around the casa

I know I've told you this story before but I'll never forget when I was little (but old enough to remember, obviously) that my mom came home with a really short haircut and told us kids that she'd kindly let a blind man cut her hair with a butcher knife.

Cue horror and speechless gawking from her gullible little angels.

Eventually she cracked and told us the truth but the moral of the tangent is that I feel exactly like that imaginary blind man hacking away at the house with a butcher knife because my eye for design is all but blind. I'm always trying to find a super happy medium between needing the house to be kid friendly and wanting it to feel more like a home and less like a toy/laundry/food/laundry/toy prison

Luckily, I employed the help of my design savvy sister-in-law, Mary, to help me pick out a few house-to-home helpers from Lulu & Georgia. Although, the truth is that it's virtually impossible to go wrong with their inventory because it's all pretty stellar.

First up!

No, not our wedding photo or my fake little tree but the Sweet Daisy Pillow adorning the chair. I'd put one in every room of the house if I could because it's so cheery.

Next! This was actually Simon's pick ...

This fun whale print in the dining room. Sorry for the double tree appearance ... I change my mind about its living quarters on the daily.

We've got two living areas in the house and a few days after moving in I made the executive decision to make the smaller space a playroom of sorts. Or just a playroom - no sorts. The kids have a few books and their special stuffed animals and dolls in their rooms but that's it. All toys in here, please and thank you. It's worked out well thus far. So, if you turn directly around from where I snapped the whale print photo there's a couple stairs leading down into the play area (plarea?) ...

Initially I had a HUGE area rug with an admittedly (sort of!) ugly southwestern print in here that Simon found to be less than aesthetically acceptable so off to the Craigslist listings it went and in with this more neutral and size appropriate Adams Reversible Rug in Sky. Much, much better.

Also, as much as I'd love to get rid of our pleather sofa, it's a dream for when (not if!) the kids spill forbidden food + drink all over it so I spruced it up a bit with these Mint Lyrica Pillows ...

And one of the kids favorite things to do is build elaborate pillow beds for themselves or their stuffed animal kingdoms so I feel like somewhat of a Cruella getting rid of all of our pillows or throwing them in a closet so practical solution by way of this mint wire basket ...

win/win

I love having a rocker/glider in the living room to rock Bosco but it's pretty much the first thing you see when you walk in the front door so I put this Trina Turk Arcata Embroidered Pillow on it ...

... and it serves the dual purpose of: lumbar support and pop-o-rocker-color.

And lastly, I never ever would've picked this Adana Pink Lemonade Pillow out on my own but Mary pointed it out to me and I'm so glad I took her advice because it brightens up our room and white bedding a bit ...

... aside from, you know - the bright turquoise dresser. Mary thought it would look great on a couch too so the pleather might get a facelift and we might steal the mint pillows if/when we're feeling wild and spontaneous. Pattons be crazy, on occasion.

Simon says our house feels our decor style is "dorm room" but I think we're slowly and surely traipsing away from college chic. Many thanks to Lulu & Georgia and Mary's expert e-opinion!

Lulu & Georgia is giving away a $250 credit to a lucky Camp reader ... you know the rafflecopter road by now, I hope!

Good luck and happy, happy weekend!!
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway