Shared Kids’ Room: The Plan

Posted on May 10, 2012 by liz

After some back-and-forth with my husband on the best arrangement for everyone, we decided to have the two kids share a room. Noah’s room is spacious and this way, we can keep our space for guests and my little office area, and we both think the kids will enjoy sharing for a few years while they’re little.

It did present a little of a decorating dilemma though. How to make the room fun for both a boy and a girl? I knew I didn’t want any over-the-top themes or divisions. I wanted the room to suit them both without being overly “girl” or “boy”. Kind of like this:

I think this image originally came from Domino Magazine...loved the entire house!

I decided to create the feeling of individual spaces in the same room through the use of wallpaper, color, and furniture placement. Each of the kids will have his/her own area. The room is conveniently set up so a little outcropping in one wall makes a nice dividing point right about at the middle of the room, which you can see from the floor plan here:

I won’t post the sketchy furniture plan I made which is so messy probably only I can see what is going on with it. Suffice it to say that baby’s side of the room is to the left and Noah’s is to the right. When I post pictures you will be able to see what’s where.

And here is the mood board I came up with:

"Dotty" and "Cars" Wallpaper by Ferm Living, IKEA Gulliver Crib, Gumball Lamps by Land of Nod, IKEA Expedit Shelf, Solar System by Land of Nod, Millbrook Bed by RH Baby & Child, Greens & Blues will be curtains and bedding on N's side, IKEA Karlstadt chair, vintage blankets, Ben De Lisi and Land of Nod Pillows, IKEA Malm Dresser, Land of Nod Strapping Floor Bins

It doesn’t show every last thing that is going on in there, but gave me a general idea to work from; set the mood of the design, so to speak. I decided to incorporate the ombre idea in small doses on each side, through accessories and art mainly, and combine those with multicolor blankets and accessories that I found and fell in love with along the way. I think this will get me more mileage out of the room in case I get bored of the trend and it’ll make it easier to move different things in and out. Much of the furniture was already owned and re-incorporated into the new design, although we did buy a new dresser, bookshelf and extend the existing wardrobe unit from one to two.

Everything is nearly ready for some photographs, so stay posted for those soon! Baby gets here in less than four weeks, so I suppose it had better be!

Ombre Inspiration

Posted on April 23, 2012 by liz

Let’s talk ombre. Since I began thinking about using this trend in decorating, I have been seeing it everywhere. And I do mean everywhere.

From fashion:

To hair:

Via Refinery29

Store Displays:

At my local Target

Art:

gel-ato.tumblr.com via The Decorista

Via The Decorista

Even baked goods and cakes:

By Janet Mohapi Banks via Julianne Young Weddings

And of course, in interiors:

Wary Meyers via Pattern People

How fun is this radiator?

Apartment Therapy via Matilda Rose Interiors

I love the colors in this desk! The dipped chair is a nice complement too. These are the colors I had in mind when I first started thinking about doing this for the baby’s room. I especially like that coral/melon color right now.

Via Design Shuffle

Same colors, two trends- chevron and ombre! I love the contrast of the gilded, opulent cabinet against the graphic background, along with the frilly but “plain jane” geraniums.

Simon Watson Photography via bjornsrandoms.tumblr.com

Can you say “aaahhh?”. How relaxing is this look in one of my favorite colors, aqua? Having the chairs done in the same solid color is a nice counterpoint to the weight of color at the top of the draperies.

These are just a few examples of this trend. I’m sure you have seen of plenty of your own. I completely love the look and when I first started playing around with concepts for the kids’ shared room, somehow my fabric ended up getting arranged like this:

My idea was to run with it and do shades of warm pinks, reds, oranges, and yellows on baby girl’s side of the room, and blues and greens on Noah’s side.

There are so many fun and fabulous products available right now if you want to do something like this! West Elm has tons right now and so does Land of Nod. Etsy is great for finding art and the good old internet has plenty of tutorials if you want to make something.

As decisions and purchases were made, I ended up veering a little bit away from my original idea and incorporated multiple colors, but overall this is still the guiding color concept and there are going to be areas in the room where you will really be able to see it. I figured this way, when I get bored of the trend, I can easily switch it out or mix it up. Besides, if you have kids, you know that despite whatever carefully staged photos I may post of the “finished” design, the room is going to end up looking like a jumble of color anyway!

I also have in mind the most fabulous dip-dyed ombre curtains that I want to make for my room in varied shades of turquoise. I have a feeling I might not get to this before the baby gets here, but my room is the next up for a makeover, so if I’m still into it when the time comes…well, we’ll see if they turn out as I envision!

How about you? Are you liking this trend? Wearing it or bringing it home?

Tour My House: Noah’s Room

Posted on March 26, 2012 by liz

I love getting a sneak peek into others’ homes and I hope you’ll enjoy having a look around mine, too. I’ll be sharing bits and pieces in the coming months, especially as new projects get completed.

I live in a condo near the beach in San Diego. Things I love about my house: it’s light, open and has a good amount of space. Things I don’t: not enough storage and no yard. But with the beach and lots of parks nearby and weather that’s nice year-round, we make do.

Like any house, it’s in a constant state of decorating evolution. I’m finally sharing pictures of my son’s room, just as I’m planning to change it all up. He’s been in it three years already and it’s time for him to have something a little bit different…especially with a sister on the way, who will be moving in eventually.

Above is the mood board I created when coming up with the plan. My initial inspiration was the This Is… series of books by Miroslav Slasek. I’m a big fan of his wonderful illustrations. Also, I lived in New York for many years, my husband is from England (living in London when we met) and we fell in love in Paris, so those three books in particular had special meaning for me.

And here are a few shots of what we ended up with:

In the end I gave up on custom bedding (I experienced fabric option overload, ran out of time and was gifted with this cute set from Dwell for Target) and settled for these cute wall decals instead of wallpaper.

Such lovingly organized shelves!! No they did not stay that way, not with this little one around. He was 8 months old here and was into everything, and it’s only gotten worse! The book covers I had framed and you can see the start of our book collection here- these days, those shelves are filled with books of all kinds.

Because the room is in a kind of loft space, it lacks a true closet and we went for this industrial-looking unit from IKEA. I enjoyed (and still do) looking at all his cute little garments hanging in a row, although now it’s more an assemblage of various jackets, sweaters and costumes instead of sweet little onesies.

Looking back at these photographs, I realize a few things: for one, my photography skills have really come a long way! And so has my design sensibility. I wish I’d added more color to the room and gotten my act together to incorporate some of the different fabrics I’d seen. But, the space has served us well and it’s been a pleasant room to be with my baby in.

In just a couple of months though, it will be looking quite different. Can’t wait to share the results with you then!

March Photo A Day

Posted on March 5, 2012 by liz

It’s a new month and time for a new photo a day challenge from Fat Mum Slim:

I admit to losing steam during the last one, but perhaps I’ll do better this month. It’s just fun to participate and see the photos everyone is posting. Here’s my photo from yesterday:

Are you playing along?

Ten Things To Do in Vegas with Kids

Posted on February 24, 2012 by liz

Continuing on from my last post where I mentioned I would be writing here & there about subjects related to children…

Image: Paul Martin Eldridge / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We just returned from five days in Vegas. I don’t know what you think about when you think Vegas, but I’m guessing it’s probably not laying down in your darkened hotel room at 8pm so your child can go to sleep, soon following suit yourself, avoiding alcohol,gambling & trouble in general. But, such is life with small children and while pregnant.

We went to Vegas for the 7s Rugby. My husband is crazy for it and so is his dad (they both used to play) so it was decided my in-laws would fly over from England and we’d come in from San Diego and all make a vacation out of it. The challenge once we got there was finding things that our three year old would enjoy doing that were also not…beyond his years, shall we say.

I admit, he did take an inordinate amount of interest in the gambling machines. Every time we walked through a casino, he’d say to someone in a wishful tone, “Auntie/Mom/Grandpa (etc.) YOU can go on the gambling machines!”. He also did some impromptu dancing in the street, which I guess is to be expected when you’re in Vegas, even when you’re three- there’s music everywhere! And he did take note of the naked girls around, I’m afraid. We were sitting in a cab when he shouted, “Mom, there’s the boob truck!” I turn to see a billboard truck for 1-800-GIRLSXX or something of that nature and he follows up with, “It sells boobs!”. Yes, it sure does, honey.

But there are some enjoyable and wholesome things to do in Vegas with your child, should you happen to be there with kids. And here are a few that we enjoyed:

: Image via destination360.com

1. The aquarium at the Silverton Casino. Admittedly, it’s kind of underwhelming when you are expecting an actual aquarium/sea life center as it’s more like a giant fish tank in the lobby of a hotel. It’s also a bit of a drive (a $25 cab ride) off the strip. But, my boy found it fascinating and wasn’t disappointed in the least. There is also an enormous Bass Pro shop attached to the hotel which some members of your party may find entertaining, complete with waterfalls and ducks.

2. Tournament of Kings show at the Excalibur. This exceeded my expectations by a long shot, and Noah was totally gaga for it. I had the best time just watching his face as he watched the show. There were knights, horses, games, pyrotechnics and the food wasn’t bad either.

Photo © oyster.com

3. Arcades. This was one of my boy’s favorite activities. Every time we’d pass a fountain, he’d beg for a penny and wish to go to an arcade. We went to one at Excalibur and another in New York New York. Both were what you’d expect out of an arcade, with plenty of games that he was interested in. Whack-a-mole seems to have made a lasting impression as he is still talking about it.

Photo courtesy adventuredome.com

4. The Adventuredome. This amusement park attached to Circus Circus has a super weird vibe, an eerie light, and is totally noisy and overstimulating. But, once we got to the far corner where the younger kid rides were and my child could stop being distracted by arcade games, we had a blast. Noah was totally obsessed with this ride called the Frog Hopper (see above), which takes the children straight up, then drops them down suddenly and bounces them. There was no line, so he basically rode it over and over again for an hour straight, and it was hilarious watching him scream with delight and race around to get on again.

Image: chrisroll / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

5. Pools. Your hotel in Vegas probably has a pool, unless you are staying somewhere in winter and they CLOSE it…yeah, best to check. This would have been a major stop on our itinerary had it been open as my son loves to swim, and what’s better for mom than to sit poolside sipping a cocktail? Right?

Photo via Big_red-truck at travelpod.com

6. Spiral escalators at the Forum at Ceasar’s Palace. If your child likes to ride escalators and you don’t mind going along with it, these are pretty cool as they are in a spiral shape and end up at some water features that are always entertaining to kids. Plus they are surrounded by nice shops (not that you’ll get to go in any with your children!).

Photo via leisurelanding.com

7. Buffets. In my opinion, stuffing your face daily can get old fast, but it is quite a novelty for the kids to be able to traverse the line of food and pick whatever their little hearts desire- in Noah’s case, that was donuts for breakfast 3 days in a row.

And here are a few things that we considered doing but didn’t get to:

Photo via venetian.com

8. Gondola rides at the Venetian. Kids and adults love boat rides, and this is the next best thing to actually being in Venice, no?

9. Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. I think this might be a bit more of an attraction than the aquarium at the Silverton- I’ve since heard from a couple of friends that it’s worth a visit.

10. Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage. Dolphins are adorable, and gardens are fun to wander round.

Next time I’m in Vegas, it will certainly be without children, and I may not get to all or any of these again, but if you find yourself there with the little ones, I hope this list will give you some ideas. Also, let me know in comments if there’s something great I missed!

On Being a Mom

Posted on February 16, 2012 by liz

The subject of children is not one I’ve tried to address much on this blog. There are plenty of mommy blogs out there after all, some written by people much funnier than I, others who are much more crafty and/or clever in the kitchen than I. I enjoy reading these blogs as many others do, but I’ve never had a real desire to write about life with children, as a general rule.

But I’ve come to rethink that a little lately. After all, this is my space to write about life and things that interest me, and I have to face facts: children are among those things. I’m lucky enough to be mom to a gorgeous little boy and now I have a little girl on the way. Anyone with children will know that of necessity, children are going to be 95% of what I think about all day long. Of course, this blog provides me a bit of escape, but there’s room for kids here too. I am a mom.

I admit, it took me a while to adjust to the idea. I confess to still sometimes not being completely on board with it, three years in. It’s still hard to imagine that someone thinks of me as I think of my mother…my child does not think of me of a person with her own interests and dreams unrelated to him, but one day he will, and I hope that he looks at me with pride at what I did accomplish personally in addition to thinking of me as a good & loving mother.

I read somewhere recently- I wish I could remember who said this and I’m paraphrasing- that there’s been a shift in talk about parenting, from how it’s a blissful bed of roses in the sunshine to how it’s an endless miserable round of eternal thankless drudgery, and surely the truth must lie somewhere in the middle? Of course I agree. I recently read and loved this article that was shared around facebook, and I think the author came really close to describing how I feel about it. There are many days where literally nothing, nothing could be better than spending one-on-one time with my little man; days filled with laughter and cuddles and magical moments upon moments, and then there are certain other days (luckily they are few) where time seems to expand just to amplify feelings of frustration and yes, even misery brought on by seemingly non-stop bother and drudgery and the seeming impossibility of carving out even one peaceful second in the day for oneself (this for me, happened a lot more often during the sleepless baby ~~months~~ year. Go figure).

But…enough of the serious talk. It’s decided. I will include bits and pieces about family life here (the good stuff), and I will include thoughts about kids and design for children, because it’s one of the things I do think about, and am thinking about now, with another one the way. So look out for a piece on shared children’s rooms coming soon and I’ll finish with a snapshot from today, which happened to be one of those wonderful days:

: Henri Hopper & Noah

Color Crush February: Peacock Blue & Orange

Posted on February 10, 2012 by liz

On a walk this week I was struck by the color combination of the plants and paintwork on this Coronado balcony:

I love when you can see that someone has taken the time to think about color and has even gone so far to work their chosen combination into the landscaping.

Peacock blue is a color I have always been drawn to- I tend to really go for moody greeny-blues- and it was the color of my bedroom growing up. Instead of feeling intense as you might expect, it was relaxing, peaceful, and the perfect backdrop for my teenage years.

Blue is typically considered a “cool” color but when you add a bit of green and yellow to it to create that gorgeous peacock shade, it begins to warm up. Adding a fiery orange to the mix, a color which is directly across from blue on the color wheel, is the height of contrast. In color speak, the two are each other’s direct complement. And I don’t think you can argue that the two really are exceptionally complementary.

I couldn’t resist sharing a couple of pictures from one of my favorite books by Lulu De Kwiatkowski, a talented artist and designer (did you see her home in Lonnymag? If not check it out- as soon as you are done reading this!) . She is obviously a fan of this color combination too:

Lulu by Lulu Kwiatkowski, available here.

In interiors, I think it looks best when blue is the dominant color in the scheme, with splashes of orange to liven things up. Here are some of my favorite examples from around the internet:

Farmhouse chair by Bend Seating

It’s a perfect example of the statement a zingy tangerine makes against a deep blue background. This fab chair is available here.

Image: bhg.com

The blue is cooler in the room above but so is the complementary color which leans more toward pink and red than orange. What I think makes this room interesting is the addition of the rusty orange and darker blues in the painting and rug and plenty of pattern on pattern mixing-nothing too matchy-matchy.

You may have seen this one around the web, as it kept coming up in my search (if you know where it’s originally from, let me know so I can credit). But I had to include it because I love it. Look how lacquering the walls really ups the impact of the peacock. The ikat covered chair is a fun addition, too. Ikat probably works well in most schemes; it’s such a versatile pattern, but it really does add to this room.

No orange here exactly (discounting the orange tones of the wood), but I included it because of those gorgeous lacquered walls again and the ikat pillows (see!) and also the rug- a little black and white pattern thrown in to the mix to keep things interesting. (As before, if you know who I should be crediting for this photograph, please let me know!)

Image: Chicago Homes & Garden via delightbydesign

Finally- and this may be my favorite room of them all- I love the addition of the black and white pattern here and the shots of hot pink and bright green to keep things unexpected.

What are your thoughts on this color combination? Like me, is it something you could happily live with? Of course, you could easily do it on a much smaller scale to add interest and fun to a white or neutral background, but I say why not live dangerously…and envelop yourself in these wonderful colors.

February Photo A Day Challenge

Posted on February 5, 2012 by liz

I’m a bit late to this game but I’ve seen a couple of friends playing along and I wanted to join in, too. I do take photos mostly every day but thought this would be inspiring and also fun to see what others are doing with the same subjects.

So I’m jumping in on day 4 with “A Stranger”:

You can find the rest on my flickr, tumblr or on instagram (lizlangley). And if you’re participating, let me know!

Hello again!

Posted on January 21, 2012 by liz

My poor, neglected blog. I promised that this year would be different, but here it is already coming to the end of January and no posts since…October??

To be fair, it’s been a busy few months. I’ve been gestating a child (yes! new baby is due in June 2012) and the holidays were nuts. We went to England for nearly 3 weeks over Christmas and the New Year. Preparing for that was busy, and recovering from it took a while too. But now I’m back into the swing of things and ready to make things different this year! Really.

I’ll start it off by sharing this new print that’s available in my shop today. It’s my motto for this year. Perhaps it will ring true for some others out there, as well.

Shop Liz Langley Design!

Posted on October 17, 2011 by liz

My new etsy store is live today! Please stop by to check out my latest offerings of prints, note cards, and original paintings.

New items will be added throughout the holiday season, so please stay tuned!