Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Whose Big Idea was This Anyway?


 Bachman's, that's who! 

Holiday Ideas House 2013 benefits the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance.

The theme - "A Cozy, Contemporary Nordic Celebration".


Enter through the porch past the cocoa bar.


Notice the re-purposed tire rim side table with glass top encasing pine cones and greens.


Unless you were very observant (or read the brochure) you might not know that the stacked logs inside the glass doored bookcases are faux. 
Ikea fabric was used to create the effect.


We love a tree heavy on ornaments made of natural materials, and lots of red.


Cozy indeed!


The dining table set for Christmas.


The sun room is ready for pre-, or apres, dinner nibbling and tippling.


More red!


A most festive loo.


Bedroom fit for a snow princess.


Don't even try to not dream of sugarplums here.


Dreamy tree.


Ethereal snowflakes.


The gardener's room.


Picture yourself here planning next year's garden.


A bit of green to gaze at when it is white, white, white outside.


Bring that birdbath in to enjoy as a mini landscape base until Spring.


The master bedroom looking earthy and glitzy at once. 


A good look all winter through.


Use those jewels and baubles as decor.


Fir, feathers, and antlers. Woodsy! 


Tablescapes ideas room.


The classic holiday table.


Happy New Year!


A winter wedding.








And the main idea, sincerely expressed without no embellishment needed, 
....have yourself some very Happy Holidays!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Forest Fun


Hunters and hikers be aware!


Little picnickers are everywhere!

Don't step on them.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

The Matte Stephens Confluence


All of a sudden artist Matte Stephens is creating a giant blip on our radar 
with his retro style renderings of all sorts of interesting people, places, animals,
 and animated inanimate objects

It happened like this - we were recently admiring his work on  Etsy, when a sister-in-law who knows of and enables several of our addictions sent us one of these great shopping bags from Whole Foods in collaboration with Etsy and Matte Stephens his ownself.


Holiday Better Bag



But wait, there's more!


Look who is the cover illustrator for the Poppytalk 2013 holiday lookbook of handcrafted gift ideas! 


Why yes, it's Matte Stephens!

He's, he's everywhere!

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Maybe We Shouldn't Go with #5


As if we didn't already have way too many things to consider when choosing a new kitchen paint color...

cabinets, appliances, curtains, adjacent room wallpaper, avoiding hues that induce the gag reflex in diners....


Now there is the possibility that the wrong choice could lead to depression, sorrow, sadness, or violence. 

Wait a minute... we have already experienced all of these emotions in our currently Warm Earth colored kitchen and just thought it had to do with our rate of cooking disasters. 

Guess it was the wall color all along. After the remodel we will give Tripe Surprise another try. 
Surely the family will love it this time! 

Better go with #20 just to be sure.


Vintage color wheel found by Cathe Holden and made available to amateur designers 

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Stand Back!


Why the dog has to stay on the porch after swimming in the lake.
(Even though we love him dearly.)




Go on. Turn up the volume and take it to full screen. Oh yea.

from Variable on Vimeo.

Friday, November 1, 2013

Jim and Pam (and Even Dwight)


Don't you kinda miss them? The gang at Dunder Mifflin. 
Yeah, they were annoying, but we grew to love them.


It's Friday morning and there are no Scranton office hi-jinx to talk about at the office
around the water-cooler (or at the breakfast table). No Liz Lemon lore either.

Thursday nights (and Friday mornings) are just not the same anymore.