I promise the blog isn't turning into a children's decor blog……but with our new girl on the way, kid things have been very much on my mind lately. Reese is currently sleeping in her crib that we converted into a toddler bed a few months ago, but we will need it to be a crib again for our new baby.  Do we buy a toddler bed?  Do we just move Reese to the guest bed and not buy a bed at all?  Do we buy a daybed that we could eventually use elsewhere in the house?  These are all thoughts that have been running through my head. First conclusion we came to is that we want to keep the guest bed a guest bed……I love hosting out of town friends and family and don't want to have to kick Reese out of her bed/routine when we do.  We also decided that we did not want to buy a toddler bed, and that we wanted something that could last for years. In the end, a twin bed seems like the best option for us…but easier said than done!  

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1.  Like many of you, budget aside, the Oeuf bed is my first choice.  I love it's clean lines, and it's timeless enough for her to grow up with it.  The main issue is that's a lot of money to plunk down for a two year old's bed…..will we like it in 10 years?  Will she ruin it?  Maybe….  

2. After doing a ton of research, it seemed that Ikea was our only cheaper option for buying a brand new bed.  I saw nice beds for the $500-$600 price range, but at that cost I'd prefer to buy the one I really love (Oeuf) or buy one for cheap.  This Ikea bed was my favorite, I like the clean lines and the fact that it extends.

3. The third option is Craigslist, which is also luck of the draw.  I have seen a ton of awesome brass beds like the one below. The only problem is that they are a little too similar to our metal guest bed.  Wooden twin beds on craigslist are tricky, most of them are too traditional for my taste.  

How about you guys?  Any other options?  I'm not going to lie, the thought of making our own bed has crossed my mind…..

( Reese soaking up some time downtown with her aunt)

So, I guess I should share the reason behind my inconsistent posting this Summer.  While I definitely have been enjoying the beautiful weather and spending time with my family, that's not the sole reason for my absence here.  I'm pregnant with a baby girl!  We are beyond excited.  Though I have no real complaints as far as the pregnancy is concerned, I will note that nothing seems to sap my creativity more than exhaustion and nausea (only the first few months this time, thank goodness).  

The funny thing is, though I actually thought it was a girl all along (and secretly hoped for one), I found myself being drawn to baby boy names and nursery things.  Ever since our Norway trip (seen here and here), I loved the idea of a Scandinavian nursery as a nod towards Connor's heritage.  So since we are not having a boy, I thought I would share my inspiration board with you: 

This gorgeous kitchen

The simple details in this space:

Apartment34's stunning office space:

I know this is a bold statement…..so if you have trouble getting on board with this idea at first, I get it.  But- trade in the bold colors for a matte black and make the mural on a (much) smaller scale, and I think it could look really cool without having too much of a shock factor.  For the past few months I've actually been considering doing something like this in our entryway.  The only thing stopping me is that it feels like we just put away our paint brushes and said "we're done!" after painting the entire house.  It could also go totally wrong and then I would have a wall to re-paint………thoughts?

via (if anyone knows the source of this image, please let me know so I can give proper credit!)

As you might have guessed from my instagram, we spent last week on vacation in Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan.  Sleeping Bear has been high on our list of places to see ever since we moved to Indy.  When planning the trip, I wanted to stay somewhere that felt like a vacation in and of itself….so that when/if Reese was napping or going to bed early we didn't feel like we were stuck whispering in a hotel room.  This spot I found on airbnb was even more perfect than I anticipated.  It was a darling renovated farmhouse off the beaten path filled with lots of charm and the most beautiful Turkish rugs.   This part of Michigan coincidentally reminded us a lot of the area we lived in upstate NY(on Lake Ontario) since Lake Michigan is surrounded by wooded areas and quaint little towns that seem more like villages than beach towns.  We felt right at home to say the least.  

I couldn't get over these gorgeous stairs!

This beautiful pond next to our house had the most beautiful Weeping Willows, very picturesque. 

Reese loved the squeaky screen doors and spent much of her time opening/closing them.

We did the dune hike, spent time on the beach, and had way too much ice cream than is good for any person.  For the record, Moomer's ice cream is the best I've ever had(and that's saying a lot).

 This was honestly the perfect vacation with a toddler- there were fun and beautiful things to do/see, but not so much that we felt like we couldn't get it all in with the needs of a two year old.  We came home a little more relaxed with full hearts from a week spent together.

Hey there!  I'm still here, I promise:), just enjoying this Summer weather with my family…..maybe too much.  Today I'm excited to share with you a corner of our office that you haven't seen yet…..and for good reason.  Up until now, it has been less than noteworthy.  A few months ago, we put up some simple shelves with brackets from Lowe's and wood I stained, because we desperately needed some organization since Connor works from home a decent amount.  It didn't need to be pretty, just to serve a purpose.  I had resigned myself to being ok with the shelves not being my first choice because we just needed some practical organization.  A couple months went by, and I was still not pleased with them.  They looked too cold and industrial next to the lockers, and I felt there had to be a cheap solution.  Then one day I saw some gorgeous brass brackets from Anthropologie and fell in love.  Knowing Connor would appreciate not spending a lot of money on something as simple as brackets (that wasn't even in a main area of our house), I opted to spray painting the brackets.  I couldn't be more pleased with the end result, and while it helps that I got around to actually styling the shelves (ha), the gold brings a lot of warmth to this corner of the office. 

Also, yesterday I was a guest over on the SiebFam blog, thanks for having me Alyssa!

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The before: