Subject: Tile...Check

Ta-da!  That's right...we have tile and grout!!  What do you think?  The tile guys kept raving about how great they thought it looked, and the hubs and I could not be more thrilled!!

Here's the schedule for the rest of the week:
Today - The shower glass enclosure company comes to measure
Tomorrow - The cabinets get installed
Friday - The marble templater comes to to template for the counter top

Tomorrow's discussion...marble.

Subject: Cabinets To Go

Good morning Kara!

Today's "email" is one I advise you to save should you ever be in the market for new cabinets.  When we first started the process of deciding to redo our bathroom, we were on the fence with regard to replacing our vanity.

The Current Vanity

It is white, and we were planning on still keeping the white.  But it is low...very low!  And with a 6 foot something husband, washing his face and brushing his teeth requires a lot of bending.  So, we started researching.  And we hit a lot of dead ends.  One place even quoted me $5,000 for cabinets!  INSANE!  I mean they were beautiful, but INSANE.

Thankfully, my mom, and avid HGTV watcher, remembered hearing about Cabinets To Go.  While the selection isn't huge, this place had EXACTLY what I was looking for!  We ended up with the Findley & Myers Malibu White as seen here (Please excuse that this is a kitchen, but you get the gist):

 
And here are the sketches of exactly what we ordered: 

This is a sink base, so we have two of these.

This is for the middle section where the vanity seat area used to be.

I figured it was silly to keep the sitting down vanity area since I never sit to put on makeup or do my hair.  Plus the selection of cute vanity seats is far and few between.  And the Shaker style cabinets, was exactly what I wanted.  A few places I found that sold them said they were veneer in the middle, but there are all wood.  So for under $1000 I'm getting three cabinets, delivery and someone to install them.  Not too shabby!!

And not to sound like an infomercial for Cabinets To Go, because I promise I'm paying the full price for them, but I found out they can offer such great prices because they only offer a small selection of products.  Also, it's owned by the  same guy who owns Lumber Liquidators.  Not that I've ever purchased anything from there, but I've hear the name.

So, I'll let you know how it all turns out, but as of now I'm thrilled.

Cha-Ching!  (That was because I saved so much money! HA HA)
Mel

Subject: Gray is my mom's least favorite color

Hi Kara - Hope you had a good weekend!!  Ours was "fun."  I mean, we painted.  So, I'm not quite sure if that constitutes as fun, but I always enjoy quality time with the hubs.

I'm pretty sure I shared some of these before pictures with you in the past but here they are as a refresher...

 I know, I know.  They make you wonder how we lived with a half carpet/half tile and all gold bathroom for a year.  Real pretty.  Especially knowing in my mind how AMAZING the after is going to be.  Well, this weekend, with paintbrushes in hand (I'm the cutter and the Mr. is the roller...wow sounds like we are into some self-destructive behavior) we painted. 

The entire bathroom is a vision in my head and since I selected the tile, I knew I wanted a gray bathroom.  Funny thing is, my mom HATES the color gray.  She just thinks it's sad.  However, she helped me select my perfect bathroom shade, and I'm thankful she can see my vision and doesn't try and change my mind.  So, we went with Sherwin-Williams Rhinestone. 

If you are going to pick a gray, might as well pick one with a fab name.  Here are a few pictures of our weekend masterpiece.

Until tomorrow...
Mel

Subject: D-Day

Kara - Today is finally here!!  D-DAY!!  aka DEMO DAY!!

More details to come.

xxx
Melissa

Subject: Blast from the Past

Melissa -

Hi - I hope you had a great Thanksgiving/shopping weekend! My Ikea trip was almost a 100% success - they didn't have the spice racks in stock. That was actually one of the saddest things to me, because I had been so looking forward to using them in Suz's future reading nook, but maybe I will come about them another way. Plus, I'm not assembling the nook tomorrow, so there's still time.

In addition to bringing back my Ikea goods, I also snagged a few of my childhood favorites from my parents' attic. Suz is to the age where she's in to pretend play and is getting to the age where she is more independent, so everything I brought back is geared along those lines. Let me warn you: these pieces have been sitting in my parents' attic for the last 25-ish years (OMG, that is so depressing to realize), and who knows HOW old they were before then...all that to say, they're not in the best shape. But it's their potential I am most interested in. So, without further ado, some of my childhood relics...

Here is a baby cradle I see in Suz's future 'big girl' room for all her stuffed animals and baby dolls:

However, in its current state it looks like something from some scary doll hospital, so I will be painting it a bright, clean white (maybe a laquer-y finish?) and I thought about making a new mattress for it with the fabric from Suz's current crib skirt, since she won't be needing it for too much longer and it seems like a sweet way to recycle it.

Next up, this play highchair:

When I imagined this in my head, I couldn't decide whether I would paint it or not, but then seeing it in person confirmed it for me: I WILL be painting it. Some of the wood has gotten nicked over the years and the whole thing just seems dirty and depressing. If it had been in better shape I might have considered keeping it as-is, just because something about the kittens seems Sally Draper-ish* in a way, but now I am looking forward to giving it a new life with a fresh coat of paint. Plus, Baby Bobby may want to play with it, and the kittens and pink tray makes it even funnier for a boy to play with (and will make Mr. Lass cringe even more).

We have ordered this play kitchen for Suz for Christmas:

I am envisioning setting up the highchair next to the kitchen, so maybe my paint scheme will coordinate with the kitchen. I think I might do the whole thing white and then paint the tray a fun red, and then maybe do red polka dots where the kittens are now.

Lastly, I lived in this table & chairs growing up:

It actually has four chairs, but it was 50 degrees and windy today, so I only pulled one chair out of the garage to show you. This thing is in terrible shape, obviously, but I think it has a lot of potential as well. I think if given the choice I might not have chosen this exact set, but I think it will be cute once it has been painted. But I am getting stuck on what color to paint it. It will be going in the kitchen, near-ish my dining area, so I want it to coordinate with that to some degree, but not match out-right because I want it to still be kid-friendly. To remind you, here is my dining area presently:

I considered painting everything white, but then painting the table top a dark color, just to hide whatever dirt/crayon/jelly will end up on this thing. Maybe like a deep turquoise-y/green? But, just to give you a closer view of this set, check out the legs on the table and the chair:

They have a wave to them which I think is kind of interesting. Should I try to highlight that in some way? I am hesitant to do any kind of crazy color, just because I don't want it to look too Willy Wonka with the black and white tile floors. Thoughts?

I feel like I am an elf in Santa's workshop with all the painting I have been doing around here, trying to get projects finished up before the end of the year. It's an arbitrary deadline, but I want to see how much I can get done in the next month so I can focus on getting my house ready for the craziness to come in March!

Hope you have a great weekend!
Kara

*I know that Dorothy Draper is a real style, but I feel like Sally/Don/Betty Draper have also attained the status of having a style named for them too, right? I guess I use it as a way to reference back to the 1960s/Mad Men era in general.

Subject: Nursery Fabric

Melissa -

Hope your family had a great Thanksgiving yesterday! As you are reading this, I am probably en route to Ikea for a day of awesome finds. I am so excited! After poring over the Ikea website for many hours, I think I have made a list of all the things I need/want, and I cannot wait to check it twice!

I've already shared with you some of my nursery inspiration ideas and some of the accessories I would like to incorporate (loved your suggestions, by the way, especially that adorable book!), so now it's time to talk about fabric. This aspect of the room has been a question mark from the beginning, but in the last few days I feel like I have gotten a clearer picture of what I want and I'm starting to get excited. First, though, I feel like this picture is a good illustration of what I ultimately want to achieve in this nursery:

I'm not talking necessarily about the colors, but instead the mood. It reads kid, but it's not theme-y or overly cute-sy. I also love the lightness and brightness in this space - and that's really what I want. I want the room to feel airy and light, but also to be sophisticated and have a vintage vibe to it. At this point I think I have settled on the wall cover "Light Blue" (creative!) by Benjamin Moore. It's a true blue, but not over-powering. Like Suz's nursery, I want the wall color to be secondary, but still add to the overall mood. I like for colors to read what they are, but still be pale enough to be considered a neutral too.

I think the main piece of furniture in any nursery is the crib (duh), so I feel extra pressure to get that bedding right. I'm not worried about fabric for the bumper because I'm using this white breathable bumper thing that is already in the crib. So - one less thing to think about! So that leaves the crib skirt (and sheets, but that seems secondary). I want some kind of plaid that looks like a man's dress shirt, but is still kid-friendly and colorful and will let me incorporate lots of other colors in the room. It was love at first site with this:

It's very similar to a Serena & Lily fabric called "Rex" that you may remember I sent you back before I knew I was having a girl the first time, but has now been discontinued. Bummer. This swatch I found off a random website that does not even sell fabric, so I'm really going to have to use my Internet skills to track this down. But I really like all the colors and think it achieves what I want it to.

Also in this room there will be a twin bed, so I need to think about bedding for it too. One thing I'm trying to keep in mind is that one day little Bobby might be sleeping in this bed with this very bedding, so I want it to be kid-friendly, but also if a grandparent needs a place to sleep one night they don't feel weird about sleeping over because the sheets are covered in a circus print and bears juggling, you know? I am drawing my inspiration from this room that was posted on Little Green Notebook:

This is exactly what I want! I love how the bedding is light/bright/airy, but also is boy-ish but not too juvenile. I am liking the idea of doing some kind of quilt (maybe in gray?) on the bed and then doing a more colorful duvet folded at the foot of the bed. The one in this picture is a Dwell find from Target that is no longer available (from what I can tell), but then in my Ikea stalking I found this:

Not bad, right? I will need to see it in person to get a read on the colors and if it would really work, but I kind of like what it's doing. It's definitely kid-ish, but it doesn't seem childish (an important distinction, no?) and I like that the background is white, which helps with my lightness and brightness goal. I also like that there is some turquoise/light blue in it, which references back to the madras above. And one thing to keep in mind is that it's going to be folded at the foot of the bed, so that will help tone it down some. I wouldn't want this as the main bedding - that might be too much for this room. So fingers crossed it is a) not hideously ugly in person or b) out of stock. One more thing on the bed: it's going to be right near the upholstered rocker, which is covered in a khaki-colored twill, so I need to stay away from that color in a quilt, don't you think?

Right now the window in the room is covered with some pretty sad-looking mini blinds. I found this DIY on covering a cheap roller shade with fabric of your choosing, so I think I might go with that. Here is the fabric I am considering:

I really want red to be an accent in the room, used sparingly but still with purpose so it really has some punch. I found a brass lamp at a thrift store (a true thrift store, not overpriced Goodwill) that I have painted a glossy red, so that will bring in another pop of red. Maybe I will do some sheets that have some red in them too...maybe polka dots or something? I also like the idea of incorporating a little bit of black and white buffalo check somewhere, since that really says "man" to me :) I think re-covering my little footstool for in front of the rocker will be the perfect spot for it.

So, yeah. That is the fabric. I think I covered everything, right? As always, can't wait to hear your feedback/comments/thoughts.

Happy shopping day!
Kara

Re: Subject: Nursery Accessories

Hi Kara,

Where to begin?!?  I think the nursery accessories are the best part of a nursery.  I have a feeling we are going to come back to this topic quite a bit.

In my mind I picture Don Draper's office/Bobby Draper's bedroom.  Leather club chairs, plaid, houndstooth and a little bit of this:

As far as vintage posters go, I think All Posters has a great selection.  I also came across this site called Vintage Printable, where you can print poster size images for free!  They have some really cool stuff, including map prints like this which I know you are a fan of.

Then there are cool typography prints like this:

And if only you were having a Cowgirl instead of a Cowboy, how fun is this??  Clearly I have a vintage Wild West obsession.  Totally subconscious up until this point though!

I am going to keep my eyes open for other fun accessories.  The only thing I've found thus far is the cover of this book.  I was thinking fun vintage book covers could also be cool framed?  Or maybe one or two go on the shelves?

And look, it's your entire family!!  Except you need a dog.  But Ina is there!!

Okay, last thing before I wrap this up, but it's for Suz and not Baby M.  I recommend you add this to the Ikea list...

I own it.  I painted it.  It's amazing.  There is also a mirror version.  I think in a fun color this could be very cute in Suz's new room either as a mirror, chalkboard, bow holder (per your Pinterest).  The ideas I have are endless.

Until tomorrow!
xxx