Inspiration & Application

So my friend Maria recently invited me to this website, Pinterest, where you can save pictures from things all over the internet and categorize them into topics like books & travel & food.  I was delighted by all the fun things my friends share there and realized this would have been a very helpful resource a few months back when I was snatching images from all over to help me with the baby room.  As it is, I have a bunch of pictures and no referring websites to give proper credit to their sources.  Anywho, enough with the chatter.  Want to see how things have come together?

This is baby's bedding~ lots of circles and bright colors that led us in our decor decisions.

The Rocking Chair~ This was by far the biggest project in the nursery.  We received a wonderful rocker from Kyle's family that was aching for some new upholstery.  Here's how it started:

Silly me~ this is the best picture I have of it from before the transformation.  It's behind the clashing pillow.  Merry Christmas & Happy It's a Wonderful Life.

Kyle stripped it down to reveal what was beneath....

We needed some inspiration for this chair.  After a little sleuthing online, here are the two looks that appealed the most~

I'm not sure if you can tell, but this love seat shares the similar duck head armrest feature.  I liked the velvet look with white trim, but red wasn't the right color.

The brown and white rocker here is obviously a lot more contemporary than ours, but since we were going with a circle theme for the nursery, I liked the colors and the paper lanterns above.

Kyle then sanded it really well, and we painted it in our living room while enjoying the Ken Burns Civil War series on PBS.  What ought to have been the highlight of the transformation was not recorded with my camera.  Shame on me.  My little sister, Miss Foo, and Kyle reupholstered the chair with a brown canvas and all new stuffing.  Lastly, Kyle and I hot glued a velvety trim to cover the rough edges and staples.

The Bookshelf~ We inherited a rickety little bookshelf from my parents.  It was not the most attractive thing with stains all over it.  I've used it for years (since I was in college).  As a testament to how ugly it was, there are really no pictures of it on my computer with the exception of this....

See it in the corner on the right side of the page?  This was right after we moved in.  Also, note the brown-framed pushpin board next to it.  It was recently transformed, too.

Kyle reinforced it's loose joints with some nails and wood glue.  We gave it a few coats of fresh white paint, but I wanted to make it a bit more special.  How about a background color?  Inspiration~ (this one I know for sure was from Young House Love)

 We picked out an apple green paint sample from Home Depot (only a couple of dollars) that went with the green in our baby bedding.  After a few applications, here's what we have...

Wall Art~Remember the pushpin board from above.  I wanted to make it into something a bit fancier for wall art since the nursery is big and has a lot of bare space to be filled.  Inspiration~

I saw this cute idea for button topped pushpins....

...then I saw this cute button art (probably on etsy).

I painted the frame white (lots of white paint in this nursery), had my little sister cut and whip stitch a big piece of brown velveteen for me, and superglued buttons to push pins.  I printed off an "H" in a fancy font off the computer to use as a template to have as the center ("H" is for Hamilton or Hamiltot or Hamboy~ whatever you like really).  I am terrible at pictures and couldn't prevent the buttons from glaring in each picture.  This is the best of several (can I blame my camera?)....

I wrote about this before, but I'm not sure I showed my inspiration (a pillow from etsy) for baby's watercolor.

My painting with colors to suit the room.

Since I enjoy a little needlecraft from time to time, I wanted to do some fun & easy projects for more wall art.  Here's my inspiration...

This is the idea I wanted to follow~ felt & thread designs framed in the hoop.

More birds~ I really think they are so cute!

After seeing these pillows, I wanted to apply them to the hoop framed look with my own colors.  Here's what I did~

Kyle and I are really happy with the projects we did to prepare for the little one's arrival.  In the coming days, I'll reveal the whole nursery to you.  Since this is a long post, it's time to call it a day and enjoy dinner with my sweet husband.  Only 3 weeks to go!  As Austrians are known to say to babies, hasta la vista!

Therefore I Should Paint Your Chair

One of my favorite SNL skits of all time featured Mike Myers playing a hyperactive and hypoglycemic child named Philip.  His mother has used a harness to strap him to a jungle gym where he encounters an Australian girl played by Nicole Kidman.  Philip is a great character, but for me he is eclipsed by the genius of Gavin, an imaginative child portrayed by Bruce McCulloch in the Kids in the Hall (another Lorne Michaels sketch comedy show).  Please enjoy my favorite Gavin skit~



Why did I share that with you?  Well, it's the only thing I can think of when I'm painting.  I believe the nesting instincts have kicked in like crazy, and projects have become my full-time occupation.  Kyle and I painted something for the nursery that I will share when the room is finished (the suspense must be killing you...).  We also decided it was time to give our coffee table a fresh look.  Behold!

Before: A blurry & scuffed up table

After: A bright white piece of furniture

It's pretty bright, but I think we are happy to have a change.  Speaking of changes, Kyle and I had a hot date to Ikea last Sunday after church to pick up some goodies (some for the nursery that I can't wait to show you).  We got those blue coasters you see in the picture above; it was time for us to swap out our cardboard coasters we smuggled from every brasserie, pub, and bar we visited in Europe.  We also got some fixings for our porch.  I'd say it's finally complete~ I'm so glad it's shaded and we can enjoy it in the mornings and evenings!

A new white table (sense a trend?) and tray supply places to put drinks and things.  We love our outdoor living room.

I was also able to convince Kyle to get me a cute metal pot for my poinsettia plant.  It had been in Christmas paper since December.  Since I've proved I can keep our little houseplant alive, Kyle deemed it a worthy investment of $0.79 to dress it up!

My nesting instincts haven't stopped with decor.  It was high time we made some space for baby in the kitchen (a dangerous task when every square inch is filled by some tool or gadget loved by my husband).  After sterilizing bottles, Kyle got a little tutorial on how to probably assemble them (obviously he could have figured it out on his own, but with 5 pieces it would have required some trial & error.)

Baby's shelf in the kitchen

A goofy contraption to dry things

Baby's own drawer

A food update~ Kyle told me he loves when I prepare him a meal equally with when we prepare a meal together.  Happy news for the girl who gets anxious about getting one super meal on the table a week.  Last night we were still working through tasty produce~ asparagus & baby portobello mushrooms.  Kyle thought of our go-to meal~ risotto!  The results were lovely and delicious...

Sauteed veggies wait to be dropped in piping hot risotto

The glorious finished product!

Now it's time for me to try and get some rest.  My little Mr. Hamilton and I have been up since 3am.  Curious what we were up to?  Click the tab at the top of the page labeled "bib-LEAH-theca".  Ridiculous...  A bientot!

The Outdoor Living Room

Last Friday night Kyle braved the wild world of Walmart to retrieve our new cushions for the wicker furniture.  I cowardly stayed in the car~that place is a zoo on Friday nights for some reason & it's crazy stressful.  We spent the weekend away so we didn't get to test out our newly upgraded porch. 

You may remember a couple of weeks ago we picked out a settee, two chairs, and table kind of on a whim from craiglist.  You may also remember that our seller was a smoker.  At the time I didn't impart that he was quite a unique man.  We met him at the gas station; though he didn't work there, his departure prompted a young employee to ask where he was going.  Kyle deduced that our craigslist friend passes a fair amount of time in the small mart gambling.  When we arrived at his place, he shared that he was selling his home (and thus everything in it) to join his wife in Ecuador where she is caring for an aging mother and a sister with a handicap.  His attitude is that so long as the people there don't mess with him, he'll leave them alone too, and all will be good.  The story behind our new furniture~ he had another wife in his younger years from Colombia (he's hot for latinas) who insisted on spending all his money on home decor.  He had made a splurge on the wicker furniture and cushions (which we threw out) to satisfy her shopping impulses.  Apparently he came out on top in that divorce since he was still the owner of her prized chattels.  He also was quite pleased with us taking them off his hands.  If he had had his way, we also would have left with a lamp that burns incense to relax the body and mind...  Thankfully the Volvo has limited space.

Comfier seats on the chairs

Frau Stripes nicht Frau Spots~ It occurs to me that these colors are very similar to the ones in the baby's bedding.  Hmmm..

If you're feeling floral, flip!  That's right~double-sided cushions for double fun.

Kyle's not as keen on this side, but it sure makes me happy.

The deal on these cushions~  they were only $51 total (compared to Target's rates at $45 for just the seat cushions & $60 for the loveseat cushion or amazon.com's rates at around $90 for the three cushions).  Plus when we chose to do store pick-up, we didn't have to pay shipping.  Since they are double-sided, I feel like we got 6 cushions because we can switch them up whenever we want.  Stripes for everyday with Kyle & florals for special occasions like a ladies' luncheon (and I may host one of these someday....).  Anyhow, rather than writing about our lovely porch decor, I think I'm going to sit out there and enjoy the lovely weather with Dietrich Bonhoeffer (not literally~but if you like his writings, you should definitely read his biography by Eric Metaxas).  Adieu!

Accoutrements

Well, this will be the final installation of home decorating at the humble Ham home.  Every time I have the car for the day (since Kyle and I share an exceptional Volvo wagon), I feel like I need to make the most of it by doing every errand I can think of.  Excellent for productivity's sake, but terrible when errands equal spending money~ especially on the first day of our monthly budget.  However, I always remember when Uncle Ben Parker said, "With great power comes great responsibility." (Spiderman, anyone?  This is my favorite superhero because I have been bitten by spiders on two occasions... still waiting for my spidey-senses & web slinging capabilities)  So, I am ever mindful of getting good deals on shopping days.  Some of the photos came out grainy, but I'll highlight the new additions...

Two new $16 framed pictures from Target

Another grainy look at our living room's new look.  I think one of those pictures is crooked.

We added the sunburst mirror above the bed ($25 at Target), and a fancy framed photo from our wedding on the wall.  I got the frame a couple of months ago on sale at Pier 1~I think it was $12.

This is nothing new nor did we buy it.  It is, however, my favorite home decoration, and it's above Kyle's dresser.  Kyle's mom got this while she was studying in France at some time in high school.
Aux Champs-Elysées, aux Champs-Elysées
Au soleil, sous la pluie, à midi ou à minuit
Il y a tout ce que vous voulez aux Champs-Elysées

Nothing major, but my office is finally organized! 

Kyle brought these flowers home along with some fried chicken, and let me tell you~ this pregnant girl couldn't have been happier!

A work in progress for the nursery

Kyle is hard at work on a Friday night.

Two new framed photos of landmarks in Metz, France (our old home)~ the frames were also purchased on sale at Pier 1 some time ago for $15 each (but I had a gift card for Christmas that covered them!).

Temple Neuf (our old church) on the Moselle river in Fall 2009 (my step-dad Jan took these pictures).  Our church was commissioned by Kaiser Wilhelm II and built by Germans during their occupation of Metz in the years 1870-1918.  The kaiser himself laid the first stone of the church intended for a reformed congregation.

Pictures of pictures~how silly... This is Cathedrale St. Etienne (or St. Stephen~read about him in Acts!)  It's an imposing building on the town's skyline.  This church is called "God's lantern" because it has more square meters of stained glass than any cathedral in all of France.

Sorry~I got a little history lesson-y on our wall art.  From here on out, we are focusing all our attention on the baby room and making a nice home for our honey Ham.  We are expecting some smoke-free cushions for our new (re: used) wicker porch furniture from Wal-mart.com in the next week or so.  I'll likely not resist posting photos of Kyle living the high life porch sitting (you know, it's his favorite thing to do!)

I alluded to Aux Champs Elysées earlier, and I'd like you to enjoy this video with this classic song that everyone who's taken high school French has heard dozens of times.