Sooo…we have been doing a lot of switching things up here at Casa Christensen. Which meant I got to choose new paint and re-decorate things! And believe me, I’ve done a lot of re-painting, re-arranging and more re-painting and re-arranging. But I think I finally have things how I want them (for now), so I took the chance to clean up the room and take some photos! And the clean room didn’t last very long…you can put the photos in chronological order based on how many plastic balls are in the photos. How can you expect a toddler to resist a clean room with a basket full of plastic balls?

So to refresh your memory, this is Harper’s old/first room. I’m assuming she’ll have many different rooms throughout her first 18 years with an interior designer for a momma.

I’m sure many people thought it was just fine as it was (if you recall, it did win a contest over at Serena and Lily on Facebook! Their very first Show and Tell contest for September 2009!), but we decided to make this our room as it has a little bathroom.  So Harper’s room was moved to the bigger (longer and skinnier) room and we got the slightly smaller (more square with a smaller closet) and I couldn’t be happier with it all!  We love having our own bathroom, and we’ve solved the clothing storage problem so things are great!

And then her new room…

This is how the room used to look when we first moved in and it was ours.  I liked the orange as a color, but not in my room.  It just never worked.  But I finally feel like things are coming along!  Notice that some of Harper’s painted furniture is in here (side table – now green and the dresser – now with white drawer fronts and new hardware).

So on to the photos of Harper’s new room!  If you look close you’ll see some things are the same, and some things are different.  For instance, the window shades stayed in their original rooms (i.e. we kept the striped ones and Harper got our old brown ones) and I’m so glad it worked out color-wise.  We repainted both rooms, and all of the furniture that I previously painted white for her old room, I re-painted GREEN!  As for her new room color – this is how I chose it.  We already have gray, brown, green and white throughout our house so I started thinking about a new color for her room.  Hmm…what color have I not used?  Orange? Nope, done it already and want it gone!  Pink?  Nah…pink just wouldn’t go in our house.  Purple? Not feeling purple either.  Blue? YES – blue!  So I grabbed all of my blue paint swatches and went through the stack to find one I liked.  If you know me, you know I am obsessed with gray right now so it’s only fitting that the blue I chose is somewhat related to gray.  I love the color – Comfort Gray 6205 by Sherwin Williams. It’s also in a flat finish, and I love how it looks.  Plus it will work if she has a little brother sometime in the future…I promise I’ll take the pom poms down by then!

(10 points to you if you know where this color is from blogland.  Yes, I order paint samples that I see from everywhere!)

I still have some touch-up painting to do (there is a lot of orange peeking out where the walls meet the ceiling) but I couldn’t wait and had to get some photos up.

I also want to re-stain the cedar chests to a darker reddish brown, to look more like the unpainted areas of the dresser.

If you’ll notice, I’m trying to add more black to the room (you know I like a little edginess – there was no black in Harper’s old room except for those lamps which is crazy for our house.  We love black accents.) and black and white accents.

I’m not really an advocate for TVs in a toddler’s room, but our new room has no cable outlet and we just haven’t switched it yet.  So it’s staying for now.

I stole art and shelves and lamps and fabric from all over the house to bring into her room.  Lucky girl.

My aunt painted that picture from a photo of Harper.  I love that she turned her into a little pixie.  And I’m glad I finally got to hang it (it was in the powder bath before but now it goes with her new room!).  Thanks, Aunt Vicky!

I love the new gold accents, in the frame (of a pencil drawing I did in high school – it used to be hanging in the living room) and in the lamp on the black bookcase.

I love the green I picked for the painted furniture.  It’s actually the color in my office – Old Salem Gray, Benjamin Moore HC-94 – so I just used leftover paint.  I knew Harper’s room needed another color and I just happened to have a sample of that green handy, so I put it up against the blue/gray and instantly knew it would look great on the furniture!  Love it.

What do you think of Harper’s new room?  Hopefully I can show ours soon…but I’m still working on art on the walls and it should be done!

So for the breakdown:

• Crib is from IKEA – it has the rail taken off so she sleeps in it as her toddler bed!
• Recliner is La-Z-Boy
• Window blinds are from Home Depot
• White curtains are a diamond matelasse, hand-me-down from a friend of mine
• Cedar chests were made in high school shop class (Glenn made one, the other was a gift for me)
• Black bookcase is from Tarjay (Target)
• Changing table is hand-me-down from a friend
• Black hanging shelf is hand-me-down from sister-in-law
• White and wood dresser is from thrift store
• Poms poms are Martha Stewart from Harper’s 1st Birthday Party
• Black lamps are from Fred Meyer
• Gold lamp is hand-me-down from ?? Glenn’s family I’m sure!
• H-A-R-P-E-R letters are from Land of Nod.
• Striped rug is from Tarjay.
• Harper’s bedding is Olivia by Dwell for Target
• Zig zag striped fabric is Summer Soiree by Paula Prass (Chevron in black)
• Black frames with black and white pictures are Ribba from IKEA

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Looking for a chic way to update your kitchen? How about painting your cabinets a COLOR?  I’m really loving white walls in spaces, but with colored trim, moulding, cabinets, ceilings, etc. lately.  If I had the guts to re-paint my house, that is what I’d do…but I need to add the architectural details first so it wouldn’t look so BORING in white!  I saw these kitchen photos and thought that it was such a calming and chic color scheme, I just had to share it to give a little inspiration.  So without further adieu, I give you the Texas kitchen of Sally Wheat (which has been all over blogland, I know, but I had to file it away here in my little corner of the web!).

The cabinets are painted ‘Fieldstone’ by Benjamin Moore, a mid-value warm gray that is just so perfect with those marble countertops.  A great example of how to inject some color into your space without painting the walls an actual color.

I love the casement window, the gorgeous Farmhouse style apron-front sink, the polished nickel faucet and cup pull hardware, and the decorative brackets on the open shelving.  Notice how the cabinets’ hinges aren’t showing?  It keeps the look of the cabinets less busy (or you can try white hinges with white cabinets, and metal pulls).

White subway tile with white grout is always a good choice.  I love the open shelving to show off her great crystal and white glass collection.

And here is the wide angle shot of the whole space.  How about those industrial pendants?  And that plate wall?  If you click over to see the whole house (see the link below), you’ll see that the homeowner/designer loves to mix vintage/traditional pieces with modern elements and trends for an eclectic look, and she does it well.

Want to re-create a kitchen like this?  Try these items:

Polished Chrome Bridge Faucet, Overstock.com: $174.99 (it used to be $109.99 – always check for specials!).

Polished Chrome Bin/Drawer Pull, eBay.com: $1.70 each (eBay is a GREAT place to buy cabinet hardware).

Fisherman Ceiling Lamp, Pottery Barn Kids: $89.00 each.  (But PB should know – clear light = clear bulb!)

DOMSJÖ Double Bowl Sink, IKEA: $312.98 (this one is HUGE at over 3 feet wide!)

And this is their single bowl version, 25″ wide: DOMSJÖ Sink bowl from IKEA, $185.99.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this kitchen!  Have you seen it before? What do you think of painted cabinets? Would you rather stick with wood or white?  Let me know!  Happy painting!

{Images via Cote De Texas of Sally Wheat’s kitchen. Click here to view the entire home!}

I am so excited to share an adorable little nursery project with you today, not because I designed it (because I didn’t – I wish I could take credit for it!), or not only because it is darling, or hand-crafted with special little details, but because it is the bedroom of a sweet little girl whose mama is an old friend of mine!  And as you can see a very artistic and creative friend at that!  But if you knew Janet in high school, you would know what an artist she is!  A good example showing that whatever profession you choose, you can still be an artist (Janet is a nurse!).

A big thank you to Janet (and Reese!  And Matt!) for sharing her little nursery project with us – I absolutely love it!  My favorite part has to be the hand-painted details; two tones of yellow in two different finishes and don’t forget the hand-painted ‘R’ (yes, that is painted directly on the wall!) with glitter accents, a painted border and a wooden frame tacked to the wall.  I’m sure it is something that little Reese will be so proud of when she starts to learn her ABC’s!    Here is what Janet had to say about it:

“As for the “R” – I modeled it after a font I found at Pottery Barn, but I decided to draw/paint it free-hand since I wanted it so much larger. The brown and blue frame is painted as well, and Matt cut and nailed up the final white frame around it all.  The R is painted with the same color as the stripes, and has a few glitter accents. It was very fun!!”

And here’s the break down to make up a sweet little nursery, just like Reese’s!  Thanks for sharing, Janet!

Paint

• Primary wall color – Dutch Boy ”Honey Bear” – Flat finish
• Stripes - Dutch Boy ”Just Enough Yellow” - Semi-gloss finish
• “R” – Painted the same color as the stripes with glitter accents. Framed with blue and brown paint (color, brands unkown) used left-overs that a friend had.  Matt finished it off with the white trim.

Furniture/Decor

• Crib – hand-me-down from Reese’s four little cousins
• Bedding – Baby Martex CoCaLo bedding – Australian Animals (I think this has been discontinued) – From the Baby Depot
  • Note from Lindsay – it’s called Down Under and you can buy it here!
• Rocker- a baby-shower gift. From Target
• White Dresser – Bona Vita “Peyton” Dresser/changing table combo – from The Baby Warehouse in Petaluma
• Credenza – given to us from the Funeral Home where Matt works – Don’t worry – it was in the lobby – It fits in there perfectly and is decorated with all her favorite stuffed animals.
• Martha Stewart’s Tissue paper pom-poms – from Michaels
  • LOVE these!  -Lindsay
• Pictures (above dresser)- White frames from Aaron Brothers -a little collage of pictures we had taken at the house when Reese was two weeks old!

If you have a room you’d like to share, please e-mail me at lindsay[@]lindsaychristensendesign.com!

And P.S. – sorry for the interruptions throughout the background of the post – I’m tweaking the blog template and those boxes should be on the right – thanks for your patience!!