nesting + home décor

Nesting

Last week my friend Jaimie Meares was in town and helped me finish decorating my apartment. I had gotten the main pieces into place last summer but felt like it still needed some art, plants, lighting and pillows before it was “done.” One thing I’ve learned about living in a small apartment is when you add art and furniture the space feels so much bigger. I can’t wait to share the photos of our teeny tiny place.

Living Room

This post is sponsored by Art.com

When people come in our apartment they usually comment how it looks bigger than 450 square feet. We hadn’t measured it since before we moved in so I decided to measure it again and we’ve been officially upgraded from 450 to 550 square feet! I measured the countertops too. Does that count as square footage? I don’t know. Somehow 550 sounds a whole lot better than 450 so I’m going with it. Even though this apartment is small it has a really good layout. Some apartments can feel so wasteful with space. For example we used to live in an apartment with an enormous bathroom (it was big enough to fit a queen size bed!) It was a luxury to have a bathroom that big but it was such a waste of space when we needed room so badly in other places like the nursery.

Here is a little peek of our new living room. I knew I wanted some art that was large and black and white and I fell in love with this “Beach Exercises” piece from Art.com that Jocelyn picked. It is quirky but I liked that it feels sort of subtle because it is black and white. The bookshelf is from World Market. The lamp is from IKEA and I am toying with painting it a color (maybe fluorescent?) The little white piece of artwork is by a friend Sunny Belliston Taylor and the large piece on the right is from the flea market.

Our rugs and the last few pieces of furniture that we shipped over from France get here this week. I’m excited to put them in the apartment so I can feel like it is officially “done.” I can’t wait to share pictures of the whole apartment.

Magnet Wall DIY

Moses has always had an obsession with letters and one day we found a giant magnet wall at a store and he was in heaven. So I always said as soon as they had their very own room (not in a closet) we would make one. The whole project was so easy and took less than 10 minutes. Both the kids love it and play with it all the time. It’s perfect for a playroom or a bedroom. I would love to do a giant wall like this.

Materials needed: One custom cut piece of sheet metal, nails, hammer, cardboard, lots of alphabet letters! (I got mine from here, I liked the font.)

After I decided where the wall was going to go I took exact measurements. Home Depot sells sheet metal in standard sizes but won’t cut it. So I looked up a sheet metal guy online and got a quote. He cut and delivered the sheet metal to me for $30. The sheet metal is actually quite sharp so be careful as you are working with it.

Step 1: Make Holes. Lay the sheet metal over the cardboard. Take a nail and hammer it into the sheet metal until a hole is created. Repeat on the corners and every few feet along the edges.
Step 2: Have someone hold the sheet metal up to the wall and starting at the bottom put a nail into the hole until it is flush against the wall. Move upwards making sure there are no gaps or holes between the wall and the sheet metal.
Step 3: Add the letters to create a  giant magnetic alphabet wall.

other sources: striped bedding from Ikea (discontinued), artwork by Paul, lights from Paris)

Party to Pretties: An Outdoor Meal

by Emmadime

I love it when you can feel the seasons slowly shifting – Fall is creeping up on us and i love it. Since I just recently experienced a lovely outdoor meal in Portland, OR – I decided to share some of the items we brought along for our dinner. We embraced a more natural color scheme, kept things simple while focusing on beautiful materials, and enjoyed food that the Fall season is known and loved for. What are your favorite Fall foods?

Table Setting // Blanket // Stoneware // Eat Napkin //  Wooden Chair // Water Glass // Bottle with stopper // Wooden Utensils

Feeling Like Home

I always say it takes 6 months to feel at home. We moved in to our apartment March 1st and I realized the other day that our apartment is finally feeling home-y. I still need art for the bedrooms and few more things but other than that I am loving our little Parisian digs. I think the entry way needs a piece of art, something tall and simple. Maybe like this? I’m still deciding where to put that red feather juju hat I got at the brocante last weekend. I threw it up on the wall so the littles wouldn’t try to play with it but I’m still deciding where it will live. I’ll hopefully do a complete house tour in the next month or so. (ps: Here are pictures when we moved in!)

all photos by Oh Happy Day