actual progress! Bowie's nursery almost finished...

It started like this... This war zone was the Ground Zero of our little man's nursery. This is one of the short side walls. Each side wall looked the same - both had closets. We decided to keep this one, and turn the other closet into a bookcase (more on that later...)


We tore out the ceiling and I thought, "Why not take his ceiling all the way up?" Yeah. It was a huge project. The whole room has been a victim of what we project managers call "Scope Creep." But, I think it will be worth it.

So Steven built up the wall with studs and insulated the whole room. He re-wired everything, getting rid of the knob and tube. We planned out new outlets, cable, phone, etc.

The black felt paper went up to act as a moisture barrier, so it provides insultation. But most importantly, it will prevent light from showing through the gaps in the wood that went up on the walls.
Ahhh.... the wood. You know those highway projects where they have to tear down old houses and barns to make way for the new highway? We began salvaging materials from these projects... Not only is this the best sort of recycling, but it adds tons of character. Bowie's walls are covered in walnut planks from an old barn's hay loft. We have no idea how old the barn was, but the planks have saw marks on it from the tractor blade used to cut it.

We like to think that someday, Bowie will appreciate the character and daydream about all the horses that might have lived in that barn.

The sidewalls, and the little weird angles in the corners, were covered with beadboard. I think it gives a nice contrast to the rustic-rough walnut planks. This used to be a closet...

But now, it's a custom built-in! Two arch-top bookcases were built especially for Mr. BoBo's toys. He already put some of his favorite trucks on them. We like the way these turned out, so we are thinking about adding two more! The floor vents are functional. We decided to incorporate the HVAC vents into the design of the bookcases. The vent covers will be painted black.

A close-up of the bookcase. The angle comes from the roof line of the house. We think it will provide a cozy spot for Bowie's elephant collection.

And here is the closet we kept.


The ceiling is up next, and it will be a bear. It will be covered in corrugated steel with decorative wood beams.


The walls will be pale blue, the ceiling creamy white, the trim white. All outlets and fixtures will be matte black. The hardwood floor will be redone in ebony stain.

So much work, but we are in the home stretch!! (Hey, the project has only taken 3 years!)

Look at that ceiling... all those angles are like origami! I am sure there will be some choice words uttered with that project...

the perfect baby boy blue

I am super picky about my paint colors. I am always painstakingly looking for the "just right" blend of cream and white. Or the "not Pepto" pale pink. For Bowie's room, I needed the perfect baby boy blue. Not a pastel blue, but a pale blue with the perfect tinge of gray to keep it from being "too precious."

I think I found it. Through Trial and Error, of course. Paint swatches in the store? They are flat out liars, I tell you. You will find a dreamy dreamy color, buy a quart just to be sure, you paint the patch on your wall and... UGH! It is too bright. Too purple. Too sky blue.

It happens. I admit it. Those little paint chips are just too small to make an informed decision. But I did manage to find what, is in my opinion, the just right color for our little Bowie Morgan's walls.

Here is the first batch of colors that I tried out. These are in natural sunlight. Top left is Behr's Velvet Sky, which at night with the lights on looks purple. Top right is Disney / Behr's Blustery Day. At night, it looked bright sky blue. Bottom Right is Valspar's Tsunami Sky. At night, pale gray. The only color I am using is bottom left, Behr's Cream White. Cream White will be his ceiling color.

Now for some winners... These are all Ralph Lauren... Top left, Beach Water. Top right, Organza. Bottom, Spa. In this picture, Spa looks very bright, but in the room, it is actually pretty subdued. The Organza, which looks just right in the picture is actually pale barely-there.

It is really between Beach Water and Spa... Leaning toward Spa because Beach Water has a tinge of green, which is gorgeous, but I am looking for blue.

I will be checking the colors out tonight with the lights on to make a final decision. :)

and... decorating for the holidays in the bedroom

Steven suprised me with a little holiday cheer in the bedroom. Work has been taxing lately, and it was a happy surprise!

This is the built-in dresser in our bedroom. He cleared off all his usual books and whatnot and added the little pink tree the boys helped me decorate.

I picked up this little pins from Etsy. I thought they looked cute under the tree, but can't wait to leave them up year-round.

I love the gumdrop garland on the tree!

Don't you love genuine patina?

And another of Steven's radios. He is getting quite a collection going. :)

a (belated) holiday post

It was a white Christmas at the Cottage of Stone... we got a ton of snow! We were quite happy to have gotten all those wreathes hung before the snow hit. (And Steven did the lights on a semi-warm afternoon.)

I had a great time this year making my own gift tags out of sacks I had lying around. The Victoria's Secret bags made especially pretty tags.

When the tree was lit up at night, the living room was bathed in beautiful pink light.

Steven's mother joined us for Christmas. Even though the dining room is still in chaos, I tried to make it festive. I did the table in cream, silver and hot pink. So much food!!!!

Even little pup Tess joined in the fun in her pink Santa dress.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Dining room pictures coming soon.

the just-right fabric for living room pillows

I agonized over the just-right fabric for the living room pillows. I even bought some dishtowels at Anthropologie that I was all set to butcher into pillows... But it wasn't until now that I found the perfect print. I wanted lovely pinks,tans and greens, pastel but muted and not too bright.

I was so pleased when my package arrived from purlsoho with my new Alexander Henry fabrics.

a little something (someone) under the tree

I decided I wanted a new Christmas tree this year. I really thought about getting a pink tree... but with a million pink ornaments, I thought it might be too much. So I got mini pink trees for our bedroom, and a tall skinny tree (called "The Twiggy") for the living room. Steven is busy setting up the tree so we can decorate it Friday.

Steven also gave me an early Christmas present over our Thanksgiving holiday... I don't think it would have been wise to leave it wrapped up in a box for a month...

Meet Tess the Boston Terrier! She is 3 1/2 months old and a total sweetie. She is already almost pottytrained!! Smart puppy!

I know, I didn't *need* a puppy... but I really wanted another little dog we could keep inside and really.. the pretty pink sweaters don't come in 100 pound dog size!

I'm thankful for a visit from my family!

I am happy to report that my family is going me in Denver for Thanksgiving. Steven is packing up the babies tomorrow and bringing them to Denver for a little mini-vacation. I can't wait!! We will be hitting museums and an Avalanche game.

It's a nice break for him... cuz when he's back home, he needs to whip that dining room. (A house full of guests at Christmas!!!)

It is amazing how quickly the weather changes in Kansas. It is already getting cold and we have had a dusting of snow. Just a couple weeks ago, I snapped these pictures:

Happy Thanksgiving!!! I can't wait to take turns going around the table and saying what we are thankful for.

Do you have any special traditions in your family?

pretty prints

I just ordered this pretty print for my living room:
And, shhh! This is a Christmas gift for my son who loves hot air balloons:

Both are very affordable! See more at http://www.wearebrainstorm.com/

my new orange floral chair, with casters!!!

It's mine! The Angelo: Home Harlow chair in Mango!

Slowly but surely, my living room is coming together. I had some delays as the chair I wanted was on backorder for so long. But, I kept in constant contact with the designer via Twitter, and was finally able to snag one today! Yippee! At under $300, it is much more affordable than the Anthropologie Astrid chair that I fell in love with.

You might remember this mock-up I posted earlier:

On the right, there is my Harlow chair. The large natural fiber rug shown came from Lowe's. It is a 9x12 Roth + Allen chenille-jute rug in natural. It's huge and way cheaper than Pottery Barn prices. The striped rug on top is a 4x6 kilim snagged on the cheap from Overstock.

Yet to come, our queen anne sofa to be slipcovered in drop cloth material - a big job. The artwork shown has been ordered (more on that later). Oh, and pillows are in progress. I also have 2 side chairs currently covered in Amy Butler that I will be redoing in the drop cloth material.

How I love the yellow curtains. They really brightened up the room. And tie in great with the new kilim!

Halloween with KISS!

I thought I would post up some pictures of my boys Halloween night. We did a pretty great job decorating the house, if I do say so myself. Many of the littler kids were afraid to come up onto the porch!

This year, our boys went at KISS. Putting on that makeup was harder than I thought it would be!

L-R: Gene Simmons (Emery), Peter Criss (Dane) and Ace Frehley (Satchel)

Paul Stanley (Bowie) was too crabby to try makeup tonight.

A close-up of Gene. (Satchel actually does the big tongue thing better than Emery)

The boys won Best Group Costume at the Baldwin City Halloween contest! They let them sing a song into the mic. Emery was too shy, but Satch and Dane sang "I Was Made for Loving You" and "Calling Dr Love."

We had a dress rehearsal last week when we took the boys to the Damage Control grand opening. Here you can actually see Dane, I mean, Peter Criss's makeup. I ended up buying a better makeup for Ace's silver was way better Halloween night.

Hope everyone had a Happy & Safe Halloween!