dining room redo

So.... back in November, I was craving a redo of our dining room. I had an inspiration board of sorts... and well - so much has happened between then and now... and finally, this past May, in time for Noah's birthday, we finished it. Well, most of it anyway.

This is what it looked like before...

and here's where we are now...

More pics and details of how we pulled this together are posted in the homestyle section of our blog. It was an ambitious project to finish in less than 2 weeks...

laundry re-do

Did I ever share with you our laundry room makeover? It's still a work in progress, but here is a quick snapshot of where it is now:

For before/after photos of converting what use to be a closet, jump over to the Art of Family Home.

yea! the kids are old enough to...

wash our cars!

getting organized - kids art room

Recuperating from the holidays and Ava's birthday took me longer than I had anticipated. And that's only because I'm keeping myself busy with other things - like getting ready for 2011 (and even that's taking way too long!). Which makes me realize going through this process that the entire month of January should be dedicated to this effort, instead of also trying to do a hundred and one things at the same time too. Still - it's been nice seeing changes around the house, especially in the art room - where it is incessantly messy everyday.

The hardest part was putting away their masterpieces from last year. I usually decorate the room with all their fun art - but it was time to de-clutter and make room for new ones right? I purchased this large container box last year where we started to drop in the children's paintings and 3-dimensional art. And thank goodness - both Noah and Ava's favorite pieces of 2010 all fit inside.

These dollar baskets do more than sit pretty on the shelf. Each contain different types of paint bottles we've acquired (finger paint, acrylic, tempura, etc)...

dining

The dining room is, in my opinion, one of the spaces of a home that is truly divine... where we linger, soak in the day, and eat {the latter meant in the most sincere way. Not like survival eating - but more like... the atmosphere in which it brings us all together}. Like the kitchen - where we prepare food and praise what it does for our senses - the dining room is where the thoughtfulness behind nourishing our families takes place - and is appreciated.

Whether Ava's standing up in her chair reciting made-up lyrics, or Noah washing his cars in his apple juice... it's still a place that is beautiful, bountiful, and a blessing to have each night - together.

Now... we spend most of this kind of evening jubilee in the breakfast room, A - because we don't cry over spilled milk and I can take a wet sponge to it in a heart beat, and B, because our formal dining room is well... formal.



Where we occasionally celebrate and have sit down dinners like this. I didn't mean for it to turn out that way - it just sort of fell into place like this since moving in over 8 years ago.

With Thanksgiving coming up tomorrow - this has been on my mind a lot lately - and how I really, really want to freshen up this space... and informally dine here with tiaras and trucks...

So here is where we are:

Really formal isn't it? And so square. The "dining" room is actually in the back of this photo, by the mirrored wall - and just this past year, I moved it into the formal "living" room to have more space. We re-upholstered the chairs {they were white before} - and the more we got into decorating this space {wall color, side tables, pictures}, the more I realized I was diving right into the "formal" trap.

My inspiration board looks more like this:

Although mahogany, it still looks like it can withstand a few dozen spills doesn't it? The chandelier and rug really sing here...and I love, love this wallpaper! {Or technically - fabric - did you catch this SH's episode?}

Sarah Richardson

Dark rooms like this one - are just cozy. This dark gray is just yummy. Why can't I find cabinets like that? The rug - not so crazy about... Oh, and what do you think about a round table? Hmmm....

House Beautiful

Fireplaces in dining rooms - oh I wish! What a perfect setting - large sunny window to pat your back while crunching on toast, or a fireside bench to sit on while finishing up that last bite of creme brulee...

House Beautiful

What do I not love about this room? The flooring? The white walls? This amazing table?! Oh... and that green lush landscape outside the window isn't too bad to look at either.

Architectural Digest

Chocolate walls? This gorgeous table - a sofa?? Talk about piecing together everything you love...

Country Living

And yes - I have had many dreamy nights of turning our formal area into something more like this...

Coastal Living

But right now, all I can handle are puzzles {not paint}. Ah.... I love inspiration boards. Although - sometimes they confuse the matter even more. Hard to decide isn't it? I can see us in every room here...

I'm off to stretch for my frolicking days ahead - not eating in my FORMAL dining room of course - but enjoying a roundtable of meals with our families. Perhaps over the course of all this eating elsewhere... I can pin down exactly what our dining room should be more like...

and be eating more like this...

Urban Grace Interiors

Happy eating!

working space for the kids

Working from home the past three years has been for the most part - a chance to be a part of two worlds. In the beginning, the kids were confused as to when and how often they could come in and be with "mommy" - Noah would waltz right in to inform me which of his cars had a flat tire, and Ava would want to type on my computer or spin in my chair...

Last Fall, Ava started to pout when Aaron would put on her coat. Noah would wait by the door (he loves to be outdoors) while Ava agonized over the idea of having to go outside. "You've got to be kidding me!" she'd say with arms in the air and curly hair flopping over her face.


We've tried different approaches to this design, from locking the door to even hiding in my office - But I realized that Ava yearned for a place of her own at home - aside from her bedroom where she dreams, reads, and has tea parties - she wanted a place, at home, where she could "work" and create "like Mommy" - so we let her be a part of this transition and help bring her vision to life...





You've probably seen some of Ava's recent art studio pictures from previous posts like this one- but I forgot to post this one, where Ava was so excited to receive my old computer, she fell asleep at her desk waiting for Aaron to finish setting up her "account." This desk was Noah's changing pad table - which I found at a flea market for $10 painted already in nursery colors of yellow and blue. So we pulled it out of storage and bought a quart of high-glossy red for the new art studio's table. After Aaron stripped it down to the grain, I fell in love with it the way it was (even with the remnants of the pale yellow), and shelved the red for another project...



At first I was hesitant to hand down my old computer to her at this age, but we gave it a try, and I'm happy to report that this was another way for her to secure some independence - challenge herself in a fun way, and even learn how to manage her time responsibly.



Ava and Noah's studio gives them a place to get messy, creative, and even escape- the kids are masterminding treasure hunts, winning computer games, and assembling wheels to rocket drills. (Thanks Daddy!)

But what I love the most about this change last fall, is that I get surprises like these - waiting on my desk...



now, onto finding a bigger office space for me than this desk....

deck the halls... literally

I don't know how I do it (okay I do, but...), I somehow managed to collect "things" here and there each season. Which gave me all the more reason to create little vignettes of the holiday spirit around our home...

Beginning with the front door and entry way - Where xmas photocards hang from a tree branch, and wooden German ornaments adorn this washed up cabinet...







And a Dutch village warms up the family room...



Along with nutcrackers standing by on a silver cake stand...



and a toy soldier snickering beneath a shade...



The formal was decked with formal ornaments - including faux eggs dangling from the chandelier... and an artificial tree gripping onto glass ornaments hanging with dear life...









Unlike the family of rabbits frolicking over an old piano...



Our china hutch honors a reindeer...



and angels sit overhead the children's writing table in the breakfast room...



It's been so much fun seeing the place transform for the holidays - and even more fun when Ava actually rearranges figurines with me and calls it "decorating with mom" or to simply put - to avoid bedtime...

But I'll be honest - it did get overwhelming - and I was tempted to toss all of it onto ebay... but then I realized, that it's these cold months that will keep us indoors for awhile, and there's no other place to adorn such knick knacks and special finds collected over the years - to bring back old memories and also new ones as we cozy up for the winter...

decorating for the holidays

Because I'm usually behind in decorating for the holidays, this year I asked Aaron to bring down the xmas decorations from the attic along with the fall Thanksgiving decor... so naturally that spawned to spending an evening unraveling the artificial tree and ornaments from years past...






Ava so enjoyed going through the ornaments - while Noah picked through the fall arrangement of flowers on the table - she unwrapped each individual ornament, tucked tight in tissue paper, as if each one was a gift... and it was. Bringing back memories of how they came a part of our collection, and sharing those stories with the kids.





We decked the formal living area with fragile pieces, and saved the wooden ones for our fresh tree we pick out the day after Thanksgiving...

Within one night, our living space transformed into a holiday spectacle, and we made hot cocoa to celebrate and welcome the festive days ahead.

falling in love...with water

Summers have come and gone in the 7 years we've lived in our home where Aaron and I wouldn't swim in our backyard pool at all. The daily need to skim, brush, and maintain the pH balance and water level, quickly moved to the bottom of our chore list. And once Ava went mobile, a child-proof latch on the french doors sealed the deal permanently.

But the growing algae on the walls, crumbling tile, and over grown trees nearby caught our attention. Especially our finances. We spent the last 3 summers reviving our back yard - chopping down trees, replacing the filters and motors.... and most of all - our perception of how a pool is a blessed extension of our home.

Now that the kids are a bit older, it has become an extended playground for us all. At the first sight of heat waves disappearing, the kids grab their suits drying in the bathtub, and wait by the back door.

Noah calls the pool an "ocean" - which is exactly what it feels like sometimes when we get a glimpse of a dolphin jumping waves...

And if we're not throwing water balloons, playing "shark" or spinning in circles creating waves, we're dining by the pool for breakfast, lunch, or dinner...






Backyard maintenance is no longer a chore, but a family effort. Ava helps us skim the top of the pool while Noah waters the landscape. And the best part? Cleaning up toys has never become problem. Because they too - enjoy being left by the water.

Getting wet this summer - our tips
1. Whether you have a pool or not, there are several alternatives to integrating a wet playground for the kids. From hoses to sprinklers to inflatable pools - all offer kids a healthy way to enjoy the summer days.

2. Invite creativity into your pool/water playtime by imagining scenarios the kids love. We play "Da-Na, Da-Na" which is what we crescendo while trying to chase the kids both in and out of the pool.

3. Swimming builds strong appetites in kids - which I absolutely love. Leave it to nature to evoke their desire to choose and eat fresh fruits and salads all on their own...

4. It's easy to accumulate inflatables, tubes, and pool toys each summer - which clutters the real purpose of using the pool - to swim. Skip the extra plastic toys that are tempting to buy and ask your kids to use what they have [barring they can get wet] to swim or play with in the sandbox.

5. Keep a large plastic or metal container by the door filled with clean towels, sunscreen, and their outdoor toys. Having it all in one place and ready to go eases the burden on you to rush and find everything when the kids have already beaten you outdoors - and it gives the kids a sense of responsibility to swimming - let them retrieve items on their own and drop off used towels, suits and toys in the bucket on their way to bathtime!

hello holidays

The morning after Thanksgiving, the only thing on my mind is the upcoming holidays - picking out a real tree, decorating the house, opening up our boxes of ornaments and reminiscing at each one... driving through neighborhood streets to ooh at lights while sipping on hot cocoa and listening to Christmas music on the radio to accompany our accapella voices...

But recovery from Thanksgiving took a bit longer than usual with two kids. So we started on Friday with a trip up to the attic to bring down all remanants of the Christmas season. Ava and Noah got their own tree this year to dress up for the playroom...





I've always had plastic trees growing up - but since I got married, Aaron and I started a tradition of our own to buy the real thing and somehow recreate a snowy-lodge feel with a roaring fireplace and pine tree.

I'm a little sentimental in that I wish there was a nearby farm I could prance around with the kids. But the thought of driving back home with a tree on top of the car only took me as far as 2 miles away from the house. So on Saturday we headed to our nearby Home Depot and picked out our real tree for the family room.

Once we got there, we were blown away by how many trees that had sold already. We were also blown away by the weather - literally. This prompted a quick selection - but not after Ava and Noah experimented with the different textures and played a game of hide and go seek between the aisles.









Noah inspected its safety - and it passed thanks to the HD tree man who secured it tightly. Meanwhile, I was fantasizing about my hot cocoa....

Once we got home, the kettle started boiling and I began sorting the ornaments. Aaron dragged the tree inside and left it in the foyer to help detangle lights. The kids' interest had waned them over to the playroom, and I could hear pots and pans banging in their kitchen. When Aaron was ready with a pair of scissors to cutoff the netting, he discovered an ornament hanging from it's spire. We couldn't help but laugh - and amuse ourselves with how quickly the kids have welcomed the holidays - all on their own...

old is new again

Remember those "stray things" I bought home a few weeks ago? Well this one is from a little girls' bedroom set [desk, hutch, dresser and mirror] that I made off with for a sweet deal. Ahem. I know, I know. But it was the vintage flowers on the drawers that got to me. And when they were willing to part with it for less than a meal out on the town, I caved.

After two weeks collecting dust in our formal rooms, I was finally inspired to stow it away for Ava's growing years. While pushing this dresser to the back, I took a detour to her room to see if it'd fit. And then... I was inspired to...

Dreamy isn't it? The best part is that it's from the lovely left-over paint I used for my studio walls - which happened to be an "oops-paint" - they hated it, but I love it kind of a find. In 30-minutes, I brushed on a new life to this piece. As I put back the vintage knobby drawer pulls... I wondered about the hands that pulled and pushed these knobs for decades... reaching for her beloved books stored on top... or inside for her most precious valuables...

After a few hours, I returned to dress it up and read some books with Ava - who responded to her new bedside table...

"wow Mommy... you painted it? I like it!"



Ava's new dresser holds her sweet two year old valuables.... [top] suitcases for mini-roadtrips, a photo of her playing at the beach, a sea shell from Seaside, Fl., reading lamp for bedtime books... [and inside] hair clips and ribbons for her and dress-up clothes for her babies...