Emily Henderson's Blog, page 266

House Tour: Original Woodwork, Moody Walls & A Gasp-Worthy Wallpaper

Ehd House Tour Emily Cosnotti Guestbedroom 002

Written by Arlyn Hernandez

I first discovered Emily (Cosnotti, not Henderson) of The Sweet Beast as I feel like I have most of my new house crushes lately: via the One Room Challenge (for real though, a veritable gold mine of talent over there). One glimpse of her guest bedroom which she completed last spring, with those deep moody walls and those tone-on-tone DIYed curtains and I knew I wanted (needed?) to see more. Emily was gracious enough to share a peek into her Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, home which she shares with her husband Andy and corgi pup Penelope with the EHD universe and here’s a spoiler alert: there’s so much character and personality to love here (just wait until you see the original wallpaper from her sunroom).

Emily always has some new project brewing over on her site (and I can’t wait to see if she does another space for the upcoming ORC), so be sure to pop over there and her Instagram to give her some love and check out what’s new with her and her home. But alright, you’re not here to listen to me blab surely, so I’m going to pass the keyboard to our protagonist of the day to introduce herself and her home. Blog, meet Emily, Emily meet blog.

Thanks Arlyn! Hi everyone, I’m Emily of The Sweet Beast. A little background on me before jumping into my house: I always thought I would work in a museum, but after finding myself working in e-commerce and later in content, I’ve made surrounding myself with beautiful objects my hobby instead. My husband and I shared an apartment in a historic building for seven years before purchasing our home, I broke all the rules in our lease there by painting the walls and even removed paint from hardware and marble. I knew each step honored the space and its history, and that’s the same approach I take with the home we now own. It can be scary to dive into renovating and restoring an old home, but often tell myself, “you can hardly make it worse.” Our home was well decorated by the previous owner but in more of a bed and breakfast style than one that supports comfort and living. I often say that I’m “undecorating” our home, as I remove extra frills and opt for a modern traditional home that feels lived in and loved.

Foyer

Ehd House Tour Emily Cosnotti Entryway 001

Vintage Kilim (one of a kind) | Jute Runner | Frames | Pendant

The best part of the entryway to our home is our round top door with its tiny window panes. With closets on both sides, we are blessed with storage space for all our coats, shoes, my vacuum collection, and whatever else I can hide in there when guests come over. Those stacked frames feature some of my husband Andy’s photography from our trips to New York and his hiking trips with friends. And of course, our home wouldn’t be the same without our corgi Penelope, up there sitting on our one-of-a-kind pink and blue printed kilim rug, waiting for her favorite person to come home (hint: it’s not me).

Living Room
Ehd House Tour Emily Cosnotti Livingroom 002

Our living room’s paneled fireplace is probably the fanciest touch in our whole home and is likely an addition and not an original feature. It got lost in a sea of warm yellow tones before we stripped the walls and painted. Removing yellow striped wallpaper from the largest room in our house in the hottest days of summer with no air conditioning was a task I will never forget. It took four of us (myself, Andy, and my parents) days to complete the task of scoring, steaming and peeling the wallpaper and then scrubbing away the paste. Painting this room afterward was a breeze compared to that task. I was inspired by Deuce Cities Henhouse to pair our unpainted warm woodwork with dark, moody cool-toned walls and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Livingroom For Insta September 2018 0001

Floor Lamp | Throw Pillow | Chair and Ottoman (vintage) | Fox Print by Camille Engman

We divided the living room into two zones, one small sitting area that houses Andy’s record collection, vintage speakers, and an inherited turntable, and a larger area for lounging on our sectional and watching Netflix. The long shape of the room has presented some modern-life layout challenges—there is no good place for a TV in this room that doesn’t block either the windows or the fireplace, but it glows with light all day long and is the most comfortable spot in our home.

Art (DIY) | Copper Pillow | Dome Table Lamp | Chest of Drawers (vintage)

Dining Room
Ehd House Tour Emily Cosnotti Diningroom 001a

When we toured this house for the first time, there was so much furniture in this room that we nearly missed seeing the corner built-ins. The family before us used this as a living room and music room, so it was outfitted with quite a few sofas, chairs and floral patterns. I painted this room first when we moved in, anxious to cover up the yellow walls with a crisp white and to repaint the cranberry pink shelves of the built-ins a deep gray-blue. The dark paint inside the built-ins lets my white and black ceramics and serving pieces shine and also looks so good with our honey-toned woodwork.

We went with a simple woven pendant from IKEA (that replaced the chandelier that was existing), the bright kilim rug was an eBay find and the dining chairs were a Craigslist score. As for the table, we found it in the IKEA as-is section and had to disassemble it to fit it in my car…so worth it because it was a steal.

Ehd House Tour Emily Cosnotti Diningroom 003

Credenza (vintage) | Lamp (vintage) | Small Footed Bowl

A vintage mid-century credenza stores our board games and extra table linens inside and our growing collection of cocktail ingredients on top. I like to display a few of my collected ceramic pieces here as well or put out snacks when we entertain.

Master Bedroom
Ehd House Tour Emily Cosnotti Masterbedroom 001

A refresh of our master bedroom came about with the fall 2018 One Room Challenge. The design for the space was anchored around my plans to install an electric fireplace where a wood-burning fireplace once was. I sketched up plans to build a Tudorish-Craftmanish-modernish fireplace surround and sent the plans and revisions back and forth to my dad. I spent my weekends traveling two hours away to his garage where we built, painted and tiled the surround, piece by piece, completing it JUST in time. Now, the fireplace adds a nice boost of warmth on winter days and is a cozy place to curl up in a chair and enjoy a cup of coffee. Just kidding, that’s just a clothes chair.

Ehd House Tour Emily Cosnotti Masterbedroom 003

I had my eye on that beautiful spindle Rejuvenation bed ever since I saw it in Emily (Henderson’s) bedroom, and knew that if I was going to do this bedroom justice, I had to get that bed. Putting a bulky frame in front of a window can seem like a terrible idea, but not if you pick something that lets light pass through instead of blocking it.

Ehd House Tour Emily Cosnotti Masterbedroom 005

Grid Art (DIY)

The Sweet Beast One Room Challenge Reveal Fall 2018 0025

As for the rug, I struggled to find one large enough to fit this big, long room and even considered going with two rugs instead of one. All my Instagram friends encouraged me to keep searching for one big rug and, just in time (again), I found this overdyed vintage rug and it’s just so perfect. It adds age and texture to a room filled with newer pieces and cleaner lines, achieving that just-right mix of modern and traditional that I’m always striving for.

Guest Bedroom
Ehd House Tour Emily Cosnotti Guestbedroom 001

I revamped this room as part of the spring 2018 One Room Challenge and I knew what color I wanted to paint it before I’d picked anything else for it (it was previously a bright green boys room, decorated in a space theme complete with a ceiling boob light with glow-in-the-dark planets). I’d been seeing deep rich greens in places like Chris Loves Julia’s reading room and knew that dark hues make the woodwork in our home glow. My biggest revelation in this space was moving the bed in front of the windows, which allowed for access on both sides, and room for a small, guest-sized dresser. Previously, the bed had been against the short wall where the IKEA dresser is now, which left half the room oddly open and relatively unusable.

For the curtains, I went tone on tone, adding inexpensive velvet IKEA curtains with a DIY pinch pleat. I get so many questions about where the headboard is from because rattan is so huge right now, but it is an IKEA piece that I’ve held onto for several years that has long been discontinued (sadly that bench is also unavailable).

Those nightstands were a budget Amazon find at $100 each and equipped with USB ports so guests don’t have to search for outlets. I upgraded them a little by replacing the stock wood pulls with brass hardware from CB2. Right before photographing the room for the big reveal, I realized the corner looked so empty and decided to craft the brass mobile from a Crafters Box I’d been hoarding.

The room is a perfect mix of pieces that go but don’t match. And no more boob light, just boob-print pillows.

Bathroom

Art Print | Sconces | Vase (no longer available) | Paint Color

Finding a classic bathroom with original features was on my wish list for a house—a line item I didn’t think would be crossed off. But then we found this house with this perfect bathroom with its original floor, pedestal sink, medicine cabinet, bathtub and shower. The previous owners had added layers of extra frills with busy wallpaper, three layers of window treatments, a skirt for the pedestal sink, and even ruffled covers for the shower curtain rings. We painstakingly removed the wallpaper (it was really on there and holding together some of the plaster walls), repaired the plaster, and painted the room a soothing blush tone. It casts flattering color on everyone and lets the tile really pop without standing by being boring.

Sun Room

Wallpaper (historic reproduction) | Vintage Rug (one of a kind) | Coffee Table (vintage) | Green Coil Plant Pot | Watering Can

These windows right here…they’re what sold us on this house. I’d never seen anything quite like them and fell in love. The wallpaper is not something I would have chosen for myself, but it is growing on me. I also can’t imagine removing wallpaper ever again. At the closing, the previous owners made sure to tell us it was expensive and to “think about that” before removing it or painting over it. I’m still overthinking this space and the best way to use it, but for now, it’s a place where our plants are thriving.

Ehd House Tour Emily Cosnotti Sunroom 003

Sofa (no longer available) | Pillow

Arlyn back again. Thank you SO much Emily for letting us (digitally) into your home. Sharing the work of such talented bloggers and designers in our community brings us so much joy (plus it’s fun to have permission to peek through people’s windows). It’s like touring model homes on the weekend except 100 TIMES BETTER for so many reasons. Feel free to share any bloggers/designers/stylist you follow that you get the sense have amazing homes and we’ll take a look, too, for a possible house tour.

To take a “tour” of all our EHD-designed homes and spaces, don’t miss our BRAND SPANKIN’ NEW PROJECTS section.

***photography by Emily Cosnotti of The Sweet Beast

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Published on March 05, 2019 01:00

House Tour: A Stylist “Undecorates” a 1929 Tudor-ish Cottage

Written by Arlyn Hernandez

I first discovered Emily (Cosnotti, not Henderson) of The Sweet Beast as I feel like I have most of my new house crushes lately: via the One Room Challenge (for real though, a veritable gold mine of talent over there). One glimpse of her guest bedroom which she completed last spring, with those deep moody walls and those tone-on-tone DIYed curtains and I knew I wanted (needed?) to see more. Emily was gracious enough to share a peek into her Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, home which she shares with her husband Andy and corgi pup Penelope with the EHD universe and here’s a spoiler alert: there’s so much character and personality to love here (just wait until you see the original wallpaper from her sunroom).

Emily always has some new project brewing over on her site (and I can’t wait to see if she does another space for the upcoming ORC), so be sure to pop over there and her Instagram to give her some love and check out what’s new with her and her home. But alright, you’re not here to listen to me blab surely, so I’m going to pass the keyboard to our protagonist of the day to introduce herself and her home. Blog, meet Emily, Emily meet blog.

Thanks Arlyn! Hi everyone, I’m Emily of The Sweet Beast. A little background on me before jumping into my house: I always thought I would work in a museum, but after finding myself working in e-commerce and later in content, I’ve made surrounding myself with beautiful objects my hobby instead. My husband and I shared an apartment in a historic building for seven years before purchasing our home, I broke all the rules in our lease there by painting the walls and even removed paint from hardware and marble. I knew each step honored the space and its history, and that’s the same approach I take with the home we now own. It can be scary to dive into renovating and restoring an old home, but often tell myself, “you can hardly make it worse.” Our home was well decorated by the previous owner but in more of a bed and breakfast style than one that supports comfort and living. I often say that I’m “undecorating” our home, as I remove extra frills and opt for a modern traditional home that feels lived in and loved.

Foyer

Vintage Kilim (one of a kind) | Jute Runner | Frames | Pendant

The best part of the entryway to our home is our round top door with its tiny window panes. With closets on both sides, we are blessed with storage space for all our coats, shoes, my vacuum collection, and whatever else I can hide in there when guests come over. Those stacked frames feature some of my husband Andy’s photography from our trips to New York and his hiking trips with friends. And of course, our home wouldn’t be the same without our corgi Penelope, up there sitting on our one-of-a-kind pink and blue printed kilim rug, waiting for her favorite person to come home (hint: it’s not me).

Living Room
Ehd House Tour Emily Cosnotti Livingroom 002

Our living room’s paneled fireplace is probably the fanciest touch in our whole home and is likely an addition and not an original feature. It got lost in a sea of warm yellow tones before we stripped the walls and painted. Removing yellow striped wallpaper from the largest room in our house in the hottest days of summer with no air conditioning was a task I will never forget. It took four of us (myself, Andy, and my parents) days to complete the task of scoring, steaming and peeling the wallpaper and then scrubbing away the paste. Painting this room afterward was a breeze compared to that task. I was inspired by Deuce Cities Henhouse to pair our unpainted warm woodwork with dark, moody cool-toned walls and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Floor Lamp | Throw Pillow | Chair and Ottoman (vintage) | Fox Print by Camille Engman

We divided the living room into two zones, one small sitting area that houses Andy’s record collection, vintage speakers, and an inherited turntable, and a larger area for lounging on our sectional and watching Netflix. The long shape of the room has presented some modern-life layout challenges—there is no good place for a TV in this room that doesn’t block either the windows or the fireplace, but it glows with light all day long and is the most comfortable spot in our home.

Art (DIY) | Copper Pillow | Dome Table Lamp | Chest of Drawers (vintage)

Dining Room
Ehd House Tour Emily Cosnotti Diningroom 001a

When we toured this house for the first time, there was so much furniture in this room that we nearly missed seeing the corner built-ins. The family before us used this as a living room and music room, so it was outfitted with quite a few sofas, chairs and floral patterns. I painted this room first when we moved in, anxious to cover up the yellow walls with a crisp white and to repaint the cranberry pink shelves of the built-ins a deep gray-blue. The dark paint inside the built-ins lets my white and black ceramics and serving pieces shine and also looks so good with our honey-toned woodwork.

We went with a simple woven pendant from IKEA (that replaced the chandelier that was existing), the bright kilim rug was an eBay find and the dining chairs were a Craigslist score. As for the table, we found it in the IKEA as-is section and had to disassemble it to fit it in my car…so worth it because it was a steal.

Credenza (vintage) | Lamp (vintage) | Small Footed Bowl

A vintage mid-century credenza stores our board games and extra table linens inside and our growing collection of cocktail ingredients on top. I like to display a few of my collected ceramic pieces here as well or put out snacks when we entertain.

Master Bedroom
Ehd House Tour Emily Cosnotti Masterbedroom 001

A refresh of our master bedroom came about with the fall 2018 One Room Challenge. The design for the space was anchored around my plans to install an electric fireplace where a wood-burning fireplace once was. I sketched up plans to build a Tudorish-Craftmanish-modernish fireplace surround and sent the plans and revisions back and forth to my dad. I spent my weekends traveling two hours away to his garage where we built, painted and tiled the surround, piece by piece, completing it JUST in time. Now, the fireplace adds a nice boost of warmth on winter days and is a cozy place to curl up in a chair and enjoy a cup of coffee. Just kidding, that’s just a clothes chair.

I had my eye on that beautiful spindle Rejuvenation bed ever since I saw it in Emily (Henderson’s) bedroom, and knew that if I was going to do this bedroom justice, I had to get that bed. Putting a bulky frame in front of a window can seem like a terrible idea, but not if you pick something that lets light pass through instead of blocking it.

Grid Art (DIY)

As for the rug, I struggled to find one large enough to fit this big, long room and even considered going with two rugs instead of one. All my Instagram friends encouraged me to keep searching for one big rug and, just in time (again), I found this overdyed vintage rug and it’s just so perfect. It adds age and texture to a room filled with newer pieces and cleaner lines, achieving that just-right mix of modern and traditional that I’m always striving for.

Guest Bedroom
Ehd House Tour Emily Cosnotti Guestbedroom 001

I revamped this room as part of the spring 2018 One Room Challenge and I knew what color I wanted to paint it before I’d picked anything else for it (it was previously a bright green boys room, decorated in a space theme complete with a ceiling boob light with glow-in-the-dark planets). I’d been seeing deep rich greens in places like Chris Loves Julia’s reading room and knew that dark hues make the woodwork in our home glow. My biggest revelation in this space was moving the bed in front of the windows, which allowed for access on both sides, and room for a small, guest-sized dresser. Previously, the bed had been against the short wall where the IKEA dresser is now, which left half the room oddly open and relatively unusable.

For the curtains, I went tone on tone, adding inexpensive velvet IKEA curtains with a DIY pinch pleat. I get so many questions about where the headboard is from because rattan is so huge right now, but it is an IKEA piece that I’ve held onto for several years that has long been discontinued (sadly that bench is also unavailable).

Those nightstands were a budget Amazon find at $100 each and equipped with USB ports so guests don’t have to search for outlets. I upgraded them a little by replacing the stock wood pulls with brass hardware from CB2. Right before photographing the room for the big reveal, I realized the corner looked so empty and decided to craft the brass mobile from a Crafters Box I’d been hoarding.

The room is a perfect mix of pieces that go but don’t match. And no more boob light, just boob-print pillows.

Bathroom

Art Print | Sconces | Vase (no longer available) | Paint Color

Finding a classic bathroom with original features was on my wish list for a house—a line item I didn’t think would be crossed off. But then we found this house with this perfect bathroom with its original floor, pedestal sink, medicine cabinet, bathtub and shower. The previous owners had added layers of extra frills with busy wallpaper, three layers of window treatments, a skirt for the pedestal sink, and even ruffled covers for the shower curtain rings. We painstakingly removed the wallpaper (it was really on there and holding together some of the plaster walls), repaired the plaster, and painted the room a soothing blush tone. It casts flattering color on everyone and lets the tile really pop without standing by being boring.

Sun Room

Wallpaper (historic reproduction) | Vintage Rug (one of a kind) | Coffee Table (vintage) | Green Coil Plant Pot | Watering Can

These windows right here…they’re what sold us on this house. I’d never seen anything quite like them and fell in love. The wallpaper is not something I would have chosen for myself, but it is growing on me. I also can’t imagine removing wallpaper ever again. At the closing, the previous owners made sure to tell us it was expensive and to “think about that” before removing it or painting over it. I’m still overthinking this space and the best way to use it, but for now, it’s a place where our plants are thriving.

Sofa (no longer available) | Pillow

Arlyn back again. Thank you SO much Emily for letting us (digitally) into your home. Sharing the work of such talented bloggers and designers in our community brings us so much joy (plus it’s fun to have permission to peek through people’s windows). It’s like touring model homes on the weekend except 100 TIMES BETTER for so many reasons. Feel free to share any bloggers/designers/stylist you follow that you get the sense have amazing homes and we’ll take a look, too, for a possible house tour.

To take a “tour” of all our EHD-designed homes and spaces, don’t miss our BRAND SPANKIN’ NEW PROJECTS section.

***photography by Emily Cosnotti of The Sweet Beast

The post House Tour: A Stylist “Undecorates” a 1929 Tudor-ish Cottage appeared first on Emily Henderson.

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Published on March 05, 2019 01:00

Mountain House Monday: The Search for Sentimental/Family Inspired Art

I suffer from chronic “sentimental-memory-making.” The #1 symptom usually involves me orchestrating a big and messy project to do as a family that the kids aren’t even ready for, but it makes us (me) so happy and yes creates memories that I KNOW we’ll all keep. Ever tried building and decorating a gingerbread house from scratch with three 2-year-olds? How about papier maché with gallons of glue? “Building a birdhouse” with a 3-year-old boy and two hammers? Nail polish marble art like out of real nail polish full of chemicals and toxins that don’t come off their hands or faces for days? I’ve been accused, and have pleaded guilty, of so many parenting fails in the name of my selfish “memory making.” But it’s my crime to commit, my mess, my children and continue my serial record I will.

As we keep trucking on the decor phase of the mountain house, I increasingly want to bring in as much personal, family and sentimental pieces as possible, without adding too many “things” up here. So the natural way to do it is in the art and textiles. I’ve been brainstorming, obsessed with personalized art that is pretty, feels curated, unique and furthermore trying to figure out how to involve the kids in the actual making of it. Here are the ideas that I’m exploring, some of which I’m VERY excited about.

Pressed Flowers
art projects for kids

image sources: left | right

My kids pick them and while I know this is normal, the ritual of running into the house and yelling “mama I picked this beautiful flower for you!” will NEVER not be special. Up here, they are more branches and pretty leaves, manzanita and pine. I am a massive fan of flowers and trees (this blog was first called The Brass Petal, after all) and I grew up pressing flowers myself. Plus, I’ve put two forest murals in my house so this seems like a very natural collection.

The question is how to do it in a new way that feels more unique to us and this house? We always try to take a good idea and reinvent it, right? So here’s what we have so far: I want to tweak the scale by going BIG. This could either be big flowers/branches, OR we could press a ton of flowers and wait to put them in a frame until we have a massive amount, then frame a huge huge huge collection, in an interestingly arranged, curated color palette. No pics of that to reference because we haven’t seen it done yet (thus making me really excited about it). I don’t love the idea of an organic collection creating a gallery wall up here (I love it in general but I want it to be more clean and modern) so I’m thinking either a large scale grid or one big piece that we make over the summer together.

image source

Not exactly like this, but you get the idea. Pressed flowers, done EHD style.

Curated Kid Paintings & Paper Collage Art
art projects for kids

image source

Art you actually love looking at. I’m sure every mom in the history of parenting has tried this, but here’s my new attempt that I’ve already started: I pulled out all colors in the color palette of this house—muted greens, blues, grays, blushes, blacks—and gave them materials in all of these colors.

This included pastels, watercolors, acrylic paints, colored pencils, ripped up fabric, tissue paper, origami paper, watercolor paper, newspaper, construction paper and let them go at it. Charlie isn’t that into drawing but he sure loves ripping up paper and playing with glue. This is going to take some time, but it’s super fun and they know they are working on something with me that will live up at the mountain house.

image source | artist: kirill bergart

The inspiration for this comes from two of my current favorite artists whose work I have purchased for both homes: Kirill Bergart and MaryAnn Puls. Both of these artists create really inspiring, highly provocative mixed media pieces that are quiet and interesting. I love to stare at both of them.

photo by sara tramp | from: my living room update

These paper hands in my living room are by Kirill Bergart while the mixed media piece below that was used in the living room of the is by MaryAnn Puls:

photo by sara tramp | from: the portland project living room reveal

Now, do I want or expect my kids to do anything like this? Am I teaching my kids how to knock off adult artists? No. They are 3 and 5. This is just the inspiration that got me excited and made me think that curating the materials might actually produce a piece or multiple pieces that can adorn the walls of this house and remind me of this age and time. I’m even thinking that I can take all their work and collage them together on one big piece of beautiful paper or canvas. Maybe I can add some embroidered bits. I’m not sure, but so far I’m loving the process with them. This is more about the process, doing it together than the final outcome. It’s an experiment in doing an art project over time together, and if it is attractive then all the better.

Sun Art

image source

I have ALWAYS loved sun art and last summer we started doing it together up here. The kids love it because all you do is leave an object on top of a piece of sun paper and let the sun bleach it out. You then add water to stop the reaction. It’s scientific, quick, colorful and pretty. So I’m going to find a way to integrate sun art that, again, we do with the kids up here. Maybe it’s all leaves they forage, or maybe it’s their current favorite toy. Then we can either collage them all onto one big piece or create a grid down the hallway.

image source
Sentimental Quilts
art projects for kids

image source

Hold on to your granny on this one. I grew up quilting and have an affinity toward pieces of fabric sewn together. I made some very similar to that above, but this would be different. My kids are a bit young to quilt with me, but I’m VERY into textile art right now. So I have a plan and it sounds creepy, but I’ve been hoarding some of their baby blankets or my favorite, nostalgic clothes of theirs. Not a ton as I’m such a purger, I wish it were more, actually, but I can’t seem to donate their baby blankets specifically because all I do is picture the first months of their lives in them. Some of them are in bright colors that clash, so here’s what I’m thinking: I’ll dye them all the same tone OR bleach them out. You’ll still see the pattern and get the texture, but it will reduce the color palette. I was telling my friends about this and they looked at me VERY skeptically but then I was in a store and saw the work of Adam Pogue and I said “SEE THIS IS IT.”

image source | artist: adam pogue
art projects for kids

image source | artist: adam pogue

Turns out he follows me on Instagram and is based in LA so I’ve reached out to see if he wanted to work with me on it, even if it’s just giving some advice or yes, if he WANTS me to drop off the blankets/clothes and give him free reign to create a large piece of textile art for our house I WILL NOT SAY NO. I’m still waiting to hear back and if he’s not involved then I’ll do my best and likely create something ugly, but if it’s all blue or all bleached and combined with simple washed linen or denim then I think it could be pretty enough either for a piece of art, headboard or a blanket at the foot of the bed.

The next two ideas are pretty basic, but I think we can execute them well and frankly, they are always good ideas.

Black & White Family Photo Wall
art projects for kids

image sources: left | right

The reason for this began because I have SO MANY already and they just aren’t popping in our LA English Tudor as much, but when I brought them up here with the dreamy light and simple modern architecture, they sing. They are quiet, interesting and obviously very personal.

I like the idea of putting them above the bench here in the front of the house by the staircase:

I need more interesting shapes and texture, more photo strips, Polaroids, etc. But it’s the perfect fit up here and it makes me super happy. Part of me wants to mix in other wood tones, but I have so many in white frames that I’m like “why not just keep it simple?” I will mix up the white frame profile and the matting, though so that it looks interesting.

Monthly/Seasonal Polaroids
art projects for kids

photo by tessa neustadt | from: sara’s living room reveal

Lastly, another long term photo project because I suffer from an incessant need for sentimentality (my scrapbooking has gotten out of control). I got a polaroid camera from Jess for Christmas and while I’m still learning how to actually take a good picture, the kids love it and will actually let me take photos of them. So ideally, we’d do one a month, but I think that’s a bit ambitious. Maybe one a year each? Or one summer, one winter each every year? I don’t know. I just love seeing them altogether in a grid and there is something inherently nostalgic in a polaroid that gets lost in a printed photo.

image source

So that’s where we are at. Family memory making in the form of art projects that with some luck, curating and discipline, we can ACTUALLY put on the walls and always remember how we did it as a family. Anybody need any pink, red, orange or yellow art supplies?

I’M JOKING

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Published on March 04, 2019 01:00

The Link Up: Rummage Sale Details + The Best Tomato Soup + New Product Faves

image source | design by sarah sherman samuel

This past week was pretty darn good. I think I achieved a near perfect balance of work and family (with the help of the one and only Brian Henderson). This is not something that happens often, as the concept of balance feels like as likely as me riding a unicorn, with the perfect color of blonde on my head, owning every Thonet chair in the universe. But this week I NEEDED to get in a solid writing session for that book I keep saying I’m writing.

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Published on March 03, 2019 01:00

On My Body This Week: Crazy Coats, My Favorite Jeans, A Petite-Friendly Jumper

Emily Henderson Fashion On My Body Mar 2 Opener1

The good news is that these posts are inspiring me to actually try harder to do better with the clothes on my body. This week is not evidence of the shift, but we have a photo shoot planned where my friend is helping me curate five “lewks” to show you. This is, however, just normal clothes on my body, due to that fact that I’m shooting four days a week these days and I have to be comfortable and wear clothes that I kinda don’t care about. Then on the weekends, I’m momming really hard so I need comfy cute clothes there, too. It’s probably why I wear a lot of boyfriend jeans, T-shirts, cute sweats and no-lace shoes (you have to take off your shoes a lot on set for stepping on rugs, but working without shoes all day hurts so I opt for mules or easy to put on books/slides).

Anyway, for any of you who like comfy, flattering and casual clothes, then take a peek at my unimpressive looks.

Monday:
Monday Revised

Shirt (similar) | Coat | Pants (similar) | Boots | Lip color

I actually tried this day. I love that new camel coat (although I’m now thinking it’s too big). Maybe I’ll have the sleeves taken up. The jeans are from a year or so ago but I linked up similar ones from Madewell (these are also Madewell). The high waist is slimming and flattering.

Tuesday:
Tuesday Revised Again

Shirt | Coat | Pants | Shoes

Tuesday night, we all went to happy hour as a team for Velinda’s bday at Salazar and I put on my new coat. I had a big credit at a store that I returned stuff to YEARS ago and they still had it in their system, so naturally, I splurged on a ridiculous pink coat, of unnatural proportions (which I love). Still wearing those jeans every day and yes, it’s time for some new nude mules…any suggestions?

Wednesday:
Wednesday Outfit

I’m prone to costumes and when I’m at the mountain house, I get rugged. I’m obsessed with that new little jacket, and those pants are so comfortable that I bought TWO pairs—one that fits more like a boyfriend and these that are more fitted. I highly recommend them (and they were on sale when I bought them for $60).

Thursday:
Image From Ios 5

Shirt | Jumpsuit | Necklace

Lastly, I’m diving deeper into the jumper trend with this one that I bought at Gift of Garb after I sold a bunch of clothes. I’ve never heard of this brand but the cut is pretty flattering for this style, plus it has cute pockets. Not recommended for the long-torsoed out there as reaching high to get something out of a cabinet is pretty uncomfortable if you know what I mean, and I have a pretty short torso.

Friday:

Shirt | Jacket | Sweatpants

When I sent the team this photo, I first said “wait…what exactly am I showing people here?” Sorry. Friday was a travel day after a few days of shooting up at the mountain house, so I wore my new very comfy sweatpants that have pockets and a really cute waistband. I was in desperate need of layering shirts, you know, those really thin, comfy easy to throw on shirts that you put underneath other shirts (your welcome for the definition of layer). This one is Lou & Grey and is insanely soft. As is my new chunky sweatshirt blazer thing (also Lou & Grey).

That’s it, guys. Have a lovely Saturday and don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the link up. xx Emily

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Published on March 02, 2019 01:00

$50 Bentwood Chairs, $10 Stools, Free Bookcases: The Best Dallas Craigslist Finds Right Now

Emily Henderson Trolling Craigslist Dallas

Hey everyone, Emily Bowser here (EHD styling assistant, and secondhand and DIY aficionado), back with our second installment of Trolling Craigslist. Last time, we stayed close to our ‘hood in the LA area, but today we’re heading down to Texas—Dallas specifically. We found tons of chrome, SO many chairs and maybe the cutest $10 stool we’ve ever seen. Let’s take a look:

Vintage Mid-Century Modern Sling Chairs, $600
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Okay, there may or may not be a chrome theme in this post. I was at the flea market with Julie the other week and I was all, “are people still into chrome? Is it weird that I’m STILL into chrome??” She didn’t give me a good answer, so I want to hear from you in the comments section! IS CHROME STILL COOL? AM I STILL COOL? DO PEOPLE SAY “COOL” ANYMORE?? I think the bases of these are very “cool.” Or, as Sara’s younger brother, Shade, who has been helping us on the production end of things, would say “dope, dope.” The bases of these are “dope” and easily worth $300 each in my mind (though I can see why $600 might feel $$$$ for secondhand furniture). I’m not sure what the cost here would be to recover, but I feel like it wouldn’t be too bad because you wouldn’t need much yardage. That said, I’ve never recovered something quite like that, where the fabric is what is connecting it to the base. In a less aggressive fabric, I think they would feel visually lighter than a lot of other big and comfy chairs out there because the design gives the illusion of floating.

Vintage Pair of Chairs, $449
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If there isn’t a chrome theme in this post, then there IS a matching pair theme (keep reading)! I actually LOVE this rose color and wouldn’t recover them, just give ’em a good cleaning. $250ish/chair is not bad but I bet you can talk them down to $400 at least. Oh, and I love that you could separate them or put them together as a love seat.

Antique Pedestal Oak Table With 4 Oak Highback Chairs, $40
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Okay, if it’s not chrome or a matching set, then SOLID WOOD is a third theme you will see today.

I am a fan of antique pedestal tables. I own one myself. They are perfect for smaller spaces because they are easy to walk around. There’s a whole conversation that I could have about mixing up shapes in your space, as well. The short version is this: a lot of times, you will look around and everything is a rectangle in a house, couches, tables, the actual rooms! Mixing up shapes is one of the easiest ways to make a space feel less cookie cutter. I’m not a huge fan of the chairs but I LOVE the shape of the base of the table and $40 is a great price for an oak table. You could probably even just take the set, and sell the chairs themselves for at least $50. MONEY MAKER. ALSO, do I spy wheels?? I love a table on wheels. All you need is a sander and a sealant or stain if you please.

2 Chairs, $40
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$40??? Deal. They look like they swivel and I am a fan of a swivel and a…MATCHING PAIR. I have a chair that swivels in my family room that sits kind of in front of the TV which is great for two reasons: 1. It blocks the TV and makes it less of a center piece and 2. When the TV is on, you just swivel it out of the way! They look to be in really good condition so if the color works for your living space, this is a no brainer. Recovering would not be cheap, because that is a lot of fabric but also…$40!! So there’s room in the budget to make these your dream Goop x CB2 knockoff chairs.

Pair of Chrome/Leather Bauhaus Chairs, $200
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HELLO CHROME! (The evidence is mounting for the “cool” *ahem* “dope” factor, am I right??) $200 for the PAIR?? About to drive to Texas and get these myself. Would be very cool to mix them into a dining room situation.

Vintage Domore Conference Chairs, $145
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There’s been a bit of a debate over office chairs in the office lately. Fashion? Function? HAS ANY OFFICE CHAIR EVER DONE BOTH?? (If you know, please comment below!!). If we lived in Texas I’d try to convince the team to get these and have them recovered. Not cheap if you add in recovering for sure, but $145 each isn’t bad. I’d try to negotiate down if I bought all eight. But, all that said, good luck finding a comfortable and good looking office chair for less than a million dollars anyway. Also, would like to note chrome base here.

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Published on March 01, 2019 01:00

A Home Office Makeover With Threshold Removable Wallpaper by Target

I’m going to take a guess and say that your blood pressure skyrockets when the phrase “do-it-yourself wallpaper installation” is uttered, am I right? But guys, the days of fussy, paste-y paper as your only option are SO far behind us and thank goodness because EHD loves their wallpaper. Now, it’s so much easier to find peel-and-stick varieties in very very cute patterns, and I don’t just mean at specialty retailers. What a time to be alive where you can swing by your local Target, grab a few rolls and completely change the vibe of a space in as long as it takes you to put it up.

For any of you out there that are renters, commitmentphobes or just generally scarred from bygone installation (and removal) methods, this post is for you. But before getting into the nitty gritties of how we did what we did (and some other fun DIYs), let me walk you through where we are right now…

Large Gingham Wallpaper | Twill Stripe Wallpaper | Delphinnia Floral with Metallic Ground Wallpaper

Threshold reached out to see if we’d be up for working with their new neutral removable wallpapers (available in-store in the home innovation section of your local Target and Target.com). They sent us samples of three new patterns (above) and because it was hard to say no to that super cute large gingham, we set out to find a space we could makeover and Emily Bowser offered up a room in her home that was sitting pretty unused.

Because we didn’t have a “real” live-in client, we created one based on something we felt we had a firm grasp on: a design student. I think the part of the team that attended design school would agree that the space they’re ~~crying and stressed~~ tinkering away in most of their free hours needs to be streamlined and organized with just enough style to provide a springboard for ideas without being cloying (back me up here EHDers).

A good office should be a few things: comfortable, effective, organized, inspiring, regardless of what you’re studying/where you work, so we split up this space into a few different zones: the desk is Grand Central for work and projects, the seating corner is a great place to kick up your feet and flip through magazines/Pinterest when you’re in a creative slump (cat absolutely vital here) and the shelving in between is there to keep you tidy.

Chair | Ottoman | Round Pillow

Because we opted to keep the furnishing plan and pieces simple, the room was going to need a little punch by way of textiles, which is where the large gingham comes in to bring it all together.

Let’s dig into some things to keep in mind with peel-and-stick paper because, while it is as simple as peeling back the liner and adhering to wall (i.e. no messy, pastes or glues and no need to activate it with water), we learned a few installation notes along the way to make this relatively easy task even more efficient for you.

Supplies needed: one or two sets of hands, a step ladder, a straight edge, scissors, a sharp box cutter and a squeegee

First things first, buy more than you think before starting! No matter how perfectly you think you’ve measured, there will be waste, and you can always return an extra tube or two if you don’t open them.
This is not something I would recommend doing alone. The paper can be applied, removed and reapplied a surprising number of times but you will definitely need an extra set of hands, especially if your ceilings are high.
Prepping the walls is important both for ease of installation, as well as the eventual removal. If your walls aren’t smooth, sanding down bigger bumps is a good idea because anything that causes the pattern to be off means the pieces you put on thereafter will also be off and a few sheets in, the inconsistency can really start to show. Also, don’t try to paper around faceplates and outlets. Simply remove the faceplates, apply the paper over, then (carefully) cut off the excess paper and replace your plates. Same goes for windows. It creates more waste, but your pattern repeat will be way more accurate. Windows that have casings are going to be a bit tricky, though, so making a cardboard or paper template may be a good idea to trace onto the paper and cut before applying.
Take the time to squeegee before moving on to a new sheet to ensure all your air bubbles are out and you won’t have to adjust.
I recommend leaving an inch or so extra at the top in case your walls are uneven so you can adjust as you go on. At the very end, just take a sharp box cutter to the ceiling edge for a clean line.
All that said, a lot of people don’t have level floors and therefore the walls can be a bit wonky. Think about it like tweezing your eyebrows, though. Up close, you’re going to see all the imperfections and keep plucking past the point that is flattering, but if you step back occasionally and look at the “big picture”, you’ll hardly be able to point out the things that drove you nuts up close.

[image error]

In total, we used 7.5 rolls for 170 square feet and the whole process, start to finish, took us about 2 hours (though maybe budget twice that if you’re a Type A perfectionist).

If you’ve never installed removable wallpaper before and have questions about ANY part of the process, how to figure out how many rolls you need, etc., pop into the comments and let us know what you need us to talk more about. The first wall is the most intimidating because you’re not sure where to start (we recommend hanging your first strip top to bottom from a corner), but once you get going, it’s like anything else…you just feel more confident as you’re figuring it out.

Speaking of things to figure out, we’re moving on to another DIY part of this makeover. We had the idea to add in a clear inspiration board as not to cover up our newly installed paper, and instead of buying something, we did what any overachiever would do and set out to make one ourselves after searching “clear eraser board” on Pinterest and studying the plethora of simple DIYs we found.

Here’s what you’ll need: A piece of acrylic (which you can buy at most home improvement stores) cut to whatever size works for your space, 3/4″ wooden dowel cut to size (noted below), 2.5″ wood screws, hot glue gun

Now for how to do it:

As most of these acrylic board DIYs are made with sign standoffs (which we thought was our plan, at first), it turns out you have to order those online because not many stores carry them, so we improvised, and now you can, too.
Cut your dowel into four, 1-inch pieces and four, 1/2-inch pieces.
Predrill the 1-inch pieces for your screws to avoid splitting.
Measure and drill holes into the four corners of the acrylic, then screw through the acrylic and into the predrilled 1-inch dowel piece. This will attach everything to the wall. (Quick note: when the screw was just barely through the dowel, one of us held the acrylic up while the other screwed the four corners into the wall, making sure to hit a stud. If you’re going into drywall, you’ll have to think about anchors.)
Once the whole thing is secured to the wall, put a dab of hot glue onto the screw head, add the 1/2-inch dowel cutting, hold for a second until dry. (We tried super glue at first, but it didn’t work as well, so we recommend the hot glue, for sure).
To get extra fancy, we finished it off with a 3M magnetic strip to attach a pen cup to hold our dry erase markers.

Emily Henderson Blog Threshold Message Board Gif

Emily Henderson Blog Threshold Message Board Gif

And finally, a DIY that Bowser and Julie dreamed up which is SO creative and super cost effective…the pin-up shade:

Emily Henderson Blog Threshold Curtains Gif 1

All we used for this was some gray Made by Design curtain panels, Threshold drapery clip rings (with the rings pulled off) and some simple nails.

Simply measure your window, cut your curtain panel to size (be sure to leave a little extra for the hem), clean up the unfinished sides with iron-on hem tape, clip on the ring clips to the top, bottom and middle, then hammer in three nails at the top of your window (where the clips loop into) and BOOM, you have window treatments. How genius is that?

And there you have it. An empty shell of a room transformed to fit any budding design student (or anyone, really!) with a few smart and simple DIYs, and of course, that cute and neutral yet punchy peel-and-stick Threshold wallpaper. What do you think? Can you see yourself working in this space?

*This post is in partnership with Threshold but all words, designs and selections are our own. Thanks for supporting the brands we love that support the blog.

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Published on February 28, 2019 01:00

Expert Approved: 10 of the Hardest to Kill House Plants + Planter Roundup

image source | design by nate berkus & jeremiah brent | plant design by rachael freitas

Written by Arlyn Hernandez

Plants. In the PG-censored words of Emily Henderson “What could people need to know? They’re so **bleeping** easy.” Let me rewind for a second, to give you some context. Picture this: All of team EHD, up in the mountains for a staff retreat in early January. The fireplaces are roaring, the soup is flowing, and we’re spit-firing off ideas for our editorial calendar for the first two quarters of 2019. I bring up the fact that I think the craving for plants has replaced the yearning for children for millennials and Gen Z (only sort of kidding), the rest of the team hoops and hollers in agreement, proclaiming that YES, INDEED we should be doing regular plant content. Enter Emily’s comment. She was pretty dumbfounded that we all collectively were SO excited about the potential to write more about plants, not understanding why we would…who would care? Um, everyone Emily, everyone (back me up here…please?).

You guys may or may not know that I used to be the Design Editor at Apartment Therapy, but—sorry Maxwell if this is insider information—every.single.reader was OBSESSED with plants, so I had to imagine that such interest was pretty universal. I can go into a much larger philosophical/societal hypothesis on why I think that young people care so dang much about indoor greenery these days (we’re happy to own something, no backyards, putting off families+student debt, etc.) but instead, I’m going to focus in on what everyone on our team wanted to know more about…what plants can’t I kill easily?

Somehow, we’re all obsessed with plants, but no one seems to be able to claim a green thumb or keep anything alive for extended periods of time. Anyone else around here feel that way? Though, I will say, I’m pretty proud because I’ve kept a fiddle leaf fig tree (that I bought for $30 at Costco!!!!) alive for seven months and find it pretty easy actually…just keep in diffused bright sun, water when the top inch or so of dirt feels dry (or the leaves start getting a little droopy…that tree is expressive and tells you what it needs pretty clearly). Anyhow, I digress. Emily might have plants all figured out, but we didn’t, so I reached out to an dedicated expert for some help. Rachael Freitas of UPCOUNTRY Plant + Design came to the rescue with lots of great tips for any plant newbies as well as 10 house plant varieties to consider if you’re thumb isn’t exactly a verdant shade of green.

I’m going to let Rachael take it from here:

First things first, you gotta master the basics of keeping a plant thriving (then we’ll get into the plants to actually buy). Here are three things to commit to memory (or just write it down…or Pin this article for reference!):

Don’t repot ‘em!

Sounds counter-intuitive to most, but the best way to keep your interior plants alive and well is to keep them in the plastic nursery grow pot they come in, rather than repotting them in your decorative container. When you purchase a plant, also purchase a plant liner. Most nurseries carry them, so just ask for the right size for your plants. From there, choose a cool decorative pot that is a bit bigger so the liner and plant can fit inside. (General rule of thumb: a 6” plant should go in an 8” decorative pot, an 8” plant in a 10” pot, etc. Plus, many really stylish pots rarely have drainage holes or look good with a saucer under them.)

The reason for this is plants want to be able to drain. When you repot them into a decorative pot with no drainage holes, it doesn’t take long for that plant to drown. Additionally, houseplants enjoy the cozy environment their nursery grow pot provides. Keep the roots protected by leaving it in its original home. When the plant starts looking sad, you can repot into a larger nursery pot (also available at most nurseries). But most interior plants can thrive for years in their original container.

Use distilled or filtered water.

Surprise surprise—the fluoride, chlorine and other chemicals added to tap water may be killing your plant. So give them the fighting chance they need by using clean water. Also, water slooooowly. Really allow the water to soak into the roots. Don’t dump water in quickly – it will rush straight past the roots and out the drainage holes.

Pay attention to their environmental cues.

Since plants are living things, they often indicate what they need. See a plant reaching for a window? Rotate it and let all sides get their turn in the sun. Is your plant getting dry and brittle? Move it away from any heat and air sources. Yellow, wilting leaves, and brown tips generally mean it’s waterlogged, so steady that liberal watering hand. Most houseplants like to dry out a bit between waterings. By starting with hardier plants, you can learn their cues as you grow in your green knowledge…before diving into a fiddle leaf fig, let’s say.

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Published on February 27, 2019 01:00

Jess’ MOTO: You Have To See How She Hacked Her Rental Kitchen With DIYs

Hi everyone! Missed you. So glad we are back together because man, was I overwhelmed by the love last week when I revealed my living room and cannot tell you how much it meant to me. Are you ready to see my sweet little kitchen I teased in the intro (also head there for befores)? That’s her at the end there! With this one, I had some challenges. Challenges that are EXTREMELY relatable to most renters, I think. Because in a living room or bedroom, you can paint the walls, switch out the lights and hang art to make it feel totally new. BUT in a kitchen (and bathroom), there are typically less than attractive permanent materials that, without involving construction and $$, you must live with. My kitchen had two things going for it, though: That open shelving (hey pretty!) and enough space for a dining nook (what?!). However, there were three things that were a thorn in my side: The floors (that I begrudgingly embraced), the countertop and a broken refrigerator. (Fun fact, my lease stated that my landlord wasn’t required to provide appliances, so it was on me to figure this one out…I asked).

My mind started spinning with ways to functionally rectify these visual “wrongs.” I started with the fridge as that was the most pressing. Or so I thought…

Now, there were a couple of restrictions. Obviously, as you can see from the photo, it couldn’t be a tall fridge because of my shelving overhang. So what started out as something SO exciting (the opportunity to display beautiful kitchenwares) became a real burden, real fast. I was left with about two options for refrigerators I didn’t hate that I found online. The other rather obvious other issue was that it couldn’t take up a lot of my precious square footage. I had my breakfast nook to consider! Well, I ended up living with said broken fridge until TWO WEEKS before the shoot. Whoops. I just kept putting it off. It ended up not feeling that pressing since I only kind of cook. I’m trying to cook more but I wouldn’t say I love it. Plus, who really wants to spend money on a fridge they know they aren’t going to love?? (I’m raising my hand).

Then, another serendipitous thing occurred. You may have noticed that that pretty Smeg looks an awful like the one from Velinda’s tiny kitchen reveal. Good eye! It is the EXACT one. There was a bit of a miscommunication and a fridge that opened on the wrong side was sent to Velinda. Smeg, being the wonderful company that they are, sent her the correct one. But the wrong one wasn’t picked up right away, so I thought maybe they might consider letting me keep it and then they wouldn’t have to deal with shipping. They said yes (!!!) and I got the fridge I always dreamed of having. Guys, there is a wine rack inside. Guys, an ACTUAL wine rack to help secure my already strong bond with the Trader Joe’s wine section.

That is the only thing in my kitchen that was gifted (I like being upfront about these things). Everything else came straight out of my ever-shrinking wallet. But we are not going to think about that because we have the rest of the kitchen to discuss.

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Published on February 26, 2019 01:00

Jess’ MOTO: You Have To See How She Hacked Her Kitchen With DIYs

Hi everyone! Missed you. So glad we are back together because man, was I overwhelmed by the love last week when I revealed my living room and cannot tell you how much it meant to me. Are you ready to see my sweet little kitchen I teased in the intro (also head there for befores)? That’s her at the end there! With this one, I had some challenges. Challenges that are EXTREMELY relatable to most renters, I think. Because in a living room or bedroom, you can paint the walls, switch out the lights and hang art to make it feel totally new. BUT in a kitchen (and bathroom), there are typically less than attractive permanent materials that, without involving construction and $$, you must live with. My kitchen had two things going for it, though: That open shelving (hey pretty!) and enough space for a dining nook (what?!). However, there were three things that were a thorn in my side: The floors (that I begrudgingly embraced), the countertop and a broken refrigerator. (Fun fact, my lease stated that my landlord wasn’t required to provide appliances, so it was on me to figure this one out…I asked).

My mind started spinning with ways to functionally rectify these visual “wrongs.” I started with the fridge as that was the most pressing. Or so I thought…

Now, there were a couple of restrictions. Obviously, as you can see from the photo, it couldn’t be a tall fridge because of my shelving overhang. So what started out as something SO exciting (the opportunity to display beautiful kitchenwares) became a real burden, real fast. I was left with about two options for refrigerators I didn’t hate that I found online. The other rather obvious other issue was that it couldn’t take up a lot of my precious square footage. I had my breakfast nook to consider! Well, I ended up living with said broken fridge until TWO WEEKS before the shoot. Whoops. I just kept putting it off. It ended up not feeling that pressing since I only kind of cook. I’m trying to cook more but I wouldn’t say I love it. Plus, who really wants to spend money on a fridge they know they aren’t going to love?? (I’m raising my hand).

Then, another serendipitous thing occurred. You may have noticed that that pretty Smeg looks an awful like the one from Velinda’s tiny kitchen reveal. Good eye! It is the EXACT one. There was a bit of a miscommunication and a fridge that opened on the wrong side was sent to Velinda. Smeg, being the wonderful company that they are, sent her the correct one. But the wrong one wasn’t picked up right away, so I thought maybe they might consider letting me keep it and then they wouldn’t have to deal with shipping. They said yes (!!!) and I got the fridge I always dreamed of having. Guys, there is a wine rack inside. Guys, an ACTUAL wine rack to help secure my already strong bond with the Trader Joe’s wine section.

That is the only thing in my kitchen that was gifted (I like being upfront about these things). Everything else came straight out of my ever-shrinking wallet. But we are not going to think about that because we have the rest of the kitchen to discuss.

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Published on February 26, 2019 01:00