Wednesday Five - 22

Hi There. It’s Wednesday again. Which is sort of feeling a little stressful because the days left before Christmas are quickly diminishing. So much to do, so little time to do it. Oh goodness.

1. Speaking of the new year being less than a month away, we have a fun new thing we’re launching in 2019: Ask Gray Oak Studio. We want to answer all our design questions. Maybe you’re uncertain on how to mix metal finishes. Maybe you’ve seen something in one of our projects that you loved and want tips on how to create a similar vignette in your home. Maybe you want to know our favorite white paint color. Whatever your question is, we are excited to answer it.

Once a month on our Instagram Stories, we’ll dive into all the questions and give you all the answers. So, email us, DM us, leave a comment with any design question you have. We’re excited to offer you guys some quick, easy solutions.

2. Is it me or are Scout Elves are about as common as Christmas trees. Right? The head of marketing for Elf on a Shelf should be teaching at Harvard. She created a market and then cornered it. Amazing. So, our elf is named Snowflake. She’s a she (she has earrings…duh) and this is her first year with us. We’re very green to this whole thing. But, thank you internet, I found The Unofficial Parents Guide to Elf on the Shelf. One can go deep into this world, but staying on the low key side of things I found a lot of use in this guide.

I also found out about a “upgrade kit” you can buy on Amazon to make your elf more moldable (I’m envisioning Gumby-like). And…I got it. It hasn’t arrived yet, I’ll keep you posted. If you’re into it, there’s SO much out there to really amp up the experience. There are elf casts, elf graphic tees (you read that correctly), a “tool kit” for the actual elf (think canes and chairs and signs)…so much guys, so much. .

3. This week we had another install! A modern, polished, adult living room. We showed a bunch of sneak peeks on our Instagram stories. Here are some if you missed them. The room is still missing window treatments, but we couldn’t wait any longer to share.

We hope to write some project posts over the holiday break. We’ve had three installs in the last two months and will get you details on everything…soon…

4. You know I’m obsessed with podcasts (Sonia is too by the way!). Well, Sonia found Time Magazine’s roundup of the best podcasts right now. I think it’s finally time for me to jump on the Serial train. Season 3 is out and I hear it’s as good as Season 1. So, the question is, do I skip right to season 3? Or do I start at the beginning? Hmmm…

5. The Sorel Out N About boots are new to me for this season and I love them. I love them. I do. The weather around here (Massachusetts) has been rainy and cold for what seems like months. And these guys have been clutch for keeping me warm and dry through each stop on my average frenzied day. It’s nice to not have to pull on my full on rain boots every time I run to the bus stop.

That’s it for this week.

- Leah

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Wednesday Five - 21

So, I totally blew off last Wednesday’s blog post. Which you already know…because no blog post came to your email inbox last Wednesday. Wait, you do know that you can subscribe to this blog. Right? To make sure that you don’t miss a post. Right?

Well, if you don’t yet subscribe, I’ll make it super easy:

Okay, back to last Wednesday, when I didn’t post a Wednesday Five blog post. I must have a lot of guilt because I can’t seem to move on. So, I host Thanksgiving. And that is my excuse. Between food prep, in-laws arriving from out of town, special festive school stuff with the kiddos, it didn’t happen.

But I’m here today!!!

1) This week and last, we posted a couple photos (on Instagram and Facebook) of the foyer from our Hutchins Project. Exhibit A:

Side note: check out all sorts of family room pics from our Hutchins Project in our portfolio.

Back to the foyer. We got tons of comments and questions about those beautiful stems. Well, they’re faux (aka not real…aka totally fake). But they look real. They kinda, sorta feel real. You don’t have to give them light, water and love. And they last foreva.

Now, you know we’re plant ladies. We believe in plants they way most people around here believe in Tom Brady. And Sonia can even keep them alive. But, faux stems have come a long way.

And now, obviously, a roundup. These are stems we’ve used and loved or get great reviews.

Top Left, clockwise - 16” Ortata Stems ($9 - on clearance!) / Desert Rose Succulent ($4) / Flocked Snowy Pine Stem ($9) / Petal Leaf Branch ($35) / Silver Dollar Eucalyptus ($18 for 6 stems) / Monstera Leaf ($20)

2) Mary Poppins Returns is coming. I haven’t been so excited for a movie in a really long time. Mary Poppins is one of my favorite movies from childhood and I have a renewed love for it in recent years, watching it with my daughters. Here is the trailer if you’ve missed it.

3) We are still pulling together some additional holiday gift guides (click here for the one we posted over the weekend), but in the meantime I wanted to share one of my favorite gifts from last Christmas. A year later I’m still obsessed with this gift: sheets. Gorgeous, comfy, soft, perfect, sheets. From Brooklinen. They might be a little more pricey then you typically spend on sheets, but first, they’re worth it (seriously), and second, isn’t that the mark of a good gift? Something you wouldn’t buy yourself because the price point is a little much.

Below is the pattern I was gifted.

4) Carson Kressley spoke our love language in a recent episode of his new show Get a Room with Carson and Thom. Let’s back up and talk about the show itself. The former Queer Eye castmates (Carson Kressley and Thom Filicia) decorate rooms of all shapes and sizes on budgets of all shapes and sizes. It’s on Bravo and, yes, it’s another home makeover show. But a good one. Great for binging.

Anyway, Carson said (in episode 2) that blue can be used as a neutral, not just a pop of color. And he used the term “Bluetral”, which we will start using immediately and often. Blue being a neutral color is absolutely, 1000% our belief. If you’re a client reading this (thank you!) you’ve probably heard us preach this exact concept. We love using blue in our designs. And we use it interchangeably with gray, ivory and beige. Here is an example of blue as a neutral (again with the Hutchins Project!):

To take this idea one step further, where blue is used as a neutral, you can and should feel free to choose another color as your pop. Go for it! And there concludes our design tip of the day.

5) Did you know we have a Pinterest page? We don’t talk about it much. It gets outshined by its dominating, older siblings (Instagram and Facebook). But it exists and it’s worth checking out. We add to our boards ALL. THE. TIME. And we have a bazillion boards that range from “tile we love” to “hostess gifts”.

Until next Wednesday.

- Leah

*This post contains affiliate links*

Holiday Gift Guide 2018

My 2018 holiday gift guide is halfway here (women and kids). Thanksgiving came early this year and I tried my best to keep up. I also want you guys to be able to take advantage of all the crazy sales happening this weekend.

Women’s Gift Guide

1. Leather Tote - $158 (use the code “dealwithit” for a 25% discount)

2. Kate Spade Amazonite Stud Earrings - currently on sale for $26

3. Slipper Socks - $32 (30% off sale going on now)

4. Sweater Dress - $148 (30% off sale going on now)

5. Ugg Slippers - $120 (own these, obsessed)

6. Tory Burch Tote - currently on sale for $132

7. Faux Suede Moto Jacket - currently on sale for $35 (!!!)

8. Nordic Boots - $188 (use code “TGIF” for 50% off)

Kids’ Gift Guide

1. Dinosaur Sleeping Bag - On sale for $80. There are a bunch of different themes (i.e. mermaid, etc.)

2. R2D2 Bop It - On sale for $10. This is a game that kind of reminds me of the Simon game if you’re a child of the 80s. There’s also a Minions version.

3. Polar Express - $16 for hardcover version

4. Pom Pom Rainbow Hat - $25 (additional 50% off with code)

5. Bunny sweatshirt - $17 (additional 40% off with code)

6. Airplane Zip Pajamas - On sale for $26 (additional 30% off and free shipping with code “cyber30”)

7. Ride on Bumblebee - $60 (comes in different animals - pig, tiger, ladybug, etc.). My oldest was gifted the ladybug version on her 1st birthday and she LOVED it for years. Then my younger daughter loved it for years. Five years later it still looks brand new, seriously.

8. Water Bottle - $13. Great stocking stuffer.

We are have officially one month until Christmas…go for it!

- Leah

*This post contains affiliate links*