Pepper Design Blog

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Master Bedroom: A Good Place to Pause

January 1, 2011 by Morgan

Hope you had a wonderful New Year’s Eve! I can’t believe 2011 has found us and is already underway… it seemed like 2010 just flew by. We’re up to our eyebrows in projects over here and working to wrap up bigger undertakings such as the new kitchen, office and nursery. Before we jump into those, a quick update on our bedroom.

Our master bedroom is not complete but I’m happy to say that we’ve pulled it together to a place that Kevin and I are both happy with and both enjoy.

Since we are on baby watch and expecting any day now, the room will have to stay as is until the storm that is about to be our crazy lives settles down… but we did manage to pull the new rug, new mirror and diy curtains together to create a space that is relaxing and comfortable – especially after a busy day!

Master Bedroom Renovation, decoration, inspiration, DIY, patterned rug, before and after, design, sunburst mirror, tall mirror, oversize mirror, over-sized mirror, white curtains, valencia bed pottery barn

Up next for this little room includes a light fixture update, wall artwork and photos, a new nightstand (currently hunting down a small one to fit that narrow space!) and incorporating more color to add that ‘pop’.

A run down of resources so far: the sunburst mirror is a Michael’s find, the rug is from Overstock.com, the bed from Pottery Barn (but found by us on Craigslist), the duvet and sheets from Garnet Hill, the pillow cases by Calvin Klein, the knit throw pillow from West Elm on sale, the bamboo shades were found at Lowe’s, the over-sized mirror from the clearance section at Lowe’s, and the reading light and curtains are from Ikea.

Master Bedroom Renovation, decoration, inspiration, DIY, patterned rug, before and after, design, sunburst mirror, tall mirror, oversize mirror, over-sized mirror, white curtains, valencia bed

The opposite side of the room is waiting for its big reveal… but there are a few missing puzzle pieces here and there that should fill in shortly. We did salvage a very neat occasional chair for the corner next to the tall mirror that I’ll share about as soon as it gets some more diy love (you can see it poking its boxy frame out above).

Here’s the before we moved in shot:

Gotta love that maroon carpet and the bars on the outside windows. We originally had the room in a configuration close to the above, with the bed against the right wall and the dresser under the window, but by switching it up we gained a large amount of space unexpectedly. Sometimes all it takes is moving around furniture to create a fresh, new feel.

We’ve made a minor modification for Baby S as well, he/she will be joining us at night and for naps in a new co-sleeper that slips just beside our bed.

co-sleeper, cosleeper

Makes it easy for momma and baby to ‘co-sleep’ without actually sharing bed space. I love the idea behind co-sleeping but know that I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep worrying about the safety of little one in our bed (and I love the idea of not having to get up out of bed in the wee hours to retrieve a hungry baby from a bassinet or crib).

And about that missing side table… do let me know if you spot anything on the narrow side out there (it’s tempting to say we can survive without night stands but the pile of books, etc at the head of the bed is getting pretty bad!). I’m thinking a skinnier pedestal table like this one might be neat?

- posted on January 1, 2011 Filed Under: Home, Renovating Adventures Tagged With: Bedroom, Before & After, Blue, Decorating, DIY, Home

Grow, Baby, Grow: We’ve Reached the Finish Line

December 31, 2010 by Morgan

I try not to overwhelm the blog with too many baby update posts… I know it detracts from the design element of the site and that it’s not super high on everyone’s priority list (though we can hardly contain the excitement over here!) but I thought it would be fun to provide the occasional 3 month update on the belly and impending baby arrival.

Well, we’ve officially reached the finish line! Here’s the announcements from month 3 and month 6, and here’s the most recent photo update looking back through month number 9!

Kevin and I cannot believe that there’s a little person in there!

Choosing an outside photo location was not such a great idea considering the lighting of different times of the day (aligning that one correctly each month would have been a bit difficult) but overall I think this growing-baby-belly experiment was successful. It’s been neat to record the progress of the bump for use in a future baby photo book and just for oohing and ahhing over here by Kevin and me.

On another note, we’ve celebrated with a few wonderful showers that I’m excited to share. The first was a coed shower in the Santa Cruz Mountain wine country (where I’m from originally) and the second, a local San Diego shower for friends and family close by.

Kev and I are so fortunate to have family and friends who are just as excited to celebrate with us to welcome this new life. Kevin’s mom threw me a shower in Phoenix earlier in the fall, which I posted about here, and my Mom threw us a shower in October in my hometown of Santa Cruz. Kevin had the chance to participate in this one since it was a coed get-together at a local vineyard.

Don’t worry, I didn’t take part in the wine tasting, but the tour of the vineyard and chance to catch up with family and friends was wonderful!

A fun present for a daddy-to-be (if you’re attending a coed shower any time soon) is a diaper changing tool belt! Kevin received a belt and one of my baby dolls from long time ago – he was timed and had to correctly change (with all of those diaper changing tools) the doll while everyone cheered him on.

My girlfriends in San Diego also threw me a local shower which was so special, and they really went above and beyond when it came to adorable decorations and delicious food. A few of the details included a brunch buffet with a handmade paper flag backdrop, glass mason jars hanging from a lemon tree (we opened presents on big blankets under the tree – how perfect for a beautiful San Diego afternoon) and chai tea favor jars for all guests.

A great game that they put together was a quiz that was first answered by both my mom and Kevin’s, and then passed out to all guests. Questions varied from how much we weighed as newborns to when we took our first step to our favorite baby food, it was really neat to hear what everyone thought and to attempt to answer the questions myself!

********************************************************************

Don’t worry… if you’re not all baby belly crazy like we are right now, updates on the new office/guest bedroom (and its new set of found-by-the-side-of-the-road french doors) and nursery are coming soon.

Happy New Year to you all!

- posted on December 31, 2010 Filed Under: Family & Friends Tagged With: Baby Shower, Decorating, DIY, Parties & Entertaining

Project Nursery: Changing it Up

December 29, 2010 by Morgan

We’ve been on the search for a changing table for some time. Since the rest of the furniture in the nursery is a bit more traditional and boxy in style, I thought it would be fun to find a piece with softer lines, such as this Jenny Lind changing table:

Jenny Lind Changing Table, Red, Modern Contemporary Nursery Furniture, DIY, Painting, Decor Inspiration Design Decoration

I searched and searched… and being the great price it already is on Amazon was near tempted to purchase, when it popped up on Craigslist one day for just $25!

And so home with us it came and very soon after received a coat of rust red paint. There aren’t many spray paint color options out there so this little combo is actually Valspar’s primer (which conveniently is a rust color) covered by Valspar’s clear satin to provide that shine and function as the top coat of the primer.

Jenny Lind Changing Table, Red, Modern Contemporary Nursery Furniture, DIY, Painting, Decor Inspiration Design Decoration

After testing in a few places we felt pretty confident that skipping the sanding process would not interfere with how the paint would adhere to the surface. I’d recommend a light buffing with rough sand paper to be sure the wood is paint-ready though. The changing table stayed painted and ready outside for a full weekend so the fumes had a chance to dissipate long before it was brought inside.

The original inspiration board for the room included browns and reds, but with the addition of the awesome animals on the walls (see more on that project here), the bright brick red we had originally envisioned transformed to a rusty, less saturated version of primary red to match.

Jenny Lind Changing Table, Red, Modern Contemporary Nursery Furniture, DIY, Painting, Decor Inspiration Design Decoration

Now the table works into the palette and looks great with Mr. Owl! (That awkward sconce/light is about to undergo it’s own diy project… it won’t be staying like that).

Next up was finding baskets to sort all of the changing table goodies. Anyone who has hunted down the right sized baskets for a space can attest that it’s pretty tricky! I checked out all of the usual hot spots: Target, Ikea, Bed Bath & Beyond, Marshalls, Kohls… you name it. Finally I took my measurements to the net and found this set on Amazon. I think it might be fun to make new patterned liners one day but for now the baskets do their job quite well:

Jenny Lind Changing Table, Red, Modern Contemporary Nursery Furniture, DIY, Painting, Decor Inspiration Design Decoration

The room has received several more updates such as the new base board that Kevin installed and a white rug that helps to balance and soften the space. We’re almost there!

Today’s my official due date but babe is still very content and happily curled up in his/her space so we have even more time to build up the nursery in anticipation of the big arrival. We plan on keeping little one in a co-sleeper for the first couple of months in our bedroom anyhow, so even if he/she arrives tomorrow we are more than ready to go.

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- posted on December 29, 2010 Filed Under: Crafty Solutions, Home, Liv's Nursery, Projects, Renovating Adventures Tagged With: Accessories, Before & After, Decorating, DIY, Home, Kid's Rooms, Nursery, Paint, Red

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Welcome to my little slice of the web where I practice finding family, career, homemade & inspired balance on a daily basis. This is where I capture my happy moments, and I'm honored that you're here to join us. Home + creativity + good eats + journaling + life as a working mom. Read more...

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