Drab Doors

Something I'd really love to change in our house are the exterior doors. The interior ones are fine and match the interior trim and woodwork, but the front door leading on to the enclosed front porch, front door leading into the interor and the back door leading to the back porch are all just wood slab doors. No detail, pretty blah and ugly. And the same for the door leading to the half bath off the kitchen. So, I have some inspirations.

We painted the exterior front door a couple of years ago and it's fine, for now. But, for the front door leading into the interior, I bought a chocolately brown paint from the "oops" cart at Lowe's and would like to paint it brown and then do some type of medallion / monogram (realizing that I don't really have much talent in the painting department and may need to "outsource" this). These are my inspirations...

From Pottery Barn Kids (above the headboard there):

Or maybe a vinyl decals from etsy (pics below are from listings here and here): For the door into the half bath off the kitchen, I would REALLY like to do a chalkboard door. Chalkboards are so handy, especially in kitchens, and I'd like to make it big enough for the boys to use the bottom half. I have the chalkboard paint in hand, and these are my inspriations...unfortunately, I can't rememeber where they are from, but were definitely pics from door manufacturers.

And for the back kitchen door leading to the back porch, I'd like to do either a big ribbon board (like the one from PBK below) or some magnet or corkboard tiles.

Or, maybe we could just buy new doors. :-)

Would it be so bad?

We live in a really old house (100+ years), and it has tons of lovely woodwork. Well, sort of lovely. The downstairs is stained and finished, but a little beat up (a maple-y color, I think..I'm not good with colors of wood), and the upstairs is painted white (was that way when we got here). We were pretty committed to not painting the downstairs trim when we moved in, but lately I really have a bug to do it, especially the stairs. It just feels so dark downstairs; the floor plan is not really an "open" one, and since we live in the city, we are REALLY close to the neighbors on either side and don't get a ton of natural light. I just feel like it would brighten things up a little bit.

I am inspired by the two pics above: first from Domino Mag and second from Pottery Barn. I really like the mix of the white and the natural wood for the stairs. I know in theory it's a shame to paint over wood, but I also feel like it is not as "wrong" as it used to be. Dan is warming up to the idea, so we'll see. :-) Hopefully no one else is gasping in horror.

Amy Butler

In more than one etsy shop I have come across the name "Amy Butler" when referring to fabric. It's always beautiful fabric, so I decided to look her up today and now have a new obsession. This only adds to my fantasy of being able to sew...dating back to getting a sewing machine for Christmas THREE years ago, making a new year's resolution to do it last year, and amassing a large box of miscellaneous fabrics that I like, but don't know how to use. Her fabrics are absolutely beautiful - below are just a few samples taken from her website. I love that she also includes "inspiration pieces" that give you ideas of what to do with the fabric.

She also sells tons of adorable patterns, and also has some free sewing patterns. There's also a shop with cute things like pillows and dishes...

I realize I don't need to recreate her entire site here, but two more things that caught my eye were these awesome books on sewing as well as these free craft patterns. And it looks like you can find her products in these places. I feel like I might be the last person to discover her, but just though I'd share...in case I'm not. :-)

I really need spring....

....we've been battling never-ending illnesses in our house lately; they just keep getting passed from one to another. I really just want to open up the windows and air this place out...apparently Clorox wipes aren't cutting it. We need a top-to-bottom spring cleaning.

Here are some more pics from San Francisco that give me hope for spring. I LOVE cherry blossoms...has anyone ever seen real ones you can buy? I guess if I had a cherry tree in my yard I would just snip a few!

Crown & Crumpet

If you are ever in San Francisco, you have to make a point of visiting Crown & Crumpet. We came across it while we were at Ghirardelli Square, and it is quite possibly the cutest little shop I've ever seen. It's a tea room and shop and the decor is, well, I want it...all. There was Cath Kidston fabric everywhere and a perfect mix of whimsy and pretty in the way things were put together.

It was just before closing time when we visited, so the shop was empty and the owner was just working on restocking some things, so we had a nice chat. She was super sweet and down to earth. Then I read her bio on the website and saw she was recruited and worked for Ralph Lauren himself for several years! She obviously knows style. :-) She said the shop is scheduled to be on the cover of Romantic Homes magazine, so I'll have to keep an eye out for that. I picked up a little pink bird decoration in her shop that I'm going to hang in the kitchen window.

My pics didn't turn out as well as the ones above from the website (be sure to view the photo gallery under "About"), but here are a few, as well as a couple from another adorable nearby shop, Kara's Cupcakes (BEST cupcakes I've ever had). And we couldn't leave Ghirardelli Square without some chocolate - drinking chocolate, to be exact (and some to take home).

Basic Crepes

When I was young, I remember my mom using her little crepe maker to make chicken crepes pretty regularly for dinner. I always loved them, and then when I went to France and tried authentic crepes, I loved them even more. When I tried them there I had the ever-popular and standard Nutella crepe, and had been craving another ever since. On the way to San Francisco I purchased the latest Martha Stewart Living magazing for the flight and they had a basic crepe recipe that peaked my interest. Then, while in Frisco, we had brunch at a creperie - part of our order being a crepe with Nutella. So, when I got home, I was anxious to try my hand and see how they turned out.

I'm happy to say they turned out pretty well! I'm interested in trying other varieties as well, but the Nutella was a hit around here, especially with Caleb...he couldn't get enough! I'll definitely make them again. Here's a link to the recipe, if your interested. I would recommend reading the "how to" link as well. I didn't strain the batter as it suggests, but I did follow the other instructions pretty closely.

Gabe's Room

I absolutely love the walls in Gabe's room, so graciously painted by Sandi and seen in this post here. But, his bedding's getting a little bit worn and the rest of the room really isn't pulled together. I saw the below bedding in Pottery Barn kids a while back and thought it was cute. It's simple, but would add some color, and I have the stars on the curtains already. I was actually thinking of trying to make it (TRY not to laugh). I have a machine, and with some guidance from all of my sewing mothers, maybe it could be my first official project. :-) The idea I really love are these headboards (pic from Domino Magazine). These also seem simple enought to make and since I don't have a headbord for his bed, I thought this might be a good idea and could coordinate it with the quilt and rest of his room. (BTW, I love this room for little girls.)

We'll see how it goes. :-)

Snowglobes

I'm not that crazy about most of my Christmas decorations, but one thing I do love is my snowglobe collection. Dan had one that was given to him as a child, and then he's given me one for Christmas every year since the second Christmas we were married. I just think they're really pretty and festive.

As fate would have it, I got my trial copy of Ready Made today (can't remember where I found this site, but it looks fun) and they had a little article about them, including DIY Snowglobes! I think it would be a really fun project to do with Gabe.

What's your favorite holiday decoration?

Christmas Baking!

Tomorrow I'll be doing some baking for the holidays with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law. It's an annual tradition and at the end we get to split the goods and have a great variety of things. I was surfing flickr looking for some ideas and came across these photos that I thought were pretty and fun. We'll see if ours look anything like this. :-) I can tell you for sure that no matter how our stuff looks, it will taste delicious!

I think my favorite holiday goodie in recent year's is one of Christina's recipes - Ritz Mint Thins. You just dip Ritz crackers in a melted mix of chocolate bark and Andes mint chips - simple but delicious!

I ask this each year, but what's your favorite simple holiday treat?