What's Happening Now

Hi, how was your weekend? Mine was one of those bust-your-ass-but-accomplish-very-little affairs. At least, that's how me and my sore tailbone are feeling this morning (wtf, pregnant ladies?! what is happening to my coccyx?). Sucks to have so much to do and to be so impaired lazy. I did manage to squeeze in two chocolate covered donuts... yay for me! So, what's really going on at Casa Erin? Let's discuss some life decisions I've come up with (thanks to Karly and Naomi for listening to my whiny pleas for advice).

#1. Wallpaper has been selected.

Pheasant in Coral will go in the upstairs hallway, Neisha Crosland's Zebra will go in the entry, and Pines by Little Greene will go in the powder room. It was really tough to decide where these should go architecturally speaking -- e.g., which rooms should be dark or light, what needs small scale or large, what colors will the rooms adjacent to the papered rooms be painted, etc. So I'm very excited to have a (tentative) decision.

#2. The front room will now be a play room instead of an office.

We're going to squeeze the office into the guest bedroom, and I'm pretty stoked that we don't have to put doors on this room anymore. Yipppeeeeee! I'm STILL trying to sell the coffee table, the shelves will get painted, art has been moved, sconces may be installed, leopard rug will make an appearance, and on the opposing wall I think I'm going to buy a vintage deco armoire to house all the toys. Like so:

Or something like this. These come up on craigslist all the time for dirt cheap.

#3. With Sanders' help, I am close to deciding on paint colors for most of the rooms in my house.

MOST. Not all. Ike's room is mostly nailed down, I'm very close on baby room, I have a good start for the bedroom, and maybe I have an idea for the dinette... oh, the dinette.

#4. We sold our good old table (to a blog reader who recognized our house on craigslist!!!) because it was way too big for our new house, and then bought another... ok table.

First, let's say goodbye to old table. She was a beauty.

Oh, table. I loved you so much. But she's gone, (she's gone) oh I'd pay the devil to replace her...

She's gone.

Thank you, Hall and Oates, for providing the soundtrack to my misery.

And now, drumroll please:

Someone kill me.

We will discuss this horror story in full tomorrow, but I just don't have the energy right now.

In fact, I think I may need another donut just so I can survive today.

The Wow Factor

It's takes a lot to wow me on a morning when I'm coughing up a lung and still haven't had any coffee, even though it's almost 9am. Still, it can be done. But let us not mince words. Let us instead look upon some rooms that have the wow factor I found a little lacking in my mockup of Ike's room. And let us not make comparisons between me and Simon Cowell. I would hate to think that this blog is devolving into the American Idol of interior decor... or maybe that would be awesome? America -- you be the judge!

So what can we ascertain about the wow factor from these pictures?

#1. It looks expensive, because it often (but not necessarily) is.

#2. Scale is an issue -- bigger is better in terms of creating a focal point.

#3. It could be paint, wallpaper, lighting, textiles, a giant head shaped sofa, you know -- whatever. But it's the hook that compels you to look at the rest of the room.

Now my background is in art, not interior design, so someone will probably come along and tell me what an ignorant douche I am.

No biggie.

But I would like to know what your favorite means for creating a visual hook is.

Tell mama.

[too sick and lazy to link -- go to my pinterest for sources]

Mockup Madness: Ike's New Room

Thanks again for indulging all my hemming and hawing about the office. I think I've fully vetted the possibilities and have a pretty good idea of what to do for Plan A and Plan B. I've also come to the scary realization that we need to get some doors on that room or it's not going to matter how pretty it looks -- it won't be functional for an office. So decor for "the office" is tabled for the time being until we solve that problem, and I'm moving on to one of the many other rooms that need attention before baby gets here: Ike's room.

If you don't recall, here's what his room in the old house looked like:

Now for this room I really wanted to give him something different, but I also want to reuse as many things as humanly possible. I have so much stuff to buy for this house that I need to make SOMETHING easy on myself (ha! as if). So, without further ado:

Hmmmm, yeah. Maybe not that different. Let's discuss the room itself. It's long and narrow and has zero architectural interest -- not even the pair of large windows the other room had. The one small window faces west, so it's dark during the day and then gets a burst of sun in the evening. There's no way a light color would work in here, so Sanders helped me pick Deep Secret, a kind of gray/navy that I think will look nice with the sisal carpet and also have some kid appeal (I foresee some hubble telescope posters in here someday soon... Ike is obsessed with space).

I don't love the white furniture, but I tried very hard to use what I already had, and Ike still sleeps in his crib... IT'S A MIRACLE. Like, he climbs in himself, but we have convinced him that climbing out is dangerous. It's kind of hilarious. Anyway, when we he outgrows it I'll get a cute antique twin bed and paint the white table set, or more likely just pass it on to #2.

So the only things here that need purchasing are the curtains, light fixture (hot air balloon fixture is going in baby's room), a colorful basket, and that leopard stool -- which is only $1400. Just kidding, suckers! I'm going to paint the old ottoman and add a cute cushion. Donezo.

I think the basics are here, but it's missing the wow factor. Does it need wackier pillows and bedding? Or maybe I have a big piece of art I forgot about... Or perhaps I should spend $400 on a roll of this wallpaper and frame a few panels:

But $400/roll?!... I'm thinking no.

Ok, enough of what I think. What do you think?