Capturing the Kids

Today is my son's 12th birthday!  I love taking pictures of my kids, but birthdays make me especially sentimental.  I try to photograph my kids in situations which capture their lives and personalities.  Here are a few of my favorites over the past year.

I was trying to copy a sweet photo I saw on Pinterest, but Violet was not interested in lying on the bed a looking at me.  Running around, jumping and falling was much more fun!

Of course, she tired herself out and enjoyed giggling with her big brother, another favorite activity.  I love this one - it captures the special relationship Jonathan and Violet have.

A rare "still shot" that I managed to nab after she wore herself out jumping all over the bed!

Such a boy :) I've taken his picture on this same set of wooden stairs every May since he was 3 years old.
He turns 12 today!

Halloween 2011 - Harry Potter and the Golden Snitch

Violet loves to take her dog for a walk!

Violet and Jonathan enjoying Christmas morning together

This is so Jonathan.  Laying out and inspecting everything from his stocking. If you look closely, you can see that he has neatly stacked his other presents behind him, organized by genre.  Oh, I love it!

We kept this box for a good month!

Celebrating Violet's adoption anniversary - this is pensive Violet

Ok so the story behind this one.  I was making dinner and Violet took the bag of goldfish out of her diaper bag when I wasn't looking.  She decided it was snack time and was so proud of herself - notice the clapping!

Violet's first birthday - getting ready for her party!

 Celebrating the 1 year anniversary of Violet's adoption being finalized :) SUCH a special day!

simple storage

Every spring, I get inspired to get rid of things and re-organize.  This spring holds some new challenges. I have a broken heel and am now on crutches for the foreseeable future, and I have a 1 1/2 year old who can reach the drawers, open doors, and has her own very specific ideas about what should, or should not, be in any space or containers within reach.  I've really had to rethink my storage and organization, both to make things easier for me to get my hands on, and harder for little hands.  Here are a couple of ideas.

In my previous posts, I talked about our ongoing kitchen remodel and losing our pantry as a result.  One of my makeshift storage solutions was this tall chrome shelf, which fits perfectly between the refrigerator and the wall.  However, the open shelving was just too much for the baby to bear, and she was constantly getting in to the recycling, or pulling down the toaster.  I found this old screen door at my local junk store for $30 and fitted it to the space.  I moved the latch inside and just high enough to be out of the reach of little fingers.  My husband laughed when I brought this home, but now even he wants to incorporate this screen door when we build a real pantry this summer.  Win!

Our microwave sits on top of the fridge and this old crate sits next to the microwave.  From the kitchen side, you see the cool hand painted old logo.  From this side, we get great, functional space for cookbooks, recipes, and my vintage copper sugar canister.  The basket on top holds kitchen utensils I rarely use, saving me valuable drawer space.  The vintage crock holds extra napkins.

This chest sits at the end of our island, facing the dining room.  The top drawer is basically our junk drawer.  The middle holds tablecloths and placemats.  The bottom drawer is broken, which is why I got such a good deal on it :)  The drawer works fine but opens really easily. So, all of the sippy cups, plastic dishes, and bibs go in here.

Now this one is just for Violet.  She loves books and I've struggled to find the right way to contain them in the living room so she can safely and easily grab her books, but also goes with the decor.  Enter this great vintage crate. This is the first one I'd ever seen that had just one divider down the middle, instead of all of the little dividers that were for individual bottles.  This holds the books perfectly without looking out of place in our living room.

our teeny master bedroom, or, my biggest decorating dilemma...

Our master bedroom is small...like, really small. Our house is about 80 years old and all of the original bedrooms are upstairs. Sometime in the 1970s, a little room was added off the living area downstairs. This is the only room with a bath attached, and the only one with a closet larger than a shower stall. When we first moved into the house in 2009, we took one of the upstairs bedrooms so our son wouldn't be upstairs by himself. Our daughter arrived in 2010. Last fall, we decided to move into the downstairs bedroom and use the large, upstairs room as a playroom/office. Honestly, we didn't even know if our king-sized mattresses would fit in the room and still leave enough space to open the bathroom door. I've played a lot with the arrangement but think what we have now works well. The real down side is that I sleep on the side of the bed that is up against the wall, so I have to climb (or fall, depending on how tired I am) up and down the end of the bed. Also, making the bed is like one of those half-time shows where those brother-sister groups have choreographed these weird acrobatic routines. That means I have to jump up and down on the bed to make it. I've only hit my head on the chandelier twice :)

I love salvage, and my budget is pretty small, so this is fortunate for me! Our headboard is an old 5-panel wood door. I love the fact that it still has some of the original brass hardware. I love vintage frames and am especially drawn to the ones that are falling apart, which does present some challenges in hanging them. I also found a great skeleton of a crystal chandelier for $20 at my favorite local junk spot in town. I have vintage letters and numbers in other parts of our home so I was thrilled to find this vintage metal "&" for $36 at a local shop. I wanted something to dress down the gold frames so our room didn't look formal, which isn't us at all. The burlap valance helps with that as well; valance being used pretty loosely here, as all I did was hang some burlap on a curtain rod and tie it up with twine in a few spots, but it's exactly what I wanted.

I found the chairs at the foot of the bed from that favorite junk store as well. They were only $20 each and I just loved the lines. The cream vinyl is in perfect condition and the matte black finish has just the right amount of wear. I knew I'd find a place for them and was happily surprised that there is just enough room at the foot of our bed.

My husband is a pastor, which means we are overrun with books. I really wanted a small bookcase for the spot behind the door. When I scored this free pallet, I knew I had the perfect solution. It is really heavy, so it took a lot of anchors, but it is secured to the wall and holds the books that he just has to have in the bedroom for nighttime reading, along with some photos, a heart my sweet son made for me out of twigs, and a beautiful hand-written note from our son the day our daughter was born, thanking God for her. The antique french laundry basket has been in just about every room in the house, but currently holds extra blankets in the bin and a stack of home magazines on the bottomthe perfect compromise. I think it has a new home here.

Last, we do have a tv in our bedroom *cue gasp*. While I am no longer ashamed of this from a personal standpoint, it does provide some decorating issues. I decided to frame it with frames echoing what we have over our bed. The first frame has a drawer from my grandmother's old singer sewing machine cabinet. The center frame holds a painting by a street artist from our first trip to Paris, a gift for our ten year anniversary, and it was my first real piece of art, so it will always be my favorite. The last frame holds two small salvage windows; my first salvage purchase about 15 years ago.

I love that our bedroom, although small, holds so many of my favorite items, or items that remind me of special moments, people and places. It makes me feel like this has been our home for much longer than almost 3 years. I'd love to hear your thoughts and your bedroom decorating dilemmas - thanks for stopping by!

the little things

practical island styling

Okay, so as much as I love vintage, sometimes I find something new  and it is too perfect.  I actually scoured sites like ebay  and etsy as well as vintage shops for an owl cookie jar to distract me from the brand new one that I couldn't get out of my head.  No luck.  So, I gave in and got this one.  He stores treats for the kids (and the occasional blow pop for me) and he brings in colors from my dishes and the surrounding rooms.  He looks perfect with my yellow vintage tool tray which holds necessities like salt and pepper, napkins, candles, and any little extras that seem magnetically attracted to the island!  Pop some fresh flowers in a clear vase and the whole kitchen looks bright and inviting.

Island Storage and Display

The storage under the island presents unique opportunities, but also unique challenges.  YaY! That's my favorite kind of space!  This island needs to store items I regularly use.  However, it is wide open, so my 17 month old daughter views each item as an invitation :)  Also, this side of the island is highly visible from the living room, so it needs to function aesthetically as well.  My twelve year old son like to sit at the island and talk while I cook, so we needed a small chair of some kind as well.  I found this fabulous vintage green step stool which tucks nicely into the island, and is perfect for both seating and reaching the microwave.  The huge, 80-pound vintage scale is a find from a local vintage shop and was only about $40.  The high back of the scale conceals a stack of cooking magazines and a bowl of potatoes, both of which my daughter is welcome to tote around the house.  Storage bags and plastic wrap fit perfectly in a vintage tall, tin bucket on the other side of the mixer.

seasonal styling

At the end of the island, I've got a small mid-century black bedside dresser which faces the dining room.  For early spring, I've layered an oval enamel tray with a candle the color of the dining room, and yes, that is the little bit of tree trunk cut off the end of my christmas tree when I bought it in December.  Complementing the candle are two mason jars; one with a mossy display for spring a one filled with small paper speckled eggs. 

 I love the display and it blends with the dining room so well.  I'm sure I will enjoy it for a good six weeks, which is pretty much the life cycle of small details around here!  Hope you enjoy!

everyone ends up in the kitchen

the heart of the kitchen: the island

I am starting this blog to connect with friends and family across the country and share our home with you.  We are in the process of remodeling most of our downstairs, so you will see  some exposed beams and sawdust; we are doing most of the work ourselves with help from very talented friends, but it's going to take awhile.  I decided to start with the kitchen.  Our remodel was inspired by my desire to create a free flow between our living, dining, and kitchen spaces.  Our home was built in the 1930s and the rooms were choppy and isolated.  We took out some walls and WoW, our kitchen became the social center I was craving.  I love people gathering around the kitchen island while I prep and cook.  Most of the items in the kitchen come from the fun junk stores around town, and a few great flea market finds.

My philosophy is pretty simple.  If I like it and the price is right, I buy it and find a place for it.  One of my favorite pieces is my kitchen island.  It was a table a man was using to sell tools at a flea market. I got it for $10!  About 5 years later, I coated it with a pour on bar coating and pulled it in off the back porch.

old post pot rack


We don't have much storage so I decided to put hooks on an old column and hang pots. It one of my favorite features in our kitchen and really supports the vintage, eclectic feel of the space.

the lampshade light


When we moved into the house almost 3 years ago, it had the cheapest light fixtures in existence.  I didn't have any money to replace the fixture, so I took the ugly globe off the light over the sink and rigged an old lampshade with a clear bulb.  3 years later and I still love it!  


I hope you enjoy the pictures and maybe be inspired to find some new uses for some old things :)