Wednesday Five - 11

With each passing day...slash hour...I get little more teary thanks to the closeness of the first day of school. My oldest is going to kindergarten this year and I'm a little verklempt about it. Super excited for her, she's gonna rock it, but man am I gonna miss her. 

1. For those fellow parents who are dealing with similar feels about their little ones heading off to school, I have an awesome article for you. Sonia found it and shared it with me (she's the best) and now I'm paying it forward. It's a quick read with real ideas about coping.  

2. We love using plants in our designs. They're great for your mental health - nature is calming - and they're also great for the air quality in your home. If you follow us on Instagram, you know I don't exactly have a green thumb. But, turns out that some of the most air purifying plants are also the most low maintenance plants. Check out this article from Better Homes and Gardens and get yourself more plants!

This is from the dining room in our Pilgrim Project. That glorious Boston Fern (on the left) is super easy to care for and a fantastic air purifier.

3. On a previous Wednesday Five I shared an article about how frequently you should be washing your kitchen towels. Today, I have a related article about how to clean your kitchen sink sponge. It's actually really easy...phew. 

4. I sewed a couple pillows. WITH zippers. So, technically, I sewed a couple pillowcases. The zipper factor is pretty major. I've made pillows before, but I sewed them closed because the idea of adding a zipper seemed way beyond my pay grade. I'm a total amateur. But about a month ago, I found a really manageable, dare I say easy, tutorial on the blog of a fellow interior designer that I follow and love. The designer is Tara Lenney and here is the blog post with the tutorial. 

The fabrics are by Nate Berkus (blue one and white one) and I grabbed them from Joann Fabrics and Crafts. 

5. With September a week away, we have a quick round-up of some beautiful autumn wreaths to get in the spirit. A couple are on sale! Most (all but one) are under $40!

Top left (counterclockwise) - mini white pumpkins / pinecones / faux magnolia leaves / greenery and white berries

That's it for the week!

- Leah

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Wednesday Five - 10

Oh hey. How are you doing this fine Wednesday? The start of school is creeping closer and closer. According to our Instagram feed, it's already begun in parts of Texas! Early Birds. For my family it's 2 weeks from today. Eeek. So, it's no surprise that most of this week's five are relevant to the back to school mood. 

1. Getting new shoes for the new school year is tradition around here. Well...part tradition, part necessity. It's special to have new kicks for the new school year. And, my kids' feet literally grow a size a season. So, I've been shoe shopping! These are all brands we have at home. They're all quality and CUTE.

Gold ballet flats / Blue sneakers / Pink glitter Mary Janes / Washed gray sneakers / Gold sneakers / Gray and leather hightops

2. I recently discovered that when kids are learning to write, they should use short pencils and rock shaped crayons and any sort of stubby writing tool. Their little hands will gain the fine motor skills much more quickly and with a lot less frustration. So, I went to Amazon and 2 days later (of course I have Prime!) my girls were practicing their letters with golf pencils. They come in all sorts of colors.

3. Taking a break from the back to school talk, let's dip back into the world of interior design and talk mixing metal finishes. This is one of those client questions we get ALL. THE. TIME. Can I mix metal finishes? Yes. But should I? Yes. We recently found a great guide to mixing metals from Kathy Kuo Home. There's a whole bunch of really simple Dos and Dont's. Well worth a read.

I mean, when done right, mixing metals brings an extra WOW.

SOURCE

4. The first day of school picture for your memory book or photo album...or the cloud because so few of us actually print photos. Anyway, have you figured out how you want to capture the moment?! Chalkboards are pretty popular (for good reason) - they're adorable and classic. I found an awesome reusable chalkboard on Etsy that can be personalized with your child's name or not (if you have multiple children and want to use the same chalkboard and just hand write each name). And, guys, it's $14.99. 

5. I've started a new book guys! Look at me. It's a new, old book. Does anyone remember Prep: A Novel by Curtis Sittenfeld? It was sort of the rage when it came out...10+ years ago. New York Times best seller. The whole thing. I knew it was about prep school drama. And that's all I knew (and all I know). But I never read it. What I did read, years later, was American Wife. Now that was a fantastic book. It's, allegedly, the fictionalized story of Laura Bush's life. Whether or not that's true, I'm sure I'll never know, but either way it's one of my all time favorites. So, as I'm diving back into the world of being a nightly reader, I went through my list of old books I always wanted to read, but never did, that are probably on the shelves at my local library. I'll keep you posted.

Happy Wednesday.

- Leah

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Wednesday Five - 9

Wednesday really snuck up on me this week. Or is it "sneaked up"? Will a grammar teacher please help me out here.

1. Target is having a great home sale. Kids home furnishings and decor are currently up to 30% off. Here are some of our favorite finds (we're clearly feeling mermaids...it is summer time after all).

Contigo thermos / circle wall shelf / mermaid pillow / mermaid string art / CamelBak thermos / table and chairs / ballerina pillow / woven bin / scalloped end table

2. I recently discovered Mapiful.com and I need to share this gem with you. It's a website where you can create a custom map of...anywhere. And a gorgeous map. I haven't figured out what map I want to make or where I want to hang said map, but it's in my future. 

3. The Ringer came out with the best 100 episodes of television this century (so far). And it's an AWESOME list. It includes the highlights from each episode and a clip from each episode. If you're in a TV draught, this has plenty of shows to add to your list. 

4. If you're on Instagram, and we highly recommend it, in addition to following us, you need to follow the Smithsonian's National Zoo. So many feel goods and sweet, funny moments on this feed. I mean, what's better than photos of Moke, a baby Western Lowland Gorilla.

5. Magnolia Home (aka Joanna Gaines) came out with a wallpaper line and I'm feeling a couple options, including this woodblock print style. 

Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

- Leah

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