Teepee action in the nursery

See the teepee in the picture below? We have an identical one, bought from Bed, Bath and Table here in Australia almost 2 years ago for Hannah. I thought to use it as a feature in baby #2's room!

Image from The Nursery Book

Check out these beautiful rooms with beautiful teepees. Cinches the deal for me!

Image from Living Etc

Image from The Marion House Book

Image from Ish and Chi

Image from Living Etc

Image from Design Sponge

Image from Remodelista

Image from Remodelista

Image from Remodelista

Image from max and me

Image from apartment therapy

Image from Little House Well Done

Image from Glitter and Pearls

Image from The House and the Pea

I'd love to have a set of teepees for Hannah for a sweet little sleepover!



But it's a sweet idea to have those fairy lights wreathing around baby #2's teepee!

Eagerly awaiting baby #2's arrival: 4 weeks to D-Day :)

Talking about craft areas

Image from Pinterest

I thought I'd look at some inspiring and happy craft areas... this is what I found to share:

Image from Crafting with Camile

A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment
a single man contemplates it,
bearing within him the image of a cathedral.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince.

Image from Kaboodle

Life beats down and crushes the soul;
and art reminds you that you have one.
Stella Adler

Image from PB Teen

Image from Pinterest

There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot,
but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence,
transform a yellow spot into sun.”
Pablo Picasso

Image from Pinterest

Image from Pinterest

Image from Creative Compass

If you hear a voice within you say, ‘You cannot paint,’
then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.
Vincent Van Gogh

Image from Tayla-Club

Creativity is knowing how to hide your sources
Albert Einstein

Image from Pinterest

You can't use up creativity.
The more you use, the more you have.
Maya Angelou

Image from Pinterest

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.
Art is knowing which ones to keep.
Scott Adams

Image from Pinterest

Image from Decorating Files

Every child is an artist,
the problem is staying an artist when you grow up.
Pablo Picasso

29 stunning celebrity dining rooms... 2 favs!

Have you gone to Architectural Digest's 29 stunning celebrity dining rooms gallery? I got the email today and got to say, I picked 2 clear favourites:

After perusing the dining rooms and taking note of my instant reactions, two things hit me:

1. I haven't swayed from my preference of round dining tables with solid central bases.
2. Less is more.

Having said that, Brooke Shield's dining room was a clear winner for me:



Every element is allowed to shine in its own right, yet the central focus of the room is the dinner event, shared with family and friends. Not even the lamps are allowed to overshadow the wallpaper!

And yet, the wallpaper chosen doesn't take glory over that table. An intimate setting designed for a warm person!

I have been looking for dining tables with the same elements: marble-topped, central, rich, solid wood base... (but with an obviously way more modest pricetag).




The other dining room that captivated because it was raw yet elegant was Gerard Butler's dining room:



How stunning is that room left raw and unpolished?

You also got to check out the rest of his New York Chelsea loft. In his worlds, Butler created a "bohemian old-world rustic château with a taste of baroque". His entrance hall is stunning in its... raw-ness:



Yet you know that it's loved; the polished floors and obvious attention to detail and deliberateness speaks for itself.

The husband thinks is "ghastly" and "who puts chandeliers in those kind of rooms!??" But I love it. Not my choice for living but man it would be a treat to have an evening of food, fun and laughter in such a deliberate and individual space!

Yellow... nurseries

I used to despise yellow. Up until 2005, I hated yellow. I still have an aversion to pale versions of yellow.... not vibrant or happy enough for me :)

In the 90s, I remember the rage of aligning your personality to the seasons (and therefore, the colour of clothes that best suit you). I remember being an Autumn. I only wore and liked browns, deep reds, ochres, dark greens....

But I think as I've grown into myself, became an adult and solidified my character (and continued to harness my strengths and work on my weaknesses), I realised that actually, I am very much a sunny and optismistic person.

I love yellows, oranges, pinks (another colour I hated growing up), greens, blues... all in its vibrant shades, none of its pale, insipid versions.

As we wait for baby #2's arrival, I cannot help but dream of yellows again in the nursery.

Image from leken hverdag

Image from Spearmint Baby

Image from E, Myself, and I

I am LOVING the brightly painted sideboards/drawers. I had considered a bright watermelon red before but the yellow draws me! Oh it draws me!

Image from Boo Boo Ska

Image from here

Image from buy modern baby

Image from BHG

My darling Hannah who is now 7 was unpacking her books the other day to put into her new bedroom. She was busily dividing the books into two piles and then she came out proudly and lovingly kissed my belly bump and told her sibling that "I've put aside books for you". I have looked for a book display shelf like below for baby #2 :)

Image from Project Nursery

Pity this is AUD$1499 but I simply adore the simple lines, low armrests and comfy, rocking action of the Monte glider in YELLOW! Offered in Australia here. (First one on left)

Image from buy modern baby

Given the room's already purple and yellow... maybe sticking with vibrant yellows, whites and blacks might be better!

The thing with moving... into a rental...

I'm not the best at moving. Especially when we have to set up home in a place not ours. Renting (for now) means having to work with how others before us have lived their lives. Their paint colours, their kitchen and bathroom designs, their picture hook placements, their curtain choices, their preferences for bright or dark spaces...

But we're in our new (old) rental. This house, we discovered (coincidentally, by my midwife, who lived here for a while in 1989!), was built in 1989. It's got issues with damp, lighting here is atrocious... the rooms are painted in un-ideal colours and decoupaged with cupids, dragonflies and stars. The bathroom and kitchen designs leave much to be desired... but we chose this place because it filled all our needs (not all our wants.

We've been here 7 days and I find myself in funks now and then. When one moves, furniture inevitably get repurposed in different rooms, for different uses... And I inevitably get left with finding storage/space for other things...

So right now, I have piles of things everywhere... and things spilling out of furniture onto floors into other "temporary" homes.

I love setting up home... but doing it while being very very pregnant... means hormones clash with better judgement and enhances funks!

****
And it is in this new (old) rental that we eagerly wait for our new bundle of joy. Baby #2 is coming in around 8 weeks (if she co-operates with due dates). So I've got Baby Room #2 to put together.

So far, we have a white side table and a white new-to-us cot. The room we've assigned to Baby #2 has been painted a peachy-yellow.

I've been inspired by the combos of white, red and orange... and blotches of bright pink...



I've also been thinking about the furniture pieces I'd like in this room. Knowing me, I steer away from buying "baby furniture in baby stores"... preferring to repurpose other pieces. So I've trawled through my inspiration files and whittled down the list of pieces:

• an armchair with an ottoman
• storage for nappies etc within easy reach
• cot... obviously
• washable rug
• storage for books/toys

(Don't need storage for clothes as this room comes with built-ins.)

Love this room... pleasant, neutral colours with pops of reddy-pink. But what draws me are the pieces... which match my list above!



Always love red for kids... no pinks or blues for me :)



Hey what do you think about hanging an airplane for a little baby girl's room? I know it's more a boy's room treat... but I think it COULD work in a little girl's room! Whaddaya think?

I think this was from Living Etc

I ask because almost 2 years ago whilst on a road trip date with my mother in law I bought something similar from a vintage store... and have *always* wanted to hang an airplane from the ceiling... (way before I've seen them being done in home and interior design magazines.)