Dreamy Desk

Holly Mathis recently turned her breakfast space into a desk space. It's visible from the front door, so it's also pretty. A pair of spray-painted lamps (with new shades) from the thrift store, a linen skirt, file boxes from Wal-Mart, and a few pretty accessories do the trick.


Between the kitchen and dining room, the desk would also make a great buffet when cleared.

Elliot's Blue and Green Nursery (so far)

Elliot is almost five weeks old (so hard to believe!) and her room isn't quite finished. But, we're getting there (it's not like she sleeps in there anyway). The room used to be the guest bedroom, and we didn't repaint the walls (they are Blue Shamrock by Olympic). We didn't know she was going to be a she, so the goal was to create a simple, serene space that would work for a boy or a girl for under $1,000. We accomplished this by using things we already owned, and not buying an expensive set of brand-new furniture.


I knew I wanted a big piece of art over the crib so I've attempted to start painting it myself. I have the painting skills of a second grader, so please don't judge :) I suppose looking childish is fine in a baby's room, right?


I bought the sconces at an antique shop when little Elliot was just a dream. They were meant to be hardwired, but Wes added the cords so we could plug them in. Only one of them works at the moment, but I'll tell you about that later. We replaced the plastic sleeves, and I still want to do Lauren's trick to make them look like more expensive wax sleeves.


I painted a new white Jenny Lind crib (bought at a local shop) Pumpkin Seed by Martha Stewart at Home Depot. I love the result but it was a major pain. I borrowed a paint sprayer that I think was a little too strong for this project and ended up doing a lot of touching up drips and painting in the nooks and crannies with a small sponge roller. Next time I will leave it to a professional!


The bumper is off-white linen with a small ruffle on top by Pom Pom at Home bought locally at Three Sheets. It's very soft, washable, and is neutral enough for future babies and nurseries (which was the point). The striped crib sheet is by Boppy.


I made the crib skirt out of linen fabric from King Cotton inspired by these two by John and Sherry and Erika. I wanted it to hit the floor now while the mattress is high and later when we lower it. The vintage kindergarten chair came from a local thrift store, and we speculate that it may have from the kindergarten that my mom attended! PS, this is a good photo of the crib and wall colors.


The chest was our first purchase for the room, back when I was just a few weeks pregnant. I knew I wanted to use one in place of a changing table, and we happened upon this one while browsing an antique store in my hometown when we went up to tell my dad he was going to be a grandfather. The turned wood lamp was a clearance purchase at Target a while ago. I swapped a dark shade for a white one and I like it so much better now. The white frames are also from Target and I used fabric leftover from the crib skirt to cover the mats. Elliot's newborn photos will go in them. (Wipe warmer and diaper pail are not attractive, but necessary!)


The chest was wood and the finish was scratched and uneven, so we painted it Pumpkin Seed, too. I knew the details would paint really nicely, and I distressed it just a touch before adding a matte wipe-on poly finish.


The chair was a thrift store purchase (it used to be pink!) that was in great shape. I had it recovered in the same linen I used on the crib skirt and frames. I originally wanted a waterfall skirt, but didn't purchase enough fabric. My upholsterer was extremely affordable but also extremely slow, so when I found this out a week after Elliot was born, I no longer cared and settled for a regular skirt.

The blue and green blanket was a gift from Wes' mom, the pillow came from HomeGoods and the vine floor lamp came from a local consignment shop. We already had the garden stool, and I believe it came from HG was well.

I think that's about it. I'll keep you updated on how things go as we finish up and will post more photos then.

For those curious about how much it cost to bring it all together, here's the breakdown of what we bought.

Jenny Lind crib: gift
Chest: $230
Paint (one gallon for both): $25
Bird hook and hamper: already owned
Crib bumper: $170
Sheet: gift.
Fabric (six yards for the chair and one for the skirt and frames): $27/yard, $189
Chair: $27
Upholstery: $125
Sconces: already owned
Supplies for sconces: approximately $14
Canvas above crib: $12
Kindergarten chair: $5
Rug: already owned
Curtains: $20
Curtain trim: approximately $15
Pillow in chair: $13
Blanket: gift
Vine lamp: $40
Garden stool: already owned
2 white lampshades: $23
3 white frames: $43
White shelf (not pictured): $35
Total: $986 (just under budget!)

Peek at the Nursery

I hoped to be able to post photos of the nursery this week, but the weather has not been good for photo-taking. We should get some sunshine in the morning (before it gets nasty again) so I've got a date with my camera planned ...

Happy Weekend!

Little Bird

We started calling Elliot our "little bird" just few days after she was born. When she is hungry, she lets us know by opening her mouth, flapping her arms, and chirping like a, well, like a baby bird. It's very entertaining (to us, at least!). It's kind of funny now, because we had several things with birds on them for her before she was born.


Sweet little gown.


Pillow for the chair (look closely for the birds in the corners).


Okay, so I just bought this one. But I didn't think about it being a bird until I got home.


Bird hook holding a gown and hat that were mine when I was a baby.

More on the nursery (what we've done so far) coming this week, I promise!

Buffalo Check

I came about thisclose to having the chair in Elliot's room upholstered in a buffalo check. I wimped out and went with linen in the end (it's finally coming back from the upholsterer today!), and now I'm seeing buffalo check all over the place.


At Simply Seleta.


And Amy Meier. PS you are all reading Amy Meier, right? Okay good.

Elliot Claire's Birthday

Elliot's birth day (which she shares with her Daddy, by the way) was the most special and precious day of our lives to date. We worked hard to bring her into the world in the way we felt was best: as naturally as possible. For those interested, here is our story from the perspective of our wonderful doula, Melissa (pictured here). It's not an especially gory version, but it is about natural birth, so there is your warning.



We were (and still are!) completely shocked it was a girl!









I would do it again every day for a look into those bright blue eyes!

It's A Girl!

Our perfect little Elliot Claire entered the world this morning at 6:43 weighing 8 pounds on the dot. Baby and mom are doing very well and we are doing what we can to get some kind of sleep in between feedings since we were up all night. Thank you for all your prayers and support. We are so excited about what the Lord has in store for us with our new angel. As a token of thanks I've posted some low quality pictures from my phone. Rest assured many photoshoots will take place in the next few weeks.

Christmas at Our House

I kept Christmas pretty low-key at our house this year. For some reason, I was fixated on the trouble it is to unstring the lights from a real tree, and I just couldn't get excited about doing so just days from my due date. When I spotted three-foot-tall Frasier Firs at Whole Foods, I was sold.


I've admired tabletop trees for a couple of years (last year, and the year before) so this was a great chance to try it in our house. I think it was quite adorable! And it only required one string of lights and two small boxes of ornaments.


I intended to make my own wreaths and garland again (see it from last year here), but after three trips to Lowe's and Home Depot and only a handful of free tree scraps, I broke down and bought 30 feet of White Pine garland for just $10 (at Home Depot), and then another 20 feet for $6 (at Lowe's).


I kind of missed the big, fluffy fir garland over the door, but this was cute too with the big, old-fashioned lights.


My glitter trees (the only decorations I own that aren't lights or ornaments!) went in the dining room with some tree scraps and my pewter bowl full of pinecones.

Christmas over all was pretty low-key actually, but it was also the best one in recent memory. There is just so much to be thankful for and to look forward to that fussy decorations and spending a fortune on gifts seemed silly. Not to mention we actually had a white Christmas! In Alabama! Unbelievable!

And now, we wait ...

Alternative Christmas Greenery

Christmas trees are great, but I think I love a pretty wreath or a long string of garland just as much. And the fresher, the better! I usually stick with traditional firs and pines, but how pretty are these seeded eucalyptus wreaths and garlands from MyHomeIdeas?


Locally, my wholesale florist usually has seeded eucalyptus (you should probably call ahead for this much). As a bonus, it looks great as it dries and smells fantastic. You can find directions for the garland here.


And directions for the wreath, here.

Photos by Jean Allsopp.

Busy, Busy Bees

To say that the past few weeks have flown by would be an understatement. It has been a non-stop parade of meals, parties, traveling adventures and house projects. Here is a sample of what we have been up to.


We celebrated one Thanksgiving at the lake, and then one on the farm. I definitely take up more space in the kayak 8 months pregnant!


Don't worry, had I fallen in, this girl would have pulled me to safety.


We took at little road trip to Western North Carolina. We saw the Biltmore all decked out for Christmas (I counted 32 trees!) and ate in as many restaurants in Asheville as we could.


Once home, we continued wrapping up little projects all over the house, like in our bedroom, which has finally come together.


And of course, there has been much to do as we count down to Baby Bonds' arrival (give or take five weeks!). We've painted furniture.


And hung light fixtures.


And sorted tiny and precious baby things (and perhaps done a little daydreaming about who will be wearing them soon). Today I'm determined to finish decorating for Christmas - more on that to come!

PS. We also watched Auburn beat Alabama and rout South Carolina to earn a trip to the BCS National Championship Game. WAR EAGLE!