Good Gifting

 I am in love with these menswear-wool pillows with contrast piping. I would get the Euro size.

 This rhino from Indy Plush has stolen my heart.

New enamelware in grey and white instead of traditional black and white. Couldn't be more perfect.

I'd wrap it all up in this awesome paper I found on Etsy.

Have a festive weekend!

A hint of Halloween

With the minimalist approach that is such a key part of Modern Cottage design, we have become increasingly selective when it comes to holiday decor. We want our seasonal items to be natural, simple, and fun. This past weekend, the little guy chose this gorgeous grey pumpkin from one of our favorite garden stores. I thought he needed company so I brought a little white one home as well. The long, curvy stems are so great. The bat decals are loads of fun, too. They went up in a few places! I feel we have just the right amount of the Halloween spirit and it all works perfectly within the Modern Cottage style.

Bunny love

Am I too old to want this in my Easter basket?

Also coveting these pillowcases for the little guy's room. So cute.

Ok, maybe this, too.

Happy Easter basket building!

Good Gifting

Ok so I'm a little behind with this one (or maybe just in time for those of you with gifts still on your list!) but I couldn't resist sharing these great finds...starting with this simple galvanized barometer, above. Why not?

And this sweet herringbone moose - we nabbed a few for the tree this year.

I love this chair for a little boy's room. It feels rugged and yet comfy since the seat's made from canvas.

Pretty striped linen hand towels.

The colors and design of this print are fantastic. The subject matter is fun, too.

A compact combo tool. SO useful.

The coolest bottle opener I've seen. (Husband would love).

And a sweet little personalized airplane. It has such a great vintage look.

Hope you are enjoying the season! Good luck with your shopping and remember to break for the fun stuff. We've been enjoying extra trips to Starbucks, driving all the Christmas lights, visits to Santa (yes, more than one - little guy loves him. Maybe even more than the mailman, which says a lot), and lots of singing!

Little garden friend

 Adorbs.

(at West Elm)

Holiday project #3: Leaping Reindeer

Ok, so this one was relatively easy... simply hunt down three happy little Rosbro reindeer in good condition, purchase, receive, and display. Aren't they the sweetest? I really love the mod shape.

Country Modern

We thought we'd share the photos we recently used to to add a little country flavor to the styling of an ultra modern home. My favorite is this one of the motel just off the highway, riverfront. Yes, I made the husband stop the car so I could take a picture when I spotted it (those "motel" letters are yellow, how could I not?). I also couldn't resist getting a bit of the road sign in there for the graphic punch and to illustrate the "side of the road" location of this motel. Doesn't it look great hanging in this modern space?

And the bull, of course (he had me a bit on edge to be honest. How do you gauge mood on a face like that?).

Gorgeous scenery for miles... plus a great rustic fence.

 

 And a fabulous old barn. Classic Americana.

A little creative cropping also helped to give these images a fresh, edgy feel (each was cropped into a vertical 8x10 to fit the frames). We love finding beauty in the simple things, and the fact that these locations are near and dear to our hearts make these photos even more meaningful.

Modern loft-style office

We recently styled a truly exceptional modern home and one of my favorite spaces is this unassuming little office nook at the landing of the upper level. The desk is from Crate and Barrel and it came with traditional-style oval knobs. A quick hardware swap and it feels much more stylish and mod. The art is comprised of a simple white metal frame with a photo of a contemplative bull taken a few summers back at my uncle's property in Salmon, Idaho (a stop on our road trip).

We mixed a bit of country modern into this home with additional framed photos from our trip and other decorative elements which we used in unconventional ways (like these vintage French fruit crate lids as an art installation). It added a lot of warmth and character and nicely contrasted the modern details and finishes in the home; the juxtiposition is both interesting and playful.

Of course we were sold instantly when we saw these lids with the black printed numbers (finds from treaure hunting :) Sometimes unexpected pairings give the best results!

The evolution of the Modern Cottage nursery

So, this is a bit overdue, but I am finally getting around to posting some of our favorite nursery finds.

The path leading to the nursery as it looks now was a little something like this:

"Oooh! Ohh. Ahhh...! Oooooooooh!!" edit * edit * edit * and then more: "Ooh, but this?! Oh definitely... Love! But where would it go? Cute!" edit * edit * edit * and so on. That's right, lots and lots of good stuff out there, but only so much space for it all, and more importantly, there is only so much real esate for smaller items and accessories in Modern Cottage design before we back away and go "Oh - too much. Pare down and keep it simple".

We're thrilled with our final design and feel we edited just right to fit the space and achieve the feeling we were going for. That said, we discovered loads of great nursery items along the way. Here are a few of them.

1. Bird light by Perch (in white, of course). Really wanted to use this but ultimately felt it would be one too many items in there. It's just so cool.

2. Adorable sock dogs (and other animals) by Scooter and Goose on Etsy. So sweet.

3. This growth chart is perfect. Based on a vintage ruler. Cool, right? It's so simple and understated it could go almost anywhere and surely doesn't look like it was plucked from a playroom. Extra points there.


4. This truck pillow plays to our affection for old pick up trucks.

5. Toys in the shapes of oversized utensils - so charming. I'm all about this fork in natural linen.

6. Animal pyramid art!

7. Of course we also love Collette Bream's pillows ...


8. ...and this awesome Eames elephant (both of which we've already drooled over in earlier posts).

If you're planning a new nursery space or looking for some ways to freshen up your kids' rooms, we hope this provides a little Modern Cottage inspiration!

Rex

Meet Rex. He's very low-maintenance (and no shedding!). We got him over a decade ago at Restoration Hardware, back when they had all sorts of cool stuff like this. We were in college at the time so he was a real splurge at $125. But we've loved him ever since, and he now resides alongside the staircase in our current home. Definitely a Super Find. Good dog!

Nursery art

After several different visions of a photo wall in the nursery, this is where we landed. We think it's just right! We love the rustic element the horse print adds (and the subject matter is fun for kids- who doesn't love horsies? :) The white on white metal frames we had purchased on sale at Pottery Barn ages ago for practically nothing. We filled them with old photos of our little guy's grandparents when they were kids. It's a great way to honor them while keeping the room playful and kid-friendly.

We knew we wanted something different for the changing table... and really liked the idea of somehow bringing in metal. We found what we were after in the form of this vintage industrial cart with a tray-style top at our favorite antiques gallery - which happened to just fit a smaller sized changing pad (major score). We added the middle shelf (after tracking down some old-style rounded-head screws to match the rest of the piece), some storage baskets, and voila! We love incorporating metals into our design and the baskets warm things up and tie in with the horse print beautifully.

Modern Cottage nursery

Finally, the big reveal! We love the way the nursery design turned out - it's true Modern Cottage (kid) style: playful without being cutsie or overdone and with a few 'grown up' elements to keep it cohesive with the rest of the home.



Though we plan to eventually repaint all the millwork in the house white (and re-stain the floors, and redesign several other elements) I simply could not stand designing around the beige millwork we currently have. It was bringing me (and my design vision) down. So, we brought in our painting crew to tent off the room and give the millwork and doors fresh, white paint. This made a world of difference as the room became crisp and cheerful, particularly set against the darker wall color.





It's a small space and we certainly didn't want to overcrowd it. We converted an existing TV cabinet to an armoire, a vintage industrial cart to a changing table, and found the perfect crib that felt modern yet classic and didn't cost a fortune. The chair had great lines but hideous cover choices, so we dressed it up in a custom slipcover in a charcoal fabric. The stuffed toys came from Etsy and most of the other accessories we already had. You may recognize the silhouette of Scout from this post.





We'll be sharing more details about the evolution of our Modern Cottage nursery in the weeks to come!

Photos by the uber-talented Kristine Sitko.