Designing the nursery.... slowly yet surely...

Our house is so weird. I don't feel like getting into details of the weird layout but trust me - it's weird. OK look below at this floor plan to get an idea:

And you know, looking at this floor plan - it doesn't seem that weird!? Anyway, there's a point to the weird floor plan rant - it took us about 5 months to decide where the damn nursery would go! I'm secretly jealous of people with actual bedrooms. with closets. I read these design blogs and go to my friends houses with hallways that lead to individual private bedrooms (did I mention with closets!?) and I get a twinge of jealousy. 

ahhhh to decorate an actual bedroom for my unborn baby boy! what a dream! Then I come back to reality that i'm in a 150 year old drafty ass house with no proper heat, no private bedrooms, old electrical where fuses get blown on a too regular basis oh and with a rental unit taking up a quarter of the house! (i think my pregnancy hormones are in full gear today! ha!) 

Anyway - I do truly love my house and our intent all along was to slowwwwly bring her back to all her glory. Some days are better than others. Some days I wonder how the house is still standing!? One of my biggest fears is that the house will literally crumble to the ground and we'll be left with nothing but the nonfunctional fireplaces. (that I swear a funky smell seeps through depending on the weather. I think someone died in them and their scent slowly trickles out now and again... )

Whew... sometimes a girls gotta hate on her house! ANYWAY we decided to put the nursery in the "dining room" room. You can see it on the floor plan. That back door is now sealed and a huge ugly AC unit is there in its place. Oh and the wall between the dining room and laundry room will have a continuous wall. This was the black room I posted about HERE and below is a picture of what it looked like about a year ago. (it has since then become and office... a dining room... and storage room...)

AND I made a big step into the "accepting the fact a baby is indeed coming into this house in less than 12 weeks - yikes!" and bought a rug for the nursery. We have bought NOTHING for this poor little guy yet! Don't judge us though - I have about 4 friends I am inheriting a ton of baby booty from so I thankfully do not have to buy tons of clothes, etc. for him. It's all in storage until I get this room going...

So, what oh what kind of rug did Boo buy for this black nursery!? A trippy forrest green geometric chunky rug! Best part is that it was only $100 at Tuesday Morning! YES!

It seriously looks so good with all the black! I plan on painting the ceiling and trim and everything black. People think I'm nuts but then they see the tiny little room and get it. It's not a goth baby room. More of a chic baby room ;) 

Oh and this will be the crib:

classic! 

So we begin the nursery... wish me luck!

New Obsession: Faye Toogood

I just read a wonderful article on British designer Faye Toogood in the weeks NY Times Style Magazine. I just fell in love with her style! She has such a great eye and I found myself staring and analyzing every photograph of her home.

These chairs are amazing. Love the sconces. I want to redo our fireplaces with slate like this above pic...

This kitchen is sooooo cool! I love the huge quirky knobs!! 

She manages to achieve the perfect balance between minimalism and "things" (some may say clutter?!) I love that it's not trendy and the color palette is perfection in my opinion! It's definitely more of an artists home and not for everyone but I simply LOVE it!! What do you think? Check out the link and a video tour HERE.

Halloween Bywater Style...

 I would say the people living in my hood get a little more creative when it comes to their Halloween decor than most... I love the DIY style most bring and it's almost a competition of who comes up with the wackiest! Here's just a few snaps I took while walking the other day...

Googly eyes!! 

Every year this house puts crows, moss and branches on the front of their house. It's so simple yet so spoooooky!!

Nothing like some crazy decapitated heads hanging down!

This one below is just so simple and classic.

Creepy bride...

We bought a parachute off ebay (don't even ask...) and decided to string it in the tree at the park, Clouet Gardens across from our house. We attached a skeleton to it like the skeleton parachuted down and died in the tree! AAAhhhhhh trust me, it is funny! 

Here's Hubs and I with my 2 aunts & my uncle. My uncle loves to dress in drag any chance he gets! He walks better in 4" heels than I ever could.

We also tried something new this year at our park, Clouet Gardens. We had a movie night Halloween with a crafts hour as well. We thought mayb 20 - 30 people would show up and boy were we shocked! We had over 100 people come out!! It was great. There are so many kids in the neighborhood that were playing in the park. I'm glad it was such a hit and now we can really get planning on something great for next Halloween.

Here's a snap of the movie, Beetlejuice. The screen is about 14' x 12' so it's pretty big! Unfortunately it rained halfway through the movie so we had to call it a night :(

And there's a Halloween in the Bywater! 

Cool Art

I saw this art piece at Antenna Gallery last month during the monthly Second Saturday and thought it was really cool. Simple but I loved it.

The artist threaded pink thread onto the bristles and matched the thread with pink paint for the brush. (I'm assuming that's what they did, I didn't ask!) Also, terribly sorry but no artist credit for it :( I just snapped the picture without thinking.

Now for a tiny rant about Second Saturday - for all you NOLA locals who enjoy art - I urge you all to check out the Second Saturday art walk!! It's every second Saturday of the month and about 10 - 15 galleries mostly on St. Claude Avenue (Marigny/Bywater area) exhibit new shows.

 It's a lot of fun and a very cool scene! Think free wine, food trucks, hipsters everywhere... It reminds me of my NYC days in a way... when moving back to NOLA I was worried I would miss the art and culture that NYC had to offer and it's nice to have this monthly event to inspire me. A lot of the original art is very affordable so perfect for people just starting to collect art. We have bought a few pieces. 

Some outdoor art at another gallery. We were trying to look like a rock band album cover... failed miserably. (you see the creepy guy between us?! haaha we were going for Stevie Nicks esque?!!!)

Anyways - GO TO SECOND SATURDAY for some local cultcha dawlin's!!!! 

We're Expecting a Baby Boo!!

Yep! I'm thrilled to share with y'all that there's a little Baby Boo set to arrive February 25th! Only fitting we would have a due date hovering around Mardi Gras ;) We are super excited and I'm adjusting mentally and physically to this crazy guy growing and kicking me all day! Yeah, IT'S A BOY too!!

Here's his cute little face...

 Knock on wood, I only really had about 2 weeks of nausea but have been eating carbs like a BOSS!! I'm trying to work out a lot to counter to massive carb intake ;) Luckily my energy level is higher now than before the pregnancy! Before I get too excited about that - let's see how I feel in the third trimester though ;)

5 months pregnant!

 And of course we must discuss his nursery! I dug up a floor plan - it was drawn before the rental was in place but you get a good idea of the wacky layout.

 Since this house is over 150 years old and had 3 total additions, it's kind of like a puzzle with room after room after room that can all function as either bedrooms, living rooms, dining rooms... even kitchens ;) Yeah, Baby Boo is getting our rental kitchen as his bedroom! 

If you look at the floor plan, the rental is at the upper right, the living room, bedroom, bath, and kitchen.  We are putting in a 36" wall where that hall is that leads to the kitchen. So the rental will now just be those 2 rooms with a bathroom. Since it's a vacation rental and most people don't even use the kitchen. We are putting in a mini fridge and basic kitchen needs - so it's more like a hotel room.

Don't worry, the "kitchen" was originally a bedroom so it doesn't feel like a kitchen. This was our cheap DIY $800 kitchen we outfitted in the rental! All the appliances and counters will be sold. 

The room is pretty small, 10' x 8' so I'll have to keep it pretty simple. I've already found my two inspiration pics for the future state of this room:

via

I love this vintage looking crib painted a soft gold. I'll probably be too lazy to do that and just buy a simple Ikea crib. But I like the simplicity of this room. Love the wall color too! I already have a great little armoire that my aunt gave me that is adorable. She used it when my cousin was a baby. 

Above is my other inspiration pic. I'm considering a large sisal rug with a zebra hide down for a more eclectic look. 

The paint color debate is between Farrow & Ball Hague Blue or Farrow & Balls Black/Blue:

Hague Blue

Black Blue

I'm going to get samples of each and test them out. The Black Blue is the color of the above nursery. I love the richness to it and it's a little riskier than Hague Blue. The room is TINY so I would paint out everything in the color. The window frame, baseboards, molding, etc. Not sure what I'll do with ceiling yet though... 

This room is so not even ready for any design yet though! It's still a kitchen!! I think we're going to convert it in late November/early December. We keep booking it so it keeps pushing the reno date but I need that MONEY baby!! 

OK, there ya have it! The beginning of the nursery design and the wonderful news of another baby set to hit the Bywater ;)  (we're having a little baby boom here in the hood)

What do you think of the paint colors? It's hard to have an opinion from a screen shot of color, they never look the same as in person...

Boo's in Southern Living!!?! WHAAAT!?

Yeahhhhh..... WHAT?! I was thrilled to see that an article featuring my lovely little neighborhood included yours truly! Be sure to pick up the October issue of Southern Living - there's a great article on the Bywater neighborhood and a cute little snippet on "The Mover and Shaker" - Boo Hazard! Ha! 

This year has been filled with wonderful surprises and goals I wanted to fulfill... many random things going on that I'm thrilled to check off my "bucket list". Granted, my bucket list never included being included in a magazine article but honey I'll take it! Can't wait to share with y'all all the rest going on!! :)

Latest State of Living Room - with NEW furniture!

I wanted to share the current state of our living room - as some of you who regularly read this blog know, I move my furniture around ALL the time!! BUT - get ready now... I am very happy to announce that I finally LOVE the layout of the furniture in my house! I must admit it's in large part due to my mom redoing her entire house (Shaun Smith Home is doing the complete design of course! Fun job!) and me getting my pick of any furniture she was going to sell -thanks mom!

So, I'll start with our living room. I first need to show y'all my current Craigslist score - a new (used) sofa!!! yippeeeee!! I couldn't believe it when I saw it online. It wasn't super cheap - bought it for $500 BUT it's exactly what I've wanted my current sofa to be - a single bench seat, and 2 simple pillows on the back so I can switch small accent pillows as I wish. My current awful sofa has 3 seat cushions and FIVE pillows on the back. TOO MANY PILLOWS!!! That sofa is now in our new TV room. Anyway, here's the down sofa:

Now, use your imagination people! The sofa had an awful micro suede diamond patterned slip cover that is SO not me - I plan on getting it slip covered in a great linen but until then my crazy ass has draped linen over that micro suede! I love the lines of it though. Here's the type of slip cover look I'll do:

via EST Magazine

Can you see my vision now!? OK... now moving on to the room...

My big sexy console on the opposite wall from the new sofa. Loving my estate sale painting with the spooky faces over the console. 

One of my two new antique chairs everyone hates but me! I'll show them once I recover this seat and give these guys some love!

Above are my two new chairs from momma! These chairs are from the 50's and I have a little attachment to them - they were in my bedroom in high school but covered in a cow print fabric! You can see from this picture I still need a rug to ground the room. I'm planning on getting a chunky sisal... maybe with a hint of grey in it over tan. And everything in the room is square or rectangle. Eventually a new coffee table or round side table will be nice. 

Close up of the chair. These will eventually get recovered but I'm not a money tree and these things need to happen in phases! 

Another view of the room. That black dining table is going to be sold.

Current state of my chrome & brass etarge. It's a hot mess... baby steps people!

Here's the "foyer" to the left when you enter the house. That lamp is another new member to our house. It's solid marble. I need a new shade but I got a steal of a deal on it so a new shade isn't a biggie...

SO there ya have it! Our new "formal" living room :) There's a lot that still needs to be done but the big pieces are in which makes me happy! 

Here's my to buy/make list:

- new slip cover

- chunky sisal rug

- new fabric on slipper chairs

- new fabric on antique chair

- new lamp shade

- new round little table to replace coffee table

- new floor lamps for either side of sofa 

Yikes! Seems like more now that I've typed it out! A design tip I recommend to all of you slowly acquiring your "grown up" furniture - it helps to make a list and know what you're looking for. SAVE your money for what you really want and don't cheap out. It's better to wait a month or two and save more money and buy the something fabulous you've been eyeing over something that "will do".  

I had been searching for a new sofa off and on for years and knew exactly what I wanted. I wasn't planning on buying a used one from Criagslist but hey, even after getting a slipcover made it'll still be a fraction of the cost of a new one. SO, my point is if you have a clear idea of what you need - once you find it, there's no second guessing if it'll work. Hopefully you've analyzed it enough beforehand you can pounce on it! 

Geesh... were you expecting design tips from Boo today or what!? ;) 

What do y'all think of that advice? Are you looking for *perfect* pieces to add to your home? Do tell!!