Sugarboo Art Prints

*Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers for my dad's surgery. He seems to be doing well and I'm headed up to the hospital this morning to check on him.

Now- changing gears....I've been at a loss as how I should decorate Baby C's nursery. As most of you know- we are not finding out the sex so the nursery will be gender neutral.

I've gone in a million different directions when planning the nursery in my head and my thoughts always come back to this (remember this post?):
.
So, I've decide that it will be my starting point.

I'm not sure if you are familiar with Sugarboo Designs out of Georgia- they are a precious husband and wife team. Their site has so many creative items but favorite has to be the art prints which are framed in vintage recycled wood:
.

And as seen in an issue of Coastal Living:

.

*images via Sugarboo Designs

a small request

*Update- My dad's surgery went well and he was moved to his room. Thanks so much for your thoughts, prayers, and comments... It means a lot to me.

If you are reading this- I would appreciate you saying a little prayer for my dad today. He's having surgery this morning at 7--- he found out in early December that he has prostate cancer. My parents are here in Birmingham for the surgery- so I am thankful to be nearby.

.

*my dad, Michael, and me {at my best friend's wedding last summer}*

.

I cannot begin to tell you how thankful I am for the dear friends that God has blessed me with. I came home yesterday to find these thoughtful goodies:
.
.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers! I'll be back soon.
xx- Brooke

Birth Announcements

I've been working with a new client on some designs for her bundle of joy due soon. She and I like many of the same things/designs- which makes this project lots of fun for me. While I love colorful birth announcements with stripes and polka dots and photos--- the ones that I've created below are more my style.
. .
Sorry- they are a bit hard to see because of the white background. I hope you can get the idea. I've just added them to my Etsy shop.

Ornate Initial Background Announcement

Nest Announcement
Ornate Initial Announcement

I'm very thankful to the each of you who have supported this little business of mine!

Wrapping up ATC's house

I hope you enjoyed seeing Anne Turner Carroll's den and kitchen renovations from last week. I never tire of looking at them. I thought I would wrap up today with a peek into her living room with some of her creative before and afters. I love seeing what people do with old furniture.

Here is a before of her wing chair:

And here you can see the after of the pair:

Arm chair before:

Arm chair after:

And my favorite- sewing table before:

Sewing table after (yes, she had it covered with grasscloth!):

*all images via Southernliving.com

Anne Turner's Kitchen Redo

I have had these images saved on my computer ever since Anne Turner Carroll's kitchen redo was published in the last issue of Cottage Living. We all love a good before and after- and this one ranks high on my list of favorites. I know that we've all seen this kitchen on multiple blogs in the past year- but it's one that I never get tired of seeing.

Before photos:

Starting the renovation:

And the after photos. There are so many things I could say- but I'll let the photos speak for themselves:

Anne Turner's Den Redo

Several rooms of Anne Turner's Birmingham house have been published throughout the past few years- and here is her newest redo that was published in January's Southern Living. As I mentioned last week- it's always fun to have a peek inside some one's house who is the same age as me.
.
Here is her small den before:
And here is the after:

I love her big patterned ottoman--- and I also love her wall of photos. I am a big fan of photos- but often have a hard time deciding where to place them around my house. What a great idea to dedicate a whole wall to a grouping.

.

I'll see if I can pull some files from my archives and post about her other published rooms tomorrow.

Friends

Look, it's Marianne, Rachel, and me. We were featured this week on The Sartorialist. Ha, I'm so kidding. But how fun would that be?

Look how cute and stylish this group of friends are. I can say that I'm a little bit jealous. Especially since I'm breaking out the maternity jeans this week. It will probably be awhile before I feel 'stylish' again.

*as seen on Mary-Kathryn's blog via The Sartorialist

Seriously, here is a photo of the three of us. Preggers on the right. We recently met up for coffee and then went shopping around downtown Homewood. Fun times.
.

What's Inspiring Me this Week...

Here are a few images that I cannot get out of my head this week...

Loving this nursery that I recently saw on Serena and Lily. And it must look like something that I would have in my house because Marianne saw it and immediately thought of me and emailed it my way.


Yes, I am still trying to finish up my home office. I promise I'll finish it soon and stop talking about it. But even when I'm finished- I will still post images like this. I just love looking at other people's creative spaces- such as this one. While I'm not one that cares much for clutter, this works. It's what my friend MEMS calls 'creative clutter'. (via madebygirl)

It doesn't matter how often I see this wallpaper- I love it every time. While I don't have an official foyer/entryway- my mom does- and I think she should do something fun like this on her walls.

Craft Hope

I woke up early this morning thinking about the earthquake victims. As I was thinking about them and praying for them- I felt completely helpless. It was then that I was reminded about a blog post that I read about last night on Darby's blog. Have you heard about Craft Hope for Haiti? I thought that it was such a great idea.

.

The Craft Hope for Haiti Etsy shop will allow crafters to donate products and allow folks to purchase them with 100% of proceeds benefiting Doctors without Borders.

.

Here is the Etsy site- and know that they are adding new items daily. I haven't decided yet what I am going to donate- but plan on letting them know at some point today.

,

I hope that you all will consider supporting this cause- either by donating an item to the shop or purchasing an item. Every little bit helps.

Are you ready?

... for warmer days? What a perfect spot this would be to lounge with a good book and a glass of lemonade.
.
.
Have a great weekend!
xx-Brooke

Classic Remix

I saw this home featured on AH&L. It starts off the article with this:
"Designer Barbara Howard guides a young couple to embrace a fresh take on traditional style."

I was glad that they showed the 'young couple' because I often wonder... what do they mean by young? Does anyone else ever have this thought?

*via Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles