Sneak Peek

A few little projects to go, but I really need to show you some of the in-process work at the Cheeky Monkey!

One of those decoupaged bathrooms

Custom plaid wallpaper

And "london underground" wall murals!

More finished photos, before and afters, and information to come.

Also.  I installed most of this adorable girl's room today, and my god, it is the cutest thing ever.  Final photos are pending electrician, which could take a while as we make other lighting decisions in the house, but I'll share some peaks next time I get over there.

Happy to be back!

Oofta

Well, spring break happened.

I was feeling desperate for a getaway, but a staycation was all we could manage.  We hit the Children's Museum, Como Zoo and Conservatory, Waterpark of America, The Children's Theatre, the library, the playground, and the Minnesota Zoo.  We tie dyed, painted an enormous canvas, and got out the sidewalk chalk.  We ate at old standbys like Noodles and Co and tried new places, both chain (SmashBurger) and local (Parka).  We saw The Croods.  The big thing for me was doing much of this on my kids' time.  So often, it feels like we are rushing them in and out, or offering limited time because we need to get to the grocery store or we didn't leave on time.  This week I tried to go with THEIR flow.  Imagine my surprise when I paid for parking at the Children's Museum and discovered we had been there for more than 5 1/2 hours!

I have to say, it was great to take a break from work, both client work and blogging.  When you run your own thing, it can be difficult to feel like you are ever "off."  My goal for the week was to be present for/with my kids.  It took a little time to settle in (switching gears can be like that), but in the end, I did, and feel refreshed for it.

I have lots to share, and I will dive back in--starting tomorrow!

Thanks friends, I have missed you!

Heather

I've always wanted to

I've always wanted to wallpaper a room in book pages, and today I am doing just that.  this is just the sample board.  We're doing the bathrooms (above a tile base) in a restaurant with a London Deli vibe.  I found AMAZING books at the local vintage book emporium Midway Books, including one called At Home With the Royal Family that has appendixes listing all of the Queen's household.  Things like Swans, Keeper of The.  And Travelling Yeoman.  And another with line drawings of all the grand old houses of London.

Can't wait to get started!

The Photographer's Daughter

Loving these photographs--recreations of classic paintings by a father-daughter team in Australia.
See all the work, here.

Small Measures

Via Design Sponge

A collection of shadowbox frames wrapping a corner take it from awkward to feature.  Simple.  Lovely!

West Elm Summer Preview

As always, lots of good stuff coming from West Elm this summer.  A few of my favorites in color:

And black and white:

Check out all new items here!

Project Hallway

Confession:  I hate my upstairs hallway.  It is 16 feet long, with a continuous wall on one side and lots of doors and stairs and stuff the rest of the way around.

A while back, I did this to it.  (There was a lot of process first.  Round ups of inspiration here and here, too.)  It was better than before, but still....eh.  This is a lesson in the down side of compromise.  I wanted a magnetic wall somewhere for the girls to hang up their art, my husband wanted that out of sight, and, against my best judgment, the upstairs hallway magnetic strip was born.

Here's the thing, though.  No one uses the magnets.  And while I love chartreuse (do you?), I would prefer either a neutral or a pattern now that the rooms opening off the hallway are navy and pink.

Here's the other thing.  I have to spend the tiniest amount of money possible on this project.

I better get to the options/ pictures. ideas a little faster, huh?

Option 1:  Framed wallpaper panels

First thought, grasscloth:

The Hunted Interior

via My Little Happy Place

But of course a large-scale pattern would be nice, too:

Nate Berkus

via Sadie and Stella

Option 2: Upholstered panels/ ribbon trim

Contemporary Bedroom by Atlanta Interior Designer Phoebe Howard

via Little Green Notebook

Option 3: Chair rail

This strategy is all about dividing and conquering.  By adding the chair rail, I can use a little bit of wallpaper, either above or below, and smaller framed artworks will work (larger framed artworks being too expensive.)

Wallpaper below:

via Door 16

Wallpaper above:

via Martha Stewart

Decorative moldings below, stripes above:

via House to Home

Moldings below, upholstered wall above!

Tory Burch

Now, the down sides/ realities:

Wallpaper panels work best when they have a story going on, like chinoiserie murals, at which point we run in to a money problem.  The examples above work because they all have furniture and art to populate the halls.  With plain old framed wallpaper I am just not as interested.

via Babble

via A Storied Style

Moving on.

Trimmed, upholstered walls would require 12 yards of fabric, dozens of yards of ribbon/trim, and a LOT of nailhead.  That adds up, fast.  Also, I'm not the best with straight lines.  I could skip the trim and go for an amazing pattern, like this.

via Sara Gilbane Interiors

But that means more than 12 yards of fabric that is muchos dineros.

As for the chair rail sitch, well, it's just not that exciting to me, and bring the added problem/project ("opportunity"?) of finding or making 5 large-scale pieces of art.  

In a case like this, I always think it is good to figure out what you REALLY want by asking yourself:

What if money were no object (though it is)?

What if I didn't have to do the work myself (though I do.)

In that case, I'm pretty sure I would have the wall upholstered in a beautiful indian blockprint fabric, with contrast ribbon trim and really big fat nailhead.  I would put my grandmother's gold tole sconces on either end, flanking an enormous, gorgeous painting or mirror.

So......is there an inexpensive way to accomplish that?