moorea seal flagship store opening!

On Friday I had the pleasure of getting to go to Moorea's flagship brick & mortar store soft-opening party to preview everything and celebrate with her.  I first "met" Moorea when we both worked for Freckled Nest Design creating blog designs.  I realized that she lived in Seattle and started reading her blog and lusting after her beautiful jewelry creations, which at the time she sold in her etsy shop.  We've become friends over the years and I love getting to hang out with her at blog meet-ups and blogger conferences.  Last year when she launched her online retail store she used my home for a product photo shoot and I basically wanted to steal everything she brought for the shoot.  I was so impressed with the caliber of designers and the curation of products she'd chosen to sell and was so excited for her.   One of the things I adore about Moorea is how she's constantly thinking of ways to give back.  Her store donates a portion of every sale to amazing causes and she's completely committed to empowering women and helping people, which I deeply admire.  When I heard that she was opening a brick and mortar shop in Seattle I was so thrilled for her.  I knew it would be stunning and as I walked through the doors on Friday my expectations were exceeded.  This woman is a powerhouse and I love her vision.   Her grand opening party is this Friday, May 9th from 6-9, and the first 100 people get a free Moorea Seal tote bag, so if you're local to the area make sure to head over, and bring your wallet because you're probably gonna want to buy everything (I did.  It was a practice in self control being in there!).  Here's a little taste of all the gorgeous items you can get your paws on!  If you're not local, you can still shop on her online shop here, full of the same beautiful items!

 

 



Moorea Seal Store
2523 3rd Ave, Seattle, Washington

OUR HOME // living room progress

Back in July I painted half the living room white.  I was tired of the beige and wanted something fresh and crisp.  At the time, though I knew I wanted to paint my big wall something fun, so instead of taking the time to paint it white, I left it beige and proceeded to ruminate on what color I should paint it for months... and months.  I knew that I wanted something that would compliment the chartreuse in the kitchen because you see that wall through the doorway, so I didn't want a clashy color.  After some thought I ended up just going for another chalkboard wall.  After I painted that wall I realized that the majority of the walls in our house are black.  The exterior is black, living room wall, kitchen wall, most of the bedroom, and the wall in the bathroom is off-black.  I guess I just really like black walls.  I'm really in love with it though.  We also rearranged the living room a smidge.  I think I like the other layout better, but it's nice to switch things around and this is the layout we picked when we moved things around to fit our Christmas tree in the corner (where the black cabinet is now).  I'll probably move things around again in a couple months. I took down the bunting that had been up for about a year.  I'd put it up for our housewarming party and just never took it down.  I loved it but I wanted to see what it looked like without it and I like it just fine.  It was fun, but I think it makes the room feel a bit taller without it.



One of my other favorite changes is the turquoise door.  When I painted the wall white, the door kind of just disappeared and it felt very stark and plain.  The other side of the door is orange, so I figured it needed an alter ego equally as bold.  We have quite a few turquoise elements in the room, and I love the color in general, so it was the perfect choice.  The nice thing about painting a door is that it's a super minimal investment (all you need is one or two coats, and you'll only need one of those tiny sample sizes from home depot, which is like 3 bucks I think), and it gives you a big impact.   The wall next to the door always felt really empty to me, but it was an awkward place to hang any art, and when I found these little diamond wall hangings at Modcloth I knew they'd be just the thing to fill the space and add interest, while still keeping things light.  The cool thing about them is that you can snap them together to make them into full diamonds that you can hang or put on a table as a little sculpture piece.  I put up three halves on the wall and snapped one together to put on the table by the hanging plants. Another favorite improvement is the plant life.  We used to have a palm in the corner where the hanging plants are now and I killed it.  I killed it dead.  When I found the macrame hangers at the thrift store I knew exactly where I wanted them to go, but I also knew it would involve keeping living plants alive.  So far so good!  I love how they fill up that corner and add height and dimension.  
 
I'm currently in the process of building a rolling island for our kitchen and it's going where this black cabinet used to be.  I figured moving the bar to the living room made plenty of sense and I love it against the black wall (though it was against a chalkboard wall in the kitchen too). I tried to link to most everything, especially new elements, below, but I probably missed some stuff, so let me know if I didn't mention something and you want to know where it's from.  A lot of stuff is old or thrifted or handmade.
couch + pillows + side tables/ikea :: lamps + bar cabinet/target :: phrenology container + diamond sculpture-wall hangings/courtesy of modcloth :: coffee table/diy :: macrame plant hangers + chairs + globes + booze caddy/thrifted

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