{ woven. wooden. warm }

I wanted to share one of my favorite things that has recently gained a lot of popularity. Woven wooden shades. I'm a huge fan.

The great thing about these woven natural shades is that they provide texture, bring a bit of nature inside, and help you layer and create depth to your windows and rooms that might otherwise feel flat.

Here they are in our house.  These in particular have a top-down, bottom-up feature.  Which is great when you want privacy, but the brighter light coming in from the top of the window.

Please note however, that the "openness" on these is probably a 50% factor.  During the day, they conceal a lot, and help block out a lot of heat, light, and glare.  However, at night, when the lights are on in your home, and it is dark outside is a different story.  Its like they don't exist.  Fair warning.

Here they are in some other applications.

from Better Homes & Gardens

from Southern Living

from DecorPad

You can pair them with drapes, mounted right at the top of the window/shade or mounted higher for some drama.  You can have them be dark or medium tone.  Either way, they are a great way to give your room depth and texture without committing to a color.

{ big steps }

Today is the big day, I've launched my website, and let every know that I have started my own business! Its a little scary. I'm putting myself out there, professionally, for everyone to see. Before, I worked for a large commercial firm where I had a team and support system and all the tools you needed to succeed everyday. Now, its just me!

I've been a professional interior designer for over 8 years now. I am Registered with the State of Texas and am very proud of the work I have completed with the firms that I have worked with in the past. I have also established myself, in my free time as a credible residential designer. My husband and I love to remodel existing homes with good bones, but no style. And, I also enjoy helping others to do the same, or just re-invent or re-style any space in their home.

I am so excited to get started on these new adventures!

saved our sanity

Ellery is exclusively formula fed.  We tried the whole breast feeding thing.  It didn't work, just like it didn't work for my mom with me.  Go figure.  Apple, meet tree.

So, we started her on formula at about 3 weeks old, and shes been on it ever since.  The brand has changed as well as the bottle we use, but one thing that stayed the same was making the bottle, and warming the damn thing.  It takes like 7 minutes with the most expensive bottle warming device.  Thats 7 minutes that I don't have!  Thats 7 minutes too late, when all of a sudden your baby gives you the "I'm hungry" cues and you need a bottle 1 minute ago.

So, we were at a party and another formula baby mom asked me if we had heard of the Baby Brezza Formula Pro, aka the Keurig for formula.  I was actually very surprised I hadn't.  Between my friends with new babys and facebook and pinterest, I thought I had heard of it all.

The Baby Brezza Formula Pro makes a bottle in 10 seconds.  10 seconds!  The water in the reservoir is already the perfect temperature, and there are these special discs you insert for your specific formula that make sure your 2 oz or 4 oz or even 10 oz bottle has the perfect ratio of water to formula, and it deposits them both in the bottle without you ever having to get your hands dirty.

I went and read some reviews on Amazon.  They were iffy.  Some said there was so much maintenance, and that it wouldn't do the right ratios and their baby got sick.  So I was kind of worried, but we HAD to try it out.  If it worked for us... it would be life changing.  We bought it at Target, kept the receipt, read all the instructions, set it up and now after 2 months, it still is probably the best baby item we have.  Sorry bumbo, sorry wipee warmer, sorry swaddle... Formula Pro you are the winner.

There are a couple of things the manufacturer could work on.

1.  There really is no need for the formula and water to be mixed within the machine prior to entering the bottle.  This just allows more mess within the machine due to the formula being so sensitive to moisture.  We have to shake the bottle after its been poured anyway...
2.  The "shelf" for the bottle is moveable for different heights of bottles.  Its a horrible design and does not stay in its slots, hence the coffee cup that sits under ours.

So, if you end up having to do formula, this is a must!

walker whereabouts

First of all, the only reason I'm able to write this blog post right now is because our little girl, now 3 months old is 1 1/4 hours into her evening nap.  That is unheard of in our house.

So, what have we been up to lately?  Below is a quick run down.

1.  Ellery Kate will be 3 months old on June 30th.  She is cooing and starting to giggle a little.  She is really thinking about  reaching and grabbing for things but we aren't completely there yet.  She does love her hands though and tries to fit both into her mouth at the same time.  She has amazing neck/head control and is wanting to sit up more and more.  I walked at 8 months old.  I wouldn't be surprised if she does as well.  We are 100% formula fed, and she weighs ~11.5 lbs.  Naps are typically 30 minutes long and frequent through the day.  Which is why the now almost 2 hour nap is a blessing.  I hope its progression and not a fluke.  But I've learned everything with babies is usually a fluke and not a trend.  She was sleeping through the night with only 1 feeding around 2am.  We thought we were AWESOME parents.  But we have just transitioned her to her crib which has been a shock to the system for Ellie and us.  The freedom to roll around that massive surface is throwing her into restlessness and needless to say we are tired.

2.  I have returned to work part time.  This was the second week back, and to be honest its been great.  I haven't really gotten emotional at all about leaving Ellie with my mom.  And I, a worrier, have wondered if this makes me an abnormal mom.  But I have to tell myself, that I'm just a do-er, a creative person, and enjoy being a professional.  I enjoy my job and the people I work with.  But its also my mom taking care of her.  It just makes it 100 % easier all around.  However, we have always said this is the current plan, and things may change.  In a month I may stop in my tracks and ask my self what the hell am I doing.  I now personally understand the immense difficulties associated with being a working mother but can also foresee those associated with being a stay at home mom.  It will always be a struggle I am sure.

3.  I had my tonsils taken out.  June 2nd.  Ellery was 9 weeks old.  I won't go into the gross details of why I had this done, but it seemed like a good idea to get it out of the way while I was on maternity leave.  Let me just tell you that this surgery is the most painful, depressing event that has come into my life.  Might be more painful and torturing than labor contractions.  I couldn't eat, I couldn't talk.  I had to take liquid vicodin, of which I stopped taking after about 6 days because the side effects weren't worth it.  The intense pain finally stopped around day 10 post op, and now 3.5 weeks later, my throat is 97% back to normal.  I'm glad I did it, but if I had to decide again, I wouldn't have done it.

4.  I just celebrated my 30th birthday!  We had a fun family and friend pool party last weekend, and David and I had date night this week which is always a treat with a new baby.  I can now check the next box on forms.  Thats cool.  David and I are now both in the 30's.  The best gifts ever were the Roomba from my mom and a gift certificate to Austin Art Garage from David.  I'm growing up.

5.  Projects around the house have somewhat subsided.  For the most part, David and I are so happy with our home and don't really have anything else we want to do.  Obviously we have another large project on our hands, a baby who is trying to figure out the world with us there to guide her.  It is the most awesome responsibility we could ever have.  And we are so in love.  

6.  I've found that the market for baby gear/items is one of the most profitable out there.  If youre swear by a certain swaddle, bottle, formula etc. moms will flock to that product like white on rice.  I know I have.  We have about 6 different swaddles.   We tried 3 different types of bottles.  3 different sink/tub/bath contraptions.  And 3 different glider/swings/loungers.  I'm sure the next step is teething products and baby food.  

7.  So many of my friends are either pregnant or just had babies at the same time as me, and its a great time in our lives!  We don't get out much, but our sleepless nights with little Ellie Kate are better than a world class hangover any day.

xo to all and thanks for stopping by!

Ellery Kate

{10 weeks old}

 

Ellery Kate Walker

She's here!  And has been for 6 weeks :)

We have a daughter, I'm a mom.  Its crazy, and I am still getting used to that fact.  I'm also still adjusting to what baby cues and signals mean because its all over the place.  And this little one is crafty.

Heres a little bit about how Miss Ellery came into the world:

Saturday March 29th at 9pm my water broke.  We drove to Seton and checked in and by that time, the contractions got worse leading up to some pretty painful ones by 11pm.  But by midnight I had an epidural and settled in for the night.  I was given pitocin at 3am because nothing had progressed.  We waited a bit.  I watched Golden Girls while David and my mom slept.  By around 6am, her heartbeat started to drop at each contraction, so we were hoping to get to 10cm fast, and sure enough we got there soon after.  I pushed for about 45 minutes and then our little girl was born into this world.  She was perfectly healthy and I wasn't too bad myself.

David was amazing, and my mom was amazing.  Having them both in the delivery room was very important to me and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

We've been adjusting here at the house and figuring out how to manage it all.  I couldn't do it without my mom and my mother in law.  Both are here to help me whenever I need it.  Which is such a gift.

One other thing I will mention.  Breastfeeding is and will be the hardest thing I have ever approached in my life.  For me, it didn't work.  I wanted it to SO badly.  So afterward, I turned to exclusively pumping.  And then pumping and feeding was like having twins and everyone around me that cared and loved me advised me to stop pumping and save my sanity.  So I did, 3 weeks in.  It was gut wrenching and emotional.  I wanted so badly to keep giving my baby this wonderful gift my body could give her.  But the more important thing to me was to give my child a happy mommie.  And because I knew if I weaned myself, Id try to keep it up... I stopped pumping cold turkey, which might have been the 2nd most painful thing to giving birth.

On to more happy things, here are some interesting facts about our lives with a baby.

- the bumpier the road for the car ride the better, stop lights are not our friend
- my hair will 90% of the time be up, I haven't "fixed" my hair in over a week.
- I have mastered the art of "shushing"
- the 5 S's are genius, and swaddling is the best thing since sliced bread
- we should have started using the exercise ball sooner for rocking/bouncing to sleep
- my hands have never been more dry and cracked from washing my hands at every turn of my day
- I have contorted my body in every which way to reach my crying baby and put the pacifier back in her mouth in the car, as well as feed and change her in the car, its our own mini home
- my mom or I has made over 50 trips to buy buy baby in her 6 weeks of life
- I will never get a full uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep again, or at least it feels like it
- our lives are so immensely full of love!

thanks for everyone's support and love, we appreciate it so much!

{ 6 weeks old }

38 weeks and... The nursery!

I'm 38 weeks and getting ready for baby!

The nursery is finally about complete. It took awhile. It took a lot of back and forth about what I really wanted. But I love it!  These aren't the best pictures, but it does the trick. 

Reba enjoying the crib already. We'll have to figure out how to nip this in the bud.

Old fence wood wall and my inspiration prints in gold frames.  The bedding was custom by Picket Fences.  Thanks to my good friend Kathryn Kenjura for her help on this!

The beginning of our gallery wall above the changing table/dresser.  It will be expanding with time.

And of course some more shelving and storage.

38 weeks and ready for baby!

4th day of maternity leave

37 weeks 4 days.

I'm feeling so relaxed. It's one of the best feelings knowing that I've taken all the stress away with work and the time I'm away from the house. I know I've done the best thing for baby girl. Because if you know me, I have a history of being a very high strung person. 

Overall I cannot complain about pregnancy. Obviously there are the uncomfortable normal things, morning sickness - check, heartburn - check, and the constant peeing - check. But I have had very little absolute discomfort. Except for that one night we had to go to the hospital because I apparently was passing a kidney stone. Yep. My family's claim to fame, kidney stones, hit me during pregnancy. Just my luck. But even that wasn't too bad. Scary because I was having true but mild contractions at 30 weeks. But we were home in a jiff. 

Of late, I've been a little bit weary of the fact that I havent gained any weight since about a month ago. I've gained 23-25 pounds at this point which is great and people say I'm all baby. Which is true. I feel so lucky to have gone through this process with the semblance of a figure to come back soon after delivery. 

So at my appointment Thursday I requested to have an ultrasound. Just to ensure myself that baby was on track with her weight and size. And sure enough. She is growing perfectly. Estimated weight is 6 lbs, 14 oz. holy moly. And I still have 2 1/2 weeks till my due date. 

And the best part was I got a sneak peek at her little face. Not a lot of room in there. But she already has a pout going on. 

So, dr says she gives me one more week after checking my progression. Let's just say we've started the progress in a great way! 

1st Day of maternity leave

1st day of maternity leave. The best feeling ever. Not because I don't like my job... Because I love my job. But best feeling ever because:

I know I can take a nap whenever I want. I'm super tired lately. 

I can fix up the nursery at anytime and get closer to feeling "ready". 

I can put my feet up more easily. The swelling has started. 

I can spend time with my mom. Who is just beside herself with excitement. Lots of shopping trips with breaks for sitting and snacks :)

More fun posts to come this week as we get ready for baby girl! Including nursery sneak peaks! Of course it isn't done yet.  

Sunday sharing!

This weekend is beautiful in Austin and that means outdoor projects. 

We've been very excited to start a deck project out back and as always with the Walkers, well David, that means a DIY project. Why hire someone to do the work when you've got all the tools to do it yourself?

Currently our back patio consists of a  concrete pad immediately adjacent to the house but with very little sprawl to allow for a dining table or just space to be. And also we have a lot of trees and the grass immediately next to the concrete just doesn't grow. So there is typically a lot of mud. 

This is the before. 

David is in the beginning stages of pouring the footings. Hence the forms. And concrete is being poured today.  The footings will be the structure that will make the deck nice and sturdy. 

Work in progress. 

Bowie as spectator. 

Bowie burying his chewy under a footing. He's a regular little mobster. 

And here's a belly bump pic for the week. 33 weeks. 7 more to go. 

Happy weekend projects to you all!

three funny pregnant moments, just today

These all happened today, and I had to share.  Enjoy.

1.  I went to Lowes instead of Home Depot JUST because the restrooms at Lowes are closer to the entrance.

2.  The shoe department employee at Nordstrom had to buckle the strap on the sandals I was trying on.

3.  I made a separate trip to the gas station after the grocery store to buy beer for David, because there are less people to judge me.  But I really don't care.        But I do.

Think of what happens weekly in my life.

Happy Sunday!
xo

Kitchen Office & Nail Head Tack Board How-To

When we re-arranged our guest bedrooms to make room for baby Ellery, we lost our office.  Granted, we could have crammed a desk into the guest bedroom, but I'm not a fan of cramming.  And I like having a dedicated guest bedroom.

So, one night David and I were brainstorming as we often do, and he offered up putting a desk, a furniture piece, in our kitchen where our bar used to be.  Well then that brought up the discussion of where our bar would go, obviously.  But after some thinking and re-situating, we found the solution.

Move the bar to another area in our living room.  We have the perfect place.  And instead of a furniture piece to be our desk, make a cabinet style kitchen desk.  David put the plan into action, finding a great cabinet maker to make the cabinets, and then had them painted, and we installed ourselves.

This was the before.

And this is the after!



The paint is the same as what is at the fireplace wall paneling.  (The wood cabinet manufacturer from our kitchen went out of business, so that wasn't an option.)

The worksurface is from Ikea, butcher block, cut down and sanded.  We cut the worksurface down to only about 20" instead of 24" or even 30".  We just don't have the depth there because our kitchen table is right behind this chair.  But overall, this depth works great and is all we need.

Our personal file folders are in the bottom drawers and we can stash SO MUCH STUFF in the cabinets and drawers.

The cubby holes are great for bills, sorting tax stuff, and just odds and ends papers that we would like handy.

The tack surface was a definite must.  1} Because we had to move the light switch to accommodate the upper cabinets, and in David's doing so we had some patches we didn't want to have to spend the time to make look perfect.  2}  It just finishes it all off  3}  Its super handy and organizes the things that we want to be able to reference all the time.

The undercabinet light was a surprise add by David and it looks very "hot" in this picture, but gives a nice warm glow to that area.

Here's how I made the NAIL HEAD TACK SURFACE

{MATERIALS]

- Homosote type material from Lowes (cut to your specific size)

  (Its really an insulation type material, black in color, and comes in 4' x 8' sheets and is located in the lumber area, specifically insulation aisle.  Costs about $10 per sheet, and if you are super nice to one of the employees, they will cut it down to size for you!)

- staple gun

- thin felt lining fabric (to give a little padding and hide the black color of the material behind your fabric)

- your preferred fabric

- nail heads (all kinds of finishes and sizes, and can be purchased from JoAnns or fabric stores)

- hammer

- ruler/pencil

{HOW TO}

1.  With the cut to size insulation material ready, we covered it with the felt first, then the fabric, making sure that we were pulling all sides even, etc.  David helped with this.  Much faster and probably more effective if you have 2 people participate in this step.

2.  Then, I used a ruler to make a light pencil line, the thickness of the ruler, from the edge.  (Using the ruler as a straight edge guide was much easier than marking off exactly 1" or 2" from the edge.)

3.  Then from each edge I started marking off 1/2" dots with a pen.  I had to test out this spacing with my 3/8" nail heads first.

It looks like a lot of nailheads, and it was, but once you get the rhythm, it goes fast.  Any angle or slight misplacement off that 1/2" mark will make a bigger difference to your eye than you'd imagine, so attention to detail is key.  But the fabric we used (linen) was very forgiving.  And sometimes you had to just guide the nailhead into "straight" with your other hand as you hammered.  But like I said, after a while, you get the hang of it.



So that's it!  Our newest project to make our home ever more efficient and refined.

Soon to be posted to the blog, professional photos of our house.  Yes!  We have some new adventures under our wings as of the beginning of the year, and we needed some professional photos of some of our work.  More to come on that.

Have a great weekend and a great Superbowl Sunday!

in the 30's

I'm in week 31 :) and that's about the temperature outside right now as well :(

Speaking of the cold, I'd like to touch on a little timeline topic.  A lot of people have commented on how lucky I am that I'm pregnant in the winter.  However, I don't necessarily agree.  Obviously I really don't care when I'm pregnant, just that I'm lucky and blessed enough to be pregnant.  But if you know me, you know that I am a very cold natured person.  So, this whole thing about it being miserable to be pregnant in the summer... I'm pretty sure I could have handled it.  The other thing about having a large belly in the thick of the winter, is putting on all the gear with that belly.  Especially the bending over for jeans, socks, and boots and driving with a jacket on and feeling like the Michelin Man.  If I didn't have a bench in our room, I'd be on the floor and it would take me twice as long to get ready. 

{The Belly}
Lets take a look at where we've been over the past couple of weeks. 

This is 28 weeks.  {sweet baby Bowie wanted to join in the picture}

And this is today at 30 weeks.

{Facts thus far on the pregnancy}

- My right hip might need to be replaced, as I am currently walking like my grandmother who has two artificial hips.  However, the great Dr. Ron my chiropractor is working it out with me as well as my sweet trainer Karyna.

- The waddle is cause for smiles at the office, especially when I'm trying to get to the ladies room in a hurry.

- I passed my gestational diabetes test, hooray!  But found out I'm anemic, boo.  So that means more iron.  Not so fun on the digestive tract.

- We had another sonogram at 28 weeks, and will have another at 31 weeks.  I have a marginal cord insertion... cord is at the edge of placenta and not the center.  Apparently it can cause growth restriction for baby, but at the 28 week sonogram the tech said she was measuring 3 whopping pounds.  According to my app, that is at or more than what she should be, so I'm not too worried and neither is the Dr.

- My belly is growing a lot, and sleeping is getting super uncomfortable.  And I get up to pee about 7 times each night.  It doesn't really bother me though, I think I'm usually 3/4 still asleep.

- My mom does something or buys something for Ellery about once a week.  Obviously she is super mom, and will graduate (eh, probably already has) to super grandma.

- Ellery is moving so much and we FINALLY have alien baby tummy movements!  Its so fun to watch, especially when I lay on my side. 

{Nursery Progress}

So, you know all that inspiration board crap I did in the beginning?  Well, that was fun and all.  And then I switched it up for a premade set from New Arrivals, and then at the absolute LAST minute, I cancelled that order.  I just wasn't feeling it.  I wanted something soft, yet with a touch of whimsy and bold pattern. 

My mom helped me to step back and think about the process.  And then I approached it like I do my commercial design projects and thought about what I wanted my inspiration to be.  I looked back on my Pinterest boards, and found that my inspiration really needed to be this print, by Rifle Paper Company.  I love it!  It is pattern in itself, and enough pattern for the room.  I didn't want pattern on the bedding, but in other subtle areas.

I thought about the colors in it and what I wanted to pair with it.  Mind you I already had the crib, glider and dresser... But I think subconsciously I knew I wanted this type of look at the furniture was the backdrop for all this.  And, I was OBSESSED with pairing a vintage print like this with a black and white stripe.

After realizing what my inspiration was, I created this new inspiration board.  Three prints in oversized square frames over the crib with an accent wall of reclaimed pallet wood, coral jade and peach in the bedding, gold frames and accessories with a black and white stripe rug and teeny black and white stripe accents on the bedding.  

The next day I went and saw my sweet friend Kathryn who owns Picket Fences and we talked it out and set up the plan for the bedding, drapes and accent pillow.  Its all ordered, through PF, and I feel great about it!

I don't have a good photo at the moment of the progress on the room, but I love the paint color (jade/mint) so far, and our fun black and white stripe bold rug from Ikea is just the perfect bold contrast to the soft peaches in the bedding.  The coral comes in just a tad with some bows and accent pieces.





That is all for now, toodles, and only 10 more weeks to go!

holy belly

Happy belated holidays.  To be honest I'm glad the new year has started and we can look forward to all kinds of fun things in 2014!  Obviously one being to meet our little lady.  The other... I need it to be warmer.

Due to the technical difficulties with the last computer, I've been a little slow on the posts because I've basically had to re-install EVERYTHING onto a NEW computer.  I totaled my other one with just the smallest bit of water spilled on it.  But, thank god for the Best Buy protection plan.  Don't ever not do it!  Its a life saver.  New computer for free.  (Still had to pay another chunk of change for another protection plan for the new computer though.)  Geek talk over.

Sad thing is that I lost all my creative graphic bump info, and some of the bump pics and a lot of other stuff that did not get backed up.  But I'm not going to get upset about it.  There are much more important things in life.

Onto fun things going on.  The baby bump.  The last picture I took was at week 19.  

And its been 7 weeks since I took another baby bump pic.  Obviously there has been a lot going on.   But just wait until you see this crazy transformation...

Week 26

Needless to say, baby girl, and me... have been growing.  Funny thing is, this is just days after food poisoning too.  I promise I'm a small person, and I haven't gained THAT much weight... but it will be very interesting to see how big this baby is going to be at birth.

We have a bunch of furniture in the nursery now!  Crib, dresser, rocker/glider, and moses basket & stand.  I'm waiting for the bedding to come in.  After a lot of thinking and pondering, I just didn't want to stress over trying to cultivate my own bedding ensemble when in reality, in about a year, I'll probably want something different anyway.  So, I ordered a semi-custom set from New Arrivals, Inc.

I've asked my sweet aunt to make curtains out of the coral orange and grey dot.. and then we will just go from there.  For now, I'm not too worried about getting everything done in too much of a hurry.  But I know its going to come fast, so I should probably keep up the pace.

We have a name.  Its not a secret.  So I will share.  Ellery Kate Walker.  And we will call her all kinds of nicknames like Ellie and Ellie Kate etc.

She is moving so much, but not alien baby yet, and I can't wait to see that!

Heartburn is ramping up.  Its awesome.  Whole bottle of tums at my desk at work.  

Our puppy Bowie is now 8 months old and still a little terror, but I can see an improvement in his demeanor.  He doesn't nip anymore, and we are working on all kinds of other obedience with him.  He is the sweetest thing when he's not busy trying to play keep away and is tired from a day of chewing on socks and rawhide.  We love him!  He still has some learning and calming down to do before baby girl gets here, and because of this he still goes to School Days at Dog School Austin with Rachel Daughn (dog whisperer of Austin).  We love her!

David and I have been busy on a recent house project which I will post later this week.  It involves a built in desk in the kitchen.  It looks amazing, and David continues to impress me with his skills.  Its always awesome to see how we completely compliment each other.

Until next time!