Hey guys, it’s been a while. So, guess what? Taking care of two kids is more than twice as hard as taking care of one. The baby never naps and Ike never slows down. Our living room is littered with more flotsam and jetsam than post Sandy NYC and the housekeeper just left a few hours ago. I am on my seventh load of laundry in three days because they baby won’t stop pooping and puking every time I consume the tiniest bit of hidden dairy products. Meanwhile Ike has been staging swift and furious rebel uprisings that would make Robert E Lee blush.

It’s a good thing (we think) our kids are cute.

Despite my exhaustion, I find time at 4am to buy things. It’s like the consumer center of my brain is on overdrive while everything else has shut down. So here I am, back at the blog doing what I do best: Waffling. Indeciding. Not listening to myself.

I need you to help me choose a rug for the nursery. Remember this?

Cute, but I feel like it needs another layer. Here are my top picks.

Option 1:

Frenchy. Neutral. Love the black border. But is it too stuffy for un petit bebe? And does it clash with American revolutionary drummer boy? You may remember him from Ike’s old nursery. But wait — might he be French, instead? It seems the French flag sports colors suspiciously close to those of America AND they also had revolutions and stuff. Copy cats.

Option 2:

I kind of swore I’d never do another black and white graphic rug after the zebra incident. And in fact the zebra is dying a slow, painful, toddler inflicted death in Karly’s nursery. But this… well, this is insane. And possibly amazing. And also possibly way overwhelming and disparate from the rest of our house. I do like the super neutral colors that would allow me to change up color schemes down the line.

Option 3:

Color commitment issues… I am having a phobic moment about choosing blue, but I like that this rug would probably hide the most dirt. Also, it’s cute for a baby boy and the rough border and abrash give it a handmade feel that would add that special je ne sais quoi to all the graphic elements in the room.

And those are my choices. All wool, all 8x10s, all under $300.

So please… vote. For my rug.

And for president, I guess.

Yesterday I had dreams of meticulously cataloging our bedroom with my camera. To that end I hid all the extra pillows required to comfort a huge pregnant belly to sleep. I stuffed the cardboard boxes full of maternity clothes into the bathroom (I patently refuse to integrate that disgusting crap into my actual wardrobe). I made up the bed. And then… I was tired. Exhausted, actually. Apparently I only have about 30 good minutes left in a day before I start getting shaky and weird.

But I am a warrior, so I took a few pictures anyway — just not as many (or as mind bendingly awesome) as I had hoped for. But pictures, nonetheless. Let’s do this.

First of all, THANK YOU SANDERS! for enduring sample harvest 2012, in which I set out to try every Benjamin Moore color ever made. I’m actually really happy with Dior Gray. Sometimes it’s purple, sometimes bluish, sometimes just gray. Always soothing and comforting.

So, this is not the ultimate configuration for our tiny bedroom… the rocker will probably get switched out and I need new lampshades and I did not style the space at all.

But you know what? I don’t like a lot of shit cluttering up my space. It makes me nervous. And while I’ve been in a mad rush to acquire big basic pieces before baby arrives, I do believe in slowly collecting only accessories that you really really love. So it will all get there. Someday.

But let’s talk about that ho-tastic bedding. You know, I don’t buy a lot of brand spanking new stuff. I like vintage, thrift, antiques. But I draw the line at undies and bedding. I mean, if you want to get crabs and bedbugs that’s your decision. Me, I like the delicious feeling of unconquered territory when I lay me down to sleep.

That meant new bedding, because my old linens were looking pretty haggard. I’m not sure how I feel about those crazy coral sheets — I did order a new set in “blush,” hoping they might be a little less HEY STRIPPER!. And then there is the giant faux lynx blankie. Practical? Yes. It will hide a multitude of sins, like leaves and maybe even baby vomit.

But maybe I like it better without?

Or with? I’m on the fence. It’s twin size so I could always use it to cover Ike’s new big boy bed or a sofa.

Anyway, that’s what I have going on so far. I didn’t really buy anything except for paint, Ikea linen curtains and bedding, so it wasn’t an exorbitant makeover. I painted the frame around the Pop Chalee print… I think that’s it. Minimal effort sans the endless repainting.

Ok, so maybe not minimal effort.

In case you’re wondering, all the bedding came from Overstock and it was super cheap. I think I got a bedskirt, sheets, new pillows and the fur blanket for $200. Not bad.

What’s bad is that our bed looked like this for five minutes before Ike came in and tore everything up in a mad frenzy of trampoline inspired gymnastics.

And that’s why I can’t have anything extra nice. So this will have to do.

I’m off to cut mats and other unfun stuff.

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

*** UPDATE ***

I forgot to include a before pic…

My eyes!

Last week I was experiencing a serious pressure related block up/meltdown, and pretty much as soon as I (you) gave me permission not to decide, I decided a whole bunch of decor related stuff. I also decided not to worry about the house so much anymore, mostly because I am now 35 weeks pregnant and I look like I swallowed a whale and I have a sad little waddle going on. Apparently a tiny human will be rocketing out of my hoohah in five weeks or less and I should maybe probably focus on preparing for that, too.

At least now Baby X won’t have to spend his first month or two of life staring up at a patchwork quilt of peachbluegraypurple paint samples in the master bedroom, because that shit is DONE.

Sadly this is not our bedroom, but the color is a very similar medium purple gray. I took the advice of Anita and Christian and revisted my sample of Dior Gray. Sanders gave me his blessing (because Sanders is a saint and is totally allowed to bestow such things upon mere mortals), so we did the deed and it is good.

Climaxxx!

I also ordered some desperately needed new bedding… old bedding may or may not have gotten caught in the painting crossfire.

In a reversal of my usual hatred for contrast, I’m planning to go mostly light and bright against the moody painted walls. Like so:

Because a basic white quilt and shams can be dressed up in so many ways.

Pretty, simple pillows and ikat blanket.

I might have ordered some coral sheets…

And a giant faux fur blanket to cover up our new quilt, because kids and cats (and lazy parents) are murder on white.

Details and pictures to come when I can stand long enough to take them.

In the meantime, let us bask in the glory of my decisiveness…

because it won’t last for long.

[Images via my bedroom files on pinterest]

Hi, how was your weekend? Mine was one of those bust-your-ass-but-accomplish-very-little affairs. At least, that’s how me and my sore tailbone are feeling this morning (wtf, pregnant ladies?! what is happening to my coccyx?). Sucks to have so much to do and to be so impaired lazy. I did manage to squeeze in two chocolate covered donuts… yay for me!

So, what’s really going on at Casa Erin? Let’s discuss some life decisions I’ve come up with (thanks to Karly and Naomi for listening to my whiny pleas for advice).

#1. Wallpaper has been selected.

Pheasant in Coral will go in the upstairs hallway, Neisha Crosland’s Zebra will go in the entry, and Pines by Little Greene will go in the powder room. It was really tough to decide where these should go architecturally speaking — e.g., which rooms should be dark or light, what needs small scale or large, what colors will the rooms adjacent to the papered rooms be painted, etc. So I’m very excited to have a (tentative) decision.

#2. The front room will now be a play room instead of an office.

We’re going to squeeze the office into the guest bedroom, and I’m pretty stoked that we don’t have to put doors on this room anymore. Yipppeeeeee! I’m STILL trying to sell the coffee table, the shelves will get painted, art has been moved, sconces may be installed, leopard rug will make an appearance, and on the opposing wall I think I’m going to buy a vintage deco armoire to house all the toys. Like so:

Or something like this. These come up on craigslist all the time for dirt cheap.

#3. With Sanders‘ help, I am close to deciding on paint colors for most of the rooms in my house.

MOST. Not all. Ike’s room is mostly nailed down, I’m very close on baby room, I have a good start for the bedroom, and maybe I have an idea for the dinette… oh, the dinette.

#4. We sold our good old table (to a blog reader who recognized our house on craigslist!!!) because it was way too big for our new house, and then bought another… ok table.

First, let’s say goodbye to old table. She was a beauty.

Oh, table. I loved you so much. But she’s gone, (she’s gone) oh I’d pay the devil to replace her…

She’s gone.

Thank you, Hall and Oates, for providing the soundtrack to my misery.

And now, drumroll please:

Someone kill me.

We will discuss this travesty in full tomorrow, but I just don’t have the energy right now.

In fact, I think I may need another donut just so I can survive today.

For President’s Day my leopard rug arrived. Thank you, Obama (and Overstock). So the rug is pretty — it’s by Safavieh and looks to be of decent quality. Better Half Ben rolled it out for me and three seconds later Ike and the cat were clawing and break dancing all over it (cat = clawing and Ike = break dancing, although I would prefer for the opposite to have occurred), so I guess it’s plush enough.

What it’s not is the right size.

I took this picture at night so the colors are all wonktacular, but maybe you can see the problem with this space. It’s really long and narrow, and the 6×9 rug isn’t working… I think. I could shove it up under the credenza, but then it would leave this awkward open space on either side where I had planned to plunk down a pair of matching chairs.

For everyone interested in buying the same rug, here’s a daytime shot that better shows the caramel/tan colors:

I should really straighten up my furniture before I take pictures, right? Oh well.

So, what do you think? Can it work here, or should I move it to the front room and keep shopping? I’d like to maintain an open space in front of the console table so that I can roll out the benches beneath it for seating.

As a reminder, here’s some newborn baby pictures of how the room is laid out:

First of all: don’t panic! The fireplace has been painted and the tv is better situated (I plan to reveal it this week). The brown dining table is now in the dinette area (it looks terrible — new dining table is on the list), and the black credenza is against the back wall. The open area between the credenza and console is where I plan to hold play convention 2012-2040 (holy shit I am going to be old when these kids are grown). I just need a rug to mark out the space.

It would be so easy to buy a crazy 4×10 or 5×11 Persian rug off Ebay, except I already have a red Persian rug (which I like) in the room, and I can’t have two, right?

I was thinking I might could get away with a Nain rug (they tend to be blue), because it would be different yet similar to the one I already have… I don’t know anymore. Rug overload.

What do you think? Leopard where I have it or leopard in the front room?

What kind of rug should I get if I move the leopard?

Or should I totally reorganize the entire living area?

Fireplace pictures to follow.

Wallpaper sample pictures to follow.

Damn I have a lot of things to do.

I really, truly appreciated all your thoughtful comments and feedback on my last post. Leopard rug is scheduled to arrive Monday, so more updates on that soon. In the meantime, so many of you asked for the paint color I used in the front room that I thought I should repost it with the name of the color.

It’s Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor, mixed 25% darker.

Let me just take a minute to say that I am a picky mofo. I can tear perfection into a million imperfect pieces. That’s why Sanders is such a gem. In case you just started reading or don’t remember, Sanders is the paint genius who manages my local Benjamin Moore — he’s also the brains behind the Ask Sanders column. Without him I would I have hideous turquoise walls that make me cry angry tears of anger.

If you live in Austin or thereabouts (one reader drove up from San Antonio just to meet with Sanders!), go see him before he starts his own paint consulting empire and starts charging for his advice. He’s that good.

Plus look at his sweet little face! I love me some Sanders.

 Moving on: more Dark Harbor pictures. Wish I’d thought to shoot this with a color card so it would be truly accurate, but I think this is close. It goes from navy to almost billiard green, and everything in between.

Can’t believe I am posting this horrible picture, but it’s been raining forever so I haven’t had a chance to reshoot without all the toys. I think I took one picture of this side of the room and gave up because it is a pita to shoot without off camera lighting. Anyway, you can see that DH does go a lot lighter when faced with direct sun.

While we’re all staring at this dumb picture, let’s talk about built in shelving. The front room is teeny tiny, so to save space I really wanted to build a nook around the sofa, kind of like this:

But with far less beige… Anyway, there are two problems. First, the chair rail. Yes, we can remove it, but blending in the texture is going to be a job x infinity. Second, I don’t know if we have enough depth on that side of the doorway — it’s about 12.” Any advice on how to handle this? Ideas?

Once again I am depending on you to solve all of my problems.

Why not get busy with world peace while you’re at it?

Shallow? Absolutely. True? Without a doubt. I can’t tell you how much it sucks to be under house arrest because of pregnancy complications. I can’t lift anything or walk a lot, so me and the outside world are no longer bffs. Plus I’ve been super ultra mega sick, so for the last week Better Half Ben and the sweet inlaws have wrangled Ike, leaving me in relative peace to get some R&R. In other words, it’s just been me and the computer. Danger!

So, yeah — I bought this rug. After your response to the last post on leopard, I decided I could risk $240 on something that will at the very least be a kid friendly, plush landing pad. I realize no one will confuse this with Mr. Leopardo, but Momma ain’t made of money. I think the colorway will be decently neutral, and the spots aren’t gargantuan like some of the other creepy leopard/leprosy rugs out there. Now, where should this bad boy live?

Look! I took an actual real picture of our house! I’m painfully aware that it looks like shitballs, but this is what happens when you can’t haul around a tripod. Ok, let’s discuss my plans for this area. The dining table used to be back here, but I hated it so this will be an open, not hideous kid play station with a comfy sitting area for me. The rocker is getting sold, for realz. I have an antique Chinese scroll for the long wall. The lamps need new shades (help! I usually have very strong lampshade opinions but these guys have me stumped…). The art can stay or go. I would like to flank the credenza with a pair of matching chairs — something plush but colorful. Maybe these?

If I had the budget I would do these, but the sellers must have a brain tumor or something.

If I were decorating someone else’s house — someone with more money than me — I would force them to have two wingback chairs reupholstered in cut velvet flamestitch fabric. I should have bought this chair, but I let it get away from me and it makes me want to punch a wall.

I digress. Basically I want to keep a palette of neutrals and jewel tones. I could switch the painting for this guy:

And do emerald/teal/neutralish chairs… assuming I can find them.

And then there is leopard rug himself. The dimensions of the space I bought it for are tricky, so if it doesn’t fit I may move in a Persian rug (two Persian rugs in the same space… hmmm?) and put leopard in the front room (per Karly’s suggestion).

Look, that’s our front room! Doesn’t the presence of actual REAL pictures from our house make your head want to explode? It does mine, but that may just be a sinus infection. I know Leopard would look nice in here if he doesn’t work in the play area. It’s always nice to have a backup plan, right?

ps: please notice the wallpaper samples in the hallway. There are sooooo many more now. I have way too many things going on at once.

So, let’s recap some of the issues at hand.

1) To leopard in the play area or the front room? I will wait until it arrives to assess.

2) Which art do you prefer — the seascape or the abstract? I also have a fabulous antique mirror I could do if the rug+chair combo gets busy and that wall needs something more neutral.

3) What kind of chairs? Should I spring for custom upholstery? I’m super scared of the price tag.

4) What the hell kind of lampshades go on those lamps???

5) I need tylenol, pronto.

Ok, buddies. I will be refreshing your comments every three seconds, so boss me around and tell me what to do.

This weekend we battled the accursed brick fireplace and slew its face off. Let’s start our tale of bloodsport at the beginning by revisiting the face of the beast:

Even Jesus averted his eyes from beigeocalypse.

New floors, paint, and the chunky crown molding got kicked to the curb. Yet yonder mantel still beckons from the shadows…

We pulled the mantel off and motherf%^*^%$#$er if there weren’t wood studs and an electrical box built INTO THE BRICK. So Better Half Ben borrowed a jackhammer from Matt (thanks, Matt) and created a dust storm of  chaos and confusion in our heretofore cleanish living room.

At this point the dirt settled in for a long winter’s nap and I began to panic. I should have taken pictures of the giant holes right in the middle of our fireplace, but I was too busy hyperventilating into a brown paper bag.

BHB came to the rescue with a 60# bag of mortar and we got to work. Kids, replacing bricks on a fireplace is not a fun job. Still I think the results are not too shabbby, although I’m not rushing out to join the bricklayer’s union or anything.

The blue tape in the middle is the electrical box that we decided to leave exposed to service all our possible future electrical needs. The black slitty thing is THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE. It’s some mega fan contraption designed by Satan to aggravate me, because it’s attached to the firebox and cannot be removed.

Don’t think I didn’t try.

Now, you are probably ready for the payoff pictures, but I’m not ready. You see, we painted said fireplace trim white and I’m a little freaked out by the whiteness… ok, really freaked out. It’s like my cozy atmosphere of warmth just got hijacked by an icy blast of frigid air, which is ironic since it’s a fireplace.

I’m not really sure what to do.

Ok, first I’m going to style it up and see what I think once it has some art and stuff all over it.

I also have my eye on this brass framed, smoked glass fireplace door. We need something to cover the gaping hole left by the douchey screen that used to be there, and this seems to be a friendly choice.

Then I’m going to spend some time lusting over this gorgeous hunk of slate, because I really like the feel of natural materials. Too bad the brick we had was so gross.

Don’t get me wrong — things are definitely improvedus maximus. It’s just that maybe we should have painted the fireplace charcoal to match the banister railings? I’m afraid the contrast against the wall would have called attention to the awkward height, though.

I pinky swear that styled up pictures are coming soon, like hopefully tomorrow.

In the meantime, I’m curious what you think about the whole dilemma.

Sorry for the radio silence yesterday, but I have the pukey virus so bad that I can barely hold my head up. It’s actually taking extreme effort just to type this, and in fact I may have to leave for a second to… That’s better. So before I caught yet another iteration of the bubonic plague, I had been working on a moodboard for our pesky double height living room. This is about as far as I’ve gotten:

New couch, new chairs, new benches, new art: check, check, check and check. Painted fireplace and some kind of awesome screen. Wall mounted tv (sorry y’all, I kind of like it there because I can watch it from the kitchen while I cook) with hidden components.

What’s missing??? The ceiling fans. Yes, they’re still in here, but think how much better this room would look with a pair of badass chandeliers instead of fans… too bad Texas is so damn hot in the summer. We’re going to wait until then to see how miserable it would be without them.

So this is what I’m thinking for now (minus the scale issues… I really should learn CAD). Concerns? Questions?

I may or may not be able to address them today.

Remember how ugly our brick fireplace is? Of course you do, because that was the last post I wrote (sorry for not updating more frequently — it really is insane how all consuming moving can be). So, now that we have new living room paint (yay Sanders!) and floors, the fugtacular brick fireplace must be destroyed. Like seriously, I would love to take a sledgehammer to it. Some demolition happy people suggested we rip it out entirely, and we are indeed considering a major overhaul somewhere down the line. But for now, I just need to tone that shit down. Way down. Justin Bieber’s publicist down. So paint is the obvious answer.

I’m sure a white painted fireplace would look great (non sequitur sidenote: I totally have that side table but bigger).

Look how easy quirky Miss AB Chao makes it look.

I also like the look of Morgan’s charcoal painted fireplace, over at Ye Old Brick House.

But I think what I want is something not quite opaque… more like this:

How cute is that house, by the way?

Or maybe even less opaque, like this.

I don’t know. It could turn out super kooky, but I’d like to try whitewashing before I commit to completely covering the brick. I think a lil rustic feel would be a nice foil for all my shiny disco furniture.

What I want to know is: have you ever whitewashed brick? Did you use lime like an old school badass? Because I’m kind of into that idea… did I ever tell you that I used to make daguerreotypes when I was a full time analog photographer? I like chemicals.

If not lime, then what? I don’t want a plasticky, hermetically sealed look.

At least not until my chemical laden plans fail on an epic scale.

[Remodelista, AB Chao, Brick House, Blue Rose Gold, Design Ties]

Just wanted to give you all a quick glance into Erin’s new crib.  This is the scene I left behind Wednesday night after helping her unpack her kitchen (btw, Erin, no one needs 20 cans of stewed tomatoes).

So, which is more offensive, the 5′ stack of paper and boxes or the light fixture?  There is a very clear winner here.

P.S. I am delighted to mark this post with an “Erin’s House” tag.

Today is the day! At 10 am we close on New House, and Old House goes on the market. I have ulcers all up in my mouth and I’m no longer sleeping. So if you want to buy this house and put me out of my misery, leave a comment and I’ll email to confirm your stalker free motives. I don’t want no one sneaking in at night and stealing all my good shoes.

You’ve seen the public parts of our house. Now I’d like to introduce you to the private parts — warts and all. I crack myself up! Anyway, here is where you find out that we have actual bathrooms. We even have bedrooms, most of which have never been featured on this here blog. That’s because they were half finished and covered in laundry drifts, but I scrambled to make it all kind of prettyish.

So here it is. Cross your fingers, y’all. We’ve got to sell this house. Pronto.

And there you have it. I’m getting kinda teary eyed over our little house — lots of wonderful things happened here.

Some bad things may have happened, too. Like choosing lampshades that are too small, and like forgetting to remove the scale from our bedroom before I photographed it for the MLS.

Oh well. If you didn’t already know, size matters.