a big boy room: the plan

My oldest son, Dominick, recently turned three and although there may be other three year olds still sleeping in their cribs, I feel like his big boy room makeover is way overdue.

Here's what it looks like now...

Not my favorite room in the house, but it serves it's purpose.

Part of the reason this makeover has been put on hold was due to budget {in case no one ever mentioned it before, the first year of owning a shoppe is pretty lean}, but the main reason was that I continued to change my mind on how I wanted his room to look.  I have no problem making decisions on things to put in the shoppe and I'm fairly quick on coming up with a room plan for someone else's home, but making decorating decisions in my own home always seems to be a longer process.

Sometimes it just takes a little inspiration to get my creative juices flowing.  That little bit of inspiration I was looking for came during a recent trip to HomeGoods when I found these Ralph Lauren pillow cases.

Two pillow cases for $35 definitely wasn't the deal of the century, but they were the perfect pattern and colors to get the ideas churning in my head.

Here's what I came up with...

And here are the details:

1 - I'm planning to frame out a portion of wall space and paint it with colored chalkboard paint.  Loving the red in this pic, but I may end up going with green.

2 - Three euro-shams in blue ticking. Why three? Because of the layout of this room, we're more than likely going to go with a daybed style twin bed so that we can float it on the wall where the crib currently is.  The euro shams will go against the wall. I was really hoping to do a twin bed to the right of the window, but there's only 38" there and almost all twin bed frames are at least 41" wide. Not to mention I want the curtain panels on the window to touch the ground and a bed overlapping the window would mean shades only.

3 - I ordered two of these pillows from West Elm.  Loving the color combinations.

4 - Walls to be painted Martha Stewart's Sharkey Gray.

5 - I also ordered this throw from West Elm.  I just so happened to time my West Elm purchases perfectly - 20% off on all throws and free shipping on all purchases the day I ordered.

6 - The Byholma chest from Ikea.  Perfect toy storage.

7 - Simple linen curtain panels {Aina} from Ikea, but my plan is to put some sort of trim on the edges.

8 - And I'll be painting the dresser or the bed {depending on which bed we end up with} in Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint in Flow Blue.

One other thing I'd like to do is change out the bi-fold closet door for one of these...

via My Sweet Savannah

That my be a hard sell with my hubby, but I'm going to try.  Should be simple enough, right? ;)

xo, Rachel

the giveaway

In celebration of Marian's visit {aka Miss Mustard Seed} we are hosting a giveaway on her blog!

Here's what one lucky winner will receive:

A copy of Miss Mustard Seed's brand new book 'Inspired You', one package of Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint in the color of your choice, MMSMP furniture wax, and MMSMP bonding agent!

Here's how it will work:

Simply 'like' our Facebook page and leave a comment on the giveaway post telling us which color of MMSMP you would like to win {go here to see a list of colors}.  If you have already been following us on Facebook, please leave your comment on the post and you will have the same chance of winning.

We'll be selecting one winner at random on Friday November 2nd. Good luck!

Miss Mustard Seed is coming to D'Bohemia!

Amy and I have been chomping at the bit to share this news with you!  Drumroll please...

Marian Parsons aka Miss Mustard Seed is coming to D'Bohemia on Saturday November 17th for a mini milk paint workshop and book signing for her new book 'Inspired You'. We're so humbled and appreciative to have Marian, who we've been so inspired by over the last few years, actually coming to our little shoppe!

From 9 am to 10 am she'll be teaching a mini milk-paint workshop to show you her tried and true techniques for working with milk paint.  This is your chance to learn from Miss Mustard Seed herself!  The cost of the mini workshop is $65 {all materials provided}.  We have a very limited number of spots, so please call the shoppe at 443-502-5690 to reserve your spot.

Then from 10:30 to 12:30 she'll be signing copies of her new book 'Inspired You'.

Books will be available for purchase at the shoppe, however advance orders are strongly encouraged to ensure you receive a copy. Advance orders will be available through Monday, November 12th and can be shipped or picked up at the shoppe. To pre-order, click here.  And keep a look out on Miss Mustard Seed's blog for our giveaway, with a chance to win a copy of 'Inspired You' and a bunch of other Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint goodies!

Join us at D'Bohemia, located at 425 St. John St. in Havre de Grace, MD for this great event!  We'll be providing refreshments throughout the day and special discounts on all Miss Mustard Seed Products. For more information, please contact us or visit the shoppe during normal business hours Wednesday-Saturday 10-5, and Sunday 12-4. We look forward to seeing you!

Rachel: cottage-cozy-chic

Now that Amy and I have joined forces, we're working on defining our design styles.  We definitely know what our styles are, but we're in the process of coming up with a few words to describe them.  Of course I could just jot a few words down on a piece of paper and call it a day, but being the nutcase that I am, I have to make this an all-day activity.  Enter the following things:

✦ cute binders

✦ page protectors

✦ magazines & tear sheets

I picked up the binders and page protectors at Target.

I pulled out piles and piles of new and old decor magazines.  I look forward to the Country Living 'white issue' every year.  The one below is from January 2011 and is still one of my all time favorites.

I tore out all of the pages that I had dogeared over the last several months.  Every so often I do this and put them in a file box labeled 'inspiration'.  There's the box on the right in the pic below.

I filled all three binders and still had a small stack of tear sheets in my inspiration box, which I'll continue to add to as I come across images that I love.

Looking back over all of the images I've collected over the last few years basically confirmed what I already knew to be true about my design style.  I love all things white, warm, and inviting, rooms that look collected over time, a fresh mix of vintage and modern, timeless elements, and a light and airy palette.  I'm going to sum that all up by calling my style cottage-cozy-chic.

If you are looking to define your design style or maybe you're just looking for which direction you might like to take in your own home, I highly suggest this method.  It really allowed me to see what rooms/looks I gravitate towards time and time again.

Amy's up next, so stay tuned for her post where she'll sum up her style in just a few words. We have such similar design styles, but with very slight differences.  Luckily, we happen to think those differences complement one another ;)

it's here!

Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint has arrived just in time for First Fridays!  If you have been on the hunt for this paint it is now available at D'Bohemia!

We are located at 425 St. John St. Havre de Grace, MD.  Our hours this weekend are as follows:

Friday 10-9, Saturday 10-5, and Sunday 12-4

We have all 12 colors in stock along with the entire range of Miss Mustard Seed products!

I'm really starting to see that iPhone pics are not the way to go for blogging.  It looks like I put a fuzz filter over the lens before snapping these shots.  Time to break out the good camera again ;)

howdy partner

This has been in the works for several weeks, but I'm so glad to finally announce the new addition to D'Bohemia!

Say hello to my new partner in crime, Amy Miller!

When I started this business, I planned to go it alone, but I quickly found out that this is definitely not a business you want to venture into solo.  I mean, how many pieces of furniture can you move on your own?  Luckily kismet intervened and after chatting a few times, Amy and I quickly learned how much we are alike. We both have two little boys.  We both live, eat, and breathe design.  We both love one another's style, and more times than not, find ourselves gravitating to the exact same things.

Here's a little peek inside Amy's home.  The girl's got great taste.

Yes, we've both heard the stories about partnerships not working out {especially partnerships between two women}, but we can honestly say that we trust one another's design decisions and feel that we make one another better.  And our husbands couldn't be happier because they no longer have to listen to endless rambling from us about our fabric obsession and that perfect vintage find of the day.  Now we just talk to each other!

So glad to have you Amy!  I can't wait to see where this journey takes us.

pie in the sky dreams

*beware*  wordy post ahead 

I am an avid blog reader.  I check in with my favorite blogs on an almost daily basis.  There are about 30 blogs in my Google Reader feed, but out of those I have only a handful of favorites.  One of those favorites is a name you've seen here numerous times...the beloved Miss Mustard Seed.  If you read her blog today you'll know where I 'm going with this 'pie in the sky' post, if not, you can read it here.  I've always been a little hesitant to put too many goals out into the universe out of fear that I would look silly if they don't come to fruition.  But I'm letting all of that go.

For as long as I can remember, I've dreamed of having a little shoppe.  In my dreams, this little shoppe may not have looked identical to D'Bohemia, but I'd have to say the comparison is pretty darn close.

  I feel blessed to be able to say I've made this dream of mine come true in the past year.  A lot of blood, sweat, and tears have been poured into getting this business going, but when I stop and think for a moment, I realize how far I've come.

Even with D'Bohemia up and running I haven't stopped dreaming.  I'm a dreamer by nature.  Always have been and probably always will be.  Now that Amy of HousePrint and I have joined forces {more on that in another post}, we have some pretty big 'pie in the sky' dreams for D'Bohemia that we're ready to share.  Here goes nothing.

1. Have D'Bohemia featured in Country Living and/or Better Homes & Gardens {our favorites}

2. Become a go-to destination for one-of-a-kind finds and home decor with timeless style

3. Begin offering design/decorating services to help our customers bring a little bit of D'Bohemia style into their own homes

4. Launch a D'Bohemia fabric collection

5. Open more than one D'Bohemia location {always local though}

I told you these were some pretty lofty goals, but hey we can dream right?  For now we'll get back to doing what we do best.

Thank you Miss Mustard Seed for giving us the idea to step out of our comfort zone and put this out there for everyone to see.  We'll see what the future holds.