Archive for February, 2013
Black and White
For you loyal readers out there, you’re well aware at this point that Kate has had her baby, Josephine Audrey Belchers. Too cute for words! So while Kate is enjoying motherhood, I’ll be taking over as guest blogger for awhile, today being my official debut. I wanted to start off with a classic. A client has recently moved into a beautiful old home but its in much need of some TLC. Since the whole house will eventually be renovated, they decided to start with the kitchen because that’s where everyone spends the most time anyway. The existing kitchen has some unnecessary walls and the cabinets and conter tops are a little outdated, but amazing potential. Here is the existing kitchen. 
As you can see, there is room for a much bigger and brighter kitchen with a very open floor plan. When discussing style and color, we all agreed a classic black and white kitchen would be the way to go. Here is what we have in mind as far as layout. 
We’re going to knock down the wall separating the kitchen from the rest of the room, creating a more open space like the kitchen pictured above and add counter seating and an island. Since there is nothing a fresh coat of white paint can’t fix, we decided to go with a black and white color scheme for the new kitchen. 
Aren’t they the greatest? The window above the sink and main counter area opens up to a huge deck with great sun exposure, so we’re replacing the current window with a shutter style window and installing a counter outside creating an indoor/outdoor feel.
Wouldn’t it be great for entertaining in the summertime? I’ll make sure to keep you updated on the transformation.
~Allie
Two Week Birthday
Josie turns two weeks old today and she has been such a joy to our lives.
I’ve been very busy learning all about motherhood and caring for a baby so I’m afraid this won’t be a long post but here are a few pics of the sweet pea on her two week birthday.
Dressed in a silly outfit all ready to hit the world…
Her perplexed “what is this world?” face…
Her freshly fed and so satisfied with a finger face…
Peacefully sleeping the day away…
Our happy family of three…
We do love her so! Happy two week, Josie! My how you’ve changed our lives.
Not Just for Kids
Can we all just take a moment to recognize how much Land Of Nod knocks it out of the park? Many of their items are definitely fit for any adult space and their styling is awesome. Honestly, it all feels so cool.
Here’s what I’ve been eyeing…
And because I’m crazy, I have Josie’s big girl bed all picked out…
She’ll be going from a Jenny Lind crib to a Jenny Lind bed…how original. But, imagine it with navy and white striped bedding, a storage bench at the end of the bed in a fun fabric, and awesome wallpaper…kind of like this image but navy and white scheme –
You’re killing it, Land of Nod!
Office Project Reveal
Just before I became a mom, we finished up an office project that I thought would be fun to share today. When we were brought on the job, we were basically given an empty room. The clients wanted to keep the wall color and they had a bookshelf but otherwise, we were given free reign to spruce up the office for my client’s husband. He has a passion for baseball as you can see by the pics.
They had existing wood slat blinds and so we wanted to add some softness with a box cut valance in a cute Peter Dunham fabric.
We added in a small sofa for a nice spot to sit and it can be pulled out to a twin sleeper for grandkid’s sleep overs. The two x-benches act as a coffee table but also can be used for extra seating. They are from Ballard and they really did a great job with it.
This side table is one of my favorite elements in the room. It reminds me of a catcher’s face mask and the tin top is a great surface for little grandkids spills.
We wanted to do a gallery wall above the new desk with all of the husband’s memorabilia.
One of my favorite finds for the gallery wall was a vintage “S” letter for his favorite sports team.
The mahogany writing desk is very elegant but the clean lines keep it from going too traditional. We also had the chair custom made.
It was a fun project because it was pretty much a surprise to the husband. He got to come home to a brand new office and he loved it. I always think it’s so much fun when we get to surprise someone with a brand new room.
Welcome to the World
Thank you for all of your sweet comments, love and support on our departure for the hospital. I’m so happy to report that we are back from the hospital with the most special gift in the whole wide world…Josephine Audrey. Josie came into this world at 10:45 on February 7th and she is absolutely perfect. What a wonderful miracle!
Josie is an absolute joy and we are counting our lucky stars. We both love the name Josephine. There is also a long line of Josephs on my side of the family, most importantly Josie’s Uncle Joe. We named her Audrey after Graham’s maternal grandmother who was a very special woman and who is watching down on her now. And there you have it, no more BGB – JAB it is.
Now I must be off to go cuddle with her and stare at her more. I can’t take my eyes off of her!
Hospital Bound
Today marks the most momentous day of both Graham and my lives. We have known for 39 weeks this day was coming and for about a week that this specific date would be here, yet it still feels surreal. Baby Girl is breached and happy as a clam head up. Today, I have a scheduled c-section to meet our little one that we have been so eager to have in our lives.
I can’t in any way describe the emotions that we are feeling. We pray that all will go smoothly and that baby and I will be healthy. I have felt massively blessed to have had the past nine plus months nurturing, caring for and bonding with the little one. And now, the time has arrived to hold her in our arms and we can’t get over how lucky we are.
(Photo taken by Michelle Drewes on a home shoot when I was about six months pregnant)
I will be reporting back as soon as I am able to with an update on her arrival and her real, non BGB, initials. I’ll give you a hint…it still ends with B. 🙂
Entry Nook: Organized and Ready
The January Cure really kept me motivated the entire month to get every nook and cranny organized for baby. I know for a fact that I won’t be doing any home projects once she arrives so I really wanted to get things under my belt. One thing is a tiny alcove that we have just to the left of the front of the steps when you walk in. This is what it looked like January 1st…
The dresser was moved to the baby room for more storage for her and I love it there. That dresser used to house things like ski goggles, cheap sunglasses and other miscellaneous things. It now holds her adorable clothes. I moved the bench that was my grandfathers from our bedroom to the nook so we have a spot to sit and put on and take off shoes. I got three cheap baskets and put under the bench for me, Graham and Baby. I’d like to possibly switch it to different baskets or one large one down the road. This is where we were at last time we checked in…
I added on a John Robshaw custom cushion to cover up all of the scratch marks on the bench and for comfort.
I have always been a huge fan of this fabric pattern and so I splurged and went for it for the bench.
We (by “we”, I mean our handyman with me annoyingly directing) stained a piece of plywood a dark walnut color and put the anthropologie hooks across them so that the plank could be screwed in at the studs. This way we go the hooks that I so desperately wanted and they can actually carry the weight of a diaper bag or baby bjorn.
And the, let’s fake it and pretend it’s summer styled shot…
I’m hoping this spot will function nicely with baby. We had some people over on Sunday and they showed up with coats. I was so, so excited to hang their coats on the coat rack. It felt very adult of me. 🙂
Label Crazy
I didn’t think I was one to fall for a label. Sure, if it had “Hermes” on a tag, I’d probably love it no matter how much I liked the look of it. But, really, I don’t tend to fall for a label. That is until this past week when I stopped into Home Goods and I saw that they had some Lulu DK for Matouk bedding!!
Lulu DK, only one of my absolute favorite designers! Matouk – fabulous bedding! Label whore I was. I snatched up every little piece of queen sized Lulu DK bedding sets and hauled it across the store to grab a cart. It actually got a little heavy for a 38 week pregnant lady. Risky business.
I got my designer (discounted) loot home only to realize that it was actually too heavy to haul inside and to stop being aggressively stupid and to wait for hubby to carry his darling in distresses goodies into our apartment. Well, Graham has had work events late every night and said Lulu DK bedding has sat in the trunk of our car.
After further pondering, I’ve realized that Lulu Dk got the better of me. It can be frustrating when a client changes a plan while we have got the wheels in motion and that’s exactly what I did to myself. My plan was to stick to the white duvet we own, the navy shams that we already have and to get one fabulous Ruaol Textile roller pillow made for the bed. Simple, classic and timeless. All of a sudden, I’ve got graphic duvets and shams sitting in my car and an entire new plan.
I’m going to count myself lucky that Graham hasn’t been able to bring the loot inside. And most likely bring my Lulu DK back for someone else. Although, I’ve got to be honest I’m not totally there yet. Seriously, Matouk bedding is crazy nice and way beyond my reach without a stupid big Home Goods discount attached to it. Like $500 off stupid. Can I just have it all? The answer is: “Yes, Kate. You’re aggressively pregnant and ridiculously big, so yes, have it all! 38 weekers can have whatever they want.” Thanks conscience…I knew you’d come in handy one day.
By the way, the second two images are the patterns that I grabbed at Home Goods. I’m thinking I would only keep one, which is the stella in navy (last image shown).
Blog-a-versery
This past Sunday marked the third anniversary of my blog. 674 posts later and I’m so grateful that I started this little blog that could.
This blog has nourished me in more ways than I could ever imagine. It has built my career, sustained me through struggles and given me a platform to celebrate major milestones. Thank you to all of you who read and for your comments which I read and cherish every day. Thank you for your support. If I could come to your house with a slice of cake right now, I would.
Go 49ers!!
In no way did I grow up a sports fan of any kind. And I’m an 80’s bay area baby…home to the Giants vs. A’s world series and the ‘9ers super bowl dynasty days. Practically, all we did was win back then. My family was oblivious. I’m pretty sure it directly coorelated with the fact that all of us sat the bench during organized sports. If there is one thing consistent, it’s our lack of being able to throw or catch or keep an eye on the ball.
Graham did not sit the bench in sports. Graham is coordinated and athletic. He loves to watch sports and since we started dating he’s tried to get me to interested in watching sports of any kind. I refused to care. Finally, the 9ers have sunk their teeth into me and I am absolutely addicted. I look forward to our Sunday game watching and on bi-weeks, I feel a little off. Graham reads sports articles to me and I actually listen. And for the record, I wanted Kapernick to be the starting quarterback before Smith got injured. So, am I just as talented as Harbaugh at coaching? Perhaps. Not to take away from Harbaugh’s amazing coaching skills…more to toot my own amazing armrest coaching.
This Sunday, we will be rooting on the 49ers and absolutely glued to the TV. I can’t wait!! Go 9ers!! We are all so proud of you and how far you have come!!
This gem of a toddler jersey comes from when Graham was a wee little football fan. You better bet our girl will be wearing it with pride next season.
Since this is not a sports blog nor will it ever, ever, ever be, I tried to provide you with pics of red and gold rooms. Man are they difficult to find…not a color combo that I would recommend.
Happy Friday everyone!! Hope you get after it this weekend.
Kate Collins Interiors 