Interior Tuesdays: Play Areas Outside

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Some fun outdoor chalkboard ideas and one crazy playhouse...I mean seriously, that is cooler than my house.

Exterior Tuesdays: Yard Ideas Take Two

I have a problem. I like to rearrange my yard too much. As I have mentioned before, due to a large falling cedar tree, the yard HAS to be rearranged this year whether I like it or not so might as well so a little itty bitty more than required to make it perfectly lovely. I am hoping this will be the last time...here are my inspirations:

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Thinking instead of gravel, patches of grass

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Exterior Tuesday: The Yard

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So I did it. I started to tear up the yard tonight. It was sunny, I had the energy and so I just went for it. We still have to grind the large cedar stump out of the way but until then I moved the stuff that I could. I have a really big problem when it comes to the backyard. I am constantly rearranging it which means a lot of work and aggravation for my dear plants. Someday I will get it just right...? In any event, this photos are inspiring despite the fact that most of them take place in climates very different from the one I reside in. Sigh. 

Interior Tuesdays: Patios

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Should we do it? Should we start dreaming about outdoor spaces yet? I know it is still frigid outside where I am, but I cannot help but feel the pull of Spring. The cherry blossom trees are blooming and there is talk of temps in the 70's on the east coast so I thought, why not? Let's dive right in. Let's start getting excited about our patios.
We had to take a huge cedar tree off of our property this past month due to a very dangerous crack it was developing. We still need to schedule the stump grinding but after that it is Operation Yard Redo. We have to move some of the fences to make up for the loss of the tree so that our kiddos don't escape and obviously a whole yard revamp is in order. So bring on the daydreaming...
These pictures are more patio-centric but next week I'll start compiling some yard ideas.

Tuesday Interiors: Sheepskin Rugs

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Maybe because it is still winter (yes, it snowed yesterday) or maybe because I am in this white/simple mood, but I am really into these sheepskin (I would imagine almost all are fake) rugs that I spy around interior design sites. They add a cozy element and because they are white, they add a clean/fresh element as well. I caved and bought one at IKEA the other day for Sebastien's room - I really like it. I wish I had a bigger one for our room. Nothing like stepping out of your bed onto a cozy and fuzzy rug!

Interior Tuesdays: Follow Up to Living Rooms

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After posting about my living room today, I ran across this lovely post at ApartmentTherapy illustrating styling tricks to save time and money. I basically did just that when I rearranged my space! Funny how things come in to your life - even though I read this post after I changed my space around, it is nice to be validated for said changes.

Interior Tuesdays: Living Rooms

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I have been sitting in my living room for the past few weeks trying to come up with something fresh and new (being sick and stuck on your couch has the tendency to make you very aware of your surroundings). I was so bored with the colors, the arrangement and the furniture. With the exception of changing throw pillows and getting a new rug, there wasn't much I could do about the furniture and colors. I love the color of our walls - it's like a yellowy wheat field - and we don't have new furniture in the budget this year (skis, jackets and oh, more skis = yes, furniture = no) so I was left with changing the arrangement. I moved the chairs in different positions, I got rid of the rug and moved half of the toys into the kid's rooms. Voila. What a difference! It just feels soooo much better - a little change can truly bring big impact to a space. So, I'm happy...for now. 

Here are a few inspirational living rooms to drool over... (Can you tell I am in full-on simplicity mode?)

Interior Tuesdays: Clean Slate

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I have been in a total white mood. Which, if you know me or my house, is very out of character. We like a lot of color in our household so this very strong urge for a clean, crisp white - everywhere - is sort of dramatic. Maybe it is the constant clutter of toys that seem to appear all over our house all the time or the darker days of winter but I am craving white - flowy and simple. Clean.

My favorite room in our house right now is the bathroom - white subway tiles, black trim on the sink cabinet, white fixtures and light blue walls. It is refreshingly light and empty and calming. Everything fits in a cabinet or on a hook and voila - a clutter-free area. It seems that as soon as I reallocate stuff around the house to a more organized way, chaos shortly follows and all is lost. So maybe if I just add a little more white (what?!? More white with two kids under 3!??! Are you kidding me!?) it will make it seem a little more together...

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Interior Tuesdays: Remodeling and Redesigning

Three years and 9 months ago I found out I was pregnant. We also started our house remodel. Not two things you normally would like to coincide but it gave us some pretty intense motivation to finish everything up in time for our first kid's arrival. We didn't just remodel either...we basically reBUILT. We gutted our house down to the studs and added about 8 feet to the backend and basically started over. The house was built in 1918 and didn't have insulation. This is sort of a big deal when in snows in the winter. And I wanted a dining area. So we decided to go big or go home. Here are some "during" photos...eeeks. I cannot believe we did this - we were living at various friend's houses and homesat all around town that summer. It was NOT the way you would like your pregnancy to be but so be it. I had a beautiful home afterwards.
During:

 We did a lot of the work ourselves - especially the demo cause that's fun

 tearing the backend off

 we found layers upon layers of crazy wallpaper all over the house

Happy Friday

I haven't had time to write down a long thingy about family life this week but I DID find this most awesome VW bunk bed tutorial. I mean, come on, everyone needs one of these in their house or maybe as a playhouse outside? It is so genius. I couldn't wait to post it on Interior Tuesdays so here it is. From Uptonb.

Have a wonderful weekend - I am off for a ladies night tomorrow and hosting a birthday party for my 3 year-old on Sunday. Fun!

Interior Tuesdays: That Darn Playroom Again

Ok, so I am still tackling the playroom situation. I have finally cleared out the room and started on the skeleton of a teepee. If I can find a moment where my 10 month-old isn't pulling at my pant legs and my almost 3 year-old is out of the house (the teepee is a birthday surprise), I will finish it up and show you all.  I am hoping to get to it during a nap time this week while Missy Miss is at school or Nana's house.

Isn't it funny how with all our access to websites and pinterest and blogs, it's like all of a sudden we are ALL interior designers and stylists. I mean, I certainly am. I am constantly tweaking our house around to fit my latest mood or inspiration. Luckily, the Goodwill is one of my favorite stores (it's literally a goldmine full of under appreciated treasures) so it doesn't harm our bottom line that much but this girl needs another hobby. I am starting to tire of my endless quest for the magazine ready home. Turns out, the simpler my decor is - read: no clutter, no figurines on the shelves and actually, just get rid of that shelf and voila, no problem - the freer my mind is as I sit down on the couch for those rare little moments of peace and quiet. Maybe if I just create a new painting for that wall and...ahhh, I digress.

Anyhoo....here is what this post was supposed to be about! The playroom.

So here are some of my ideas that I think will work really well in the space:

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I bought four or five (can't remember, which means I need to stop buying them) big floor pillows that I want to recover like the ones above. Fabric search is ON. 

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I am going to have two twin beds on one side of the room - for jumping on, future sleep-overs and a place to stop and snuggle for a bit. I will probably end up with two beds from IKEA since they are cheap and have drawers on the bottom already. They surface on craigslist from time to time. I really wanted to build something like this or this but I know I just don't have the time to do it and I am impatient to get this room done already. 

Interior Tuesdays: Playrooms

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So we are redesigning the downstairs main room into a playroom! (moving office outside to its own unit) What a fun adventure we are about to head on...so many worthwhile things to incorporate into a magical place for two kids. I would love to build a sort of play fort/home like the one above; chalkboard (although, I have never been a fan of writing or drawing with chalk but maybe kids really dig it); a swing of some sort; train table; teepee...although this may go in Maya's room upstairs...the list is endless. The planning begins! More cool ideas after the jump.

Interior Tuesdays: Outside Office

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We need to built an office in our backyard. My husband works from home and the noises of our day are starting to distract him more and more - and plus, I want to turn his office into a crazy cool playroom. So I have been perusing the ol' Pinterest site and google to find an inspiring design. Luckily our car pad is pretty large so we will be able to add this to our property without taking away any of the yard. It will also be a great place to get away when you want to not hear your children but yet don't necessarily want to leave your house.

Interior Tuesdays: Fab Homes

This house is just outside Cincinnati near a lake community that sounds so perfect. I would love to find a spot that is within 10/15 minutes of the city but deep in nature. Seattle just sprawls out these days so you either have to be in the city or out. Anyhoo, I love how the kitchen is free of clutter (although this COULD be just for the photo shoot but alas I dream) and I like the words in the master bath...good words to live by!

 all images and story from Design Mom

I cannot wait to streamline our furnishings once the kids get a little older and I don't have to worry so much about ruining anything too precious. I have some big plans but they will have to wait another few years...so I have fun dreaming up schemes and arrangements. These photos are very inspiring in different ways. Our main bathroom actually looks almost exactly like the one above - down to the white subway tiles, blue/grey paint and white/black accents. Picture of our bathroom below: