Mindful in March.

Oh February. You were so good. And so crazy busy. It feels right to make this month a time to be more mindful.

I was looking through the book Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider of SimpleMom.net. I love the ideas she poses of living simply, of living holistically. To live holistically, she writes, means to "emphasize the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts. All the parts work together for the good of the whole, and the final result--the whole--matters more than any single, independent part." She goes on to talk about how to balance the different parts of our modern lives--spiritual, relational, emotional, intellectual, physical, and financial--and keep them working together instead of competing.

I love this definition of holistic living. It rings as a true principle to me. As I was reading it, I also thought about families. I kept picturing each member of my family, each doing their part for the good of the whole. I can see much room for improvement from this single entity lately. I don't say that with self-pity--it's just a good self-realization.

So Mindful in March. I want to slow down. I want to make dinner every day. I want to feed myself and my family more fruits and vegetables. I want to walk to school more. I want to shop less and simplify our errands. I want to declutter and spring clean and make our home work better for us.

What does March hold for you?

in the works.

welcome to our living room.

what i love about this room: the white walls, wooden floors, and big east-facing windows make it a cheery, warm space.
favorite pieces: b's paintings: the colors of the house painting, the technique and warmth of the oranges (they remind me of california, too), and the calm river in bishop, ca; the calder-inspired mobile; the credenza/stereo; the knit wool rug.

our color palette is probably partly a response to gray northwestern skies. our warm reds and yellows make for a lovely contrast to this gray, drizzly time of year.

newborn wish list.

i wish, i wish....i'm on a roll with wish lists lately, and the nursery is not lacking. i have been blessed with many beautiful and practical gifts with the arrival of each of my children. still, if money were no object and i could buy anything for my newborns that i wanted . . . yeah, here are a few things on that list.

netto bassinet. phil & ted stroller (so smart!) baby gym (love the wooden one from ikea). a great chair (like the tok by stokke). beautiful clothes from the tea collection. a mobile by flensted. eames elephant. swaddlers by aden and anais. wooden rattle from alouette.

Our Own White Walls

It only took a couple of hours to fill our new space.

It is taking longer to arrange and organize said things, as expected. I'm excited to see what kind of progress we make this next week.
And yes, this house has the best morning light in the living room and dining room. Heavenly.

I am trying to keep visuals like this in mind as we get through this chaos of packing and cleaning. I'm trying to use my extra-nesting+spring-cleaning energy to help me stay motivated to get rid of stuff. It has been very freeing, and every bit helps me get closer to this vision, to living in a space like the one above. Sometimes it feels out of reach, but I am learning that life can be even better than I ever imagine, and that I shouldn't worry away the good times while they're here. Instead I want to make more good things happen in our home physically and emotionally and spiritually.
Have you caught the spring-cleaning bug? What spaces are you trying to clean out?

A Bright, Cheery Kitchen

I stumbled on this article about the kitchen of Lauren Childs, artist behind such beloved characters as Charlie and Lola. Being familiar with the style of several of her books and the show Charlie and Lola, I wasn't too surprised to see what her kitchen looks like:

I love the clean white walls and open shelves with all the brightly colored kitchen tools and art works. It definitely seems like a great place to create works for children.
You can read the full article here.

big kids room: pretty things

i still like to call it the nursery, in the peter pan sense of the word, because it is where the children are children. their room is where they sleep and play and read and sing. it's a magical space and i'm excited to create a new magical space in our new place.
at the same time, there will be a new little one in her own space, which i am starting to call the nursery much to everyone's confusion. it's crazy that lulu and g are both in beds and are definitely not babies anymore. still, i want the "big kid" nursery to be a magical space that is organized and warm and inspiring for them. as usual i'm in love with a mix of retro/vintage/modern/handmade.

some resources: land of nod, brita of sweden, heather ross, target, anthropologie.

our new space will be tighter, BUT has better storage. i'm thrilled that the kids closet can be dedicated to their clothes and toys--not their clothes and toys AND bins of old clothes and rotated-out toys and camping gear. wood floors and white walls make it even better.

baby girl's room: pretty things

for baby girl's room, i plan to design a much more feminine space. it will still be based on color, with the hope that the pieces we collect and create could be used later when lulu and baby girl share a girls room.

a few resources: ohdeedoh, cb2, anthropologie;
a few of the items: miffy, eames rocker, heather ross fabric

design inspiration: orchard

back when i was putting together the nursery for lulu and g, i experimented with ideas for themes. in the end i decided to go with color as a central design element, which worked well for many reasons: 1. the space was for a toddler girl and a baby boy, and 2. the things we got or made can grow with them more. fewer limits is always good, in my book.
i am still drawn to one of my theme ideas--orchard. trees, fruit, birds, to name a few of the charming elements of this theme. here are a few items i found.

nesting: baby girl's room color inspiration

designing the kids' rooms is both exciting and intimidating. i have had a lot of fun the past few days combing through the images i've collected of rooms and colors and objects i love, and now comes the work-part--making decisions and creating the spaces. one things that helps me out: i tend to come back to the same colors and styles over and over, and when i see them in one place, i can see exactly what i want to try. here are some of the inspiring spaces for baby girl's room:

white, yellow, red, pink, and light blue--the colors i come back to a lot recently. not quite primary, not quite pastel.

love the white furniture on the blue wall--it feels very clean. red, yellow, and lime bits add some warmth without feeling like a circus.

i love the simplicity and light of this space, as well as the white space.

here they are again, though it's a dark pink instead of red, and more green than the others. it doesn't hurt a bit to see two eames pieces in the same space, either.

How do you design your spaces? How do you choose colors? Do you have any rooms in the works?

Revisiting the Before

Remember that before picture from last week? Some of the contents have changed, but a week later I am facing the same messy obstacle on the desk. And this time, I want to beat it.
I think my desk is a sort of symbol of my inner inclination to pile, collect, and procrastinate. I feel like I have greatly improved keeping the rest of the house clean--it's not perfect, but it's better. The desk becomes the last place in the house where I can have a mess. Maybe I have subconsciously found some comfort in that.
Not anymore. I have to get used to the idea that I can have a mostly clean house most of the time--meaning that we could pick up everything in about 15 minutes tops. Oh yes, my friends, I do believe it is possible. Making it a reality is what my resolutions are all about.
There will be two phases to my cleanup. Phase one will be to clean and organize the area, and to figure out a system or routine for keeping it tidy. Phase two will be the fun part--making the space pretty. I should say prettier--I love the bones I have to work with. The white desk? The white chairs? The stunning iMac? The huge silver industrial lamp? I couldn't ask for a better blank canvas.

Before & After: Before

Part of the purpose of this blog is to share my own projects, but before I can do that, I have to make a space to create them.
I hope you won't judge me too harshly when you see the before's. When I write about establishing new habits in 2010, our desk is one of the main pictures that comes to my mind. This week I could picture three solid scenarios where I Would Have Used the Desk if it were clean. Someday we dream of having a studio as part of our home. A room with cement floors and a deep sink nearby so B can paint; a big, long desk for working on paper cuts and sewing and other kinds of art or craft projects; a space for our children to make their own art along side of us; and a space for me to sit and write or edit movies or photos on a computer or laptop. Right now, our studio takes up a 14-foot wall in bedroom, and serves more as a dumping ground for mail and bills and random preschool accoutrements. I don't like to think about the message I am sending when I fill this beautiful white desk my husband built with clutter.
So no more. I want to sit here at the computer and write with Jane sitting beside me, drawing or practicing writing or playing Peep games. I want the desk to stay free and open and inviting, as a place to establish my own writing routine and start turning that dream into my life. Most of all I don't want to wake up to this mess anymore.

Stay tuned for the afters.

Resolutions

A new year always means resolutions for me. Some are old, some are new, but I always feel a renewed sense of energy when it comes to doing the most with the coming year.
This year is no different, especially since we already know some big changes are on the horizon.
I have been thinking today especially about what I want to do with my children, what kind of year I want to help create for them. While some of my resolutions are more about changing or forming habits, I have a few things I want to try, if only once.



Resolutions for 2010
1. Learn to use the new digital SLR we found under the tree this year
2. Make breakfast and lunch more special
3. Sew something for each red balloon
4. Cook something with saffron
5. Make two movies
6. Fill our home with lovely people, books, and things
7. Fill up the kids' journals
8. Do something creative every day (draw, photograph, write, cook/bake, sew, cut)
9. Use what we have
10. Read more--with the kids and on my own.
11. Do more handmade projects.
12. Organize and minimize the clutter in our lives.
13. Think ahead to plan projects--then do them (including, finishing the advent calendar, and making stockings.)



That's a good start for this week of the year.

images via designsponge and ohdeedoh.

Kitchen Wish List: Beautiful Things

I have been day dreaming about how I would make my kitchen a little more beautiful. For practical reasons I like to keep objects in the kitchen minimal, so objects that are lovely and serve a function are best.



Upper:
+Spring and Summer market posters, Wolfie and the Sneak
+Heller stacking melamine dinnerware by Vignelli, Unica Home

Middle:
+Fleur de lys glasses, Anthropologie
+Alexander Henry Lemons fabric
+White enamel cake stands, America Retold
+Digit jars, Anthropologie

Lower:
+Playwonder wooden play kitchen
+Retro double timer, Anthropologie
+Tolix barstool, The Conran Shop

I would also love one of these cabinets:


This traditional Scandinavian cabinet has bins for storing flours, pasta, etc. It also has jars with airtight seals for storing spices.

via The Kitchn.

What would you put in your dream kitchen?