My Brother's Bedroom

Happy times together at our parents' house over Christmas

My brother, Taylor, recently bought a new house in the amazing city he is so lucky to call home, Charleston, South Carolina.  Fortunately for me, he has allowed me to continue in my endearing role of the meddlesome older sister who likes to give her two cents on his endeavors. When he casually asked if I could give him some ideas for a duvet for his bed, I of course said "sure!" I then promptly whipped up a board complete with countless things my bachelor (you hear that, single ladies?) brother may not feel are super high on his priority list, but hey, I couldn't resist the opportunity :)

Here is a picture of his room.



The wall color and rug were already in place, so I tried to work with them in making my suggestions.  I'm not sure what color is on his wall, but I chose Manchester Tan for this board, as it appeared to be a close representation.

He has two-inch white wood blinds on his windows, but was hoping to add something to try and block the remaining light that was still coming through the blinds.  Going with a true black-out drape would have been the obvious (and more expensive) route.  Instead, I suggested these dark velvet Ikea drapes thinking that what they lacked in actual black-out lining, they may make up for in their dark color and heavy weight.  The jury is still out, so we will have to see if they work for his purposes.  At $40/pair, they are at least worth a try!

I suggested a classic ticking stripe for his duvet.  It's hard to go wrong with this simple masculine look, and I thought it paired nicely with all the pattern in his rug.  (To clarify, the rug in the mock-up below is one I found for the purposes of this board.  It's the best I could find that comes the closest to matching his rug) I also thought it would keep the room from feeling too dark by adding a white coverlet to the bed as well.

The light flax colored headboard brings in some more texture to the room, and the lamps add a fun midcentury vibe.  I love the open design of the bedside tables.  They feel kind of unexpected and fresh to me.

The fabric on the toss pillows almost mimics the design on the side tables, and they help make the red in the rug feel intentional.

I tied it all together with a more modern piece of art above the bed.  It pulls all the colors in the room together and the loose, organic feel is a nice counterpoint to the traditional rug and the straight lines on the tables and pillows.

Here is everything together.  Totally bachelor-friendly, yet still stylish right? :)

Taylor's Bedroom by anneworthington featuring a charcoal gray bedding

White light
target.com

Charcoal gray bedding
westelm.com

Charcoal gray bedding
westelm.com

Bedding
garnethill.com

Window drapery
ikea.com

Geometric throw pillow
etsy.com

Storage furniture
target.com

Arcadia Nailbutton Border Linen Headboard Collection
target.com

West Elm Minted for west elm - Cera No. 2
westelm.com

'Tis the Season

Popping my head above the waters of chaos to share a couple Christmasy things that have me excited and that I thought you might like as well.

How cute are these antler pillows from Winder & Main?!

They are obviously a great way to bring some Christmas flair to your living room, but how great would they be in a boys' bedroom year round?  Or if you are lucky enough to have a separate den in your home?  So cozy, I just love 'em!

My dear friend, Shannon, sent me the sweetest little canvas as an early Christmas gift.

She has different sizes and options for sale, wouldn't they be great Christmas gifts?  Perfect for the new and seasoned mama alike :) Let me know if you need help getting in touch with her!

Stockings!  When it came time to get stockings for Wade and Holland, I really wanted something that would last, stockings to serve them throughout their childhood.  I was excited when I found some I loved a couple years ago at an embroidery shop in Richmond.

I love a needlepoint stocking, and I think these are just the perfect blend of classic and whimsy.  Exactly my favorite type of design for kids.  They are made by Kelly Rightsell.  For some reason, it looks like her site is not selling them this year, but leave it to Amazon to stock them! (I believe Atlantic Embroidery Works may have a few left this year from last year's stock if you happen to be local in Richmond and in need of a fun stocking!)  There are so many adorable designs.   This will be Mary Graham's first Christmas, so it was fun to pick one out for her this year.

I also came across these cute stockings at TJMaxx.  And only $12/pop!

We just started an Advent book that I am loving.  After seeing it on a friend's Facebook post, I ordered it right away, and we were able to start it just one day late.  (Amazon Prime really is amazing--I ordered it on Sunday and it came on Monday!  And I did not pay extra shipping! All of that to say, if you are like me, and you are always lagging behind, it's never too late to start celebrating Advent.)  We've done the devotionals from Unwrapping the Greatest Gift the past couple of nights, and it's been great.  The language is simple enough that I think (I hope!) my children are able to grasp bits of it, and yet it's also so thoughtfully written that it is just as meaningful to me and Philip.

I have not done a ton of Christmas decorating (I'm blaming it on this incredibly exhausting season of life in which I find myself), but we did get our tree up and decorated (well, the top half…we have a baby who is intent on investigating any and all items within her grasp, so the bottom half of our tree is naked).  I brought out a few other bits of Christmas cheer, like this little pillow from last year's dollar section at Target.

Also, Kevin, our elf…..he's back (and apparently, hungry!).

Progress on our Hall Bath

While the kids and I were in Virginia this summer, Philip took on the task of tiling the hall bathroom floor.  This was so great for a couple reasons.  First, our floor before was white laminate that looked dingy and dirty even when it was technically clean.  Now, it looks like this:

Second, like so often occurs, this tiling project catapulted our plans for giving this little bathroom a facelift.  Now, we also have freshly painted walls and a new vanity to boot!

When we set out to freshen up this bathroom, I settled on this beautiful space as my inspiration.

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I painted the walls this color.  I found a vanity on Craigslist in San Francisco.  Naturally, I convinced my whole crew to trek down there with me a couple Friday nights ago so we could snag it.

This faucet just arrived in the mail.  I found this mirror at a local thrift store, and it's waiting to be hung. It's admittedly not consistent with my inspiration image but I've always loved it, it was $30, and I still think it'll look good. (Need to figure out what to do about the current medicine cabinet situation).  Still need to find a new light fixture to replace the granny-chic one we currently have going on.  Baseboard should go in within the next couple of days.

My current dilemna is whether or not to paint the vanity.  When we originally set out to select a vanity, I was thinking we'd settle on one of the lower grade options at Home Depot or Lowes, so I would definitely paint it.  However, the vanity we ended up getting is nicer than those, and really not offensive at all in its current state.  It's a nicer, solid wood, and the dark, espresso stain is pretty nice as is.  The thing is, nearly all the bathrooms I'm drawn to (a quick perusing of my bathroom pins told me this) include a painted vanity.  I feel like I'm leaning towards painting it (thinking this color would be a good match for my inspiration image).  What do you think?

Here are a few painted vanities for your consideration…

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Sooooo, to paint or not to paint?!

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 :)