The wooden Rocking Rabbit with a very Swedish design

The coming of a new born definitely gets you to notice things that you otherwise wouldn't, in my case it's anything related to cute little furry critters, especially rabbits! I've already got my eyes on an adorable long-eared plush rabbit doll that sits upfront in the window display of a store... and now this too, the Rocking Rabbit designed by Swedish designer Bjorn Dahlstrom. The wooden Rocking Rabbit comes in three different colors: red, white and black, features leather ears and a killer clean Swedish design that'll lend a touch of modern-ness to any nursery... and of course, most important, keep your little one smiling.

Check out the Rocking Rabbit in more detail @ A+R

I Stand Behind: Attic Insulations

It's been a year since my husband and I moved into our very first home, a century old, one story, 1400 square foot home with wall gas-heaters and no central air. If there is anything we have learned in this one year of owning our home it is that in the summer it is best to spend days in the nicely air-conditioned mall or perhaps even go for a nice long grocery store run in the freezer section, let's just say, if it's sweltering outside you don't even want to know what it's like inside. And during the winter thank the good lord for sweaters, sweaters and more sweaters not to mention layers of down-comforters and knit socks, let's just say "ice box" to keep it simple. And from a year of temperature agony what have we learned? Insulation is damn important!

During the winter our wall gas-heaters barely worked at all in keeping the house warm, because our house was not well insulated (minuscule cracks and gaps around windows, outlets, light switches, doors, including no attic insulation) kept the house from trapping in the heat, and thus we were running our gas wall-heaters 24/7 which comes out to many $$$$s.

During the summer, before we were blessed with the knowledge of Texas Summer (a strategy by which to keep your house cool for as long as possible without running the A/C), if it was 103 degrees outside you can bet it was just as hot, if not more, inside. Without the attic insulation to separate the rest of the house from the heat in the attic meant that the heat radiating from the attic to inside the home was keeping the house unbearably hot during the summer heat.

This was a problem we could not even stand to think about baring every year, so we got to work on insulating. We began by taping up those minuscule cracks and gaps around windows, light switches, outlets, fireplace, doors and such. Unfortunately this did very little to help, there's just no way of getting every crack and gap in the house and of course insulating these areas just wasn't the key to making a marked difference in temperature.

So we decided to go with attic insulation, this took the workers 2 hours of pumping recycled insulation to cover our entire attic floor with a thick layer of what looked like puffy clouds. Within the next two days I was able to see a marked difference in the temperature of our home. We no longer lived in an ice-box during winter nights and mornings, and the daytime temperature of the house was no longer sweltering on warm-to-hot days outside. On sunny days I simply draw the curtains to block out the light of the sun and the house becomes instantly cooler. On cold nights I run the gas wall-heater for a hour to feel comfortably warm opposed to all night or all day as I had done before to no avail.

Further insulation research I've done have resulted in the knowledge that attic insulation can cool the house up to 10 degrees! Not only have I been basking in attic insulation delight with our better regulated home temperature but have seen a difference in gas bills which sky-rocketed during winter, no longer having to run our gas wall-haters unnecessarily long means of course, smaller gas bills.  And I'm sure if we had central air those electric bills would also be smaller as well. In a perfect world your home would be 100% insulated- I'm not even sure if that is possible, but if you have to choose a form of insulation... I stand behind attic insulation, it will make the most noticeable difference.

Nurseries to draw inspiration from

In 3 months my husband and I will be welcoming a new addition to our 2-person and 1 four-legged family, we are to say the least, very excited. I find that I am humbled a little more everyday by the experience and the anticipation of carrying a child and bringing him home this coming July. 

So, 3 months and counting, and there is still much to do in terms of getting the nursery ready. I already have most of the furnishings but the ambience/mood of the room isn't quite there yet and this I find to be the most important aspect, for me anyway. I know I love the color yellow, the happiness of the color draws me to it when thinking of the nursery. I know I want the nursery to be comfortable, lived-in yet organized and tidy. I want the nursery to exude happiness, love and fun.

Time to gather samples for ideas and of course there's no better way to do that than hitting the web! Here are a few choice images I chose from the many that I gathered.

THE MOOD

The range of ambience or mood that can be created for your nursery is much wider than you can imagine. These days new parents are creating nurseries for their pint-sized selves that you wouldn't even be able to imagine. I found this to be quite inspiring and it made me realize how much fun it's going to be to create an atmosphere for my child to grow up in. I ran into many images of the 'traditional' nursery settings, but then there were romantic settings full of chandeliers and canopied cribs in white and pastel pinks, there were more contemporary settings (as seen pictured above) where the room exudes comfort and a lived-in quality. There were clearly unique nurseries filled with wood accents that screamed modern country and even hipster styles. There were plain modern nurseries and simple chic nurseries, they were all beautiful and of course inspiring to look at.

Hipster!

Modern country

Modern

So chic

FOR COLOR

A really popular pairing for nursery colors was a hue of blue or teal paired with hues of yellow. I found the pairing to be quite please (as you can see by the images above and below). Using pastels or not the two colors bring out airiness, happiness and a fun little spunk that can be used for either boys' or girls' nurseries.

The more 'now' or contemporary colors used for nurseries were darker colors paired with white and accented with a fun pop of color (yellow or orange is used in the images above and below). While most at some point in time way back when, would have said "no no not for a  nursery" to these darker  'moodier' colors: black and dark gray, I actually found them to be yes, untraditional, but unique and still fun and completely color appropriate for a nursery. Just goes to show that with the proper decor and accent colors you really can make any color work for a nursery.

WALL ART

Popular amongst many of the nurseries I came across were stenciled trees around the crib, and there is quite a variety of tree stencils to pick from. However, not only do you have a variety of stencil trees to pick from but it is also probably one of the most economical ways to go in terms of wall art.

The ABC wall

Then of course there were other wall art/decors that I found worthy of posting, all of them unique, interesting, fun, smart and exuding a particular style not all that traditional of nurseries and yet inspiring to push us to think beyond traditional nursery settings.

The folky frames and pictures

The UNpainted tree wall art

THE CRIB

The crib is probably the most important furnishing in the nursery, for obvious reasons, and there are, like with everything else, so many to choose from. But regardless of whether you opt for a vintage crib, a metal crib, a wood crib, a contemporary crib, a traditional crib &tc the decor that surrounds it will ultimately give it the final say. I found a couple of crib images that I found worth talking about, 1. The canopied crib. A smart way to keep out the light when your baby is taking a nap, and of course, it looks absolutely darling. And, 2. The vintage crib. I found that the vintage-styled cribs exudes the most character by itself without even the help of surrounding decor, which means that going for a minimal styled nursery is easily possible, and also, the vintage crib is simply adorable.

OTHER IDEAS TO BE CONSIDERED

Other smart and fun ideas to be considered are the DIY mobiles. I've personally really been wanting to make my own moible but found the idea of doing it myself (which of course will be ideal in terms of budget and making it personalized) a little scary, however after seeing a few simple mobile designs I've realized that it will be much easier than I imagined (more on this DIY mobile in a later post!).

A second idea that I really loved in a couple of nurseries that I came across was the kiddie bookshelf, where the books are leaned up against the wall for easy picking... and a smart, colorful way to fill a large blank wall. As I am an avid reader and hope that my child too will love to read, I think yes, I'm definitely doing this one!

Home of: Jennifer Siegal

Jennifer Siegal

A.K.A. Jennifer Siegal

Date of birth:  unknown

Place of birth:  unknown

Occupation:  Architect

Most famously known for founding Office of Mobile Design

*Pictures from Dwell

Read the full article on Jennifer Siegal on Dwell

Feng Shui 101: Basic tips

What is Feng-Shui?

Feng: Wind + Shui: Water = Feng Shui = Wind Water

Feng shui is an ancient art and science developed over 3,000 years ago in China. It is a complex body of knowledge that reveals how to balance the energies of any given space to assure health and good fortune for people inhabiting it.  -About.com

Feng Shui for beginners: The basics for a quick start on creating better energy for your home

1. De-clutter Your Home, an important step in creating a harmonious feel to your abode. Out goes everything you do not love or need. This process can be time-consuming if you've picked up the habit of saving everything, but with a little bit of patience, a good pace and your favorite music playing in the background de-cluttering can be therapeutic. The whole idea is to "lighten the load".

2. Fresh Air & Natural Light, an important step for good chi (the universal energy that permeates in everything around us) including your abode. Open the windows and the blinds! Let the fresh air and the sunlight in. Very much the same way a good walk can help us recharge and feel positive, allowing fresh air to circulate in your home and natural sunlight to brighten the inside of your home will have the same affect.

3. Define the Bagua, which is also known as the 'feng shui energy map' of your home. Knowing the bagua to your home will help you to know which areas of your home can be altered in order to achieve success in certain parts of your life (ie. health, money, love and etc.) There are two different ways to define the bagua of your home, the simplest way (I found) was to define the bagua by using the Western (BTB Feng Shui) method; you will need a floor plan of your home, paper (tracing paper is ideal) and a pencil. Create a grid with nine squares (or rectangles) that will fit over your home floor plan (the grid will consist of three boxes in each three rows equalling out to nine squares or rectangles). Align the lower row of your gird with the wall of your main door.

In the first row (the lower part of the grid, from left to right):

Personal Growth & Cultivation, Career/Path in life, Helpful People/Blessings < since the grid is always aligned with the wall of the front door, your front door will be in either of the three areas listed above.

Second row (middle row, from left to right):

Health/Family, Center/Heart/Yin Yang, Children/Creativity

Third row (the uppermost row, from left to right):

Prosperity/Abundance, Fame/Reputation, Love/Marriage

Once you know which areas of your home are connected to which areas of your life you can then in more detail feng shui rooms where needed.

4. The 5 Elements & Corresponding Colors, placing the correct colors in the correct places can strengthen and balance the energy of your home. The five feng shui elements and their colors are:

For the element: Wood use Green, Brown

For the element: Fire use Red, Strong Yellow, Orange, Purple, Pink

For the element: Earth use Light Yellow, Sandy/Earthy, Light Brown

For the element: Metal use White, Gray

For the element: Water use Blue, Black

The 5 elements and the corresponding color is a subject that would need further exploration as the teachings are in depth. However, for beginners you may want to keep it simple and take into note these tips when trying to utilize the 5 elements and colors:

Green = improving health and balancing family life

Blue = career growth

Strong yellow = good times

Pure White = creativity

Simply introducing these colors into specific areas of your home are not good enough, remember that the room and home as a whole need to connect harmoniously together as well, this includes making it work with other decor items, art pieces, furnishings and etc.

Using your bagua (the feng shui energy map of your home) place colors as needed in specific rooms.

6. Most importantly, feel your home. How do you feel in your own home? Comfortable? Relaxed? At peace? Or do you feel somethings amiss? Not quite right? Does the placement of the sofa to everything else in the home make you feel uncomfortable when sitting on the sofa? These are all good things to keep in mind. Pay even closer attention to the rooms you will spend the most time in, these tend to be the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.


*For more interesting & helpful information on Feng Shui check out About.com