ROUND UP: NORDSTROM SALE HOMEGOODS

Ah the Nordstrom Sale…the annual late-summer extravaganza marked by bloggers posting 12,000 images of perfectly slouchy sweaters and is-it-fall-yet booties. The sale isn’t exactly known for it’s home goods and really at it’s heart it’s more of a White Sale as far as decor is concerned. Plenty of meh bedding and plain throw pillows and tons of glassware. If you’re in the market that’s great but I would argue a new comforter isn’t at the top of your list. There are actually only about 500 “home” items in the sale this year, and I decided to sort through it for you bc again: you can only look through so many poorly framed art prints and uninteresting pillow shams. After all of that I culled it down to the TWENTY home items I would consider buying. You’re welcome.

1 -Le Labo Santal Candle Set | 2 - Patterned Throw Blanket | 3 - Fluted Old Fashioned Glasses | 4 - Cotton/Linen Reversible Duvet | 5 - Marble Lazy Susan | 6 - Nest Diffuser Duo

1 | LE LABO VOTIVE SET

These candles are a splurge at $98 but also the ultimate flex in a guest bathroom. I love the industrial concrete container the candles are in. All three are the same scent so you could keep one for yourself and give the others as, IMHO, excellent gifts. Pair it with the hand soap for an extra special touch!

2 | PATTERNED THROW

A great throw adds a little pattern to your sofa, side chair, or bed. I love the warm neutral pattern reminiscent of Peruvian Alpaca blankets. At least in my home this is also a necessary work from home accessory. With my husband and I both working under the same roof one of us always thinks the AC is too cold.

3 | FLUTED OLD FASHIONED GLASSES

Reeded glass is IN, I am seeing it everywhere. I also picked these because my parent’s have a very similar set and I think they always look magnificent. Textured glassware is great when you have open shelving or display, adding a little more than a basic glass would. By the way its a set of four for just about $20, what!

4 | COTTON/LINEN REVERSABLE DUVET

Honestly, I think this is just a really pretty, basic duvet in a good neutral color. Giving me Jenni Kayne home vibes..

5 | MARBLE LAZY SUSAN

A similar lazy susan was also in my top picks for registry gifts. We use ours on our coffee table to corral pretty things and I love it. This one has an acacia wood base that makes it unique.

6 | NEST DIFFUSERS

I love reed diffusers. They don’t bring as much ambiance or instant scent like a high quality candle, and I would argue they arn’t all that pretty to look at either - however, tucked away in a room they lend a base level good-smell to your home and Nest is one of the best. Also good if you have kiddos or are worried about open flames.

1 -Large Cheese Board | 2 - Diptyque Travel Candle Set | 3 - Countertop Garden | 4 - Ceramic Lidded Candle | 5 - Boucle Throw Pillow | 6 - Tassel Shower Curtain | 7 - Terrazzo Coaster Set

1 | LARGE CHEESE BOARD

Instantly soften and warm up a kitchen counter by leaning one of these against your backsplash. There are a good number of attractive cheese boards and cutting boards in the sale - this one was my favorite. In my home, I use a small cheese board to corral small, constantly used, items on my counter: a salt cellar and a pepper grinder. Elevate the everyday people!

2 | DIPTYQUE VOTIVE SET

Another luxury candle set - honestly I really may buy this one. At $55 they would make great stocking stuffers, or throw one into a housewarming gift with a dish towel some cute matches and a little plant? Hero status. Or keep them all for yourself - no judgement.

3 | COUNTERTOP GARDEN

I debated putting this on here - its a little out of my interior aesthetic, but it’s right up my personal values alley. In the time of COVID more and more people are looking into growing food in their homes and reducing trips to the grocery store. This could also double as a science lesson for those stay-at-home kiddos.

4 | CERAMIC LIDDED CANDLE

Again, not a lot to say besides “it’s pretty”. I love a candle in a beautifully made container so it can double as decor on a shelf when not in use.

5 | BOUCLE THROW PILLOW

Another trend I’m seeing everywhere is boucle. This is an easy way to incorporate the trend into your decor without jumping off the deep end and covering your couch in it.

6 | TASSELED SHOWER CURTAIN

Forever and always this Ferm shower curtain will be my favorite - but at that price point it’s a commitment (a glorious and worth it commitment but none-the-less). This tasseled shower curtain would be adorable in a kids bathroom or guest room.

7 | TERRAZZO COASTER SET

Coasters are wonderful - they protect your furniture, they make wonderful little stands for small potted plants, and I love using them under candles too. And terrazzo is great.

1 - Textured Pillow | 2 - Malin & Goetz Candle Set | 3 - Acacia Wood Tray | 4 - Forest Green Pom Pom Throw | 5 - Olive Green Throw | 6 - Rust Faux Fur Throw | 7 - Textured Stripe Bedding

1 | POM POM AT HOME EURO PILLOW

Adding texture instantly makes a bed even more cozy. Pop two of these in front of your sleeping pillows and your bed is made.

2 | MALIN & GOETZ CANDLE SET

Malin & Goetz also makes my favorite shampoo and conditioner so let me tell you these are going to smell amazing.

3 | ACACIA WOOD TRAY

A good tray is hard to come by, and I know for a fact this one sold out earlier in the sale. Grab it while you can - it would look perfect corralling your favorite liquors on the counter, some pretty trinkets on your coffee table, or the perfect place to display your guest room essentials on the foot of their bed.

4 | POM POM AT HOME THROW IN FOREST GREEN

With fall around the corner this is the perfect cozy accent to keep on the couch or the end of the bed.

5 | Rachel PARCEL FAUX FUR THROW

The last throw not quite cozy enough? This faux fur throw steps up the coziness factor and is in the perfect olive color to transition into fall decor.

6 | RUST FAUX FUR BLANKET

One more throw because y’all, 2020 makes me want to hunker down under about 26 blankets and this rust color makes my heart sing.

7 | POM POM BEDDING

My guest bedroom makeover could really use this set. I’m usually a simple linen duvet girl (see this one above!) but the texture (see a theme?) is so perfect in this simple color and could add so much to an otherwise minimal room.

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Thats about it y’all. Nothing you need but some fun items to consider. I think us regular people can start shopping the sale in a few days but if you have an account you can start making wishlists now. Something tells me (other than the Diptypque Candles and the Le Labo candles) the home goods won’t really sell out.

I’m going to post again tomorrow with the 13 personal items I absolutely will be buying & or stocking up on (hello deal on my ALL TIME favorite sunscreen). I hope you’ll come back and check it out!

QUICK TIPS: 15 MINUTES TO A CLEAN KITCHEN

This morning I cleaned my kitchen for the 342nd time this quarantine. I’m sure you can relate: suddenly we’re cooking 3 meals a day, maybe even snacks too and the dishes are CONSTANT. However I learned something amazing about one week into staying at home: that I could get my kitchen satisfyingly clean in 15 minutes if I followed the these steps. I’m not saying this is “eat off the floor” clean - it’s more like “not lose your mind” clean. The key to this is to be completely focused on cleaning the kitchen, no distractions - and one caveat: your dishwasher has to be empty and ready to receive dirty dishes. You have to move with efficiency here people! OK, lets light a candle, set the kitchen timer (for 15 minutes) and get to cleaning!

Clean kitchen inspiration from Jenni Kayne

S T E P 1: DISHES
Make a sweep of the house and put all dirty dishes, silverware, cups, mugs etc in the dishwasher. If full, start the dishwasher.

S T E P 2: POT & PANS
Anything that needs to be hand-washed goes in or near the sink (in our house that is pots, cutting boards, chef’s knives and wine glasses). Pots that need to be soaked get filled with hot soapy water. While they fill move on to the next step. Keep moving!

S T E P 3: JUNK
Any item that doesn’t belong in the kitchen gets moved into a different room to be dealt with later: mail, shoes, car keys, books.

S T E P 4: TRASH + RECYCLE
Take a loop through the kitchen and throw out any trash/place items in the recycling: scraps, bits of paper, beer cans, wine bottles. Bonus points if you compost!

S T E P 5: PANTRY ITEMS
Anything that does have a home in the kitchen but is not in that home, quickly put them away. For me that always seems to be putting the salt, pepper and olive oil back onto their designated tray, stashing the toaster in his cabinet, and placing pot lids back in their drawers. And since about week two of quarantine: putting the bottle of tequila back in the liquor cabinet.

C L E A N K I T C H E N
E S S E N T I A L S

S T E P 6: WIPE DOWN HORIZONTAL SURFACES
At this point most of your counters and your stovetop should be clear. Spray them with an all purpose cleaner and wipe them thoroughly. During quarantine I’ve alternated between my Murchison-Hume counter spray and Clorox wipes.

S T E P 7: START THE HANDWASHING
There should be about 5-8 minutes left on your timer after all of that. Get out your drying mat/drying rack/lay out a dishtowel on the counter and get scrubbing. If you’re lucky enough to have someone to help have them dry and put away as you wash. Otherwise let then airdry.

You should without much trouble be able to get through to Step 6 every time. What happens if the timer goes off while you’re in the middle of hand washing? You have a choice: keep going, or just stop. That may seem like a cop out but you’ve done enough. Walk away and finish up before the next meal. I promise the kitchen is now in far better shape than when you started and you can feel accomplished.

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ON THE BOARDS: MY GUEST BEDROOM

My heart and prayers go out to everyone affected by this pandemic. I hope that my blog can provide a place of lighthearted respite from the sickness, the worry, the home schooling and the stress. I am deeply grateful for those on the frontlines and to those staying home in hopes that they can to lessen the impact of this virus on our community. As a small business myself, I am thankful that you’re here, reading, and hope that you find something in this that entertains your soul if only for a moment.

Lets call this “Designing: Quarantine edition”. Our guest room has been many things since we moved in two years ago, guest room not being one of them (see this post on our little first home). This room has stored boxes of childhood memorabilia, a shocking amount of unopened mail, off-season clothes from our small master closet, endless amounts of old paper work I haven’t had time to deal with, etc etc. Well at this point, 30 or so days into staying at home, it seems I have finally had enough.

When the pandemic looked like it was going to hit in full, I decided we better order a mattress topper in case one of us gets sick and needs to sleep comfortably in a separate room. What happened next I often refer to with design clients as “if you give a mouse a cookie” syndrome. Well… the topper meant the fitted sheet didn’t fit so I had to get new sheets, and new sheets led to new pillows, and suddenly I have a new side table and I’m throwing some plug in sconces in a shopping cart. Folks I’m now in deep.

We live in a fairly small home by modern standards. At just 1250 SF we don’t have a ton of storage, and while I’ve been using some of my downtime to sort and organize and purge all the things we have been storing, one can only pare down so much and we just need more storage. You’ll see in the plan below that by getting rid of the door to the sad little closet and adding two wardrobe units in its place we will double the original closed storage we had this this room and I will finally have the window seat of my dreams!

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I like the bed I have in there now, it’s a hand me down metal bed - but very modern with it’s soft grey powdercoated metal tubes. (This bed from Schoolhouse is the most similar I’ve found online). We will keep it for now but down the line I think I will want something a little warmer with a more defined headboard that can actually be seen over my obscene collection of throw pillows. Once my freestanding clothes rack is gone and all the clothes can be put away in the wardrobes I will have room for some seating at the end of the bed. Our house came with neutral berber wall-to-wall carpeting that isn’t the worst. If the right rug presented itself I wouldn’t be opposed to layering but for now I’m keeping it simple. The side table just arrived from Target (it was from Studio McGee’s Collection with Target) and it is even better looking in person, forewarning: the whitewash finish goes a little gray - I think it’s perfect but it does appear more warm in photos.

1 - My favorite ceiling fan | 2 - Offset Stripe Pillow | 3 - Batik Lumbar Pillow | 4 - 24x36 Oversized Birch Wood Frame | 5 - Coastline Print | 6 - Classic Gray by Benjamin Moore | 7 - My dream bedside sconces | 8 - The perfect minimal side table | 9 - End of bed benches | 10 - Water carafe | 11 - Plaid pillow | 12 - Cabinet Pulls | 13 - IKEA Pax Wardrobes

The guest room has been deemed our “quarantine project” and one of the two major things we want to accomplish inside our house this year, the second being our laundry room (remember this post, lol my priorities are constantly changing)- again to add more storage! Honestly I’m most excited about the little window bench seat. I’ll probably have the cushion made but I can’t wait to layer it with unique pillows and a pretty natural shade on the window.

SHOP GUEST BEDROOM ESSENTIALS

Have you felt the itch to tackle home projects since you’ve been stuck inside? I would love to know what spaces you’re struggling with and anytime you feel like it’s all too much for one person to handle (or that your newly minted position as full time cook/home school teacher/work from home worker is more than enough thank you very much) don’t hesitate to reach out, I would be happy to get the ball rolling for you!

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