Sleeping French Bulldog Calendar

The other day I got a little surprise in the mail.  Margaret, sent me the 2012 Sleeping French Bulldog Calendar!  I blogged about it last year but hadn't been able to find it anywhere.  But Margaret found it at Urban Outfitters this year.  I absolutely love it and it was the perfect gift... thank you so much, Mar!

Navy Friday

Happy Holidays, everyone!  Navy and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend filled with friends, family and food!

xoxo,
Janis

House Tour: Hallway & Living Room

Instead of Navy Friday I thought I'd continue on with our House Tour, since I know you guys have been clamoring for more pictures of the house!  But don't worry, there's lots of pictures of Navy throughout so you can still get your Navy Friday fix.  (The little guy is such a camera hog.)  Welcome to our front hall and living room!

So as you climb up the stairs you can see that the banister wraps around to a little hallway. 

This is the view looking towards the front of the house.  The front room is our little office but I'll show you that in another post.  The living room is the doorway on the left.

Once again, there is another gorgeous light fixture in the hallway.  It is this one from Pottery Barn.  I love the filament bulb. 

The hallway is just big enough for a little console table.  My in-law's neighbors gave us this table that they no longer wanted and it fits perfectly in the space.  Eventually I would like to paint or re-stain it and change the hardware.  I'd also like to add a sunburst or convex mirror above the table but I'm still looking for the perfect one.  

One of the things we've had to deal with in this house is the plaster walls.  You can really get a sense of it from this picture.  I'm sure the walls have been repaired multiple times so they have an rough, uneven texture and pictures are a bear to hang since the plaster just crumbles.  So for now we've been using command picture hangers or using the screws that the owners already drilled and stabilized for the artwork that they had.  That's why some of our picture or mirror placements are a little off.  

Now let's take a peek into the living room.

Although it's still not large compared to most living or family rooms, this room seems huge to us.  There's just so much more space to work with vs. our tiny apartment in New York.  You'll recognize most of the furniture from our old place.  The side tables are hand me downs from Mike's parents.  Again, I'd like to paint or re-stain them but since they're functional they go way down on the to-do list.

We also ordered this ottoman from West Elm and I absolutely love it- it is by far one of the best purchases we've made.  The colors work perfectly with our existing furniture and the bold pattern adds some more interest and texture.  It's so nice to be able to put our feet up in front of the couch and plus, it's child friendly.  No sharp edges to worry about here.  I was definitely thinking of the future with this purchase! 

Here's the light fixture in the living room... don't you just love the ceiling medallion that they incorporated at the top?  It's another added element that gives the room so much visual interest. The owners also left their silk curtains and window fixtures.  Thankfully, that was one element that we didn't have to worry about because window treatments are expensive.  It's so nice renting from people with fabulous taste!

Our tree tucks in nicely in the corner of the room and adds lots of coziness.

And here is the opposite room view looking back into the hallway.  You can really get a sense of the old wood floors.  While I love the look, they also drive me a little nuts because they are so bowed.  Half the furniture is on shims to compensate!  It has definitely been an adjustment moving from super modern and 90 degree angles to old and crooked but with tons of character.  

The owners also left their huge Ikea tv unit for us.  I love the look but after moving in, I quickly threw in some books and pictures so it is in desperate need to be re-arranged and stylized.  But this weekend we're heading to Ikea to buy some more storage baskets and down the road I'll show you how it turns out.

This is a close up of the tree lamp that is in the corner by the window.  I inherited it from my mom's cousin along with this lamp.  I think it's mid century modern and the electrical is so old that it's probably a fire hazard but I love it all the same.  It's a tension rod so the effect is very streamlined.  Maybe down the line I'll give it a re-paint but for now it works.

I'm thinking about adding a console table with matching lamps underneath this mirror.  There's definitely enough space and I think the room needs a little something more.  

Finally, here are some detail shots of the holiday decor in the living room. Nothing too elaborate this year... simple is about all I can handle right now.  Hope you enjoyed the tour.  More to come in the following weeks pending on the baby's arrival.  (Only 3 more weeks to go!)

2011 Gifted Magazine

Some of you have probably read Gifted Magazine a month ago, but if you haven't, I highly suggest you check it out!  It's perfect for last minute gift ideas and I can honestly say I absolutely love everything in this issue.  Be sure to check out the back of the magazine for special discounts on selected items.  Happy shopping!

Navy Friday

Happy Friday everyone!  See you Monday!

House Tour: Front Door & Foyer

I know I've been promising pics of our new home for a couple of weeks now, so here they are!   I'll be posting pictures room by room so you will be able to get a sense of all the little details that made us fall in love with this apartment.  We still have a lot to do, but it's starting to come together.   I'm one of those people that wants to have everything perfect right away, so this move has been a little bit of a difficult for me.  Plus I'm in serious nesting mode and I feel like I'm on a tight deadline to get everything done before the baby arrives.  But I have to remind myself that decorating is a slow process done over time and since this isn't our forever home so I should pace myself and make deliberate, thoughtful decisions.  Anyway, enough of my babbling... let's get started!

Some background about our new home:
The house was built in 1905 according to the deed but my in-laws think it is older than that.  It used to be a two family home but is now split up into 4 condos.  We live in the upper right side of the house, occupying the second and third floors.  We are renting from an awesome couple who had to move to Dubai for work.  Since they moved overseas, most of their furniture went into storage but they were gracious enough to leave some pieces for us to use.  This worked out especially well because: 1) we didn't have that much furniture coming from our tiny NYC apartment and 2) the owners have great style and taste and the pieces that they left for us incorporate really well into our existing furniture.

The front door.  I love having a "real" front door (vs. living in a high-rise) that faces the street.  

And this is just the beginning of all the little details that we love.  Look at that mailbox!  So pretty. (Please disregard my huge belly in the reflection.  It may look distorted but I really am that big.  I have a bowling ball in my stomach!)  

On Saturday we hit up our favorite farm store, Tendercrop, to buy our Christmas tree and holiday decorations.  I bought the wreath and added some red berries and ribbon to make it extra festive.  And I used a command hanger to hang it on the front door.  I'm really happy how it looks against the black door!

Welcome, come on in!  When we first looked at the apartment, we fell in love with the foyer and staircase.  It's so stately and inviting.

I had grand visions of adding fresh garland to the banister for the holidays but we'll see if that actually happens.  Definitely next year though!

Love the curl of the banister... it's so worn and has lots of aged patina.  

The chandelier also caught my eye when we first toured.  There are fabulous light fixtures throughout the home that were another huge selling point for us.  

The owners left this old wooden screen that we use to divide off the foyer.  

Behind it is our laundry and storage area that currently contains a carseat and stroller.

All of the switch and electrical plates throughout the house are gorgeous.  I'm not sure where the owners bought them but they're certainly not your average Home Depot plastic ones.  Again, it's one of those little details that adds so much character and charm.

And here is the return view of the front door.  I still have a lot to add to the foyer, like an entry rug to start with...

and I'd like to add an umbrella stand.  (Everything LEB curated some great ones here.)

Finally I need to hang our Bonjour print (from Sycamore Street Press) and maybe add a little side table and chair.  But I love the slate grey that the owners painted on one side of the foyer.  It adds a lot of warmth to the space.

So there you have it.  I still have a lot to do but there is tons of decorating potential in the foyer.  I hope you enjoyed the first tour of our new home!

Navy Friday

Now that we live 10 minutes away from the beach, we've been taking advantage of the nice weather. Navy loves his Saturday morning walks!


Happy Friday everyone!  I promise I'll be back with some new home photos on Monday!