Do you have a backyard? Alex and I have always lived in small apartments without outdoor space, but we daydream about having a yard (or a little garden, we're not picky!) someday. Here are 9 jaw-dropping backyards that would feel magical for reading the paper and sipping evening cocktails...
My friend's son's nursery is filled with these baby animal photographs, and apparently her little boy says "good night" to each one every evening. How cute is that? Today photographer Sharon Montrose just launched two new little darlings—a baby camel and a baby zebra. What little faces...
And this video broke my heart...(P.S. Here's their holiday sale.)
Remember the deer bed photograph from my friend Abbey's beautiful home?
(Top four photos by Katherine Wolfkoff, bottom photo by Seth Smoot for Cup of Jo)
My friend Abbey Nova, of the blog Design Scouting, lives in a jawdroppingly beautiful apartment on the Upper West Side with her husband and three-year-old son. Their inspiring place looks straight out of a magazine. Want to take a peek?
Our friends Porter and Hollister Hovey share a Brooklyn apartment that's chock full of antique-y pieces, like gin bottles, fencing masks and taxidermy swans. And they've just designed Anthropologie wallpaper featuring actual photos of quirky objects found in their home. (See more photos here.) Bravo, Hovey sisters!
In college, I house-sat for some family friends while they were on vacation. And they had a ridiculously comfortable bed—layered with silk sheets and a velvet duvet. It felt like sleeping in a pile of clouds. I'd kind of forgotten about it until I saw this new velvet bedding from Castle, and it took me right back.
My friend Sophie (of the children's brand Oeuf) might be the coolest mom ever, since she hung a trapeze in her Brooklyn living room. Her kids like to "swing really high and scare people," she says. "They love to triple-dog-dare our poor guests to do knee hangs." I interviewed her for Martha Stewart Living, and you can read the full interview here, if you'd like.
A few things from Pinterest this week...
Rick Nunn's rad ampersand tattoo.
Chocolate-chip oatmeal pancakes.
Ombre nails.
Beautiful Rib & Hull leather bag.
If you come over to our apartment, you might notice me wince if you ask where the bathroom is. Our bathroom has always been an eyesore. The tile is chipping, nothing matches, and the walls are a drab white. We want to fix it up, but since we'd like to move to Brooklyn next spring, we don't want to do anything too major. So, we've decided to give it a quick makeover with...a coat of paint!
Do you like any of these? Or would you pick a totally different color? Please weigh in below...we'll share the before-and-after photos next week. (You'll die when you see the before:)
My friend Julia Leach—the genius behind the clothing line Chance—has the most beautiful living room, filled with books, paintings and even a secret movie wall! My favorite touch was the Monopoly pieces on her bookcase. I interviewed her for Martha Stewart Living, and you can see the full post here, if you'd like. Thanks, Julia!
P.S. A nursery in a closet.
Our friends Ashley and Aron live in a 500-square-foot studio apartment in the East Village. When they found out they were expecting a baby boy, they rolled up their sleeves and transformed their walk-in closet into a six-square-foot nursery...
I interviewed Ashley on Martha Stewart Living's new blog, if you'd like to hear how she once army-crawled past his crib to get to the bathroom. And isn't the wallpaper a great touch?
Like everyone else in the world, I've gotten totally into Pinterest (or, as my mom calls it, "Pin-interest":), so I thought I'd share a few favorite pins from this week. Above: Ombre serving spoons from etsy...
Leather pockets.
Cat nail polish.
Anchor tattoos.
Nautical bathroom.
Hatch My House lets you create a wedding registry to save up for your dream home. Your guests give you parts of the house--two bedroom windows or a front door, for example. Thoughts? Kind of brilliant, but would you do it? Now we've seen everything!
How breathtaking is this framed triptych photograph of U.S. diver Patricia McCormick doing a springboard high dive at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics? (She won the gold.) Can you imagine this hanging in a home? Beautiful.
