Tuesday 29 May 2012

My Little Lovey...

... is here!!  He was born last Monday (May 21st) in the afternoon and weighed 7 lbs 8 oz.

{There is no better feeling on this Earth than the moment when you first hold your baby}


...And here he is all cleaned up and in his nightie:


His name is Luke David & we are so in love with him.

 {Here he is with his Daddy- David.  We've barely put him down all week.}

Anyway, I just wanted to share our news with you & hope you're having a great week!  I'm not sure when I'll be back in -  I'm really trying to devote all of my attention to the family right now- but when I am I've got lots to share on what we've been doing around here. :)

And a note on the exhaustion/ coping level-  I have to say that with my husband home for 1 more week, we're doing pretty well.  Life with 3 boys is DEFINITELY an adjustment but so far, so good.  Right now, we're tag-teaming & it's really manageable but I'm a little nervous about when real life & work picks up & we're not only focusing on the family & life at home.  I'm trying not to think about it right now & to just recup & relax...  On that note, I'm also sooooo excited to get to work out again.  I gained 60 (!) pounds so I'm ready to RUNNNNN... :)  (I gained 60 with each of my other pregnancies too =  FUN.  not.) 

ok, I'm off.  Have missed you all!!


xoxo, Lauren
If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Something Blue, Weekend Changes

I have been in the mood for a change in my living room and I have been wanting to use this Kelly Wearstler for Lee Jofa fabric for a long time.  Sooo, it only seemed logical that the blue fabric join forces with my living room chairs.  Special fabric for special chairs.  What didn't seem logical was using pretty expensive fabric in Henry's direct firing line so the seat (still currently in previous fabric) is going to be something a little cheaper.  Update to follow...
However, as excited as I am about the change inside; the best purchase of the weekend came in a different blue form.  A plastic, $16 from Lowe's sort of form...
A pool for my bathing beauty.  
 Both purchases- worth every penny.

Friday 25 May 2012

Happy

Hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend full of family, friends and of course frozen fruity drinks.

Thursday 24 May 2012

Tuesday 22 May 2012

Drum Roll Please

Today the winner of the St. Vincent's Nursery Contest was announced on ABC 33/40 Talk of Alabama.  I am so excited to begin working on the Reed's nursery which will be revealed live on June 8th.  Click on the video below for announcement from this morning's show.
Thank you everyone who voted!

Monday 21 May 2012

Industrial Console Table for Sale

 Industrial gray piping and reclaimed wood top console for sale, $245 (retail $598).  Dimensions: 40"H x 60"W x 13"D.  E-mail me @ mstronginteriors@aol.com if interested.  Freight outside of Birmingham must be coordinated by buyer.  



Sunday 20 May 2012

Quiet Time

Hope this is not a repeat! Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday.

Friday 18 May 2012

Pair of Accent Tables for Sale

These tables are available, $150 for the pair.  I don't have the dimensions on me but I will post when I have them.  They are roughly 15"High x 16"Wide.  Shorter than your average coffee table they would be great in front of a low sofa or as side tables for accent chairs.  If interested please e-mail me @ mstronginteriors@aol.com.  If you are outside of Birmingham freight must be scheduled by buyer.
Hope you have a great weekend!

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Thrifty Tips

Yesterday I was on Talk of Alabama doing a Thrifty Tips segment for the St. Vincent's Nursery Giveaway Contest.  You can see the video HERE or click below.
Voting is only open a few more days, click on the button to the left to help one family win a nursery!  You can vote once a day.

Time to Chill...


...This might possibly be me checking out/ signing off for a little bit.  I'll either be back with baby news or back because relaxing's not always in my nature & it's hard for me to keep quiet for very long. ;)


xoxo, Lauren

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Monday 14 May 2012

The Nesting Continues...


This baby needs to come soon because my house is under attack.  (by me) 

{Most recently, I went after the lower level family room.  It's now cream/ white instead of blue.}

The room has gone through a few different phases over the 3 years we've lived here...

{I had an old ship painting from my son's nursery when we first moved in so hanging it made the place feel sort of coastal - which it isn't.}

At first I went with blues & orangey-golds & beiges, using the things from our old house.



Later I added in some more little coastal paintings I already owned and a crazy faux bois lamp.  ( I love this lamp & realize it's one of those pieces that doesn't appeal to most people but that I just have this strange kitcshy love for.)  ....


The room never really sat right with me, mostly because the fact that the coastal things in it didn't fit the house.  One day about a year ago, craving a change, I brought in one of my favorite rugs & tried out some teal curtains & it was just very wrong.  Totally not the fun happy space I wanted.  I think it only stayed like this for a few hours before I changed it...



 ...To this:

{I was getting there with the green addittion.  Green's my favorite color & more than that, to me it fits my house because we're surrounded by trees and have lots of windows in our house.  The outside is the backdrop for the interiors.}

In this pic below, you can see a couple of the windows in the family room's workspace during the Winter:

{photo by Helen Norman}

For a while now, I've been ready to say goodbye to the blue & bring in more white & green.  We just haven't had the get-up-and-go to actually do it... Until I neared 9 months of pregnancy.  OF COURSE that's the perfect time to attack the basement!  (I really love my husband for humoring me.)  We finished adding shelves to a little built-in book area...

Getting the book situation under control has helped immensely. Our family loves to read & not only read, but keep & collect the books we love. So... that's a major storage issue for us. We have books crammed everywhere. Adding the additional shelves in the nook has been life-saving (for now ;)

I'd like to make some botanicals with the kids out of the plants in our yard for the two frames above. 

{Maybe something like the ones we made for the playhouse}

SIDENOTE: Another thing I should probably explain is my obsession with botanicals & plants in general.  I've always loved them, and as a little girl, I had flower presses & enjoyed collecting pretty things to press.  When I was a little older (maybe around 12 or 13) I got very into researching herbs & flowers & plants.  I collected (still do ;)  books on them & the various medicinal uses for plants along with the folklore & & legends that surround them.  I actually have an "Herb journal" where I've collected all of the different information from various sources about the herbs I had access to complete with my own photos.  (Yes, I'm weird, I know this.)   Remember my zit cure, here? (pic below)

{Please don't be scurred.}

In high school I began making (and selling!) things I made out of herbs & oils.  (Lip balms, lotions, teas, natural body sprays, etc...  In college, my best friend & I sold more of the same things & expanded into pillows & clothing.  SO...  the reason you see lots of botanical artwork & nature-inspired spaces in my work is because it's something I'm really passionate about & it comes out, especially in my personal spaces & textile line. 

And now back to the family room....  It's finally getting to where I'm happy with it.  It just feels so much more in keeping with our house:


{While we have lots of vintage educational charts around the house, these two are actually reproductions from The Evolution Store.  I went with cowslip & anemone.  I'd gotten it narrowed down to five options and let my 4-year old pick.  (What 4 year old can resist the name "cowslip?" ...And we have peonies (from the anemone family) in the backyard.)

And for the rest of the space...
I want to add some BRNO chairs around the table & I'm looking for the perfect ones with old-looking brown leather... Similar to this but not quite: (This pic looks like suede to me.)


My Gustavian desk is going black (it's a few pics up & is currently pale aqua)  & I'm slipcovering my Madhatter Chairs in a natural linen & flanking the hutch with them:

{Madhatter Chair}

Everything else just got a bit restyled & of course that'll sort of continue.  I'll take more pics when I can.

On the pregnancy front:  Having contractions but nothing strong enough to constitute labor yet.  With my past two pregnancies, my water just broke with no warning, so that was fairly straight-forward.  This contraction thing is a little different for me so I'm wondering how this one will be.  Here, our  whole family saying hurry up! hi!! ;) to the new baby:

And it's bigger than it looks here.  my husband & I have big hands ;)


xoxo, Lauren

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Scotts Roundup

 Another Scotts Antique Market...Let's start with the best part shall we?  My friend and fellow blogger Rachel and I live in each other's home towns and try as we might to get together it seems like we are always passing each other on I-65.  So we decided to rendezvous in Atlanta instead, and it was nice to look around with another set of eyes.
I fell so in love with these rugs one came home to live with me in my bathroom.  It was just the update I needed.

Eyed several old signs for interesting wall decor...
 Didn't buy these but they definitely had the wheels spinning.  May have to come back to these for something.
Old globes have been on my radar for months years now.  Still waiting for the right place.
 Let me tell you, big, vintage (or reproduction, boo) letters are in now, they were everywhere.  And I do really like them.
 I was whipping out my checkbook for these until I saw the ol' sold sign, sigh.  I would have loved you and given you a good home.
 Loved the base...
 Pondering these for Nashville client...
Wanted these for lake client-made from old wood skis, how cute would they be in a rec room or on the porch?

Sunday 13 May 2012

He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. Isaiah 40:11
Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, for whom there are no words to express my love and gratitude for her, and all the Moms out there!  As a first time mother this verse brings me such comfort.