I received an email from Christine last week mentioning she was expecting a baby girl, and hoping for a few suggestions for their guest room turned nursery.  Christine caught me at a weak moment because I’ve been thinking about designing a girl’s nursery lately.  No I’m not expecting, nor do I plan to have any more babies, I think it’s simply the fact that I just sent my baby boy off to Kindergarten and the oldest leaves again for college in September.  I declare it’s that emptier nest that has me thinking about nurseries!

Christine writes:

“We are having our first baby girl and I love the color gray, so I’ve already painted the room in Behr’s ‘Dolphin Fin’.  I really love owls and I’m looking for something pretty and whimsical with modern clean lines, nothing too babyish or cookie cutter.

I have a crib and dresser in white and the Serena & Lily bedding already. As you can see from my inspiration images, I have a modern style, love the feel of the woods, and don’t want any farm animals or butterflies.”

Then she sent me this picture of her blank canvas.  Christine has already removed the bed and the window panels, stained the floors dark, and painted the walls gray.  Amen sister, I’m liking this so far.  

Christine sent along these inspiration images and a few comments about what she loves so much about these spaces.

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I see so many pretty made beds in shelter magazines and on Pinterest.  After concentrating on a few design styles that appealed to me, I feel like I finally got the look of my own master bed just right!  With up to a third of our lives spent snoozing under the covers (hopefully getting a solid 8 hours a night), a great mattress and comfortable linens are a worthy investment, plus how fun is it to dress up our beds in our own personal style? 

What’s the secret to a well dressed bed you might ask?  I thought I’d ask an expert for her best tips.  I’ve been a fan of Annette Tatum’s style for years, and I completely love her line of sophisticated and soft patterns for both adults and kids.  I asked Annette to offer up some suggestions for a well dressed bed, and she was kind enough to share her secrets!  (I added the inspirational images along the way to illustrate.) 

Enjoy! 

Tell us Annette in your expert opinion, what is the secret to a well dressed bed?

1. Think in Layers 

“I am a big fan of layering solids and prints on a bed.  I also like to have a basic white always on hand as well as an assortment of prints that I can mix in depending upon the season.

via Turquoise, Tulips & Bliss

 

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There is little that’s more miserable than battling with an infected computer, gah.  Oh the time and energy wasted, and shaking of fists in the air!  I cannot wait to pick up my new (wicked fast) computer later today and get back to business.  Many thanks to all of you for commiserating with your tales of hard drive failure, I feel much less alone in my frustration.    

The post I was trying to write before my computer was sabotaged was a simple invitation.  I came up with this idea when I was jogging through my neighborhood the other day.  I realized there are so many quirky little things I’ve come to love about my town, and no doubt you have your favorite things too.  That’s what I love about the blogosphere and our community – it’s reading and being inspired by what all of you have to say.  I imagined a day where we all share the best things about where we live, sound fun?  

So let’s have a party!  It’s a ‘favorite things in my town’ kind of party.  No need to live in a small town though, you big city peeps need to give us the scoop too!  Where are the coolest places to go?  This is your opportunity to photograph and write about a few of the favorite things you see from day to day that make your world a better place.  Show us that building you love, or wraparound porch on the house around the corner, the best place for java, tastiest spot for lunch, or a store in your town with amazing finds. 

You’re invited to share your favorite things about where you live! 

Won’t you join me?  

It’s right here, next Wednesday.  One week from today.  August 31st ! 

I hope you’ll link up with a post about your favorite things in your town.  And if you’re the mom of little ones still in car seats, the drive thru Starbucks totally counts.

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I was typing up a post last night and all of sudden a few strange things started to happen.  Little red flags started popping up on my desktop.  I had a sneaking suspicion something had slipped through my virus protection, with the little error messages that I started getting.  Then, blackness.  Nothing.   I rebooted, hoping for the best.  This is what I saw. 

Uh oh.  Dun dun dun.

Of all the messages in all the world, this is not the one I needed to see!  I tried every which way to restore the computer but alas, three hours later, I can’t access any information on my hard drive, it appears I lost my data.  Did I panic?  Nope.  This is gonna sound like a commercial, but I don’t care.  It was Carbonite to the rescue. 

Check it.

All of it saved. All of my weblog posts, all of my pictures, all of my documents.  Over 270 GB all automatically backed up.  YES!  The best money I’ve ever spent.  $50 bucks a year, and worth every penny.  Not a tear shed on what might have been a massive loss of data.  Whew!!!!!  Can I get an amen !!!!!

Online backup is the best invention EVER.

I’m off to invest in another computer today, be back soon, promise! 

Have you backed up your data? 

If not, do it today.  You’ll be sooooo thankful you did.

 **** Computer update:  I learned the error message above is a fake computer scanning virus called “System Repair” or “HDD Control” which makes it appear you’ve lost your data, and seeks to collect money to remove it.  Scam!  A kind reader (Lisa) directed me to Bleeping Computer where I followed the instructions for removal.  It took several hours, but I was finally able to remove the malicious malware.  I still plan on getting a new computer for the blog and putting the old dinosaur in the family space for kids’ schoolwork.  Still sooo glad I have Carbonite, gave me such peace of mind.   Thanks to everyone for sharing your stories! 

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Hey all, hope you had a great weekend!  We did a lot of lounging around, but I also took the time to snap a few photos of some of the changes I’ve made to our master bedroom over the last few months.  How about a quick tour?

Me and my mister have gone around and around in our master bedroom, him always representing in the left corner Mr. Traditional Lover of Dark Wood Antiques with me in the right corner as Mrs. Classic White Meets Touches of Modern.  The tricky part has always been how do we find a happy compromise ?  The agreement finally came to this:  If he gets to keep the dark wood antique dressers he’s so fond of, I get to pick the paint colors, fabrics and accessories.  Deal!

We both agree on one thing, we prefer soothing colors in our master. It’s a place to withdraw from the world, catch up on our reading, and on much needed zzzzzs.  I like to keep it in the neutral zone, but then play around with patterns. This year, I added a little bit of graphic, a touch of zebra, and a hint of Ikat in the sophisticated blue grays, taupes, and champagne tones I find so appealing. 

Yes, you can see, I did paint over the trellis wall!  Long story short, I wanted something less olive, much lighter and more gray, plus this Devon mirror and the linens were competing, so we said goodbye to the stenciled trellis wall and replaced it with the focal point mirror over the bed!  You like?

Under the window next to the bed, I tucked the little loveseat that I slipcovered last year in linen.  I found the Worlds Away gold leaf end table at One Kings Lane, and earlier this year wrote about the golden thrift store coffee table.  Ikat pillow from Pottery Barn, lattice accent rug from World Market.  

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