New Bedroom

Soooo, we’re moving, but no we did not buy a house. So many factors went into this decision it’s hard to explain them all, but it just seemed like God was telling us not to buy now. It was just too stressful and difficult. The moment we decided to rent a newer, larger, and nicer apartment, that is closer to work, we both felt happier and so very relieved.

Also, I’ve been trying to decide whether to continue with this blog or switch everything over to my design portfolio website and blog about interior design over there. For now, I’m going to blog in both places… well just the interior design stuff over there, and I may eventually make the transition.

Back to the bedroom… we’re moving to an new apartment, with a LOT more space and a guest room. The guest room means we’ll be able to use our room as just a bedroom and not a bedroom/office/treadmill storage/catch-all. We’re pretty excited.

This weekend we ended up at the mall (a lot) and part of that was spent at Z Gallerie. J (Hubs) and I have a bit of a difference of opinion on how we want our bedroom to look. I love bright colors and pattern and he didn’t want colors. (I’m going to re-do the guestroom while he’s out of town, shhhhhh).

Z Gallerie Mimosa Reversible Bedding – Aquamarine & Geo Bedding - Sunset Orange

J was dead set on getting this zebra print bedding for about 3/4s of the store and then he wanted this shiny bedding for about 10 mins. Did I marry Austin Powers?

Z Gallerie Zebra Bedding - Grey & Sophia Bedding – Charcoal

You guys that is the color of that bedding, it hasn’t been converted to grey scale or anything! I PROMISE! This trip to the mall reminded me how we ended up with the super boring Target bedding we’ve had for the past 3 years. (Not that there is anything wrong with Target bedding). I was not going to get stuck with this bedding in our new apartment, I knew J was thinking the same thing, so today at work I looked around and came up with this lovely combo of bedding. (I think I need Photoshop, you guys).
Z Gallerie Geo Bedding – Grey & Zambia Throw – Aubergine, West Elm Tall Grid Tufted Headboard – Heather Grey, Organic Cotton Pintuck Shams – Light Amethyst, & Organic Seersucker Sham – True Grey

Check it out – compromise. I got my pattern and color, he got is grey and animal dealy. I kid you not when I tell you HE is my hardest design client. Well him and my mom.

A special thanks to by Twitter friends for helping me pick out the headboard.

Sneaky Peek - What I’ve been working on.

I think it’s probably pretty obvious, based on the amount of posts I’ve had in the past few months, that I’m busy. I don’t pretend to be any busier than the next girl, but I’m busy for me. I thought I’d share with you all what I’ve been working on at school… especially since next quarter I’m going to have to set-up a website of my work and share it with the world anyway, I might as well try to get over the “OMG people are going to hate it” thing now. You know that feeling when someone “in real life” says they saw/read your blog and you have a mini panic attack in your head? What is it we’re so worried about? Well, in this case it’s the opposite. My people “in real life” have seen my projects, but you? Not so much.

Soooo, this is the work in progress of my Senior Studio project (aka SS1 & SS2 – a two quarter class. I’m in SS2 now). We were given a city (mine is Boston) and a building (we all got the same fictional building) and were told to come up with a use, then space plan, design, etc the project.

My project is “Clean Kitchen”, a food allergy clinic.

It’s a multi-use building (mainly because it had to be) meaning there are different uses for the building, both commercial and residential. In the basement there is an allergy-free food market, tiny bookstore area and a pharmacy. Seriously, I would LOVE to have a market this large to get gluten-free stuff.


On the main floor (aka the first floor) there’s a allergy-free cafe, two temporary residences for visiting speakers & chefs, and two cooking classrooms. The idea is that young families and adults can come here to learn to cook tasty allergy-free food. I wish the places near me, with cooking classes, would have specific allergy-free cooking classes. The cafe then serves the types of food you can expect to learn to make in the different classes.


On the second floor there are two more temporary residences (we were required to have 2 on each of the above ground floors), laundry, storage, a conference room, admin offices and Drs’ offices. I imagine the awesome Dr. who diagnosed my food allergies working here with an amazing view of Boston out her window. Not like the lovely view of Orange County she has now is bad ;-)


Those plans and my branding is the main thing we worked on last quarter. This past Tuesday we turned in our progress boards… basically the furniture, finishes etc that we see being used in the project, displayed in a way similar to the way our final board (yes one, but it.is.HUGE. Like taller than me) will lay out.


I’m not 100% happy with the residence right now. I started out with that first picture (from Crate & Barrel) as inspiration, because I like the art work and sideboard, but I found it difficult to find the other furniture I need to express what I was going for. Honestly, I think I was a little burnt out and I’ll start fresh again next week. Now, that I’ve had time to step back and look at it with a different eye, I know what I need to do.

My teachers really liked where I was headed with this project and that made me really happy and proud of what I’ve accomplished so far. The one compliment that really sticks out in my mind is, one teacher said, “It looks like the 60’s I wish I’d lived in.” Totally what I was going for, YES!

And, that’s what I’ve been working on for the last 4 months. Obviously there is a lot more, we had a few papers, a rough (ROUGH) model and I’m working on a booklet (like Blurb), but this is the gist.

What was/is your Senior project?

2010 Recapped

I was MIA around the holidays. I kinda stopped posting all the Reverb10 prompts, only doing the ones that really spoke to me and wouldn't repeat something I’d already talked about. I haven’t posted the gluten free dessert I made for Christmas Eve yet… etc. I’ve decided to do a recap post for 2010 a little later than most. Let’s be honest though, it’s only the 3th, so I’m not that behind.

I really liked the way KJPugs did her 2010 review, so I’ve decided to copy her. Don’t worry, I asked… although, I didn’t really wait for her to respond and say it’s cool. Anyway, here we go…

January we upgraded our TV stand and general appearance of our  living room.   

February I discovered two of my favorite “go to” recipes: Dark Chocolate Red Wine Cupcakes with Mascarpone Icing & Enchilada Casserole.
March Hubs and I went to Vegas for meet-up with the Bees and celebrate my bestie from college’s 30th Birthday. Of course, a trip to Vegas would not be complete without eating at Battista's Hole in the Wall.

April Joy from How Joyful redesigned my blog and created those adorable little birdies.

 
May I started making recipe cards for my recipe posts. The first two I made were for the salad I recreated from a local French restaurant & Margarita Cupcakes.

June I made several desserts using fruit from our local CSA, my favorite was the fruit pizza I invented with the help of Amy from Dandelion Paperweight.

 
July I turned 30 and made a kick-ass flag cake!

 
August Hubs and I celebrated our one year Anniversary and played travel roulette with some friends and ended up in Austin, TX.

September was a pretty busy month: I hosted a Giveaway from one of my favorite artists, I discovered  my local food truck meet-up and I took an allergy test and discovered I cannot eat gluten,

 
October I did my first guest post and rattled on about the wonder that is Jazzercise.

 
November I blogged every single day… errr, posted every single day. Let’s be honest sometime we blog more than once a day but schedule those posts out. I also discovered Chipotle,

 
tried Gluten Free Bisquick,

 
hosted a beautiful necklace giveaway from Honey My Heart 

 
and finally finished my wedding recaps.


And lastly, in December, I attempted Reverb10, made Potato Latkes and guest posted for Forty Twenty Four about my on-the-cheap/modern Christmas table setting.

  
Happy New Year everyone! I hope I have even more to recap for you at the end of 2011 :)

Reverb10: Prompt 6 - Make

I make all kinds of food all the time… well, not all the time, when I’m in school, but often. In school I also get to make boards and floor plans. I’m lucky in that get to “make” a couple times a week.

So, what is something I want to make? Something I need to clear time for? Art. The space above our sofa has been empty for over a year now. Hubs and I just can’t find (and agree) on something to hang above the sofa. It’s either the wrong color, shape or price.
 
We’ve known for awhile that we want 3 similar pieces spaced evenly apart. We know it can’t be too busy or dark because this room is really poorly lit. We also know we’re going to have to make it ourselves… or at least that’s what we’ve discovered in our search for the perfect art. We need to take the time to get the canvas and other supplies and create these pieces.

* Don’t get me started on the vulture hanging out on-top of my grandmother’s china cabinet. He went up there one Halloween and the Hubs has refused to part with him since. He thinks it’s funny… I don’t :-P

NaBloPoMo Phew!

TGI – Novemeber 30th! Quite honestly, I never thought I’d make it! Right now, I’m in the middle of finals and I’ve been spending most my free time working on notebooks and boards from my classes. It difficult, when I sit down to the computer, to justify squeezing in a little blogging time, when I really should be squeezing in a little more homework time. Boo homework! For example, this board :-P

I’d like to say I’ll keep this up through December, but I know that won’t happen. I will, however, be posting as often as I can. Hopefully, those posts will include more gluten free recipes and product reviews. Perhaps I’ll tell the story of how I came up with my design company name.

Anywhoodle, thank you for sticking with me :)

WTF? – Mini Chair Light

I found this light on Moggit (the guilty pleasure of the design world) and I cried a little.


Here I am dreaming about owning one (or five… let’s be honest, ALL) of these Vitra Miniature Chairs and some artist (?) bought all of them and made this. I know art is subjective but this makes me angry and I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the artists intention.

I Want, I Need, I Have to Have: Vitra Miniatures

When I first started at idi (Interior Designers Institute) there was a display in the main hall of miniature iconic chairs. I wanted the whole display! I Googled miniature chairs and came across the Vitra Miniatures.

I tried to justify paying more for a miniature chair than I could afford to pay for a chair I could actually sit in, but I never bought one. The next semester they took the chair display down and put up real life work from past students and I forgot all about my dream chairs. Until last week when I received the latest Design Within Reach catalogue.


Hubs likes to refer to it as Design out of Reach because, seriously, it’s still pretty pricey. Also, these Vitra Miniatures are just as expensive as I remember. Naturally, I want the more expensive chairs like the Eames Lounge and Ottoman or the Corbusier Lounge. At that point I might as well buy a life-sized one. Why oh why am I not a Millionaire?

What thing, just outside your price comfort zone, do you covet the most?

Birdie and A Fry

Have you heard of Pinterest? I just learned about it this week. Pinterest (as they call it) is a place to catalogue things you love. I see it this way – instead of bookmarking pages on the internet of things you like or saving picture upon picture in folders on your desktop, you can just “pin” it to your board.

I just started yesterday, but here’s what my boards look like…

Look, a categorized list of my obsessions!

You can follow other people and see the things they recently posted to their boards.

And, that is how I found this adorable poster pinned by Brooke with Claremont Road.


You’ve seen a bird with a french fry right? They’re like, “JACKPOT!” I think this is a great motto :)

If you’ve like to be invited to Pinterest comment below with your email address and I’ll add as many of you as I can.

I Want, I Need, I Have to Have: Apron

Okay, so this is totally just a want. I don’t need an new apron, I already have 3 (one is just for Christmas though) sooooo, I don’t have to have this, but it is pretty cute.


This Snow White Apron is by Etsy seller, Lover Dovers. She makes a lot of really adorable aprons and little girl’s dresses. If I had a little girl (when I have a little girl, hear that universe) I’d buy her these princess dresses…


Have you found something super cute on Etsy but have no reason to purchase it?

I Want, I Need, I Have to Have: Succulents

Sadly, the only plant I seem to be able to keep alive is a succulent. I think it has a lot to do with me forgetting to water plants. Succulents care more if you water them too much than if you forget to water them. At least that’s what I learned when I bought an already over watered one from Ikea and it got a mushy and died. Who kills a succulent? Me and Ikea, apparently.

I have a long narrow planter on the island in our kitchen with about 4 succulents and another larger potted succulent on our patio. I’ve decided I need a couple more… or at least one for the coffee table, which is in serious need of something other than magazines and remote controls.

I really like these wreaths from Succulents Galore on Etsy…


 
But I’m not sure how they would look on a coffee table. The larger round one would probably look better on my dining table.

Still Lilly (also on Etsy) makes these lovely potted succulents in round glass bowls.


I love the touch of sea life she adds with the starfish.

 
However, I really liked the variety of succulents in the wreaths, what might work better are these Succulent Terrarium Orbs by The Succulent Garden (also on Etsy).

 
They appear to be the best of both worlds with an assortment of succulents and a great glass container.

 
Are you obsessed with succulents like I me? Which would you pick?

I Want, I Need, I Have to Have: Art

In our apartment we have a lot of wall space and we really aren’t using it to it’s full potential… probably because I’m lazy. I have hopes and dreams and all kinds of different ideas for our walls, but when I get home from work, I just want to cook dinner and sit on the couch with Hubs and veg out. You know what I mean?

I really want to do an arrangement of different prints and pictures of my drafting table of things that inspire me and make me happy. When, and if, I get my act together (and get Hubs to patch up the monster holes he put in the wall trying to hang the one picture we do have above my drafting table) I want to get one of these prints by Nidhi Chanani.



Nidhi and I went to High School together. She was a good friend of one of my besties.


I always remember her with a smile on her face. It makes sense her Facebook Fan Page would say, “She creates cute art because it makes her happy - with hopes it can make others happy, too.”


Check out her Etsy Shop and tell me which one is your favorite :)

Brainstromy Sketches

My next project in my Lighting class involves designing a lighting fixture for a commercial space. I’m supposed to bring a sketch in tonight. I have no idea who my client is for this project. No idea. But, here are a few sketches of me working through the design.

I know, back-up Picasso! I think the final design with incorporate 2 of these elements. The bird cage and the drum light ooorrr something totally different. My office space where I work is pretty boring so I'm alway trying to add a bit of whimsy to call my commercial projects. We'll see where this ends up.

Hello Splendor’s Inspired Jewelry

Last week I posted about chandeliers and my lighting project. I had to do a double take when I saw that Beth Dotolo from Hello, Splendor commented on my post. Um, HELLO! I love her! Have you been to her blog? Go ahead, go, check it out. I’ll wait…. are you back? Did you notice the giveaway for her jewelry? I did!

Beth is giving away pieces of her jewelry collection, which is inspired by her favorite bloggers, on those bloggers’ blogs. (How many times can I use blog?).

On Aspiring Kennedy she is giving away the necklace below, inspired by Lauren…

I love everything about this necklace… I want, I need, I have to have!

On Fabulous K's Blog she is giving away not only the Fabulous K necklace, but also the matching earrings. LOVE!


So, if you want to win these lovely pieced hope over to Aspiring Kennedy & Fabulous K's Blog and enter. Just know, that I will be super jealous if you win instead of me.

I Want, I Need, I Have to Have: Tile

… or another reason why I love Barbara Barry.

I came across another reason to move out of our apartment this afternoon. One of my favorite ‘eye candy’ site’s Retro Renovation posted about these awesome Starburst Tiles from Ann Sacks and Barbara Barry.




They come in singe, offset, double, triple and quad; and if I could retile our bathroom I would by them right now!

Hubs and I LOVE mid-century modern design. I know, who doesn’t these days? I would tell you we liked it before it was so cool, but I don’t know exactly when it started being so cool… lets just say more than 5 years. It was one of the things we had in common when we started dating. Hubs is obsessed with all things “Atomic Starburst”.

Example 1…

Example 2…

He’s so obsessed I tried to buy him a complete set of Eames Starburst Black Composite Stainless Silverware for his birthday, from a vintage shop near his old apartment.

Source

Sadly, I got there a day too late.

So, I got some requests to do more posts on my Interior Design school projects... is that something a lot of you would be interested in?