The Joel's home

I was reminded about how much I love this color palette from Katie Lee Joel's home designed by Nate Berkus as seen in Domino. Mmm... that kitchen.

(via Habitually Chic)

Margot Barolo

Pretty designed items by Margot Barolo.

By Bo Design

Check out these beautifully designed and functional baby items by genius Scandinavian designer, Bo Ekström. I am especially digging the wall mounted diaper changing system that would be perfect for a small space. Now, to get shops and public bathrooms to install them, ah... wouldn't that be heaven? See By Bo Design for more details.

i'm back!

Apologies for being M.I.A. for the past week. It was one of those crappy weeks - I had surgery for what turned out to be a pretty extensive case of endometriosis. And to make matters worse, my hubby got a terrible flu {that weird one that starts with a migraine} so I was quarantined at my dad's house, far away from my computer and from civilization it seemed! But thanks to my amazing doctor, the surgery was a success so I am back and will be up-and-blogging again in no time...see you soon...

inspiration from scandinavia

There's so much to be said for simplicity in floral design, especially during these hard economic times. Check out these beautiful, delicate buketter (bouquets) from Scandinavia. They will definitely inspire our next designs...{pics from 59buketter via Saipua}

Keeping in touch

Living with an architecture student is a bit like living with a ghost, and my own busy schedule doesn't help. D and I can go for days without crossing paths, but we sense each other's presence in the apartment. While that sounds sweet, it is not very practical for things like reminding each other to pay the rent. Hence, the chalkboard you can't miss.

I mounted it on the inside of our front door and made it magnetic (a genius idea I got from Design Sponge). It used to look like this...

All the frame needed was a scrubbing, a coat of primer and a couple coats of bright yellow spray paint. A quick trip to Home Depot got me a piece of wood cut to size (tip: look for the remnants section and see if you can get a sweet guy to cut it for you free of charge) and a piece of sheet metal. I was lucky because the frame opening is 12 x 24" and the sheet metal came in that size so I didn't have to deal with cutting it. My parents already had chalkboard paint, so I borrowed it and carefully painted several coats on the metal, sanding gently between coats for a smooth finish.

Total cost was around $20. If I'd had to buy the chalkboard paint, it would have cost another $5, but one can of that stuff can paint a whole lot of chalkboards so you should look into sharing with someone.

Finding a good frame is the key here. Go to thrift stores and look for wooden frames that are actually kind of ugly or over the top. Lots of carving is good. It might look really dated in dark wood, but it's going to look great once you paint it.

Cost breakdown:
Frame (from St. Vincent de Paul thrift store): $7
Spray paint (marigold shade from Painter's Touch line) + primer: $6
Wood cut to size: $0.51
Sheet metal: $6


*This tutorial is provided for personal use only. Please do not sell this tutorial or create items for re-sale using this tutorial. Tutorial may be re-published only with my permission.

Shapemaker by Miller Goodman

There are endless possibilities of creations you could make with these hand printed, rubber wood Miller Goodman blocks. Fun for the kids, and even grownups too.