It’s reader survey time again! I always value your feedback in our reader surveys, but this year I feel like I need it more than ever. Oh So Beautiful Paper is now more than 10 years old, the blog/internet/social media landscape is changing so quickly, so many blogs are disappearing, and I’m trying to figure out where OSBP fits into everything. That’s where you come in!
When I started blogging in 2008, my goal was to connect people: customers with designers/stationers, specifically, but also paper-loving people around the world. But what now? Beyond inspiration, what can I do for you? How can I help you – whether you’re a potential customer or someone in the stationery industry. So if you have a couple minutes to take the survey HERE, it would be such a huge help.
In the survey you’ll find a bunch of multiple choice and open ended questions about what resonates with you, the type of content you’d like to see on Oh So Beautiful Paper, what we can do to improve, and a few other topics. The survey is 100% anonymous, so please feel free to be completely honest. I want your thoughtful opinions and constructive criticism!
And as a special thank you to being the world’s most amazing readers, I have a special gift (that may or may not involve some stationery from my personal collection) for a few readers. So once you’ve filled out the survey, just leave a comment (any comment!) below and I’ll pick a couple of you to receive a little package from me!
We’re getting ready to make some big changes in my daughters’ shared bedroom (no more toddler beds!), and I realized that I hadn’t shared photos of their existing room yet (oof). So today I’m finally giving you a peek into their colorful shared girls nursery, starting with photos from a couple years ago when Alice was still in a crib. Our home was built in the 1920s and fairly small at 1,200 square feet. We have only two bedrooms, so the girls share the larger bedroom towards the front of the house. It has two large windows and one very small closet, and it’s a tight squeeze – but we make it work!
The dresser between the two windows is what you see when you first walk into the room. It’s actually my husband’s dresser from when he was a kid – just painted a light teal. We lived in the house for just over a year before Alice was born, but this room didn’t really start to come together until Alice moved in, so we started with a crib on the left side of the room and a toddler bed on the right. Here’s the original mood board for Sophie’s nursery back in 2013!
I’m always curious about how folks organize the closets in kid’s rooms – so here’s a peek at our closet! The large baskets on the bottom row used to hold diapers and wipes (and something else that totally escapes my mind), but now hold some extra blankets and a donation bin for clothing they grow out of. The middle row of baskets holds our sheets and waterproof mattress pads, along with some smaller crib blankets and quilts. Then we have clothing that requires hanging, mostly dresses and a few nicer shirts or sweaters. The top baskets used to hold out of season shoes, Alice’s old crib bumper, and some extra nighttime diapers, but now that we’re out of diapers that basket is used for more out of season shoes (essentially one basket for each girl). The crib bumper is now in storage until I decide what to do with it, so that basket now holds knee pads, goggles, and other assorted equipment. We store out of season clothing in bins under Sophie’s bed (previously under the crib), we have a few costumes hanging on the back of their door, and everything else (t-shirts, pants, PJs, skirts, tights, socks, undies) is folded and stored in the dressers Marie Kondo style. At some point we’ll probably have to redo our system once the girls’ dresses get too long to fit in the current space, but for now it works!
My husband and I love to travel and have been all over the world, so we wanted to pass that love along to our girls from the very beginning. The shelves contain a mix of globes, some travel trinkets, family photos, and art prints.
The girls have a separate play area downstairs, so we don’t keep many toys in the room – mostly just books, stuffed animals, and dolls. We moved the markers and drawing supplies downstairs once Sophie started preschool, so there’s now another little book cart in this corner.
I wanted something above the crib that would provide color and visual interest – but would be lightweight enough that I didn’t have to worry about it falling down on the crib. Tissue paper fans to the rescue! I put them up using removable 3M velcro strips, and they’ve stayed up for 4+ years!
Our beloved pom pom basket is from Eliza Gran and helped inspire the color palette for the nursery! It sadly doesn’t look like her shop is open at the moment, but I’m going to put a couple alternatives into a slideshow at the bottom of the post with shopping links.
My favorite Roxy Marj blanket! She no longer sells handmade blankets, but you can find her lion blanket and bear blanket at Crate & Kids on super sale. The rest of our crib and toddler bed bedding was all from Land of Nod (RIP), but you can now find a good selection at Crate & Kids. And did you see that Anthropologie now offers kid bedding? Lots of great options there, too!
Eventually, especially once we were ready to potty train Alice, we moved Alice out of the crib and into Sophie’s toddler bed, then put a twin bed in the corner where the crib had been. Sadly I don’t seem to have a great photo of Sophie’s current twin bed, but it’s the very simple wood Tarva bed from IKEA painted a pale pink.
We’ve made even more changes since these photos were taken: the monitors, diaper pail, and changing pad are long gone, some of the furniture has been relocated to other parts of our house, and as of last weekend Alice is no longer in a toddler bed! So now we’re ready for an even bigger change – bunk beds! The girls have been begging us for bunk beds FOREVER, and over the holiday break we decided to just go for it. We passed Alice’s toddler bed on to another family in the neighborhood, ordered a new mattress and bunk bed, and the plan is to put the new bed together this weekend. It’s been a tight squeeze with a bed on each side of the room, so I’m looking forward to freeing up some floor space when we move to bunk beds. I’ll have to take down the tissue paper fans and gallery wall to fit the new bunk bed, so it’s also an opportunity to update the room in a way that makes sense for them at this stage in their lives. I’m still working out the details, but here’s what I’ve got for inspiration so far:
Okay, phew! That was a loooong post about our shared nursery and plans for a shared big girl bedroom. I think I covered everything, but let me know if you have any questions and I’ll do my best to answer them. Also – let me know if you guys would be interested in posts about our experience with a shared bedroom. I know I looked for resources on sleep training and potty training in a shared bedroom but didn’t find a lot out there, so if it’s helpful I’m happy to share our experiences.
Today’s gift guide is all about entertaining! It’s no secret that we love gatherings around here, from Friendsgiving to small cocktail parties.We know how difficult it can be to find the perfect gift for someone who loves to entertain and make cocktails at home, so we’ve got your back with today’s gift guide. We rounded up a few of the things that we love using for making cocktails or entertaining at home – including a couple things that are on our own wish lists! You can also find some fantastic ideas on our gift guide from 2017 and 2016!
4 – This infusion kit looks like a fun gift for a cocktail enthusiast! There are a few versions for different spirits, but each one comes with a bottle with a built-in strainer and a variety of infusing ingredients for making your own custom infusion!
5 – A ceramic french butter keeper is a wonderful luxury for anyone that entertains – or just enjoys soft butter on a fresh baguette. I bought this french butter keeper a little over a year ago, and it has basically changed my life. Plus, they look beautiful out on the dinner table during gatherings!
8 – Linen napkins are the perfect addition to any table, so if you know someone who loves to set a beautiful table and doesn’t already have a set – a beautiful set of colorful linen napkins is basically like gold. I’m loving the color options for these linen napkins!
9 – This atomizer is a fun toy for cocktail enthusiasts. It turns any liquid into a fine spray!
10 – Know someone who loves wine? Get them a beautiful way to display their favorite bottles at home! Loving the sculptural quality of this brass wine rack.
11 – I’ve had this french market tote on my own wish list for the longest time. Perfect for anyone that makes regular trips to the farmer’s market!
OMG I WANT THOSE CHAIRS SO BADLY. The velvet chair for sure, maybe as a home office chair? That shade of green is just so good. And that cane chair would be perfect for our living room. I’m obsessed. Those round velvet pillows are basically my fall color palette and I just want to stare at them all day long. I already have the googly eye planters and the winky pillow, but several of the items above are already on their way to me for some home updates that I can’t wait to share! Do you have any favorites from UO Home?
Happy Friday everyone – we made it through the week! I’m on a quick fun day trip up to New York City with my friend Janice today; we’re planning to visit Color Factory and just do a few other touristy things that I never get to do when I’m up for trade shows and meetings. Yay! We’re expecting a rainy weekend in DC, so I’m planning to take advantage of the weather to do some tidying at home, and maybe get a head start on some fall shopping. Madewell has so many gorgeous fall pieces! I picked out a few of my faves below – I particularly want this dress, this sweater, and this long sleeve striped tee for fall.
I’m in the process of redesigning our bedroom, and I’m thinking about adding a faux tree in the corner. It’s between this faux fiddle leaf fig and this faux olive tree – but I need something tall and skinny, so I think the fiddle leaf might be the answer!
Finally – anyone have any quick and easy family dinner recipes that you love and want to share? I’m looking to expand our dinner repertoire and would love your suggestions!!