Please excuse my drool.

Hello friends!

Today I stumbled upon the most wonderful home (and blog!).  I just love Brooke's design style.. and her bedroom~ oh her bedroom! Wait until you see it! She is one super talented interior designer who effortlessly mixes old and new. Check out her blog Velvet & Linen for more inspiration.  But in the meantime, join me and drool over the photos below..

February 16, 2009

our home

Several of you have asked to see the inside of our home. 
Although I have done several posts about parts of our home, 
I have never given you a tour in a single post. So here it is...

The stacked cement pillars as well as the pathway are made up 
of the broken concrete pieces that once were our old driveway. 
I found the vintage gate and the pair of urns at a the 
Santa Monica Flea Market.

Our little green dutch door allows us to open the door 
without losing our pups. It also works well on Halloween!

Welcome to my home! It is a casual place. 
We built it 7 years ago, but Steve and I wanted it to feel 
like an old beach cottage. We incorporated many vintage 
architectural pieces in the design including these old columns 
and the blue corbels. Everyone in the family has their own "locker" 
for their stuff by the front door.

There are actually 3 of these Murano glass ceiling fixtures 
that illuminate the downstairs. I found them on 1st dibs when 
Michael Bruno first started his wonderful site. 
We have no recessed ceiling lights, so our whole home 
is lit with ceiling fixtures, wall sconces and table lamps.

The living room is in the front of our house. It used to be all white, 
but I wanted it to feel cozier. I warmed up the space by putting 
grass cloth on the walls and painting the back of the bookshelves 
Vert de Terre by Farrow and Ball. 
The color matches the green stripes in my Bennison drapery fabric. 
The bound sisal carpet  with a small hook rug on top also added 
warmth and texture. 

Here is a close up of my Bennison pillows. 
I found the painting on the wall at a flea market. I just love her.  
I have several English bamboo pieces in my home, 
like this book book case. 

 

Behind the living room is my dining room. 

Here is the another view of the dining room. 
As you can see, our home has a very open floor plan. 
It works well for a home this size and makes our home feel nice and airy.

The big mirror on the wall was once a church window, and the 
ornate corbel came from an old home in New Orleans. 
I found both elements at a flea market when we were building our home.

My kitchen is behind my dining room. We lit the kitchen with 
school house fixtures and old holophane pendant lights. 
The ceiling is covered with tin ceiling tiles painted white. 
Windows behind the cabinets allow the light to illuminate my pink 
depression glass. Cups and plates are displayed on open shelves.

The counter tops are honed Carerra marble, and the backsplash is 
white subway tiles.

We paneled the refrigerator and used a Victorian screen door for the pantry.

The island is painted a light green and has a butcher block top. 
We inset Carerra marble around the island sink to keep the wood away 
from the water. My little desk is to the left, but it's always so messy 
that it never gets into the pictures!

We used all green glass knobs and pulls on the cabinets.

I love my little skirted farmhouse sink.

 

Across from the kitchen is our family room. 
My globe collection sits above the TV. 
My 1920'a carnival chalk dog collection found a home in the shelves 
by the window. 

 

A little computer desk sits in a nook to the right of the TV.

The window seat to the left lifts up for game storage.

 

This enclosed garden room used to be my back porch.  
We added all of the windows about a year after we built our home 
when we realized it was too chilly to eat outside most of the time. 
The farm table is huge and allows the kids to have tons of friends 
over for dinner.

This cozy seating area is at the other end of the garden room. 
It is a great place to sit and watch the kids in the pool or just read a book. 
I keep dreaming of putting  a little desk in here. I would love to work 
and look out into the garden.

In case you were curious, this is what the back of my home looked like 
before we enclosed the porch.

Time to go upstairs...

 

I recently did a post about my wallpapered  laundry room, 
but I will include a couple of images here as well since it sits at the top 
of the stairs behind a pair of french doors with frosted glass.

 

Like the kitchen, the counter top is Carerra marble and the 
backsplash is white subway tiles. All of our faucets in the entire house 
are from Newport Brass.

 

For Leila, Steve designed a little bed nook with shelves for her books 
and stuffed animals. We found some corbels to put in the openings.  
I bought the lighting on E-bay. 
We used lined match stick blinds in all of the kids' rooms.

 

Leila's bathroom was in the wallpaper post as well, 
but it is too cute not to include in the tour.

 

Sorry, the boys' rooms were too messy for photos....

My bedroom is my favorite room in the house. 
It really does feel as if you are up in a treehouse. I found all of the rugs 
at flea markets, and all of the chandeliers were either purchased at 
flea market or on Ebay. It was a wonderful way to furnish my home, 
but an impossible way to furnish anyone else's home. 
Because Steve and I are early risers, I was able to use unlined white linen 
to cover all of the windows. 

 

I found the mantle on Ebay as well 
(again, something I could never do for a client). 
The doors lead out to a small balcony.

 

My pretty little antique vanity sits on this side of my bedroom. 
The wall is covered with Steve's beautiful drawings.

 

Thank you for stopping by!

 

xo

Brooke

Wishing you all..

a very happy Mother's Day! 

It has been a relaxing day here.

just perfect in fact

Tom and Betsy are over at the pottery painting studio

 creating something special

I'll have to wait 7 days to see what it is!

But she also made me this, with the help of a very kind babysitter

who found plenty of old stickers lying around our craft closet

Happy, Happy Mother's Day to all you great MOMS out there,

including my very own!!!

Pack your bags, we're off to New Orleans!

Come along with me.... you don't need a thing.

Just sit back and I'll do the driving.

I should preface this by saying that I've never been to New Orleans.  But I've always wanted to go.

I didn't know how dirty of a city it would be.

I didn't know that Bourbon Street was lined with "Gentlemen's clubs" and hobos.

I thought that all the streets would have cute little cafes and men in seersucker suits tootin' their horns and kickin' up their feet.

I did. I really thought that.

So when we got to New Orleans, I was confused.  

There was alot of trash.

And unsavory characters.

But among the trash and unsavory characters, there was also the beauty that I was hoping to find.

It was in quiet places...

It was in architecture..

And in simple moments spent with this girl at the aquarium.

It was at Oak Alley Plantation

A place that was peaceful and beautiful, but also holds a history full of sadness.

The trees were over 300 years old

connecting past to present.

 When the tour was over,

we were offered mint juleps.

But since we had our little Southern Belle with us, we opted for ice cream

and a cruise around the Garden District on the St. Charles Streetcar

We ran right into Sandra Bullock's house.  She was moving in!

It's true.  Her mom was there helping her and the street was lined

with moving vans.

No sign of you know who... his name rhymes with Messy Mames.

Back to the hotel

to take in the scenery

and enjoy some R & R.

It was a great mini-roadtrip! 

I am oh so thankful.

On friday, right when I finished up my last post about my favorite finds, a really horrible thing happened.

My little Betsy was supposed to be napping, but instead, she was standing in her crib waiting for me to rescue her.  I could see her from our video monitor, and I knew that she needed to rest, so I avoided going upstairs until she got in a quick 20 minute nap.

But to my horror, she instead launched herself over the rails of her crib, and landed head first on the hardwood floor.  The sound was the worst thing I have ever heard in my entire life, and surely it will replay in my mind forever.  I rushed up the stairs to sounds of screams and scooped her up.

We sat in the rocking chair... her favorite...for a good few minutes until she calmed down.  Right about this time I noticed a huge goose egg forming on the top of her forehead and we quickly rushed off to the Emergency Room.

The Doctor sedated her and performed a CT scan.  My husband rushed over to meet us and we waited with a very sedated Betsy in our arms, to make sure that everything was ok.  Radiology called to tell us that she would be fine.  There was no bleeding on the brain, no fracture.  It was just a really bad fall, with a really big war wound.

Life is so precious.  It changed in just one minute on that afternoon.  Thank God for the outcome, but it was very, very scary.  For all the moments when I wished that she would nap just five minutes longer, and all the annoyance I felt when I wished she wouldn't throw her sippy cup across the table......  I am reminded that life is a precious gift than can be altered or taken away in an instant.  Hug your babies tight tonight!

Before I was a Mom;

I made and ate hot meals,

I had unstained clothing,

I brushed my hair every day,

I had quiet conversations on the phone,

I slept as late as I wanted and I slept all night long.

Before I was a Mom;

I cleaned my house each day,

I never tripped over toys or forgot lullabies,

I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous,

I had never been puked on, pooped on, spit on, chewed on, peed on, or

pinched by tiny fingers.

Before I was a Mom;

I never thought about immunizations,

I never held a screaming child so the doctors could give shots,

I never looked into teary eyes and cried,

I never felt my heart break into pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt,

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

Before I was a Mom;

I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down,

I never sat up late hours of the night watching a baby sleep,

I never got up in the middle of the night to make sure everything was okay,

I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

Before I was a Mom;

I had complete control of my mind, my thoughts and my body,

I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside of my body,

I didn't know that having something so small could make me feel so

important,

I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache,

the wonderment, or the satisfaction of being a mom.

Before I was a Mom;

I never knew that something so small could effect my life so much,

I never knew that I could love someone so much,

I never knew I would love being a Mom,

I didn't know the bond between a Mother and her child,

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much.

~anonymous

Friday finds!

I was driving home from tennis today when I spotted a sign for an estate sale out of the corner of my eye.  With just twenty minutes left to "beat the clock" and get home before the babysitter left, I made the executive decision. Drive quickly, look quickly, explain later.

Sho' nuff..... in the next ten minutes I found myself racing up the driveway of a great old Houston home, knowing that just beyond the next wall would be a couple of things that I couldn't live without.

Jackpot! 

Here's what I found.....  and what my hubby had to haul home for me on his lunch hour..... because he's just THAT great!!!!

These wrought iron chairs don't photograph well, but let me tell ya....
I love them!!! 

With a bit of dolling up (ie: shabby cushions), they will be just perfect.

Even more perfect?  the entire set, including table & ottoman~ $25

you can't get these kind of details without paying a fortune!  

Love these chairs.... and only $20 for the pair

Six new and unique bottles.. 

I've got to spruce them up with some flowers, but let's start with this and I'll update later.  

A whopping .50 each

Aside from the chairs, I also found this adorable little table.  

Never mind the tray on top.  I just threw these things in the bedroom until 

I can figure out what the heck I'm going to do with my new treasures.

table~ $15

Happy Friday everyone!! 

Have a great weekend!