A Shout and A Shout Out

Here's the thing. If you let me, I could easily sit and read design blogs from breakfast until dinner. Maybe just one more for dessert. And another before bed. It's excessive. (And perhaps why we forwent internet for six months.) So in the last year or so, I've done some major editing as far as what stays on my bookmark list when I get on my iPhone. I hit five blogs. Young House Love, Little Green Notebook, Elements of Style, Pure Style Home and House Tweaking. There's a much longer list of sites I bounce around occasionally - Apartment Therapy, Lonny, etc. But I chose the five above because they produce content, not just share it. I'm ok with bloggers who share their inspiration photos from magazines and others' websites. But what really gets me flush in the cheeks is seeing their photos to inspire me. I like creators of design, not just curators of it. And three out of the five sites I listed are major go getters when it comes to creating their own homes. The other two are young designers who inspire me, but hire out all the work. Bottom line, these are the sites that get me going. Moving. Thinking. Conspiring to break out another tool and make something happen in my own home.

House Tweaking is a site I stumbled on last year - no idea how - and keep a steady tab on. Dana and her husband are in the middle of remodeling their ranch. This is the kitchen they recently finished. Love it.

Here are a few other pictures of her house.

This next one, by the way, is actually her laundry room which sits exposed to their dining and kitchen area. Purty cleever...

Anyway, here's the part where I freaked out. I was reading this post on her blog last month and here's what she said...

And so I read this and am thinking, too cool, maybe I'll get turned on to some new websites with designers who have kids. And then, boom. SHE FEATURED MY CONDO! What?! I about peed my pants. Ok, I really did. But that's nothing new. I was pregnant at the time and I'd pee my pants whenever I sneezed, coughed, laughed, you name it. It was glorious. Love what carrying a child does to your body. And your dignity.

But the point is, my chin hit the floor. I know. This is totally NOT comparable to seeing your picture on the cover of the Rolling Stones. But whateves. It's about the coolest thing that's happened to me in a while. Someone I've never met, whose design I admire, whose website I read, who lives half way across the country from me has seen pictures of my condo and was inspired by it.

So yes, I did. I woke up John. 'No honey, not in labor. But get this! This girl likes our condo!'

She had seen these pictures featured on Apartment Therapy this summer.

And here's what she said about it...

I’ve only seen peeks at this small and family-friendly home and I want more! I’m hoping the full house tour will pop up on Apartment Therapy someday. Anyhow, right off the bat this space feels oh-so-cozy and personal.

The oversized black and white photos, the pops of red, the painted brick walls, the overscale décor pieces, the neatly tucked in kid stuff…all of it makes me want to snuggle in with my family. This space is less than 900 sq ft {!} and yet it feels livable even for a family. The owner admits to tweaking each and every thing she could over a six year period. She bought the small condo as a single woman and has since added a spouse, a dog and two kids into the mix, revising the décor as necessary. For example, she and her husband turned the master bedroom into a kids’ shared bedroom. She’s passionate about living with only the things she loves and nothing more. So inspiring!

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Anyway, I know these are old pictures and maybe you've already seen them. But sometimes, when you're doing your dishes in your bathtub, microwaving dinner in your den and you've got your fridge in the dining room, it's nice to take a trip down memory lane and remember what it's like to walk through your front door and see everything in its place. Frames on the wall, not the floor. Your pantry in a cabinet, not a plastic bin under your table. You know, those sorts of things.

And I'll be honest, putting our furniture in this new house with its old trim and bad paint didn't give it the immediate face lift I thought it could. I figured that painting over the yellow crown molding wouldn't be so urgently needed once we'd refinished the hardwoods, done away with the popcorn ceilings, and had our own furniture in place to pull your eye away from all the, well, eye sores.

But it wasn't true. It almost looked worse. People would come over and I felt compelled to tell them that we were in fact going to paint the crown and get new window treatments because I was afraid it looked as though I chose all those things. No, these aren't the sort of life-altering things that keep me up at night. I have a child who does that for me. But, when there's nary a single room in the house that looks or feels like we'd like it to (and won't for quite some time the way the way Quig's colic is affecting our family), it's nice to get affirmation about some design work you've done in the past.

Anyway, if nothing else, go check out Dana at House Tweaking. She's one of those super moms who has three kids AND a blog with pictures she actually edits. And she posts. Often. As in doesn't take random 6 week hiatuses. Plus she's got stuff going on. Major stuff. So it's not just, hey this is how I set my dining room table last night. It's like, hey this is how I knocked down this wall last night.

That's my kind of blogger. :) And I'm pumped that she featured our place!

But now back to my current reality...eek.

(Full disclosure... I wrote this post a while back and then never published it because, you know, I nurse a child 23 out of 24 hours a day. Approximately. Maybe more. Anyway, that said, things are beginning to take shape 'round here and I'll hopefully have the follow through to post an update with some pictures soon!)