State of the Office Address

I'm a jacked up nightmare of snot, plus Ike is home for the "holiday" today (seriously?! Jesus is already risen -- back to work, teachers!) so I'm not sure how witty and entertaining I can be this morning. However, I really wanted to say thank you for your comments regarding my shelving dilemma. I read each and every one, and thought very deep thoughts about them. Here's what I came up with:

#1. I think the tan leather couch would look better in here, but I did some measurements, ran some calculations, assessed the wind speed, etc, and Alexis the hot uncomfortable couch just won't work in our family room. It's way too low. So for now, tan couch stays where it is, and someday (hopefully maybe this year) when we replace it with something bigger and sexier, tan couch can move into here and I will pimp out Alexis on craigslist.

#2. I decided the painting wasn't working in here. I love it on dark colored backgrounds, but you were right when you said something horizontal would look better. But how about something round? Cuz that's what I came up with.

#3. For now I plan to go with gloss wall color for the shelves IF they stay on that wall... I'm still a bit undecided here. I think we may need to address the door situation first and see if the shelves intrude on the walkway. If the shelves don't go there, they can go on the opposite wall -- just as soon as I figure out what to do with the thousand pound limed oak hutch currently holding court on that wall.

#4. Exit coffee table, enter rug.

#5. I realized all I want in the world is for the office to look something like this room by Amy Howard (minus the wtf roses):

Mmmm mmmm delicious. I love the dark, low contrast wall paired with light sofa and peachy pink pillows/rug.

So here's my mockup, designed to head in that direction. I painted one shelf charcoal and the other wall color... I think wall color wins. I replaced the lady painting with a large round brass tray I already had (how to hang this behemoth?!), flanked by some small vintage lithos. Don't hate my peachy salmon pillows because they're beautiful. I already own the vintage malayer rug, but it's redder in real life and I fear it may overpower the space...

 Plan B

I think this may be better -- more masculine. The rug is definitely lower contrast in real life, so I think it will blend with the floor rather than chopping up the tiny space. And you'll just have to imagine that both shelves are wall color. Don't worry -- my paint job will look better than that in real life. I HOPE.

Just to mix myself up a bit, I tried painting the shelves green since I like the teal/jade/coral color combo, a la Kelly Wearstler:

My version:

I got lazy with the photoshop... sorry. So, the green isn't quite right, but it doesn't really matter because the wall color isn't accurate either (it's darker and greener in real life). I don't care for this much color on this wall, but I think muted jade shelves might look nice on the opposing wall, flanking the window with a neutral desk setup in front.

So maybe that is Plan B.

And that's what's happening with the office -- largely lots of photoshopping, head scratching, and fondling of paint chips.

Speaking of paint, I got a zillion samples from Sanders this weekend. We painted an attic closet that Matt enclosed for us, and I also started the process of selecting a whole house color palette that includes every bedroom plus wallpaper. So you know... I'm not overwhelmed or busy or anything.

Don't worry -- you'll be hearing much much more about this business later.

T minus 17 weeks until my due date...

!!!SHITBALLS!!!

Split Personality Throwdown

Hi, my name is Erin, and I'm two people. Ok, well to be perfectly literal I do in fact have another person growing inside my belly (weird!), but what I'm talking about is the other person inside my brain -- her name is Stacy. You can blame this identity crisis on my mom, who called all three of her darling children by their middle names, thereby ensuring an uphill battle to maintain a consistent persona. Mostly I have learned to answer to any name by which I'm called, but still I cringe when I hear "STACY!" barked out at the Dr's office and know the clueless registrar means none other than Yours Truly. Let me tell you about Stacy -- she's a nutcase. She thought her name was really Anastasia and someone (talking to you, Mom) made a terrible spelling error. Stacy revealed herself in high school, tired of finally fighting the good fight to just be Erin, dammit. Stacy was kinda grungy, dyed her hair purple, got a nose ring, went on to college and did, ahem, the things college kids do -- namely pull in a near 4.0 in between partying. Hard.

She likes a lot of color and for you to feel slightly uncomfortable in her presence.

Because there is a special kind of cognitive dissonance that occurs in the push/pull between organization and entropy.

She's a wild child, but the floors better be clean or she will whip your ass.

And of course you know me, little ol' Erin. My last house was pretty much black, white and gray, with a hefty dose of brown, because that is where I feel safe and comfortable. I am a rational being, and I don't need any overly decorative crap chintzing up my life.

'

That's not to say that Erin, I, whomever, doesn't have a sense of humor.

She just thinks you might feel more comfortable if the lines are clearly drawn, if things are proper and orderly.

Nothing wrong with that, right?

Now, if you can't yet tell, there's a hole in my brain and I'm struggling to balance the two personalities within. For a long time, the neutral, sensible side has been in control. But lately the crazy party ho has been yearning to break free.

Don't worry -- no part of me is actually a ho. That was just a little poetic license.

Anyway, I learned long ago that it's better to balance Jeckyll and Hyde, lest a monster break free and run rampant all up in my house, or it get so dreary and overly polite in here that no one feels free to do other than take tea and eat crumpets.

Not that I would kick a crumpet out of bed.

And there you have it, I AM a ho -- a carbohydrate ho.

At least there are some things all my personalities can count on.

Stay tuned to see how the other issues resolve themselves. My house is a battleground.

Advice (both decor and mental health related) is always appreciated.

[little blue deer, Poppytalk, Kriste Michelini Interiors, NYT, The Aestate, NYT]

Please go to my Pinterest to visit all the wonderful friends I stole these images from.

Pinterinspirations

It's Pinterest day, which basically means I don't have two spare seconds to rub together and must, therefore, rely on the goodness of the internet to provide fodder for today's post. Thankfully I follow some fantastic pinners, so busting out the jams is easy breezy. Trust.

I have many takeaways from this image: I need to paint some supergraphics up in this joint, that sofa must be mine, and Acid Wasp is alive and well.

Still loving curtains, may have to throw some jade into the mix.

I know I am going to offend someone, but I loathe those chairs -- mostly because I had a similar set and they are so freaking hard to pull up to the table. But I do love that crazy antique lion paw table paired with fresh, clean chairs.

This is eerily similar to our office layout -- similar paint, couch, room size, etc. That's even where I plan to put the desk. Digging the french doors and garden stool cum coffee table. Want to burn the Union Jack (sorry, England -- it's not you, it's me).

Ike's new room. BOOM.

Or wait -- maybe this one? I mean... dayum.

I kind of let you down during Wallpaper Week, but can I make up for it by telling you my new secret wallpaper crush is Schumacher's tortoiseshell? I really hope the sample doesn't win my heart because it's $350/roll.

And finally, tomorrow I theoretically fly to Hawaii. With a two year old and a bleeding hole in my uterus. The doc has given me the ok to fly, but I go in for one more sonogram in a couple of hours to make sure the situation looks stable.

Cross your fingers for me because my mom is getting married to an awesome dude and I don't want to miss the wedding. Also I could really use a vacation from staring at these walls. I'm hoping the rental looks something like the picture above.

So maybe I'll be back tomorrow, but hopefully I'll be boarding the plane and I'll next see you all bright and early Monday, April 2, rife with reports of volcanoes and saltwater.

Kisses!

[Jay Jeffers, Katie Waddell's pinterest, AD via My Interior Life's pinterest, Albert Hadley, no source]