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Monday, March 13, 2017

Small Space Decorating

Like many others in the Bay Area, I wish I had a teensy bit more square footage in our living space. Or, like, a four bedroom Eichler with a kidney shaped pool in the backyard. Whatever!

However, we do like our rental overall and with a little creativity,  have enough space to make it work. When my daughter was born, we converted a tiny office into a nursery. While the room is too small for an adult to sleep comfortably, it's perfect for a little girl. Here are a few tips for making the best of a small space:

© Catherine Boley
  1. Avoid clutter and bulky furniture. For the nursery, we chose a crib and dresser that didn't take up too much visual space, and used artwork to add interest without taking up floor space.
  2. Don't be afraid to use color. Because there should be fewer items in the room, consider using colorful rugs and linens in your design.
  3. Make a very small room a single-use space. No multitasking here. This nursery is a space for sleeping and storing clothes, and is not a play room or toy storage location. The larger areas of your home can be multi-use. For example, we added a toy box to our dining area that can double as a bench. And when my son came along, we put a mini crib in the guest bedroom that can be moved to the master bedroom when we have guests.
  4. Keep it light and bright. We chose a bright white crib, but the wood dresser adds warmth. You could also flip the look and do a wood-tone crib and white dresser. 
  5. Start with the rug. I always find it easier to find a rug first, and work around it. When choosing a rug, think outside the box. The rug in the nursery is from Anthropologie, and not a children's rug per se. However, there are a ton of rugs that I've seen on the Land of Nod and Pottery Barn Kids websites that I would absolutely use in an adult room.
  6. Use Pinterest! Once you've identified a few options for furniture, rugs and bedding, throw them up on your Pinterest page and see how they look together. Here's my current home design Pinterest page if you'd like to take a look. Happy hunting!
© Catherine Boley

© Catherine Boley


Saturday, March 4, 2017

Happy Weekend!

Today I attended a friend's baby shower.  It has been raining off and on, but I feel springtime around the corner, and decided to go with a yellow dress for a pop of color. I usually take a cue from the venue to determine whether to go casual or dressy, but the shower was at someone's home, and it could go either way. So I threw on a denim jacket to add a casual element.


So was my outfit choice appropriate?

Monday, February 20, 2017

Snow with the Kids: Fantasy versus Reality


We took a trip to the snow this weekend. I'm not exactly an adventurous winter person, so the planning caused some minor panic on my end and many duplicate online purchases of children's snow gear. Around noon on Friday, the day of our departure, you could find me aimlessly wandering around Nordstrom, looking for warm socks. After an iced tea and banana walnut muffin, I tried on these pants (which didn't look good on me), and left with a pineapple toddler swimsuit and a rocket ship baby sweatshirt.

With some major snowfall in Tahoe this winter, my husband and I had planned a trip to Northstar with law school friends for President's Day weekend. We booked this fancy pants condo for three nights and set about planning activities. Given that we have a baby and a toddler, we figured it wasn't realistic for us both to ski, which is why Northstar is ideal. The village has shopping, restaurants, and a movie theater, and quite frankly I'm way more into apres ski than actual skiing.

But logistics became too complex (why is it so hard to fly to Reno??) and our friends had to cancel. No big deal. We would just go ourselves.

We looked into Dodge Ridge as a Tahoe alternative. It's closer and family friendly, and oh wait, we took too long to reserve lodging and there was literally nowhere to stay. So we booked a room at the Christmas Tree Inn in Mi-Wuk Village. The Ritz Carlton it is not, but this basic motel was clean and perfect for our purpose, which had been downgraded to one day in the snow.

Anyway, here's how it went...

A Rainy President's Day



 Etch A Sketch at Dana Street Coffee


Short capp and tiny hands