house and home

They say you don't know what you've got till it's gone, and I definitely feel that way about snow.  Since I went to college in Washington on the east side of the state, I don't think I realized that the west side rarely got snow.  Winters in Spokane were a bit shorter than those in Anchorage, but they still got plenty of snow and familiar frozen temperatures.  Since moving to Tacoma three years ago I've seen about five days of snow on the ground, total.  Even though snow means it's pretty cold outside, I think snowy outfit photos have always been some of my favorites.  I only managed to get one outfit session in before the snow melted away the next day, unfortunately.

I found a couple amazing macrame hanging plant holders the other day and decided to grab some plant friends at Home Depot to hang in the living room.  I hung them from the cabinet over the kitchen sink while I was working on drilling hooks into the ceiling and I was blown away by how those two plants completely transformed the kitchen.  It was one of those turning-a-house-into-a-home type revelations.  I've never been a houseplant person, and truth be told I already completely killed the beautiful palm fronds that were in my living room corner, but I was so struck by how much those few plants brought the whole room together I'm determined to keep them alive.  I was so sad to not have a hanging plant over the kitchen sink anymore after I moved the two into the living room that I went back to Home Depot and bought one just for over the sink.  Maybe it's because it's just so damn grey and dismal in the winters here in Tacoma that I was struck by their home-making effect even more so than I would be in summer.  Having those little bits of life surrounding me feels so lovely and refreshing.  I also bought a few succulents and they are happily hanging out on my windowsill, soaking up any sun rays the Pacific Northwest offers.

 


dress/cosette :: coat (similar)/coldwater creek :: mittens/the north face boots/vogue footwear :: amethyst necklace/handmade :: belt/thrifted shell necklace/courtesy of adorn by sarah lewis :: tights/ courtesy of the stylish fox

OUR HOME // bedroom tour

Let's get 2014 started, shall we?  

I've finally finished up decorating our bedroom, and it's probably my favorite room in the house now.  I wanted something rustic and masculine, super cozy and warm.  When I found the wood panel removable wallpaper on WallsNeedLove.com I knew it'd be the perfect base for a warm and rustic room, and also would be easy to change if I ever wanted to go in a different direction in the future.  As with the entire house, this room was painted beige, so adding the wall paper added a ton of drama and warmth.  I wasn't really worried with the room being too dark, since we don't spend a lot of time in our bedroom during the day, so I decided to paint the other walls dark charcoal, actually the exact same color as the exterior.  I wanted to keep a bit of texture and variation in there, though, so I only painted one coat and brushed it on freestyle with a large, coarse paintbrush.  I really love the effect this created.

One of my favorite things in the room is the rug on the stairs.  I have a similar rug that I got a few years ago, and I went back to the same roadside shop and got this one over Thanksgiving weekend.  The stairs look like the used to be carpeted and are just plywood with paint, so they're pretty boring and basic.  I took some small nails and carefully nailed the rug down so it wouldn't move.  In retrospect I think I might've glued it down first as well, but we'll see how well it holds up and if it ends up moving or the nails rip out.  It was a fun way to quickly and easily transform a boring set of stairs, though!
The green leafy wall decor is actually something that has been in our family for a while.  There are family photos of my mom as a little kid with it hanging over the couch behind them.  It's a set of two, and I have one and my mom has the other, I think it's hanging over her bed.  It's one of my favorite family heirlooms.  

 

Dan and I were kind of appalled at how expensive bedside tables were, even at Ikea!  We needed something, though, to put our phones and books on, so we found these TV trays at Target, I think they were like 9 bucks, and have been using them.  Since they don't have any storage I put a box and a basket under mine to hold books and other things.
The "sconces" sitting on top our headboard are actually just little table lamps that used to sit on our bedside tables, but they took up a lot of room.  Once I put the pallets up as our headboard I realized that they could easily sit right on top of the pallets!  I love their warm glow and they're just right for laying in bed and reading a book.

 

I liked the pallets on their own, but they felt a little plain, so I dug out some of our old wedding decor and put up this little tassel garland I made a couple years ago.  It's a little bit feminine, but not so much that it throws off the vibe of the room.  There are a lot of geometric shapes in the room, so the tassels soften it up a bit.
For a while I couldn't decide what to put on the "wood" wall, but after thinking about it I figured a collage would work perfectly.  I didn't have a place for our hand painted portraits and a lot of other more rustic art that we have, since the rest of the house had a bit more of a modern and graphic feel.  Everything on the wall is either hand made, thrifted, or is something handed down from family.  The 3D topographic map is a kitschy little frame we snagged from Dan's parents' house when they were moving.  It's a map of Mt. Rainier, and since we went up there for our honeymoon I put photos from our honeymoon, engagement, and wedding in the four little photo frames.  
 

Dusty decided she wanted to be in photos and snuggled on the rug almost the whole time I took photos.  She's a fan of fuzzy things and has claimed this rug as her personal bed.
I've tried to itemize as many things in the room as I could at the bottom of this post!



quilt/urban outfitters :: metal basket/fred meyer nightstand (tv tray) + wood cake stand + wood tray on nightstand/target sheepskin rug + curtains + pillowcase + woven box under nightstand /ikea  iphone charger stand + wood sconces/modcloth :: sketched pillow/karli ingersoll diamond terrarium + black/bronze vase + feather vessel/moorea seal leaf wall hanging/vintage family heirloom :: chair/found on side of road rug on stairs + dream catcher/roadside shop near Sequim all other wall hangings/handmade, thrifted, or family heirloom removable wood wallpaper/courtesy of wallsneedlove.com

potato stamped wrapping paper

I bought a couple rolls of Kraft paper last week because I planned on hand stamping it and using it as wrapping paper.  I wasn't sure how I wanted to stamp, at the time, but I figured I'd figure it out later.  I'd stamped paper with a pencil eraser in the past to create mini polka dots, but that was more time consuming than I wanted, since I'd be needing to wrap multiple gifts.  I remembered making potato stamps back in the day, and thought I'd see if that worked, and it did!  I haven't done potato stamping since elementary school, but I love it!  it worked perfectly for my wrapping paper. 
I just used a little potato and cut a triangle into it.  I think that simple shapes would probably work best for potato printing, but if you want to go crazy with it, I'm not going to stop you.  Little simple Christmas trees would be super easy to cut into a potato as a stamp.  I used a stamp ink pad to do my stamping, but acrylic paint would probably also do the job, though it might cause the paper to wrinkle, since paint is wet and may cause the paper to warp when it dries.
Since the paper is simple, I kept the bow simple and just used baker's twine and tied on a sprig of evergreen for color!

homemade egg nog

Egg Nog is one of those holiday staples, but usually I find it too rich and syrupy for my taste.  I'll usually cut it with some milk to keep it from being too thick.  When Dan decided to make homemade egg nog the other day and I was intrigued to see how it compared to the store bought versions.  Not surprising to find that it's so much better.  While it's still a rich beverage, the frothiness of the beaten eggs keeps it from having the syrup-like texture of the stuff I find in stores.  
When I was a kid, even though I had stopped believing in Santa Claus, I used to always make a plate of cookies and a glass of egg nog to set by the fireplace for Santa, just to make my younger brothers still believe he existed.  After they went to bed, I'd go up and drink some of the egg nog and take a bite out of some cookies to make it look like Santa had been there.  I don't know how long it actually worked, but I always enjoyed my sneaky little tradition.

 

(Recipe via Alton Brown)

Ingredients
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
1 pint whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 ounces bourbon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 egg whites
dash of cinnamon or nutmeg for garnish

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and continue to beat until it is completely dissolved. Add the milk, cream, bourbon and nutmeg and stir to combine.

2. Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat to soft peaks. With the mixer still running gradually add the 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

3. Whisk the egg whites into the mixture. Chill and serve.