House hunting is exhausting. We are casually looking and trying to decide if it is time to make a move or not. But man, it is tiring. Figuring out which compromises to make and where makes my brain hurt. Please, if anyone out there in internet land knows of a charming, not teeny tiny, bungalow with a screen porch, front porch, a decent-sized kitchen, lots of light, so of course plenty of well-insulated windows, a nice back yard in a great walkable location at a steal of a price here in Raleigh, just let me know! Oh and don’t forget we are looking to be in a safe neighborhood with a good school district for the little one. Thanks ever so much.

I’ve been eying this fabric for awhile and am finally ready to order it. I think it will look great as a window treatment in my bathroom which is painted a deep stone/tan/gray color. I have a fancy white mirror above the tub a la this one below and galvanized & hammered tin accents and I think this color and pattern will pull it all together nicely. It takes me awhile to mull over design decisions and I’m glad to have this one figured out.

The Martha Stewart Crafts department has a blog that I like to read, they recently posted some useful organization tips, including a great hall organizer idea using metal mailboxes.

Love this:

Available here.

A few months ago Grace asked if I could send pictures of my house to be featured on her blog, design*sponge. I finally got them to her (after cleaning of course!) For more pictures, check out the post here. Thanks, Grace!

Every month or so I host a ladies get-together at my house. It’s called “craft night” but I’m not sure we’ve ever done much crafting. Last night was no exception. My friend Tanya brought over some bakery-sample cupcakes, I made guacamole and a ham & swiss puff-pastry quiche and the evening somehow ended with us choreographing new moves to Single Ladies. Awesome.

I have tons of home decor images saved in a binder and on my computer. The blog desire to inspire is a great source for finding new and inspiring interiors, like this one which I think I pulled because of certain similarities to my own bedroom.

What a lovely and productive weekend. I managed to spend almost all of it outdoors, which was awesome because the weather was beautiful. I got my seeds started and two days later I already have some sprouts. I painted the cute little French bistro patio set that I scored on Craigslist a nice shade of cornflower blue.

And finally, we made a quick day trip to Charlotte where we brunched, caught up with friends and then shopped IKEA for some odds & ends around the house. IKEA’s directions by the way, are totally wrong on their website, we figured that one out about an hour after driving in circles. But, despite the directions hang-up,  fun times were had and now I am exhilirated and inspired for the work week ahead.

Last night I hosted a long overdue craft night and decided to try my hand at making a terrarium. They are really quite simple to make and lovely to look at. I especially like seeing the layers in the glass jar, they remind me of those colored sand art projects from preschool days.

The trickiest part is assembling all your pieces. I found most of mine at the pet store, where in addition to activated charcoal (for getting rid of the icky bacteria that would otherwise form because of the lack of drainage), I found rocks and even plants that are suited best for aquariums and terrariums.

Also, terrariums can be either lidded or not. If not, they need to be watered a bit more frequently, once a week or so. If you do choose to make a mini eco system with a lid, your terrarium can go unwatered for a few weeks since the lid traps the moisture in.

Supplies:

• glass jar / lidded or not
• small rocks
• activated charcoal
• moss
• potting soil
• moisture-loving plants
• accent pieces (rocks, driftwood, miniature figurines)

Once you have your supplies together, assembling the terrarium is easy-peasy. First layer an 1.5″ or so of small rocks, followed by a thin layer of activated charcoal. Add your moss on top of that, and your potting soil above the moss so that the jar is filled about 1/4 up with your bedding material. Finally, add your plants and decorative pieces and water sparingly. Enjoy your terrarium!

As I alluded to in a previous post my parents generously offered us their old kitchen table this weekend. It had been sitting in their garage and my Dad was using it as a workbench. It’s lovely and it really takes things up a notch decorating-wise. Just sitting at it feels good, but, the wood stain is a bit dark for our space and doesn’t match our kitchen cabinets or other furniture. We have an open floor plan and there is no space separation between the kitchen, dining area or living room so it is definitely a noticeable difference.

The chairs pictured here are falling apart and are actually going to be replaced soon, hopefully for the long haul, with the West Elm set that we recently purchased but are on back order until April. However, the color we chose in the chairs (and love) is “acorn” So, what to do? Paint the table? Strip it and try to stain it lighter? Swap out the chairs for white? By the way, the table (though it looks like a vintage farm house style) is just from World Market and not an antique or heirloom.

Any suggestions? I would love to hear your thoughts!