It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year....

Halloween!

I love Halloween. I love anything that calls for a homemade costume.I am about to head out to get craft supplies for my own get up. How cute is this DIY peacock costume!

I think it's runway worthy

 

Self Awareness is the Key to Success

We are mid-semester in the 8th grade design class I am teaching and that means teacher evaluation time. I am not a teacher by training, so sending notes home to parents I have never met, about my students behavior, creativity, punctuality, etc. kind of makes me uncomfortable. So at the end of class this Tuesday I asked them to take out a pencil and give themselves an honest grade and explain why they felt they deserve that grade. I used their evaluation of themselves to help me fill out their take home forms. Here are a few of my favorites.

 

 And this is a journal entry from one of my favorite students. I hope she becomes a famous architect or interior designer one day. I will mail this back to her.

The correct term is "one-point perspective"  But how sweet is this child!?

p.s. I had a very nice first day of work, thanks for all the kind wishes.

Back to the Grindstone

After a summer of fun and two months of working a bakery counter, I'm headed back to the architectural world tomorrow. I am very excited. I got the job offer last week. The firm I am going to be working with is very different from where I have worked in the past. I will basically be one of the first Interior Designers they have had on staff. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I have first day of school/new girl jitters.

Sewing For Babies

Bostonians! Sign up for my BCAE class Sewing For Babies. It is a 3 session class that meets on Friday evenings beginning December 4th. It's going to be so much fun. If you don't have a baby, that's ok. I don't have one either. But after my class you will for sure have the best gift at the next baby shower.

Sign up today! OR ask for it as an early Christmas gift.

Paper Birds

I made these paper birds for our living room wall a couple of weekends ago and I'm really enjoying them. The shadows they make are my favorite. I needed something on this wall, but I just wasn't feeling anything in a frame. I asked Mr. Sabbe what he thought. He said it looks very masculine, ha, ha. I told him one day, when we are not living in 700 sf, I will design him a man cave....one day.

Uncle Buck

Hello handsome.

I was catching up on some AT reading over the weekend and discovered there are people that were "so over" the deer chic look in 2008! Now I knew there were people who were never into it in the first place, but we've been there and we're over it!? Come on people, slow down. It took me months to find one that I could afford.

And how about that chevron! I decided to go tonal instead of searching the world for the perfect shade of navy blue contact paper, and it worked out better than I could have ever imagined. I love it. It goes on my top 3 list of favorite DIYs.

I've decided to name him Uncle Buck after the 1980's blockbuster and because most of my life I have associated deer heads on walls with my very own uncles.

Addalee's Room

favorite chair + favorite man

Designer's Home Tour {Jenny's Bedroom}

This is turning into Jenny week and I love it. I have been sick the past few days and have not felt like blogging. But I keep getting more and more cute pictures of Jenny's house in my inbox so it's just too easy. Here is her master bedroom. I adore this robin's egg blue color. And isn't the headboard great.

Don't you want to sit here and read a book? I do. Look how cute those babies are in the top left.

 

This last one is a close up of her bathroom wallpaper. Don't you love it!? Thanks again Jenny.

Tomorrow... Addalee's room!

Designer's Home Tour {Jenny in Knoxville}

Jenny and I go way back. We sat across from each other during studio, our first year in design school. During our second year in school I once referred to Jenny as my school BFF. She scolded me for the school suffix, so I dropped it and we became real BFFs. The following years we were Senior Thesis partners, #1 fans of Jessica Simpson during her Newlywed years, and Jenny stood in my wedding 9 months pregnant {literally, wedding was on Saturday, baby was born on Tuesday}

Jenny is a dear friend and fantastic designer. While I have worked mainly in the commercial world the past 6 years, Jenny has focused more on residential design. Every time I visit, her house gets cuter and cuter and this week I was lucky enough to get some pictures in my inbox.

 

 

 

 

 

She's promised kids room pictures next. She has the cutest kids and kids rooms I have ever seen. Jenny, we're holding you to it!

The White Mountains of New Hampshire

I will start by saying, I do not always get invited on boy trips

{which is fine with me}

But these days Mr. Sabbe's leisure time is very limited. So when his fellow resident friend, Josh, invited him to go hiking in the White Mountains this weekend he said, Sure, as long as it's ok if my wife comes.

Sweet man, how could I say no.

The trail was 9 miles....

I was determined to earn my merit badge.

Our constant cheerleader, who was in awe of every. single. thing he saw, Josh.

If you ever hike the White Mountains, you'll need a Josh.

This one was an Eagle Scout {nerds make #1 husbands}

Just trekking along...

Is that snow?

And snow + ice?

Winter? Antarctica? Where are we?

100% hiking bliss

Mr. Sabbe's hair froze

And Josh's took on a whole new form

1/2 mile back down, it was Fall again.

The boy's hair thawed out and they "blasted" ahead {blasted is a new word I learned, it means going faster than Stephanie's legs were meant to go}

Will I ever do this again? Yes. Maybe not the summit in October, but yes.
Where else will I get stories to tell my future children of how their mother almost died on the top of the White Mountains?

The White Mountain National Forest is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. If you are in the New England area I would definitley make a day trip out of it. Although I might recommend waiting until Spring.

Boston Style

Go check out Dwell's Boston slide show. There are such diverse architectural styles in this city. A little sampling for everyone's individual taste. What is your favorite architectural style?

Just like I can never pick a favorite color, I can never decide on one style I like the most. But I do love walking around my neighborhood, which can be seen in the last picture of the slide-show.

Pixel Perfect

My previous company designed an office space for a marketing and graphics firm that won quite a few awards. What a dream client, right? Their main objective was not to see how many workstations they could cram in a 2,000 s.f. floor plate. They just wanted a cool space that inspired them to do cool work {and obviously a functional floor plan}

I love this pixel sofa, found here. If I were to have the opportunity, in the future, to design for a similar clientele, wouldn't a concept based on pixels be the coolest?

Think of the possibilities with carpet tiles.

Separation Anxiety

I made this bag almost 2 weeks ago with the intent of putting it in my already negleted Etsy shop.{concept} Two weeks ago! But everyday I pass it and I have to restrain myself from putting my wallet inside and carrying it around town. What to do, what to do??

New Additions

We've had some new additions to the Sabbe household over the past week. I bought the cutest navy blue ruffle pillows to sit in our little wooden chairs.

I have been wanting to make a pair of ruffle pillows for months, but when I found these for $7.99 a piece, I decided I would scratch that project off my list.

And this guys has finally made it to his new home. Doesn't he look happy?

No, you're right, he doesn't. Zoe's been sniffing him out all day. He'll feel right at home once I get him mounted on the wall.

Does anyone know where I can find navy blue contact paper in the $5-$10/roll range? I've been searching the web with no luck. I'm still feeling like it's a go with my jumbo chevron idea.