Wednesday Five - 16

The fall is here. Officially. And I haven’t gone apple picking yet. Are there any apples left on the trees? Not so sure. But, either way, that’s my weekend plan. I’m squeezing in a good family tradition before October hits. And, really, the main reason the tradition exists is for the apple cider donuts. The actual picking is a side note.

1. Speaking of apple picking. I have a fantastic apple tart recipe for you. I know I’ve mentioned Joy the Baker before - she’s my go to when I’m looking for a baking recipe. Well, Smitten Kitchen is my other go to. Delicious, approachable recipes. Amazing photography. Easy to navigate website.

What I love about this apple tart recipe is that it’s as simple as most apple crisp recipes, but just elevated enough that it would make a great treat to bring to a party or serve at a holiday. You could definitely impress with this one.

2. A couple weeks back, Sonia went to our favorite local nursery and posted some photos on our Instastory of her trip. Well, people went crazy for one plant. We received more questions about this one plant than anything else we have ever posted on an Instastory. AND, I get it. She’s very, very pretty. She’s the more refined version of the cult classic fiddle leaf figs. She’s the Audrey Ficus.

Go get one and send us photos. We’d love to share them on our social media accounts.

3. A while back (Wednesday Five - 4) I shared my obsession with pillows made of Chinese wedding blankets. Well, I have a new pillow obsession: handprinted Batik textiles. I found an Etsy shop (of course) and wow. I will be using one of these guys in an upcoming project. That’s a promise.

starting top left (clockwise) 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

4. We’ve updated our website. Just a touch.

First, we added an FAQs page. As we’ve grown this past year, we’ve received (what have become) frequently asked questions about how it works - using an interior designer, our specific process, budgets, time frames, etc. We thought answering some of these questions right up front might help people feel more comfortable about seeking our advice or inquiring about full interior design services. So check it out!

Second, we added a Shop Our Personal Projects link, right here on the blog (column on the right). It’s definitely a work in progress, but we hope to grow this feature over the next couple months to be a useful spot to find sources of our favorite home furnishings and decor. We won’t include client projects, but you can always reach out (DM on Instagram or Facebook, email hello@grayoakstudio.com, or comment on a blog post) for that information and, usually, we’re able to share it.

5. If you follow us on Instagram and Facebook, you know that yesterday I had a bit of a freak out at the realization that Thanksgiving is less than two months. If you’re an over planner, which I am guilty of in certain aspects of my life (also guilty of being a serious under planner in other aspects), you are starting to think about your holiday card. And if you’re planning on using a family photo, like me, it’s time to think about those coordinating outfits. Maybe purchase them. Maybe schedule a photo shoot (which will just be a camera on a timer for me).

I can’t help you with the latter two bullet points, but for the coordinating outfits I’m loving Hanna Andersson this year. I, technically, always love Hanna Anderrson for the quality and the classic style. But this year, they went all out on the matching pajamas front. So many different versions of the same pajamas for all ages, genders and sizes. Look at that gnome hat. I can’t (meaning, I can and I must).

And if you’re a Star Wars fan, they have Chewbacca in a Santa hat. So…yeah. You’re welcome.

That’s it for today’s Wednesday Five!

- Leah

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Free Art for Kids' Bedrooms

When it comes to decorating nurseries and kids’ bedrooms, you go in knowing that in a year or two or maybe five (but probably not that long), everything will change. The occupant of the room is growing rapidly and with that growth comes change of hobbies and interests. And favorite colors. The 4-year-old that literally needs pink will undoubtably become the 14-year-old that literally hates pink.

We love the idea of keeping nursery and kid bedroom decor cost friendly. That way it won’t feel so painful when it’s phased out all too quickly. And today we have a whole bunch of ideas for finding that perfect, low cost, art for your favorite kiddo’s bedroom.

This entire gallery wall is chalk full of free art. So, let’s break it down.

Homemade Art

Your little one is an artistic genius. Whether finger painting or color by numbers or pencil sketches, your child’s art not only reflects his/her age but also his/her interests. It’s the perfect decor of the moment. And when you frame it, you’ll be amazed at how legit it looks. My daughter’s water color pieces rival Georgia O’Keefe. They do. They really do.

Free Printable Art from Pinterest

We first talked about free printable art in one of our early projects, Golden Girls Bedroom (back then we were naming projects based on the design…and being cutesy about it). For that project, we found a series of vintage flower prints and a personalized floral/letter print, all on Pinterest. All free. We printed everything at Staples and hung it all with washi tape. All in, the art element of the room cost about $10.

And this butterfly print (below) was also a free Pinterest find.

The best way to find free prints on Pinterest is to search “free printable art”. You can get a little more specific if you know exactly what you want (“free printable butterfly art” or “free printable art for kids bedroom”). Also, in a recent Wednesday Five I talked about my go-to website (The Little Umbrella) for free printable children’s art. There’s tons of content and it’s all adorable.

Greeting Cards

Cards these days are as beautiful a high end art (and they cost about the same). And, bonus, they’re sentimental. This is a Valentine’s Day Card…and a terrible photo. Sorry for the glare and the reflection of me with my phone. Shrug. Anyway, you don’t have to wait to be given the perfect card. Head to Paper Source and buy one.

Children’s Book Art

Frame your child’s favorite page from their favorite book. This one requires ruining a perfectly good book. But sometimes that’s fine. Maybe the book is sort of ruined anyway. Maybe you have an extra copy. Or, maybe you should get an extra copy (after all, it’s your child’s favorite book). Check yard sales or used book stores for the classics. The art in children’s books is often stunning and, again, sentimental.

Calendars

Calendars, much like greeting cards, can be seriously gorgeous. I used some amazing photos of animals from a National Geographic calendar in my kids’ bathroom (below). There are also some great landscape photo calendars and art print calendars (again, Paper Source is a great…source…for this). Once the month is over, that print is ready for primetime.

We would love to hear other places you have found free (or nearly free) art for your kid’s bedroom or for any space in your home. We would also love to see your free art framed and hung and glorious - send us a direct message on Instagram and we’ll feature it in our story.

We’ll be back on Wednesday for a breakdown of our week.

- Leah

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Wednesday Five - 15

It’s Wednesday!!! What, what. And we have five fun things to share.

1. Trend Alert: bust planters. Guys, these quirky beauties were everywhere at the Brimfield Antique Flea Market this month. They sort of remind us of chia pets…but way (WAY) elevated…but the same kind of ridiculous fun. Driven by Decor used one in their One Room Challenge this summer.

If you need in on this trend, and we think you do, here’s one from Ballard Designs (currently on sale!).

2. We recently joined the LiketoKnow.it network. If you don’t know what this is, it’s genius and you need to get on the wagon. It’s an app that let’s you shop images you like on Instagram. First, you take a screen shot of the Instagram image. Next, you open the LiketoKnow.it app. Then, the image automatically opens on the app and gives you all the sources of items in the image. That’s it. A shopping short cut like no other. We love it for home decor. Obviously. We also love it for our favorite fashion influencers.

Like everything else, you can “follow” accounts on LiketoKnow.it. And now, you can follow us! And, going forward, you can screen shot some of our Instagram images to shop them. While we won’t source client projects through LiketoKnow.it, we will source our personal projects. Like this one:

3. Sonia has a new obsession: Swedish Dream Sea Salt Hand Cream. And I get it. I’m one of those people who keeps hand cream in every room, every bag, every drawer and several places in my car. It’s everywhere. What can I say, I have dry hands. And while I'm a faithful L’Occitane devotee, Sonia’s so crazy about this stuff I’m going to give it a whirl. I was especially swayed when I read that it’s “free of Phthalates, Parabens, Sulfates, Silicones, EDTA, and Gluten”. Dry skin season is coming…

4. Chrissy Teigen has a kitchen line coming out at Target!!! Love a good collaboration. And this one is fantastical. She announced it on her social media accounts this past week and I’m so excited. I actually don’t care what the pieces look like. I just love Chrissy Teigen so much that I want to support all her endeavors. But, from the sneak peaks, the color palette is earthy and muted. The bowls and stoneware have a handmade feel. The overall vibe is minimal.

5. I finally finished reading Prep. I mean, when you’re reading 15 pages at a time, 400 pages will take a while. So, yeah, it took a good month, but it was great. A bit heavier than I thought it was going to be - I had thought it was a total beach read about all the drug and sex scandals at boarding school. This is a deeper read. It’s a true turning of age story. Lots of character development (again, it’s 400 pages). I definitely recommend it, just know what you’re getting in to.

So, what am I reading now? I just started When Life Gives You Lululemons. I can already tell (2 chapters in) that this is a beach read. I mean, the title kind of gave it away.

Have a great rest of your week!

- Leah

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