Pink and White Bathroom Roundup

In my quest to be president of the lifestyle mafia I have decided that my bathroom "things" need to be prettier. My love of blush, gold, and white has not waned, despite the fact that my bathroom isn't exactly this color palette. I started pinning for myself and couldn't stop, so I figured why not make it a post. Some of the items below are splurges, some are cheap and utilitarian, and many are just really good standard options. I'll call out my favorites below. For now let's enjoy some major blush and pink bathroom inspiration.

1. Hair Straightener | 2. Candle | 3. Porcelain Tray | 4. Bath Salts | 5. Electric Toothbrush | 6. Wire Basket | 7. Metallic Pink Headband | 8. Copper Tweezers | 9. Textured Leather Makeup Bag | 10. Marble Canister | 11. Glass and Brass Box | 12. Morgans Box Shampoo | 13. Brush Set & Pouch | 14. Hair Dryer | 15. Linen Hand Towel | 16. Portable Speaker | 17. Glass Soap Dispenser | 18. Rosegold Hair Pins | 19. Hair Turban | 20. Eye Makeup Set | 21. First Aid Box | 22. Gold Razor & Shaving Oil Set | 23. Pink Bath Mat | 24. White DOPP Kit | 25. Coral & Cream Hand Towel | 26. Wire Bin | 27. Emery Board Set | 28. Bamboo & Marble Tray | 29. Disposable Razors | 30. Glass Canister | 31. Rosegold Shower Hooks | 32. Marble Toothbrush Holder | 33. Crocheted Shower Curtain | 34. Pink Towel Set | 35. Linen Makeup Bag | 36. Rosegold Hair Brush | 37. Soap Bar | 38. Sculpted Towel | 39. Pink Canister

#1 and #14 are really pretty hair tools from the same company and they are white and gold. I had the same hair dryer for 7 years and it was rather disgusting, so I did get these and now the inside of my cabinets looks wildly more beautiful. The twirl curling iron is a magical tool if you like big waves like I do.

#3 is a blush porcelain tray from my favorite Australian porcelain company, Mud. Someday, when I no longer ever need to handle my own plates (as they are really fragile, and I have a severe spacial awareness issue), I will have a full dinnerware set by them. Meanwhile, I have a few pieces here and there that are so simple, and yet SO beautiful. Their pale pink is absolut perfection.

#12 is a full set of of everything you need for the bathroom - deodorant, shampoo, razors, soap, etc, and it comes in the simplest white bottles. I think it's absolutely perfect to buy the whole set for guests (and you can subscribe and have it come every month). Even the razors and the toothbrushes are so pretty. Although, if you are into something more budget-minded go with Muji (#29), and if you want to splurge on a GORGEOUS razor go with #22, it is a stunner and the oils smell heavenly.

#34 is a splurge but so beautiful, while #38 is a really pretty and fun budget friendly option.

#20 is the new line of makeup (hippie tested, diva approved) that a lot of people told me about in this post, so I tried it and I'm really liking it. While this wasn't supposed to be a beauty post, I also really like the S.W. Basics and have been obsessively using the rosewater spray which instantly tightens my face.

I really want everything up there, but I don't need it all, and I shouldn't even call them "essentials," as a $110 porcelain tray isn't essential to anyone. But my, my wouldn't they all look pretty together in a bathroom. To have a huge mound of rose gold bobby pins in that clear glass decanter would make me so happy every single morning.

***Image Sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

The post Pink and White Bathroom Roundup appeared first on Emily Henderson.

Notes from the Road (3) - Winter Logging the Pennsylvania Woods

Last week I was out showing around a VIP visitor to Penn State. Dr. Ivan Sopushynskyy is a visiting professor from the Ukrainian National Forestry University and he's here for a few months to look around and see what he can learn to enhance his research and teaching over in Ukraine.

My friend Andy Blazewicz is a consulting forester here in Central PA, and he offered to take us out to a job site. We visited a site where he's overseeing a 53-acre clearcut designed to enhance wildlife habitat and to provide hunting opportunity for the landowner. The following video gives you a sense of what it's like to be out in the woods while logging is going on. Andy talks forestry to Dr. Sopushynskyy and logger Rocky Souders tells us about his Bell harvester.




I'll post more from our travels together over the next couple of months.

Wood Science 101 (23) - How Wood is Made

I recently republished an article on the World of Wood blog that has gotten great feedback, so I thought I would pass it along to our Go Wood readers as well. Originally published in 1949 in the Bulletin of the Wood Collectors Society, it may be perhaps the simplest and therefore best narrative I've read on that miracle of nature, How Wood is Made.

Thanks again to my friends of the International Wood Collectors Society for allowing me to share this great story with all.

DIY SPRING BANNER

Hi friends, it's Marie from Blooming Homestead here to share a bright and fun banner with you today. I don't know about you, but I definitely have a case of Spring Fever. We've slowly been adding some fun pastel touches around our home and this banner is a perfect fit.



Here are the supplies you'll need:

• 7 wood banner "flag" shapes


• multiple pastel paint colors


• white paint


• paint brushes


• painters tape


• floral scrapbooking embellishments


• bakers twine


• hot glue

You'll start by applying the base coat of paint to the flags. I used two coats.



After the paint is fully dried, you'll tape off stripes with painters tape. Use white paint to add stripes on the flags.



After you remove the tape and the paint is dried you'll hot glue on the flower embellishments to the flags.





Thread the bakers twine through the flags to complete the banner.



That's it! Now you have a perfectly bright and pretty banner to usher in Spring.



I'd love for you to stop by Blooming Homestead and say hello! You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube.

The post DIY SPRING BANNER appeared first on The Wood Connection Blog.

Reform School in Silver Lake

In a world saturated with self-labeled artisans and online storefronts, it's hard to find a true craftsman with something unique to offer. Owners Billie and Tootie, of Reform School in Silver Lake, have navigated through the ever-growing world of "artisanal" goods to make your search for the perfect gift so much easier. Luckily for us, these two have been kicking around the DIY scene for years, and have honed in on what's really worth buying. Their curated selection of goods is streamlined, yet still diverse enough that there's something for everyone . . . and by everyone I mean me, because things you buy for yourself are gifts too.

Reform School, Silver Lake

Owners (pictured right to left): Billie Lopez and Tootie Maldonado

1. How long have you been in business and how did you get started?

This is our 10th year in business. We started out renting a small space in a friend's boutique in Echo Park.

2. Why did you choose this location to open your business?

Silver Lake is forward-thinking, and there's a great community feel here. We knew the customers here would appreciate what we had to offer.

3. How would you describe your store's style/aesthetic?

A well-curated mix of fun and beautiful items.

4. Where did you get your name from and what other names did you consider?

The shop we started out in had a rock 'n roll, high school vibe, and back then a big focus for us were artists who were using recycled materials and "reforming" them into new and beautiful things. Reform School just seemed like a perfect fit. It's been so long we can't remember any other contenders.

5. What types of items are your best sellers?

P.F. candles, Blue Eagle pottery, Nikki Montoya jewelry, Chaparral Studio key rings.

6. What item do you have in the store now that you would want to have in your home?

Billie: Indigo dyed teepee, Maison Monade ceramic masks

Tootie: Heidi Anderson Totems, Sarah Kersten fermenting crock and Mitsuko Pottery

7. What have you been inspired by lately?

Being outside always inspires us, and we find ourselves dedicating more and more space to pieces that encourage spending time outdoors.

8. Is there something you thought would sell really well but didn't?

Of course! But over the years we've learned a bit more about what works and what doesn't.

9. Where do you mainly source your items from?

Everywhere from craft fairs, to gift shows, to Instagram. Often our customers will turn us on to their favorite artists or friends who make really great stuff.

10. What was the first big lesson you learned from opening your store?

Less is more! We had a tendency to REALLY over buy in the beginning. You can tell a better story with the product when the shop isn't filled to the brim!

11. What would your one piece of advice you would give to small businesses?

If you have the opportunity, start out small by sharing a space or doing a few pop ups. It's a great way to test drive your ideas and different neighborhoods.

12. What stores do you shop at?

Mostly ours (it's one of the perks of the job!). Other than that, flea markets and vintage clothing stores.

13. Do you have any plans to expand your inventory?

We recently relaunched our website, and have plans to try some products out that will only be available online. We've also talked about a 2nd location but . . . we'll see. :)

14. What trends, if any, are you tired of?

We've seen so many come and go, it's hard to say! Anything labeled "artisanal," "craft," "indie," or "DIY." Indigo is everywhere but still holding up pretty well and we can't get enough of it!

Here are a few hand-picked favorites. Can we talk about this circus mobile with the trapeze artist and barbell-toting muscle man? So cute.

Reform School is conveniently located in the Sunset Junction strip at 3902 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles. Now go get schooled -- and tell 'em Em sent ya.

***all photos by Jessica Isaac for EHD

The post Reform School in Silver Lake appeared first on Emily Henderson.

Projects In My Own Home

Brian and I recently talked about selling our house. It's upsetting, I know. We always knew this house wasn't our forever home - there isn't a yard (just a dope deck) and we are backyard people (I prefer the yard to be backed up to 100 acres of Pacific Northwest forest, actually). Every time we talk about selling it I say, "well, we can't sell it 'til I finish the . . ." and then I list off all the things that need to be done. But we, even more recently, reversed this decision, and realized that we LOVE this house, and we aren't quite ready to think about leaving it.

Then I realized how stupid it was that we weren't doing those things anyway. If we are eventually going to move, then why not fix all those problems NOW, so we can actually enjoy them for the few years we stay here? Why not be super proud of every room, and not have those "apology" areas. At first the reason was money, obviously. We did a lot to the house at the beginning, so we put off the exterior, and all the below projects until we were ready financially to get back into the improvements. But, it's time to jump back into these projects, and turn this house into a real portfolio piece. No more apology rooms. No more "please don't open your eyes while you are in the guest bathroom" requests. It's getting done this year. Here are the major projects:

The Laundry Room:

Just some minor tweaking, eh? This is in the middle of the house, and it's absolutely shameful. But I just pulled the trigger on a washer and dryer from LG (I'm even getting the sidekick, which is a mini-washer underneath the major washer, for very small loads). My contractor has already measured to replace the custom doors (so annoying), and fix the wall behind it. I may even wallpaper in there. I'm thinking this paper because it is classic and happy, and has a "washing your clothes is fun" vibe. Power of positive thinking right?!

Fireplace:

I've never been 100% happy with the fireplace. If it went all the way to the ceiling then I'd probably keep it as is, because I do like that it's warm, authentic and original. But it stops at such a weird point. More importantly, this fireplace could be a serious FEATURE. It could be something that makes this room sing. I don't know if that means we give it a facade in wood, stone, tile, slab or maybe some sort of combination. I've been stumped since day1, but I'm ready to tackle it. What would you do?

Guest Bathroom:

To be fair, it's all white now, but it's still hideous. We've already purchased 80% of the finishes for this room, I've just been putting it off because renovating with a baby (and toddler) is just extremely disruptive to nap-time, which directly effects our sanity. But, our family is headed out of town for two weeks, in a couple months, so it's all going to be done then (and yes, I'm lucky enough to have a couple of people who are going to manage the project while I am away). I have dreams of coming back from Australia to a brand new bathroom, and while maybe it won't be finished completely, hopefully the noisy part will be.

Playroom Area:

This is a super easy fix, but one that will bring us much pleasure. Our playroom area is a disaster everyday because Charlie's interest/toys/books have exploded and we just don't have enough storage. But finding the right piece here was a huge challenge. We don't really have room for cabinet doors to open, but something open like a bookshelf or even bins could look so messy - especially since this is shared space with the family room. The baskets worked for a while, but we need something more major. I finally found this piece from West Elm and it's the right size, style and function for the space. And then I ordered this bookshelf from Container Store which I previously didn't love, but functionally it's what needs to happen in that room. We'll have to rearrange a bit, but its going to be a much better room to stare at every day.

The Exterior (otherwise known as "the area of the home that Brian and I have debated for two years"):

That's what it looked like when we bought the house. It's cheap vinyl siding, and the closer you get to it, the worse it looks. Due to trying to keep some semblance of privacy around here on the blog, we didn't want to show the front of the house, but trust me that it looks cheap. The architecture of the house is cool and could be amazing, but it was band-aided over with this cheap stuff 20 years ago, and just hasn't held up. Over the last two years I've had contractors come to give estimates, but somehow no one has followed up. No one wants the job! The reason is that a.) the economy is back in LA and contractors are hard to nail down (yes, that pun was intended), and b.) it's an extremely vertical house, so refacing it is a BEAST. It's three stories on the front, and one on the back - all on a sloping hill in two directions. The contractor (an amazing man whose name I'm happy to give out) that finally agreed to do it had THREE different scaffolding companies come over to bid on the job, and two of them said "no, thanks." Is this the most boring story you've ever read in your life?????

ANYWAY. It started YESTERDAY! The scaffolding is up, we can barely get into our house, but it's ok. I can't tell you how excited I am. It's expensive, laborious, stressful and time consuming, but in 2 months I will park my car in front of my house with PRIDE. I am just so excited.

Oh, since that photo above, we did do the updates on the deck - we painted the woodwork and the brick, and it's a pleasant place to be. But just wait 'til it's done . . .

Master Bedroom:

As some of you so aptly put it when I posted my master bedroom UPDATE (Yes, it was just an update and not a "final"), "this isn't your best work." I agreed, and we were right. After another year of living unsatisfied I've decided to tackle it (do most people say the work "tackle" so much? Are these my Mormon roots with parents from Wyoming coming through???).

So what is changing?

1. I'm taking down the wallpaper (which is now literally GLUED to the wall, and is going to, I'm sure, rip up chunks of wall, which is going to take days to repair/paint/sand/fill/sand/prime/paint).

2. New bed. I know! I love that headboard, but I don't like that it doesn't match the base. I've designed a custom bed that is being made, which (CROSS YOUR MOTHER LOVING FINGERS) is exactly what this room needs. Don't worry, I'll blog about it as soon as we have some sort of update photo on it's birth.

3. New lamps/art. Those lamps (which you can actually buy here) are too tall for the room, and I haven't had them there for months. I may get sconces, who knows. The new headboard is lower and I have a couple pieces of art already to hang above there (by my lovely friend, Jane Denton).

Those window treatments and rug are staying. Sometimes I want a new rug, now that quilted hide rugs are everywhere. But ultimately this room gets a TON of traffic to the deck outside, so unless I chose a dark rug we need this rug in our life (and I ain't getting a dark rug in here).

Downstairs Guest Suite Progress:

You may remember that this room used to be where we worked, when it was just me and Ginny. We then added Brady to the mix and quickly outgrew the space so we moved into a studio and the room was used as storage for months, and now it's being turned into a full guest suite and home office for Brian's business. These are just random photos that I took a couple months ago, and it has changed a lot since then. We decided to drywall the ceiling to help it feel less like a garage, and more like a room. This was a controversial decision and an argument that I "lost", but ultimately, once it was done, I realized that Brian was right. I'll talk more about that when we reveal it. We also have painted it and I have a new rug, new lamps, new cushions, and really pretty drapery from Loom. I was going to replace the bed with one that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, but lately I've been thinking that maybe this is good enough. Not sure. We are custom designing/making a big marble (green and black!!) desk, and we added some sconces over the desk area. Oh, and we already added a tiny cute bathroom. It's all happening. We are shooting the update this Friday (it's not done, but I want to give more of a sneak peek since we are all dying for some original design content).

So, those are the major things being done. It's beastly but it is time, and I have help to execute properly due to the fact that I now have 4 talented designers that work for me. I'm EXCITED, FOLKS. I'm going to make this house exactly what it should be and then if/when we do want to sell it we are going to have the biggest open house ever. Wish us luck. xx

***First photo, and photo of the playroom from my Good Housekeeping Home Tour, shot by Mike Garten | Photo of the living room and the deck by Tessa Neustadt | Photos of my bedroom by Jessica Isaac

The post Projects In My Own Home appeared first on Emily Henderson.

Styling the Perfect Window Shot

It's styling GIF time - where you get to see behind the curtain of what it takes to pull together one perfect shot, in this case for the book. I know it looks like we just go into a house and snap some photos with our iphone, but we set the camera up to each angle then style meticulously to that angle AKA styling to camera. Some houses we shot for the book were a lot easier from the get-go, and it was just about gzushing to camera. Where as some were a lot more difficult, where the architecture was great and the pieces were great, but everything needed to be rearranged to make the most compelling photograph for the page. So, we kept all these process shots mostly because I am a photo hoarder, but also to help show you how to do it (and to illustrate my obsession with styling).

Here is what the room looked like when we came in. All the elements were good - the window, table and chairs were all super pretty, but the space certainly didn't feel as inviting or alive as we wanted it to be.

We take this before shot to frame it up, then once we are happy with the exact angle we get to work. Everything gets moved around a tiny bit at a time. For this shot we were looking for something more lived in and more relaxed. The style of the house is rather old-world-french with legitimate beautiful antiques and paintings so this wasn't the time to be sparse or minimal. We wanted layers, depth and personality - represented in a bowl of cherries, apparently :)

Now you probably wouldn't live everyday with all that on your desk, right? But for a shot to feel really welcoming, inviting and to give it a sense of 'person' (the true calling of a stylist) you accessories and personalize until you really feel like you know the person.

The painting obviously added that statement we needed. The second chair helped fill the foreground so it didn't look so lonely. The art leaning in the window sill gave it the 'Under The Tuscan Sun' romance that never hurts. That table was pretty long and empty, so we dressed it with the combination of some real life things (books, computer, a mug, those cherries) and more pretty stylized pieces (that gorgeous blue bowl and the flowers). Then, to help balance the shot we added those branches in the vessel on the floor (which also echoed that rose-y tone we had going on). And to break up the back of those chairs we snuck on there a fringe-y throw that echoed the blues - but were a different tone so it didn't look too art direction (ironic, eh?).

The End Result - a window office retreat, ready to write the next heart-throbbing romantic trilogy in. Actually, I'm not really even joking, the client who lived here is a writer and she did write Country Strong and Endless Love. So, maybe it just takes the perfectly styled window office to make you a wildly successful and creative person?

I know that a natural reaction is to say 'but it's all fake and why would I ever prop a random bowl of cherries on your desk in real life?' and lets face it, you might not really have that there unless you were trying to sell an idea, a lifestyle or a person to someone. But hear me out: sometimes you want to sell that to yourself. I style my house all the time to look pretty for me, not just for photos or my guests, but because everyday I want to walk in and be like 'Ooh, I want to be this person'. It's all about composing the things you love in a way that tells your story. Some of us have more things than others and more complicated stories to tell. Just having the chair, table and the window wasn't good enough. I didn't want to be there and I didn't want to be that person... and now I do.

In case you are looking for that "oh so romantic (and yet productive) office retreat", we have pulled together this "get the look" for you to get you in the mood.

1. Coral Desk Chair | 2. Blue Turkish Blanket | 3. Gold Task Lamp | 4. Woman Painting | 5. Marble Footed Bowl | 6. Wire Basket | 7. Leather Journals | 8. Flowering Branches | 9. Farmhouse Table | 10. Blue Marbled Bowl | 11. Blush Pink Mug | 12. Seascape Painting

For more about the book, behind the scenes, and a few more peeks inside the pages look here: Book Title And Cover Options | The Real Book Cover | Behind The Book - Styling The Perfect Shot |Styled On Shelves Now

***Photography by David Tsay

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