I had this post planned and ready to go, but it feels incredibly trivial today to share a corner of my house when so many in Oklahoma and surrounding states just lost everything to devastating tornadoes. Sending prayers & aid. If you'd like to help, donations can be made through redcross.org or send $10 quickly by texting REDCROSS to 90999.
This little nook is sort of a random spot. When our house was flipped, they knocked out a bunch of walls and created a very open floor plan. Overall, I'm a huge fan, but figuring out exactly how to map out our furniture was a little tricky at first.
We decided to turn this space into a "breakfast nook." Which means absolutely nothing except for the fact that this is where I sit and enjoy my breakfast and coffee every morning. Before we had the blue chair, I sat on our white leather couch (which was sold because it was WAY too big and way too white for the space). When the couch was gone, I sat on the rug.
Because of the windows, this area just asks you to come sit and enjoy the morning.
One of the first things we did here was add the plant stand. (I blogged about that in detail here.) I still LOVE it. It was actually one of the first "new" things created for this house and it's still one of my favorite projects of the last 85 days. It sticks to the theme you see all over this house - simple, real wood, green. My goal everywhere is to bring in textures and wood and plants and this area is no exception.
After the plant stand, the space sat "in-progress" for awhile. Months actually. Then when Paul's family visited, they generously helped us furnish the space as a house warming gift. We picked up the two chairs and low profile round coffee table at West Elm. (Tip for West Elm : they offer a 10% military discount! Tip for furniture stores in general : ask about floor models! The round table was not a floor model, but it was not in a box and so we saved 20%)
I love the chairs. I love that they coordinate without being the same at all. The pillows were both DIY. The striped is from totally random fabric and the heart pillow turorial is here. I entertained every idea under the sun for seating in this space. A smaller couch. A loveseat. Lots and lots of vintage and craigslist pieces. A daybed. Matching chairs. Chairs that didn't match in shape but matched in color. Chairs that matched in shape but not in color. In the end, after a million mind changes, these were the winners. The blue one is mine and the tan one is Paul's, but if you're ever visiting, please sit anywhere.
The coffee table is perfect too. It's low. Obviously. Too low if you use the space all the time and need a super functioning coffee table to work on or eat on or something. But really rad if you don't want to block a window and just want to set stuff down. I love that it's round so baby girl will not crash into a corner (we've got enough corners in the house to baby proof) and obviously, I love that it's neutral and wood.
The ottoman I found a few weeks later at Home Goods and knew it would be perfect next to the coffee table. It gives the room an extra level of height. The circles and colors don't compete but of course don't match either. It's the perfect height for me and my chair. The rug is a few years old and from Crate & Barrel. Love the black and white and love the circles on the stripes. I have almost the exact same rug in the baby's room, but it's twice the size and was half the cost (found at Home Goods).
The final touch on this room came Saturday when my dad installed the shelf. This shelf was my "icing on the cake" dream and what I knew this space needed to ground the big script art (still my favorite) and complete the room. I bought wood (I think pine) at Home Depot that was 11.25 inches wide and had it cut down to 87.5 inches in length. We brought it home and it slipped like a glove into the space between the fireplace brick and the window wall which was a huge relief. It had to be perfect, I wanted this shelf to look built in, not awkwardly floating a few inches from the walls.
We stained it and mounted it into studs on brackets from Ikea. I left the brackets their natural wood color mostly for ease but also to just give some contrast. The height was determined by me sitting in my chair and reaching my arm out to see where I'd want to set my coffee cup. So I guess it's "custom" fit. ;)
The fun part, of course, was styling the shelf and adding our favorite little knick-knacks that were all out in full force at the townhouse. Plants, obviously. And some art. That painting of Paul and I was done by my 85-year-old Grandpa. That's my favorite wedding photo. The Picasso print was an anniversary gift from Paul. The lightbulb is something Paul made in ceramics class in high school. The jar of rocks and bowl of shells were collected by me on our beach in Oxnard.
Yes. This is my favorite spot already. It's got my view, my plants and so many of my treasured items. But then I remember that this spot is just beginning to be lived in. This space will offer our family so much. I think about slow breakfasts & coffee here on Paul's days off. I think about sitting in my blue chair and nursing the little one. I think about her pulling herself up and taking her first steps across the striped rug. Oh man, I love.
random product sources not mentioned above : woven wall hanging, frames from Target & Aaron brothers, coasters from Anthropologie, letter C from Urban Outfitters, I made that "best is yet to come" art and had it printed at Office Depot.