Paper Lanterns

We've all seen them growing up. You remember - in your "girlfriend's" room in the corner hanging from the ceiling. The walls are probably a lime green with hot pink accessories here and there with one big white paper lantern. No? Well, here's a fun way to use the same concept, but with an updated and mature twist. There are so many options that it all depends on the concept you're going for. For example:

Outside Wedding Reception:
- all white
- strung romantically from trees (preferably oak)
- different lengths and sizes

Clothing Store (with a modern feel)
- all white
- same size, hung at the same height, and all the same width apart
- keep it contemporary, clean, and crisp
- ex: very clean line of lanterns to anchor a table display of jeans

Graduation Party
- depending on the formality, you could use different sizes and hang from different heights, etc
- use school colors!

Fiesta!
- multicolored
- different, vibrant colors, heights, sizes, etc

There are some similar examples here!
(Thank you, Michael, for the pictures!)

Home Office Storage

If you're anything like me, your mail piles up for a week, you leave stuff all over the place, and "organization" is something you heard about SOMEwhere...I think some movie, right? Hopefully you have someone like Beau who is there to put everything in it's place and come up with creative solutions for all the clutter.

Because of our work with designing invites, stationary, etc, we have so much stuff on the topic: paper sample books, inspiration pieces, magazines, and examples from our work to show clients. To keep all of this straight, Beau bought this cool hanging organizer that is perfect for holding/displaying everything. I love it for a few reasons. 1) Everything is easy to see b/c it's open baskets. 2) The long, vertical shape if perfect for the awkward wall space between two windows 3) It's easy to pull off the wall if I ever need to take it somewhere.

To make it more unique and DIYish, Beau made little tags and using The Mended Nest Font, printed out the different sections' names: Paper Samples, Inspiration, Invitations, and Miscellaneous. Then he attached them to the organizer using wire. Simple. Easy. Cheap.

DIY Office Storage Creative Solutions (Part 2)

Last week, we showed you another creative storage idea for your home office and I'm happy to announce that part 2 is here! Since starting The Mended Nest, we've found ourselves doing a lot more gift wrapping - often times for merchandise that we're delivering. When we started the process of turning our guest bedroom into an office, we tried to think of more efficient ways of storing all the wrapping supplies we need...rather than keeping everything in a box on the floor.

Just like the last project, this was totally Beau's idea, so I didn't actually make it. However, I'll try my best to explain the process.

1. Paint two pieces of wood (equal in size) white (or whatever color you want for your office). Screw these into the wall. These will act as the frame for the whole thing. Make sure to measure! You dont want to put them too far apart to where the rods won't reach both ends.

2. Drill the eye hole screws into the wood. Make sure you're drilling them at the same height for each...unless you prefer ugly and lopsided rods

3. Slide the wrapping paper, ribbon, etc., onto the rods (before hanging the rods)

4. Hang the rods up by the eye hole screws

Just think: this will come in handy especially during Christmas!  

DIY - Office Storage Creative Solutions

Hello! Recently, we started the process of converting our guest room into a home office. Our reasoning behind this switch was that we only have guests stay a couple of time a year, but we could utilize an office space every single day. We wanted it to be a place that would function as a space where we could bring clients for meetings, but still be functional as an office/creative room. I'll be posting about the whole room later (when the whole thing is complete), but for now I want to focus on our most recent project: Mason Jar Misc Holders!

I'm very excited to share this with you guys. Because we're working in a small space, creative storage solutions are crucial. We don't have room for big shelves or cabinets to hold all of our supplies, so why not use extra wall space?

It was a fairly simple process: we started by painting a piece of wood white then drilling it into the wall. This would be the mount for the row of jars. Then we drilled a hole in the metal hose clamp (this was the hard part) so that it could be screwed into the wood mount. Once drilled in, we fastened the hose clamp around the glass jar. DONE!...except for filling it with pens, markers, pencils, brushes, etc.

I hope this inspires you to get a little creative with your home office. Good Luck!

Tyler Candle Co.

Since moving into our house, Beau and I have been working very hard to keep that I-own-huge-dogs-and-have-given-up-on-cleaning look and smell out of our house. I have to admit, sometimes I just want to throw in the towel and say, "Screw it!" However, since Beau basically has a nervous breakdown if the house isn't immaculate, we literally clean almost every single day. So while we're battling the dirty floors, we let Tyler handle the odor.

Tyler candles have become my favorite candle company EVER. There are roughly a million scents to choose from, and I've only found a few that I don't love. They last forever, and are great for pet owners (like us) who want to really mask that pet smell. (I feel like I should say - we do NOT have a smelly house whatsoever. However, with two big dogs, it's never going to be perfect) Anyway, our favorite scents are Paris, Tyler, and Original, but I know other people swear by French Market and Wisteria Lane. Check them out! I know locally in Baton Rouge, you can find these candles at The Royal Standard, Earthly Concerns, and in the Mall of Louisiana.

Note: These candles smell great, and they look fantastic, too. The colors of the waxes are very chic and sophisticated, so you really can use it as decoration, too. Does this sound like the Glade commercial with that faux-candle paper crap where you're supposed to use it as decor?! Ummm...no.

Danes!

I can't believe this is the first post about Duke and Cooper! These guys are our two great danes, and we love them! Yes, they keep it extremely challenging to keep a clean house, but they're totally worth it. Duke (blue) is about 2.5 years old and weighs about 140 lbs. Cooper (fawn) is already almost just as big, but the funny thing is that Cooper is only 7 months old! He's going to be HUGE! We're so blessed to still have Cooper. When he was just a few months old, he contracted Parvo, a very deadly disease in puppies, and he nearly died. However, after about a week at the vet's office, Cooper returned as good as new! That's how we got the nickname Re-Cooper (after recuperate).

Like I said earlier, it's stressful to have 220 lbs of dog running around, but we love them very, very much. If it was up to me, I'd have a dane in every color! Unfortunately, Beau (and my wallet) have something to say about that...

DIY - Towel Shelf

Since moving into our house, we've realized that space is a little bit of an issue. Not a big one - for the most part we're alright, but every once in a while, we find ourselves without a place to store something. As you know, we recently bought a set of towels from Pottery Barn, and we don't want to store them under the sinks because we don't want them to end up like our old towels: with that cabinet smell...you know what I mean?

I wish I could take even a little bit of credit for this, but it is all Beau. He came up with the idea of keeping the towels exposed on a DIY shelf where an old towel bar was before. Similar to the theme with the chalkboard we made for our kitchen, he wanted to keep it looking industrial by using steel piping and connectors (vs. using an L bracket or something similar) to hold the shelf up. For the shelf itself, Beau just got someone to cut a piece of wood from Lowe's and then he stained it an ebony color. Finally, he sealed the wood with polyurethane. It looks amazing and I am completely thrilled. One thing I love is that it's located close enough to the shower so that if I forget to grab a towel before I get in the shower, I don't have to walk around cold and wet to get one! Ahh the little things...



I hope you like this idea and try it out yourself! Take a look around at Lowe's or any other hardware store. There are so many interesting little things you can pick up and re-purpose for your home. Email us some pictures at themendednest@gmail.com- we'd love to see what y'all come up with!

Black and White

This weekend, we took on a major (and very necessary) house project: pressure washing the entire exterior. In theory, our house was white white with black shutters when we bought it, but in reality, it was more of an off white thanks to years of pollen and dirt build up. I'm exaggerating, but it DID need to be cleaned (or repainted) regardless. Since we don't have the money to throw at some painters (and we certainly weren't going to do it ourselves) we decided that pressure washing was the best temporary solution.

Just like painting the whole interior of a house, I am never pressure washing my house again! It was the biggest pain - partially because we only have ONE hose hookup. My process was as follows: Screw the hose into the sprayer that contained a bleach-based formula to clean the house. Spray the house. Walk back to the faucet and turn the hose off. Walk back to the hose and take that attachment off (and get sprayed in the face with the extra water). Screw the hose into the pressure washer. Walk BACK to the hose to turn it on. Walk back to the pressure washer and clean that ONE part of the house. Then walk back to the hose, turn it off. Walk back to the pressure washer and unscrew the hose (and get sprayed in the face again). Screw the hose back into the bleach mixture and repeat...over and over and over. Special.

I'm glad we did it, though because it looks to much better! It's definitely not as nice as a fresh coat of paint, but Beau and I are satisfied knowing that our house is at LEAST clean. Now we can honestly say "We're on Capital Heights, right past Florence on the right. It's the white house with the black shutters".

Jar it Up

We've always loved the idea of glass front cabinets that expose the contents behind the doors. It gives a fun, industrial, warehouse "district-esque" vibe. Since we're not about to rip off our cabinet doors and replace them with a glass front, I think it's better/smarter to start small and discrete. What Beau and I have done is find glass jars that we use in our bathrooms to hold Q-tips and cotton balls. 

I love, love, love these jars! They remind me of the old Ball jam jars used to use homemade jams during Thanksgiving and Christmas. You can literally find them everywhere. We bought ours from World Market, but you can get everywhere from Walmart to Crate&Barrel. 

Hope this inspires. Happy Friday, y'all!

Keep it Out

Another Jeri's Corner post! How exciting, right? Creating a little space in your kitchen for oils, vinegars, salts and peppers, etc. is an easy way to decorate without cluttering up your kitchen with useless crap. I should have prefaced by saying that this may not always work for you, and there are a few conditions, but if your kitchen does meet the requirements, I would definitely give it a try. This picture is from Jeri's house - it's on top of her counter, but off to the side, and not in the way of all the major kitchen traffic. This is important - you don't want to have all this stuff in the middle of where you chop veggies or in the middle of where you prepare meals.

Keep in mind, this wouldn't really work for all kitchens. If you have a super tight galley kitchen, this is not a great idea. We had one before, and EVERYthing that was out on the counters kept it looking cluttered and messy. Also, if you have a modern home with streamline everything where absolutely nothing is on the counters, then keep that trend going and avoid a random grouping of oils, etc. Keep them behind closed cabinets.

Also (and this is KEY), please make sure to put the oils, vinegars, etc. into some kind of a cute container - unless the original bottle isn't tragic. It doesn't quite have the same effect is a bottle of Great Value olive oil is sitting on your counters! Finally, even though it's hard to tell in this picture, group everything together by placing all the little containers on some sort of silver, pewter, etc. tray.

Love White

Chartreuse, brown, tan - we've HAD some towel colors over the years. It's one of those things where at the time (especially in the store) the colors look great, but after a while of use, just looking at the color irks you. Not only that, but Beau and I, in an attempt to be fiscally responsible, would go for a cheaper towel option. The problem is that they would lose their softness after a year worth of washing and drying.

This is why Beau and I decided to purchase a set of the Pottery Barn Classic towels...in stark white of course! The goal is to keep these towels for a while. It's obvious how much of a better quality these are compared to a standard towel from BB&B, so I'm assuming/hoping that they'll last that much longer. We chose the white for two main reasons: 1. We think white look great in a bathroom by keeping things clean, simple, and neat. 2. In two years, we won't be tired of the color we chose...because there's no color.

So far so good. If you're in need of towels, we would totally recommend these. They're a little pricier, but totally worth it! Happy Friday!

Keeping it Fresh

Fast food, frozen dinners, and take-out is such a huge part of so many young professionals' lives. Long hours at the office coupled with no real talent in the kitchen makes it super convenient for people to rush to eat (probably in front of the TV) last minute - and no one wants to spend time cooking after an exhausting day. Do we have an amazing fix-all solution? No. However, this is what WE do, and maybe it'll help get you away (at least partially) from that fast food crap.

It's actually pretty simple - just keep fresh ingredients around your house. It's easy to do by just picking up a few things here and there whenever you run into the store. For example, if you're running into the grocery to pick up some beer for "the game" (or wine for Project Runway), grab some avocados, cucumber, or tomatoes. Next time you have a craving for a snack, instead of pulling up to a drive-thru, just (for example) slice up some tomatoes and basil leaves, add a pinch of salt and pepper, and drizzle some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Still going to be hungry? - make a lot. You'll fill up - I promise. Doesn't that sounds better than frozen, then deep fried french fries, and then topped with a mayonnaise and cellulite based dressing?

The point is - it's not hard to whip up a fresh meal on the fly if you just have the right ingredients. I suggest always having the following on hand at all times:

- garlic - for everything

- tomatoes - EVOO, bal. vinegar, s/p
- bell pepper - dip in hummus!
- cucumber - same as bell pepper
- spinach - sauté and place over grilled chicken
- avocados (add to the tomato recipe)
- cilantro, basil, rosemary (plant yourself - much cheaper!)
- misc seasonal fruits

Friday Finds: Champagne Flutes

Beau and I have decided to try something new for The Mended Nest: Friday Finds! We're constantly finding things that WE think are interesting, special, unique, or just cool and worth sharing. This is different than anything else we blog about, and the purpose it to help broaden our horizons and share new things with y'all that we haven't necessarily created. Hope you enjoy!

For my 25th birthday, a few different people got me bottles of champagne. The problem is that I (embarrassingly) have no champagne flutes! After doing a little research, I'm now officially obsessed with them, so I thought our first Friday Find could be about...the champagne flutes that we would kill for love!

For us, simple = better. Champagne emotes a sense of class and elegance, so please don't turn "class" to "klass" but using some funky/cheesy flutes! While costing between 3 and 20 dollars PER, some of these flutes are definitely an investment - but totally worth it! My ultimate favorites (and the ones I'll be ordering very soon) are the Edge Flutes from Crate&Barrel (3) or the Schott Zwiesel Pure Champagne Glass from Sur la Table (4). Instant obsessions. I love how they're classic, yet modern and interesting. However, we've added a few more classic flutes for the more traditional reader.

1. Pottery Barn Classic Stemless Flute (Monogrammed) 
2. CB2 Simplicity Flutes (only ~3 dollars per! - by FAR the best deal)
3. Crate&Barrel Edge Flute
4. Sur la Table Schott Zwiesel Pure Champagne Glass
5. Crate&Barrel Decade Flute (with vertical engravings - seems to be discontinued...)

Chop and Grind

I've mentioned in a previous post that I really racked up this year (for my birthday) in the "presents department", but my most favorite gift was from Jeri - a Cuisinart Food Processor! I love to make hummus, guacamole, salad dressing, chicken salad, etc., and this makes creating these foods so much easier. I've used a blender in the past, and as you can imagine, it usually doesn't come out exactly how I expected. So far, I've only tried it out a couple of times, but I'm already in love, and I can't wait to use it more. Obviouly, I'll keep you posted on my food creations! (Cilantro Hummus? Please and thank you!)

Here are some of the things I'm looking forward to making:
- Basil Pesto
- Mango Salsa
- Vinaigrettes
- Citrus Champagne Salad Dressig
- Hollandaise Sauce
- Roasted Vegetable Spread
- Gorgonzola Butter

Inspirational Notes

Attached to one of my presents given to my by my parents was a note that my mom had hand written. Originally written by Saint Francis de Sales, the passage talks about finding your inner peace, not being in a hurry, and doing everything in a calm spirit. Like my mom, I now have this passage right next to my sink so I can read it every morning as I'm waiting for my coffee (or in her case, as she drinks a Diet Coke) before I start my day. Beau and I both tend to get overwhelmed with our extremely hectic schedules, and it helps to take a moment to put it all into perspective.

Happy Friday, Everyone.

DIY - Paint by Annie Sloan

Per the suggestion of Carla, the woman who renovated my parent's house, Jeri decided to paint a buffet in her dining room with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. The piece of furniture was passed down to my mom after my grandfather (PawPaw) passed away, and my grandmother (MawMaw) moved into a new house. The buffet was pretty to begin with, but it was a little outdated and didn't match the rest of the decor in Jeri's house. So, instead of trading in the buffet for something a little more in style, my mom (along with the help of her friend, Pricilla) took Carla's advice and Painted the piece using the Annie Sloan Paint. Good thing because it turned out beautifully!

What's neat about this paint is that it's fairly low maintenance. There's no sanding required - even if you're painting over wood with a gloss. Best of all, you don't have to be perfect. In fact, the less perfect the better - it gives it a more rustic and authentic feel. You can even paint right over the hardware!! Either way, once the paint is dry (about one day), you're left with a very chalky painted piece of furniture, and now it's time to apply the wax. This is the finishing touch which gives the true antique look to the piece. Again, after about half a day, remove the wax, and you're finished, and left with a beautiful DIY piece of furniture.

See below for top reasons why this paint is the BEST (taken from the Annie Sloan website)

  1. It's the BEST paint for painting furniture by a long way
  2. You can use the paint by diluting it with water to make a wash to show the wood grain
  3. You can use it as an impasto ( thickly) - leave the lid off to thicken
  4. You can use it on any surface, indoors and out ( the outside of our shop was painted in it- perfect!)
  5. No need to prime or prepare
  6. The colours are mixed intelligently and the web site shows how you can adapt your colours for your use
  7. It's a girls' paint, but boys can use it too.
  8. It's flexible so you can be creative and change you mind
  9. The paint can be washed off your brush even when you find your brush weeks later.
  10. It allows your walls to breathe so it is perfect for cottage walls
  11. Extremely low VOCs so it is good for the environment
  12. It doesn't form a skin on it when you leave the lid off - just add some water if it's too thick
  13. Very little black is used in their manufacture so the colours are mixed with thought
  14. You can paint it on walls for a soft matt effect or wax it for a polished plaster effect

This has to be my newest obsession, and I want to redo every single thing in our house with this paint. Luckily, I have Beau here to reign in my crazy.

Mrs. Meyer's Everything

Beau and I have grown to love Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products for a few reasons: they're aromatherapeutic, made with naturally occurring ingredients, not tested on animals...and most of all...pretty! Let's be honest - this is much cuter than having a bottle of dawn and some Softsoap sitting on your counter. The main products by Mrs. Meyer's are liquid hand soap, dishwashing detergent, laundry detergent, and air fresheners, and we recommend you give them all a try. The place I've found the biggest variety is World Market. Check them out!

We've received several compliments on the hand soap and the dishwashing detergent because they smell so good! Our favorite scents (and the ones that we usually have around the house) are basil, rosemary, and geranium. Careful, though...they're addictive!

Before and After: Kitchen

The kitchen. For many people (including us), this is IT. This is the space where everything happens - THIS is where life is lived: gathering around to cook, converse, congregate, laugh, and love. Sitting around the island as mom or dad prepares meal after meal is something that both Beau and I can relate to, and with all this in mind, OUR kitchen is our most occupied and loved space in our house. We'll be updating this room until the day we move, so while while we say it's "done", we really mean for now. We'll be making several more improvements over the years, so you better stay tuned!



As you can see in the "before" pictures, the kitchen was a mess. It was a horrible shade of perwinckle, and had crap all over the place. Also, there was a hugh freezer right where Beau's desk is located that held all the animal remains that the previous owner hunted and killed...at least what wasn't mounted on our walls. And I'm sorry, but I hate every single knick knack or "decoration" above the cabinets. All of it. Either way, Beau and I made some necessary minor improvement which we hope you'll appreciate!

Improvements:
 - painted
 - touched up trim
 - installed new faucet
 - removed the dead animal freezer
 - new pulls for top drawers (crescent pulls replaces knobs)
 - alleviated the clutter

Obviously, we have a small kitchen with no island, but it is still the heart of our home. We love our improvements so far, and we hope something here inspires you!

Let it Rain

If you live in the city, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about when I say that it has literally rained every single day in Baton Rouge for a good while now. You can usually expect afternoon showers during Louisiana summers, but it has been POURING! Part of me feels like I shouldn't be complaining because I haven't had to water my plants in two weeks (or more), but at some point, enough is enough!

I cannot cut my grass because water is collecting everywhere, mud is constantly dragged into the house, and it's impossible to leave the danes out to run in the backyard (don't feel bad - they get their exercise!). But OMG, having two big dogs that need to go to the bathroom at LEAST three times a day means a LOT of feet wiping! (Our floors show dirt very easily) In fact, that's 168 paws we have to wipe every single week. Jealous? The ONE good thing that I can get out of this (other than the fact that I don't have to work to have pretty plants) is that with the rain comes cooler temperatures. Obviously in Louisiana, "cooler" means 90 degrees and humid...better than 102 degrees...and humid!

You know what I need?! I NEED to be home on the sofa with the danes in my snuggie watching Project Runway reruns. Doesn't that sound like heaven?!

Tweet

Everyone has their own decorating "thing", right? For example, in past years, my mom, Jeri's "thing" was Fleur de Lis. However, in recent months, she's been transitioning to...BIRDS! Let me explain. They're not alive, nor were they ever (translation - they're not hanging on our walls stuffed with sawdust). She's started placing these cute little ceramic birds discretely around the house. They can be founds on little wall decor pieces, on window sills, on bathroom counters...even used as salt and pepper shakers. Okay, as I'm reading this back to myself, it sounds so tacky, but I can assure you it is not. Come on - we're talking about Jeri's Corner!

Needless to say, we have started a little bird collection of our own. In the two bathrooms, we have little white containers for cotton balls and Q-tips with birds on the lid. Recently, we bought a framed picture of a bird from Pottery Barn which I love. Jeri has even helped us out a little and gifted us with a fat fluffy bird that sits on our window still in the kitchen.

What's your decorating "thing"? We'd love to hear!