My First Domino Article!

I'm packing up to head back home from NYC, but first wanted to share with you a link to my article for Domino!

I added three Pax units to our bedroom to better store our shoes and folded clothes. My favorite part is the little vanity area in the center unit.

I have a few DIY project posts coming up from the behind the scenes. Can't wait to share this week!

Wall Colors and Wardrobes

Greetings from my bed! I have that weird allergies-turned-cold-turned-sinus-infection situation that seems to be going around. I feel well enough to get up and try to accomplish something in the morning and usually an hour or two in, I'm totally wasted and I crawl back into bed a broken woman. It's killing me to waste so much time (it's been days now!).

Today I was laying here in bed (which is a really special set up - a mattress on the ground!) and staring at the wall color. I decided Knoxville Gray would be better in the master than on the built-in bookshelves. Last night I got about half the room painted before I started to feel bad again.

You can see in the photo that we picked up some IKEA Pax units recently. Three 40" wide units for the bedroom wall that is shared with the closet. Michael and I will use the storage units for shoes and for some folded clothes.

We bought white units, but I think I'm going to spray them Knoxville Gray tomorrow or Friday. I love painting something the same color of the walls.

I want to add some special hardware, just like Emily added (here).

Emily Henderson

Or Jen from Made By Girl.

Made By Girl

Tommy Smythe added vintage brass knobs to his built-in Pax units. I love how the black paint looks here. So lovely.

Style at Home

I want to create a similar vanity situation on the inside of one of the units too (for my jewelry mostly).

Style at Home

And something like this is of course so stunning! I love the Venetian mirror and the details on the trimwork. 

Fresh Home

What have you done to spruce up your Pax units? We bought the same doors that Jen from Made by Girl has above and I'm thinking about adding mirror to the insets. I think it could be pretty with the dark gray paint color.

Watercolor Wallcoverings

Since I have abstract painting techniques on the brain, I've been dying to recreate a version of this French-made wallcovering from Elitis that looks exactly like hand-painted silk. Could that red-pink-coral color combo be any more perfect?

I spied the paper hanging in a dressing room at Neimans and could barely take my eyes off its gorgeousness long enough to try on my clothes. For something so intense, I found the pattern oddly dreamy and soothing.

I'd love to try to recreate the look for the inside of my closet. Wouldn't that be pretty? I'd feel like I was shopping at Neimans every day! ;)

PS Remember this nursery with its ikat fabric wallcovering?

Cleaning Up My Recycling Closet

In the past, I've always tried to recycle, but that usually meant just sorting the obvious things - plastic bottles and cardboard boxes. We were never all that diligent about sorting... until we moved to Brooklyn Heights. People really care about recycling here (including and maybe especially the people that live next to us).  :) There might have been a situation where they tattled on us for not sorting good enough (whoopsies).

I have to say though, I'm actually sort of grateful we got busted. We were pushed to figure out a solution where we carved out some space to quickly and easily sort out our plastics, glass and paper. And now, recycling is a breeze, truly, and I feel less guilt-ridden. Like we are doing our part.

Here's how we did it:

We have a little closet right by the front door on the parlor level. It's across from the powder bath and around the corner from the kitchen. I think it was meant to be a coat closet or maybe even a pantry at one time. Mostly it was just disgusting. (seriously)

 

The painters the landlord hired to paint the brownstone before we moved in did a pretty shoddy job. They didn't paint the insides of any of the closets. I mean, what? Weird. So slowly I've been tackling one closet at a time to fix the situation, but I hadn't had a chance to do the recycling closet until recently. See that gross cream color? That was the color of the entire house before we moved in and it just looked dirty. (doesn't the Cabbage White look much more fresh?)

Gross. I'm am totally disgusted by the state of this closet and I live here. Apologies. No wonder I was no good at recycling! Who would want to open the door for this view:

30+ years of cream paint in a garbage closet is bound to look bad, even after a few scrubbings! So a new coat of paint in the closet was added to the to-do list. But probably the biggest issue we've had with the recycling situation is the girls had trouble figuring out how to sort items in the identical bins we had in the closet.

So on the fly I primed and painted just the outsides of the bins with chalkboard paint. Then I went outside to the recycling bins in front of our house and snapped photos of the two sorting guides.

I'd been dying to put my chalkboard pen to use again (they are so cool - totally recommend picking one up at an art supply store or you can buy one here). Gracie and I chose a couple of items to display on each of the bins and talked about layout and then she got to work with the chalkboard pen.

Claire was a little bummed she missed out on the illustrating action this time, but that's the good news about chalkboard (pen) recycling bins - the pen wipes off with a wet rag, so she can have a turn as often as she likes. Whatever helps them to learn their sorting, right? :)

Also, don't the walls look about a million times better? They got a fresh coat of white paint, which  was a huge improvement on its own, but horizontal stripes make every space more fun. Especially in tiny little secret spaces, where the stripes surprise you every time you need the broom or go to throw away an empty olive oil bottle.

And I'm happy to report that the mini-makeover and the new recycling bins have totally improved our recycling habits, and by a lot. The girls are just about pro-level recyclers now and it's so cool to see them excitedly taking ownership over what used to be a chore for us all.

I'd love to hear what you guys do to make recycling (or anything to live a more green lifestyle) an easy habit for you and your family. I'm working on adding more eco-friendly cleaning products into my housekeeping routine. My sister in law is a budgeting super-star and an all-around phenomenal housekeeper. When I mentioned this post to her, she says she uses and completely loves Green Works, and I'm excited to take her word for it and try it myself.


This post is sponsored by Green Works. You don't have to compromise to be clean when you use hard working, plant-based cleaners by The Clorox Company.

Check out this quick video to learn more. :)