That Thankful Feeling

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  Life is all the better when feeling grateful.  I’m thankful for my ever growing family – all 22 of them.

Today, my brother, sister-in-law and their sweet daughter are coming over for a “sip and see”.  We are going to have champagne and cheese and crackers and we’re going to ogle at my new art piece.  Today’s  Attire: artsy/fartsy.

Tomorrow, I’m going over to their house for a “sip and see.”  We are going to have hot chocolate and we’re going to ogle over their new bed, which completes their home renovation.  Tomorrow’s Attire: pajamas.

Those two days are typical.  We have fun.  We love each other.  And we are down to make anything an event, if there is a theme – all the better.

So, on this thanksgiving week, I wanted to take some time out to say thank you to my people.  To that big, fun loving, chaotic and hilarious family of mine.  I am blessed.

Made on Main, VT

I remember like yesterday when I purchased my first purse.  I was a Senior in highschool and I worked at a clothing store for the summer.  At the end of the three months, I saved up my pennies for a Kate Spade clutch.  I still have the little number.

Like 99% of women, I love a great handbag (my mom falls in the 1% category of having zero interest in her purse) so it was fun to discover this uber cute shop, madeonmainvt, on ETSY.  She’s got Kate Spade style meets LL Bean with her market tote…

Isn’t it cute?  And what’s great is the bag can fold up to fit inside your purse for when you’re out grocery shopping. At $48 they make great Christmas gifts or hostess gifts.

Canvas Bag

She also makes the cutest Foldover Clutch –

So stylish.  This would be the best travel purse ever when you know you’ll be hitting the town at night but you also want something practical.  Plus, at $78, you don’t have to work all summer just to buy a bag.  Oh high school.Foldover Clutch 

Guess what?  This shop just opened on November 19 so you can be one of the first to buy.  Happy shopping and Happy Friday!

Wrapped in Plaid

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I’ve got tablescaping on the brain.  One day, I’d love to set a table for Thanskgiving that is wrapped in plaid, tartan or buffalo check.  Doesn’t that just feel cozy?  Plaid with a side of food coma…

 

 

 

 

 

What are your Thanksgiving plans?  Will you be setting the table?

Hooked on Vintage

I don’t know if there is much surprise here but I am absolutely hooked on vintage clothing for Josie.  Ever since my lovely Aunt sent over this adorable bubble…

I knew that Josie needed more smocking, more bubbles and more vintage in her life.  So I took to ETSY and I have found some real one of a kind treasures…

This little strawberry smocked bubble and the smocked plaid dress came from this shop.

The dress and bubble came from this shop.

This special dress I have saved for her birthday.  It’s so sweet and I just love the collar on it.  It came from Soubrett Vintage

You want to know a little secret?  You don’t spend a fortune on these beauties either.  The trick is that you have to hunt.  I hunt around a lot.  Um…like it’s my full time job a lot.  But it’s oh so much fun.  It’s my way of pretending that we are southern (a life long dream).

Family Friendly Living Room

Today, I’m over at Meet Me In Philadelphia talking about what I’m thankful for.

 

It may not be a shock to any of you as to what I’m thankful for but I’d love for you to pop over and visit Ashley’s blog.  She is fabulously talented, an amazing crafter and as sweet as can be.  I’m lucky to call Ashley a friend.  And don’t forget her ETSY shop…I want this pillow so badly that it officially hurts.

 

Boho Navy Ralph Lauren

For anyone who is new to the blog, thanks for popping in.  I thought I’d share with you a family friendly living room that I did for a wonderful client and her husband and four little ones.

Now, let’s break it down.  Four kids requires a lot of toys and so the two round coffee tables open up into an enormous amount of storage.  Also, the side tables are storage trunks so more toys can be hidden away.  The sofa is slipcovered in indoor outdoor fabric so it can take a beating.  The rug is wool pile which does the best for hiding spills.  Off to the side, underneath the gorgeous console table, we’ve got a pair of vintage stools that can be pulled out for extra seating.  We stuck with a natural, muted pallate with pops of color through pillows and accessories – like the cute oversized jacks.  The beautiful painting by Michelle Aramas really steals the show – I love it!  I was so happy with how this room came together – perfect for four little kiddos and adults as well.

Breakfast Nook: Dilemmas and Answers

I get giddy when people ask me to put together a breakfast nook for them.  It’s really fun for me…let’s take a look at a few examples of breakfast nooks that I’ve done and how to tackle those common dilemmas.

Dilemma – you’ve got kids but you want that light, bright airy look.  How do white and spaghetti sauce go together?

Answer – Vinyl and laminate…that might sound icky but look how pretty it comes out –

The vinyl we used in this project looks like a faux shagreen and that DWR table is laminate so both places you can wipe away spills with a sponge.  And we added a little party to the back of the chairs with indoor/outdoor fabric.

Dilemma – You want a high functioning breakfast nook but you don’t want to lose the glamour.

Answer – Add tufting and a glitsy light.

I used vinyl again with this breakfast nook but the tufting glams the space up and for a bit more formal to those eggo waffles, we put in a crystal chandy.

Dilemma – I want to bring character to my new build home

Answer – Choose pieces you love and you’ll add in the character.

This particular client loved Palm Springs, which I’m obsessed with, so we brought some palm springs to her breakfast nook with chippendale chairs and a rattan pendant.  We actually even boosted this area up a notch by recovering the Chippendale chairs with a patterned fabric but I don’t have pics of it.  I must go photograph my spaces.  I wish I could take a dang picture correctly!

Dilemma – I live in a rental and I don’t want to spend big bucks on items.

Answer – You can still have fun on a small budget – hunt flea markets and use items you might already have in unconventional ways.

Well folks, this is my little breakfast nook.  The chairs are all flea market finds, the rug was Urban Outfitters uber sale so I don’t care if it’s ruined.  The “table” is actually my WEst Elm desk that I didn’t have a spot anywhere else for so why not use it as a table.

So basically in a nutshell wipeable doesn’t have to be boring or look so “wipeable” simply by mixing in fun chandeliers or different chairs.  And don’t be afraid of vinyl.

Nine Months In

Yesterday, Josie hit nine months.  She has been out as long as she was in, which had me thinking of when i was pregnant.

Call me crazy but I feel as though you can troll the mommy blogs, the lifestyle magazines or just chat to anyone of your friends with kids and you hear a lot about how much work it is to have a child.  People want to trump each other with their horror stories.

Honestly, I had been bombarded with so many warnings about the difficulties of parenthood that at about 81/2 months pregnant I had a breakdown.  I cried pretty much the whole day.  I tried so hard for a baby and there I was two weeks before my due date completely and totally freaked out.  Could I actually handle a baby or would it be just plain too much work?  I had heard about the sleep deprivation, the boredom, the depression, the constant baby tears, the unknown and I was scared beyond belief of having a baby.

You know what?  Yes, I experienced all of the things listed above.  But, that’s not what I choose to concentrate on each and every day.  I have a beautiful, healthy baby.  When she smiles her entire nose wrinkles like a Shar Pei dog.  If you toss her up into the air, she will giggle an innocent, pure, beautiful giggle.  When she tries a new food she will take it all in with such gusto and excitement and then she will usually spit it out and give the most disgusted look afterwards. She will work those ab muscles on her chubby belly with massive determination so she can sit up and play with a toy.  She can out guzzle anybody when it comes to drinking a bottle.  I’ve often thought I should challenge her to some of my college drinking buddies and see who would win.  She is determined but fair – she will scream bloody murder when you take something away from her but as soon as you give it back, she will immediately stop crying.  My God is she fun to dress.  She absolutely loves strangers, one day we’ll have to have the puppy van stranger talk, but for now it’s wonderful to see the joy she feels of meeting new people.  She is very emotive; if you are generally happy, she will be as well.  Those times when difficult things have happened and I’ve cried in front of her, she reaches her hand out towards me and she will give me a little smile.  She likes to chit chat.  She is starting to get the hang of a joke.  If she does something and it makes us laugh, she will repeat it and look up at us to make sure we laugh again.  When she is having a very big cry, she calms down when I hold her tight and sing, “Amazing Grace.”  She is a horrible napper but she does remarkably well on little sleep.  I think she is like me and she just doesn’t want to leave the party.  She is patient.  She is the most wonderful thing I have ever worked at.

Work?  Absolutely.  But, to those of you her are facing the unknown of parenthood, I think I’d equate it to your most favorite job ever.  Kate Collins Interiors took a lot of work to build but it also was the most fun and rewarding thing I have done for myself…well, that is until Josie came along.

Happy nine months to my sweet little one.  And happy birthday to my absolutely wonderful mother who beamed joy to us kids growing up and never let us know that motherhood was actually a lot of work.

Home Again Home Again

We’ve returned home from our fabulous trip in Hawaii.  Graham and I both feel rejuvenated and ready to get back to work.  I think Josie is going to have the most difficult Monday blues because she is now so used to have both of her parents undivided attention.

I’ll be culling through the thousands of photos and sharing our pics from our vacay.  But, until then, I thought I’d share pics of what happened while I was away.

This kitchen, I’ve been helping to remodel is almost to the second stage of furnishing and accessorizing.  It is turning into a real stunner…

We installed large custom bulletin boards into a client’s children’s rooms and I love how they turned out…

I’ve been helping my mom with a little spot off her lawn that had been empty and is now the perfect place to watch grandkids run around.  My favorite piece is the tufted cast stone outdoor coffee table. I just need to accessorize and the space will be complete…

Can’t wait to share completed pics!