Dinner with kids can feel like a feeding at the zoo--food goes flying, whimpers are sounded and each creature demands his own type of grub. Celebrate the chaos with these adorable (and easy-to-clean) placemats from France. We're sure the tiger, buffalo and ostrich will be welcomed into the fold.
At Blair Stocker's house in Seattle, quiet moments seem pretty rare. She and her husband both work at home. Her daughter Emma is eight, and her son Ian is six. And the family just rescued a cat ("Gracie") from the animal shelter. "Every inch of our house is used," she tells us. "It's quite a creative lab." But Blair uses her design eye to make the space feel calm and beautiful. Here, we talk to her about crafting, the magic of red and her inexplicable love of cuckoo clocks.
What's it like to raise a family in Seattle? Does it rain as much as they say? The summers can be beautiful and dry. You don't need an air-conditioner; you can get by with open windows. For the rest of the year, it's pretty rainy. There's a reason why there are a lot of coffee shops here. You want to cozy up with a cup!
Your home feels so breezy and relaxed. No walls divide the rooms on the main floor, so we're always together. When I'm making dinner in the kitchen, I can see everyone. It's really nice--although maybe it will be bad when the kids are teenagers.
Where does your family hang out? Peter's office is in the basement. I'm usually on the couch, and Emma reads on the Ikea chaise lounge. Ian is at the age where he "orbits" from room to room. The pillow was homemade from second-hand, thrifted wool.
You have lots of old European and woodland collectibles, like Russian nesting dolls, spotted mushrooms and cuckoo clocks. What inspired these collections? When we moved in five years ago, it was August and the Mountain Ash tree outside had red berries all over it. Even though we didn't have anything red before that, we started putting little bits of red all over the house. I've also always loved German cuckoo clocks, and they have bits of red in them. I was like, "Peter, the stars are aligning! This is the way it was meant to be!"
Why do you love cuckoo clocks so much? Is your family from Germany? I'm Native American, but Peter's family has Swiss lineage. When I bought my first one on Ebay, he teased me--"Why do you want a cuckoo clock?" But when he came home that day, he heard the first cuckoo and said, "Wow, it reminds me of my grandmother's house."
What do you use this cute corner for? This is the kids' computer area. My husband found the desk at Virco Manufacturing Corporation; he liked it because it looked old-school. The little art table was surprisingly reasonably priced from Sur la Table. The lamp and chair are from Ikea.
How did you decide on light blue for the walls? Peter chose the blue from Eddie Bauer Home. Since he works in advertising, he's really good at spotting the right color; the man deals with pantone colors all day. But I waffle on colors, I can't commit!
Do your children make decorating decisions? They chose the paint colors for their bedrooms. Emma chose a garish lavender that I didn't like at first, but when we got it on the wall, it looked pretty! My son chose bright orange. My in-laws joke that he's going to have a nervous twitch from living with that color, but he loves it.
Has your design taste changed since having kids? They've made me appreciate things like orange paint. I've also learned that toys don't have to look messy. There are places to keep things, and they can look great. I think it can be really stimulating for a child to walk into a room and see a table with a bunch of half-built Legos.
I see your bedroom is more understated. Yes, we went for more neutral colors. I made the blue, white and brown quilt for our bed, as well as the quilts on Emma's and Ian's beds. I'm thinking of making another one for winter--really, any excuse to make a quilt! I also made the pillow for Peter; it's an embroidered psalm. The curtains are unlined Urban Outfitters bedspreads. I hemmed them and made a pocket at the top; then Peter hung them up on a wooden curtain rod. The lamps are from Restoration Hardware. The mirror is from Pottery Barn.
What amazing butterflies! The three plaques are from Anthropologie. The tray was given to my mother when she was a little girl, from a family friend who took a trip to Mexico.
When people come over, what do they notice most? They like my cuckoo clocks. They linger over the kids' framed artwork. Before we had children, our decor felt more staged. Now I'm more thoughtful about decorating with things that have meaning. It gives the house soul.
To read more about Blair, visit her flickr page or her blog Wise Craft. (Top photo: Vases from Jonathan Adler; Bottom photo: Gnome doormat from Target.)
Email your home photos and design questions here.
Martin Graf is the force behind Edition8x8, a fantastic 'paper mechanics lab' based in Germany. We are enthralled with Edition8x8's DIY paper mobiles: The paper models come with all the necessary accessories, all you have to do is cut, glue and hang. We can only imagine how many rainy sunday afternoons have been saved with these gravity fighting paper inventions.
Choose "Happy Orbit" and travel with Captain Bratcovicz through space or, if you are into the deep-sea, go with Mister Pilipenko and his green submarine.
The paper mobile models are 5 Euro each and can be ordered via email at Edition8x8's site.
When you're a little dude, the worst part of bathing is getting out of the tub. It's freezing!
Coming to the rescue are Dwellbaby hooded towels. The towels are made of thick absorbent terry cloth, and the hoods keep babes from from losing heat quickly through their heads.
(Also, check out the adorable stuffed animals and stroller blankets. We can't get enough of Dwellbaby's graphic prints.)
Our home editor, Kiera Coffee, just emailed us her picks from 100% Design, London's premiere home decor event. These items are not for sale yet, but we'll keep you posted as soon as they become available.
These Bethan Laura Wood teacups have a barely visible, white-on-white pattern. As you sip your coffee, it soaks into the cup, and a design blossoms before your eyes.
Firewood has rarely been displayed in a more elegant way. Log holder from Baest.
Greet each day with all the colors of the spectrum in this retro-style Rainbow Calendar made of Corian by Nils Kjeldson.
This pudgy little wicker footstool by 100% Inc. is just a prototype, but we hope to be resting our feet on it someday soon.
The New York Times recently reported an interesting trend: More and more, children have been forgoing video games and choosing to play instead with old-fashioned toys, such as pogo sticks, marbles and building blocks. Baileys Home and Garden offers just these sorts of pursuits. They're beautiful and affordable, but perhaps the best part is that the games--including skipping ropes and spinning tops--remind us to slow down and enjoy life's simple pleasures.
We know that you moms-to-be have a lot on your plate: Fretting over what you read in What to Expect, trekking to the bathroom to pee every 43 minutes and trying to set up the nursery for the little bun. For some help on that front, Baby Spaces has devised a clever kit that comes with thick craft paper that you can cut to the size of the furniture you are considering and easily move around. This allows you to figure out the appropriate furniture to buy and how to best lay it out.
Indulge your nesting instinct; your new little one will thank you!
Hase Weiss, a Berlin-based kids toy and furniture company, features a completely modular and contemporary dollhouse.
You can choose from three different room sizes, 4 wall colors and a set of stairs. Too much choice? Then go for the the "Suitcase Kit" that comes in a wooden box which holds 2 small rooms, a medium size room, a salon and stairs. But don't you worry, the kids won't have to play with an empty dollhouse, Hase Weiss also offers modern dollhouse furniture and, of course, dolls.
Anna Pfeiffer, an architect, and Ulrike Rumpenhorst, an artist, are the forces behind Hase Weiss (German for White Bunny). Both mothers, they decided to build the toys their kids always dreamed of. These houses are the toys we dream of for our children.
We were thrilled to get an email from Brooklyn designer Jon Setzen, who is expecting his first child on November 1st. (He and his wife became fans of Cookie while waiting at the ObGyn.) Faced with a bare nursery, he designed an alphabet print. He has drawn one image for each letter of the alphabet: A is for astronaut, N is for noodles, P is for pirate, and so on. We think it's modern and lovely--and are sure their son will agree!
Email your photos and home-design questions here.
