Tag: sponsored

A Pink and Green Easter Table

Thank you, Pier 1, for sponsoring this post. While this was a sponsored opportunity from Pier 1, all content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Easter is tied with Christmas as Eleanor’s favorite holiday. She likes the traditions surrounding the day — dyeing eggs, waking up to see what the Easter bunny brought, and spending time with family — so she was pretty excited about putting up these decorations.

My focus was mainly in the dining room, but the entryway got a spring update with a new pink champagne scented candle along with some speckled eggs and a vintage robin.

I used more speckled eggs in the dining room, along with plenty of bunnies.

The two standing moss bunnies came with raffia ribbon around their necks, but I removed it and added my own. I’ve also got a matching sitting moss bunny on the way that will get the same simple change.

Those green napkins on the table have proven their versatility. I bought them for Christmas, and you saw them last month too. Here, they tie in with the mossy green bunnies and the leaf plates, and the green is bold enough to stand up to the pastel pink of the plates and glasses.

The pink pressed-glass goblets are new. I spotted them in the store and wondered if it would be overkill to add them to my table settings since I already decorate with so much pink. Nope! They are excellent. They come in blue too, if pink isn’t your thing, and I also liked these clear hobnail glass goblets. And any of the three would pair well with either pressed-glass or these hobnail glass tumblers.

A jute runner was layered over a solid tablecloth, and the I set the table with our everyday dinner plates (of course ours are pink) and silverware. I alternated my leafy green plates that I’ve had for years with new cabbage leaf plates. I think those are going away soon, so if you’re as into them as I am, don’t wait.

Since I set my table up already to take photos and share them here, I’m leaving everything up through Easter. The kids have been pretty excited because we get to eat “at the pretty table” and I have to admit, I like it too. Far better than the medley of toys that otherwise find their way over to the room!

Pier 1 has a new feature on their site showing how people have decorated with their finds once they get them home — a gallery of their favorite Instagram pictures tagged with #Pier1Love. I always like to see different takes on the same item or idea, so it’s been fun checking out how other people might use the same things but in different ways. Lots of bunnies are making appearances right now! Check it out for some new ideas, and tag your own photos for a chance to be featured.

March 16, 2016
A Cute New Kids’ Line (& Scalloped Table!)

This post is brought to you by TargetStyle. Shop the new Home collection in stores and online.

I saw it in a magazine a couple of months ago: a round side table from Target with a scalloped edge along the top and brass legs. It was just a little thumbnail-sized image and the table wasn’t even available then, but I made a note to check back for it because whoa, it was cute. I imagined it next to a chair, with a small lamp on top and maybe some flowers. Basically, something like this…

I didn’t have a specific spot in mind for it though, and the table wasn’t even available at that point anyway. Fast forward a month or two and as I was browsing through a preview of Target’s new Pillowfort collection for kids, I spotted the table. I had no idea it was part of their new kids’ line! They were styling it as a play table in the ‘Marvelous Manor’ collection, but I still liked the idea of one next to a chair and I realized that I did actually have a good spot for it.

Our playroom had a couple of vintage chairs in it that I had rescued years ago from an alley. They were outside of a building that housed many doctors’ offices, and I’m pretty sure they were waiting room chairs. Kind of cool, but not actually all that comfortable for long periods of time, so I brought up my floral armchair a while back to have a nicer spot to sit while the kids played.

What better table to pair with my crazy-flower-print chair than an adorable scalloped one? It comes in white, gray, or pink; you can guess which color I went for. I even picked up a little glass lamp for it, along with a party giraffe (why not?).

That’s a happy spot for sipping imaginary tea and eating fake cookies with the kids.

When I’m looking for things for the kid spaces in our house, I choose things with them that they like, but I want to like them too. Calvin’s still so little that he doesn’t have strong opinions on how his room is decorated, but Eleanor and August do. Eleanor likes cute, girly things, but not in the typical girly pink. (Early form of rebellion against her mother? I chose aqua for the lamp in the play room because I knew E would like the color.) She also really likes cages, and anything that looks like it could be used as one. August is pretty into sharks and sea creatures right now, but above all right now, he wants everything to be red. I had been looking for a matching pair of lamps to go in his room, and I grabbed two ceramic column lamps in red for him and he was thrilled. We didn’t need anything else right now, but here’s what caught my eye for each kid.

I liked these for my girl

Floral sheets, but in blue! Shelving that looks like a cage, and then an actual cage as a light! (She would flip.) The lamp that I bought for the playroom with her in mind, and the cutest bear.
— cage pendant ceiling light • circle shelf • floral bear • glass table lamp • floral sheets

I liked these for my boy

He likes the red lamps (I bought a matching pair), and I’m pretty sure he’d be into a red bed with shark sheets and an octopus friend.
— upholstered headboard • octopus • column table lamp • great white shark sheets

I liked these for my toddler

Really cute furniture, a few forest friends, and black and white patterned blanket with trees. We aren’t ready to transition from nursery to big-kid-room yet, but I’m keeping these in mind.
— drum shade ceiling light • mid-century kids’ nightstand • bear • fox pillow • mint kids’ chairs • forest plush blanket

This post is brought to you by TargetStyle. Shop the new Home collection in stores and online.

March 1, 2016
Share the Love Contest

Thank you Pier 1 for sponsoring this post. While this was a sponsored opportunity from Pier 1, all content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Want a shot at a really awesome giveaway? Pier 1 Import’s Share the Love Photo Contest is going on now through the end of the month, and you can win a $5000 gift card! Snap a photo, sharing how you’ve incorporated Pier 1 into your home on Instagram and tag it #Pier1LoveContest to enter. There are more rules and details on the official contest page, including an alternate entry method if you’re not on Instagram (or your profile isn’t public).

My favorite Pier 1 find of all time is my peacock mirror, but I like popping into the store each season to see what’s new and I’m most often drawn to the tabletop section. Linens, display and serving pieces — I love mixing new finds in with what I already have to come up with something different.

I picked up a floral cake stand a couple of weeks ago, so I planned on using it for August’s birthday cake. (Just a small cake, because it was for the five of us on his actual birthday. He just turned five, and we’ll have a bigger party with a bigger cake for him soon when all of his friends come over!)

Botanical prints are trending right now, and that cake stand is so good. I also spotted these lemon leaves placemats and picked up a few for the sideboard. I liked the look of these round cabbage leaves placemats layered under a charger made of wood or rattan, but the square format was better for making a backdrop. I cut one in half and another into quarters, arranging them and overlapping them with three full-sized placemats for a seamless effect.

The green napkins were from Christmas, but they work here too. With tulips, it’s all feeling very Spring (which we are eagerly anticipating), but then everything can always be mixed and matched again for a completely different look.

August was pretty excited to see the dining room set up especially for him. Rearranging things and making displays is my kind of fun anyway, so it’s nice that it can bring a little happiness to the rest of my family and make a day feel more celebratory.

Do you like switching things up in your home too? Share a photo of your favorite Pier 1 finds in your home and tag it #Pier1LoveContest on Instagram to enter that $5000 gift card contest. There will be five winners, and I would be pretty happy if one (or more!) of them were my readers. Good luck!

February 9, 2016
Protecting Our Upholstery

I am a compensated Scotchgard Brand blogger ambassador. Opinions are my own and additional products used in the project were selected by me.

Remember the pair of chairs in our living room? The ones that I mentioned were the recipient once of a nice dousing with orange soda?

Yep, those are the ones. We usually only eat or drink at the dining room table, but the soda was spilled during a party when we were being more lax (and by an adult, not one of the kids!). We got to it right away and luckily it came up without staining, but it wasn’t a good feeling to worry that the upholstery might have been ruined by one little accident.

I hadn’t taken any steps to protect them, even after that incident, until after I started working with Scotchgard Brand. I’d heard of them before (most of us probably have), but I hadn’t used any of their products or seen them in action so it didn’t cross my mind that it was an option. When I met with their team and was able to see a few demos, I realized how helpful it would have been for my chairs! Scotchgard Protectors don’t change the look or feel of your fabric at all, and you would never know a fabric had been treated unless you were to spill on it. Liquids bead up on the surface, so if something spills you have a little leeway to go get a towel and clean things up before anything soaks through.

I used Scotchgard Fabric and Upholstery Protector starting with the front of each chair and moving my way towards the backs with a single can. Come over and spill all over my things! They have magic forcefields now. Or at least it seems like they do.

I am a compensated Scotchgard Brand-sponsored blogger. Opinions are my own and additional products used in the project were selected by me.

January 27, 2016
The #LoveYourThings Shoot with Scotchgard Brand at the Randolph Street Market

I am a compensated Scotchgard Brand blogger ambassador. Opinions are my own and additional products used in the project were selected by me.

A few months back, Scotchgard Brand invited me to Chicago’s Randolph Street Market to hang out at their booth, chat with visitors, and take part in a video about things we love and how to protect them. There are always amazing vintage and antique pieces at the show — you might find your new favorite chair or rug, suitcases to stand in as storage, or maybe an old textile that has been (or can be) made into pillows.

The antidote to the all-white interiors trend, eh?

OK, but then you get your finds back home — these things that have already had a long life — and you don’t want to be the one to ruin them. And that goes for our new things too, of course. You know the pair of armchairs in our living room? Someone once spilled orange soda all over them when we were having a party. The person felt awful about it, and luckily the spill came right up, but if it hadn’t… yikes. Either we would have had to reupholster (two chairs, in this case, because they should match), live with a very strategically placed blanket, or ignore the stain. I use Scotchgard Fabric & Upholstery Protector on them now so nothing like that will happen again, because I don’t think we would have been so lucky had it been a drink like red wine. Once you see how it works, which is what we showed people at the Randolph Street Market, you realize what a good idea it is to protect the things you love with it. It repels liquids and blocks stains and can be used to protect your linens, furniture, rugs, clothes, car interiors and more.

Here are a couple of behind the scenes shots from our shoot.

And here’s the video.

I’ve used Scotchgard Protectors for a bunch of our things now. A purse, a couple of chairs, and yes, the crazy floral floor model chair I’m talking about above. I’ll show you how easy it is in an upcoming post. What are some things you love and want to protect?

January 21, 2016
New Lighting in the Library

This post is sponsored by Philips.

The tassel sconces are here! I feel like they’re a love ’em or hate ’em kind of choice, and I don’t care because I happen to love ’em.

New pendants, too!

I had always intended to replace the pair of Victorian cranberry glass fixtures in the double parlor. They weren’t awful, but I prefer modern lighting to period in old homes. I let the lights fall on my priority list, but two years in, it was time for them to go.

I showed you some of the replacements I had been considering a few weeks ago. The library and living room are open to each other and I wanted their lighting to still match, but I think I was getting a little carried away with some of my options! I was looking at definite statement lights, but once I decided to order the tassel sconces it would have all been too much. The Modern Globe Pendant from Circa Lighting was still a contender, but pricey at $2100 — especially considering that I needed two. A reader recommended Restoration Hardware’s Circa 1900 Gaslight Pendant as an alternative, and I’d also been thinking about Rejuvenation’s Hood Classic Globe Pendant.

The Gaslight and Hood Pendants both come in several sizes and finishes, and depending on configuration, are only about 1/4 the cost of the Modern Globe. I was leaning toward a pair of Hood Pendants because I had seen and admired them in person at Yearbook. I knew Kim had one in her dining room too, so I asked her opinion about size since my space was similar in scale to hers. She said that her 14″ globe felt substantial, and also that she “read somewhere online once – a tip on a blog – that hanging a balloon in the right size can help you visualize. I always thought that was such a great idea!” And it is! After talking to her, adjusting my mockups, and yes, hanging something in the right size, I went with the 14″ opal globe shade and ordered a 42″ fixture in unlacquered polished brass.

I hung the new lights right away when they arrived.

Why did I wait so long? The size is great, the style complements everything without distracting, and they fit the home while still updating it. The brass will age naturally, though I like the shiny newness too.

Philips sent over a package with their new LED bulbs with a dimmable warm glow effect, so I was excited to try them out with the library’s new lights. The color temperature is similar to daylight when the lights are all the way on (which is my preference when I need bright lighting), but these are amazing because they get warmer as you dim them, looking more like traditional incandescent bulbs as the lights go down. So when we’re Eleanor’s doing her homework at the table or I’m doing an art project with the kids, we have brighter, cooler light to work by. Then when we have friends over and we’re relaxing, we can lower the lights to a warmer glow and the library feels more cozy.

The Hood Pendants are open at the top and I tried two different styles of Philips’ bulbs — same lumens and color temperature range, but one was clear and the other frosted. The clear one gave off a more crisp, defined light, but I preferred the softness of the frosted bulbs for general lighting. Clear bulbs are better suited to task lighting, and I put them in the floor lamp by the striped sofa.

I love, love, love the new lighting. Such an improvement!

December 15, 2015