pipe dreams

plumber's crack? not hot.
furniture made from plumbing materials? now that's hot ...

our 9' wide x 7.5' tall bookshelves were our first project / furniture purchase as a married couple. easy peasy and a lot cheaper than purchasing metal & wood bookshelves the same size. wade is grateful that they add a bit of masculinity to our apartment. i'm just plain smitten w/ using industrial elements as decor.

check out these other sexy plumbing inspired projects ...

{clockwise from upper left}

handmade industrial coat rack (complete w/ DIY) via apartment therapy

 desk via atlanta homes magazine

canopy bed via traditional home magazine

rotating bookshelf via apartment therapy

industrial pipe rods via west elm

we need a bigger house! obviously it would be a bit much to decorate the entire bedroom w/ pipe desk, bed, & coat hanger in addition to our bookshelf and bedside lamps. {someday!}

a little bonus:
while maybe that canopy bed is out of the current picture,
make your own industrial pipe curtain rods.

a quick trip to the hardware store:

2 1/2" 90º elbows ... $2.50

2 1/2" floor flange ... $10.50

2  1/2" x 2" long nipples ... $2.00

1 1/2" x 4' long black iron pipe ... $8.00

TOTAL: $23.00
compare to west elm's version: $69.00

{ someday } alsolete

don't tell wade. lately i've been a bit baby crazy. i mean we have 8 kazillion friends that are pregnant this fall. so exciting. and to increase the madness ... i of course had to stumble upon alsolete - a barcelona based clothing store for children 12 months to 14 years. after studying @ the art & fashion techniques school in barcelona & working in the fashion industry for 15 years, designer marta gambùs launched alsolete in 2000. her intention ... to design children's clothing that express the mediterranean way of life - modern yet comfortable.

{source: alsolete}

mission accomplished! i am especially in love w/ the colors in her collection. okay so secretly i wish they had a mommy/daddy line too!

{someday} w+i will travel to barcelonato visit alsolete! in the meantime - check out the estore!

{ someday } wood & wool stool

w + i are becoming more and more restless. we have lots of little dreams. some days we dream about packing up and moving to france or morocco. then other days we dream about buying a little farm outside of nashville and raising goats and chix. and yet on other days when we're feeling even more ambitious, we dream about combining the two and having a little farm in the french or moroccan countryside.

i am proud to announce that we've successfully kept a budget for an entire month! so we're one tiny step closer to putting those dreams into action. in the meantime, i like to think that our home could {someday} be half as dreamy as the home of wood & wool stool owner ingrid jansen.

{source: wood & wool stool}

time to pick up my knitting needles!

{hello munday}

eat // or at least remember ... these awesome lunch box ideas for {someday} when i have kiddos - courtesy of this lunch rox. i love creative parenting. way to go, jamie.

{source: this lunch rox}

make //a bits and bobs wall inspired by dottie angel. over the years i've begun to collect lots of little lovelies but had no idea just how much fun it might be to display them all. i am absolutely in love w/ this creative space (and everything else dottie angel touches).

{source: dottie angel}

wear // this lucky brand tropicana paisley scarf. pretty dang excited about the cooler weather we've been having lately {even if it's only cooler as in upper 80s!}. yay for fall and layering w/ pretty pretty scarves!

{click to shop}

enter // this giveaway from waverly home and you could win a pack of waverly decorative trim!

{click to enter}

covet // this lovely coin clutch @ plumo! and while you're there, check the rest of their new fall collection!

{click to covet}

happy munday, folks! :)

monster friends by family tree design+illustration

w + i saw this monster friends series by family tree design & illustration a few weeks ago at hot+cold in nashville:

{source: familytreedesign.net}

love at first sight! we both agreed these would be super cute for a little boy's room {someday}. and {someday} we definitely want a little boy or 2. but w/o said little boy or any plans to create him - we decided to go on our merry way poster-less.

... it's been bugging me ever since!

so yesterday - i called hot+cold to find out the name of the collection. and sad day - according to the collection blog ... it was no longer available. don't get me wrong monster friends series 2 is super cute (bonus: the special edition glows in the dark!):

{source: familytreedesign.net}

... but i really really really would love it if they offered series 1 again. puh-lease?

a classic case of "you snooze, you lose"?

luckily - not so! just got an email from one of the illustrators (who coincidentally i've worked w/ in the past). and they are going to release the collection again. they're just waiting on printing. you can sign up for email notifications here if you're interested too. are monsters not your thing? they will also be releasing an animal collection. cute cute.

this time i will not snooze!

{weekend update} productivity!

... that might just be my favorite word ever!!! i'm pretty sure that this past weekend is on my top 5 list of enjoyable weekends w/ my hubs. it was very impromptu, relaxing ... AND still productive.

before leaving work on friday, i got a call from one of my preston taylor girls. her mom + aunt had worked all day to fix up plate dinners and were selling them for around $5 to support a family trip to holiday world! of course we were in! we picked up dinner and then headed to a nashville sounds game. i love baseball ... but even more, i love good people watching.

we struck garage sale gold on saturday morning! then wade fixed omelets and i made a yummy fruit salad. delicious! still going strong gluten-free! in an effort to become a little less pasty white and load up on vitamin d, we visited cheekwood - nashville's botanical gardens. then, finished the day w/ not 1 but 2 birthday dinners. feeling very popular! ha.

on sunday, we woke up early and went to the 8.30am service at crosspoint. i joined the worship team for a mixer later in the day and met up w/ wade at climb. i am proud to announce that i'm getting so much better at climbing. practice (and calluses) make perfect! we ended the weekend w/ a spontaneous cookout w/ friends.

perfect weekend!

and in between all that business ... we spent the rest of the weekend straightening the house and doing little fix-its around the place:

wade re-planted our window box for the 3rd time this spring! we've tried 2 rounds of herbs but it's just not getting enough sun. now we've decided to grow the herbs inside the kitchen - and opt for shade-friendly flowers in the box. we shall see.

i started a piano overhaul by tackling the bench and finally painted us a little chalkboard door rather than wall (a lot easier to cover up when we move out!). two things off my {someday} list! hoping to get time to photograph these projects and post later this week!

hope you had a fantastic weekend too!

{someday} a chalk board wall

today i have fallen head over heels in love w/ new york based graphic designer and "custom chalk letterer" dana tanamachi.

{source: dana tanamachi}

{someday} wade and i will have a chalkboard wall. and then we'll invite dana over to decorate it ... come on - it could happen. i'm daydreaming afterall!

{source: dana tanamachi}

our {someday} list is growing while we're in our teeny apartment: it doesn't have stairs to number or a backyard to hang dry our laundry or the option to wallpaper an entire room in maps or even a claw foot tub. yes - despite all those missing pieces, we love it!

... BUT we do have lots and lots of walls and we're allowed to paint! hmm. wheels turning.

{someday} a map room

my husband is crazy about maps.

point and case ---> while in boston, he had a ginormous (i mean 54"h x 72"w ) map of ethiopia framed. he carefully had to ride the t (boston's commuter rail) 30 minutes home from work carrying this wide load (oh - and it's GLASS not plexi).unfortunately we're a bit limited on wall space in our current apartment. so his prized maps didn't make the cut.

but someday ... wade will have his maps!

pottery barn had a little feature on wallpapering w/ maps in their catalog last month ... but it was a little too busy for me (okay a lot too busy for me):

{source: pottery barn}

then today apartment therapy did a feature on this martha's vineyard guestroom (courtesy of pearl street interiors). the walls were papered more than 25 years ago w/ an old book of maps. the faded maps & exposed beams make the room an absolute dream:

{source: pearl street interiors}

my hope to some day wallpaper a room w/ maps has been restored! and i know my husband would be smitten w/ the finished product!

(yes sometimes boys are smitten. you should see wade watch a george clooney movie!)

~*~*~*~*~

you only have 2 more days to enter the FRESCHETTA® Simply…Inspired™ giveaway. click the banner below to see the full details:

{whatever wednesday} oooh pretty!

here are a couple of things that have caught my eye this week:

1 // this lovely teacup collection. wade has begged me to be finished w/ the apt. we are all out of space! {little does he know that our home will ever be evolving. hee hee.} but i agree we need more wall space. talk about the perfect dining room wall "art":

{source: pinterest}

2 // who's thrilled about heading home for easter!?! i am. i am. i'm also eying this adorable "i heart illinois" necklace by truche on etsy. such a cute little tribute to my sweet illinois. find your own state - here:

{source: truche}

3 // these adorable hardware store ideas from country living:

l: wall storage from cardboard tubes.
r: an easy to clean up playhouse from roller shades (GENIUS! - i must remember this for someday when we have kiddos!)

{source: country living}

4 // this pretty pretty chair inspiration from name design studio on etsy:

{source: name design studio}

5 // our kitchen is by far my favorite room in our apt. and i'm pretty sure the favorite for everyone that comes to visit as well. isn't this adorable vintage kitchen full of bright colors and mismatched prints inspiring!?! again with the fresh flowers ... love!

{source: myhomeideas}

{love} weird science ...

i never really got into chemistry in high school. i credit my passing grade to having a good lab partner. but i'm really digging these upcycled chemistry sets + pretty pretty fresh flowers:

{source: violeta from portugal, cloudfront, hautelook}

everything's prettier w/ fresh flowers.

someday: wade will have his ginormous garden. and i will have endless fresh bouquets!

{someday} local art

wade co-heads watercooler - an informal networking group here in nashville for young entrepreneurs in their 20s, 30s and 40s that meets (almost) every month for drinks, networking and the chance to hear local speakers on a variety of topics. {intrigued? come on out this monday to corsair artisan distillery @ 5.30 - click here for info.}

a few months ago the group met at an art gallery for hors d'oeuvre and a question + answer session about investing in art. while we didn't necessarily agree on which paintings were in fact art and which were ... um ... just weird. we both agreed that we'd LOVE to invest in local art.

someday: wade and i plan to buy lots and lots of local art.

and we both agree that our first painting has to be by adam hall. he's a modern landscape painter here in nashville and a friend of wade's from his college days. i just recently was introduced to his work and definitely wanted to share:

{source: adamhallart.com}

whenever we can, we sneak away to wolf hill in bethpage, tn. the land was sold for around 25k in 1963 by one of wade's great, great aunts who couldn't keep up with the farm. it is our little daydream to some day buy it back (though it's definitely not 25K anymore).

in the meantime, we hope to commission adam to paint a version of wolf hill for us. then we can always keep "wolf hill" near no matter where our adventure leads us.

{someday} homemade pottery

someday ... i would like to take a pottery class.

{source: stjacademy}

but for now - i would love to invest in a few pretty pieces from these etsy shops:

{click to shop}

1 // blue and white pitcher by ceramicrat
2 // berry bowl colander in turquoise by page pottery
3 // batter bowl by wheel works pottery
4 // lacy bird bowl in seafoam l by prince design uk
5 // lime green nesting bowls by karen lorenc

my friends faith and chris registered for different pottery pieces for their wedding. i am in love (especially w/ their batter bowl!) if only their wedding had been a few weeks BEFORE ours rather than after - maybe i would have updated my registry too.

... yes - i am a copycat.