ON THE BOARDS: SOFT BLUES FOR BABY BOY

Ok y’all! This one is near and dear to my heart. I feel absolutely honored to design this nursery for my dear, dear friends. The fact that Mom has excellent taste is just icing on the baby shower cake. This room has been crafted from a desire for soft neutrals (surprise…), soothing blues, with distinct instructions that it not feel “too baby”. The space needs to feel great as a nursery but also stay current as baby grows or if this room gets converted back to an office.

(EDIT: Just a fun note, this room has been completed and we revealed it here!)

We really overhauled this room, but the biggest change was adding the board-and-batten paneling that we painted a soft, pretty blue (you can see a progress shot of this on my instagram!)

1. Semi-flush ceiling light 2. Pottery Barn Classic Cup Pull 3. Pottery Barn Dresser 4. Pottery Barn Rug 5. Adorable Bunny Mobile from Etsy 6. Minted Fine Art Print 7. Crate and Barrel Gustavian Crib 8. Restoration Hardware Cotton Canvas Blackout Curtains in Warm White Drapes 9. Schumacher Castille Tape in Sky 10. Farrow and Ball Pale Powder; Benjamin Moore Simply White 11. Restoration Hardware Glider and Ottoman 12. Crate and Barrel Jenny Lind Floor Lamp

Baby is due in just TWO WEEKS and we’re all hard at work getting everything ready. I can’t wait to share the finished room with you! Nurseries are so fun because EVERYONE is so excited, every piece needs to be functional and full of just as much joy and life as the new little one being brought into it!

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10 PIECES TO REFRESH YOUR HOME FOR SPRING

Today is sunny! Today is seventy-two degrees! Today is the first day of spring! I feel like I can’t even believe it, I have my windows open and my mind is on items to freshen up my home for Spring. These are some of my favorite items ever (that candle? a secret favorite that won’t set you back too much in the pocketbook!)

1. A fresh wreath for your front door

I change wreaths every season. Wreaths are friendly and welcoming. I’ve had my eyes on this olive wreath from Pottery Barn, but I’ve been known to head on down to Hobby Lobby and make my own if I can’t find what I’m looking for!

2. My favorite baskets for tidying up the linen closet

Can’t go wrong with the container store. I personally have a few of these white woven and lined baskets sitting in my linen closet holding extra sheets and towels, and a few more sitting in my online cart.

3. And the best labels

Sturdy, changeable, and they clip right onto the baskets above

4. pillows can absolutely change a room

I love this antelope print, classic and beautiful. A lumbar is one of my favorite go-tos to making a bed look perfectly put together.

5. While we’re at it how about some NEW linens

P and I received this linen comforter as a wedding present, it’s perfect. The linen is beautiful and feels so lovely. Even better its the perfect comforter for the spring - keeps you warm on cool nights and breathable as the weather warms up.

6. Fresh Flowers for your dining table

…Or your powder bath, bedside table, or coffee table. Ya’ll I can’t stress enough - if you do nothing else to your house for Spring - head on over to Trader Joe’s and grab a bouquet of fresh flowers. Fresh blooms infuse life into even the darkest room.

7. A pitcher for margs (or your flowers!)

A beautiful pitcher means you’re not running back inside to the blender as you enjoy these longer nights outside on your porch (and it’s chicer serving out of a blender - not that there is any problem with that in a pinch!). And flowers always manage to fall perfectly when placed in a pitcher.

8. My. Favorite. Candle.

Bold claim. I know. I adore candles and don’t get me wrong - Le Labo, Jo Malone, Diptyque - are great, but come on $60 and up. However this is my secret - the glass glows beautifully when lit and all of Crate and Barrel’s scents are perfection.

9. Cleanse every little corner with sage

Even better this Sweet Grass & Selenite Smudge Stick from Amber Interiors comes tied up with a stick of selenite - they say selenite increases creative energy and cleanses

10. a greener, cleaner…er…cleaner

I use Murchison-Hume in my home. The trifecta of cleaning products - good for the planet, effective, and gorgeously packaged. I need my cleaning products to look just as good as the counters they’re cleaning.

ON THE BOARDS: THE REDWOOD RETREAT BATHROOM ADDITION

To say I’m excited about this project is BEYOND an understatement. When all is said and done we will be adding a guest suite, wine closet, upgrading the kitchen, and hopefully updating the master bathroom as well (someday). This project had been an absolute joy to undertake. Nestled in the redwoods and vineyards north of San Jose, this is the dream forever home - not to mention the dream jobsite visit. I flew just over a week ago to make final selections in person - we’re on a tight timeline from start-to-finish, the contractor says once demo starts he thinks he will be done in 5 weeks! We spent three days picking tile, plumbing, the vanity, the lighting - all while the contractor was ripping the original room apart, fixing plumbing and insulation and foundation issues - so we are swinging right along!

The homeowner rode hunter-jumper when she was younger and maintains a passion for all things equestrian still. When I visited in early August, about 3 months after they purchased the home, we walked over to the neighboring property and fed the horses pastured there. Will you LOOK at these sweet faces?

And yes, it IS that gorgeous out there. This is what we started with: the house is a 3 bed/two bath with a large, open-to -the-entrance space that was added to the house by converting one bay of the garage into an indoor, carpeted, office/catch-all. I proposed breaking it up into a fourth bedroom, a secondary guest bath that doubles as a powder room, and (most importantly haha) a wine closet.

You can see from the pictures above that we had one big room with a large cased opening to the entry and a tray ceiling with a HUGE brass chandelier. Closing this off will make the entrance feel more defined instead of a rambling, open space. The only items staying in the room will likely be the pull out sofa and the coffee table. We’ll find a smaller less obtrusive desk and hide away all paperwork in the new closet. I digress though because this is about the bathroom. Design wise we stuck to elevated, warm neutrals that pull from the surrounding landscape and keep with the modern-rustic feel of the house. But then we found this stunner of a leather-wrapped mirror at Arteriors and everything came to life.

1. Wall color: Benjamin Moore Classic Gray, Trim Color: Sherwin Williams Snowbound 2. Studio McGee Gray Dipped Vase 3. Horse head hook (similar) 4. Wall Tile: Chloe 2.5x8; Floor Tile: Clive 2” Hex, 12”x24” 5. Circa Bryant Bathroom Sconce 6. Arteriors Powell Large Mirror 7. Target Hearth & Hand Grey Stripe Towel; Studio McGee Abby Stripe Hand Towel 8. Hearth & Hand Orange and Amber Hand Soap 9. Kohler Devonshire Faucet & Accessories 10. Fairmont River View 48” Vanity 11. Parachute Home Waffle Robe

Check back here in a month or so and we’ll hopefully have some gorgeous “after” shots for you to peruse!