What I'm Working On

I can't tell you how immensely grateful I am for all the positive feedback I've received regarding the new site design (and yes, the zebra is coming back), the nursery tour video, and the formal launch of my design business (!). Every kind comment brings a misty little tear to my eye, and reminds me of how far I've come since last year. Having a new baby is the most thrilling, exhausting, confusing thing that will ever happen to many people. It's a time of great joy, but the loss of self can be pretty overwhelming. Want to go to the movies? No. How about to dinner with other adults? No. What about to the bathroom by yourself? HELL NO. A mind once brimming with ideas and enthusiasm becomes hijacked by sleep deprivation and the accursed Fresh Beat Band (reach for the skyyyyyyyyy!). And then babies get older. Luke turned one last weekend, and although I still run into walls on occasion, I am slowly regaining my humanity. Work has a lot to do with that.

So to all my design clients, new and old, thank you for giving me a purpose beyond wiping butts. Here's some inspiration via pinterest for what I'm working on.

Moody traditional glamour with a global twist for a brave client with fantastic taste:

Warm modern for clients in a trendy hood who just sprang for a fabulous antique kilim rug:

Soothing blues with fresh contrasting colors for a talented photographer friend:

Crazy colorful with a palm springs flair for a swingin' vintage poolside home:

And I have a brand new client with a 20s Dutch Colonial. Work hasn't begun yet, but I'm considering something along these lines... perhaps a little less trad and a touch more shiny modern:

Exciting!!! I love the variety!

Anyway, I have lots going on and I can't wait to share progress pictures with you. Also, my kitchen is still in a sad state of disrepair and SOMETHING MUST BE DONE. SOON. So stay tuned for kitchen talk, round 2000000.

In the meantime, if you're interested in design services drop me a line at erinwilldesign [at] gmail.com and we can chat.

And once again, thank you for your support! I'm not very good at accepting compliments, but I love them all the same.

You people are the best people in the world.

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Chrysalis

I have emerged from the shadowy depths of baby hibernation a butterfly transformed by your kind comments. Thank you for reading all about my room tour last week, and double triple googleplex thank you for letting me know you'd like to see more of them. I'm working up a tour of the nursery for next week, so please do tune in for that there goodness.

Today is not so much goodness. Both kids have/had crazy high fevers and I've gotten 4-5 hours of broken sleep every night for a week. Right about now I'd like to punch winter in the face. Since winter is an intangible being with no face to punch, let's talk kitchens for a minute or two.

You knew it would come to this, right?

So, Ben and I tried to strip a door in the hopes we might turn our dated glossy honey oak cabinets into something with this vibe:

And the door laughed in our faces. I'm guessing the finish applied to our cabinets is some kind of super space age polymerized diamond hard coating designed to resist grease and terrorists, because it is NOT COMING OFF. At least not like it does on tv, when you apply the stripping compound and 72 layers of paint slough off in one fell swoop, revealing clean and sparkly wooden goodness beneath.

First we tried denatured alcohol, then we tried lacquer thinner. Then we glopped on the citristrip and left it on for 30 minutes. Then we glopped on more citristrip and left it on overnight. Then in desperation we tried acetone. Basically, we dumped every chemical we could find on that door and only a fraction of the finish was removed.

And so, paint it is.

I'm pretty sad and keep mooning over this kind of stuff:

But maybe for the next house.

I did consider trying to copy this look by refacing our cabinets, but I think it's just not financially feasible. We may as well gut the kitchen and rebuild at that point.

Sadly, we are not rich. We're real people on a stupid real budget that makes me real mad. But at least we have a house and food and cars, so it's time to get over it and move on. Maybe to this?

But with light uppers, yes?

I'm still pricing out replacing our doors with paint grade shaker style doors. What we spend on new doors miiiigggght save us a few bucks in paint labor. Maybe. I'm not sure if it's going to be worth it or not.

While my kitchen plans continue to incubate, go check out the power of paint over at Styled Thing:

Not too shabby, Miss Julie.

See you dudes next week for the next tour.

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Birthday Trip Down Memory Lane

That title really draws you in, right? Oh the nostalgia. The oozing sentimentality. If you're scared already, you're really going to hate the rest of this post. If not, read on brave souls.

So today is my 36th birthday, and -- not to put too fine a point on it -- that sucks balls. How did I get so old? When Karly and I started this blog four (yes, FOUR) years ago, we were two young(ish) and carefree girls out on the town, boozing our way through shelter mags and thumbing our noses at chintz.

Well, chintz and Ruthie Sommers would like to know who's laughing now... oh, how times have changed. Acid Wasp is back.

So I may have trolled the DC archives and come up with a "Where Was Erin On Her Birthday Back Then?" compendium of posts from days of old.

Check it.

In a fit of tortured self examination, four years ago I was lusting/questioning my lust for Julian Schnabel's Gramercy Park Hotel.

So pretty! So full of amazing art!

So unbelievably pretentious. A friend and I made it to NY a year or so ago and checked in at the Gramercy for $50 drinks and terrible service. Blech.

And of course three years ago in July, I had Sweet Baby Ike. Apparently October is a special time for me and the hubs...

There he is, all of one week old. Cute as a button. Can't believe I'm doing this again...

Luckily kids get older and the job becomes more rewarding, and also there are endless opportunities to redecorate their rooms.

At least that's my overlong mantra for now.

And this did not happen on my birthday, but it did happen when I had some extra time whilst nursing tiny Ike and watching football movies (creepy baby hormones!), plus it's still one of my favorite posts ever so you must read it:

I love moodboards, and just figured David Bowie's labyrinth needed some sprucing up. Nothing special. Maybe I will redecorate the forests of Legend when I feed #2? You never know what might happen around here.

Anyhow, back to my timeline: two years ago we were still on the endless house hunt, perhaps thinking we may have found the one.

Oh it looks pretty, but don't be fooled. Way out in the middle of nowhere, weird labyrinth of rooms on the ground floor (one of which opened into a real life CAVE), and then there were the worms in the toilets... broken septic line apparently. Eeeeeewwwww!

Have I ever mentioned that Austin real estate is murder?

Kinda like this house:

Oh yes, there is a tree in the middle of the kitchen.

And merely one year ago we were still in our old house and I was busy buying and selling beds.

Goodbye, old bed. I kinda sorta miss you, but you were really too much for me. I think I like the setup in our new house better:

Man, I really still need new lampshades. Can't believe that craptacular whip stitch has survived as long as it has...

Trite though it may be, I suppose the more things change, the more they stay the same.

And that's it for Nostalgia Cruise 2012.

Hope you didn't get too seasick.