EXPEDIT Explosion.

There has been one in my house.  We have five, yes FIVE, EXPEDIT shelving units from IKEA in our house and I kind of want one more.  They are just so perfect and you really can't beat the price.

EXPEDIT #1 in the play room

EXPEDIT #2  also in the play room

EXPEDIT #3 in my workspace

EXPEDIT #4 in my son's room

EXPEDIT #5 in the family room

We have had so much fun with the box from the one most recently purchased:

1.  a ramp for cars

2.  hide and seek with a bunny

3.  the perfect spot for playing with a big bowl of fake oranges

4.  great for bowling with a fake orange and puzzle pieces

5.  baby yoga

6.  dance floor

7.  the aftermath

I hope you are having a great week!!

Play time...finally!

For a long time I have had a love/hate relationship with toys.  Of course love wins, but I have always had a ridiculous fear of toys overtaking our house and having it look like a preschool or a toy store or just a massive mess.  Our home is on the small side, so dedicating an entire room to toys and books and puzzles was just unfortunately out of the question.  As I mentioned before, our dining "room" was virtually unused and since we still have an eat-in kitchen/family room, we decided to donate that table and make that area a play space.   Room is in quotes because really it is not a room.  It is a portion of a room...a nook...a tiny nook.  :)  We are making it work, though.  Since the other half of the room is a living area and also the first room of our home that you see when you walk in, I wanted the spaces to flow and to make sense in our home and I didn't want the toys to be the first things you see.  I wanted a cohesive space and while we still have some things to do, the play area is really taking shape and we have already spent some quality hours in there.

Before checking it out, I thought I'd show how the space has looked in the past.  It has had it's share of changes over the past few years.  When we first moved in, we had it as our sitting area:

Then we flipped the room and moved the table to that side.  Unfortunately, I never really took pictures of the table area because it left a lot to be desired.  Often it was just a bare table where I worked on art projects or blogged, other times it housed holiday decor:

treats at my son's first birthday party

Halloween 2010

Though you can't see the table, this Christmas decor was on it!  :)  (2010)

the day of the move (2011)

I wanted the play space to be a fun, creative area while also still making sense with the decor in the rest of our home.  I didn't want the space to seem disjointed in any way.   Here is how it looks now:

So that's it!  Connor runs in there as soon as he wakes in the morning, so I am going to pretend he loves the design of the new space, not just the toys.  :)

A few details:

• The shelving and accessories were already in our home, just taken from other rooms, so this was a free makeover.  
• The mirror on the right wall is metal, so not only is it perfect for face-making, but also letter magnets!
• The easel was one of his Christmas gifts from us and is currently doubling as a kitchen/grocery store, with a bin of pots, pans, and utensils underneath, next to his car.
• My husband and I made that penguin from a box.  I 100% copied the one from Gourmet Mom on-the-Go when we had a penguin party for Connor's first birthday.  My mother-in-law helped me sew felt fish bean bags to be thrown into the penguin's mouth.  They are in the bucket next to the penguin.
• I still have that bowl of corks in this room.  :)  Joining them are two (aluminum?) trees my parents gave us as part of our Christmas gift.  I love them!  They will be perfect for Christmas, but I plan to keep them up year-round.

Now we just need to finish the seating area on the opposite end and then this room will be complete.

It's fall and almost Halloween!!

Happy Monday!!!  The temperatures are finally cooling off around here, so the annual trip to the pumpkin patch was necessary this past weekend.  Normally I do not really get into the holiday-decorating mood until Christmas (and by that I mean, I only decorate for Christmas...but I start dreaming about putting up the tree by Thanksgiving), but this year seems different.  Maybe because our son is a little older and lights up as soon as he sees pumpkins and Halloween stuff??...I'm going to go with that theory and share our very minimal fall/Halloween decor with you.  I just love this time of year!!!

The espresso color of the walls in our living room and the room's accessories just happen to be very fall-like, so really... add a few pumpkins and we were done.

As for Halloween, I can appreciate other people's love for spooky decor, I really can!   ...But in my home, it freaks me out a little; I am a scaredy-cat.  In my mind, nothing good comes of rats, skeletons, and spiders...so I went in a slightly different direction, somewhat cartoonish direction..  I saw these by the dollar bins at Target (for only $2.50 each!!) and fell in love with them!  For now, they are on a table, but on Halloween night, they will outside with the pumpkins!

I love the way the sunlight shines through them!  I am so excited to put candles in them and see them lit alongside our jack-o-lanterns!!  I cannot wait to show you Connor's Halloween costume!!!  Eeeee...stay tuned!!  :) 

Have a great week!!

The way I look through a catalog...

My way of looking through the million catalogs I seem to get is a little complex....I mean as complex as browsing a catalog can really get.

1. I quickly flip through and want every single thing I see.

2. I immediately look through again, starting from the back. This time I seem to want/like nothing. Funny how that happens.

3. Several days later, I look through again and find things I didn't see the first or second time...things I find to be really interesting and different. ...kind of like when you watch a movie a million times and see or hear something you never did before.

4. I pull the pages of these found pieces and file them.

5. About a week or so later, I go through that file and decide which things I really like and which things get cut from my wish list.

6. #5 is repeated several times until my list is either non-existent or contains something I really REALLY like/want. I never usually buy anything, but it is sort of fun for me to see how I can think I really need something and only a few weeks later, I don't even like it anymore.

Here are a few CB2 finds from stage 4 of my process...I wonder which ones will make my final cut...

pulley pendant lamp

russian nesting dolls, set of six

stikit tape dispenser

birch storage boxes, set of four

laugh 20" pillow

8-piece seven fortunes miniature vase set

red bird pillow

I am unsure if any of these will be cut from my list!!..I really love all of them.

FLOR!

I have seen these FLOR carpet tiles around for a while now, but never really thought anything of them. I don't know why I never had a real opinion of them, I just didn't. I guess because I was not aware of the huge selection of colors, styles, patterns, textures, etc. that exists! Jeez...I had no clue! Yesterday I received two FLOR catalogs and was shocked! Yes! Now I can create my own carpet...forget buying what's at a store! I can make my own, change it up, rearrange tiles, add some, take some away...you get the idea.

Now check out some of the PATTERNS available:

Many TEXTURES from which to choose :




A wide variety of SOLIDS:




Martha Stewart has her own collection of FLOR designs:




**Added bonus** You can order 6 samples for $5.00! The samples are 6-inch squares. You decide what you want for your space and then use the samples to create a work of art (or several)! I'm thinking I might try to frame them...who knows if that will work?! :)

Be sure to check out FLOR! You will not be disappointed!