We’ve actually had ours installed for a week now and I’ve found it extremely helpful even when doing simple tasks like the dishes (yes, I’m usually in charge of the dishes, but Sherry vacuums so it’s pretty fair around here). Rather than having to reach over to turn the handle on and off, I can interrupt the water by just quickly tapping the spout anywhere, and the technology’s even smart enough to know when you’re gripping the faucet to move it (as we do from basin to basin in our double sink) so it doesn’t interpret that maneuver as an on/off trigger. Consider us impressed.

For more info about how this baby works and how we got it installed, check out this morning’s post (and don’t forget to read through the comments where we address pretty much every detail that you can think of). And if you’re dying to get your grubby mitts on one of them, here’s how:

• PRIZE: A Delta Pilar Pull-Down faucet with Touch 2O Technology in the finish of your choice (chrome or stainless)
• TO ENTER: Comment on this post with the words “TOUCH ME” and…
• BONUS QUESTION: …spill the beans about some of your personal turn offs when it comes to the opposite sex. Poor hygiene? Too full of themselves? Obsessed with his or her chihuahua? Spill it -  but let’s try to keep things PG-ish if we can.
• GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Wednesday, February 10th at 8pm EST
• NUMBER OF WINNERS: One
• PRIZE SHIPS: Anywhere in North America
• USUAL STUFF: One entry per e-mail address is permitted. The winner will be selected using random.org and announced on Thursday. Good luck!

Find more freebie info on our Giveaway FAQs page. Pics courtesy of Delta Faucet.

But sometimes change is a good thing. Why? Because the kind folks at Delta faucets generously offered to let us take their new Pilar Pull-Down Faucet with Touch 2O Technology for a spin.

Psst- Want one too? Stay tuned for this week’s giveaway since we actually wrangled one for a lucky random winner as well!

The Pilar’s sleek brushed nickel finish is a perfect match for our kitch and the Touch 2O feature sounded right up our alley- especially with all the painting, sanding, caulking and general messiness that comes with the bevy of DIY projects that we’re always taking on. Basically, you can turn the water on and off by simply touching any part of the faucet or handle with your fingers, wrist, elbow or any other piece of skin that’s not covered in soap, paint, dirt, etc. Sounds like a DIYers dream, no?

So once we delicately broke the news to our old faucet, it came time for it to gather its stuff and move out (not to worry, we’re happily giving it a second life by donating it to The Habitat For Humanity ReStore). When it comes to faucet switcheroos, we’ve removed and installed about four or five bathroom faucets, but never a kitchen faucet (our granite and sink installer put in our last one) but I figured it’d be pretty straightforward. I just cleared out the under-sink cabinets, assembled my tools, turned off the water and readied my plumber’s crack (not pictured).

I actually resisted the urge to take pictures of the ol’ removal process, thinking it would be so simple that it didn’t warrant breaking out the camera- but I actually hit a small hurdle pretty much off the bat: I couldn’t figure out how to unscrew a certain piece. The solution? I just hunted down the instructions online (since a lot of manufacturers put PDFs of these things on their websites these days) and realized that I misunderstood the way the pieces connect (specifically I thought 8B and 8C were fused together, so I hadn’t even attempted to simply unscrew 8C from 8B). Problem solved.

From there it was only a few minutes before I had everything removed and boxed up to be donated to the Habitat ReStore (generally speaking, we just unscrewed things under the sink that held the fixtures in place above the sink). Then after some mild scrubbing, I was left with four clean holes in the countertop that begged to be plugged up with a new faucet. Now you might be wondering why we had four holes when that before picture only shows three fixtures. Well, we originally had the soap pump that came with the Price Pfister faucet installed, but we found that it leaked on the granite a lot (and got jammed up quite a bit) so it soon got the boot in favor of our beloved Anthropologie soap/lotion caddy (that never leaks AND easily covers the unused hole).

So with the sink just begging for a new faucet, the installation of our sparkly and high tech Delta model proved to be surprisingly easy (I assumed this would be harder than the former faucet removal but it was seamless and simple- especially since I already had the included-in-the-box instructions on hand to refer to). First came screwing on the gooseneck spout, which was just simply tightening a collection of washers and nuts on the underside of the granite while Sherry held the spout in place on the other side.

Then came doing something similar to the handle (i.e. valve). This required a special long tool (included) to tighten the nut over a super long bolt (similar to parts 8B and 8C that had proven confusing to remove on the old faucet). You can see how the nut fits into the top of a long plastic tube that then slides right over the long bolt.

Here you can see the tool in action after having tightened the nut into place. Pretty straightforward if you ask me, especially since so far all the tubes and wiring were already hooked up for me (yes, our fancy schmancy faucet actually came with wiring).

The next step was feeding the extension hose through the faucet. All that took was popping in a simple white nub to help the tube slide through with ease, and then just leaving enough still sticking out so it didn’t get lost inside the gooseneck. This is where we would later screw on the nozzle end, which makes it functions as both a standard faucet and a pull-down sprayer. Gotta love a multitasker like that.

Here’s where it starts to get high tech. After all, the Jetson’s-esque touch feature doesn’t just happen by magic. Enter the Solenoid. I don’t know how it  does what it does, but I do know that it came it one of those static-eliminating bags that I’m used to getting computer parts in. Like woah.

The Solenoid connects to the valve on the top side by snapping it into a plastic tube that already extends from the valve and using a metal clamp (the goldish thing below) to hold it in place. Then I snapped the spray hose (after removing the white plastic guide) into the bottom of the Solenoid and used a black plastic clamp to hold that in place. Our faucet was now one step closer to becoming a bona fide robot.

After that it was just up to me to connect a series of wires from the Solenoid to other parts of the fixture. For example I attached a metal clip to the bottom of the spout (sorry for the blurry pic – it’s dark under there!)…

I‘m so excited about my kitchen transformation that I had to send it your way since so much of it was inspired by YHL! Two of my favorite features in my new space (under cabinet spice shelf and sliding barn door) were inspired by this transformation that you guys featured on your blog a few months back. You can see my entire transformation with before/after pics here and the day by day process here. I’m so glad we were able to take the room from a neon green mess (yes, I painted it that color… it looked so much better in my head) to a serene and welcoming space that’s truly functional and easy on the eyes. My favorite things are the garden window in the kitchen where all of my herbs are flourishing instead of dying in the Illinois winter, and the spice shelf which was inspired by the kitchen you posted a few months ago! Anyway, thanks so much for helping me realize my dream kitchen, I don’t think I’d have 1/2 of the fun little features if it wasn’t for your blog and the amazing makeovers you share! – Jennifer

Here’s Jennifer’s bold green kitchen before:

And here’s her fresh and inviting space after the big makeover:

Pretty dramatic, huh? Here’s Jennifer’s list of sources:

• Cabinets: Bertch Cherry Wood, Brindle Stain
• Countertops: Quartz in Ivory Coast
• Appliances: Sears Kenmore Elite
• Hardwood Floors: Bruce Hardwood Floors
• Sink: Farmhouse Stainless Steel Undermount Kitchen Sink
• Faucet: Vigo Modern Pull-out Spiral Kitchen Mixer
• Instant Hot Water Faucet: Quick & Hot Water Tank and Chrome Faucet Combo
• Rug: Dash & Albert in Lighthouse Sprout/White Indoor/Outdoor
• Light Fixture: Bellamy Antique Pewter Semi-Flush Ceiling Light

Can you believe it’s the same room? We love that Jennifer wasn’t deterred by her initial lime green wall choice and still headed into the renovation with confidence and enthusiasm. So many people just get frozen with decision-making fear. And the fact that she took inspiration from other kitchens that she loved shows how easy it is to pinpoint your style and personalize your space to get “un-stuck” if that ever happens to you. Just flip through design mags or books at Barnes & Noble and google around for the perfect starting point! We also love that she trolled the web to find steals and deals on fixtures like the faucet that she snagged on Overstock. So thanks so much for sending the gorgeous photos our way Jennifer. We love everything from the ceiling-height cabinets and the mosaic backsplash to that built-in spice shelf and those gleaming silestone counters. Yum. What about you guys? Got any favorite parts?

We love to hoard our pennies whenever we can but we’re also known to save them up for something truly special for our little ranch, so we know a thing or two about splurging on a few occasions. What have you guys gone all out on? And was it all that you thought it would be? Does it make you smile every time you see it? Or are you too scared that you’ll “hurt” it to truly enjoy it?

Breathtaking kitchen image (which appears to be a nice balance of steals & splurges) via Cornflower Cottage.

After all, if John and I didn’t want to go to bed with just anything (my obsession with all things eco made me yearn for a pure and organic mattress free of fireproofing chemicals and made from 100% natural materials that are just as good for the planet as they are for people) we certainly wanted the same thing for the beanette. So imagine our sheer delight and amazement when the thoughtful and generous people at Savvy Rest contacted us and offered to send over an organic crib mattresses for our big nursery makeover. Yeah, it was enough excitement to make my bladder almost burst (this reaction might also have something to do with all the kicks I’ve been getting lately- we have a little can-can dancer in there).

So when The Savvy Baby (isn’t that an adorable name for a crib mattress?) arrived a few weeks later we were still pinching ourselves. And Burger fell in love too. In fact here’s a video of us catching Burger in the act of enjoying the new mattress (or you can watch it here on YouTube).

And fear not, that puppy’s cleaner than we are. And of course we’ll be adding an organic all-wool waterproof mattress pad along with an organic fitted sheet so please don’t worry that our baby girl will get some sort of dangerous chihuahua-borne illness.

But back to our baby… er, I mean the mattress. What makes it so covetable? Well it’s totally free of any chemicals and made from five inches of firm all-natural latex. The top and bottom of the mattress are also covered with flame-retardant quilting made of organic wool fiber and organic cotton fabric (it meets all the fire-proofing standards here in the US without being sprayed or dipped in any chemicals). Plus wool is naturally repellent to dust mites and keeps the mattress’s inner environment dry so baby P will sleep cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

Doesn’t it sound like the Ferrari of crib comfort? Seriously we were thrilled and we can’t thank the sweet folks at Savvy Rest enough for their amazing gift. Of course we haven’t taken it for a spin since it’s a bit too short for us, but we can definitely vouch for the comfort-factor and durability of our own personal Savvy Rest mattress which we’ve enjoyed for almost a year now (check out an update on how we like it right here). And we haven’t mentioned that Savvy Rest is based right here in Virginia so it’s sort of a “local” company too. Gotta love that it didn’t need to travel far to arrive right at our door.

So that’s the rainbows and unicorns (read: happy-go-lucky) part of the story. Then it was time to figure out where we’d be putting our lovely new mattress… as in, locate a crib. This is easier said than done my friends. It was a major challenge to straddle the line between “we’d like it to be reasonably green and non-toxic since that’s the way we live” (we compost, have a rain barrel, use non-toxic cleaning products, etc) and “our budget isn’t in the $700-1500 range so all those entirely eco crib options sadly aren’t within reach for us” (with things like strollers, car seats, cloth diapers and other big ticket items still on our must-buy list we unfortunately had to set a crib budget and stick to it).

We quickly realized that we’d be happy to find a crib that was somewhat of a compromise (a bit more eco than most super cheap cribs with a few great non-toxic features but obviously nothing in the sadly-unattainable-for-us $700+ price range of those amazing industry leading green crib makers like Oeuf, Cariboo, Pacific Rim, DucDuc, Spot on Square, Argington, and Q Collection Junior). So after a bit of research and soul searching we arrived at a decent little “must-have list” that we thought would work best for us in order to narrow down all the contenders and hopefully leave us with something perfect for Baby P. Here was our required criteria:

• A crib that was constructed entirely out of solid wood (since pressed wood and MDF can be held together with off-gassing glue and formaldehyde)
• Something with a non-toxic finish (since babies are known to inexplicably gnaw on their cribs)
• A price tag under $400 if at all heavenly possibly (our initial budget was actually in the $200 range but we scored such a good deal on a secondhand nursery chair that we had a bit more to put towards the crib).
• A crib that meets or exceeds all of the established US safety standards
• Something modern-ish with clean lines and a white finish (to work with the rest of the room and feel gender neutral enough to reuse for future bambinos)
• A solid well rated stationary crib (we wanted to avoid anything with a drop side since there have been so many recent recalls)

We also had a bonus list of “it would be nice” characteristics that weren’t necessary but were definitely welcome:

• A crib with some sort of pull out storage underneath it (we’re all about maximizing our stash-it space)
• Something that can be converted to a toddler bed or daybed (we’d like to work with what we have for as long as possible)
• A splash of darker wood to balance the clean bright white finish on the rest of the crib (we actually found ourselves loving the dual-toned look but it wasn’t that easy to hunt down)
• Free shipping (because that’s always a nice bonus when purchasing such a big ticket item)

Our minds swirled with a ton of possibilities that we carefully considered as we went…

Idea #1: Could we make our own crib to meet every prerequisite? After a bit of deliberation we realized that with all the safety features, testing and industry standards we’d better leave crib-making to the experts.

Idea #2: Could we grab an unfinished solid wood one (made from birch, maple, oak?) and use a no-VOC stain or paint to finish it ourselves? Well, after hunting down very few totally unfinished solid wood options (many were already stained or sealed so we wouldn’t be able to easily alter the finish) we realized that unfinished cribs were generally in the $500-1200 range (a bit to a lot out of our budget) and usually had country-ish lines due to their raw and unfinished nature (we were interested in something a bit sleeker and more clean-lined).

Idea #3: Could we hunt down a used one? After all, that would be the greenest thing to do. But a bit more consideration had us thinking about those ever-changing safety standards and a slew of recent recalls so it seemed like getting something new that meets all the current safety standards was the right choice for fearful first time parents like us. Especially since my mother generously offered to foot the bill and kept mentioning that we should get something new that we could use again and again and again (somehow she thinks we’ll end up with seven babies since she herself is one of seven). The good news is that we’ve actually purchased an awesome thrift store nursery chair so we were as green as it gets in that category… stay tuned for those details.

Anyway, with all of that pre-hunt brainstorming out of the way, we dove headfirst into active “crib shopping” mode armed with our handy little list of boxes to check off and all the confidence of a nervous eight pound chihuahua (we have to be honest, it was quite intimidating and we were super worried that we wouldn’t find anything at all). But we did manage to dig up this good-looking crib made with solid wood and non-toxic finishes. The only downside: it doesn’t outright say there’s no MDF or pressed wood so there probably is. Plus the $379 price is very close to the top of our range (as in scraping right up against it) so we were hoping to find something that checked off all of our boxes and not just most of them for that price point. Back to the drawing board.

Then we came across this chic looking $419 crib, which was also made with solid wood and non-toxic finishes. But again it doesn’t outright say that there’s no MDF or pressed wood (something that cribs with this feature like to shout from the rooftops) so it also fell a bit short of checking off that last box (and was also a bit over our max budget). That’s ok… maybe the third time is the charm?

Spoiler alert: nope. We then stumbled upon this crib by DaVinci. We actually heard through a few online reviews that DaVinci cribs were usually made from solid wood, finished with non-toxic paint/stain and even came with BPA free crib guards- but there was hardly any information for this particular model except for the super vague “made from Asian hardwood” line (which could also be true if the thing was riddled with MDF) so we’re not really sure it met much of our criteria at all. The styling was also a bit less clean-lined than we wanted, although there was definitely something charming and undeniably “classic” looking about it. On the upside, it did come in white (our desired color) and was priced extremely well at $267… but it just didn’t do everything we hoped that our future crib would do. Moving on.

We began to wonder if we were (pardon my language) being hard-asses. Was our wish list akin to J Lo asking for nothing but white candles in her dressing room? Were we tirelessly trolling for something that just didn’t exist? We allowed ourselves just two minutes to wallow in self pity before deciding that we had work to do. Back to the search.

Next we came across two potential Ikea cribs, but the first one wasn’t the white color that we hoped for (although it did seem to be made mostly from sustainable solid wood). Sadly it also didn’t boast keywords like “non-toxic” or “low-VOC” when it came to the clear acrylic lacquer finish, and we learned along our little researching tirade that any crib with these features likes to highlight them in bold (so we always assume that if it doesn’t say something is: no-VOC, non-toxic, sustainable, completely comprised of solid wood and nothing else, etc- then it probably isn’t). Too bad because the price was pretty fantastic at $159. But that’s ok, there was another affordable Ikea option to evaluate.

Our second Swedish find (priced at just $99) also mentioned some nice solid wood & plywood materials (no word of pressed wood or MDF) but again neglected to describe that the “tinted clear amino resin lacquer” finish was anything especially non-toxic or low-VOC. Que the wop-wop sound effect.

Admittedly they were both amazingly priced and we actually know of at least three happy babies with these affordable and stylish Ikea cribs so by no means are we saying there’s a thing wrong with them (or the other cribs that we found along the way)! They just didn’t quite check off all the little boxes that we established going into our big crib hunt. We quickly learned that selecting a crib is definitely a subjective and surprisingly personal decision. What’s right for one person might not be right for the next mom and dad to come along so we definitely believe that ironing out what’s most important to you (and acknowledging that it won’t always be as important to the next person) will help you locate something perfect for your family, your budget and the way you live. To each his own, right? But back to our search…

Next we found this crib. At $490 the maple finish was the only one that we could *almost* afford (it was still nearly $100 over budget). Since the tone of the maple is a bit shy of the deep chocolate color that we lean towards, the white finish would have been our preference… but at $700 that option was out of our price range. And although the maple coloring didn’t really work with our ever-evolving nursery scheme, there was something intensely charming about this guy. He’s actually the cream of the eco crop (Argington is one of those fancy top-of-the-line green companies) and is made entirely of solid wood, touted as one of the most eco-friendly options out there, and constructed with all materials (glues, stains, and finishes) that are 100% non-toxic. Too bad it wasn’t the color we were looking for and the price was ultimately still a bit cost prohibitive for two savers like us. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

This crib was also super appealing thanks to the eco-advantages that it boasted (made entirely from sustainably grown wood with non toxic finishes). But the $700 price tag was just too steep for us, and the rounded corners wouldn’t fit our lovely new mattress. So we gave it one last look and clicked that window closed as a single tear slipped silently down my cheek (ok so I’m exaggerating, but this entire exercise was kind of an ooh-this-might-be-it-nope-keep-looking roller coaster ride).

Then we found this write-up which honestly helped A TON (update: we have been forced to unlink to the write-up, which has since been hacked and is redirecting people to a scandalous site and setting off virus alerts- we’ll put it back once things are running smoothly again). It reinforced that affordable eco cribs were few and far between (especially in the white coloring and clean-lined styling that we were looking for) but there were a few non-budget-breaking options that were still a bit “greener” than the average crib in that price range.

Ahhhhhhhhmmmmmmm.

Yes, that’s the sound of us breathing a long, deep sigh of relief. The affordable reasonably-green-crib-roundup that we had tracked down was insanely helpful! And the last crib they featured not only met all of our initial criteria but also checked off all of our bonus “would be nice” boxes too. And at $299 it was definitely within our budget. Were pigs flying? Could it really be? Oh sweet victory. It was described as “made from New Zealand pinewood with a non-toxic finish” and “the solid wood and wood veneer construction means no toxic VOCs or formaldehyde associated with pressed wood.” It also met or exceeded all US safety standards and received one of the highest user ratings we’d seen (over 85 people had weighed in after purchasing it and it earned almost five full stars out of five). Plus the $299 price tag even includes the rail to convert it to a toddler bed or daybed, there was free to-the-store shipping, it came in white and had a splash of darker wood, it was clean-lined and sleek looking and it even had a handy little storage drawer (talk about a few nice little bonuses).

It really was one of those miracle moments. Perhaps it’ll be up there with actually meeting our baby girl for the first time in May. Ok so that’s probably pushing it, but after hours (literally at least four solid ones) spent looking for something that consistently eluded us it seriously felt like a major coup to click the “buy” button and exchange a few nerdy high fives that we save for special occasions like these.

We could hardly wait to get it home, put it together, add our awesome new mattress, and test it all out with The Burgette. And about a week later we found ourselves doing just that. Nice, right?

Oh, maybe we should stop to explain who Burgette is. She got her name because she’s sort of a hybrid between Burger + The Beanette (we whipped her up thanks to this Burger zoonie and a recently gifted newborn sleeper… just so someone could take our new nursery addition for a spin). Look… she likes it!

And although we luckily were able to assemble things pretty quickly, we sped things up even more for your viewing pleasure (watch it below from Vimeo, or over here on YouTube):

So there you have it. The mind-numbingly exhaustive play by play of how we ended up with an amazing organic mattress and a solid clean-lined white wood crib without any pressed wood or MDF and a non-toxic finish. Of course we realize that one comes from a small Virginia based company and the other comes from a giant big box store (and yes, that it could be even greener if we had twice to three times as much to spend on it). But one thing we’ve already learned about impending parenthood is that it’s all about balance. And we love that we were able to add a thrift store nursery chair to the mix (stay tuned for those details). Balance really feels like it’s the key. We won’t be able to keep our little one away from certain things (like boys for instance) or feed her a completely organic diet until she’s 25, so we did the best we could and set out with a few simple “goals” for the bean’s sleeping situation. And we lived to tell the tale. Whew. Now there are only 579,088,989 more dire decisions that we’ll have to make before she graduates college. This should be interesting…

Note: As we mentioned above, selecting a crib (and any baby-related furniture/schooling/food/child care/etc) is definitely a subjective and surprisingly personal decision. What’s right for one person might not be right for the next mom and dad to come along. We definitely believe that the best you can do is to make thoughtful, informed decisions and go with something that feels right for your family, your budget, and the way you live. So while you might not have selected the same exact crib or mattress that we chose (everyone has different boxes to check off) we’re just two people sharing what worked for us in this crazy ride on the parenthood train.

Now, for our winners. Once random.org was able to decipher our scribble, they picked our two random winners: Caryn Shafer (who writes with ridiculous neatness) and Theresa M (whose grandmother’s cursive makes her wish she remembered how to write it). Congrats! Now we’re all dying to know what designs you’re gonna pick.

And next week’s giveaway is sure to be a fun one as well. It may just have you itching to get your hands dirty and clean and then dirty and clean all over again (yes, that’s a hint). Stay tuned…

Find more freebie info on our Giveaway FAQs page. Pics courtesy of Wild Ink Press.

I’m so glad that waking up early paid off and I scored a mood board, woo hoo! We REALLY need some help in our family room so we actually have a comfortable space to hang out. My hubby would really like two sofas & preferably one with a chaise lounge to kick his feet up on, and maybe even a cozy chair but I can’t wait to see what you think our room is actually capable of. We’re a fan of classic styles (clean lines, not too overstuffed, not too modern). A touch of glamour is nice too. We like stores like Crate & Barrel as well as Z Gallerie, JC Penney, and even Target (we’re not big fans of Ikea since we want items that are a bit more solid- even if that means paying more). The only think we want to keep is the TV. The our sad “drapes” and the couch can go for sure (it’s way to light to survive any future kids). We just painted the walls a couple of months ago so we’d prefer to keep them. We love neutrals like browns, black, grays (our usual go to accent color is red, but we’re open to anything). On the fireplace wall we’re planning to have our carpenter create built-ins so we have storage for things like our DVD player. We aren’t sure yet if we just want storage below the mantel or if we want a whole built-in wall unit with closed storage below and bookshelves above the cabinets that go to the ceiling (advice?). Oh and we need some sort of tile for our fireplace. Thanks for everything! – Linda

This room won’t be bare for long. Here’s the plan:

And here’s the new layout suggestion:

Now for the mood board breakdown.

1. Our color scheme for this formerly bare space will have lots of chocolate, tan and cream with pops of red and turquoise to keep things warm and welcoming. These layered neutrals and punches of color will really complement the soft tan walls for a dimensional and inviting effect.

2. Here’s the amazing frosted glass mosaic tile that we hunted down for the fireplace. It’s a little bit glam yet nice and neutral in tone (it’ll go with anything) so we definitely think Linda should checking it out in person and then take home a box to do the whole fireplace in one fell swoop if it’s as lovely in person as it looks online.

3. Here’s the clean-lined and classic chocolate sofa that we found with a generously sized chaise lounge for kicking back and relaxing. The dark color is both kid-friendly and elegant- plus a few red velvet pillows will add even more plushness and inviting texture.

4. We’ll use a few dashes of turquoise sparingly in this expansive room, but they’ll definitely add to the ambiance and the atmosphere. We’d love to see three of these tall sculptural vases on one side of the mantel (to the right of the TV) and the other one on the left side for a bit of chic asymmetry. And speaking of the fireplace, Linda asked for our opinion on the built-in situation so we would suggest going all the way to the ceiling (with concealed storage under the mantel and open bookcases above it) for maximum function and height in the room. It’ll really look luxe and lovely and we love that Linda will be able to hide all of her TV components for a clean and streamlined look.

5. When it comes to art Linda has two blank walls to fill in her generously sized space, so we’d love to see two of these classic and geometric votive wall hangings next to each other on the long wall across from the sliding doors and three of these handsome abstract prints (with every color in our palette) hanging in a row about 6″ from each other on the wall across from the fireplace. Oh and since they only make two different prints, ordering the first one twice and rotating it 180 degrees before hanging it will mimic the look of three varied art pieces.

6. We already mentioned that luxe red velvet cushions will make the clean-lined sofa feel both classic and cozy, so bringing in rich chocolate velvet curtains (on sale!) to flank the sliding doors will add even more of that inviting texture while tying into the sofa (and offering more kid-friendly dark colors). Plus punching up the light neutral walls with dramatic deep chocolate panels will add dimension, balance and some great height-accentuating detail to that side of the room (since there are nice tall doorways on the other two walls and those ceiling-height built-ins will be going in around the fireplace).

7. Although Linda mentioned the desire for two sofas (one with a chaise) we just couldn’t make them work in the space without awkwardly blocking the fireplace, the sliders, or the entrances to the room. So we dug up two plush and generously sized armchairs to flank the fireplace which will create more eye-pleasing balance in the room while still offering plenty of seating (since most sofas only facilitate two or three guests anyway). The rich wheat color of these armchairs (in Dijon) will really layer in wonderfully with the neutral tones in the wall, the coffee table and the rug along with the deeper chocolate tones of the sofa and the curtains. Yum. Oh and for a dash of that glamour that Linda loves, we dug up these great mirrored side tables (on sale!) to be placed next to each chair for a bit of sparkle and classic-yet-dramatic polish in the space.

8. Here’s the aforementioned round coffee table with a nice kid-safe and totally wipeable tufted leather top. It feels elegant and is generously sized enough to balance the large sectional and the armchairs on the other side of the room- plus it’s $100 off!

9. Perhaps the most chic-infusing item on our entire mood board, this large and lovely 9 x 13′ rug will ground the floating seating area and create a warm and cohesive effect. We love that the colors in the rug tie into everything from the existing wall tone to the new chair, sofa, and coffee table. And the insane markdown (it’s 75% off, which will save Linda over $1,300!) is as jawdropping as they come.

So there you have it. A family room full of classic and inviting style- with a dash of glamour. We can’t wait to see what you guys think! And if anyone else out there is in need of a custom makeover of their very own, click here for some decorating advice on the double.

Note: Our mood boards are now posted at least a week after they’re sent to the client (so they have a chance to purchase everything before it sells out).

He actually said it was going to be a secret V-day present for me but since February 14th is a few weeks off (and we both felt like bigtime slackers every time we looked at the expired oh-nine calendar) he shared his idea so we could do it together on the last weekend of January. And thanks to it already practically being February, we only needed eleven quotes and we were able to quickly whip up a simple little calendar template in Photoshop (we just adjusted the dates and the hues along with the quote to get all of the months churned out in under an hour).

And the good news is that you probably don’t need a fancy program like Photoshop or Illustrator to make one yourself. You might be able to create something sweet and simple in Powerpoint or even Microsoft Word. Oh and the font is called League Gothic and we got it for free from this site that How About Orange suggested. Easy, peasy.

Then we just printed each page out on regular sheets of 8.5 x 11″ cardstock that we had on hand (100 lb weight, which you can grab at Office Max or Staples and run through any regular inkjet printer). We were sure to include thin gray lines so we knew where to cut them to create nice long strips out of the previously-standard-sized page. Burger served as my inspiration as I cut them all out in front of the TV…

Then we just popped a hole in the top of each of ‘em so we could slip them onto the small wire 3M Command hook that we have in the kitchen as our designated calendar hanging device (it’s 100% removable so it won’t damage our side-of-the-fridge built-in if we ever want to move it or take it down).

So here’s our 100% free homemade calendar hanging proudly in the kitchen. We love how customized it feels and how much it makes us smile whenever we read each personalized phrase that we thoughtfully chose to represent each month. For example, we often tell Burger “no biting, just kisses” when he does those little no-pressure puppy nibbles that wouldn’t hurt a fly. As soon as we utter the phrase we get hand licks instead of fake bites. So cute. And of course we designated that as the February quote since V-day is all about kisses, and I guess it’s sort of anti-biting (since that’s hardly the sweet thing to do to those you love).

Everything from random song lyrics that crack us up to our short (but oh so memorable) wedding vows made the calendar- and of course that one was slapped on July since that’s our anniversary month.

It was a simple project but it was surprisingly fun to put together. Like a walk down memory lane that we get to rewalk every time we glance at the kitchen calendar. And you can’t beat the zero dollar price tag. So what about you guys? Do you order calendars with custom family photos from places like Kodak and Flickr? Do you buy them for 50% off after Christmas at bookstores or boutiques? Or do you use your iPhone or your computer so much that a paper calendar is virtually useless? Spill the what-date-is-it beans.

Update: Thanks to a slew of very kind (and unexpected) requests, we’ve created a free zipped template of our calendar that you can download and customize with your very own quotes for each month. Please note that you must have Photoshop to open the PSD and edit the type layers (or use a free open source like GIMP). You also may need to download the font that we used right here (it’s also free). Oh and each month is a different layer, so remember to hide and show each one to print every month’s page. We hope it helps! Who knew so many others still needed a 2010 calendar?!

I love your blog and I thought you might like our recent porch renovation. We’re trying to take our rancher to a french country cottage. First we the removed the porch railings and moved the posts a bit further apart. One of the posts was right in front of the door (not too welcoming!). Then we sheathed the existing posts in rough cut oak and added a second set of posts for a little extra oomph at the front door. We also added arches (carved from a single curved tree trunk section- go hubby!) and painted the house. Well, actually we limed it. This is an ancient process where agricultural lime is mixed with water, then applied to the brick. Instead of sealing in moisture like paint can, the lime allows the brick to breathe. Eventually it does wear away, but I like that “old” look. It is also totally eco friendly and cheap! A bag of lime is around $10 and it took about 8 to do our house. I think paint would have cost around $400 or more. The house trim is Farrow and Ball’s French Grey and the “new” front door is from the Habitat ReStore and we just added new hardware from Emtek. Oh and the seagrass rugs are from World Market. Anyway, like I said I love your blog.  It’s an inspiration to all of us DIYers out here! I hope you enjoy the front photos. – Krystol

Here’s what Krystol started with:

Here’s the house in progress after getting limed:

And this is finished product with new posts and arches along with a new door and furnishings:

Isn’t that amazing? It doesn’t even look like the same house! And the fact that they limed the entire exterior themselves (for around $80!) and carved those arches from a single block of wood is incredibly envy inducing. Thanks so much for sending the gorgeous before and after photos our way Krystol! What do you guys think? What’s your favorite part? We can’t decide between those arches and that pretty limed brick…

Well… then it was time to go shopping. And not just any kind of shopping. Seriously determined we-have-a-goal-and-we’ll-make-fifty-stops-if-we-have-to shopping. And that goal was a lofty one. We set out on a Saturday morning with the hope of hunting down five distinct items for the recently painted nursery by that very evening:

• Some sort of light fixture, either a big fun patterned pendant lamp or some sort of playful and sweet chandelier
• A plush 5 x 8′ 100% wool rug (without any rubber backing or synthetic materials since we’re trying to keep the nursery as VOC-free as possible)
• Tons and tons of fabric to create three curtain panels (two for the window and one for the now-doorless nursery closet)
• A simple clean-lined curtain rod to hang the aforementioned window panels once they’re made
• A vibrant mirror that will hang across from the window to reflect light around the room, thereby brightening the space)

That’s a pretty specific list, eh? We didn’t even really think it was possible, but we do our best under pressure so we listed all the items that we wanted out loud a few times- just so we had something to strive for. And what do you know… we actually returned home with every single item on our list! Sure it took us almost seven hours of driving around and ducking into nearly eight stores, but we got ‘er done. Plus we did this all on the same morning that we picked up our nursery paint. Yeah, we weren’t kidding when we said it was a serious shopping blitz. Here’s what our back seat looked like after a long (did I mention long?) day of shopping:

We’re actually approaching the transformation of this room just as we did all the other rooms in our house except for the recent basement and full bathroom makeover that we shared. In those instances we whipped up a mood board of sorts beforehand (check out the bathroom one here and the basement one here). But when it came to every other room here at Casa Petersik, we decorated in stages and took a let’s-see-what-we-find-and-go-from-there approach. The funny thing is that both methods are pretty parallel when you think about it.

Making a mood board usually involves us finding an item that we love and drawing inspiration from that single item’s style and/or color (be it a rug or a pillow or even a drawer pull) and building a room around it. So when we whip up mood boards we might start with a graphic patterned rug which leads us to other furnishings and accessories that seem to complement and play up all the things that we liked about the initial piece that started the whole board. Similarly, when we shop around and take a less pre-planned mood-board-ish approach, we usually still find something that gets us thinking in a certain direction, and from there we find other items that complement that initial item. There’s just more of an open plan with the second approach, since it’s not like we hop online and order everything in one fell swoop. Instead we sort of let things happen organically and do some fun pavement pounding over the course of a few weeks (or even months and -gasp- years) to create a room that we love in the end. Of course with a baby girl coming along in less than four months we don’t really have years to devote to this room, but we definitely don’t have to finish it within a week or two either.

So on this particular Saturday we didn’t have any pre-planned mood board to follow, we just had our cheerful pear and aqua walls as a starting point of sorts (tip: always bring your paint chips with you when you shop, so you can hold them up and see how they “play” with new items that you’re eying). The first stop was a local discount fabric store here in Richmond called The Interior Outlet. The first bolt of playful and graphic pattern to catch our eye was this print with a richer and brighter version of both our pear wall color (seen in the flowers) and our light aqua ceiling color (seen in the leaves). But although we liked the bold design, we wondered if there was something a bit less über modern and a smidge more modern-meets-traditional (since we envisioned clean lines and punchy patterns in the room without much stark white- and with a bit more of a charming lived-in look).

And then we saw this beauty. As Carrie on Sex & The City would say: well hello, lover. It really was love at first sight. Everything from the slightly deeper aqua background to the modern yet charming print felt warm and sweet and perfect for our little beanette. Plus when we held up our paint swatches they felt like they would seamlessly create the perfect backdrop for our new favorite fabric in the world. The other amazingly fortuitous thing about this particular fabric is that it’s actually an indoor/outdoor textile made by P Kaufmann (which still feels soft and billowy to the touch, but is not only fade resistant but dirt, water, and wear resistant). Um, could it be more perfect for a little girl’s room?

And the $14.99 a yard price was nowhere near where most designer fabrics usually range, but it wasn’t exactly $2 a yard either. Especially because we needed tons of it to make two floor-to-ceiling window curtains plus a third curtain to use in lieu of a closet door. But when we did the math and deduced that each of the three panels that we needed would be around $35 a pop (plus we’d have a few feet of extra fabric to play with when it was all said and done) we decided to make our move. After all, the rest of our home’s breezy white curtains were just $7 each (thanks Ikea!) so we reasoned that splurging just this once for our baby girl was ok- especially because we’re pretty sure these babies will MAKE the room. Well, along with the other baby of course.

Plus we found the perfect clean-lined oil-rubbed bronze curtain rod with little ring hooks (won’t they look so posh for a bambino?) on clearance at Target for a total of $12 (for two packs of rings and the rod!). So we felt further vindicated that our custom made curtains would be well worth it in the end. Spoiler alert: we’ve since made them and they nearly made me cry with joy when we hung them up. Yeah they’re that good (stay tuned for that post early next week).

But back to our Saturday shopping spree. Here I am standing in front of the fabric store proudly showing off our new fabric and my baby bump. Side note: everyone, including fabric vendors, is nicer to you when you’re pregnant. No, we didn’t get a discount or anything but they were all smiles and treated me like a preferred customer. I could get used to this…

Ok, but back to the search. We checked off fabric and a rod but still had three more boxes to tick off: overhead lighting, a rug, and a mirror. So we headed over to a store that we knew could potentially kill at least two birds with one stone (that expression is kind of gross when you think about it). It’s called The Decorating Outlet, and it’s actually a local shop that we hit up from time to time- just to see what they have. And what do you know… they had THE PERFECT CHANDELIER. Everyone knows that I’m a sucker for capiz, and this capiz shell chandelier was aqua! Hello? Can you picture the happy dance that ensued (complete with some belly-holding to make sure not to jostle the beanette more than necessary)?

Yeah, it was kind of epic. And the great thing is that the nursery is actually visible from the master bedroom (and vice versa, they’re right across the hall from each other) so we love that this longer and punchier capiz chandy in the nursery will be visible from the master bedroom which boasts a wider and more subdued white version. It’s like they’re related but not too matchy-matchy. Almost like our master bedroom chandelier had a sweet playful little baby and we adopted it for the nursery across the hall. And I haven’t even told you the best part yet. It was marked down from $125 to $50. Sold!

Here’s a sneak peek of it hanging up with our lighter aqua ceiling and the fun pear wall in the background. We love the texture and the sort of childlike magic that it brings to the space. And we mentioned that it was longer than the one in the bedroom, right? In fact we feared that we might have to snip a few discs off the bottom since John’s a tall guy and we didn’t want him walking into it, but it’s perfect as is! Long and dramatic but totally walk-under-able. Whew.

But the party didn’t stop there. We knew the lighting outlet also had rugs, and thanks to an “end-of-season-clear-out” (which may or may not go on all year round- you know how those signs act like something is special but sometimes it’s always in effect?) all of their in-stock rugs were 50-75% off! As we mentioned we really wanted an 100% wool rug (without any rubber backing or synthetic materials since we’re trying to keep the nursery as VOC-free as possible) and they had a bunch on hand for us to choose from.

Unfortunately many of them had a bit of fun pattern, which was nice but we knew that we wanted our patterned curtains to be the star so we pulled out rug after rug in search of something simple, plush, 100% wool, and not three hundred dollars (even with the 50%- 75% off sale, many rugs were originally $800+ so they were still far beyond our budget). Then we saw a light blue 5 x 8 100% wool rug that was nice and cushy (and swanky- it was actually hand knotted). Our plush light blue find wasn’t exactly as aqua as the ceiling, but it was a soft powder blue and it was marked down from $399 to $99. Uh, yes please! We decided to buy it and see how it looked and if it was a bit too cool (and not aqua-ish enough to work with the ceiling, the chandy, and the curtains) we’d just bring it back. Thank goodness we snagged it because when we got home and put everything into the space it totally worked. And we actually remarked that we were happy it wasn’t light aqua like the ceiling since the more subdued gray undertone will definitely hide a lot more dirt and create some nice layered interest in the room. Score.

Then it was time to mirror hunt so we swung through TJ Maxx and then Marshall’s (which are pretty much our mirror holy grails, along with Home Goods) where we spotted this large and in charge stunner for… wait for it… $39. That’s pretty much unheard of for such a giant and detailed 30″ solid wood mirror. And of course we don’t plan to keep it black so you’ll just have to wait and see what color we’re going to paint it. Hint: it’s not going to be white- I know, we’re just shocking you left and right today.

So that’s how we hit up a slew of stores over the course of about seven hours and returned with a car full of stuff (poor Burger really had to pee by the time we got home to rescue him). We must admit that our shopping trips aren’t usually this fruitful, we just happened to be at the right places at the right time and did our best to see the promise in things that might not always look exactly right for a baby girl’s room (like the dramatic black mirror above). Oh and we devoted seven hours to the cause. Did we mention it was a long day of shopping? Because it was.

It’s also pretty cool that about 70% of our finds hailed from small local businesses (not only did we get our paint from a green boutique here in Richmond, but the rug, chandelier, and fabric all came from local outlets that we found either by driving by them or looking them up in the Yellow Pages. The lesson: don’t forget to check out specialty stores in your area, do some googling, and even ask the neighbors for suggestions when you’re on the hunt for something that you can’t seem to find at Target or Marshall’s. Of course two of our items (the curtain rod and the mirror) came from those big box stores so it really is a pretty balanced bounty. It just goes to show you that you never know where you’ll find your next deal, but if you keep an eye out and set out with a serious mission you just might come home with a packed car and a whittled down to-do list. Now we just need furniture, art, and storage galore…

But what about you guys? Do you have any favorite local haunts where you always score something special? Any big box stores that leave you giddy over the big box deals that they dole your way? Let’s talk about that serendipitous feeling of finding the right thing for the right price. There’s got to be at least one thing in your house that you can’t believe you snagged for such a steal.

Psst- Wanna see the nursery transformation from the very beginning? Here’s our first post about clearing the room and here’s our second one about painting the walls and ceiling.

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