CURATED NEST: Beach Day

Inspired by Jessica's adorable little girl, I've rounded up some beach-day essentials. Keep it simple so your trips from the car are for items that are worth it.

1. Umbrella via Bed, Bath & Beyond

2. Toys via Target

3. Towel via Target

4. Portable Grill via World Market

5. Cooler via Target

6. Chair via Bed, Bath & Beyond

- Cori

Lucy's First Birthday - a garden party!

It's hard to believe that Lucy is turning one in less than month!  I'm not sure where the time has gone!  While she won't remember her first birthday, it's still fun to plan a baby birthday party - no demands for Barbie or Minecraft  themes, so now is the time for me to do what I want decor wise.  I decided to go with a slightly girly (but not overly frilly) garden party theme, and thanks to a little help from Minted, our gathering is really coming together.  Here is the concept board for what we are doing.

While I doubt I will pull off quite so elaborate a shindig as some of the images suggest, the idea is there - and luckily I have a bunch of watering cans, galvanized pails, and mason jars that should help make it a true garden party. Minted is providing the Botanical Affair bunting banner, cake toppers, a table runner and confetti that really tie the decor together. And I found this cute invite on Paperless Post that reinforces the theme. 

Can't wait to show you more photos of the party pulled off.

READER REDESIGN: A baby boy's room

My close friend from college Jen has managed to have babies 3 months before me both with Bryan and with Lucy. Sadly, she lives on the west coast so we have yet to arrange a meetup of our spawn, but can't wait to do so at some point.  Her new son Rory commandeered what was the former guest room in her house. Similar to with Bryan's room in our old LA house, Jen wanted to keep the wall color and drapes the same but punch up the color scheme and make it cuter for a little boy.  Keeping a paint swatch of the wall color next to her computer monitor, Jen hunted through all sorts of options and agonized about color pairing until she found the perfect rug online and then it all came together.

After sending me an email with her selections and refresher photos of the existing room, I suggested adding orange ribbon on the leading edge of her drapes and on the bottom of her bed skirt to help them tie together with the rug.  She also kept the project on-budget by purchasing the big pieces of furniture from IKEA. Here is a panorama of the new room:

Jen's big project was knitting the chevron blanket on the crib to tie everything together. I love how it brings all the colors up onto the crib and has a totally Missoni feel.

The chair is from Pottery Barn and the ottoman was a Craigslist find that Jen recovered in a matching fabric. At the eleventh hour, Jen also decided that she wanted to knit the striped pillow on the chair which was completed just before heading to the hospital!  She also sewed the other pillows on the chair and her husband Patrick's aunt made the quilt.

The two side tables next to the chair are from a little antique store in Healdsburg.  Jen spray-painted them white. One is actually a magazine rack.

The photos are pictures she took in Africa and then framed in cheap IKEA gallery frames.

I know that hanging artwork above a crib can be a safety issue, but I think a nice mobile (maybe one of those twigs wrapped in yarn ones to tie in with the blanket) would be the icing on the cake.

Thanks Jen for showing us your space. Rory is one lucky guy!

It's official

I posted Lucy's stats and a few photos of her with big brother Bryan after her birth, but here is her official birth announcement and hospital photo (announcement design by my sister-in-law Soyoung Oh of Dogear Press)

Curated Nest: Baby Lucy Style

In honor of Baby Lucy's recent arrival, I decided to round up some super stylish baby gear.

There's lots of fun sources for those of us who think babies should have just as much style as we do, and that their nursery should look just as good as the rest of the house!

1. Animal Box / Poketo

2. Kilimanjaro Pouf / Fine Little Day

3. Baby Fox Print / The Animal Print Shop

4. Giraffe Wall Sconce / Jonathan Adler

5. Themis Mobile / A + R Store

6. Gran Sweatshirt / Fine Little Day

7. Whale Cushion / Ferm Living

 

- Cori

Function vs Style: Diaper bags

Don't we all wish we could look as fab as this mom-on-the-go?  Super high wedges, an all-white outfit... but realistically how long do you think she was carrying that chunky kid before she put him into an ugly stroller or he smeared ketchup on her dress and the look suddenly changed?  That said, it does look like she has a large tote that could really fit a lot of diaper bag essentials. 

Now that Baby Lucy has arrived, I've finally decided I need to upgrade my diaper bag to something more proper.  I generally hate the look of a diaper bag - too many pockets, not well designed from an aethetic standpoint and so many of them have juvenile patterns and scream "baby!" or "diaper bag!". Even though I mock the mom in the above photo, I can't say I don't aspire to that sort of effortless stylish ease.  So, for the past two and half years, in an effort to not carry a diaper bag,  I have been surviving with various totes, purses, and carry-ons that mostly did the job but had a lot lacking as well.  Many didn't have side pockets for sippy cups and bottles which made spillage a potential issue.  A lot of them had one large central pocket so things would get lost and were impossible to find (which meant wads of receipts, toy cars, and old gold fish swimming at the bottom).

With one child in diapers and one semi-potty trained I now have multiple changes of clothes, a diaper changing station, a portable potty, toys, bottles, sippy cups, and snacks to tote.  Seems like a better system of transport and organization is in order. That said, I still hate most of the diaper bags on the market and like the idea of something that still feels purse-like and classic and that can maybe transition out of the diaper bag stage of life later on.  Here are the contenders:

Filson Twill Carry-all: A classic stylish bag from Filson, this tote has the side pockets for drinks and large interior pockets that I like for organization. I like that it feels more like a purse but it's missing stroller clips. I also worry that it's not as wipeable as the others and would get dirty over time, but it certainly is timeless and would be something to keep around for a while.

Soyoung Charlie Diaper Bag:  This bag is super functional and certainly has all the bells and whistles I need.  I like color and military-inspired look but wonder if it sort of looks more like a gym bag or carry-on and is almost too masculine in feel (in other words, I'd still end up carrying a purse around too).  

Schoolhouse Electric Canvas Utility Bag: I like that this bag because of the color blocking and that it has a cross-body shoulder strap. It seems like the D rings could be used to hook up to stroller hooks and it has the side pockets for sippy cups and a nice big utility pocket.

KF Baby Urbane Diaper Bag: This bag is the most economical of all of the options and probably the most light-weight as well. I like that it looks like a large purse/tote and that it has lots of compartments for organization.  Still missing the stroller clips and cross-body strap though. And not sure if it would look sort of like a garbage bag in person.

Filson Tin Cloth Tote Bag: I love that this tote is classic, versatile and gender neutral (dad would totally carry this without a problem) - AND I could definitely use it much later down the road as well. It has the side pockets for sippy cups and bottles that I was looking for and I like that the oiled finish makes it wipeable and fairly dirt resistant.  On the other hand it doesn't have a cross-body strap and doesn't have stroller clips either (although I wonder if that could be solved by having a cobbler add a D-ring on either side).

Skip Hop Duo French Stripe Diaper Bag: this one is the most diaper bag-ish out of all of them.  But I do love the classic french stripe and that the size isn't huge. It's nice that it has a shoulder strap so I can wear it cross body and I also love that it has stroller clips (something I've never had before on a diaper bag but think could be useful - maybe?).  It's a little pricey though and I doubt I'd use it down the road when the kids are older.

Which do you prefer? Do you have others that should be contenders as well?

WELCOME: Lucy Zhi-min Davis

For those of you who haven't already seen via Facebook or Instagram, Lucy Zhi-min Davis arrived on her due date: May 14, 2014 at 7:30 pm. She is a little peanut entering the world at 5 lbs 13 oz and 19.25 inches long.  Lucy is doing great already topping 6 pounds and giving us lots of smiles (or is it gas?).  Her big brother is thrilled and constantly wants to kiss "his baby", although we might have to set a daily kiss quota.  If the blog is a little silent for a while, you'll know why, but I'll try to keep you updated with fun content from our contributors while we get situated with the new little one.

The Baby's Room Revealed

Hi Folks.  I know you've been waiting patiently to see the baby's room.  If you follow me on instagram you've seen some sneak peeks, and I've showed you my dresser revamp recently as well.  Well, I wanted to get the final touches in before I really revealed the room. I managed to get everything pretty much done in time for our Apartment Therapy book shoot and finally got around to photographing the space the other day.  Now to get Floopy out of the bassinet and frame one final piece of art that Aunt-to-be Soyoung from Dogear Press gave us.  Excited to welcome the little lady to our home (after crossing a few more things off my list of course).

The Nursery: Dresser Project Complete

As those of you who follow me on Instagram may know, I have been working on the nursery for a while now. I haven't really shared much about it on the blog except for my rug selection a while back and the design board I did. Well, things are coming along and I think I really just have a gallery wall to complete and some other small final touches.  I hadn't posted many photos of the nursery in it's previous life as my office either since it was fairly underwhelming, but just to give you an idea of where we started, this is what it looked like:

These photos were actually taken after my contractor moved the door to the closet and added the built-in shelving. The shelving will really be useful for all the changing table stuff come baby time.

This was the design board for the baby's room.

And this is what it looked like a few weeks ago before things had progressed much further (but after the office was removed)

We've changed a few things since I did the design board but a lot of it has stayed the same. One of the changes was the dresser.  The dresser I had on the design board wasn't available on Craigslist any more but I was able to find one that fit in the space at a local thrift shop - and let me tell you, finding a dresser that is the right height for changing but also the right width for my space was a challenge! The one we found was sort of a shabby chic white so aside from adding my hardware I knew it needed a coat of paint. Luckily I had some grey left over from my step stool project and it turned out to be the perfect shade (so glad I didn't have to make another trip to the paint store!). Here are some photos of the process and if you look closely you can get a peek at the new drapes:

First off, we had our neighbor help Scott move the dresser up to the baby's room and since we didn't want to bother him with moving it back down again for painting (and since I am of no help nowadays when it comes to heavy lifting), we ended up doing most of the work in the room itself.  Next, I removed the hardware and filled in the holes using wood filler.  I selected the stainable kind since I figured it would hold paint better. We covered over all the furniture and floor with plastic and Scott did a light sanding.  Then I marked the holes for the hardware and pre-drilled them so that I wouldn't chip any paint later on (which could happen if I drilled them after painting).  Next up I primed everything - or so I thought. Turns out I just painted them with a greyish water-based alkyd I had on hand that I thought was primer (purchased for a future closet project). Whoops! Seems to have worked anyways.  I didn't even bother to sand again after priming since the first coat was so smooth.  I then put on a thick coat of the grey paint in the fashion that Jenny from Little Green Notebook recommends. I really only ended up having to touch up a few small places instead of putting on a second coat. I suppose if I wanted it to be absolutely perfect I would have done a light sanding and given it another coat.  After that I installed my C-03 Classic drop pull. It's amazing how different the piece looks after paint and new jewelry! Whaddayathink?

Glad I knocked that one off the list.  Next up before baby is finishing my office chair and closet projects and organizing the garage!

Happy New Year: The Baby's Room

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a nice holiday season.  We were in Key West with my family for a week and home with friends for the new year.  All in all a very nice holiday.  As many of you who follow me on facebook or see me in my daily life already know, we are expecting Baby #2, due May 14 (the day before our 10th anniversary).  This means a lot of changes on both the home and business fronts

We've been busy preparing our house for Baby #2's arrival.  Since we only have 3 bedrooms on our second floor and one of them is used as my office, we had to do a bit of reconfiguring.  Our massive basement guest room (literally the same size as our living room) was split in two and a new door was added to the rec room to accommodate a basement office (more convenient anyways since I do all my hardware fulfillment in the basement) and the former office got a closet door switcharoo so that we can put a changing table in a more convenient location.  We still haven't migrated everything downstairs for the new office but I'm excited about what we have planned and about my new shipping station (it's amazing how much a little organization helps the stress level and amount of time it takes to do something).  I'm also excited to make a cozy and efficient guest room out of the smaller space and really do some decorating down there - as with most people our basement was sort of the space where all of our cast off furniture went to live.  More on all of that later and on to the fun decorating stuff!

We are excited to announce that Baby #2 is a girl.  While we wouldn't have minded another boy (and it certainly would have made for a more convenient clothing and toy situation) I'm really happy to be designing a little girl's room.  The former office already had a cool light fixture and our Eames lounger which we will keep for the baby's room. We hope that by May Bryan will have moved to a big boy's bed and we can transfer his crib to the baby's room as well.  And I plan to keep the same pale grey on the walls. So from a decorating standpoint it's really a dresser/changing table (hello, craigslist), rug, artwork, bedding, and window coveringss that have to be decided on.  We already own two Charley Harper prints that I plan to incorporate into a gallery wall and just purchased a fun ladies swimming print at IKEA the other day for above the changing table.  Here is my concept board so far:

The rug is really the deciding piece. I'm loving the idea of using a pale peachy pink and mint green as accents and not taking the room in an overly juvenile direction by keeping it eclectic.  That said, the rug has been really challenging!  I love the vintage rug that I found on Esalerugs.com but it's a bit pricey so we will have to see what else gives.  There are a few other contenders as well but I'm just not sure of them and love the way this one ties everything together.  What are your thoughts?

More sources and other ideas and options for baby's room on my pinterest board here.

Bryan's Birthday Bash #2!

Last year we celebrated Bryan's first birthday with an animal themed birthday bash.  This year, at the ripe age of two, Bryan had more of an opinion so we went for a choo-choo themed event.  My sister-in-law Soyoung from Dogear Press designed the ticket-style invite.

Luckily the weather cooperated so we were able to hold the event outdoors, complete with duct tape choo-choo track, conductor hats, and train whistles.

As you can see Bryan wasn't very thrilled by all the singing and hoopla surrounding the birthday cake.

 Happy Birthday to our fun little guy!  It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital in Pasadena.

All photos courtesy of Dogear Press

Switchin' it up: Bye bye ladies!

Settling in and unpacking in this house has been a gradual process.  I can't believe I'm saying this but we have been here 7 months now and there are still some boxes we haven't fully unpacked. That is a little scary.  So when I started to furnish Bryan's room naturally I hadn't unpacked everything related to his room.  There wasn't the same amount of space for the gallery wall over his dresser as there had been in our old house so I moved what we fondly refer to as "the ladies" to the corner next to his book ledges (the ladies is actually a batik of a man and a woman both with pierced ears wearing indigenous garb).  It seemed to work there but something wasn't quite right. Here is what it looked like and what Bryan's room usually looks like on a good day when he hasn't dumped the content of each basket and bin onto the floor.

As I continued unpacking, of course, I found more artwork. I discovered my little Chinese paintings that had been next to his book ledges before.  Since they worked in that placement in LA I figured they would work here.  Luckily it was easy to take out the single nail that was holding up the ladies and the two new pieces covered over the hole nicely.  Viola!  So much better no?  Stay tuned for another roman shade DIY for Bryan's room.  Can't wait to get rid of those temporary paper numbers.