Last weekend I was looking at the large god's eye in my bedroom at my parent's house. My Mom showed me how to make them one summer when I was 9 or 10 and I remember making a few small ones out of 2 sticks and one large one out of 3 overlapping sticks. They're really fun to make and I hope this summer I can make some more. It would be neat to fill a whole wall with them, you could even add other bits of material, beads, feathers, etc.

swedish house

I just liked the simplicity of it.

Primary colors marrying well with each other is Sweden to me.

weekend home style: rustic and cozy

I'm sure I found this home on Design Sponge, but I don't know when.

This week I am in the mood for a rustic cozy country cottage.

Have a good Saturday!

We're off this afternoon to visit with our friends and their bwaker chickens and to watch the World Cup England vs. USA game :)

ikea homes

I was browsing the Ikea Family Live site and found this little apartment that is just so bright and colourful and inspiring for a small space.

These are just simple garden benches, but piled high with pillows at the end of their small kitchen they are a much better alternative to regular table and chairs.

Nice stainless steel shelving to show off beautiful glasses and a fun little car.

Big fan of rails for hanging mugs and pans and utensils off of, and also a fan of these moveable chopping tables with storage space underneath.

It's all the details that bring this place together.

Another view of the kitchen with breakfast nook at the end.

I think it's the wood flooring with knots that I most like about this bedroom, though I find the mauve/purple wall colour really pleasing.

And one of the owners even made a little model of the apartment before they moved in to try out different layouts. I love this because I did this the last time my parents moved to work out the layout of my own room :)

weekend home style: drafting

SJ finished my Christmas drafting table a few weekends ago!

Note the adjustable angle and height AND hinged plexiglass top!

I'm going to be sure to take it on a sketching spin this week.

The perfect handmade drafting table :)

weekend home style: curio collections

Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating 'dust collections' as my mom and I refer to random collections of objects whose only purpose (besides being pretty) is to collect dust...

BUT isn't this collection of violet glassware beautiful in the sunlight?

weekend home style: hobbit house

Your eyes are not deceiving you, and no, this is not the set of Bilbo Baggins' house from the Lord of the Rings....

This is the real home of a family of 4 in Wales, built by the father, father-in-law, and other passers-by! You can read about the building of it here. My favorite part is the 'reciprocal roof' - that spiral roof structure below creating a natural skylight.

What a cool home to grow up in! I bet bedtime stories are even better in this house :)

weekend home style: swedish winter

so I think these images of a red Swedish house are a bit belated (note the small Christmas tree in photo 5), but I did not want to hold on to them for another 12 months, so I figure, hey, Christmas was less than a month ago, so this house will do quite nicely...

I love all the simple details. It feels just like a home out of Carl Larsson :)

Games night tonight with Vicks, Matt, Sam, and Becks. Supposedly Vicks has a new boardgame based on Shaun the Sheep from Wallace and Gromit...

new year!

We're finally back in London after all our travels. We got back to London originally on the 31st of December but only stayed for New Years (met VB and ML and watched the fireworks from Hampstead Heath and had a Elijah Wood sighting), then immediately left on Jan 1 to go up to Manchester to visit SJ's parents. Phew.

We came back earlier than we planned today on the train because we got about 3 inches of snow overnight in Manchester AND the forecast for the next 5 days in London looks VERY snowy too (see below).

Should be an interesting week for us!

weekend home style: country living

I just happened on The Selby this morning and this home caught me up in the wonderfulness of their upstate NY country home. They have a big barn that he uses as a studio and another barn for guests to sleep in/ party area in addition to their main house.

did I mention they have a fenced veg garden?

main house

guest barn

I love all the wood everywhere, it reminds me of my childhood

fresh herbs!

I think this is my idea of my perfect life

lovely (real) wood flooring

massive fireplace

stairs up to the bedroom

I like the bookcases as headboard idea- better grabbing distance.

nice, big, open kitchen with lots of counter space

big enough to make pickles from your own cucumbers from your own garden!

I think I am about to die from envy of the perfect house.

weekend home style: unexpected lights

Wouldn't it be neat to have a whole group of these in a corner of a room, or even right in the center, with various heights?

Doesn't seem that difficult to do either- as long as you have a good woodworker handy... and are sure you won't set the log on fire...