i'm in love

i just stumbled across this picture on pinterest, and i think i'm in love

Source: bullardberry.tumblr.com via Kate on Pinterest

i think this is seriously my dream kitchen.

if i could make this our desktop background just so i could stare at it every day without confusing my husband, i would.

god i love it.

new life goal

T h i s :

To live in a place remote enough for this to be useful much of the year.

Or at least where you're neighbors won't be walking up/by unannounced.

Motivation Needed

Today was Easter.  Work all week was slow, plus I was training a new server, plus I was so looking forward to Sunday, being off and hanging out with family, that it was really a wringer of a week.  It all finally (slowwwly, but finally!) ended at about 1:30am Sunday morning when I arrived home, packed some clothes and drove out to the hub's grandparents' for the holiday.  I may have been up until dawn in a sleeping household washing church clothes in the basement, but I'm usually up until about 5am anyway, so what's the difference?  Waking up a 10 (ok, 10:30) was not that hard!

Church was long, but my after-mass nap was awesome, and we made an Easter miracle by saving us all from caffeine-deprivation (walmart with the assist)!  Great day with family, lots of meat, creamy veggies and more candy and cake than I care to remember, thank you very much.

All that said, I have declared our day off today as THE DAY for spring cleaning the apartment.  When we first moved in, it wasn't so bad because we only moved the stuff we wanted.  But when our other lease finally ended and we had to just grab the rest and cram it in, and so our poor new apartment has come to resemble... a house of hoarders!!  THE HORROR!!!!!

WISH US LUCK!
updates to follow!!!

dreaming of painting walls

i've recently discovered the term that best describes the color of the walls

 in our new basement rental and it is unfortunate indeed:

skin.

yes, skin color. it's a peachy, tannish beige color, neutral, i suppose.

but when you're stuck in a basement, albeit a cute one, you find yourself wishing you could brighten the place up a bit.

i dream of these two amazing color combinations:

 

 i love grey, though this could be a bit too dark for our situation

 

 look! tan! maybe i'll just paint our ceiling neon baby blue!

gorgeous royal blue

even bright white would be sooo much better

 

le sigh. it's only temporary.....

bathroom love

as some of you may know, this girl appreciates a good bathroom
..............
check out this AMAZING bathroom redo
i mean, was there even a window in the room before?!
click above and check out the "befores" to really appreciate the transformation!

GORGEOUS color combination; love this hidden pop!

and just LOOK at that toilet!
is it comfortable to sit on? couldn't tell ya.
but who cares? i WANT IT!

Scandinavian gorgeousness

enjoying the pure, minimalist, white, scandinavian goodness
stumbled upon here.

it's interesting to see what you save when looking at such a specialized website as this - it seems I save the least scandinavian pictures of the bunch
(prove me wrong, enormous caribou antler!!),
but I need that bit of warmth some of the other starkly white/empty pictures lack. It countries with such loooong, dark winters, you'd think they'd want some coziness inside too!

disclaimer: I don't believe all homes in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland are decorated in this sometimes severe style, but I get the feeling many of the population aspire to this aesthetic, perhaps.

itching to travel

Roma

the hubs and i just realized that we haven't lived in europe (glorious europe!) in almost 4 whole years now. FOUR YEARS! to be away from a place we know we love for that long is becoming unbearable, but we're trying to save up as much as we can before hop back across the pond for good. no vacations, no splurges, just workworkwork and savesavesave!

powder in Zillertal, Austria

Praha = true love

for now, amazing videos like Mike Matas' still frame movies keep us focused on our goals!

Morocco & Spain from Mike Matas on Vimeo.

this is the TRUTH!

roaming again

to continue the theme from the last post, i'm loving this sneak peak on design*sponge today: rob brinson and jill sharp brinson's georgia studio in a former plow factory, with all the huge windows and wide open spaces i dream of! if only we could all live such in such uncluttered environs!

and it's all theirs

do I spy a spotted horse?

beautiful, if a bit sterile? maybe a rug or two...

love those sinks

and those chairs

check out the rest of the peek for some more gorgeous antique/industrial inspiration, beautiful grey woodwork and exposed brick, and i just can't get over those windows!!

freedom to roam

Even though I really love "living small," our tiny

apartment sometimes makes me wish for
w i d e - o p e n - s p a c e s

inspiration

more bedroom inspiration, since the first one didn't seem to work!

gorgeous

I tend to lean more towards the neutrals, whites, grays and naturals in home decor, but there is definitely something to be said for a jaw-dropping, boldly gorgeous room like this:

to me it's simply, incredibly beautiful.

operation bedroom

my mission, should I choose to accept it:

make bedroom look more like this:


current state:

yeah.

step 1: tell sun to shine in more often.
winter light = not enough
step 2: find motivation to clean up all the JUNK at the foot of the bed
oh wait, step 1.5: make bed!

...........

wish me luck!

saarinen

for a while now i've found myself falling further and further in love with Saarinen, specifically Eero, the younger genius. even more specifically, i'm enthralled with his tulip base table, which is just about universally (yes, even in the andromeda galaxy, I'm sure) recognizable.

although i generally prefer the table without the matching chairs
(a little too much tulip for my tastes),
it can be made to work.

i have the opportunity to pick up a craigslist sale of the ikea docksta version for over $100 off the new price, only i'd have to drive to wheeling, wv to get it... but ooohh how i'm contemplating the possibility!


ps. not only did this icon create gorgeous tables with period-transcending powers, he's raaather well known for his architecture as well. for example, this little number to be found in st. louis:

and the surreal TWA terminal at JFK

almost Seuss-ical ... wow.

clean and simple in the city

The Selby featured a gorgeous house this week:

Artists and designers Lyndsay Caleo and Fitzhugh Karol's Brooklyn home is inspiration right up my alley - clean white with warm wood and antique found objects make a cozy but minimalistic interior that I am loving!

I'm even enthralled with their (what I think is IKEA) medicine cabinet and above-comode toilet paper array! Check out the post over at The Selby for many more pictures!

And if their stuffed-animal of a dog goes missing soon, don't look in my apartment because I definitely DID NOT steal him!

sharing is caring

just a round-up of things I've been reading/digging/loving right now:

why oh why wasn't it i who took this photo?! ie. i want to be there!

Prêt à Voyager is quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs, mostly because she resides in paris but also because she hails from baltimore!! i lovelovelove the boarding pass series and frequently find new blogs to read through the interesting travelers she features. also, great paris blogs and generally fabulous links on her page!


she recently returned to charm city for a wacky race around (and in! eek!) the harbor called the baltimore kinetic sculpture race - check out the post and pics here!

gabby the gypsy in budapest

one of the blogs i've found through her and become devoted to is gypsy*diaries by a chica living in budapest. oh man can i tell you i've had a thing for budapest ever since seeing how cheap the housing is there on househuntersinternational? i want to mooove there! the city looks gorgeous and i am totally living vicariously through this girl

a sneak peek from england!

emma and james emmerson of greeting card and stationery publisher 1973 show off their gorgeous victorian home in brighton, england. click the picture for more!

the sneak peek feature on design*sponge is one of my favorite recurring posts because of all the inspiration garnered from real homes around the world. granted, i may be partial to the european aesthetic, but i like them all in their own way ;)

other newly-found blogs intéressants:
bikinis and passports - vicky, living in vienna - travel, pics, fashion
5 inch and up - sandra, finnish fashion student in london - some beautiful pictures


ciao for now! bedtime!!