Painter Melissa Moss lives with her musician husband and adorable baby (those cheeks!) in Los Angeles. Her artistic side shines through in the eclectic prints and retro touches, but her home still manages to feel calm and modern. We love the balance! Let's take a look inside...
Where do you live?
We live in Culver City, Los Angeles, near the studios. It's beautiful and sunny every day.

Did the city feel different once you had a child?
Oh, yeah. It's a whole new world, a whole new set of worries. Suddenly I noticed graffiti everywhere. And I worried about the smog. When it's just yourself, you don't think about it; now I think about his little baby lungs breathing in that stuff.

Where did you find these retro posters?
The posters are from hatchshowprint. We have two from the Kentucky State Fair. They fit well with the enormous old stove.

What about this awesome chicken?
When you turn it on, it makes a squawking noise and walks and then the eggs pop out.

What does your son like to eat?
Puffs. They're first finger foods, they're sweet and melt in your mouth. He just loves them. He begs for them like a dog!

What do you use your home office for?
I paint here and make my prints.

Your three Marcel Dzama prints are fantastic.
One's an original. A few years ago, the Richard Heller Gallery in Los Angeles was one of the first galleries to show his work. I went down there and flipped through drawers full of original drawings. Soon afterwards, Dzama just exploded.

Do you paint while your baby naps?
Unfortunately, Sam isn't a good napper. Literally, a half hour tops (I know). It's just enough time for me to eat something. When Sam goes to sleep at night, I force myself to paint even if I'm exhausted. My husband takes Fridays off--that's daddy day--so I paint then, too.

Where do you hang out as a family?
The living room, where we relax and watch TV. My husband teases me for liking all the "deadbody" TV shows, like Law & Order.

What about movies?
We do "date night" once a week and we'll get a movie (this week we watched Juno) and make enormous salads with hardly any lettuce. Although the nights are the only time I have to paint and he has to do music, we've learned to set aside time to relax. It's important.

Where did you get this fantastic chair?
On eBay. It cost $50, but was another $150 to ship! It's beautifully designed.

Your house is so clean.
Well, before we took the photos, we moved the clutter from one corner to the other. It's scary what's outside the frame!
The duvet cover is from Ikea.

What's the best decorating advice you ever got?
My mom told me, don't just fill your house. Buy only the pieces you really love, even if you have to be with an empty house for a year.

What are your favorite stores?
I really love Shelter in LA. Every time I go in there, I think, if I had to do it all over again, this is what I'd do. And it used to be, Oh, Ikea, it's so cheap, but now it actually has good stuff. I'd love one of their couches, but not right now with a spitting-up baby.

What an amazing mobile!
My husband Ian made those; they're origami. When Sam woke up on Christmas morning, Ian had rigged them up on a guitar stand. It was Sam's first Christmas present.

Does Sam like them?
Yes. We have an air purifier, which makes them move in the breeze.

What else does Sam like about his room?
The crib mobile is Sam's #1 thing. When he sees it, he lights up. He figured out how to turn it on a few months ago. So, now in the morning, when we hear the mobile start playing Mozart, we know he's up!
The Tiny Love Mobile is from Target.

Where did you find these prints?
I was obsessed with getting artwork for Sam before he was born. One print is from Ashleyg. Another is from Randy Kono from the Hive Gallery.

Your paintings are represented by two galleries. Do you also sell your art online?
Yes, selling online is amazing. You can keep the prices down, and you can get the word way out. I have people from India, Singapore, Turkey on my list.

What books do you read together?
He loves The Very Hungry Caterpillar. If we try to introduce a new one, his little hands will go up and just shut it. He's like, nope, this isn't going to happen. I'm like, aren't you bored? I'm bored out of my mind.

Sam is such a little cutie!
He's ten months old. He just learned how to get back down from standing, which was a huge thing for all of us. He used to get stuck standing up.

What else is he into?
He loves pulling things out of drawers. He hasn't mastered putting them back in. He just crawls away, like OK, my work is done!

For more, visit Melissa's website or blog. See past Cookie home tours here.

If you need a push to visit fleamarkets, Abbey Hendrickson's house will do the trick. The grad student fills her home with found collections (chairs, pencils, rubber duckies...), proving she has an eye for diamonds in the rough. Now the mother of a ten-month-old, Abbey makes thrifting a family affair. "My husband and I lug Emmit around," she says. "All the thrift store folks know him by name."

Where did you get all your incredible chairs?
Most are from thrift stores and craigslist, but I stole the black Marcel Breuer chair from my parents. My best friend gave me the Eames rocker as a baby shower gift; she had gotten a two-for-one deal.

Any tips for shopping on craigslist?
I look up my area and in a 100-mile radius. I do daily searches for "midcentury furniture," and my best find from craigslist was when I searched for "George Mulhauser" [pictured above]. I had seen it in Amy Butler's home.

Do you know her?
Oh, my gosh, no. I wish! It was in her book or a magazine.

Where did you find these dining chairs?
A church basement tag sale. They were $1 each.

Were you flipping out?
I didn't realize that they were anything special. I just liked the orange and blue color combination, so I lugged them home. Then we were moving them a few months ago, and I turned them over and realized they were Haywood Wakefield. I had had no idea.

What do you guys make for dinner?
We have a rotation: homemade pizza, vegetarian, soup. My husband is the cook.

That's so funny! So many of the house tour people say their husbands do the cooking.
My husband loves cooking, so more power to him.

Do you actually sit in all the chairs you have?
Definitely. We don't ever want to have a piece of furniture that Emmitt can't crawl on or that if he spits up on it, we freak out.

I love how you grouped frames in the corner of your living room. I've never seen anything like that.
One of our favorite artists, Barry McGee, does that, so we ripped him off. It's funny, a lot of people think it's one art piece by the same person, but it's really my way of displaying our friends' artwork and our guilty etsy purchases.

What a great silver lamp.
My parents found it at an estate-sale auction, which are big around here.

Are your parents collectors, too?
Yes, they always took us to fleamarkets. We didn't have much money but my parents cared about how our home looked. I got my aesthetic influence from them.

Is their house similar to yours?
Their house is eclectic but a bit more traditional. My mom rotates their collections, such as her collection of Santa Clauses.

Do you rotate your collections, too?
Yes, my rubber ducks are in a closet right now.

Some moms say that the Eames rocker doesn't have enough neck support. How's yours?
My only complaint about breastfeeding there is that the fiberglass gets cold! We threw a blanket on it.

Where did you find the lovely portrait for Emmit's nursery?
When I worked in my college art department, I discovered it abandoned there.

What a happy accident! What about the pencils?
I've had that collection since second grade. I'm such a pack rat! I moved them in a ziplock bag from house to house. Finally, I decided to glue them to a board and hang them on the wall.

Does Emmit play with these toy animals or are they just for decor?
When we're changing his diaper, he'll hold onto a giraffe or cow and stay still.
Animals from Target.

Where did you find this blanket?
I made it when I was pregnant. I was a crafting machine! The mobile was another pregnant craft. I cut pieces from felt and embroidered them. They're based on vintage rattles. When he was really little, he couldn't care less, but now he likes to spin them around.

Tell us about this bird sculpture in your bedroom.
I had squirreled the birds away with our Christmas ornaments, but when we were taking a walk this summer, I grabbed a branch and decided to put them on it.

Is there an end goal for your decor?
No, we move and change it all the time. We like to keep things interesting. Most of all, our home must feel comfortable. We're low-key and want people to feel good here.

For more about Abbey, check out her blog or flickr site. See all past Cookie home tours here.

If you don't yet know Irene Hoofs, today's your lucky day! The Malaysia-based designer runs the design blog Bloesem and recently launched a children's blog, B:Kids. Fans adore her fresh, modern style and friendly tone. We decided to "visit" her (over e-mail, unfortunately!), and it was clear that this design maven and her family live beautifully...

Can you tell us about your family?
My husband and I met almost fifteen years ago. We both have a passion for exploring other countries. For the past two years, our son, Lode, joins us wherever we go. He's the best thing that has happened to us and hopefully there will be a little brother or sister for him in the near future.

What's Kuala Lumpur like?
It's a cosmopolitan city; the energy is great, and people are very friendly, especially towards children. And I love the weather. You can feel the country wants to grow, and it's an easy hub to many Asian cities. For instance, we recently went to Bangkok to do some sightseeing.

You're originally from Amsterdam. What brought you to KL?
My husband found an exciting job here, and I didn't mind joining him. But I had two wishes: My Apple had to come with me and we would look for a place big enough for me to have my own studio. My wishes came true.

What do you do as a family in your area?
You can go to the elephant park, and see wild monkeys and beautiful birds.

How would you describe your decor style?
We try to keep our place open and uncluttered. We like to travel light and keep space for Lode to run around. Each year, we only buy one or two collector's items by designers we love--Isamu Noguchi, Eames and Hans Wegner. I also hope one day to have a real Kiki van Eijk.

How did you want Lode's nursery to look?
Fresh and basic and simple. The main attention should go to his books, toys and posters.
The curtains are from IKEA.

How did you decide on Lode's name?
"Lode" is just a name that I heard one day and fell in love with. It felt right, and fortunately my husband liked it too.

What a lovely chair! Do you use it a lot?
It's perfect comfy chair where we can read books together. Lode also enjoys sitting in it himself and will get this really proud smile on his face after climbing in it with as many toys as possible.

What language do you speak with Lode?
Dutch, and the baby-sitter speaks English with him.

Where did you find the great Panton chair?
We bought it at a market. We love the bright color, and it brightens up Lode's room, which doesn't always get much light...

When you choose toys, what do you look for?
We love wooden toys; they're solid and give a more natural feel. I don't think Lode notices this yet, although he finds the wooden toys hard to break. I think he likes the plastic toys just as much, and often they make more noise and he likes that, too.

Is art a big part of your life? (P.S. Your husband is cute.)
Although I'm not a frequent visitor of museums and don't know a lot about art, I do know what I like. Art, design and crafts make me very happy and give a beautiful dimension to our lives. They're like good food and wine: They make life so much better.

What prompted you to start a kids' blog? (We love it.)
I'd been toying with the idea since Lode was born, and I must say writing posts for BloesemKids is almost easier than for Bloesem, because there are so many beautiful finds out there. It's great to see how children inspire people to be more creative and daring and to tickle our imagination with beautiful products.

Do you consider blogging work or relaxation?
Mainly relaxation, but sometimes when I'm still writing late in the evening or on vacation, I consider it work. A blog never stops. It's a never-ending story, but a beautiful one...

Has motherhood been the same or different from what you expected?
Being a mom has softened me more than I had expected. My son brings so much laughter to my daily life. Motherhood also makes me fully appreciate life--it's just a wonderful gift!

For more, visit Irene's design blog and kids' blog. If you're in the house-touring mood, you can read through all the past Cookie home tours here.

To welcome spring-cleaning season, we spoke to Cookie reader Lesa Bader about the house she and her architect husband renovated over the last six years. From the street, the house still looks like an old bungalow, but inside, the family enjoys a stunning modern haven. "You can bring your style wherever you are," says Lesa. (See the "before" photos here.) Let's look inside...

Can you tell us about your family?My husband Mike and I live with our two children, Ursula, 5, and Charlie, 2. And of course we can't forget our yellow lab Lola.

What's your neighborhood like?
When we moved from Seattle to the Midwest, we loved the sleepy quaintness of St. Paul, versus the hipper Minneapolis. There's a Patagonia, coffee shop and Thai food within walking distance. Also, F. Scott Fitzgerald grew up on this street.

Do you miss Seattle?
When we lived in Seattle, I didn't mind the rain, but we didn't have a dog or kids then. Now the rain might drive me crazy. All those muddy feet!

How are Minnesota's cold winters?
We don't let the cold get to us; we just bundle them up. Ursula is taking skiing lessons, and Charlie saw ski jumping on TV, so now he wants to do that.

What a beautiful piece of art in the foyer.
My college roommate's father-in-law, Walter Piehl, is an artist in North Dakota, where my husband and I grew up. He has a very modern sensibility but this painting still makes us think of our upbringing. He was very inspired by the Blue Rider movement with Kandinsky.
The credenza is from Blu Dot. The toy car is from Radio Flyer.

Which was the toughest room to overhaul?
The kitchen was pink linoleum. Lola, who was a puppy then, helped us by chewing up the cupboards.

Was it tough to fit a modern aesthetic into an old house?
My husband, an architect, thinks it's completely fine to mix styles, so we didn't feel pressured to look for cottage-type furniture or Shaker-type cabinets just because the house has an older feel.

Where do you shop for furniture?
We're big bargain hunters. Blu Dot has an annual warehouse sale in Minnesota. It's gotten wildly popular; people come from out of state. We've found great furnitre there--either prototypes or something with a ding.

Do you have a TV in the living room?
No, and in fact, before we had kids, we never used that space. We weren't going to sit down, drink coffee and just look at each other! Now, Charlie and Ursula use it as a playroom.

Do you use that pretty quilt?
Ursula and Charlie often put the quilt and cushions on the floor and call it a mini-van. We rented one with a DVD player while visiting friends in Seattle, and ever since then, all Ursula wants for Christmas or her birthday is a mini-van.
The pillows are from Room & Board. The quilt is from Denise Schmidt.

What a lovely mix of pieces.
We like to combine expensive and inexpensive things. The Hans Wegner coffee table and Alvar Aalto chair are both from Room & Board, but we try not to be uptight when Charlie drives the scooter right into them.

How do you keep the space so clean?
Magic Eraser does wonders. Ursula never drew on things, but Charlie will walk us over to a wall and say, "I did that!"

Did Ursula help decorate her bedroom?
We put up the caterpillar wall decals together, and she loves the red mobile. That's an IKEA flower behind the bed. We're big believers in IKEA for kids' rooms, where stuff really gets trashed.

What are your kids into these days?
Ursula loves unicorns. Charlie is all boy and loves trucks and trains. They really fit their sterotypes.

Any tips for parents who are decorating their kids' rooms?
We try to steer our kids to midcentury modern looks. We can decorate their rooms in our style, while still featuring what they like (pink, dolls), but maybe not a Holly Hobbie bedspread.

This reading nook is so cute!
Both kids have IKEA chairs in their rooms for bedtime reading, and Mike built the shelves.

Where did you get those funny dolls?
The penguin is from my friend Tara's etsy shop. I also made Ursula a girl doll with brown hair like her, and I made Charlie a boy doll with blonde hair like him.

Where do you find your art?
MCAD in Minnesota has a student art sale every December, so we get good prints there. We also shop for art on etsy.

How did you approach the decor of your son's room?
We did everything on a budget. For example, the blue framed art above his crib is actually wrapping paper from a friend's present for Charlie. One shows bears standing on a hairbrush, and the other is a fox on a trampoline.

Charlie has such awesome lockers.
I had seen them in Sundance catalog, but they were super expensive. I told my dad, who loves estate sales, to keep an eye out. At a school closing, he grabbed these while they were on their way to the trash. They were in rough shape, but we spraypainted them.

What's kept inside them?
Charlie's clothes and diapers. The kids love the lockers; I constantly find random dolls and things stuck inside.

Does Charlie save up in his piggy bank?
He doesn't really get the concept of money, but he likes to take it all out and put it back in.

How did you choose your bedroom's color scheme?
We wanted muted walls with pops of color. Our bed and furnishings are gray, but we have orange bedding.

This room is so spare and calming. Do you have any pack-rat tendencies?
My husband and I love magazines, and we keep old issues for ideas. So we built magazine shelves in the basement.

What advice do you have for other parents on how to keep things uncluttered?
Well, kids come with lots of stuff. I was an English major and I love to read, but now I get books from the library because I don't want them sitting around. Mike works from home, and Charlie loves to walk off with rolls of architecture drawings. So, for us, a designated spot for everything is important.

See all past Cookie house tours here.

Sweden-based Benita Larsson has never been the messy type. "When I was young, I'd ask my mom if she had any drawers I could straighten up," she laughs. "Sometimes I still do that when I visit her." Nowadays, Benita lives with her husband and son in a lovely 800-square-foot house near Stockholm. We take a peek inside and get the scoop on how she keeps everything in order.

Where do you live? Norra Angby, a suburb of government-enabled houses from the 1930's outside Stockholm. It's a clean, quiet neighborhood with a mix of older generation and young families, but nowadays it's incredibly expensive to buy a house as it has become one of the most sought after areas in the Stockholm area.

Why did you move there? We were living in the city, but when Wille was four he wanted 'grass of his own' after visiting friends who lived in a house, so we started to look for a house, too. We only viewed one, and here we are!

I hear Sweden is really dark in the winter and really light in the summer. I actually really like the seasons. I enjoy gardening in the spring and summer, but I also like when fall comes and I can spend time indoors again, lighting candles and decorating. In the summer, falling asleep can be hard, though, since it only gets dark for a couple hours. I wear an eye mask.

How did you want your home office to look? I wanted it to be neat and fit a small space in the hallway. I also wanted to work standing up. My husband Martin is not a fan of IKEA, so we built it ourselves. The satisfaction of building something from scratch is huge.

These are such sweet silhouettes of your family. How did you decide on those props? My son Wille played the trombone, so his sihouette was an easy choice. Martin enjoys a glass of wine or two, but I wasn't sure what mine should be. Wille came up with the idea that I should vacuum. I do clean a lot so why not?!

Does your family eat lots of Swedish foods? Martin's the cook in our family. He makes amazing tapas, pasta dishes and other food. We don't eat Swedish dishes except for at holidays, and we have crayfish parties in August.

You're an organizing genius. How did this shoe rack come about? We enter directly into the living room, so there isn't much space for coats and shoes. Shoes in piles all over the place drove me nuts, so I built this myself. It's pretty great if I may say so myself. There's room for shoes, boots and bags and a couple boxes for umbrellas and cat collars.

Where did you get this poster? I've never seen it in yellow. It's from sfgirlbybay on etsy. It seems to be the poster du jour! Everyone has one these days; it's on all the blogs and flickr pages.

Karin Kramer's life sounds like a fairy tale. She lives in the Northern Black Forest with her family and stray cat, and bees make honey in their backyard. With an eye for the uncommon and a passion for fleamarkets, Karin has created a whimsical home for her family of four. Let's take a peek...

What's your town like?
We live in Pforzheim in the Northern Black Forest. Our quarter is old, not rich and has rural character. The town was almost completely destroyed in the war and not very beautifully rebuilt. But the surroundings are beautiful: woods and rivers.

Can you tell us about your home?
Our house was built at beginning of the last century. We live on the ground floor and are renovating the upper floor.

Who makes up your family?
I'm a jewelery designer who loves drawing and puppet theater. Frank is a land surveyor and a big garden-lover. Oskar will turn four soon and Agnes is almost two.

Is there a garden for Frank?
We have a garden with a terrace, where we sit in the summer and have our meals. We pick rosemary or sage for lunch. There's also goldfish pond and a beehive. We've had bees since last summer and hope to get our first honey this year.

Who is your little kitten?
Hedwig, a stray, came to us in December and stayed because of Agnes' wild love. I'm curious how Hedwig will get along with the goldfish. They're still caught under the ice, but when it melts, fishing season starts!

How would you describe your aesthetic?
I love old things, either from our families or the fleamarket. I don't like a clean, anonymous look.

The green living room is a bold choice.
We chose this green to complement the 1980's sofa and chairs from Frank's grandmother. I like the different atmospheres created by color.

Where do you find your lovely pieces?
The fleamarket or the trash. I found the kitchen lamp in the bulky waste of a barber, who closed his doors for a nail studio. He was a charming barber with separate entrances for ladies and gents. The kitchen table is an old regulars' table from a tavern. In fact, I don't think we have a single thing from a big furniture store!

What would you change about your home if you could?
Our bedroom has a big bed for the whole family, which is cozy but a little bit too close. It's time for a separate kids' room.

What are your children's hobbies?
Agnes loves animals and books about animals. She's a blitheful girl. Oskar is energetic with lots of imagination. He loves cars and keys and helping in the kitchen. They both love to be outside with Daddy.

Do your children weigh in on the decor?
Oskar sometimes wants to hang his paintings. He chooses little pieces at the fleamarket, and we made this yellow mobile together.

What does your family do outside the home?
We walk through the forest or along the river. We all love books, ugly vintage things (yes!) and of course holidays.

What advice do you have for new decorators?
Trust your own sense of style! No need to have a perfect home, that would be boring. Our home is always changing. New things come, old go. Collect things! Open your eyes for beautiful pieces, they can be found everywhere.

New York and Los Angeles have long been at war: Which is cooler? Which has better restaurants? Which makes better movies? Lisa Dorr, a former New Yorker who now lives in Los Angeles, is split down the middle. "I miss the east coast," says the clothing designer who loves all four seasons. "But right now, in LA, the tomatoes are ripening on the vine, and my daughter is really happy." We visited Dorr to find out more about her handmade clothing line and artsy decor...

So where do you live in Los Angeles?
Venice Beach. I'm from the east coast, and it feels weird here. I'm the first person in my family to come west. It's weird, it's odd. In New York, there's a great freedom to be who you are, and the people I met became my best friends. L.A., on the other hand, is really shallow. I'm looking out my front door, and it's not a pretty place.

Can you tell us about your house?
The house is less than 800 square feet, so we've got a tiny space.

Do you feel cramped?
We've had large houses, too, and surprisingly it feels the same. We just clump together as a little group.

Speaking of cities, what about Paris? The clothes you design feel French.
Right when I was starting to take sewing classes and dying to make clothes for my daughter, I happened upon the clothing line Le Vestiaire de Jeanne from France. Her clothing is simple and uses lots of linen, and I was very inspired.

Have you been to France?
Before I started making clothes, I had a French bistro in Maine--I have a crazy life! Last summer, on craigslist, I read about a cooking school looking for help for two weeks, in the south of France. I quickly answered their ad, and they hired me as a dishwasher. I spent all my free time in Paris. It was incredible.

What do you like about French style?
French women are so beautiful. They don't try too hard, and they get better with age.

I agree, French women seem to get even more chic as they get older.
When I was in France, the new Jane Birkin movie had just come out, and she was everywhere. When our chef wasn't cooking, he was sitting in front of the TV trying to get a glimpse of her. And she's over sixty.

Tell us about your adorable daughter.
Francis is hilarious. She has a sleeping area of her own but ends up climbing into bed with me almost every night.

What do you do as a family?
We don't have a TV, so we play games, especially UNO, and read and listen to music.

What does Frances like to do?
She likes painting, drawing, Japanese animated movies, gardening and flowers. Her day is so busy with school that she comes home, does her homework and hangs out in my sewing room; then we make dinner and go to bed. It's a nice life.

What lovely pots! Where did you find them?
My first credit card purchase ever was a set of Le Creuset cookware. I still love them. The orange and white pot is by Catherine Holm. The rest is from yard sales.

As a former chef, what do you make for dinner?
Artichokes! Frances's favorite food ever. She likes miso soup for breakfast. After school, toast with butter & cinnamon. Tonight we're having a beef daube served over garlic mashed potatoes and some kind of bitter green salad. We use our pizza stone (the best thing ever) to make a simple margherita or a potato, onion, rosemary, salt, olive oil version. So good. I also like simple roast chicken, with thyme and a lemon in the body, garlicky sauteed greens, pan-roasted duck, lentils with mustard, lingonberry sauce, roast pork and gigantic lima beans. We like penne pasta with olive oil, hot pepper flakes, garlic, spinach, a fried egg on top, rice vinegar, and salt. It's nice to have ratatouille on hand, and pesto, pesto, pesto. The farmer's market is rockin' out with tomatoes, and cool weedy greens (nettles!) as well as all the good staples. We have dessert once a week, and it's usually apple crisp, which becomes breakfast next day.

Oh, my goodness, you guys eat so well.
Wait, I left out steak frites! Buy a little deep fryer, and make your own frites.

Yummy, I want to come over for dinner.
I can really natter on about food. I guess our favorite way to eat is like good peasants. We don't buy prepared anything, and I try to channel chef Gabrielle Hamilton from Prune in New York. God, I miss Prune.

How did you approach the decor of your living room?
My boyfriend made the low platform couch, which always looks clean. It's eleven feet long, so even though Duane is six feet, we can both lie on it and not touch each other! I also love the skylight, which lends a natural, Californian feel to the house.
Coffeetables from IKEA.

Who did the artwork?
I did. I majored in art in college but was really intimidated by the other students, so I dropped out. After college, I painted prolifically for a number of years. Frances is really good at painting, too, so we're getting back into it.

What's in the photograph?
The sky in Maine. Frances's father took that incredible shot from the ground upwards.

What a cute mini Panton chair.
I love the real Panton chair. It's a dull plastic, though, and this one is shiny.

Is that your painting, too?
Yes. Most of my paintings have to do with Star Wars. I don't know what it is, but I get great satisfaction from drawing abstract forms of imperial walkers.
The Bill Murray tote is from etsy.

How's the Bertoia chair at your desk?
I hate the damn thing! It's so uncomfortable, but it looks nice.

What's posted on your sewing room inspiration board?
A map of Venice, California, a map of Paris, stamps, a picture of Mick Jagger, a photo of Frances as a baby in a dishpan, a drawing she made of a smiling hugging figure. Also I have magazine tear sheets--I love the model Daria Werbowy.

What inspires you most overall?
Paris, of course, and old European cities. California is like living in Epcot Center; nothing here is old. I'm nostalgic for any place with a sense of history. I have a yearning to get back to an older time.

On Monday we showcased some of your reading nooks, and we were so inspired that we decided to take you into Cookie's editors' homes to show more. See where the kids of our editor-in-chief, photo editor, and features director plop down with a good book.

"Until he stopped taking naps about a year ago, my son Henry used to snooze in the nook for a couple of hours every day. In addition to a reading and lounging corner for the family, the spot also serves as a make-believe spaceship, and fire and garbage truck. The nook was originally intended to be a closet, but we realized it was large enough to fit a queen-size bed. My husband used extra fabric from coverlet and pillows to upholster a little footboard (we had some scrap walnut) so the bed frame wasn't exposed." -- Pilar Guzman, Editor-in-Chief

"My daughter can't actually read yet, but she loves quiet time in her room where she pretends to be reading to her teddy bears. We edged the couch near the window for light, and she has her own little bookshelf." -- Darrick Harris, Photo Editor

"I decided my daughter needed as much encouragement and inspiration as possible to make reading fun. We went to Ikea, and I let her choose all the pillows. On that trip, she spied the sheepskin rug and loved it so much she carried it around with her at the store, hugging it like a stuffed animal. The write-on-the-wall wallpaper from Graham and Brown went up soon after--it helps personalize the nook. Every few weeks or so I supervise as she paints whatever she wants inside the frames." -- Jenny Rosenstrach, Features Director

Do you have a great nook? Send us your photos!

Baker-turned-blogger Meg lives in Wisconsin with her family. Amid the chaos of caring for her kids, dogs and plants, she has created a calming space full of thrifted chairs and Parisian-looking chalkboards. We love how European it feels, even though many pieces were less than $20. Let's take a look inside...

What's it like to live in Madison?
We had a tough time deciding where to live: My husband is from the East coast, I'm from the Midwest. We wanted to raise our kids in a place that was walkable, safe and "country." Madison is amazing. We can walk to the library, church, grocery store, thrift stores, parks. Our backyard is a postage stamp; that's the one thing we had to give up.

How's the weather?
Wisconsin is very, very snowy.

What brought you to Madison?
My husband's job is based in Chicago, but he can work over the computer. I used to be a baker and chocolatier. In Madison, there are a few very nice chocolate places that I'm hoping to go to once my kids are school-age.

Can you tell us about your family?
My daughter is two, and my son just turned one. We have two dogs--big, fluffy and dumb. We used to love them. Now I pawn them off to anyone. We can't take care of anything more than our kids. Even new plants are a burden.

But you do have plants.
I have ferns and spider plants, things that you can barely kill. My sisters have green thumbs, so they give me advice. Hanging plants are genius when your kids start crawling and walking.

Where did you find this dining table?
IKEA. My family lives far away, so when they come, they all come at once, so we needed a big table. Also, after living in apartments forever, when you move into a house, you feel like "Oh, my gosh, we have all this space!" So having a table where you can read the paper and do crafts is amazing.

How cool that the chairs are all different.
They're all thrifted. Some came from before I met my husband; some were his; one I got from the trash in Chicago.

What color are the walls?
Dophin Fin from Home Depot. I love that gray, I want to paint the whole house that color.

Why did you go neutral in the living room?
Toys add a lot of color, so I wanted neutral walls in the living space. We used a creamy white here.

Where did you get the sofa?
In college at place called Le Junk Boutique for $30. I don't want it anymore. Just watching my children rub their stuffy noses on the couch...I try to clean it but it's so gross!

Hilarious. Is the coffeetable more loved?
Yes, we got it on sale from Target. It's great for kids since it just wipes clean. It has been colored and slobbered on.

Do you ever build fires in the fireplace?
It's actually completely fake! It never worked, so I don't know why it's here. I like having a mantle, though; when you switch it up, it makes the space totally change.

What is this little toy?
A vintage children's stove. I found it at a thrift shop in Minnesota, where I grew up. I feel so lucky to own it. Someone made it and put a lot of thought into it. My kids love it. I try to rotate toys to keep their interest, and I took the stove away once and that was unheard of, that was not cool. My daughter was so angry that I brought it right back out.

Who's handprints are those?
My daughter's from a year ago, right when my son was born. I think of this as her little space.

Let me guess--you got this chair at a thrift store.
Yes, I loved the shape and fabric. I spent $20 on it, which is more than I usually spend. The farther you get from the city, the less things cost. I made the pillow from a Amy Butler pattern.

What's the toy on the side?
It's a cradle for dolls. My daughter loves it. I made a little mattress and pillow. My son uses it for a boat. He sits in it and rocks and rocks.

What an amazing chair!
It's the best thing I've ever found. I carried it around the thrift store with my son on the other arm.

Can you tell us about these two spaces?
They're two tiny shelves above my kitchen sink. You can't put much on there--your dish soap maybe, but then you'd just stare at your dish soap. I don't naturally do things like this, but when someone gives you chattering teeth, where do you put them?

How did you gather together the other items?
My husband is from the east coast and the shell came from eating oysters one night. We take walks and my daughter picks things up, since that's what two-year-olds do!

I love this basement studio. What does it mean to you to have your own space?
When you're home with kids, you have to challenge yourself to do things that don't involve children and snotty noses and peanut butter sandwiches. Cooking used to be a creative outlet for me, but timing is key there, so I can't do that with babies around. But with sewing I can put it down and pick it up and work on it slowly. With children, there are so many demands, you have to find yourself at the end of the day. This is a personal space where I can do as I please. It's been amazing for my mental state.

What do you make here?
I make softies for my etsy shop. My daughter was obsessed with construction sites for a while, and there were no girly construction toys. I thought it would be nice to make a soft front loader. I came up with a pattern and it worked really well.

How did you choose this blue?
My friend's blue living room inspired me, so I picked this one. When I painted, it was incredibly bright. When I went back to see my friend's living room, it wasn't even close! I knew my kids would be sharing a room, and I wanted that a girl and boy would both like.

What a great elephant mobile.
It was a very lucky gift from a friend with good taste. It's really simple and hangs on fishing wire. Both my kids love it. Mobile from The Museum Store Company.

What do you draw on the chalkboard?
My daughter scribbles shapes, and we draw about upcoming holidays. I found it on freecycle.org. You sign up for your area's list, and people post the craziest free stuff: Half a box of tostidos, a ton of bricks. We've gotten old car seats, swings, even cribs.

Free is good.
I'm even into track picking. Once you start, it's hard to stop. I found the orange rocking chair in the trash; I had to sand it and paint it a ridiculous number of coats. It was just the right time for my daughter to get a rocking chair, and she was just the right size.

How did you decide on this bold green for your bedroom?
When you move somewhere, you stare at the crappy walls and finally can't do it anymore. I saw a green bedroom in Domino magazine and thought it looked great, so I went right out and bought green paint. It was completely spur of the moment.

What did your husband think?
He was taken aback! He has strong opinions, but for these crappy walls, I just couldn't hack it anymore. He grew to like it.

What advice do you have for new decorators?
Have patience. You don't have to get everything right away. It's depressing to see rooms in magazines where everything was bought at the same time; it doesn't really say anything. And don't be afraid of picking stuff out of the trash! It's ok. Add a bit of soap and water. I like things that have stories behind them. I have so many sisters that I don't get hand-me-downs; they got dibs on the good stuff! But if you can, get things from your family. The things in your house should have stories behind them.

Marisa Kula Mercer, mother of Sabine, 9 months, and co-owner of organic-bedding line Plover, rarely buys brand-new things. "There's just more interesting vintage stuff to be found out there, and it's the ultimate in recycling." When she and her husband do find a gem at a flea market, they manage to seamlessly fit it in with other eclectic pieces in their Oregon home.

Tell us about your living room. Love that groovy red couch!
My family spends a lot of time in the living room. My husband and I fell in love with the red Natuzzi couch as soon as we saw it. We thought it was the perfect piece to build the rest of the room around. The plain brown throw pillows are from Ikea, and the Brown Leaves pillow is Plover. I would actually like to have more pillows around because we use them for so many things: propping up the baby, sitting by the fire, lying around.

Love that big white hand on the shelf. What's the story?
The white hand sculpture is something we found at a store in Portland called
Rejuvenation. They sell salvaged and restored home hardware, and we are there once a week combing through everything. The hand was actually used for fitting gloves.

Where did you get that great cat?
My husband loves to find weird little things. The cat is actually an acupuncture model he bought online. It's kind of special because my husband rarely buys knickknacks (unless they're at Goodwill!) He has a way of finding them, or they're given as gifts. Most of the other figurines in the cabinet are things he found buried in the yard of our house.

What's your favorite vintage find in the nursery?
Her cowhide rocking chair. The seat is almost worn through, which is priceless. I also found the big blue chair at a local thrift shop, and it's the most comfortable seat in the house for reading books and breastfeeding. I can't wait to recover it in a Plover print! Her little baby bongos are also from our neighborhood Goodwill. My husband found those, along with a child's violin, when I was only a few months pregnant. So she's set for musical instruments!

How did you round out the rest of the baby's room?
I painted that 60s-style blue when the room was my office, and we loved it so much we left it there for the nursery. The crib and the rug are both from Ikea. That was the simplest, least tacky crib I could find, and it's made from sustainable wood. The rug is 100% wool, which is all I would put in her room. I love decorating her room because there's more freedom to play around than in the rest of the house. Plover's crib bedding comes out in Fall 2008, and I can't wait. For now, I just use our baby quilt in her crib, and  I keep a stack of Plover euro pillows on the floor in her room. I prop them up around her so she always has something soft to fall on.

These drawings are so interesting. Are there stories behind them?
The black-and-white artwork on her wall is from her uncle Rob's sketchbook. They were early drawings for the last Shins record cover, Wincing the Night Away, which Rob designed. He and Sheila framed them for us last Christmas, and since Sabine was cooking about the same time that record was, it made sense to hang it in her room.

What about the framed art?
The three framed pieces hanging together are copies of the artist Jen Corace's work. They are so sweet in a little girl's room. My husband put them in frames from Goodwill.

Michelle Reeb, a mother of two, detests clutter. "In fact, I hate any object that doesn't have a specific role," she says. So it makes sense that the Berlin apartment she shares with her husband and two children is an airy space where every object adds either function or beauty. As we head into spring--and spring cleaning--we're inspired by Michelle's simple furnishings and artistic touches. "I like not owning much stuff," she tells us, "but I treasure the things I have." Funny--we do, too.


Can you tell us about your kids?
We have two energetic kids. Quentin Jasper (he thinks the name Jasper sounds like cheese, so he doesn't like it) just turned five, and Stella Jean-Marie is two and a half.

Where do you live?
The southwest part of Berlin. It has cute corners and is near the free (can you believe it?) American school.

Have you always lived in Germany?
My husband is French, and we actually met at the art academy in Strasbourg. After living in New York for ten years, we moved to Berlin a year ago. I miss New York, but it's hard to think about the apartment sizes we had then versus the apartment sizes we have now.

What a great polaroid display. Did you take them?
They're by my husband Sacha. He collects old Polaroid cameras.

What a great reading nook!
We all love it. Guests often take a seat there if we're busy with the kids or cooking; then it doesn't feel awkward.

Do you use the Eames rocker to breastfeed? Some moms say it doesn't provide enough neck support.
During the day, it's fine since you want to look at your cute baby. Other moms might have a point about the headrest--nonetheless, I would never put an actual breastfeeding chair from BuyBuyBaby in my house! It's a matter of priority, I guess.

Where did you get this magazine rack?
When I lived in New York, I liked the bookshelves at Poseman bookstore. When they went out of business, I asked if I could buy the shelves. I have a subscription to Dwell to ease homesickness for the States.

Where did you get your dining table?
The table is from IKEA, believe it or not. I'm extremely happy with it, because I don't care what the kids do with it. The chairs are from Stokke, and the stools are from The Museum Stool. They're stackable since you're meant to carry them around a museum while attending a lecture.

What do you usually eat for dinner?
Sacha loves making roasts, and we eat salads like rabbits. I used to date an Italian guy so I credit him with my knowledge of pasta and risotto. We don't eat much German food. There's so much pork here; it's weird.

Why did you put mirrors in the dining room?
I like the idea of being able to see yourself during dinner, as well as the reflection of the light from the window or candles.

What's your son interested in? I sense dinosaurs, maps...
He loves anything related to travel, adventure and first and foremost storytelling. He's capable of telling a random stranger sitting next to us on a plane the whole contents of New Hope without taking a breath.

What books do you read together?
The No David series is a big favorite. Quentin likes Dr. Suess and the Tintin series, especially ones involving rockets.

What language do your children speak?
In New York, we were raising them bilingual English/French, and we didn't think we could handle an extra language. But now they're both picking up German. Watching a kid learn a language is really amazing. Quentin is pretty much there in just one year--crazy.

What do your kids do at this table?
They paint, color, do puzzles, set up the train, play lego...anything really.

Great tricycle. Do your children ride it inside?
My daughter rides it, plus we have two push bikes. The favorite activity when friends are over is to do a figure-eight through the living, dining room and hallway. Our downstairs neighbor did complain once...

Do your kids use this ruler?
We have measuring rituals. They're very proud to see their progress and it inspires them to eat vegetables. I found the ruler on the blog swissmiss. It's from Pottery Barn, believe it or not.

Where did you find the orange bookshelves?
From DWR. I put a nightlight in it, which makes a nice light during bedtime. I usually don't go for such strong colors, but I felt guilty because I figured my kids needed some color!

Can you tell us about the mobile above the crib?
My sister made paper flowers for her daughter's birthday, and when she offered to make some for me, they had to be white. I really like white on white.

You've created amazing decor in a small place. What advice do you have about maximizing your space?
Adjust things daily if necessary. I believe there's a perfect balance to be found in the way you arrange a room that feels "right." Not having too much stuff helps, too.

How are your children getting along so far?
It's your pretty average love/hate relationship, although more love for sure. They're both very tactile and like a lot of hugging and kissing, so they do that, but there's the occasional push and shove. When Stella is napping, Quentin usually can't wait for her to wake up.

Blogger Kristina Karkov lives in a small town in Denmark, but she has friends all over the world. Through her blog, she has connected with other artists, painters and mothers--so much so, that her home is filled with their artwork. Let's take a look inside....

Can you tell us about your house?
I live in a small apartment with my two kids. It's about 950 square feet, plus a small balcony. It's been quite change coming from a house with a garden, but we enjoy having everything "within reach."

How do you maximize the space?
I keep furniture up against the walls, to allow as much floor space as possible. I also keep rooms white with splashes of color.

Tell us about your bookshelves.
I'm so pleased with them. They bring life to the room and show who I am. Craft books show my style. Travel books show places I visit. Cookbooks show what I eat. Parenting books tell about my "parenting" style, and so forth.

Where did you find the art in your living room?
Through blogging! The paintings are my own work, but the other art is: The owl linocuts by Jackie at Littlest Flower; two ink drawings by Shannon at Aunty Cookie, and my kids' art. The sofa is the IKEA Ektorp corner sofa bed.

What about the white lights?
I hung those Christmas lights in December, but they're so cozy, I don't want to take them down.

Are you a big magazine reader?
I'm such an addict! My favorite is Boligliv, a Danish magazine that matches my style perfectly. The French MILK magazine is also super inspiring.