Seven Year Room Redo

It's been a long time since my last post...almost a month! I've got lots to post about in the next couple of weeks. I had an awesome trip to NYC. If you're interested in purchasing any DVF dresses check out my ebay link to the right of the screen. LOTS of cute stuff!
We've been busy with weddings and swim team. Good grief! I had no idea what a time commitment swim team would be! We've successfully completed two and a half meets. I say two and a half because BabyGirl refused to swim the first meet. BabyBoy had a cast on his arm for the first meet and didn't participate (broken elbow). Beware of trampolines. They are so dangerous! This was our second tramp injury. Our neighbors have one that backs up to our yard and we've had to officially ban our kids from playing on it.
Last Saturday was BabyBoy's 7th birthday party. I can't believe he's seven years old! I told him I would not buy one more Lego but that I would redo his bedroom however he wanted as a gift (and then promptly handed him the Pottery Barn Kids catalog). Gotta have a LITTLE say so. Of course, he picked a Star Wars theme. I found some cute plaid fabric to coordinate with the PBK Star Wars sheet set and a king size sham from Target (lots cheaper than the one from PBK AND it looks better, I think!) I bought some of those really cool wall decals from a seller on Etsy (overloadednoggin was his name). They were so easy to apply and make a huge difference. It really adds to the theme without being too cheezy.
I purchased a black wire storage rack and big galvanized metal bins from Lowe's to put all his Legos and toys in. The shelves also serve as display shelves for his larger Lego projects. I found a really neat shadow box type frame from Target to display his Lego cars. Two cheap Target tables and some storage bins for his videos and video games, a new bedside table and lamp from TJ Maxx and we were a go! Luckily, his carpet already had stars on it so totally fit the theme. Here are some pics...

Oh, if I could, I would...

Have you forgotten me yet? I hope not! I know it's redundant to say...but it's just been so darned busy around here! End of year parties...my year as president of our medical alliance ending...BabyBoy's birthday coming up...redecorating rooms in the house...swim team...gymnastics...are you exhausted yet? 'Cause I definitely am! We've had a great several weeks. Last weekend we had the honor and priveledge of attending the Virginia Republican Convention and got to hear Sean Hannity speak. It was awesome! He gave such a great speech. We would have loved to have heard Mitt Romney speak at the Gala the evening prior, but we just couldn't get there in time!

I've had so many new ideas for blog posts...Etsy is my new obsession! I will be posting a lot about that soon.

I know I also promised to post pix of our "complete" master bedroom. However...it just isn't perfect yet. Soon...soon! We're renovating BabyBoy's bathroom right now and I can't WAIT to post pix. It should be a great transformation.

Today, however...I want to escape from reality. I want to do an I SO would if I could post.

I have always wanted a beach house. Unfortunately, Dr. Daddy is very much a glass half empty kind of folk and is terrified of hurricanes!!!

SOOOO, I'm going to do a post about my dream beach house. If I could I would have this house

with this kitchen

and how about this entry?

Imagine the blogging I could do from this master suite...

BabyBoy would LOVE this bedroom...don't you love the Hermes blanket? (atleast...I think it's Hermes!)

And BabyGirl's room...

And if the friends or cousins come to visit? We'll definitely need both of these rooms!

Of course...Mimi will need a room as well...and every girl needs some LV!

And since we all need a place to hang out and watch our back episodes of Weeds and The Real Housewives...

There are certainly a zillion more rooms I would love to post...but for now...this is my dream beach house!!!

My Latest Obsession(s)...

The New Year always makes me eager to change things up in my home. As you may have read in November, I've been redoing my guest room in a major way. I felt terrible that every time someone came to stay with us (often to take care of my kids when I was out of town) they had to sleep in this depressing, messy room. So, I've been hard at work to create more of a sanctuary than it's been in the past. One great thing about that room is that it is an addition and doesn't have the massively thick brick walls that the rest of the house has. Okay, so maybe not so great in terms of heating and cooling, but great for laptop users who might get better wi-fi reception in that room. Oftentimes, when Mimi comes to visit she needs to be able to work on her laptop. Plus, I'm dreaming of a white Mac laptop for whichever holiday comes next :). So....I decided to put a little desk in the guestroom instead of a dresser or some other piece of furniture. Besides, nobody ever really stays long enough to need to fill a dresser (atleast, they better not!).
I scoured local antique and thrift stores and found a great little desk. I've spent the weekend stripping and sanding it. Then I had to decide what color to paint it. I wanted something fun...something funky. The rest of the room looks like this so far...





I decided to take the tropical punch pink color out of the window treatment fabric and go with that for the desk. Dr. Daddy was stunned to say the least! He thought I was painting it white. Oops! I'm in love with the result but it's not quite ready for the room yet so you'll have to wait for pictures.

While looking for inspiration I stumbled upon the website of Annie Selke. I've always LOVED Pine Cone Hill and Dash and Albert but I had NO idea that they were part of the same parent company. Now, Annie Selke, the creator of said company, has created a line of furniture with Vanguard Furniture. It's bold, it's fresh, it's light and airy but strongly sophisticated. It's traditional but whimsical. I LOVE IT! I am most obsessed with this bed...



Complete and utter genius. Almost makes me willing to let the kids swing from the top of my Baker rice bed until the posts fall right off and I need a new bed!

I also love these pieces...



This wing arm chair reminds me so much of the chairs at BG, the uber gorgeous restaurant atop Bergdorf Goodman in New York. Another fabulous space by Kelly Wearstler.







I love that her pieces are so versatile. I feel like any one of these could be put into a super traditional room or a super modern room and be right at home.






Also, thanks to Eddie over at Eddie Ross for turning me onto these gorgeous prints from Artaissance. I already have my gorgeous chair prints from Anne Harwell. Now I can add to my "furniture art" collection with these gorgeous prints...







Apparently, each print is custom made to order and you can change up the colors to coordinate with your style. Here's a picture of Eddie with some of his faves...



Great choices Eddie! I'm thinking a lime green for the background on my prints...

Don't forget to check out Eddie's Blog. If you don't know Eddie already, he was one of the contestants of Top Design and used to work for Martha Stewart. His blog is full of great ideas!

Chandelier Questions Answered!

I had so many of you leave kind comments about my dining room chandelier after my New Year's Party post that I thought I'd do a post on where to buy, what to buy, etc.



The picture above is one from New Year's Eve. The chandelier was decorated with silver beads so it looks a little more ornate than it really is. The picture below is just a "regular day in the Sippycups dining room" shot.



What I can say about my chandelier is this: I love, love, love it. Wouldn't trade it for the world, brought it to this house from the other house, etc. I'm very attached to this chandelier. What I will also say (in regard to lighting in general...)is that you get what you pay for. MOST OF THE TIME.

I found my chandelier on the Great Chandelierswebsite. This was the picture online.



It looks to be kind of a copper color, right?

I actually called the company before purchasing the chandelier and asked very specific questions. You see, I wanted wrought iron, but I wanted it to be a patina'd copper color, not black. In addition, I wanted glass crystals, not the plastic or lucite ones that often come with these website "deals". I was assured that this chandelier was exactly what I wanted. There would be some "minor" assembly involved. Oh, and by the way...NO RETURNS. But you see, by this time I had searched and searched and I was ready to be DONE. I had a very particular look that I wanted. I loved the look of this chandelier from Shades of Light but had seen it too many times in too many magazines, etc.



I also LOVE these chandeliers from Vaughan Designs that I had seen in many a Christopher Peacock kitchen and in many of Betty Lou Phillips' books. However, they were a bit more of an investment than I intended to make at the time. Hindsight, baby, hindsight.






I got my chandelier in the mail SIX weeks after I ordered it. It literally came from Mexico. It was packaged in a box the size of a shoe box. A child's shoe box. I began taking out piece after piece of BLACK wrought iron and electrical cording. There were crystals everywhere, but atleast they were glass. Dr. Daddy was laughing his little ass off. He gleefully reminded me that he was NOT going to help assemble the thing and that he had suggested going to Lowe's to buy a "light". Hah. I was not deterred. I put that thing together in about 45 minutes (good thing I took Spanish in high school, as the directions were NOT in English). I then went to the basement and found some old wood stain in a dark cherry color. I sponged it on pretty heavily and then let it dry until it was semi-tacky. Then I went over it again with some watered down gold craft paint. Lots of smudging and wiping later, I had the exact look I had wanted. Not bad. I was so irritated, though! I called the company to tell them that it was NOT as pictured or described. Let's just say they were less than sympathetic.
Now again, I have to say I love my chandelier. I do wish it hadn't been such a pain to finally find and get assembled, but it makes for a good dinner story!

If you love the chandelier but don't want to go through all that hassle, try some of these options. Murray Feiss is a great company. I've purchased several things from them in the past and have been very happy.






Both available from Lighting Showrooms.