Greta-girl goes down for a nap around 11 and I can barely get into my paint-splattered yoga pants fast enough. There’s a whole list of things I can’t do when Greta is awake. Clean up our bedroom. Clean the bathrooms. Paint. Paint the family room. Paint her new room’s closet doors. Touch up the trim in her new room. Repaint those canvases. Tackle a huge canvas. Spray paint a mirror. Spray paint frames. Organize the basement. Do anything on a ladder. My mind is in a frenzy for a few minutes and it settles down as I check my e-mail and my facebook and my blogs and then Pinterest–and I am inspired again, and I quickly get to work prying open a can of fresh, white paint and putting finishing touches on all the trim in Greta’s new room. The almond-y doors and baseboards are now fresh white after my 5th and final coat of white paint and the room is ready to get carpet in (again) tomorrow. I know I need to jump in the shower, another thing I can’t do while Greta is awake, but I would love to fiddle with some frames for the gallery wall above the staircase. I get out lots of large art and small frames and an old paint-by-numbers I found at a thrift store and start arranging them on the living room floor. Definitely something I couldn’t do with her running around. I play with them and move them around and snap a picture and move them around more and snap another picture for reference. I look at the clock and think I gotta get in the shower. I measure the arrangement and make sure it will fit on the wall and then stash the frames away again until the weekend when I can summon Chris’s help to hang them. I am running up the stairs and taking down my hair at the same time to save every second toward the hot shower I have been craving all morning.
I hear stirring in her room and think, this is gonna have to be quick. After 2 minutes of blissful showering, I put a little mousse in my hair and pull it into a braid to the tune of a chattering, little, one-year old jumping up and down on her, now, squeaking mattress. She’s rested and happy to see me. I’m exhausted, but just as happy to see her.
Our wood grain Shaker cabinet fronts were designed for busy, high-traffic homes like ours. Clad with durable textured thermofoils, this line is compatible with Sektion, Akurum, Godmorgon, and Besta cabinets from IKEA. It's the perfect, practical way to add the warmth of wood to all the rooms of your home.
We have teamed up with Loloi to create a line of rugs that are as affordable as they are beautiful. This collection houses a great mix of traditional and modern rugs, in cottage-y colorways, as well as vintage-inspired beauties that you’ll want to roll out in every room.
We partnered with Stuga on a line of hardwood floors — The Ingrid is really livable, and the color is very neutral. It doesn’t lean warm or cool, it’s that just right in-between. We have really loved putting it everywhere in our house. It’s the best jumping-off point for design, no matter your interior style. In addition to being beautiful, Ingrid is really durable — we have three kids, and we always have a home construction project going on. Ingrid stands up to it all.
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Even when you don’t want to rip down a wall, you can make that space in your home better. Right now.
A reader recently asked me if I’m starting to fully embrace traditional style and whether we still consider our house to be a “modern Colonial” and why. It was a really great question and so timely — I had really just been thinking about my approach to this home and how my style has changed […]
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I am sooo with you! I love when my little one goes to bed cause I can actually get stuff done! Not the fun stuff, but clean my house haha
I really don’t know how you do it. I live with my honey and collapse on the bed when I get home from work, and drag myself just to put the clothes in the washer INTO the dryer. Then Rodrigo HELPS me with cooking on a nightly basis, and we split washing the dishes at night and the next day when we get home from work, just because we like to sit after dinner. I go back to work and he has his “rory time” with his favorite shows. I know I work, but I can’t believe what you can juggle being a mom!
ok. YOu did ALLLLL of that and I am exhausted just reading it!!! Oh greta, you are the cutest ever.
I wish Brinley slept longer during her naps, but I guess I’m grateful she still loves to take naps and doesn’t go down with a fight.