Style Lush

Must-have for troublesome sleepers: The Dohm

By Manda

My son, who is now just over two years old, has always been what we call a "special needs sleeper." Even when he was a baby he had to have a perfectly dark and quiet room to get any quality sleep. Now let me tell you, as a parent who has an older (and LOUD) child, two unpredictable dogs, and wood floors all in a one-story home (and not to mention we have to walk past the kids' room to get to our bedroom) and you this was formula for disaster. Even as a tiny baby he only napped once a day and didn't make it through the night without waking to nurse or be cuddled for a year. It was CRAZY.

Over the years we've done many things to help our boy sleep better. We moved his crib into his sister's room so he would be trained to not wake with every single noise he heard at night. We added a large fan in the warmer months of the year and that really, really helped mask noise. The problem is, now that it's winter, we exchanged the fan for a space heater that only runs intermittently. My son is cutting his two-year molars and going through his 25-27 month sleep regression. To say that we've gotten little sleep the last few weeks would be an understatement. Even his sister - who is usually a very deep sleeper - has been a hot mess during the day. She dropped her nap long ago and she has been crawling into her bed when we put him down for nap and falling asleep (which pushes her bedtime until almost 10 o'clock some nights. NO BUENO).

So when the lovely Sara wrote about how much she loved her new white noise machine, I had to give it a shot. I was a little hesitant about the price (and my husband was - and is - A LOT hesitant about the price), but I was so tired. TOO TIRED TO CARE. And I had a 20% off coupon at Bed, Bath & Beyond, so there. Friends? Meet The Dohm-DS Dual Speed Sound Conditioner by Marpac.

 

A few nights ago I bought it and snuck it into the kids' room. When I plugged it in it sounded EXACTLY like a fan. The higher level was a little too loud, so I turned it to the lower level. Perfect. And you know what else? THEY SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!

Although it's definitely a splurge at $55 (with a coupon at BB&B, but this is the Amazon price), I think it's worth every penny. And it's small enough that you can easily pack it on an overnight trip! I cannot wait to take this thing with me the next time we're at a hotel or visiting relatives. Life? CHANGED FOREVER. If you know someone with a baby on the way, a snorer for a bedfellow, or a noisy officemate I think this would be an AMAZING gift.

The writing of this particular blog entry is also brought to you by my new BFF, Mr. Dohm, as my son is on hour THREE of his afternoon nap. He slept through me giving his sister a shower after preschool, a viewing of How The Grinch Stole Christmas! and the baking of a batch of cookies.

(Photo from: Amazon.com)

Alarmed: The Best To-Do List App (I've Found)

By Jennie

You may remember that I'm always on the hunt for better ways to stay organized. See, as I get older, I've found I can't remember a thing. If I don't put it on my calendar, write a reminder, or add it to my to-do list, it will be immediately forgotten. I hate this! I used to have such a good memory, but I blame a combination of aging, parenthood, and all that tequila in college catching up with me.

Since I got my iPhone, I've been looking for a reminders app, something that would actually remind me of the things on my to-do list. I've tried a handful and they disappointed me each time. No push alerts, no distinctive reminder sound, no way to organize by date, no way to see completed tasks, no way to delay something by a few days.

Then I found Alarmed and I love it.

I set myself a reminder for EVERYTHING (and I do mean everything). If there's anything I need to do--from bring snacks to my son's school to filling out paperwork to a coffee date to my bills, it goes on here. I can set the time I want to be reminded, and I try to make those reminders at a time when I know I'll be able to immediately take care of something, but I can always snooze or re-edit the reminder if I need to.

What I really love is that if I do ignore or forget about a reminder, it stays on my list and I see it anytime I open up the app. So if I actually "forget" something, no problem! I can see it there time and again.

If you're looking for a similar app, I wholeheartedly recommend. Download! Use! Never forget again!

Still curious, what's your favorite to-do list app?

Bookcase style

by Christina

I have a house full of bookcases. I love to rearrange them, add new trinkets, move the books around, change up the backs. A bookcase can be a focal point in a room, typically a large piece of furniture so if you do it right, it can be a show stopper and add to your decor. Styling a bookcase can be hard if you don't know where to start so I'm going to break it down with a few little tips for you.

1. Your case can be all books or just a few, totally up to you.

2. Don't line everything up in a neat little line when it comes to decorative items, layer them in, tall item behind, shorter in front/off to the side.

3. You can't go wrong with groups of 3.

4. If you have a dinky item, put it on a stack of books, not just sitting on it's own.

5. The back of your case is showing, decorate it by painting it or covering it in fabric or paper.

6. If there's a top, decorate it, too.

This is the bookcase in my office,(sorry for such a shoddy picture) lots of books, fabric back, some "stuff".

And here are some fav's from pinterest.

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Have you already mastered bookcase styling or was this a little bit helpful?

Reader Question: Bulletin Board Makeover

by Megan

Reader Sarah wrote to us with the following question:

So I've got this bulletin board that is currently sitting in my master bedroom. While we're willing to do something crafty with it, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT. Is this something you can offer up to a couple of your writers?

The pictures are attached - it currently has the crafty painting/stenciling I did when I was 12 on it. We're looking to either make this a family command center OR put it in Tony's room (he's four, so we're dubious about putting a pushpin board in his room). It's a little larger than 3'x4' . I am horrible and didn't measure it (but one picture shows it is as tall as doorknob height).

Here's the before:

 

Like Sarah, I would be nervous about my four year old having ready access to a bunch of push pins, so that idea may have to wait a few years. I found this easy tutorial for updating your bulletin board for use as a family command center.

First, you're going to want to remove the cork from the frame and spray paint the frame it to give it new life.  Next, find some fabric that you like to cover the bulletin board itself. The tutorial takes you through this process step by step. You can also buy some coordinating ribbon to divide your board into sections.

Or, if you want to bypass the spray painting, you can wrap your entire board in fabric and add some pretty nailhead trim. I'm wishing I had an old bulletin board lying around to try this on.

As for the command center portion of your board, you have some options. I would opt for hanging a calendar directly on the board, or printing a few blank calendars and laminating them. You can place two or three months side by side, and reuse them by writing in dry erase marker.

You can also add a message center by laminating a plain sheet of paper, and add an additional section for tacking up invitations, schools projects and photos.

I hope this helps, Sarah! I can't wait to see the finished product.

{Photos from: Sarah, name5things.blogspot.com, fakinit.typepad.com}

My New Kitchen Desk

By Beth

I had two major problems with my kitchen.  Well, aside from the floors and cabinets and appliances falling literally apart, which we are addressing in the near future by gutting the whole thing.  Problem one was a blank and useless stretch of wall.  It is about four feet long, isn't really in the kitchen but more just something they had to put between the hall and the living room so that the kitchen didn't look directly into the bathroom, and features the furnace intake vent, a light switch, and the thermostat.  It is not the most attractive spot in my house, and other than alternating between an unused little kid table and blankness we never did anything with it.

Problem two was that my kitchen counters were constantly covered with my laptop, my husband's laptop, sometimes my husband's work laptop, and all of their related wires and accessories.  So every time I wanted to serve dinner and actually use my counter for food preparation and serving I first had to clear a significant stash of electronics from the area.

Sometimes two wrongs do make a right - enter my new kitchen desk!

It is very small, which is perfect for the space, but large enough to hold one laptop on top and another tucked into the single drawer.  My daughter loves to use it to do her homework, which means I don't have to evict her from the kitchen table if it comes time to set it for dinner while she is still working.  I love having an actual place to sit and work that isn't standing at my kitchen counter or sitting on the couch where the tv is entirely too tempting.  My husband will undoubtedly take quite some time to train out of his laptop countertop habit, but at least now I have somewhere to meaningfully deposit his laptop in a heap until he catches on.

Desk and chair are both from Ikea.  (Could you tell?  It's ok if you could tell, with two young kids I consider all my furniture to be short-term.)  The desk is the Leksvik, $129, and the chair is the Ingolf, $59.99.

(Photo credit: me)

Crazy-Affordable Chevron Rugs

By Leah

A million years later, I'm finally catching up with the rest of the world and have bought my first piece of chevron decor. I don't even care if this makes me sooooo 2000 and LATE; I LOVE IT.

Listen, I know I wrote about a rug last week, but I have to share this great deal: I saw this rug on the Urban Outfitters website and couldn't believe they were selling a (cute!) 5x7 rug for under $100. I bought it partly just to see if it was too good to be true.

It showed up within a week, and you guys, it's awesome. The design is printed on only one side (not woven through with different colored material, if you care about such things), but otherwise the quality seems pretty top-notch to this non-afficianado rug purchaser.

It comes in two sizes (5x7 and 3x5, the latter of which is only $39, if you can believe that), and you have your choice of a bunch of cute colors--so many it was really hard to decide which one to get, especially since I'm using it in my craft room, which currently has a design aesthetic called Cardboard Boxes Everywhere, meaning it's basically a blank slate.

Now that I've done a quality check on one, I'm seriously thinking about getting another for the front porch just so I can buy a different color. ZIGZAGS EVERYWHERE. (Hey, is anyone still wearing their Missoni for Target stuff? Just wondering.)

Anyway, get yours now, before the rugs go out of stock/go out of style/get all bought up by meeeee. 

Update: I couldn't stand it and totally just bought one for the front porch. 

Favorite Calendars for 2012

By Blythe

These calendars are my favorites for 2012.  I have seen them in real life, touched their pretty pages, and entered my family members' birthdays on their dates.

PaperSource Art Gride Calendar

I feel about Paper Source stores like other people feel about the Nordstrom shoe department.  So many lovely things!  Not enough money to spend!  And for $24.95, this calendar is not cheap, but if I'm going to have to look at it every day for an entire year, I should love it.  And I do.  Pretty art, a simple calendar grid (including lined squares - when did those go out of vogue?), lots of space to write.  Perfect.

Handbags Page-A-Day Calendar

I love nice purses, and here's a way for me to enjoy 365 of them!

Moleskine Large Softcover Weekly Calendar + Notes

Every Moleskine person has her own preferred model.  Here's mine.  They are maddeningly difficult to find online (always sold out, for some reason), but I can usually locate one at my local independent bookstore.  I put my personal appointments on the calendar days, my to-do list and notes on the lined pages.  These things are beautifully made and just get better with age.

{photo credits: papersource.com, bn.com, amazon.com}

USB Heated Blanket

By Leah

Do you live in a hundred-year-old uninsulated house, where you spend 8+ hours freezing at your computer desk every weekday? Do you know someone who does? Have I got a gift for you/that other person!

Have you seen the electric blankets powered by your computer via USB connector? Use one plug for "warm" and both plugs for "hot."

{Image from Think Geek}

When I tweeted my amazement at this brilliant marriage of survival and science, Laura replied that she had pair of USB-heated gloves, "so I can blog without chilly fingers."

{Image from Amazon}

So I guess this is a thing. Did you know this was a thing? I did not know this was a thing.

Space heaters rack up power bills like crazy, and don't get me wrong, I love my Snuggie, but listen: there's no law that says I can't use all four of these modern miracles at the same time. Cheers to working warm this winter!

For My Stocking: Vintage Number Stamps

by Christina

I have a thing for letter-press stamps. A thing that started when I was in a junk shop and came across a few stray blocks and found it so odd that the only letters they had were my son's initials; so odd that I bought them. Then I found more, and he ended up with a few sets in his room and then I had Ben and now he has some, too. Then a few weeks ago, while in Austin, I found more, and, well, I'm sure you see where this is going. Now I've found these and I want them. Not to display them but to use them! How cute would it be to date kids art or stamp dates on photo mats? So cute.

I sure hope my Santa is reading Style Lush.

(image via pinterest via Anthropologie)

Bookcase trends: Rainbow or Neutral

by Christina

This is gorgeous!

So pretty. It's a rainbow, it's bright and cherry and how in the world do you find a stinking book when you are looking for one if they are organized by color? Am I right? So this has been going on for a while, a few years maybe, but now? Now people are doing this!

I get it, it's neutral and quiet. It looks sort of nice and libraryish, but really? Really? What if you need a book? What if you're in a hurry,, like, say, someone calls you from Who Wants to be a Millionaire and the answer is in one of your books BUT WHICH ONE! WHERE IS IT? Okay, so, pretty unlikely scenario. Is that show even on anymore? And I'm sure you can just look it up online. Whatever.

The reason I'm writing about these is to get your take on them.Do you like this trend? If so which one, rainbow or neutral.( Have YOU read ALL of your books? Cause, dude, good luck...)

(Images via pinterest)