Time is of the Essence

Okay, I promise I'm finished posting photos of myself and my favorite little men. I am ready to start concentrating on my other favorite subject...design. I'm planning on a weekly or maybe bi-weekly segment called Finds For Friends. Over the years I've found countless items on Craigslist for my friends, from dining chairs to dressers to barcarts. I love a good find and enjoy finding the perfect piece of furniture for my mates, so I thought why not share with everyone...who doesn't love show and tell!?!

Also, while I don't have the time to create a lot of posts for Fresh Quince, I do have time to pin or re-pin images onto Pinterest. Here a few recent random, but favorite pins:

 

via Canadian House and Home

 

Via maison boheme

 

Emily Henderson

 

Via Skona Hem

 

Via Coastal Living

 

Ruthie Sommers via Domino

If you're interested in following my pins and re-pins from other awesome interior design sources, go here to follow...I'll try to put a link on my blog soon. 

Hope you all are having a great restful weekend, while I'm over here just a tad sleep deprived :)! 

The Best Local Portrait Studio

Please forgive my lack of posts as of late. A few weeks after I posted my nursery, everything started to fall apart at my home...nothing traumatic, but still time consuming. First my washer broke, then 2 toilets, my chandelier, lamp and the icing on the cake...my computer completely crashed. Therefore I've been a bit out of touch since then and now I'm just a tad tired and busy with a certain bundle of joy. My sister told me during this time "mercury was in retrograde," which means in astrology talk that crap breaks. So I want to thank Mercury for being in retrograde before my little one had arrived. Thanks Mercury! 

Previous to all of this I had maternity pictures taken by the most talented portrait photographer in the area, Michelle from Sweet Lime Portrait Design. Not only is Michelle amazing at what she does, her studio is super stylish, organized and inviting. It feels nothing like (forgive me) the generic portrait studios in the malls. She makes each session so personal and comfortable. With out further ado here's a small snapshot of our session...

Sorry to tease, but my mother just didn't want me showing my huge naked belly to the world. You get the idea though...Michelle is amazing at what she does because I rarely take a good photo.

And since she did such a smashing job on my maternity photos, I knew who to call for my son's birth announcements...

I highly recommend Sweet Lime Portrait Design for all of your portrait photo needs. And for some great ideas on how to display your new fabulous images go here to my previous post. Thanks Michelle!!

Introducing....

Max!

Photo Credit: Sweet Lime Portrait Design

He was born in early January at just under 8 lbs with a full head of hair. Big brother, dad and I have been madly in love with him ever since.

Photo Credit: Sweet Lime Portrait Design

The photos above were taken by Michelle at Sweet Lime Portrait Design, which I will devote an entire post on soon. 

Hope everyone has been well and hope you all have a had a wonderful new year so far!

Please VOTE: My Nursery

Hey everyone, I submitted our nursery to the Small Kids, Big Color 2011 Contest on Apartment Therapy's Ohdeedoh site. Here it is...

Felix's Tintin Inspired Nursery 
Small Kids, Big Color Entry #41

Voting will be active 1pm, Dec. 6 - 1pm, Dec. 8. And yes I would love it if you all voted for the nursery! Click here to vote. Thanks so much for your support! xx Danielle

Nursery Complete

Well, as of last week I'm finally finished with the nursery and I couldn't be happier with the outcome...

My good friend, Valeria, made the red poufs for my baby shower decorations and I thought they made a fun splash of color above the crib...

My favorite wall in the room with our vintage French Tintin book cover prints...

I made the banner using copies of Tintin pages and enlarged letters from Tintin covers...

Felix's library - thanks to the generosity of my husband's coworkers and my dear friends...

My second hand lamp with a new coat of color...

An enormous thanks to my husband, Seb, for stencilling the entire room. And a huge thanks to my friend Peter Vanderpoel of Vanderpoel Architecture Photography for taking the gorgeous photos. Now I just can't wait to meet my little guy!

Craigslist This Space

via Skona Hem

December is finally here...I have just a few more weeks or maybe not before sleepless nights, crying and a massive increase of love in my home. Can't wait! Anyway, I thought the image above was one of the most gorgeous winter inspired living rooms I've ever seen. The tone on tone white with splashes of gold give it an ethereal feeling, while still being cozy with the mixture of textures. Because this space is so unattainable right now with a baby on the way, I thought why not dream. So onto Craigslisting this space...

Sofa:
Large White Sofa $50 (a good cleaning should brighten it up)

Chair:
Scalloped Back $5 (paint legs and arms Benjamin Moore Dove White)

Reupholster Chair in:  Robert Allen Sensuede Snow, $104.30/yd 

Ottoman: 

Tufted with Storage $50

Reupholster Ottoman in:  White Velvet, Online Fabric Store $25/yd

Coffee Table:  To recreate the coffee table above I would have wood logs cut evenly for the height of a coffee table. Then I would connect them using double sided screws. After everything is tight and level, I would spray paint bright gold and add a round glass top. I have never tried this, but if someone did I would love to know if it worked. 

Free Chopped Wood

Spray Paint: Krylon Gold

Candlesticks: (these are so easy to find at second hand stores for next to nothing)

5 Hand Carved Wooden Candlesticks $50 (spray paint gold)

Lamp: 

White/Gold Lamp $15

Now onto items that I could NOT find on Craigslist:

Lampshade:

Oversized Cone Drum Shade, Hi-Gloss White from Shades of Light, $69

Lighting:

Gold or White Star Pendants, PBteen $19

Curtains:

Alvine Trad White Sheers, Ikea $14.99

Rug:

Flokati, Ikea $79.99 x 4 (to make a large rug sew multiples together)

Extra Rug:

LIVELIKEYOU Gold Zebra Printed Cowhide, $699

Pillows: 

Mongolian Lamp Pillow, West Elm $54

Gilded Grasscloth Pillow, West Elm $39

Faux Suede/Linen Pillow, West Elm $16.99

Blankets:

Sheepskin Throw, Ikea $29.99

Ribbed Faux Fur, PB $139

Wow, sorry for the long post. The room required layering upon layering of texture and I hope I achieved that. This is my ode to a White Holiday! 

Family Photos

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week! Having been with family made me appreciate how blessed I am to have them all. I then thought about how to honor them in my home interiors. And this quickly led to photos of my loved ones...what better way to express your love than to have their images on your walls. Here is a compilation of images to achieve this in a stylish way...

via homesweet style

via Skona Hem

via Lonny

I wish I could remember where I saw this chic image and give credit where credit is due...

Family photos in a nursery...what better way to to honor loved ones...

via house of turquoise 

via Lonny

via decorpad

You could even go for more abstract images...

via little green notebook

If you want high quality large images, I highly recommend hiring a professional, either in an outdoor setting, your home or even a studio. Wouldn't that be a great gift instead of another pair of pjs?