Birthday Film Festival

This past weekend we celebrated my husband's film snobbery with his very own film festival. 2 'theaters' playing 8 movies throughout the day. I didn't have my usual photographer photograph the event (sorry) so you'll have to do with my very lame photography skills.

Unfortuantly I didn't get many shots of the set up (very disappointing) because I starting taking some and then set up the tripod/camera for the photobooth and abandoned taking the rest of the actual party pics. Here are some shots of the event set up that I did actually get:

You can't see it but in the back there was a nostalgia popcorn maker and the boxes in the tray are popcorn boxes from a local movie theater. They also gave me drink cups which were in another area with the drink station. I didn't get any photos of the drink station.Movie collage above the theater screen in one of the viewing rooms. You can't tell in this photo but the popcorn bucket had a light inside of it that made it a really neat light feature.This was our 'side auditorium' the night before the party. This was probably my favorite part of the party. I hung a white backdrop up and set up our digital camera on the tripod for guests to take their photos. Kids activity table.Here are some of the awesome photo booth shots:

Happy Birthday to 'the Man'!

Today is one of those special days of the year when the sky opens up and shines a very bright light into my house - it is my husband's birthday. We will be celebrating with dinner and a movie tonight followed by a fabulous film festival event on Saturday.

Small Spaces: Kitchens

It seems as if the kitchen is the one area of the home that is the perpetual 'catch all' for every home. (If not, there must be something wrong with me and everyone I know.) This is a particular problem if you have very little space to utilize. The key in a small kitchen (or space) is to use every inch. Generally speaking most organizational items are reasonably inexpensive and really pay off in the end. Here are some items to help with essential and non-essential organization and storage.

This knife rack from Tiny Living {www.tinyliving.com} is perfect for compact storage. It can sit on a counter top or be wall mounted. What I like about this opposed to the popular magnetic kitchen strips is that the blades are visible but not exposed, seems like a much safer alternative. $89.99 Container Store {www.containerstore.com} Gravity-Feed Can Rack $14.99 Ikea Asker Container (5.99) Ikea Asker Dish Drainer (suspension rail or wall mount, folds up when not in use) (29.99) Ikea RATIONELL VARIERA Spice rack with 6 jars gray (Wall or cabinet mount) $12.99

Container Store Clear Corner Pantry Shelf On sale $12.49 Ikea RATIONELL VARIERA Shelf insert silver color $3.99 Ikea cabinet 'guts' rolling shelves with compartment dividers, lid racks, spice racks, etc. Great for using every space.A popular solution for additional small kitchen storage is to install a peg board like this one shown from Design Sponge. I have varied feelings about this idea personally, as I don't like to see a lot of 'clutter' and I think one would need to be very careful about the size and items used on a peg board.
Here is an organization hutch from Country Living {www.countryliving.com} that I think is absolutely adorable and very practical. I don't necessarily think that you'd have to have a large cabinet like this one to make an organization cabinet, an old buffet, desk, drawer, or any piece with good storage options could be re purposed to be dually used.

For permanent small space dwellers perhaps something like the YesterTec {www.yestertec.com} Complete Kitchen in an Armoire would be worth the investment. The armoires are actually concealing a COMPLETE kitchen - with appliances! They are customizable to fit any space or need, and then they fold up without a trace. For people who hate seeing appliances, dirty dishes, or kitchen clutter this could be the ticket. They do come with an investment price tag, $10k +/-, but for those in a small home, condo, or apartment, it may be worth the money.

Lastly here are some tips about things to get rid of while downsizing your living space from an MSN article that happened to be on the homepage today. {http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=18941056}

Always take it with you:

• Anything that has storage in it.
• Pairs of lamps; they add balance.
• Ottomans; create cozy spaces.
• Armless sofas, or ones with lower arms, to make the room feel more spacious. ("Here's a handy rhyme to help you remember: 'Keep a sofa with chairs, or love seats in pairs,' " says Ward.)
• Bookcases; they're visually interesting; they hold lots of stuff, and they can make great room dividers.
• Mirrors; they make a places appear brighter and bigger; lean it on a wall opposite good light and a view, and a mirror will reflect both and make a place feel larger.
• Furniture on wheels or casters; it adds flexibility.
• Nesting tables or furniture that stacks.

Sometimes take it with you:

• Love seats.
• Small desks or writing tables; they can often be used in a kitchen or a guest room.
• Modular seating; it can be reconfigured, or even broken up and used in different rooms.
• Throw pillows; if they're in good condition and work well with the color scheme, they can add comfort and a visual interest.
• Ceiling fans, so long as they hug the ceiling close.
  

Never take these with you:

• Unloved books.
• Extraneous bric-a-brac.
• Artwork that's not beloved.
• Small, never-used appliances.
• Doubles of anything.
• Square or rectangular glass coffee tables; they're too bulky, says Ward.
• Sofas more than 96 inches in length.
• Big plants and potted trees.
• Unused pianos or other instruments.
• Worn rugs, except expensive Orientals.
• Tired stuff: old audio gear, incomplete dishes, old magazines, worn-out bedding, tax records and receipts more than seven years old.

Small Space Organization Tips

In response from a (soon-to-be) small apartment dweller here are some great space (& sanity) saving tips to live by.


The following tips are taken from Apartment Therapy {www.apartmenttherapy.com} reader tips. I chose the ones that I thought were the most applicable (after living in a tiny apartment myself).

• If you have a small space use small pieces that fit the scale of the apartment. Your space will feel bigger.
• Dual purpose! Look for multiple uses in everything you buy. An ottoman is cozy, but an ottoman with hidden storage is even better.
• Go vertical and use the space up to the the ceiling whenever possible - shelves and storage that have a small footprint but are tall can really help in a small space.
• Arrange the space so it meets your needs for the way you truly use it, and put money into the areas where you spend the most time. If you always eat in the living room, maybe that means investing in a coffee or side table that's really comfortable to eat from and forgoing a separate dining area altogether.
• Edit, edit, edit. Look at everything with a critical eye. If you have a chair that you just don't love, get rid of it. If you notice you miss having a chair, find one that you love, is a better scale and a better investment of your space. Don't store anything that you don't need.
• Expandable dining table.
• Really invest in a closet organization system. You'd be surprised how on track that can keep you and you could always just shut the door.

The following are also from AT, but are more about making your small space 'feel' less cluttered than actually saving space. Good tips none the less.

• Furniture with legs feels less heavy in a space than pieces that sit directly on the floor.
• Large mirror to give the illusion of more space.
• A dark floor against light colored walls and furniture can really make a place feel more spacious. (Although this could be hard to achieve in a rental.)

Personally the best advice I can give to anyone living in a small space is, be smart. If you don't have alot of space then think through anything you bring into your home. Any object you bring in needs to have a defined space before you buy it and if possibly duel uses. Remember in a smallapartment/home/office there isn't room for 'good rooms', in a small space every space needs to be 'great'.

Lastly to finish off a very wordy post here are some photos of a great duel-funtioning small space:

This apartment from the AT Small Cool contest utilizes many of the tips from above; a unifying color pallate, a large mirror, smart storage solutions (under the bed drawers, utensils racks, shelving), and and still doesn't feel all that small or cluttered.

Stay tuned for more small space saving tips and inspiration!

Posting Topics

I really enjoy blogging and hope that there are at least a few people out there who also enjoy reading this blog. As such I have decided to share with you some suggested ideas for future posts and open up this post for ideas/suggestions on topics to cover in the future.

These are some ideas which have recently been suggested for upcoming posts or series of posts:

• Small space organization tips
• Summer themes
• Party planning tips for beginners/amateurs (although for a refresher of my party planning series from last spring please search the party planning label located in the lower right hand column)
• How to plan large scale events on a short timeline

Is there anything else you'd like me to post about? If so share it in the comments!

Color Scheme Designer

Are you planning an upcoming event? If so the first thing you need to do is stop by the Color Scheme Designer {http://colorschemedesigner.com/}. This online app is super easy to use and takes all the guess work out of choosing a complimentary color scheme. Using my main color as a bright pink here are all the different scenarios of complimentary colors it came up with for me:

Dino Mark Anthony Furniture

I was searching around online and stumbled across Dino Mark Anthony's furniture line. Here are some of the pieces that I find simply drool worthy:

Nurseries - and no, I'm not pregnant

As the title above has stated I am not pregnant. {Not now, not soon. Do not expect me to have a baby in 9 months and please do not walk up to me, touch my belly, and ask when I am due. I'm not fat and I'm not pregnant. Thank you for understanding.}

With all of those statements out of the way....my sister IS pregnant (along with about 50 million other people I know). This is my sister and her husband:

They are expecting a baby (girl?) in August. As such the majority of our conversations revolve around this topic and last night I had 4 links to baby nursery ideas from Rate My Space sitting in my inbox. As I've been sorting through the links and looking around there are some absolutly adorable baby nurseries out there! I, personally, really think that the baby world suffers horribly when it comes to design, however here are some of the ones I found on Rate My Space that I thought were to fabulous not to post.I like the carpet in this room, looks like it really ties all the colors together.This little sitting area is adorable.This was one of my favorite rooms on RMS. It is brightly colored without being to kidish, the white and brown really ground the room. With different furniture it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to imagine this room for an older child instead.Isn't this precious for a little girl?There are a lot of rooms with a tree motif. Here are some of better done ones.This is my favorite of all the tree rooms.I really liked this little girls rooms. It is really pulled together and can grow with the little gal. This room reminds me of Breakfast at Tiffanys.
















Of course I couldn't complete a blog about nurseries without including some all white rooms. I know some people think that these are 'too white' but I really like them. They seem very serene to me.

This is a very grown up room for a little person - I LOVE that!Of all the nurseries I saw on Rate My Space this is my 'dream' nursery! I seriously think this is amazing, by far my favorite!

I hope you've enjoyed a tour of Rate My Space nurseries :) Don't be surprised if you see more baby stuff down the road - she's not due until August!