Urban Nest

A Little Side Project

Urban Nest — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:15:42 +0000

Thought I’d share a little project I just finished up for a pre-teen client. She’s moving into what used to be a guest bedroom and needed a few fun pieces to make it her own. She picked the blue suzani fabric to be the inspiration.

I must say, I’m pretty pleased with how it all came together. I hope she loves the pillows and bulletin board in her new room!

Back in the Saddle

Urban Nest — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 20:52:05 +0000

I’m back at the sewing machine these days – there are tons of stitches in my future. I’m still plugging away at my list, and after finishing the porch swing, I’m on to curtains for the dining room and curtains and pillows for the living room.

I love the fabric for the dining room curtains, but I’m particularly excited about my plans for the living room. You may remember from last fall that I’m working on a blue scheme using our existing blue chairs as a starting point. Now that we have a fabulous painting, new couch and a little extra floor space, it’s time to start to add the finishing touches. Here’s my updated plan:

I just love the fabric scheme:

Hopefully in a few weeks we’ll have curtains, pillows and a reupholstered ottoman… The lighting will have to wait until our wallet has recovered.

Pillows, Finally!

Urban Nest — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:08:17 +0000

It’s been a long time without a post for us! Sorry for the break, but we’ve slowed things down a bit, and for now, I’m planning to only post when I’ve completed a project around our house. On that note, I’m happy to report that I’ve finally finished the pillows for our front porch swing! I’m so glad to have them in place while there is still some summer left to enjoy them – here they are:

I went with different fabrics on the front and back of the pillows so that I have 2 schemes to choose from, depending on my mood. Both options have a the same red floral fabric and a stripe (all the fabrics are from Williams and Sherrill, by the way). In the first option I pieced the stripe fabric for a pinwheel effect. I finished the pillows off today, so I plan to head to the swing after the kids’ bedtime tonight for a little relaxing. I hope you are finding time to relax this summer, too!

I ♥ My Measures

Urban Nest — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:20:00 +0000

iPhone users, this is one of my favorite apps! I don’t usually spend more than $0.99 on apps, but this one has earned every penny of its $4.99 price tag.

» My Measures & Dimensions

Whenever I’m dreaming up ideas for specific corners of my house, I snap a photo and add some measurements so I’m sure to have my facts in order when I’m running errands.

I also use it to snap photos and make notes of things I see while I’m shopping. I can jot down the measurements, the price, the source and then file it away in a logical place (i.e. not lost in my camera roll among all sorts of unrelated things).

I learned about My Measures from this post by Ashley on 7th House on the Left. Check out all the others she talks about as well as those in the comments section!

What are your favorite digital design tools?

A New Look

Urban Nest — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:14:38 +0000

Coming up with a new look for a room is really my favorite part of the decorating process. I could spend all day fiddling around with different ideas for the rooms in our house. I’ve been doing a lot of projects lately, so I decided to take a little break and have some fun with a new look for our family room. It all really started when Nathan broke the only lamp in the room, and before I replace it, I need to decide where I’m going with the room. So here’s my new vision:

This is our existing couch, and I made faux roman shades for the windows out of this Schumacher fabric a couple of years ago.

The grasscloth wallpaper, lighting, and basket coffee table would be new. I’m also toying with a darker color for the wallcovering – maybe a deep brown as an accent behind the couch:

Either way, I think I’ve nailed down the lighting, and if it’s attached to the wall and ceiling it will be harder to break, right?

Cheers!

Urban Nest — Fri, 27 May 2011 15:00:33 +0000

Last week I showed you our painted built-in bookshelves in our new house. Phase II of the built-in transformation was to set up the small back shelves with our bar ware. Phase I was painting them Indigo Batik.

We were eager to figure out a way to replicate our bar closet from our old house that we loved so much. The open shelves and built-in cabinet below offer the perfect arrangement for pretty glasses on display and functional pieces stashed away.

We added individual lights beneath each of the wooden shelves to get the same dramatic effect we had from the overhead lights that poured through the glass shelving in the old house. And, obviously this time we went with paint instead of wall paper.

Have a safe and happy holiday weekend to those of you in the U.S. celebrating Memorial Day. Cheers!

The List

Urban Nest — Tue, 24 May 2011 14:38:36 +0000

I’m still making gradual progress on my list. I just checked off #4 - which was a big one! Now on to a few of the smaller projects.

I’m still taking a short break from sewing, but the porch swing refresh is almost done. This week, I’m bringing the chandelier for Violet’s room to the lighting repair shop to be rewired.

I found this vintage piece on ebay for $30, and I can’t wait to see it hanging in Violet’s room! If you are interested in something similar, you can search for “Vintage Tole Chandelier” on ebay.

Stationery Love

Urban Nest — Fri, 20 May 2011 13:17:07 +0000

The National Stationery Show took place this past Sunday-Wednesday in New York. I was not in attendance this year, but I have been drooling over all the images I’ve seen posted on the web this week. Seeing the fresh design and fun booth set-ups always gets my creative juices flowing. The following images are all from Oh So Beautiful Paper, who each year, has great coverage of the show. Do you have any favorites?

Hammerpress

Smock

Hello Lucky!

Mr. Boddington’s Studio

Suzy Jack

Porch Progress

Urban Nest — Wed, 18 May 2011 13:50:29 +0000

Two cushions down! After I finished the cushion for the new window bench in the guest room, I moved right on to the cushion for the front porch swing.

Oh, and the new outdoor rug is in place! I love the navy cushion against the taupe rug and stucco.

Now I just need to get motivated to whip up the pillows, but I’m a little sewn-out at the moment… I’ll get to it soon!

Indigo Batik

Urban Nest — Mon, 16 May 2011 18:37:58 +0000

Just a quick post since things are still a bit crazy around the new house. We tackled the den this weekend, which is where we’ll likely spend most of our evenings. The main feature is the painted built-in bookshelves.

The backs were painted a rich red. This isn’t really a fair before and after, since the photo below was taken before we bought the house. I completely forgot to snap a shot of the space either empty or with our own furniture.

Once I decided I wanted a dark blue for the bookshelves, I simply snagged Rachel’s “Indigo Batik” by Sherwin Williams that she used in Nathan’s nursery and ran with it. I’m super-excited about the results!

Next week, I’ll show you the back wall where we built our bar!