French-spiration

Cute, affordable baskets with Parisian flair: wastebasket and multi-purpose. Perfect in a Modern Cottage office or kitchen (or just about anywhere!).

One fabulous Modern Cottage!

One of our design projects from 2008 is on the market. Ah, memories... it was really fun transforming it from it's very dated and worn pink and beige glory (it was built in 1989) to a stunning and timeless Modern Cottage. This was a total remodel and it really turned out beautifully. We had a good time assisting the owners with the staging this past week. Here is the end result!

Chunky weave chair

Loving the organic feel of this chair, and especially the low profile... perfect for a space where you might otherwise opt for backless/bench seating to maintain flow from room to room. It doesn't hurt that it also feels wonderfully fresh and summery. From West Elm.

Sun! Sun! Sun!

We got just a hint of sun last week and I felt I had to get it on film (er...memory card?) or else we might have started to wonder if it even happened at all. I read somewhere recently that exercise has a similar impact on a person's mood as anti-depressants which is funny because I often think "exercise is cheaper than therapy!" given how it can ease stress and make a person instantly more chipper. Well, sun, let me tell you.... for us Seattle folk it is like the happiest mood-boosting phenomenon ever. Particularly when it pops out in the midst of a soggy, grey, dreary spring like we're experiencing now. So, until things improve (the 10-day forecasts are so sad) we will simply look back upon these glorious photos and remember that summer will be here soon :)

Fun with paper

Saw this done recently (with humans :) and decided the other day what a delight it would be to honor Scout this way - a dog silhouette! It was ridiculously simple. I already had the frame, so we just ventured to the craft store to pick out some colorful card stock papers. Of course Scout had to pose in profile (he is quite good in front of the camera, has been since he was a pup), his reward being a couple of peeled baby carrots. Then I cropped and sized the photo appropriately for the 8x10 opening of the frame and printed it out:

Next we chose the paper...it's so inexpensive, we brought home a few options knowing we'd find a use for what was left soon enough.

Then we simply (and haphazardly - I was anxious to get to the end result) taped the two together and I cut out along Scout's profile.  I taped the left edge and bottom edge flush so I only had to cut the other two sides.

I then mounted the resulting paper cut out onto a piece of white cardstock to fill up the rest of the 8x10 opening. And voila! Cutest profile ever. And it really does look just like him, from the tiny bump on his head to the nose. Talk about instant gratification!