friday fotos: i love my house

Tonight I got to teach a mini-class on budget decorating and remodeling in my home. It was so much fun to remember and share everything I did to this house. It was an intense two months of remodeling four years ago, then just tweaking and refining since as funds, time, and energy have allowed.

I love my front yard..... The Lavender in bloom. The Russian Sage reaching clear to the windows. The weeping Cedar tree growing bigger every year....

The path into my backyard where the Daisies grow 4 feet tall.

And the backyard "kid zone" where there's always room for friends and family and a game of catch the football. Vegetables in the garden. Cherries in the tree. Herbs in the pots.

*sigh*

I am trying to come to grips with the fact that I probably won't get to keep this house much longer. It was supposed to be my "carry me out feet first, I'm dead" house. The one my kids made memories in and brought their kids back to. Maybe a tree house in the Willow tree as soon as it's big enough. Maybe a wedding reception in the backyard. A story behind every ding and nick. Home.

But it's a sad fact that, in all likeliness, I will not be able to afford the payments on the salary I'll have post-graduation. There may even be graduate school in my future which means packing up and going to wherever will fund me. Probably living with myself and 4 kids in an apartment.

I know a house is just a shell. The people inside and the love we have for one another is what really makes "home". Still, yeah, ugh. It will be so hard to leave this place and all it represents. It's mere presence and consistency was such a blessing to my children and I after the divorce. With so much change and turmoil....it was the place that stayed the same.

I want to always remember what it looks like to walk in the front door....

Dishes drying on the counter from the batch of cookies we just made. Bills being paid at the table where I can keep an eye on everyone. The sound of laughter (or sometimes fighting!) that always fills my ears as I step inside.

I know I should save my miracle praying for big things--life or death things---but if there's no limit on 'please send me a miracle', then I pray for a way to stay here. Amen.

Hope that wasn't too deep for Friday Fotos! I wish you all the best and ~Happy Weekending!~

more pretty projects going on around my house

You'd think trying to accomplish projects around the house in the middle of all my end of school/writing deadline craziness would just add to the stress--but it's actually had quite the opposite effect. Prettying up or cleaning out a little something here and there has actually proven to be quite therapeutic.



I ripped everything out my garage on Saturday and (after chasing away several people who thought I was having a garage sale. Get away from my stuff people!!!) I found a few space gobblers to put onto Craigslist--all sold within 5 days. Woo-hoo!


Next I wanted to find a way to make this part of my hallway a little prettier:



I love my kids artwork--and with four boys who love to draw and paint there's never enough room on my fridge. So, a few years ago we started to hang up some of their excess masterpieces on this big, empty wall in the hallway. The Crayola colors helped to remedy the blah beige (I can't remember why I chose to paint the space that color but I really hate it now). Still--the tape never seemed to hold very well and so papers would fall off and be stuck back up willy-nilly, leaving the whole thing looking a little out of control. So-- using the cut up cardboard box that my outdoor umbrella came in and less than $15 in fabric, I made this...........

I KNOW!!!---the center fabric is crooked and it will probably bother me endlessly but, in my defense, I did make these while on an extremely long phone call with my insurance company. I like that I got a little color and pattern in the big blank space, and that the artwork seems elevated in importance now. Those results are good enough for me to live with the crookedness!

Did you even know you could make a bulletin board out of a piece of cardboard, some fabric, and little hot glue? Yup! You can! I've made them for years...and now you can too :) !

Finally, tune in on Monday to hear the story behind my new shelves.....

and-- if I'm feeling so inclined-- I will tell you how they tie into my current love life.

OK then. That's all I got. This is as clever as the ending is going to get. Now comment. Please. :)

Oh yeah, and p.s. You're welcome for the Chuck Mangione music Heh.heh.

it all started on easter... (a makeover story)

My brother and his wife were over for Easter dinner and remarked on the ever-worsening state of my hot tub cover. "Yeah, I know" I answered, "I'm not sure that I want to invest $500 to buy a new one when no one seems interested in getting in there anymore anyway. I think I'd like to get rid of the whole thing soon...."

Well--that's all it took. With one phone call, my sister-in-law had a friend of hers who refurbishes and sells stuff like that lined up to come haul off my hot tub the very next day. Bye-bye old hot tub!

Ready or not...it was time for a backyard makeover!!!

I had a $350 dollar budget and one Ninja to help me out. Score for me!--When they removed the hot tub, turns out there was a cement slab under it! So, now I would have use of two patios. It was going to take dismantling part of the existing deck and shoring up the other part to make it work thought. Here's the "during" photo.....

Nearly one solid week of work later and TA-DUM!!!..........

Looks pretty amazing if I do say so myself :) ! I added one $90 outdoor ottoman. Two $25 dollar outdoor chairs. A $70 outdoor umbrella. And a few outdoor cushions and pillows totalling $80. New pots, big glass candlesticks on clearance from Pier 1, screws, and some 2X4's took up the rest of the budget. The blue "Oh" chairs by Umbra were in my boys room and never used so they came to join the party. And I already owned the little outdoor table and the dining set so no money spent there.

When it was finally done, we celebrated with a barbecue and a fire in the fire pit. Aaaah....can't wait to enjoy many hours out here over the next three seasons!

I'm glad one comment on Easter propelled this project forward!

And just in case you don't think there was THAT much change....here's what the backyard looked like when I bought the house 3 1/2 years ago----

Yeah. It's come a long, long way, baby :).

once upon a time there was an ungly laundry room...

It was functional, yes--but SOOOO ugly. I took the worst *before* picture I could to show you..... The mountains of clothes on the floor are actually clean--I often times just plow through as many loads as I can in a day and leave the folding after the kids are in bed when I can spread it all out and watch a movie. The walls had not been painted since 1988 (when the house was built)....well, except that you can see I STARTED painting them a little over 2 years ago. Ummm...I didn't get very far. And since I mostly just went into this room, used it, got out, and closed the door---I didn't feel a huge urgency to finish it. Still, this eyesore was visible from my living room and I decided in my Spring Cleaning frenzy to get it finished. Lucky for me, Green Eyes volunteered to come help move out the washer/dryer and be my painting buddy.



And here are the yummy, chocolatey-brown results.....



By day:





And by night:

How fabulous is my little crystal bedecked chandelier?!?! I know! I've been storing it in my garage for 3 1/2 years now. When Mom and Dad Peterson built a new house, I asked (begged) to have it out of their old one. It used to hang in their bedroom and I would lay my babies on their bed beneath it. The way the light would dance through the crystals mesmerized them. It held good memories, and I knew it would be an unexpected twist to find a pop of luxury in a laundry room :).

The 'curtains' you can see cover up all the tools and cleaning stuff I store on the shelves in there. They're actually made from two pillowcases hung with clip rings and strung up on a tension rod.

And here's the one wall that has anything hanging on it.....

The bird and house picture is a segment I cut out of a Pottery Barn bag from 2-3 years ago. The mirrored butterflies are from Umbra through Target. Love the girly feel they add! In a house full of boys, it's important for me to have a little girly :).

So now I get to wash dirty clothes in a posh space....and (bonus!) I get to leave the door open!

Now wait till you see what I did with this space..... COMING SOON :)

jennifer p.'s super ultimate spring cleaning chore checklist

Sorry about missing Friday Fotos .... I was a lottle busy! With the variety of activities and commitments I have going on lately--kids, homeschooling, church, my own schooling, internship, making writing deadlines, social life-- it was clear the one thing that was being given up to make all the other things possible was my poor, poor house. It got picked up daily (several times daily) but it was getting harder for me to do much more than that and fix it/ clean it projects seemed to be piling up. Being the minimalist I am, deep and regular purging is a must. I'm of the opinion that you use and appreciate everything more when you have less of it. I also find I am more creative, work better, and am just generally more happy when I have a nice, organized space to move about in. So, once a year I go through and do a deep cleaning and re-organizing. This year the boy squad spent from Wednesday at 4:30 to Sunday at 1 with their dad. It was the longest I'd ever been away from them and it wasn't easy but boy oh boy! did I ever keep myself busy!

Thought I'd share the Spring Cleaning chore list I use every year and over the next few days I'll share some fun before and after photos of projects I accomplished. If you haven't done it yet---throw open those windows to let a little fresh air in, crank up some good music, and CLEAN with me :) !

*STORAGE ORGANIZING (45-60 minutes a room--moving fast). This is a big one for me. I do every drawer, closet, and plastic storage bin in my house. I shake out all the items and either keep, throw away, or put them in a "donate" bag, wipe out the interior of the drawer or cupboard, and put what I've chosen to keep back in. You'd be surprised how much junk you've got just laying around :).

*MATTRESS FLIPPING (8 minutes a mattress) Strip all the sheets, throw them in the washer, and flip your mattress. If it's a non-flip kind, at least rotate it.

*CLOTHING SORT (45 minutes per closet) If you haven't worn it in a year or it doesn't fit---donate it! Rotate in your lighter clothes and move winter stuff to the back or to storage.

*KIDS STUFF (90 minutes) Be ruthless! Collect toys, games, equipment, etc that are no longer used or are broken and throw them away or put them in a bin to be donated. Give everything a quick wipe down and replace any batteries that need it. Gather small toy pieces in clear plastic bins and put as much within kid reach as possible My kids don't miss what I give away at all!

*PAPERWORK REVIEW AND TOSS (90 minutes) Check insurance policies and the like, toss what you don't need, file or scan the rest. Hopefully you already have a working file system. If not--this one might take longer, but you'll be happy you did it when you know where everything is!

*MIRRORS AND WINDOWS (5 minutes per surface). They're just going to get dirty again, so don't kill yourself with this! Give them a quick wipe down. Plan to at least clean the exterior ones a little better when summer sun can help dry.

*WASHING THAT STUFF THAT NEVER GETS WASHED :) (about 6 loads of laundry--time varies) Wash pillows, mattress and duvet covers, blankets, dust ruffles, bath mats...anything that you can throw in a washer--throw it in there!

*LIGHTS (30 minutes) Take down your fixtures and wash the dead bugs out of them already. Oh yeah--and the blades of your ceiling fan probably have an inch of dust on them--just so ya know :)

*OVEN CLEANING (time varies) Hopefully you can just throw on the automatic oven cleaner and call it done. Do it before it gets too hot outside. You won't want to be creating that much extra heat then!

*STOVE AND FRIDGE (60 minutes) Pull them out and see what kind of treasures you find under there! Vacuum, mop and move them back. Take everything out of your fridge, throw out all the old stuff, wipe all the surfaces down (or do what I do and remove the shelves and drawers and clean them at the sink), put it all back together. The angels will sing when you open the door to your immaculate fridge :)

*UPHOLSTERY AND RUG CLEANING---You COULD take the 3 hours to rent a machine and do it yourself, or be like me and just bite the hundred or so dollar bullet to have it professionally done. They'll always do better than you can do anyway :)

*WINDOW COVERINGS (15 minutes per window) Yes you!...dust those blinds already! This is one I pay my kids to do for me.

There ya go! Are you tired just reading it? I promise you can knock it all out in 1-3 days and the results will last nearly a year. Happy Cleaning!

doing my best to answer your decorating dilemmas

I think I have passable answers for everyone....except you LeeAnn--yours is going to take up all of tomorrow's post since you were serious enough to send me pictures and all :) . For the rest of you, here's my two bits:

SUSIE--you asked about huge blank walls and tall ceilings. Here's a post I did about the beauty of a hollow core door (MUCH cheaper than canvas!). My *door art* is just leaning, but the guys at the home improvement stores know all about what to use to hang stuff like this if that's what you want. Also, I LOVE using wallpaper as a filler on one wall. Like this:

or this (See picture 3 where the paper is framed, a good option if you don't have mad wallpapering skillz :) ) ....

Or this.....

Choosing an oversized pattern of wallpaper and painting adjacent walls a coordinating color is a great way to make a huge impact. Once it's up, the wall really doesn't need anything else on it!

****

"T" asked about what to put over her bed and gave me the options of artwork, canvas, or photography. I say any and/or all of those would work! Over the bed is one of those great spots where you can be as personal as you want. Beyond keeping whatever you hang in proportion with the size and headboard shape of your bed, the rest is all up to you! But DO put SOMETHING up there for heavens sake :) !

***

SISSY asked about the lettering I had on my old bedroom wall (another good idea for something to put up above your bed!). Here's the post link! I have never found a vinyl letter person willing to do them that size for me again--but I don't think it would be impossible. Just be SURE to have two people available to get the lettering up. It's a big job!

***

My real life friend TINA in Brooklyn asked about how to class up her slum apartment. And I say...YOU CAN DO IT! Think BoHo! What you have is "vintage chic" not junky! Design Sponge is a great website for garnering ideas about big city living, as is browsing Anthropologie pictures. Some people would probably pay a lot of money for that gold couch and green curtains :) ...plus, with a husband who's an artist, you probably have some pretty cool stuff laying around!

***

5 KID FAMILY asked about storage systems you can take with you. And I say...you can't beat the folks at Pottery Barn Kids! They know how to build a storage system that makes prime use of space going out and up.....

I know a lot of their stuff is overpriced, but it's a good jumping off point. Look at how they're doing it, and then think about how you can replicate it. I have paid local furniture builders to make me PB Kids stuff for a LOT less. Doing the painting or staining on it myself saves me even more.

***

AMBER--I will be messaging you about your plant shelf dilemma (stupid dust catchers!) , but I'm still trying to track down the photo of what I did with the little buggers at my last house.

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One more day of great (or at least good!) ideas for a making a new Craftsman house feel more lived in. Then it's back to real life for me! I love talking about decorating again, but it FOR SURE takes more time to do than the straight up writing stuff! I might consider making a "help me with my decorating dilemma" a monthly post though if I have some interest in it. Anyone interested? Let me know!

Happy Monday! :)

everyone loves a good before and after...

At least I do! I'm going to take the weekend to do a little more research on the questions you asked me and post them on Monday. So for today... we're going to look at some more pictures of my last house and the makeover it underwent. I hope if you're in the middle of your own remodel or redecorating, you'll glean a few usable ideas!

Here was my DINING ROOM BEFORE. Just days after we moved in--things looking very new and bare still:

(sorry again about the Christmas decorations! These were the only ones I had without people in them!). DINING ROOM AFTER:

*the chairs got easy slipcovers and I added two new end chairs. *the shelf got "beefed up" with some new molding. *The walls got a stucco finish., and *because I believe every room deserves a touch of black to "class it up", a new black chandelier replaced the old brass and alabaster one.


KITCHEN BEFORE:
Standard builders oak cabinets, laminate counter tops and flooring. Every surface I picked out ended up looking a lot more pink than the brown it appeared to be in the samples. This was the room I wanted changed most of all, but knew it COULD be the most expensive to re-do too...so I rolled up my sleeves and prepared to do most of the work myself and fill in with creativity:

KITCHEN AFTER: *It took me 3 looooong months, but I hand painted all my cabinets and finally got the white kitchen I'd always wanted! *Cutting out the center of the doors on my dish cabinet and adding hardware cloth (thick mesh screen) gave me a lot of style for not much money. *Wide plank laminate flooring ("Distressed Heart Pine" by Mannington) unified the living/dining/ kitchen areas and was a nice, grounding contrast to all the white. *Wrapping the bar in beadboard added a customized element. Beadboard at the top of the backsplash saved me a lot of awkward painting in small gaps (I painted the board before I put it up!) *Napoleon Brown Marble tiles on the counter gave me a granite look for a LOT less money. *probably my favorite part of the room: the new handles, a mix of bin pulls and handles-- and the new gooseneck faucet. Giving thought to details like that really finish a room off right!

(you can click on any of the pictures to see more detail...but forgive any messes you might see :) ).

***If you want to read about and see more of my adventures in remodeling my current home, visit here***

What decorating or remodeling project are you in the midst of?

show that furniture who's boss! making it work for you no matter where you live:

In furnishing a house, you have two avenues you can take: 1.) Go to the nearest furniture store and buy the matching couch/loveseat/chair/coffee table/end table/lamps OR 2.) furnish it over time mixing bought, found, and inherited pieces.

If you haven't guessed--I'm kind of more for avenue #2. Homes that can successfully blend pieces in a variety of styles, colors, and textures seem (to me) more inviting and reflective of their owners. It is a process though. You'll often find yourself "making due" as you save for or try to hunt down just the right piece of furniture or accessory. Over the last 15 years, I've lived in 5 houses and 2 apartments--and my furnishings have moved and adapted with me. Have a look:

This was my house in the country circa 1996. It was the first one I lived in after getting my design degree. I painted all the surfaces (including the fireplace) a creamy white and (you can see it reflected in the mirror) one wall in an oversized checker pattern. I worked retail for 5 months to save up enough for the Ethan Allen couch--worth every cent! Having run out of money after the couch, I supplemented with two (then) $80 wicker chairs and and $40 wicker table from Pier 1. The dark wood table was inherited from my Grandma, and the olive suede ottoman we made out of plywood, upholstery tacks and imagination. Besides having a little too much gold accenting going on (and the gray-blue carpet!), I think this home would still look new and fresh today:

This was the closest thing to a rental home we ever had--living in my mom's house for 6 months while she captained her boat around Alaska. It was wonderful to have such an open, light-filled space! She let me move in all our furniture, and even paint my beloved square pattern (turned harlequin here) on the stair wall. But--we had to just make the white walls work. The couch, wicker chairs, and ottoman made the move. We kept her oversized leather chair and barstools. And you can see our dining room furniture--a table we built with my Grandpa's help, and 4 chairs I found on a close out for $50 a piece at the Big Lots. I liked that the chairs were a lighter stain than the table:

Here was the house we built in the "big city" in 1999. This was just a few days after moving in and it for sure had that "hello! I'm new and bare!" feel to it. The first ottoman we built had broke and we were in the process of building another (I was waiting for the material on order to finish the top!) We got the Mission-style rocking chair from my sister-in-law who worked at a leather furniture store. The living room was for sure the smallest I'd worked with and it was confusing to figure out where to put everything since I had what equated to a traffic path running through the middle of it:

Three years later, I'd lived in the house long enough to figure out exactly what I wanted to do with it and how to make the best use of space--which meant adding a few new furniture pieces. It's the same couch, but after 7 years, it was looking a little worn. Semi-custom denim slipcovers from Todo Es extended the life for a little longer. The small cube ottomans (which served as additional, movable seating) came from Pottery Barn Bed and Bath. I ordered a crocodile-embossed leather chair using my designer discount from Norwalk (it was my "splurge" and I STILL loooove it). Taking out the plant shelves made the room appear larger AND cut down on awkward dusting. It took 27 hours of intricate painting, but I loved the stucco look I created on the walls. Wide plank laminate flooring, a small wicker chair (found for $25 at TJ Maxx--I used it for working at my computer), and black and white photos of trees I took myself finished the look:

Here's the view from the opposite side (and forgive the Christmas decorations!). My smartest purchase was two black armoires--one held my TV and stereo, the other my computer--allowing me to do everything in my tiny living room! You can see the dining room furniture is there too. The chairs got Pottery Barn slipcovers, and two galvanized chairs added to the mix. I described this style as "Italian Farmhouse".

Finally my house today. This is the most colorful space I've created for sure! My mom made me promise to buy a new couch with the money she left me when she died (that was my mom for you!), so a small scale, down-filled one from Room and Board replaced my old Ethan Allen. My once black computer armoire got a coat of bright olive paint (the other went into my bedroom). I converted an old coffee table my sister gave me into an oversized ottoman, covered in $5 a yard nubby charcoal fabric found in a remnant bin. I swapped painting for sewing with a friend and got the window treatments and slipcovers for the cube ottomans made. My crocodile chair got a pillow and throw. And finally, I found a scratch and dent model dining room table, painted chairs bought from an unfinished furniture outlet, and ordered the Karim Rashid Oh! end chairs for a mid-century modern feel. Other furniture (the leather rocker and Grandma's end table) now reside in my family room, and one of the first house Pier 1 wicker chairs is now the reading chair in my little boys' room.

WOW! That was wordy, wasn't it?! Still--just to prove that if you buy quality furniture when you can, and use your imagination to fill in the gaps--you can create all kinds of looks with the same stuff! Now--isn't that better than buying the matchy-matchy group that will probably need replacing in 5 years? (The answer is yes :)! )

Coming tomorrow and Monday: A few more before and after photos from my city house, and answers to the design dilemmas you gave me!

what's black and white and gray and green and orange?

I know color combinations come and go (hunter green and cranberry anyone?) but there's one that I've been enamoured with for quite some time now. Black and white with gray, green, and orange accents. The black and white are timeless, the gray adds a sophisticated contrast, and green and orange are at once energetic and earthy. Looking through my file folder of "favorite houses", I find myself drawn to this color scheme more than any other.

(forgive the slightly crude nature of the photographs--they're scans from Better Homes and Gardens and This Old House Magazine).But here are some lovely examples of this color scheme at work:

The gray zinc backgrounds of the shelves and the hefty black of the table and chandelier are brought to life by the zingy green art and pillow.....

Black, white, gray....and then the orange comes to help out! Don't be afraid of this combination looking too Halloweeny. It will especially look great around that time, but it can carry itself all year too!

This is one of my all-time favorite dining rooms. I designed the curtains in my own dining room after these. The orange chairs are balanced by the green centerpiece.

(Living room of the same house as above)Bright colors like orange and green look great with a lot of natural light, but can also warm a house where skies are overcast most of the time. If you have a lot of light, choose a more citrus-y orange. If you've got less--try a warmer pumpkin shade.

Although I added a little brown and red to the mix, my own house is mostly black, white, gray, green and orange:

So...there ya go ! If you're tired of what you've got going on for color--I give you permission to try out my favorite!

And just for fun--what is YOUR favorite color combination?

welcome to decorating week!

After spending hours yesterday searching for pictures to share with you, I sat down at 11 pm with my mug of Slippery Elm Bark herbal tea and my box of tissues (I'm fighting a nasty cold) AND.....my scanner decides not to work! You know...the brand new scanner I bought myself at Christmas time. UUUUGH! Actually, I don't think it's the scanner's fault. I think my computer's USB ports are giving out on me. ANYWAY--I will attack that problem with renewed energy tomorrow. TODAY--we're going to wing it a bit as I introduce you to one of my favorite designers.

I have been working in decorating and design since 1996 doing everything from spec homes (which entails selecting flooring, tile, finishes, etc.--no furniture) to commercial work and whatever else paid the bills in between. In that time, I've amassed a design magazine collection that could sink a ship! Amongst all those glossy pages I found a few designers whom I fell madly in love with--ones whose rooms were always at once timeless and fresh and never seemed to scream "1998!" or "2004!". Amongst my muses are T. Keller Donovan, Christopher Coleman, Jeffrey Alan Marks, (heck! I'm even going to stick Debbie Travis and Mitchell Gold/Bob Williams in here!) and my favorite: Laura Bohn.

Laura owns several houses of her own, and every one is uniquely *her* and absolutely impeccable. She's not afraid to take risks, but there's always a certain grounding to her style as well. Here's the dining room of her "country home" (trying to remember what issue of Country Home this came out in, but I know it's at least 10 years old):




Here is the dining room of her vacation home. It inspired me to paint chalkboard walls in my older boys' bedroom:

Her New York apartment (I've watched it go through a few remodels) is very similar to this clients home. She is a master at using texture and subtle color over pattern, and in mixing materials (dark wood floors with a steel fireplace surround) to keep things interesting. The soft surfaces draw you in and make it feel comfortable, not cold.

Another view of the same room. Also note the way she mixes large and small scale in furnishings and accessories:

I love this room because it's carpeted! Some times you just want something a little soft under foot, but still want it to look classy:

If you're hooked and want to see more Laura Bohn, visit HERE and click on "projects" to look through some slide shows of client homes. The Greenwich apartment is one of my favorites! Also, if you want to see some other design peeps I love, visit my side bar under "Inspirations".

Keep your fingers crossed about the scanner working because I am looking sooo forward to showing you more...and answering some of your questions too!

Your turn: Any designer (known or not so known) inspire you?

how to find peace and harmony at a bar

Not that you should be taking marital advice from a divorced woman :) .... but I've always been of the opinion that if you want a marriage to last you need to have separate tubes of toothpaste. Consider it a $2.50 investment in your future, and then squeeze it however you want or leave the cap off or whatever floats your minty fresh boat.




If you have a little more to spend, I recommend separate closets. Just tell me you haven't had even one tiny disagreement about the state of the shared closet at some point. Mmmhmmm..that's what I thought :).

Finally, if you're just swimming in money, the ultimate gift you could give your happy marriage to stay happy is...separate bathrooms. And then be responsible for cleaning your own, or not cleaning it--it's all yours!




What is all this leading up to? Nothing related to marriage, actually. But I decided to make an investment in the happiness of my home. I have 4 boys. And for the past 10 years, I have had 3 barstools. Let's review that again: FOUR boys.....THREE stools. That's one less stool than boy. And it seemed to forever be a point of arguing (along with who gets the orange bowl, the Red Robin cup, and the Franklin Turtle spoon).







I'd had my eyes on these stools from Wisteria for a long time.....But at $159 a pop, they were too spendy for me (oh! but they ARE pretty!)


Imagine how thrilled I was to find out about this company that sells to schools. My new barstools were on sale for $39.99 each with free shipping. So, that let me get all four stools shipped to me for less than I would have paid for one of Wisteria's. And mine have that nice ~industrial~ feel to them too (they were meant for science labs!):

And the best part of course is....there's one for each boy. As for me...I just stand. I don't mind :) .

What do you need your "own thing" of in your family to be happy?