great furniture on craigslist

Oh the joys of living in West Michigan! A quick search on craigslist.com for furniture in the Grands Rapids area turned up these little gems:

kohls welcomes vera wang

Legendary designer Vera Wang is slated to launch a low-cost line of clothes, accessories, and home goods at Kohls this fall. I've been able to find a few photos of the new clothing collection, but I can't find any images of the Simply Vera home collection. Has anyone seen them? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll launch a low-cost wedding dress collection as well (hello, Issac Mizrahi) before my December nuptials (more on that later).

mid-century illustration prints

Plan 59 is a mid-century illustration museum. The website and blog are a great source for info on mid-century illustration and advertising, but the best part is the print shop. Prints of old ads and photos range in price from just $9 for a HP photo print (19 x 13") to $250 for museum-grade large format (56 x 44"). A few of my favorites:

chalk it up

I love this idea from Martha Stewart Living. I want to paint one on the wall in my home office/craft room. Chalkboard paint isn't just for the kids' room anymore (and who were we kidding by pretending we'd given up our hopscotch chalk? -- speaking of which, check out this other great idea over at decor8).

general patent

My obsession started when a co-worker started wearing a pair of patent boots to the office. Their glossiness made my mouth water. Then, a friend picked up a sassy pair of patent peep-toe slingbacks. Wa-wa-we-wa! And wouldn't you know it, when I opened my May issue of Real Simple what do I see? An entire feature on patent (I swear every time I open that magazine I feel like the entire editorial staff has been living inside my brain for the past month)! But most of the patent they featured was a bit outside a cheapster's budget, so I did a little shopping on my own and found some patent for pennies.

Piperlime has a gorgeous pair of Franco Sarto patent peep-toes on sale for just $44.99. For the ultimate budget patent, try these Mossimo white flip-flops from Target, just $9.99. Also from Target is this gorgeous seagrass and patent tote. You can order yours for $19.99.

welcome to ava's room

My daughter's room is one of the only ones in our house that is (nearly) complete, so I've decided to share a few photos. I'd love to hear any and all opinions. Welcome to Ava's room:

I chose bedding from Pottery Barn Kids (on clearance I might add) that would work for future children we might have, so no babydoll pink. My favorite part are the letters. I love letters and numbers as a motif. Hanging on the wire right now are cards from all our baby showers. When she gets older, we plan to use it for her artwork.

My dad built this dollhouse bookcase for Ava as a Christmas gift. It was based on the one available from Pottery Barn Kids, but I of course love ours much more -- and it's handcrafted! I added a little upholstered stool, some cushions, a light from Ikea and instant reading nook!

Above the changing table I hung two Hold Everything CD shelves (from the Pottery Barn outlet) to hold diapers and other supplies. The changing table, dresser, and crib came in a set from Walmart. I wasn't sure what the quality would be (we ordered online), but I've been pleasantly surprised. I didn't want to spend a fortune on furniture we'd only use until she outgrew it.

The artwork is all homemade and the dollhouse is one my mom and I made together when I was about 11.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with how it has turned out. Although, she's seven months old and I'm already thinking of ways to change it as she gets older.