Opps!

I had very good intentions of posting photos of the newly painted/accessorized house, however there is one little snag. I didn't take pictures yet!

Why?

Because if I would have taken photos before today, then I would have been dying to send them out to people...

My bad! I'll get some good ones soon.

OMG, one day left

Hold back your enthusiasm folks, tomorrow is the big reveal of our "new" house! Eek!This is the foyer...I didn't do anything drastic to it in the re-design....but I wanted you to have a before picture to compare it to with the after! (Yes, I'm thoughtful that way...)

Thanks YHL

What does YHL mean, you ask? It stands for Young House Love a blog I follow that you'd probably like. They have lots of good ideas and are really clever.

They found a style quiz from Home Goods...and so I just took it. Apparently I'm 'earthy casual'...

Erin, you are an Earthy Casual

You're interested in creating a welcoming home where people feel comfortable and happiness flourishes. You appreciate the warmth and individuality of natural materials and handcrafted things and are inspired by colors and forms from nature. You love mixing up different textures and are sensitive to the tactile qualities of objects. Your style is grounded and solid, not flighty or frilly. And you are never taken in by the trend of the moment.

You value comfort. Your home is a warm and open friendly place, and you feel happiest when everyone is cared for and relaxed in your space. Elements like pillows, throws, overstuffed furniture, and good lighting set the mood. You may also enjoy layering different fabrics or mixing patterns to create a cozy effect.

Very interesting, eh? Follow this link and take it for yourself. Its fun!

Eek! I loves it!

While poking around Sherwin Williams website, I came across their UPDATED color visualizer.

The old-outdated-not-as-cool color visualizer worked like this:
- select a room (kitchen, bathroom, bedroom)
- they had photos available in each category that were pre-made
- then you get to select paint colors for the trim, walls, ceiling...oh yeah, it was awesome

UNTIL drum roll please....

You can now upload your OWN photo of your space! Eek!

2 Days...

Up next on the refresh your noggin tour is the half bathroom. Its located downstairs off the foyer...
This room, like the family room (the green room) was already painted when we moved in.
Yup, this bathroom is all about frogs. Ribbit!
Love, love, LOVE this lily pad rug!!!

5 Days...

Continuing my series on 'refreshing-your-noggin', here are some before photos of the family room...
When we moved into the house, the family room was green. We liked it enough...but it was time for a change.
We are Disney super-fans. We don't collect the crap toys, no no, we collect the collectibles! That black corner bookcase, while it might look 'just toys', there are pieces signed by the artist, really old pieces and some fancy old books...
See that cool Stitch in the bottom left? Yeah, he was a wedding present- one of the best presents EVAH!! (And on the right side of this picture is an exercise bike. I refuse to put it in the basement...I don't want to sit on it for a half hour with spiders hanging out above me...no thank you!)

Thank you Sherwin Williams

Sherwin Williams has a quarterly magazine called STIR, which I adore. It had lots of fancy ideas, practical advice and helps keep my brain updated on color terms and stuff. (yes, stuff is a technical term, duh!)

Today I received my virtual STIR magazine and one of the headlines caught my eye, "The pros and cons of online design". If you read my previous post about my frustration with online designers (who aren't designers by trade) you'll understand why I appreciated this article.

It says that while a few years ago, interior designers were really only thought of for wealthy households (picture Architectural Digest homes...), online designers have made it accessible to the everyday consumer (picture real people that you know).

Here, read the article and then come back and read the rest of this post...go on. I'll wait.

Ok, you read it? Good. Lets move on.

I love the idea of making design available to everyone. The internet has allowed us the privilege to interact with all kids of people- who otherwise would never know of us. However, there is a thing called intellectual copyright.

This means that if I put together a design for a client I "own" that design. I have created that design specifically for that client. When a client signs their contract, they are legally saying, "I'll work with you, and only you for the needs of my space". Awesome.

However, with online designing, I have a hard time understanding a few things:
- how does the designer get compensated? (just by the ads they sell on their site?)
- if I'm working with a client from my office in Ohio, and they are in New Mexico, how will I ever know what the space feels like
- if I post my ideas say, on this blog, for their house, you can almost guarantee that someone else will take some pieces of that design and use it for themselves...(refer back to intellectual copyright link)

Don't get me wrong, the internet helps me daily with my clients. If I'm just starting out with a client, I'll email them several different styles of, rugs lets say. They can easily tell me they prefer one over the other...and now I have a better idea of what to look for in person. This becomes a serious time-saving technique.

Same goes with accessories; but I use the internet as an AID in my design. Not as the primary means of communication.

Its like the difference between receiving an email from a person verses a hand written note. The note is more personal, more human. Same for having a real person in your home; rather than a computer screen...

6 days...

Less than a week away from the big reveal! eek! Are you excited? Yes, I totally am as well!

Here are some before pics of the kitchen...(You know, to refresh your noggin...)It was Sherwin Williams 'Dutch Cocoa'(Notice all the honey oak stained trim...and window sill- no more. Buh bye!)Ok, I know this photo is a little dark...but you can see the green from the family room- which we've also said buh-bye too recently!

8 days...

...before I show the finished pictures of the house redesign. Are you giddy with anticipation? Eek! I am!!

Here's a lil' peak...
Why 8 days? Because that's when the family comes to town for Thanksgiving!! I don't want to ruin the surprise...hehe

I can be whatever I want to be

Growing up I always new what I wanted to be; an interior designer. I never had ambitions to be a scientist (science and I don't really, uhm, gel...). Never wanted to be a teacher (because I wanted to be out of the classroom- graduation couldn't come fast enough).

Although I was always in drama and chorus, I never wanted to be an actress. My goals were simple, to be a kick ass interior designer.

I did what any determined girl does, I went to college, graduated in three years with a four year degree, snagged a cute boy, got a job, got married, got the house and now, I'm living my dreams.

(Erin, what's the point of this blog?)

I respect other people's professions. Meaning, if I had a question about my health, I'd go to the doctor. Legal question? I'd find a lawyer. Why? Because these people are trained in their fields; and I assume they have some sort of passion for their profession.

But for some reason anyone with a paint brush or magazine handy, thinks they are an interior designer. (In reality, their 9-5 is insurance sales...)

Are you familiar with this phenomenon?

This isn't to say that only people who go to school for design can design. Quite the opposite, I know lots of people who have 'the eye' for design.

And its not to say that just because I went to school for it, have worked in the field for the past 6 years and have had 'the eye' since I was eight years old that I'm the end all and be all of designers. But this is one of those things that just bugs me.

If I had a home redesign question, obviously I'd ask my pharmacist because he did a killer job on his house last month.

Do you see why this bugs me?

I like it, but is it finished?

Just made my daily magazine run (to the mailbox...apparently I'm on every possible mailing list- but whatevah, I heart getting mail...) I digress....so I open the new Thos Moser magazine.

Now, lemme give you a little personal run down on Thos Moser.

First of all, the name. WTF does it mean? I feel a little stoopid every time I say it out loud.

Second, they have beautiful hand crafted pieces of furniture. (Which, if you don't speak the language means UBER expensive!)

Third, their products are too pretty; like, if I were to ever have an extra $3,000 to drop on a sofa, I wouldn't want to sit on it. It would be a show piece. I'd 'show' it to people and offer them a plastic outdoor chair to sit on. Yes, you read that right.

So imagine my surprise while thumbing through their latest and greatest collection and I come across the Meridian Dining pieces. First reaction, I heart it. Love the lines on the chairs, love the carved pieces...and then I notice the "finish", ash. Really? That's a FINISHED piece of wood?

Where I come from, that is a naked piece of wood. I think I got a splinter by just looking at the pieces; that's how unfinished it looked. I love the pieces...I'm just not in love with the finish.

But, for only $1,500 (such 'ah deal!) I could have one (yes, ONE, meaning singular, uno, alone, one) naked looking chair.

Owen the hippo

In May Eric and I went on a cruise for two weeks to Alaska. (Wanna talk about awesome?) While on the ship, we had several days at sea...which meant we could sleep as late as we wanted; drink as much as we wanted; do whatever we wanted. The first two days at sea were awesome...but, after like, a week, I was getting bored doing the 'typical' activities.

So one day while walking the ship, we found the library! We found out they have daily trivia questions, daily sudoku...oh, and books.

First day I was excited at showing up my mad skills on trivia questions to Eric. Surely I could answer some of these questions. Sadly, I was so wrong. My favorite question was, "Which of the Marx brothers played the piano?"...I was so excited because I knew this one. Richard Marx, duh! (Remember the 90s singer?) I couldn't have been more wrong.

Apparently the 'right' answer was Harpo Marx. Whatever. That was the one and only day that I did trivia. Then I took a stab at sudoku. My brain hurt so badly...I kept cheating, looking at Eric's sheet...and then finally gave up and just wrote in the answers from the answer sheet.

Now I'm sure your wondering "what does any of this have to do with Owen the hippo?"

As I said, the library also had books. Since trivia wasn't my thing, nor was sudoku, I'll just skip over the fiction section and look at kids books. Kids speak my language (and don't make my head hurt...)

I came across a really cute book about a hippo who got separated from its pod during the tsunami in 2004...Owen, the hippo, was moved to a zoo that had an OLD tortoise, Mzee (we're talking like 100+ years). The two bonded right away and are now inseparable! I kept showing Eric the photos from the book, because it was such a cute, touching story and of course making the "awww" noises (I'm not really good at being quiet in a library...seriously- my voice travels on its own...I can't help that.)

This morning I was on msnbc.com reading about the elections and stuff and clicked on one headline that said, "Unlikely friends: Why we love odd animals" It was the story of Owen and Mzee!

The slideshow that followed a bunch of unlikely friends made me smile, and I thought it would be fun to share...

See, I told you my stories all tie in together, some how...

You want me to wear a WHAT?

For the last week I've been no-good-very-badly sick. Like, watch-out, typhoid Erin is in the room, kinda sick. Ew. I decide last Thursday, after waking up with my glands the size of golf balls, I should call the dr.

So I do. "We can see you at 1 o'clock this afternoon". Awesome.

I take a shower and then I face the task of "to do my hair" or "not to do my hair". Craaaaaaap. I didn't do my hair, but it was a nice fall day outside, windy- I thought I could get away with it.

I toss on my favorite super old school Gap Athletic fleece sweatshirt, and head to the drs office. They are doing construction on the place right now, so its not really a 'healing environment'.

No, its more like, "WHAT DID YOU SAY? HU? WHOSE YOUR DOCTOR?" when you check in. "CAN I SEE YOUR INSURANCE CARD?" I hand over the card, tap my fingers and then, when she hands be back my card, "WE ARE ASKING EVERYONE WHO IS SICK TO WEAR A FACE MASK. HERE YOU GO!" and she handed me a blue surgical face mask.

Way to put a target on my back during open season.

I immediately took a seat in the back row, furthest from other non-mask wearing people and waited my turn. Thankfully, I had my book with me to occupy my time. Unfortunately, having a cold means I've also got a running nose. But since I was wearing the stoopid blue mask, my nose was now hidden. Which caused another problem when I coughed, the hot air went up towards my eyes, irritating them. (Can we talk small disaster after another, honestly?!)

Then the magical door opens, "Erin?" and I get up, speed walking my way past the other non mask wearers. I get into the exam room and ask the nurse, wtf is with the masks?

"Oh, its just a safety thing we're doing to appease people. You can take it off now."

Now I can take it off? Now that everyone has seen me in the mask from hell, with my hair looking terrible, snot running down my cheek (which was covered by the mask from hell, but whatevahs...) and cough irritating my eyes? Awesome, now I'll take it off.

As it turns out I had bronchitis...so I guess it was a good thing that I was wearing the stoopid blue mask from hell- but honestly, I felt like the biggest reject EVER with that thing on. Only in hospitals or operating rooms should blue masks from hell be worn...

End of rant.