The värde was c/o IKEA, and we’ve had that orange daybed for years. It was originally in our short-lived guest room (now the nursery). It should be good on the playroom side of the basement, and I’m going to skip a rug on that side. Kathryn pointed out that her kids actually prefer a bare floor to slide around on, so we’re going to give it a go.

We’ve had the 4 Seasons in Chicago (first edition) print for a while now too. Brandon gave it to me as a gift, and I’m looking forward to having it up on the walls. And speaking of the walls… I’m rethinking that grellow color. I chose it thinking that the floor on that side would be offset by the black and white rug, taking up most of the space. now that it’s gone though, I’m not sure I like the way it’s looking. I’ve never painted a room white before, but might like it here. I’m still thinking about doing a paint-by-numbers wall mural too. How awesome would that be?

It’s kind of a commitment though, eh? And you know that if we ever move, it will suffer the same fate as the dragon that I painted over when we moved in.

Update:
I made a mockup.

It looks awesome.

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as The Basement Studio and Playroom Plan | 9 comments

Thank you COOL WHIP for sponsoring this post.

Join us on Facebook for inspiration and recipes for everyday treats. What you add makes it.
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Yesterday for lunch, we barbecued for the first time this year. It was so good we grilled again for dinner! This was the scene.

Ah, those leaf plates. I’ve had them for years and I still love them. It was Brandon’s idea to add them to the table, and a good one at that, though somewhat surprising (because he hates them!).

We need to get out there and clean up the garden. I ignored it last year (excuse: I had a baby and a toddler), and this year things are bad out there. It is, however, much easier to overlook the garden being overgrown and overtaken by weeds if your peonies are in bloom.

A patterned tablecloth probably helps too. This is the same one I used for Eleanor’s birthday party, but I think I like it outside even better.

My family always used paper plates and plastic cups and cutlery outside, but I like to use our regular dishware. We do use plastic/melamine plates and cups sometimes (we did for dinner yesterday), but I still like those better than disposables. Plus the wind doesn’t toss a real plate like it does a paper one.

How do you set the table outside? I like to set out stacks of plates too, and let everyone help themselves, buffet-style.

Eleanor was so excited about being able to eat outside. I think we all were.

Sponsored posts are purely editorial content that we are pleased to have presented by a participating sponsor. Advertisers do not produce the content.

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as First Barbecue of the Summer | 34 comments

• Upside down Ns — they’re everywhere, gah!

• I love a good business card, don’t you? (p.s. My new cards still make me smile when I hand one out.)

• This photo series will blow you away.

• ZOMG. Can you imagine picking up a hitchhiking John Waters?

• Please let the new Mindy Kaling project be good.
  (I kind of love her.)

• My favorite indoor/outdoor rugs. I bought one for the basement and I’ll write about it here next week. Can you guess which one?
  not so subtle hint —————>

• An end table for geeks! I want one.

• Have you seen the new web series, Olive Us? It’s really sweet.

• The new Orla Kiely line for Bed, Bath & Beyond is out.

• I’ve started writing a column for Better Homes and Gardens’ new Style Spotters blog! My first post featured graphic flat-weave rugs.
  (I guess I’ve been on a rug kick this week?)

I write for Glidden’s My Colortopia, and right now they’re partnering with Circle of Moms for a What to Expect When You’re Expecting Dream Nursery giveaway.

Check out the nursery I designed, and enter to win!

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as Honor Roll | 5 comments

Holly Becker of Decor8 has expanded her long-running course, Blogging Your Way, with a new 2.0 class for bloggers past the beginning stages. Holly is a supportive, open, and honest teacher, and I’m proud to be joining her along with Jeanette Lunde from Fryd + Design to teach the first session this June.

I’ll be showing how I create layouts for Making it Lovely, talking about advertising and monetizing your blog, and more. The full list of course topics covered can be found here.

Join Us!

Registration has begun and you can sign up here. I also have two spots to give away! You can enter by leaving a comment below with the class’ hashtag: #byw2.

Rules: The giveaway is open to international entrants until midnight CST, May 20. One entry per person. Two winners will be chosen at random and notified on May 21. Seats are non-transferrable, and those who have already registered and paid for BYW 2.0 are ineligible. Valid only for the June e-course. Comments must include #byw2 to be eligible.

* The winners are Sarah A. and Kate S.

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as Blogging Your Way 2.0 | 262 comments

The wheels on her skates are plastic and terrible, but they’re adjustable (locked, rolling forward only, and freewheeling) and they fit shoe sizes 6-12. I figure they’ll be good for getting used to being on eight wheels, and eventually we could get her a real pair. Three is a little young for full-fledged skates anyway, right? I chose the green “boy” version so they could be handed down, but Eleanor says we should get August a pink pair.

Here’s my girl on her inaugural run.

(Looks like Elle DeGore is working on a kids’ issue.)

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as Eleanor’s First Skates | 26 comments

Violet pees on them, Mabel poops, and Kili throws up. It’s quite the trio we have! (Jerks.) Mercifully, they’ve left the rest of the house alone. I assume that because their litter boxes are down there, they view the entire basement as free reign. We tried our best to salvage the rugs, cleaning them and dousing them in dubious pet stain removers, but they’re a lost cause at this point. We considered having them professionally cleaned as a last resort, but the rugs were cheap, the cleaning would cost nearly as much as new ones, and it would be a lost cause anyway.

The basement floor is painted concrete, so I’d like to still have rugs down there, but we need something indestructible. Either carpet tiles that can be removed for washing (or replaced), or an outdoor rug that can be scrubbed and hosed down every so often. Here are some that I’m considering.

1. Parallel Beauty Carpet Tiles
   Probably my favorite of the bunch, especially for the play room side of the basement. They’re graded for contract use, so they should hold up, but I’m not sure. I may need to go check these out in person.

2. Trimaran Stripe Indoor/Outdoor Rug
   Neutral, safe. Not bad, but not terribly exiting or inspired.

3. Chevron Stripe Indoor/Outdoor Rug
   The lease expensive option, but I wonder if I’m over bringing more chevron into the house. We already have a zigzag rug in the living room.

4. Kitchen Sink Indoor/Outdoor Rug
   I like this one a lot, up close, but I’m not sure about it from farther back.

5. Negril Indoor/Outdoor Rug
   I like that the pink is so prominent, but I don’t think the colors would play well with the basement’s olive green floor.

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as Possible Rugs for the Basement | 105 comments

• This is why you should have a life list, à la Maggie. (Here’s mine.)

• On business and motherhood.

• I wish this camera was real.

• The best take on a flying carpet ever.

• This font automatically makes different charts (pie charts, bar graphs, etc.) out of the numbers you type out. Makes me wish I had some infographics to prepare.

• Oh yeaahh!

• I suppose I should have posted this book on May the Fourth, eh?

• Now you’re cooking with gas charcoal! (Every year, I want this grill.)

• A whole bunch of cute, affordable ways to update your bathroom.

• Do you ever try to match shoes with your kids?

• Oooh, burn!

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as Honor Roll | 4 comments

I’ve been sort of planning a little redo for our main bathroom. Not in any real, concrete way, mind you. More of a “gee, we’ve lived here for five years and have never touched the space, aside from hanging up a shower curtain” kind of way. (I’ve never even showed it properly, other than this shot.) So I’ve been looking at affordable updates, and I put a whole roundup together of bathroom decor under $50. I think a new shower curtain may be in order at the very least.

Sources: shower curtain • Botticelli Angel paint • mirror • wall vases • washing machine hamper • bath mat • cart • more here

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as Some Affordable Bathroom Update Ideas | 21 comments

The train table in Eleanor’s room has been switched up. It shall henceforth be known as the ZOMGeverythinglookssocuteonthislandscape™ table.

I bought the landscape set because I figured it would make a good addition to our train table layout, but after clearing everything off, we haven’t added the tracks back yet. Switching toys in and out of rotation keeps the kids more interested in them, so Thomas and his friends will eventually make their glorious return. Right now, the Gabba guys* are having a grand old time.

Adventure! We’re having so much fun.

* The Yo Gabba Gabba figure set has been discontinued and now sells for crazy high prices. We got ours a couple of years ago. The Playmobil large landscape has been discontinued too, but is still available in small quantities. So if you want one, you know, get on it.

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as Let’s All Come and Play | 6 comments

One of the things I think all women crave more of, especially women that love to create, is time.  And if you’re a mother of young children, this rings even more true.  My husband always seems perplexed each year as to what to get me for Mother’s Day, and I’m admittedly not much help.  But this year I created in my head what the perfect gift would be.  An afternoon off, to sit around and make stuff.  Projects I’ve been meaning to get around to, new beads I’ve wanted to play with, pretty paper that’s just itching to be used.  A crafternoon if you will, made even better by a box of plenty, filled with fun and pretty items to craft and create with.  It doesn’t get much easier or convenient than that, right?  Below is what my perfect crafting box would look like, and how I created it, but really, you can adjust it to the needs and interests of any special woman in your life.

You begin of course with a lovely box.  Add some shredded paper so items don’t shift all around, and then layer a few sheets of tissue paper over that.

Begin filling the box with your items, largest at the bottom, and build up from there.  The color scheme of this box was based primarily off this nautical themed paper I found at Paper Source, with rich shades of navy, crimson and jade, offset by a soft shade of pool blue.  Paper crafting is an easy and stress free way to spend the afternoon, so the majority of the items in the box center around paper crafts, with a few fun extras throw in.

Stamps and stamp pads are an easy and inexpensive way to create personalized stationery, so several of each were added in, as well as a stack of simple white card stock and kraft paper envelopes.

Gel pens in coordinating colors and a genius of an invention, the glue pen, were included.  Personalize your note cards by writing a message with the glue pen, then sprinkling some glitter on top.  The aquatic and polka dot paper is cut out and used to line envelopes, a simple, yet festive touch.

A few added odds and ends include bottles of nail polish, glitter, and some interesting beads, just in case I want to do something different.  The beads are used to make a funky keychain so I can find my keys in my purse, and why yes, a manicure with a bit of glitter is called for.  And if you have a keen eye, you might have noticed the wrapped coffee gift card up top.  A good coffee drink is essential for any creative afternoon.

In case you do want to create a box similar to mine, here is a list of resources:

• Letter Box, Tissue & Shredded Paper – The Container Store
• Paper Products - Paper Source: nautical wrapping paper, dots wrapping paper in pool; A2 note cards & envelopes in pool, persimmon & peacock; acid free stamp pads in sweet melon, robin’s egg & midnight; sea shell, mermaid, octopus & school of fish rubber stamps
• White card stock and kraft paper envelopes – Bessotted Brand
• Staples Gel Pens
• Sakura Quickie Glue Pen
• Martha Stewart Glitter
• Essie Nail Polish in Mint Candy Apple, Going Incognito & Geranium

While this box was pretty much made for me and my interests, you can create something with just about any theme in mind.  Specialty spices and non-perishable food mixes from Williams Sonoma for the foodie in your life.  Fabric swatches and coordinating thread and a new sewing pattern for the seamstress.  For the gardener, you could even think outside the box and give a pretty terrarium filled with all the necessary items to create one like Nicole’s.  Whatever is in the box though, it will surely be appreciated if given with the promise of just a little extra time to herself.

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as Mother’s Day Gift Idea: A “Time To Create” Box | 25 comments