Our *holiday* cards and some {giveaway} love from Minted.com…..

I am not ashamed to admit that this year I sent 'Happy New Year' cards.

I did it for a number of reasons - first, I did not have a good

photo that everyone agreed was Christmas card worthy -

Mom's of small children, hear me now……enjoy the days

where YOU and you alone choose the photo YOU like best -

without hearing, "ooh, you CANNOT send THAT photo out, I 

look soooooo gross in that picture"…..

And the second and final reason I sent a New Year's card was 

that I just didn't have my sh*t together……And as the song goes, 

I 'let it go', 'let it go'……

Pictured above is the front of the card that was sent to our peeps on

approximately January 15th.  I love this photo of my girls because 

it sums up their personalities to a 'T'.  My 16 year old

is big hugger, lover, and overall touchy/feel-y girl - her sister, not 

so much…thus the pose!  My 16 year old got her braces off about

a week after this photo was taken…right in time for her

sister to get hers on…next week - cha$ching! 

While I love this photo, I sometimes long for the days when I got

to choose their outfits, hairstyles and had time for a proper

photo shoot…….ah, the good old days!

I was grateful for Minted.com and the fact they had SO

many great New Year's cards to choose from  for all us slackers!

******

As a HUGE fan of the all the 'minor' holidays - I have promised myself that I
am not going to be behind on my Valentine's Day preparations - In the past

I have order personalized Valentine-themed journals for my girls,
this year Minted has some beautiful options for Valentine's gifts, art and cards!

Minted has been a faithful partner of Forever*Cottage…..I am a HUGE
fan of all their products.  And to help YOU get a head start on your
Valentine's gifts, Minted has graciously offered to give TWO
Forever*Cottage readers a $75 credit to shop Minted!

To Enter:

* Go visit Minted and check out their fabulous
Valentine's Day products.  Then come back here and
let me know which ones are your favorites!

That's it!

I will close the comments on midnight on Sunday, Feb 1st
and announce the winners on Monday!

Studio/Office Space…for me!

Confession time…….since establishing my design business

just over two years ago, I have basically worked at my kitchen table, truth.

I am ashamed to admit that I did not believe

my business would actually take off, that clients would continue

to call, to want me to help them create their homes. Yuck. 

I have come a long way since then, cause if you don't believe

in yourself, how can you expect others to?

I knew that in 2015 I wanted needed to create an office space for

my design business - one that would foster creativity, allow me

to 'spread out' samples and fabrics for clients but most of all

organize my files, fabric memos, wallpaper samples etc…..

My office must be in our home so I had limited spaces to choose from -

my husband works from home too and his office is already serving dual

purposes as our guest bedroom and an office.  

I chose to make our formal living room my studio/office……on the plans

for our home the room was labeled 'dining room' and I have often wanted

a separate, additional dining space when we have entertained so my

plan is to have my office/studio be flexible enough to become a

dining space when needed.  Make sense?  

My 'desk' is going to be actually a dining table - specifically 

Restoration Hardware's  Flatiron table with the white metal 

legs, you can check it out HERE.  I am sort of excited

about this table - it's industrial but also sort of modern in a way -

exactly the look I am going for.

I have lots of storage included in the plan because I really need it.

Of course, there are lots of opportunities to display 'pretties' too.

As for color - I have been super inspired to use a soft, dusty coral and the

Schumacher Bengal Bazaar pattern is a favorite so I think they

will make an appearance…..I was in West Elm this weekend 

and they are doing ALOT of this color so I am obviously 

on to something - ha!  My favorite black accents will also be

making appearances…..Oh, and the walls will be BM Cloud White.

I still can't believe I have basically disassembled the most popular

space in my home as far as social media is concerned - it's BIG pressure

to create something equally as swanky, cool - a challenge I accept!

I intend to be BRAVE in my space - it's something I often ask of my

clients so I have to walk the talk!

I plan to blog about each step of the process - but remember…. 

Rome wasn't built in a day!  

I'm Back!

Good gracious that was quite the unintended blog break!

But I am back and bigger than ever {ha! I probably am due to the holiday

over stuff!}.  I've had many full-filled days since we last met here and thought

it best to let the photos speak for themselves…..along with some simple

narration…..

* I got a tattoo - actually it's hardly a tattoo, or aka 'the world's smallest tattoo'….but it is 

meaningful to me and the experience could best be described as 'living out of my

comfort zone' and don't we all need to do more of that?  I acknowledge that

tattoos are not everyone's cup of tea but I am super happy to have finally done something

I had only talked about for.so.long.  If it's not your jam, that's okey-dokey.

* One of my biggest goals this year is to be more deliberate in my life - I am quite

certain it will make me a better designer, wife, friend and mother.  The book,  "The Best

Yes" - it is inspiring me to prioritize and make room for what's important.

* My family is a bit crazy.

* Travel has been the theme for us so far in 2015.  The day after

Christmas my hubby and oldest daughter headed to Florida for 6 days of soccer tournaments.

Then when they returned home, I left for sunny San Diego to work with a client and friend

on her new home - see below.

* This past weekend our family headed up to Spokane, Washington {more soccer}.

Me and my little girl shopped vintage and our family enjoyed breakfast at Chaps.

How cute is the 'Lucky Detour' store front?

* When I arrived home in Portland I took a PDX carpet shot - have you looked

at #pdxcarpet on Instagram?  Seems Portlanders love their airport {I do} and the

carpet has become a symbol of 'home'.  Unfortunately, the famous carpet is going to

be replaced this month!  Even the New York Times wrote an article about it!  Read it HERE.

* I can never get enough of the California sunshine and their life guard stands!

* After helping my client/friend design her new home via MANY email

exchanges, design boards, phone calls, texts etc….It was so fun to actually

get my hands on this place!  I styled tables, shelves, we shopped and hung 

pictures and even a gallery wall - after all, I am the gallery wall whisperer.

* My client/friend LOVES blue and white but the formal furnishings

she had in her Louisville, Kentucky home were not going to 

work in laid back California.  So we combined her great family antiques,

lots of blue and white and added white upholstery, wicker, seagrass, bamboo shades,

white drapery and some coastal decor items.

* The kitchen originally had stained cabinets - and really lacked personality.

We had the cabinets painted, added some open shelving and pendant 

lights and expanded the island for casual family dining.

I plan to dedicate a entire post soon to the before and afters of this space -

it speaks to how simple cosmetic changes can really make a house YOUR home.

I am ready to get 2015 started….I have many new client

inquires - so excited for new projects and BRAVE clients!

I have missed all of you!  What's going on?