Summer Grace

Thank y'all so much for all the kind words about our new kitchen!  Each and every comment meant so very much to me!  I hope to post the details about the kitchen soon.  In the meantime, I need to talk about my babies.  

So, (pre) school is officially out, and summer is here!  As much as the few hours of Mary Graham and mama time are nice, I have actually really enjoyed the leisurely pace of our mornings these past few days.  It has been nice to put MG down for a morning nap when she is actually tired instead of once we have gotten back home from preschool drop off and I have dragged her sweet, tired self all over the place first.  Of course I appreciate some time to myself as much as the next mom, but God has been gracious and these first days of summer have felt more manageable that I anticipated.  Dare I say I have actually enjoyed them :)

Mary Graham's first swim (besides her birth, that is :)

Mary Graham's first time swinging!  Lovingly pushed by her big bro, what could be better?

Holland absolutely loves having me paint her nails.  I must have really driven home the part about not touching anything when your nails are wet because she promptly asked me to "scratch my forehead really hard."  When you have an itch, you have an itch!

This is her "I'm too sweet to go to sleep at a reasonable hour" face.

In the days since summer began, we have visited the park.  We have run errands.  We have ridden a train and a carousel.  We have worked on Father's Day treats and baked muffins.  Wade and Holland have played together so nicely.  They have also fought over the silliest of things and I have been impatient and harsh.  I have had moments of thoughtful parenting and I have had my share of parenting moments I would rather forget.

It could be that kindergarten looms in the Fall for my oldest (I can feel my heart in my throat as I type that), but I am feeling more and more what people have always said about mothering young ones--it goes by so fast.  Mary Graham is nearly six months old.  Holland is so mature and amazes me every day with the things she says and does.  And Wade is headed to kindergarten in mere months.  I know it sounds corny, but the time when my children are all really small just seems to be like sand slipping through my fingers.  

Very excited about their new jammies from Mimi!

I don't want to waste that time stressing out about the little things.  I don't want to fret over what I have or haven't gotten done since there's no preschool to provide me some free time.  I don't even want to get hung up on how much I think I need a creative outlet (this blog is supposed to be part of that…) in order to be a better mom.

rolling around on the floor at Staples.  Clearly, I must be doing something right...

last day of pre-k :(

Big Sis reading to Little Sis

I want to find joy in the seemingly mundane moments we spend together.  I want to be content with the life we have together right now.  I don't even want to wish away the nights when I am awoken by the sounds of my baby who knows I will attend to her, and I am the only one she wants.   

She started out on a playmat…I turned away and found her far away…it will not be long before she is on the move!

These days when they feel the need to come find me just to tell me they need to go to the potty are fleeting.  Hearing one of them ask the other if they want to go play dollhouse?  It's so normal right now, but it won't always be.  How many summers will they dress up in costumes and dance around together?

  

These were their best "we don't want to go to bed" looks...

please note this is a DOLL jog stroller...

I'm going to do my very best to hold onto these thoughts when the days start to go downhill…because they inevitably will.  But I know I am so blessed to be the mama to these three, and I want to live that way.  

Cheers to you, summer.  Cheers to time with my babies while they are an age they'll never be again.  Cheers to growing in grace with one another. 

Our New Kitchen {Before & After}

Last weekend we had friends over for dinner, so I picked up a couple bouquets of peonies from Trader Joes.  Aren't they so beautiful?!

While I had gorgeous flowers around, I figured it would be the perfect time to give the kitchen a good thorough cleaning and finally take the time to photograph it in all its renovated glory!  I've been wanting to share it with you all for a while now!

If you remember, when we bought the house this past November, the kitchen looked like this:

Here it is today:

We are so happy with how it all came together!  Here are a couple more comparison shots for fun :)

Looking back toward the living room, there obviously used to be a wall separating the two rooms.

Not anymore!  We knocked the wall down (when I say we, I really mean our amazing contractor!) and built it back up half way for cabinets and an eat-in counter area on the other side.

While the original cabinets were charming (they were solid wood!), they didn't make full use of the space and that refrigerator really stuck out in the room.

We moved the refrigerator and put the range in its place.

We relocated the refrigerator to the wall opposite the window.

see that gap above the fridge?  One day it'll get covered up so the fridge appears to truly be "built in"

This "before" photo shows the long empty wall on the left where we relocated the fridge and added pantry cabinets.

As a result, we had to reduce the size of that doorway into the room with the stove, but since it was so large to begin with, it worked out fine.

This post is already really long, so I'll do a separate one with more information on the details of the kitchen.  Hope you like our new kitchen as much as we do!

Painted Interior Doors

There are some design elements in a room that I think strike you right away.  Fabric choices on furniture.  Statement art on the walls.  A really interesting rug.  Kitchen countertops.  Fabulous Lighting.  Deciding on these things is important and definitely shapes the feel of your home.

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I also think there are some elements in a room that deliver a big impact in a more subtle way.  It's not secret that I love to paint things, and what I'm thinking about today are painted interior doors.  Maybe not the first thing you'd think to address in your home, but I love the way they warm up a space and create a good dose of contrast.  

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In our home in Richmond, I painted the inside of our front door black.

I also painted the inside of our back door and an interior bathroom door gray (Benjamin Moore's Gunmetal to be exact).  This small change did so much for the kitchen I thought!

Our current home has lots of options for painted interior doors.  There's the back of the front door, several doors in our dining room and the hallway, which in its current state is not interesting in the least.  It's lined with cheapo, hollow core doors that are just begging for some love.

My apologies for all the junk laying around…these photos were not styled :)

{I feel the need to explain the water dispenser you can see here…I have always been a tap water kinda girl.  Well, not in California.  According to the city's water quality report, Davis water may contain boron and hexavalent chromium (Erin Brokovich anyone?), so we aren't too keen on drinking it.  The trade off is this beauty in my dining room.  Philip's parents thoughtfully gifted us with water delivered to us for the year!  I'll happy take a water dispenser over toxins in my drinking water, thank you very much :) }

Baskets of laundry, always.  Also, a ceiling light fixture that I am so not friends with.

I could, however be friends with a blue door.

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Gray is nice…

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I think yellow is really pretty in this particular space.

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Maybe I'm just a wimp, but I'm inclined to go more neutral in our wee little house with 8' ceilings.

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Rachel Halvorson is uber talented and wrote a great blog post about dark doors.  One of her color recommendations is Sherwin Williams' Urbane Bronze, which is actually the color I painted the walls of our master in our Illinois house.  

Black is a classic choice, and you know what they say about it--every room needs a dose.  If you're looking around your room and noticing that you are lacking in the black department, why not grab a paint brush and give a door a quick makeover?

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We already have black countertops or else black would be a given for our front door.  I'm wondering if it might just be too much in our little place, and I should go with a gray or a brownish-black.  Hhhhmmm.  Too much or just right?  

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The thing I love about a project like this is you can knock it out pretty quickly without too much hassle.    So long as there aren't any tiny people running amuck (cue the nap time chorus!), you can paint a door without much fuss.  

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So, have I convinced you?  Who else is with me and is ready to paint some doors?!

Our Entryway

Thanks for all of your kind words about Mary Graham's birth story!  I am so happy to know that you all enjoyed reading it and that my experience can be an encouragement to others.  I love to talk about birth, so if anyone ever wants to chat, please let me know! :)

Moving on from one topic I feel passionately about (birth) to another--decorating!

I've been wanting to share some of the updates I've made around the house with you all for a while now.  Problem is I can hardly find the time to clean up around here, much less take photographs before my cleaning and organizing efforts quickly come undone.  If you're anything like me, you appreciate seeing photos of people's homes that look less than perfectly clean and organized.  I'm all for that kind of transparency (trust me, I've got lots of dust and laundry and dishes, etc.!), but for the sake of memorializing my little attempts at creating beauty amidst the chaos, I'd like to at least tidy up the space that's being photographed :)

When I last showed you our entryway, this is what it looked like:

And here it is now:

The term 'entryway' is a bit of a misnomer because this is simply the back wall of our living room.  However, in our little place, you can practically touch both the sofa and the kitchen counter from the front door, so entryway it is!

If you recall, I was inspired by this image I saw in a recent House Beautiful issue.

My parsons table is West Elm.

The lamps and shades are from JCPenny.  Ever since Paula posted pictures from Lindsey Ellis Beatty's house in Birmingham, I was set on finding a pair of lamps similar to the ones I spied in her living room.  She has the same West Elm table, but her lamps look like they could be Johnathan Adler maybe?  Anyway, I thought the curved shape was a nice complement to the angular lines of the parsons table.  At less than $60 for the JCPenny lamp and shade combined (I got them on sale), I was sold.

Do you spy her parsons table and lamps in the background?  ps. I'm obsessed with her whole house! (Source)

The storage ottomans are from Target.  We use them for stashing the kids' toys!  You can actually fit a lot of junk in them! :) I looked at lots of different styles, but found that most affordable ones were not the cutest.  I have plans to do something like Emily A. Clark did with hers, but in the meantime these were the least offensive fabric (they're actually a neutral herringbone pattern and nice looking as is, but I'd like to bring in a little more color with a different fabric), so I figured I wouldn't mind them till I can find the time to make new covers for them.

The woven basket is from HomeGoods and it's always filled with shoes.

The bamboo blinds are from Overstock.  We (and by we, I mean Philip.  must give credit where credit is due!) mounted them high above our windows, which I think does wonders for our moulding-less windows.

Here's a picture from before we moved in which I think highlights the need to mount the blinds high.  The windows feel choppy and your eye just kind of gets stuck.  It seemed to me that the ceiling seemed lower than it actually was or something.

Mounting the blinds high draws your eye up and disguises the fact that there is no charming moulding to enjoy around our windows without blocking the light.

Hooray for a pretty, welcoming spot to drop your keys, your sunglasses and your shoes.  And perhaps stash a toy or two as well :)