It’s really rare that I see a little boy’s room designed and styled in a  way that feels like a child could live there but also has the agility to be completely transformed with a few accessories to an older child’s space. Emily Henderson did just that by using a bold and simple color palette of blue and yellow when designing a space influenced bedroom for a very lucky little boy named Graham.

“The main request from the parents was that it was timeless enough that they didn’t have to redo it in five years — sure, change out the textiles, have fun with the accessories, but the general design and the furniture should remain the same.”

I think Emily nailed it on the head from the cool graphic bedding to the acrylic box that houses a collection of toys to the giant custom artwork centered behind the bed. The whole room is unique and styled without feeling to “grown-up” for a kid to live there.

Click on over to Emily’s blog to see more images, DIY projects and tips for creating a timeless kids bedroom.

all  images by David Stay for Style by Emily Henderson

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Insanely beautiful right? I love the color palette and style to Lisa’s paintings. All images and prints of her paintings can be found in Lisa Golightly’s Etsy shop Kiki and Polly or you can visit Lisa’s blog here.

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Hello, how was your weekend? I spent most of the day in Brooklyn yesterday at a friends Baby shower. Despite the rain it was fun to catch up with old friends. I spied an ad for this exhibit that opened at the The Museum of Modern Art in NYC last week. It’s a giant room of falling water that stops whenever it detects a body passing through. You can walk or skip through it while staying completely dry. How much cooler can you get?!

“The overall effect is mesmerizing,” reported Gothamist. “A semi-blinding white klieg light at the back of the room disorients your field of vision while highlighting the millions of individual raindrops showering down around you on all sides. The motion sensors are so sensitive that you can sweep your arm through the deluge and still keep your shirt dry. Move too quickly, however, and you can get good and soaked if want.”

I would imagine the lines are going to be insanely long since only 10 people are allowed in at a time, but the coolness factor just might outweigh the lines. You can check out more info here.

Photos by MoMA, Katie Sokoler/Gothamist and Random International

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After sharing the view through the living room doors last week I thought I’d share a peak at what’s just beyond. It’s the deck on our little house by the lake. This space had us sold the minute we stepped through those doors back when we first toured this house. It was one of those moments in house hunting that you have when you know that a house could be “the one” Our lake house has come a long way since then. Want to come take a look?

The weather has been warming up nicely and we find ourselves out on the deck quite a lot these days. We still have a number of things that we need to do out here. The deck rails need to be painted like yesterday and our coffee table was on it’s last leg so I made the executive decision to get that out of the way. I’m keeping my eye out for something just right that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

The deck is split into two main areas the seating area and the grilling area. Bryan is all about grilling and he’s a huge fan of charcoal so we have one next to the propane grill. I prefer the speed of propane and use it all the time. We have the glass console table left for us by the previous owners which acts like an island and I love having a place to set down plates as I cook.

Someday we’d love to add an outdoor sectional sofa and a small dining table but for now I think I’ll go have a seat and enjoy the view

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Hope you had a great Mother’s day. We had a fun and new event come to the lake over the weekend. Professional powerboat races.  This year Offshore Powerboat Racing first race of the season was held here. Different types and classes of boats compete in individual races, on the same course, at the same time.

I’d never seen boat races before and didn’t really know what to expect. It’s not everyday that powerboats race in front of your house. It was really fun and exciting to watch.

The boats can reach speeds of 115 mph and 90 mph around turns and were competing for $25,000. Such  a fun way to spend the day on the lake and kick off boating season.

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Bryan’s always really wanted scenic pictures of the lake somewhere. I remembered seeing Cassie’s frame wall on Pinterest a while back so I sorted through my stash of 1001 pictures on the hard drive and narrowed it down to 6 candidates.

Finally after procrastinating for so long we have photos hanging on the wall.

But the really cool view happens if you turn around. The real thing is just through the sliding glass doors.

But wait there’s more. Did you notice anything else different from the before picture. Take another look.

Two things:

1) I painted the door black. I’m loving the black door, it really pops off the wall now instead of slinking into the background. I’m contemplating painting the closet door black too.  But first it needs to be switched out. It’s the only original door in the house and looks it. It also refuses to stay closed even with a door stop! Drives. Me. Nuts.

2: I sold the cane back chairs I reupholstered. I know I know, I loved them but I really want to go in a slightly different direction and also add some storage so the chairs are gone. I’m looking for the perfect piece to go over there. I’m thinking a nice console table with some doors and drawers would be perfect.

Now if only I could make that air conditioner disappear we’d be in business. I have a pretty simple idea though and I hope it works. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Linking up to the Pinterest challenge with: Young House Love | Bower Power | Sparkle Meets Pop | Red Bird Blue

PS: Want to see more? See all of our Living Room posts and how it’s evolved here.

The post Filling a Large Wall with Art appeared first on Our Lake Life.

Every year as long as I can remember our family has gone to the beach for a few weeks in the summer. Each member of my mom’s family would rent a house a different week. When I was a young teenager we used to house hop from house to house and week to week, staying at the beach for as long as possible. Those were the days…

Outdoor Shower by Richard Bubnowski Design LLC

For many years my aunt rented an old bungalow a few blocks off the beach. It was your classic older beach house…the best part was the enclosed outdoor shower that had hot water!

Outdoor Shower via House Beautiful

I always opted to shower outdoors when we stayed there and since have always loved having a shower outdoors with the birds singing and the sun shining on you as you rinse away a hard summer’s day.

Enclosed Outdoor Shower via Robert Young Architects

What do you think? Would you be up for a shower outdoors? Any favorite memories?

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My most recent infatuation of this sort has been with this quilt.

I saw this triangle quilt a few months ago from Audire at Blue is Bleu. I think it would be great for Nikolas’ room which needs some love and attention. I love the idea of snuggling up in a handmade quilt.

I’ve been looking around for a good tutorial and I think I found one here. It looks simple enough for a first quilt. I’ve put together a color combination I like from Fabric.com. This is probably one of those long haul projects that I’ll put down and pick back up. I like to have a bunch of projects going at the same time (if you couldn’t tell already).

So my question today is has anyone ever sewn a quilt? Anything I need to know? Any tips?

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I’ve always been a sporadic shopper. It doesn’t matter what I shop for.  Whether it’s home decor, clothes even groceries. If I’m not careful I can veer off the intended path really quickly. Bryan likes to tease me by saying I’m distracted by shiny objects. I usually hate to admit when he’s right but it’s so true. Lately I’ve been  smarter about my shopping habits and it’s really working. Here’s 3 key steps I use to shop for (and decorate) rooms…the smart way.

Inspire: Every time I decorate a room I love and am happy with for the long haul I’ve started with an inspiration photo. Just like when I decorated our bedroom I used a room designed by Sarah Richardson. This time, when decorating the living room I’m using this home as a starting point.

What do I look for in an inspiration photo? I look for how a room makes me feel. For the living room I want something bright airy with a cool beach vibe. It’s not about loving every element in the space or recreating each item meticulously. But instead I look for the essence of a room. I study the space. What types of finishes does it have? What colors have they used throughout? Is there one key item I could reuse and build room around?

Plan: Once I have my inspiration room it’s time to start the planning process. For me that means taking a photo of my room before.  I keep this image in my files and refer back to it often. One of my favorite tips is to pin the picture of your “before” room to a Pinterest board so you can pull it up at any time.

Then I turn my attention to my favorite places to shop for fabric and home decor items. I start saving (and pinning) fabric and items I like. I mix and match endlessly until I come up with something cohesive. I create mood boards for the blog which also help me to do this but the quickest and easiest way I’ve found to do this is to just pin images to a Pinterest to the same spot I pinned my before picture.

Execute: Finally, when it’s time to start shopping I refer back to my inspiration room and before photo’s often.  While I’m out and about I ask myself questions like: Would this work in my inspiration room? Does it contribute to the overall feel I’m trying to create? Are the colors right? I pull up my Pinterest board when I’m out shopping. Having all my inspiration in one spot really helps to keep me to stay on track and maintain focus. Armed with these smart tips I’m able to decorate a room in half the time. Now that’s progress.

What are your favorite smart tips when shopping for home decor?

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With the possibility of remodeling our kitchen I just can’t stop thinking about them.  We’ve slowly been narrowing down the floor plan, size of an island we’ll build and recently we’ve been talking about building a banquette. After taking down the wall I’m cringing at the though of another giant mess this whole project will create but I think in the end it might just be worth it. Bryan on the other hand is not fully convinced that we should work on the kitchen next. I hear the outdoors and the lake calling his name. I might just take a sledgehammer to the kitchen myself soon and ask questions later

Here’s some of what has caught my eye as I was browsing through kitchen ideas.

Farmhouse Style Kitchen with Charcoal Gray cabinets via Grand Country House

This gray charcoal cabinets are gorgeous! I love the mat finish and stainless apron sink. Maybe charcoal gray base cabinets and white uppers would be a good combo to solve my need for both light and dark.

Charcoal Gray Cabinets and White Island (original source unknown)

I like the mix of dark cabinets and light island. That marble with the gray veining is perfection. I’ve tried to talk myself into marble countertops but just can’t get over the fact that one spilled glass of red Gatorade  and they’d be done for.

Light gray cabinets via Greige Design

Here’s a lighter version of the gray I’m loving and again marble countertops. It seems that every image I pin has marble counters. Oh marble why do you have to be so porous and expensive?

Sally Wheat’s Kitchen via Cote De Texas

And then there’s the ever popular kitchen of Sally Wheat that is just so classic and beautiful. I think thi image is where my love for gray kitchens began.

White Cottage Style Kitchen by Molly Frey Design

Do you see my obsession with marble counters? I think it’s becoming a sickness.

Creamy white kitchen cabinets with marble countertops via BHG

I need to have a window like that over my sink one day and orchids instead of dirty dishes flanking the sink. Ok scratch the idea of remodeling the kitchen I’m just going to move into the picture up above.

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