'm ready to go home. One of the things I miss most about home is America's glorious commercialism. I want a Super Target or a drive thru Starbucks, and I want them a year ago. There just aren't many stores in Germany that sell what I want to buy--or at least I haven't found them yet. About 100 miles away, there is an IKEA--oh how I love this IKEA--I never was such a huge fan of IKEA back home. My tastes tend to be a little less modern than most things they sell, but because IKEA is one of the few places within a hundred mile radius (and just barely at that) that sells the kind of household goods I'm often looking to buy, the percentage of things that we own that come from IKEA is starting to get a little humorous. When my mother was in town in July, she would comment on various things around the house.
"Oh, I like this blanket! Where did you get it?"
"IKEA."
"Ooh, and this bookshelf is nice. Where did you find this one?"
"IKEA."
"And this rug--this is neat."
"IKEA."
You get the idea. Basically I'd say at least 70% of Evie's nursery is from IKEA. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I didn't really do any shopping in the kid's section except for the crib and crib bedding, obviously. I don't so much go for all the cutesy baby stuff, but I still wanted it to be playful. It was a good project for me to work on in the final weeks leading to her birth. I hope she enjoys it as much as I do.