I got an email yesterday about these gorgeous letterpress prints created by local design firm Ghost (a couple of which I went to design school with!), and couldn’t help but share them with you. The print features a map of the City of Moore with focus on the sections most devastated by the storm.
Donate $10, and receive a numbered print with 100% of the proceeds  donated to Architecture for Humanity, a 501 ©(3) charitable organization that brings architectural design solutions to communities in need.

From Ghost’s site -

When Ghost received the call from Neenah for the Beauty of Letterpress project the team was eager to participate and wanted to create something special. In our local design community, we all felt this need to do something. There has been an incredible outpouring of designers donating their time and talents to help with the relief efforts. This tragedy is an event that reminds us of how closely we’re all connected. This project was our opportunity to help.

Continuing long term relief efforts was a key component to this project and is summed up simply on the print, “In remembrance of all that was lost, we stand together as one. 
Empower. Invest. Repair. Sustain.” Help us to spread the word and get these prints sold out!

You can purchase here, with 100% of the donations going to Architecture for Humanity.

So you’ve been embarking on the great hair growout for quite awhile now, but you’re starting to feel that all-too-familiar itch.

You’re getting bored. Bored with all that luscious fabulous long hair that you’ve been working oh-so hard to grow.  You’re wearing it all up in a ponytail because you don’t know what else to do with it.

But wait! Before you pick up the scissors (DON’T) or call the stylist for a major makeover, consider these tips.

1. Get some great layers // image by

But don’t just go ahead and cut it all off. Cutting layers was a huge boredom reliever for me, and it actually made my hair feel a lot less heavy – a particular bonus as we head into the summer months. My naturally wavy hair is way happier now too, and the texture of my hair cooperates much better when I want to wear it wavy.

2. Think about bangs // image by FabFitFun

With so many options for face-framing bangs, these are another sure-fire way to shape up your style.  Experimenting with bangs is a great way to go short but without it feeling like you’ve made a huge commitment. While they are definitely a bit high maintenance if you go for short blunt ones, there are some really amazing looks out there right now. Don’t want to go for the bold blunt look? Think about sideswept or longer layers that hit at the cheekbone. Here’s a pretty look from Rubi Jones.

3. Learn how to braid // image by JessicaJanae Photography

I’ll be honest – this one’s a hard one for me, but I’m learning. And it’s a lot of fun to experiment with. I’m figuring out that there’s really no one right way to braid. So let your inner bohemian out — and experiment a little when there’s no pressure to be running out the door. Of course there’s always other fun tutorials too – this knot-based ponytail is pretty interesting, too.

4. And of course, accessorize! // image by Splendid & Ban.do

Especially now that it’s summer, I have a ton of fun with scarves, headbands, etc. I’m also loving the half-up style, pulled back with a couple of bobbies or a barette. Oh, and let’s not forget all the goodness at Ban.do. I want it ALLLLLLL.

5. Find new inspiration // image by Ann Street Studio

Hair is the best way to continue to evolve your look. If you’re lacking in love for your long locks, hop over to Pinterest and get inspired again. I love what the Beauty Department did with their Brigitte Bardot obsession. And when I had short hair, I was always inspired by Audrey Hepburn’s 1960s short ‘do from How to Steal a Million. Perfection.

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Are you bored to tears with your long hair? I admit I was starting to feel the itch to snip, but then, of all things, I had a dream one night that I went in for a haircut and it was totally botched. My hair was so short, and I was devastated. So I took it for the sign that it was and decided to just play around with having bangs instead.  Thoughts? Horror stories? Successes? Favorite blogs/sites/Pinterest boards?

Last fall, I was contacted by the loveliest girls from the Junior League of Oklahoma City for an invitation & program project for the 85th anniversary gala. In that initial email, they said they were going to create a Kate Spade goes Hollywood kind of event — and I was hooked.

I always laugh with fellow designers that invitation design is the gateway drug into starting your own paper company. I still think this is true – and while I don’t do as many invitations as I did back when I started, I still get a certain kind of thrill in designing them. Nothing is better than opening your mail and finding that one special envelope — the one that’s kinda heavy and feels like it contains something exciting inside. It’s the first peek into any event — and so if you’re going big, you better make it stand out.

First up is our brand board for the event — and then I’ll show you the invitation and the program (OMG THE PROGRAM!!!!). The best part of all this was, of course, the delicious gold foil confetti we did.

For the invitation, we did a trifold design with black and white stripes on the back to play off the inspiration photos. The inside had the schedule for the evening as well as all pertinent sponsor info.  The client wanted something that would show the young, fun side of the Junior League while still respecting the older generations that would be attending. The wording and design needed to reflect the punchy, fun aspects of the evening and balance out with the more formal aspects.

Thank you to the Junior League of OKC for such a fun project!

Today’s style post is inspired by the perfect summer evening. The other night we went to my sister’s house for a late-afternoon swim. It was that perfect time of day – the golden hour. Everything is beautiful.  I wish I could bottle it up for you — warm sunshine, the sound of the water, swinging in the hammock to dry out my swimsuit, and watching Jude chase the resident bunnies (a family of three!). Heaven on earth.

Nothing is better than a stack of striped beach towels.

I’m happy as a clam this time of year — it’s truly my most favorite fashion season of all (but don’t I say that for every season?).  The colors of the water mixing with the green of the grass. And a few stripes for good measure, naturally.

1. Splendid stripe maxi dress
2. Tory  Burch sandals
3. Sperry Top Siders in bright blue (I bought mine for appx $40 after all the sale deductions!)
4. J.Crew one piece swimsuit
5. J.Crew Punk Floral print one piece (also on sale – plus add’tl 30% off!)
6. Merona for Target one piece suit
7. Warby Parker sunnies (like mine in the photo)
8. Saturday Ship Shapes necklace
9. Kate Spade chevron scarf

We’ve already logged more hours than I can count at the pool this summer, which means two things:

1. I’m eating less because I’m in a swimsuit more. EWW.

2. I’m reading more because I’m in a swimsuit by the pool. YES.

And since we always like chatting about books here, let’s discuss summer reads. Here’s what’s on my radar:

The House Girl - I just finished this over the weekend and I could not put it down. I devoured it. If you enjoy historical fiction, this one is really beautifully rendered. The story flips between a Civil War-era house slave and a modern-day lawyer. It’s a fantastic little mystery too. While I borrowed this one from the library, it’s definitely one to own because I could read it over and over again.

The Typewriter Girl (aside: what’s with all the “girl” references in titles these days?). I haven’t started this one yet; it’s next in the queue.

The Passing Bells // A Future Arrived // Circles of Time - starved for Downton Abbey as we await the next season? Then you will absolutely positively LOVE this series that was actually written in the 1970s. A little heavy-handed on the World War I battle scenes, but a great series that spans several different storylines.

Revenge Wears Prada - honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about a sequel to The Devil Wears Prada (which I read as a study abroad student in Paris over 10 years ago – gulp). It seems like it might be a bit contrived, but we’ll see.

Orphan Train

The Sisterhood

Reading anything good these days? Share in the comments –

I was chatting with my sister the other day about doing DIY & decor projects around our respective houses and we fell on the topic of “why didn’t we just go ahead and do ____ when we had the chance?” Which got my wheels spinning — I definitely have made my fair share of mistakes over the past 8 years of home ownership when it comes to design decisions, and I figured maybe you could benefit from my stupidity lack of foresight.

Oh, and to be fair, nothing about the photo above is really a mistake — except for not having them paint the trim at the same time as the rest of the room. See how creamy it was in comparison to the white of the walls? Yuck. Ok, more on that in a bit –

1. Picking paint from a swatch only.

Luckily I learned this lesson early (erm, the hard way!), but never ever EVER pick a paint color from just a paint swatch. I guarantee you 100% that it will look completely different in your room. It all depends on these factors: the surface you’re painting, the amount of natural light, the direction your room faces (north, south, etc), the architectural features, and the lighting you bring to the space. At the minimum, I always buy 3 colors of paint in the shade I’m preferring in the small sample sizes, and I try them on every single wall that I’m considering painting in a room.

Along these lines, I think another mistake is worrying too much about what someone else will think about your colorscheme. “But what if we try to sell it and the potential buyers don’t like it?” Well, then paint it. It’s just paint — but live in your house NOW the way you want to live. Not with the umbrella of “what if” hanging over your head.

2. Not having a project done all at one time

At our old house, we had our wood floors redone, but for whatever reason we decided against having them refinished in the master bedroom. We thought we kinda liked having carpet in there, but maybe we’d like it in the master too. My dad recommended that we have them go ahead and refinish them and then just lay the carpet back down if we liked it so much.

Lesson learned: Always Listen to Your Dad. We ended up not taking his advice, and then the wood floors looked so amazing that we instantly regretted not having the master done as well. Because now that the floors looked so good, the carpet looked especially crappy. In the end, it cost us more to have the guys come out (two years LATER) to redo them.

But clearly I need to take my own advice because I just did this same thing again, except in paint form. In our kitchen/living room makeover, I told the painters to not worry about painting the trim (WHYYY DID I DO THIS) because I didn’t want to mess with the extra hassle and I seriously thought the trim color would work with the new wall color. And you know what? The trim looked awful.

So back they came, and again, several hundred dollars later, now the job is done right. To be fair, they were also painting the kitchen island that we waffled on having redone.  The core issue with both of these scenarios was indecision. Make your decision, and then have  it done right – the first time.

3. Not knowing about different sizes of hardware.

Being a hardware newbie, I had no idea that hardware came in different sizes. So when I took the hardware off of my grandmother’s buffet it never occurred to me that the new hardware I picked wouldn’t fit. STUPID.  Then I had to go back and fill the holes, repaint over them, etc. I was working harder, not smarter.

Which leads to #4 –

4. Pick your hardware out before you have your cabinets redone.

This way you can have them fill the holes that might be there from the pre-existing (ugly) hardware. Don’t wait until AFTER the project is complete and assume that you’ll be able to find something to fit.

Not that I would know about this or anything. ::smacks forehead::

5. Measuring for Scale

Make a notebook of the rooms in your house and have all the measurements handy. Also keep a record of the measurements of your existing furniture so when you go to buy new pieces, you can have an idea of what the scale will be. Remember this little trip where we went specifically to buy new chairs to replace the old ones that were too big? Those new chairs looked tiny on the showroom floor. But get them in our room? They were IDENTICAL in size to the ones we were wanting to replace. Total fail.  You can almost NEVER tell how big or small a piece will be just by looking at it in the furniture store alone.

But that being said, recently I ordered a set of lamps from Horchow that I LOOOOOVE. I was careful and measured for size, but they ended up still being too small for the space they were intended. I definitely found space for them elsewhere, but we’re still back at square one. So sometimes you just can’t win.

6. Hiring a professional

Then there’s the project where you’ve got to figure out when to cut your losses. Certain things are best left to the professionals who can get it done right — the first time. This includes electric work, plumbing, and things like having cabinetry painted professionally.

7. Second-guessing my gut instinct.

I’ve found that often if I’ll listen to my gut, it’s telling me the truth. The times I’ve ignored it are when I’ve made some dumb mistakes. Don’t feel right about that color you’ve chosen? It’s probably wrong. Feel funny about the guy you hired to do a project for you? Pay attention to that.

8. Trying to cut corners

Finally, learning to do things right without cutting corners is a discipline that this easily-distracted personality of mine is learning to master. I like to strike while the inspiration (not to mention the drive) to create is hot. The plus side of this is getting things done quickly. The negative side is that I get bored easily and want to finish things quickly, or end up leaving things incomplete. The projects where I’ve tried to cut corners – for whatever reason – are the ones that bug me the most. Much like hiring a professional, sometimes you have to accept that in order for a job to be done right, you can’t cut corners and have to pay attention to the details.

So now that I’ve laid myself bare on the altar of transparency, please – PLEASE – tell me I’m not the only one who’s done dumb stuff around their house!

Another washout of a week here in OKC! I was never so ready for a dinner out with girlfriends as I was last night. Jude was supposed to have soccer camp this week (read: free time for me to work/play/read/get stuff done) and it was canceled all but one day.

BOO HISS.

Thus it’s been a tricky week in terms of juggling life. Additionally with the painters being here to wrap up the kitchen/living room job (see the before), it was kinda bonkers around here anyways. So if I’m behind on emails, orders, etc., it’s all for good reason. I guarantee you I’m not sitting around eating bonbons while watching Days of Our Lives.

But! I’ve managed to clean out my shipping room (a disaster — anyone want to do a transformation on it? It’d be a magnificent before & after!), organize some mail that’s been making me crazy, tossed out a bunch of toys that we needed to get rid of, and more. So all is not lost! And I also got busy making my list of things I want to get done this summer when it comes to the house. 

Somehow even with Jude being here all the time and out of school, I still feel as if I’m more able to focus on a few fun (erm, to me)  projects that I’ve put off during the schoolyear. I’ve also reassured Simon that All The Decisions Being Made about the kitchen and living room have reassured me that we should NEVER attempt to build a house. Oh my goodness the decisions! All! The! Decisions!

Sidenote: taking a 5 year old furniture shopping is kind of like taking a monkey out in public.  Someone commented on my IG that he looked so well-behaved in this photo. HAAAAAAAAAA  ::wipes tears from eyes::  It was nonstop “Are we done yet? Can we leave? What are we doing? WHEN ARE WE GOING TO DO SOMETHING FUN?” And I’m all “OMG I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN!”

Then there was this photobomb –

Aaaaand it was about this point three stores later, after I’d sweetly, calmly demanded that “IF I HAVE TO TELL YOU ONE MORE TIME TO GET YOUR SHOES OFF THAT COUCH” that I’d determined that we’d both had enough. Enough enough enough.

Which is why I was driving faster than the speed limit to get to dinner with the girlfriends.

Hey, parenthood is survival. No man – or mom, for that matter – is an island.

Happy weekend, everyone!

Today our kitchen island is going from wahhhh to WOW. Or in other words, from boring distressed black to super-chic navy blue. After painting the rest of the cabinets a crisp white, the distressed black looked … shabby. I did a few samples to see which shade of navy was going to be best, using the Benjamin Moore Affinity swatches that Spectrum Paint so graciously sent me. I tried three different colors before we landed on the final version (to be revealed!).

To be honest, all I can see in this photo is the UGLY tumbled stone to-be-replaced backsplash tile – but more on that another time,  since it deserves an entire post on its own.

So let’s be inspired instead by some really gorgeous kitchens. And you can get an idea of where we’re heading with this makeover!

sources: House Beautiful, House Beautiful, Remodelista, House Beautiful, Traci Rhoads Interiors

And then there’s the navy cabinets – talk about striking. I love how preppy they are against the white cabinets.

Sources: Fired Earth, Apartment Therapy, Jen Langston Interiors

I’m so happy we decided to do a pop of color in the kitchen. Is it bold? Absolutely – but the result is going to be stunning.

Can’t wait to show you the rest!

A few weeks ago, I was perusing Target’s new Threshold collection when I stumbled on these adorable little occasional tables, a near-copy of Oomph’s signature tini table. The Oomph version is so lovely but at $400, it wasn’t exactly practical when there were other things I wanted to buy for the living room. But when I saw the replicas at Target, I knew almost immediately that they would be a DIY in the making. The only problem? The original colorways were, well, booooring. (Especially when you consider how glossy & lovely Oomph’s versions are, in a dazzling array of colors that make it almost impossible to choose.) So of course I had to jazz them up a little bit.

I picked up two different styles (only this one appears to still be available – the other one came in black), some painter’s tape, and some Rustoleum spray paint (the ONLY spray paint I’d recommend). And a few hours later, a completely fabulous turnaround.

Here’s the before for the first one:

The texture of the top with the grasscloth was perfection, so I carefully covered it with the painter’s tape before spray painting. There was enough of a lip so you could wedge the tape underneath the rim of the table. Then it was time to spray!

The resulting finish is nearly perfection — it’s so glossy and lustrous, almost like it had actually been lacquered. At $50 for the table plus a few bucks for a can of spray paint, I was a happy camper. It’s the perfect little table to pull up next to an occasional table. Definitely don’t overload these tables with anything too crazy heavy like a lamp — not because they’re not strong enough (they are), but visually the impact would be too much with the style of the spindly legs. Stick to small accessories.

Oh, but we’re not through here!  Time to show you the second one before. This one was on sale for – wait for it – $15.

And now the after –

Is it bold? Absolutely — but that’s exactly what I love about these pieces. They’re small but pack a great visual punch. The pink one sits upstairs in my studio next to the comfy reading chair, and it makes me smile everytime I look at it. And if I get bored with the color? I’ll just spray it again.

There you have it — a simple but amazing DIY that you can knock out easily within an hour. But I guarantee that you’ll reap the benefits of it long after!

Which version is your favorite? Tell me in the comments!

• One: Robert Abbey Harvey lamp
• Two: Hutton lamp
• Three: Layla Grace
• Four: Pineapple Lamp
• Five: Layla Grace (I loved it in coral so much, I posted it twice!)
• Six: Horchow Greek Key mini lamp (on sale)
• Seven: Pop of Color ceramic lamp at Shades of Light
• Eight: Worlds Away Pagoda lamp (also in 3 other colors)
• Nine: Robert Abbey Delta (my favorite – I have two!)
• Ten: Arteriors Scout Citronella lamp

Comment below to let me know which one is your favorite!