Sorry so long since my last post.  My very old computer has been on the fritz (ahem, ahem, Handy Hubby – maybe we need a new one?) …not to mention we are getting a beating from thunderstorms daily.  My internet service has been in and out over the last several days.  Heck, even Touchdown Jesus is out of commission after last night’s weather.  But enough excuses.  Less blogging means I’ve had more time to work on the boys’ bedroom.  Since organizing the closet, I’ve moved on to the actual room. 

Before I start decorating a room, I find it helpful to construct a mood board.  Essentially, a mood board is a conglomeration of photos (paint colors, furniture, artwork, textiles, etc) put together to create an overall “feel” for a particular room.  It need not be an exact replica of what will be used in the room, rather it’s a frame of reference to look back at during the design process.  Mood boards keep me on track.  So, without further delay, here’s what I came up with for Layne and Everett’s shared bedroom.

1)  A platform bed with a dark stain gives the room a modern edge with its clean lines.  Of course, to tweak this for a shared room I’ll be using matching twin beds instead of a single full bed.

2)  I picked up this IKEA bedding months ago when it was on sale for $9.99!  I knew right away I wanted to use it in the boys’ bedroom.  The green geometric print will look crisp paired with plain white sheets.

3)  Some sort of curvy green lamp would add a pop of color bedside.

4)  To make a focal point of the one window in the bedroom, I intend to play it up with some striped curtains.  A side note:  If I can’t find what I want at a reasonable rate, I could DIY these.  Hint, hint.

5)  A comfy, oversized reading chair is necessary for bedtime stories.  Leather would be ideal; it’s easy to clean and hard to destruct.

6)  To keep the room from feeling too stuffy and matchy-matchy, I’d like to toss in a piece of furniture in a fun Caterpillar yellow hue…either a bench, dresser or table.  Notice that nothing else in the room is yellow but that this pop of sunshine makes it a little more playful.

7)  My boys want a car room but I don’t want a Disney car room.  I’m going to add cheap auto-themed artwork throughout the room without it being theme-y.  Does that make any sense? 

And all of this will go nicely with the gray wall color that we already have in the bedroom.  So, what do you think?  Will it be car-sy enough for 2 lil’ boys?  I hope so.  Is it a room that could grow with them?  I hope so.  Stay tuned for more details to come…

This is the boring builder vanity in the kid/guest bathroom that came with our house.

I’d always wanted to change the look and function of it.  (See how the doors open?  One opens into the bathroom doorway while the other opens into the toilet area.) 

95% of the time, the bathroom is for our 2 little boys but it serves guests too.  It needs to be practical for day-to-day kid living but not so childish that my kids can’t grow with it, or worse yet, our guests feel like they’re in a kiddie bathroom.  The following images inspired me to freshen up our vanity.

This master bathroom comes from HGTV’s Dream Home 2010 (which I briefly toured here).  I like the vanity’s color and modern hardware.

This sweet DIY vanity makeover hails from none other than Desire to Inspire‘s Kim.  I like the way she removed the old vanity doors and added a fabric curtain.  Cute and simple.

I devised a plan to remove the vanity doors then paint and add hardware along with a fun curtain in place of the cumbersome doors.

After finding scrap (i.e. FREE) fabric in my finally organized craft closet, I decided on Behr’s Promenade (mixed in Lowe’s Olympic no-VOC semigloss) for the paint color.  Next, I emptied the vanity and removed the doors and false drawers.

Then I wooed Handy Hubby into helping me cut out the small board that previously stopped the vanity doors from swinging in.  (I wasn’t having much luck with my hammer and crowbar.)  Not sure that a circular saw was the most appropriate tool for the job but it worked!

I used some wood putty to fill in the screw holes where the doors had been attached and also to touch up some scuffs left by the circular saw.

Then it was Prime Time.  I taped off the vanity to keep the walls and floor relatively safe from my paint job.  We still had plenty of oil-based primer left over from painting our kitchen cabinets.  I just brought it up from the basement and rolled on 1 coat.

After 2 coats of paint and the addition of 2 5″ IKEA VINNA handles,  the vanity was really shaping up.  I made a simple fabric curtain and hung it from a tension rod.  (Here’s how I made a similar curtain for my laundry room.) 

And just to prove that I do work with my boys around, here’s a pic Layne took of me re-attaching the toilet paper holder to the side of the vanity. 

But now for some prettier pictures.  This is the builder vanity’s after shot…

Even though the drawers don’t open (yeah, they’re those fake ones that you pull, pull, PULL on but never get open), the sleek metal handles were necessary in giving the vanity a more polished look.  Emptying out the vanity for its makeover was an excuse to organize it too.  I was able to make room for the trash can and toddler toilet seat under the sink.  The toilet seat hangs from a 3M hook on the inside of the vanity.  (Previously, it hung on the outside of the vanity next to the toilet.)

Fortunately, our boys aren’t long soakers.  They’re usually all business in the bathroom.  That means we don’t have a slew of bath toys.  Other than lotion, toothbrushes, toothpaste and a few other toiletries, the bathroom vanity is pretty sparse.  Which I like.  I did add a wooden step stool to aid our newly pottying 2-year-old in washing his hands.  I can easily relocate it to the tub at bathtime to save my back.

And for the sake of a good ol’ before-and-after…

This tweak was so inexpensive.  All I had to buy was a quart of no-VOC paint ($10) and 2 drawer handles ($8).  That set me back less than $20!!!  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

Step One, Step Two and Step Three of Real Simple‘s “What’s Your Decorating Style?” are complete.  Ah, now for the hard part in loosely defining my decorating style:  What are the common threads among all the things I love?  Let’s see, from the little style quiz I discovered I lean toward modern mid-century designs with classy and casual traits thrown into the mix.  (Think starburst mirrors, simple furniture, clean lines and geometric prints tossed in with slipcovers, rustic wood tones and small pops of bling.)  Which is why all those “LOVE IT” items were on my list:  the mid-century chair with a geometric print, the traditional pedestal table circled by modern chairs, the glass-front cabinet showcasing light wood tones and sculptural pieces, the shiny capiz dining chandelier, the rippled rustic side table, etc. 

That’s also probably why all of my ”WISH I COULD REPLACE IT” items were builder-grade finishes and intricate furniture:  orange oak wood tones, vinyl flooring, fuzzy carpeting, laminate countertops, feminine bed frame, etc. 

By studying my Little Lovies Stash, I found that I’m drawn to simple items that remind me of nature or special people in my life.  Cue the succulents, porcelain artichoke, textured table runner, star fish, kid photos, wooden airplane and my Grandma’s crystal earrings.  Another geometric print popped up here.  I like to keep materials (denim jeans, cotton shirt) and color palettes simple/comfortable.  I’m definitely drawn toward neutrals.  I even squinted my eyes a little to blur the objects and see them as a whole.  I saw lots of white with dashes of green, black, blue and even pink.  (Sounds like the colors of an awful bruise!)

In the midst of my daydreaming, it’s pretty clear that I prefer wide open spaces over bustling cities.  Every one of my favorite places is deeply linked to nature, lots of greenery and even rocky shores.  (Can you smell the fresh air?)  My dream homes sport those clean, straight lines I talked about earlier and have lots of windows linking them to the outdoors.  My favorite books/movies/paintings suggest quirky and spiritual traits.  My Oscar dresses point to neutrals once again along with easy elegance.  No frills.

What can I take away from all of this?  Nature is my primary source of inspiration:  its textures, colors and breathable open feeling.  But not in a country style, more of a modern take on nature.  Furniture with clean lines, straight legs and boxy upholstery coaxes me to sit down.  Neutrals (grays, whites, browns and taupes) with pops of greens, blues and small doses of pink is my color palette.  A little bit of contrast with black is acceptable too.  Modern floral or geometric patterns are quirky additions to an otherwise serene style.  Of course, surrounding myself with items that remind me of Handy Hubby and our boys makes me smile inside and out.  Overall, it’s a natural, modern, comfy, easy and soothing atmosphere that I want to live in.  Not too natural to the point of country yet not too modern that it’s sterile.  What shall I call this?  The best wordage I can come up with is Modern Cottage.  Out of pure curiosity, I googled “modern cottage” images.  This is what I found…kind of on the right track.

So, how does this help me?  I’m going to remember the overall feel I want my home to evoke when shopping/DIYing anything.  If it doesn’t fit into my loosely defined Modern Cottage vibe, I’ll think twice about buying/doing it.  That doesn’t mean I don’t like other styles or that other styles won’t work.  From the get-go, my only goal was to establish a general style guideline to direct me when I get overwhlemed by all the choices of home decor/furniture out there.  Hopefully, the results of this little self-help style search will aid me in doing that.  But enough about me.  What about you?  Were you able to come up with a generalized design style?  Do you prefer a style totally different than mine?  Bold colors?  Intricate furniture?  Did you find a common thread in my style that I missed?  Spill it.

I did something a little out-of-the-ordinary this weekend.  For me, anyways.  I attended It’s a Mod Mod World, 20th Century Cincinnati.  I had been eyeing the annual event last year but ended up having to work.  (Yeah, at my real job.)  This year the stars aligned.  In a fortunate turn of events, I had the weekend off and my sister-in-law kindly scored me a free ticket to the vintage show.  (Thanks, Amy!)  Handy Hubby practically kicked me out of the house insisting that I go while he watched the boys.  I know, I know, he’s awesome.  I can’t say I wasn’t a little skeptical though…reminded me of a little domestic joke I once heard – “I love you more today than yesterday.  Yesterday you got on my nerves.”

Anyhow, I took Handy Hubby up on his generous offer.  The show featured over 40 dealers displaying and selling vintage modern art, furniture and apparel.  Now, I am no history buff on antiques or art (that’s my sister-in-law’s job) nor do I know all the big names (Eames and Bertoia ring a little bell in my head).  However, I have always been drawn to mid-century modern furniture with its clean lines and simple design.  Amy Butler’s home decor, for example… (Amy Butler is a fabulous Midwestern fabric designer, among other things)

See all the spindly legs and low profile furniture?  That’s what I’m talkin’ about. 

But I digress…back to the show.  So, I went with my free ticket in hand feeling a little unworthy, knowing what I didn’t know about modern antiques.  I was a little uncomfortable entering the showroom but that quickly dissipated when I laid eyes on all the home goods.  I was drawn, of course, to the furniture and home accessories.  Here were my fave pieces.

I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been thinking we need an ice bucket but I fell in love with this lime green one.

I was really trying to think of a place I could display this vintage movie reel.

Tell me curvy marble top + desk doesn’t = suave.

Had I been in the market for a sofa, I would have seriously contemplated this reupholstered one.

If spiky, metallic starbursts don’t scream modern then I don’t know what does.

I’ve got a thang for starbursts.  Trying to figure out how to make one on my own.

This chair was originally one of a pair.  When I went back to snap a photo, the mate had been sold.  It’s difficult to tell from the picture, but it’s kid-sized and as adorable as the kiddos who would sit in it.

Sadly, I did not purchase anything but that’s not to say I didn’t want to.  If money were no object, I woulda scooped up each item shown…and then some. 

Another interesting booth that had me at “hello” came from cincinnatimodern.com.  As a sponsor for the event, Susan Rissover knows a thing or two about modern design.  Not only does she specialize in selling ‘modern’ real estate, she lives in a modern-outfitted home with her family.  Too cool.  I had no idea there was a specific market for this!  Check out a view of her modern dining room…(courtesy of Cincinnati Magazine)

If you like that be sure to scan her site for more thought-provoking modern homes in the Cincy area. 

So, that’s how I spent most of my Sunday: drooling over modern in all its glory.  It’s got me dreaming of scavenging The Salvation Army or Goodwill in hopes of coming across a discarded vintage piece that I can bring home and caudle all on my own.