The Estate of things

Its been almost four months since we discovered that the site had been hacked and I wrote a real post. When Betsy told me that we would have to basically dismantle the blog I was almost nine months pregnant and feeling pretty overwhelmed and emotional. I mourned the loss of Teot for a couple of days and started to adjust to the idea that it might not ever be rebuilt. A week or so after Betsy took the blog down we got a chance to discuss it on the telephone and as Betsy usually does she eased my mind and with the help of some of her friends in CA she cleaned Teot up and got her up and running again…and here I am.

Since November a couple of things happened, the biggest being I had a baby! This is our second child and our second little girl…we’ll call her Laney.

Laney came fast and furious in the middle of the night on November 30th. Its a pretty cool birth story but I don’t want to go all Mommy on you so I’ll just be brief and say that her birth took one hour and 15 minutes from registration to birth. The labor and delivery nurses that didn’t even have time to introduce themselves to me said I should be the poster mom for giving birth.

Here is Laney today at two months old…

So we’ve been adjusting to having two children, doing the newborn sleepless thing, juggling our jobs and thinking about home improvement. Seems like one sentence doesn’t do this challenging time justice but some of you out there know what I’m talking about.

What’s been going on while Teot has been out of commission? Well…

I finished a bathroom remodel in December at the May project. The finished product will require its own dedicated post. But the before images are here and my pinboard for the project is here. Here’s a tiny peek,

We’ve also been making some headway on a couple of projects around our house,

The nursery is a pretty big deal, my plan for the room is here. I’m almost there and I did end up buying the Rubie Green East Village fabric for the bumper and bench cushion. Here is evidence of progress,

Dan got the gallery wall going in the upstairs hallway–almost complete. You can see the remnants of the brown paper templates I used to arrange the gallery. I cut out the shapes of all of the frames I have now and then labeled the brown paper and then taped them up to arrange them. The silver plate covers an electrical box for a sconce that the previous owner of the house took with her.

And my Dad and Dan installed a new toilet in the upstairs bathroom in about two hours. I’m pretty proud of them. The toilet that was there was original to the house which means that it was 80 years old and running every time we used it and using six gallons of water every time it was flushed. Now we have a brand spankin’ new potty, a Kohler Memoirs in classic white. Great style and only uses 1.5 gallons in each flush, yes!

And I’m not done yet…we ordered these sconces for the living room, install begins Wednesday. Let there be light!

It feels good to be back.

We’re back online, but only after we got severely hacked. With the downtime, we got together to talk about what steps to take next. So we’re in the progress of putting our site back together.

Also, Sarah is having a baby in less than 6 weeks!!

Meanwhile – Find us on Facebook where we’re sharing our daily inspirations and things: http://www.facebook.com/theestateofthings 

Sarah

Location: Southern Pines, North Carolina
About me: An admitted design junkie with a passion for remodeling old houses. I love decorating, DIY, renovation and everything in between. Follow along with remodeling projects and design chat with my friend Betsy and me at our design blog, http://theestateofthings.com
My favorite style: Traditional with a bohemian twist
My next house project: Installing sconces in my living room, we’re currently working with lamp light only!

Betsy

Location: Los Angeles, California
About me: Hobbies abound, but I’m more of an internet nerd, music lover and home decor enthusiast than many things. I’m into DIY and artsy stuff, color trends, furniture make-overs, and living out home decor fantasies via your design blog – and ours. http://theestateofthings.com
My favorite style: A sentimental mix of genres…. mostly boho, but there’s definitely a lot of Southern California influence sneaking in – casually.
My next house project: It’s time to turn the LA Apartment Hunting blog series into the LA HOUSE Hunting series!

The Estate of Things on Etsy
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http://pinterest.com/sarahf/

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Last week One Kings Lane ran a feature on five different foyers that were styled with items from the inventory.

If I get accessory block I look through images of other vignettes. Maybe these setups will give you a little inspirational  jump start in creating a vignette in your house.

Its hard to pick a favorite but I think mine is the modern entry above. I think its that red console table.

I do love the traditional mirror mixed with the vintage lucite lamp and the blue and white vase to the right. I am loving blue and white ceramics right now. One morning last week DC randomnly remarked that the blue and white ceramics in our living room “were pretty vases Mama”, she’s 3, is that unusual?

Because we’re all about stylized living at TEOT…have you seen the new Volkswagen Beetle? I think V-dub did a pretty bang up job on design.

Sleeker than the Fiat…yes

Sportier than the Mini…I think so

Although the first day of fall is not until the 23rd of this month and we are probably weeks away from temperatures dropping out of the 80s here in North Carolina, I couldn’t help but daydream about the change in season.

Maybe these images will help kick start your cozy transition,

 

 

All images via Pinterest

As previously mentioned I find the Flor catalog to be a good source of interior inspiration. Sure they are in the business of selling carpet tiles (which I like and have owned) but they also have some pretty great stylists.

There was a standout image in the recent catalog which features a gallery wall.

I’m getting ready to start a gallery wall in our office/library/guest room and I don’t plan to play it safe with the same frame color so you can see why I appreciate this image.

While we’re talking about the Flor catalog, I’d like to point out that they now offer stair treads. This is a good option for those of us that can’t afford a custom stair runner and don’t want braided or traditional stair treads. Flor’s “treds” are a little pricey, $140 for four and they are already on back order. I think I paid the same price for a dozen braided treads two houses ago…

The wooden suburst mirror is just as striking as its gold and silver counterparts.

Industrial Wooden Mirror, $635

The mirror shown above is probably out of reach for most of us so I think you’ll find the mirror my Mom hung in her guest room to be just as pleasing and it was on clearance at Pier 1 for $60.

Just in case you’re wondering the wall color is Benjamin Moore Iceberg.

In case you were wondering…

Yes, I’m on Pinterest.

Pinterest is a online social community of people pinning all sorts of things to their online bulletin boards. You can maintain as many inspiration boards as you’d like and share in everyone else’s inspirations. There are all kinds of people on Pinterest; design bloggers, fashionistas, regular folks and creative types. So hop on– but a word of caution, it can be addicting.

You can follow me– just search Sarah Farrell and if you can’t find me via search try this link.

If you’d like to join in this fantastic time waster, leave a comment or send an email and I’ll send you an invitation.

Sorry I’ve been a little lax at posting lately because of vacation and some other totally valid reasons which I will explain soon. No I’m not moving again!

I try to refrain from spoiling others’ reading of a specific magazine issue, I seem to get mine later than other bloggers in other parts of the country and sometimes they drop the images a little too early. But I think we’re safe now so I can gush about how much I loved House Beautiful this month. Thank you HB for carrying the load when so many others have failed. I keep reading that the editor Newell Turner is the coolest guy ever and we know he reads blogs as evidenced at MFAMB.

Allow me to point to my favorite dwelling featured in the June issue. Some might be a bit bored ’cause its not edgy– there is no giant art installation of a woman’s mouth over the bed ( you know what I’m talking about Kips Bay) but its a modern cottage and I know a lot of us can appreciate some modcottage, especially me. Let’s begin.

 The lead in almost killed it as I hate anything romantically styled,

but recovery came quick, I knew that designer Lindsay Reid and I would get along well when she painted the living room Ben Moore’s White Dove and used PB’s Peyton drape, which is on sale btw and I need to get on that. OK so, solid choices Lindsay, go on…

But I have one problem here, I’ve got to know what the floral fabric is on the accent pillow on the sofa. I checked the sources in the mag and online and its not listed, forget the chinese chinoiserie on the sofa I got that but the floral isn’t listed. Do any of you overachievers happen to know? Help!

Calming, serene bedrooms which is something I am in to.

The antique suzani dials it up in the home office.

Loving the thistle block print fabric on the pillow. This won’t be the last time you see this kitchen.

And there you have it. I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts, let’s start a dialogue.

A laundry list on Tuesday… its kinda weird but I missed the weekend post so I needed to share some things.

Last weekend my Mom and I went to the Liberty Antiques Festival, the event is set up on farm land in Liberty, NC. I scored a dresser for my bedroom, here’s the pic I sent to my husband–not that I really need his approval but some input is nice which he offered.

This weekend I plan to go to the Cameron Antiques Festival set in a little main street town in Cameron, NC. It is a one day event this Saturday.

I was admiring my Mom’s huge donkey/burro’s tail basket she bought in the NC mountains, its formal name is Morganianum sedum in case you were wondering, this thing is like 2′ in diameter and it feels like it weighs at least 30 lbs.

Some other stuff I’ve been capturing on the Iphone,

a antique English mahogany table I considered bedside in DC’s room

It’s like the farmer’s market comes to your house, my Mom participates in this farm cooperative and you get a box of assorted fruits & veggies grown locally each month

A month or so ago my Mom and I visited the Old Hickory Tannery in High Point, NC. I’ve convinced her that she needs a bobbin chair in her living room so that was our mission.

admiring some affordable ikat fabric at a local store, Renee’s. You can purchase pillows like this here

some vintage Parisian water colors, they were marked $1.99 each at a local thrift store

oh this is a good one, my living room after several unloads during our January move. This makes my head hurt, you’ll be glad to know it doesn’t look like this any more

a wooden owl lamp at Home Goods, my Mom took it home for a mountain cabin bedroom

octagonal tile at Lowe’s, everyone is putting this stuff down and for good reason, its affordable and classic. I used it in the bath remodel of the guest cottage at my house.

Some other things I think you might want to know about like,

Furbish is having a pillow sale! I hope my friend purchased the brown arches pillows for $44, they were part of her living room design shown here.

My mouth dropped open when I saw some sample images on Deborah’s blog of the gardens this book contained, they are truly extraordinary

Beautiful candy striped rugs, hard to pick a favorite

Jelly sandals for grown ups, yes please!

A great place for photographs