Bedding for the Kids

I was actually raised a quilt's girl. But I married a comforter guy and he won. So now our children will be getting comforters. And pretty much that is what this post is all about. Finding duvet covers for my own children. With a new baby arriving this spring, my little boy and girl will be moving in together and sharing a room. Currently Evie has a comforter, but no duvet cover. And William needs the whole sha-bang; bed, comforter, pillow, duvet cover. For some reason finding the duvet cover is my main priority. I want some color, because they are kids and it should be fun. Plus the rest of the room is pretty muted pattern wise. I want them to kind of match, but not really because we might be moving in a year and they could be getting separate rooms again. I also don't want to spend a lot of money. So after a lot of searching here are the ones I like. They range between $25-$80. I can't justify spending $100 on bedding for a toddler and actually I'm having a hard time with anything above $50.

Fishes, because William really likes them and I like this pattern.

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Pink stripes. Evie is so girly and would probably go for ruffles- but I can't handle that.

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Dinosaurs. Another animal William likes (or at least the animal noise he can make...it is also similar to the sound of a lion or tiger).

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 Fairies or dancing girls.

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 These glow in the dark. I don't know if my kids would love it or freak out.

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Simple.

 

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 If I did the stars I would get one of each and both of them would have a star blanket.

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You really can't go wrong with ticking strips.

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Not my favorites for my kids, but they could work. 

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Cheaper ticking stripes by about $60. If I bought these then I could probably afford to buy some fun pillows to dress them up.

Buffalo check.

 

And then some fun graphic patterns. 

The above are all from IKEA

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Fun patterns. 

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And if I had $100+ per kid I would probably buy these. I have bought Dwell Studio products for the nursery and love them.

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By the way this has really helped me out. So therefore it probably helped you. Which ones do you like? I'm glad I inspired you to go freshen up your kids room.

Valentines Day Gift Ideas

I love February. Mostly because it's my birthday month, but Valentines Day can be pretty awesome too. Valentines Day is a time when you can expect to give and get gifts from your significant other. Of course you can give the typical gifts of flowers, chocolate, a candlelit dinner, etc. But it's also a great time to get those odd gifts that you want, but don't really need and wouldn't typically buy yourself. I've gotten Ben some pretty non-typical Valentines Day gifts that he initially looked at me oddly, but have become his favorites. Of course I only get him fancy gifts when we have had extra money....otherwise it's a card and some chocolate.

Yoga Mat: Get a super fancy one- not one from Target or TJMaxx, but from an actual yoga place. Ben loves yoga so I bought him this super fancy mat a few years ago. He loves it and doesn't like when I borrow it. So I only borrow it when he's not looking. It way nicer than my cheap one that I got from who knows where. I on the other hand prefer Pilates. So maybe get them some classes too- Groupon is great for this!

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A Cheese Kit: I know. This one is weird. But it was actually a lot of fun and we made it together. Then you feel super fancy when you are having dinner eating your own cheese. And you can brag about it to your parents...because they will always be impressed and proud of you. It makes for a great date night in.... for those of us that have to resort to date night ins often, it's a great alternative to watching another movie.

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Dwarf Lemon Tree: Ben got this in the mail before I could get home and thought that my dad had sent it to him by mistake (my dad loves trees). So it was kind of sad when I admitted the gift was from me. But Ben actually really loves his lemon tree. I bought him a one year old sapling and now we've had it for 3 years and it starting to bear some lemons!!! If Ben had given me this gift it would have died a few years ago. So this is perfect if you have a gardener.

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Ice Cream Scoop: Another weird idea, but I think Ben has been wanting one of these. And believe it or not this is a luxury item. Unless you have extra cash or got it as wedding gift it's not necessarily an item you need. But I really want one (so maybe Ben doesn't). It would be perfect to scoop out cookie dough and have perfect round uniform cookies. 

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Chocolate: These two bars below are my favorite and are not something I would buy every time I go grocery shopping. The one by Chuao is amazing. They have tons of odd flavors. Ben got me the s'mores one during Christmas (because I love s'mores) and I think I ate it in one day. The other one is from Trader Joes- it's awesome. Plus I think there is one that has coconut in it too. Get both.

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Cookbook: Since Ben is gone a lot due to work, our date night opportunites are far and few between. Maybe they would be more often if we lived near family (free babysitting) but that is not the case right now. This new cookbook came out in December. The author, Ashley, has a blog i frequent often Not Without Salt. The cookbook is exactly what the title implies. We talked about having date night in's as a new goal this year....but so far we have only talked about it. I'm sure that is the first step though, and then you think about it. And then 4 months later you start doing it.

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You're welcome for all the explanations. I'm sure you needed my input on all of them.

Mini Design

 So I was perusing the web the other day and stumbled upon this unique lighting fixture. It definitely made me stop in my tracks and made me linger for more than my typical 5 seconds. Can you believe those are old vintage pool balls?! Umm... you could probably totally DIY this. I'm not going to. I mean I definitely have the skillzzzzzz to DIY it but I know myself.  I would probably only get around to collecting the vintage balls (and then loose interest). Thus resulting in a bucket of balls sitting on my shelf getting dusty. Hahaha. Moving on. You could totally spray paint them different colors too- not just black like the company offers.  The possibilities are endless. Your welcome for getting your creative juices flowing. 

Anyways, instantly I thought of the spaces this light could live in and I came up with two mini designs. The first one is an office/ craft space. The room is bold, modern and has lots of colors- probably a space you would easily imagine this light fixture in. The second one is a powder room. The space is more calm, soothing and white. If you were going to use this in a powder room you would probably want some other light source like a window, extra sconces or recessed lighting. Why you ask? Because the light coming through those balls will probably make some funky shadows if you don't have any other light source supporting it. I mean, we would classify this light as decorative lighting. I'm glad I've already convinced you to buy this. I should probably get commission from someone.

 OFFICE/ CRAFT ROOM

(Seriously, you should just throw that blue dresser in your room too, because it looks pretty awesome with this mini design.)

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 POWDER ROOM

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Lets Try This Again

So I'm not super surprised I fell of the bandwagon. I had a good reason. Two in fact! First, school started back up and I was busy almost every night doing homework and trying to get good grades. Which I did. When I did have a night off I wanted to watch television and be a bum. Second, I'm prego. You read that right. Usually I am blessed with really great pregnancies where I don't even feel pregnant until I look really pregnant. But this one was different. I was nauseated all the time. All day long from morning till dusk till morning. Luckily it wasn't extreme, but it was just constant and mild and not fun. Plus I had some internal bleeding that luckily stopped. But now I'm feeling tons better and have also decided to take off a semester of school (since my due date is during finals week). And third (there is actually one more reason for falling off the bandwagon) I had some Basal-cell cancer removed from my eyebrow back in October. Which was actually a lot more serious than I thought. All is better now, but I'm permanently left with one short eyebrow. More on that later...maybe.

Now I have a lot of free time. Which I love and hate. Free time means "Liz becomes a bum time". I am way more productive when I am busy. When I have nothing to do I can easily waste it with hours of blog scamming or watching television. A horrible talent I learned when we lived in the Caribbean because I had tons of time. But now it's starting to get boring and I definitely need to do something...like this blog. Or finish the cross-stitch piece I started three years ago for my daughter. 

So my goal is start posting twice a week and I can't wait for you to come back and check them out. I have a lot of great design ideas but other things as well. See you soon. Sincerely, Me.

Kitchens with Color

I love kitchens. Probably because I love baking. I especially love kitchen design. Currently the trend right now is all white kitchens and open shelving. Although white kitchens can be gorgeous I don't think they are always practical, especially if you have a young family. Obviously using white in a kitchen will help reflect light and make the space appear more open. So some white in the kitchen is great. However, kitchens are one of main working rooms in the house and can take a beating. So why would you every paint that area completely white?! And I think open shelving can work- if you have matching/beautiful tableware and plenty of storage. There are some gorgeous kitchens I really like that have color. Color on the cabinets, tiles, floor. Something to hide all the wear and tear that a kitchen takes on. I've posted a few of my favorites below.

 

Images via :smitten studio, house beautiful, the kitchn, jhinteriordesign, my pinterest page

Designer Spotlight: Jessica Helgerson Interior Design

Jessica Helgerson Interior Design is one of my favorite firms. She does both residential and commercial design. I love the houses that come out of this firm. Not only are they beautiful, stunning and unique, but she promotes environmentally friendly designs. It would be a dream to work at this firm. Take a peek!

 

 

Seriously?! What if this was the lounge for your office.

All images via Jessica Helgerson Interior Design

My Design: Ella's Restaurant

One of my favorite assignments I had last semester was designing a remodel for a restaurant in California. I think I liked it so much because I had to go out and look at actual materials- I wasn't just looking at things online. Going out and looking at tile, paints, and fabrics made me so excited and confirmed my love for design. Take a peek below. 

My inspiration was San Francisco mornings of warm sun, with foggy grays and blues.

 

 The exterior stayed mostly the same, but I added a new logo and gave it a facelift with new paint and doors. I didn't want existing customers to feel like it was a completely different restaurant, but I wanted to attract new customers too.  

 

The entrance to the restaurant. A new and updated "To Go" counter was added. And the inside completely remodeled.  

One of the dinning rooms. 

Such a fun project!