Road Trip to Iowa

Where do you find your inspiration? For me, nature is a great place to start.

This past weekend, my family and I took our second annual weekend road trip to Iowa. My husbands step-dad owns land there in South English.  The view above is what you see from the kitchen window of his house.  I so much enjoy taking a walk outside of his home on a crisp morning and taking in the surrounding beauty of the fall landscape.

While driving through Iowa, I loved looking out my car window at the old weathered barns, cattle, and rolling hills of corn:

Goodwill Hunting

I stopped at the local Goodwill yesterday hoping to find a few items for around the house.  While I didn't know specifically what I wanted, I have ongoing home projects that need additional pieces:

• Master Bedroom - I purchased frames/matting for above our bedroom nightstands several months back that need art.  Until now, I threw some old sheet music in the frame, to fill the mat; not a permanent solution.
• Nursery - While the main elements are complete, I keep putting off hanging art and picking up some finishing accessories I have on my mind.  Considering Baby Boy #2 is now almost 8 months, I need to get a move on that.............

I kept this in the back of my mind as I rummaged.

Here is the pile of stuff I came home with:

I honestly have no real need for a silver platter and glass /silver plated bowl.  I just really like silver.  When I see it for a good price, I buy it.  :) 

Nursery Inspiration

UPDATE: SEE FULL NURSERY TOUR HERE.

In February of this year, my husband and I welcomed Baby Boy #2 into our family:

We moved Baby Boy #1 into his new Big Boy Room on Christmas day (inspiration board and pictures will follow); and then it hit me, I had yet to think about the nursery design.  Initially I thought we would simply move the new guy into the old nursery.  But...the nesting instinct was strong in me this time around.  With only a month left to go, I decided I must update the nursery.

I found a lot of great inspiration for the bedroom around the web (see below).  With all of these rooms in mind, I put together this inspiration board:



#1. Rug from Overstock.com
#2. DIY bedding textiles, World Market Pillow, and and IKEA Sundvik crib
#3. West Elm Capiz Chandelier
#4. DIY Nursery Mobile, using paper mache boat pattern found at Ann Wood's blog
#5. Restoration Hardware Canvas Stripe Drape (which I also DIY'ed)
#6. Nursery Art: World Map (PaperSource) and black and white nautical photos.

And here is a sneak peak at the space today: