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Archive for the ‘Outside’ Category

One domestic pursuit I’ve never been able to wrap my head around is gardening. It’s always seemed very complicated to me with its chemistry and logistics. Managing planting and blooming times; planning out a garden to allow for the plants to mature; understanding soil pH; making sure the buggers aren’t over- or under-watered, etc. etc. etc.

Am I overthinking this?

Maybe so.

Maybe if I planted a whole garden full of these beauties I’d be all set.

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According to my emerald-thumbed friends, Hellebores are some of the easiest plants to grow. They’re perennials (so they’ll come back every year), they like shade, and they bloom from late winter to late spring (in the Northeast), so you get to enjoy them for months on the plant, or clipped and set in a bowl.

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Gorgeous, right?

What do you have in your garden? Any easy-to-grow, easy-to-keep-alive plant suggestions for me?

Image and gardening credit: Valerie Schrade

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A few weeks ago I made the long trek down to IKEA to pick up a bookshelf for my younger son’s room. He has about 2,763 books and I wanted to poke my eyes out every time I went into his room because it was such a sty. When I was visiting my mom in North Carolina, we went to a pretty little museum shop in Chapel Hill and I fell in love with their display shelves. Turned out that they were from IKEA’s BESTA media storage line, so I hightailed it down to my local shop as soon as I returned.

I don’t know about you, but every time I go to IKEA I’m sort of blown away by how awesome it is. I’ve been buying IKEA wares for nearly 20 years — from furnishing my first post-collegiate New York City apartment to replacing my most-loved stock pot just a few months ago. Mid-century-inspired furniture, Swedish holiday accessories, live plants (including fiddle leaf fig plants — I scored three the last time I was there!), the design-y P.S. line…I love it all. Here are my five favorites right now:

Five-Favorites-IKEA

1. BESTA Shelf Unit –  Used as a museum store display, intended to hold living room electronics, purchased for my son’s excessive library. I no longer want to poke my eyes out every time I go into his room. 2. SOCKER Vase (set of 2) – got them in the coral and aqua (couldn’t resist). 3. RENS Sheepskin – graces the back of my office chair. 4. UPPTACKA Shopping Bag with Wheels – perfect for flea- or farmers-marketing. 5. EIVOR Throw – super cozy, light, and graphic.

What’s your favorite IKEA item? Tell me below or on the Mudroom Boston Facebook page. You’re a fan, right?

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As a mother of two who has dedicated nearly my entire professional life to aligning large organizations with causes, I am excited to be a part of Macy’s Shop for a Cause fundraiser supporting the March of Dimes!

Did you know that the March of Dimes was established in 1938 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, inspired by his own battle with polio? In fact, March of Dimes funded research for vaccines developed by Dr. Jonas Salk and Dr. Albert Sabin — the vaccines that ended childhood polio. In 1958, having addressed its primary mission to end the polio epidemic, the March of Dimes shifted its focus toward birth defect prevention. Today, the organization is focused on preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality, as well as advancing maternal and health research. For those of you who have had babies in the last decade or so, you’re probably well aware of both their folic acid and prematurity awareness campaigns, both of which have worked toward healthy, full-term pregnancies for all women.

Now’s your chance to support March of Dimes and get up to 25% off your purchases at Macy’s — all for $5. 

Simply buy a $5 Macy’s saving pass that will provide 25% off on regular, sale & clearance items,  including home items (please note that you will receive 10% off electronics, watches, furniture, mattresses, rugs/floor coverings), and Macy’s will donate 100% of the $5 cost of the savings pass to the March of Dimes to help give more babies a healthy start in life.

So you want to know the details?

From now until August 25: buy passes in-store (good for in-store purchases only)

August 25 only: buy a $5 savings pass online at macys.com (good for online purchases only)

SHOP, SHOP, SHOP on August 25! Use your passes online or in stores (depending on where you bought them). Two stores in Massachusetts will hold Shop for a Cause on Friday, August 24 AND Saturday, August 25 — Boston (450 Washington Street, Boston) and Berkshire (170 Old State Road, Lanesboro). So if you want to get shopping early, you can go on August 24 to either of these two stores, buy a pass, and shop.

Want to see my Shop for a Cause wish list?

Gold is having a moment throughout the house, and I’m LOVING this Marchesa by Lenox hostess set!

The shape, shade, and color of this table lamp from Pacific Coast are perfect.

My husband and I were given a single glass cake stand for our wedding 12 years ago, but I could find many uses for this one from The Cellar collection. Great for displaying baked goods or using as a tiered centerpiece filled with fruit and flowers.

Add texture to your living room with these faux bois vinyl coasters from Chilewich. (psst – they’re a bargain closeout!)

These Sandpiper tidbit plates from Kate Spade would be a great hostess gift, or framed out in shadow boxes and hung on the wall.

On a trip to Atlanta last year, I fell in love with a natural fiber cocktail table, but decided against it because the shape didn’t work with our sectional. This cocktail table is perfect!

With two boys and a mountain biking-husband, I use indoor/outdoor rugs throughout our home. This runner from Couristan is a beauty! (Please note that rugs are excluded from Shop for a Cause online purchasing, but are eligible for the discount in-store!)

Inspired? Purchase your pass, help babies, and get shopping! 

Image credit: all images from macys.com

Complete details about Macy’s Shop for a Cause fundraiser can be found here.

This post (+ my sharing on social media) was inspired by my participation in a compensated program initiated by Women Online/The Mission List to raise awareness about the March of Dimes/Macy’s charitable fundraiser. All commentary, opinions, and fabulous finds are, of course, my own.

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About six years ago, I developed an unhealthy obsession with hooked rugs. My husband and I had been invited to spend the weekend at a quintessential Nantucket home, complete with a garden full of hydrangeas, comfy slipcovered furniture and a serene wooden mermaid perched in the front hall welcoming visitors and friends. And on every floor were hand hooked rugs in the most gorgeous patterns and colors I had every seen.

Unfortunately, the rugs were way out of my price range (just like everything else in the house with the exception of the paint color, which I immediately copied and have used in every house I’ve owned), but it didn’t squash my love for them.  So when I arrived at my stepmother’s house this weekend and saw this beauty from Jellybean Rugs, I was immediately smitten.

Although it’s not hooked, the look is so spot-on that I was immediately, well, hooked.  And that was before learning that it retailed for $30 and was indoor/outdoor…perfect for bathrooms, kitchens, and welcoming guests or pets.  Here are some of my favorites…

Cute, no?

Image credits: Paige Lewin’s iPhone and Jellybean Rugs; online retailers can be found here.

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About this time of year, the stripes start to send signals…

…that spring is coming!

I love a touch of nautical in my wardrobe, but I’ve always been a bit of sucker for it in my home too.  Remember this post?

Last fall, I went to the Brimfield Antique Show with my friend Cheri, and I fell in love with this guy…

Cheri didn’t get my crush on him, and frankly, I couldn’t explain it.  I just knew I had to have him.  It’s not like I come from a family of sea captains, or grew up in Gloucester, or particularly like Salty Dogs, but I loved the idea of looking at his grumpy eyes every day.  So now he lives in my downstairs bathroom, freaking the crap out of people when they walk down the hall.

A touch of nautical?  It makes my captain feel right at home.

Image credits: J.Crew; EmersonMade.; Tea Accessories; Oh Captain, My Captain and his close up taken by Paige Lewin’s iPhone; Dash & Albert; Uncommon Goods; L.L. Bean; Wisteria; Anthropologie

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Logic quiz:

Poor self-image is to fashion magazines as WHAT is to home decor catalogs?

I don’t know either, but sometimes I feel like I have it, whatever IT is.  Occasionally I get sort of taken over by staging my house…rolling up the throw blankets and storing them just-so in a gorgeous basket (you’re cold? grab one of these!), propping the white ceramic fish platter in a plate holder on my kitchen counter (look, it’s art!), stacking up a pretty set of books by my bedside (who has time to read?).  Maybe it’s some form of OCD, or maybe it comes from buying and selling multiple houses in the past five years (never know when you’re gonna have to put it on the market!), but I suspect that some of the obsession comes from looking through too many home design catalogs and shelter pubs.

Luckily, my little brother pointed me to a hilarious site that reminds me how idiotic some of those scenes from Pottery Barn (and others) are.  Catalog Living follows the fictional life of Gary and Elaine, the passive-aggressive, accessory-obsessed couple who live in your catalogs.  Created by actor and Tufts graduate Molly Erdman, Catalog Living now serves as my daily reminder that I shouldn’t worry if my throws aren’t just-so.

{But really, a little staging never hurt anyone.}

Image credit: Catalog Living, January 20, 2011

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Image credit: Paige Lewin

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A few weeks ago, I noticed that one of the blogs I follow started doing something called “Wordless Wednesday.”  Then a few weeks later, another.  Call me slow, but apparently this wordless business is sweeping the blogosphere, and as a working mom of two who is attempting to set up house, keep up a blog she loves and do some design work on the side, all without moving to Crazyville, I’m totally for it. 

So here’s my contribution to Wordless Wednesday…a sneak peek of our new-to-us house. 

Then (a mere 4 weeks ago)…

…and now

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Fence FabricJust a couple of months after my husband and moved into our first home, giant metal fence posts showed up on the side property line separating our house from our neighbor.  First, we were concerned — had we done something wrong?  Had we offended him?  But then we got annoyed.  We were first time homeowners, so we didn’t really know any better, but it just felt wrong that a neighbor would but up a giant, u-g-l-y, chain-link fence in the front of our property without, at the very least, leaving a note on our door.  

So we gathered up our joint gusto and headed next door, trying to convince him that the chain-link monstrosity was not the way to go.  How about a natural barrier of shrubs? Um, no, the decision has already been made to have a fence.  Then how about a nice extension of our beautiful backyard cedar fence…our treat? Sorry, the posts are already in and my mother is paying for it. (hmmm…) 

We’ll never really know why he (or his mother, I suppose) wanted to put up that dang thing, but we sure wish we had known about Fence Fabric at the time, because a faux stone wall, some everlasting foliage, or heck, even a cow pasture would’ve been better looking than that thing he put up.

{Thanks, Rochelle of Studio G, for the great resource!}

Photo credit: “Brent Wood Wall” by Fence Fabric

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Butterfly Chairs

Urban Outfitters Butterfly ChairI don’t know if they’re making a resurgence, or if the great lounge chair from my childhood home just happens to be everywhere I am right now, but Butterflies seem to be following me.  First, a month or so ago while passing through Urban Outfitters — a foldable version with a leather cover.  Then in a Ralph Lauren Home ad while reading the Sunday Times.  A few weeks later, two set side-by-side as the seating area in a newly-opened local clothing boutique.  And finally, the very chair from my childhood on a recent visit to Vermont. 

Butterfly chairs, designed by Argentinian architect Jorge Ferrari-Hardoy in 1938, became commercially available when Knoll began producing them in 1947.  Since then, numerous manufacturers have produced versions of the original design, and today you can find them a retailers ranging from Modern Furniture Classics to Circa50 to PB Teen

It’s shape and endless cover choices means the incredibly versatile Butterfly can give a room a strong design statement and be used nearly everywhere.  In my house growing up, our Butterfly chair played a leading role indoors, but they can make a really stunning set up outside too, just check out the patio at the Parker Palm Springs

 Parker Palm Springs.AT

 

Image credit: Apartment Therapy

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