Four on the Floor

This is Murphy.  He looks a little shocked, don’t you think?  If so, it’s because his cushy world has just been turned upside down.  It turns out that dogs mature between 18 and 24 months.  This little guy just turned two.  We rescued him from a shelter about a year ago.  He was taken from a hoarder house, where they had too many dogs who didn’t get taken care of, and, judging by the scar on his nose, got into fights.  He’s so sweet and loving…to us.  He’s got some chihuahua in him, which, as he’s matured, has really started to come out as aggression toward our cat and a big dislike for any other dog that wants to get in his space.  Of course, we are not big fans of this behavior, so we took him back to the shelter (not to stay!) to get the opinion of their behaviorist.

The verdict?  Well, it’s going to be a multi-phase work in progress, but in the short term, it’s boot camp.  There’s a lot involved with training and nutrition, but one of the key points is that we can no longer treat him like we have been.  No more lovin on him just cause he’s so stinkin cute (he has to do a command first so it’s a reward), no more snuggles on the couch (just for now?  I’m not sure on this yet), and no. sleeping. in. our. bed.  😦  It’s sad because we really love snuggling with him, scooping him up, babying him….gee, wonder how he got the idea that he’s king of the world?

Our trainer calls it Four on the Floor.  Because it seems a little harsh to banish him to the floor all the time, we may need to invest in some additional pet beds.

He’s usually pretty happy just chilling out in the corner on his makeshift bed.  It’s just an old floor pillow that had seen better days, so I made an easy to wash pillowcase for it from some fun fabric.

For the moment though, we moved his bed up to our room for the long overnight hours.  It’s a temporary fix, since it really looks nicer downstairs.  I’ve been doing a little browsing for new dog beds, and I’ve really seen some creative solutions!  And of course, I would MUCH prefer something stylish to something with a dog bone emblazoned on it!

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These floor cushions are sleek, and the colors are fun as well.

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This one looks almost cushy enough to lay on myself!

There are more creative options as well beyond the simple pillow-on-the-floor route.

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This one is actually a DIY from an Ikea table – how cool!

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No worries if you aren’t quite that crafty – there are a number of ready made solutions to integrate your pooch’s house into your decor.

So, how do you handle your pet’s sleeping arrangements?

-Kim

Project Preliminaries

We’ve been hard at work on a new project…we can’t reveal toooo much about it just yet, as we have a meeting coming up with the owner, but I thought I’d show you a little peek about some of the things we’re thinking about!

I’ve always loved this style chair (though we’ll use a different color cushion!)  My parents have one in their office that I believe my dad found in a dumpster about 20 years ago!  I’ve been hinting that they should give it to me for refinishing and keeping…but no bites yet, lol.

The owner has a great oriental style rug with red tones that we plan to keep.  He mentioned wanting a big red leather chair.  We aren’t so sure that a chair will fit into the space, but a few of these cube ottomans just might!

These cushions are made for a bench, but we think they might warm up a window seat just as well!

This piano lamp has a traditional feel, but clean lines – love!

We’re on the hunt for an accent chair, but we need something on a small scale – this one might work well in a tone on tone print, but we’ve got a leather option in the back of our mind if we end up too heavy on prints!

I hope the owner likes the direction we’re going – then it’s on to accessories!

-Kim

p.s. – if you’re in need of design services, check out our page here!  We’d love to hear from you!

Thibaut

Just yesterday I received an e-mail from Thibaut, a wallpaper and fabric company. I needed a diversion from work, so I poked around their website a little bit. Not only do they have gorgeous product, but they showcase it really well in beautiful vignettes. Here are just a few of my favorites. They were many, many more that I loved, but I’ll let you take a look around their website for yourselves!

From the Natural Resource Collection:

From the Shangri La Collection:

From the Chelsea Collection:

Even if you aren’t a fan of wallcovering, Thibaut is still an excellent resource for design inspiration. This may become one of my go-to places whenever I get stuck on a design!

-Sara

An Unexpected Rainbow

I found this image of a staircase to be particularly inspiring. What a great way to add a range of colors to a space!

Thanks to Jenna over at HGTV’s Design Happens blog for finding this!

-Sara

New from Ikea

The Swedish superstore has rolled out a bunch of new products, and I thought I’d share a few of my favorites!

First up, a fun rug (about 4×6) for the standard Ikea price of just $20!

I thought this psuedo eye chart lamp is a neat twist on the subway style art I’m seeing everywhere.  (They have other patterns if you aren’t into the letters.)

I’ve always liked these swivel chairs for a feminine office chair, and this is such a cute pattern.  (Not sure why I associate this shape with women…perhaps because my husband is more of the industrial, huge, ugly office chair persuasion!  This also comes in solids for a less girly look.)

These last two pieces are my absolute favorites…maybe it’s the colors, maybe it’s the price, maybe it’s the fact that they are solid wood, but in any case, I like!

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Orange Accents

I’ve been noticing a lot of yellow popping up on design blogs over the past week or two. It really is a beautiful color…although one that I often ignore. Interestingly enough, on the last two design projects Kim and I worked on, yellow ended up being the last minute accent color. Once in a throw pillow and the other time in a throw blanket. The projects had completely different color palettes, but somehow yellow just ended up providing the right pop of color in both cases.

But this post isn’t even about yellow. Nope, but it is about another equally bright and energetic color: orange. I came across the image below and it got me thinking about how just a little bit of a strong color really brings a space alive and makes it interesting. Just try to imagine the living room without the orange pillow. Still nice, but it becomes much girlier and just a bit dull. The orange really makes the space.

Here’s that same space from a different angle:

To show that it’s not just this room that looks great with orange, here’s a different space. The vase of orange and yellow flowers certainly adds quite the punch to this space, but even without them, the orange chair really makes this vanity unique.

If you’re feeling a little bit bold, you may want to think about adding more than just a touch of orange. In this space, a good portion of the furniture is orange and yet it’s not overwhelming.

So if you’re thinking that a space in your home is in need of a little bit of a change, you may want to take a look at some orange accents. Stick with small items (pillows, blankets, vases, etc.) and then you can switch them out the next time you feel the need for a change!

-Sara (Images link to sources)

A Farmhouse Bathroom

Here’s one of those spaces that I think would be perfect in an old farmhouse.

I love the white beadboard and the medicine cabinets…I was thinking about getting one of those for my current house, but my husband and I have decided to sell it, so I’m choosing to save my  money! Yes, I know, this is not exactly a seller’s market, but since we aren’t in a hurry to sell it’s not so bad. We always said we’d be in our current house for about five years, so if it takes us a year to sell, we’ll be right about there. Time to move on and do something different!

Back to the image though…I’m particularly fond of the hardware in this bathroom. Both the cabinetry hardware and the faucets. I think those will fit in perfectly in my future farmhouse!

-Sara

Relaxing Weekend

The 4th of July weekend here in Wisconsin was hot and sunny, just like the 4th should be.  Not much was done around here for me anyway.  I visited my grandparents, watched movies, and had a really nice dinner at a new (ish, they opened in October) restaurant called the Horny Goat Hideaway.  If you’re in the Milwaukee area, and looking for some great al fresco dining, I would definitely recommend this place!  Right on the river, very cool firepits with glass rock – plus some at bar height as well, sand volleyball courts, a stage for live music (alas, there was no band on a Monday).  You can even pull your boat up to the slips should you be so lucky!  It’s in the 5th ward, which is an up and coming neighborhood around here, and I think it will be much helped with the arrival of this restaurant!  (don’t be thrown off by the name like my mom was….it’s really not that sort of place!)

Did you do anything fun this weekend?  Take care of any household projects?