Ordered a loveseat for the nursery

We ordered this Lee Industries loveseat from Safavieh in Manhattan for the nursery.  It's supposed to arrive in 8-9 weeks.  I will be 35-36 weeks with the twins at that point so it will be tight!

I picked a fabric that looked neutral and like rafia in the store, but I am nervous it may be a little yellowy (excuse the cellphone pic).

There's a cheapy overead light in the room now, which I am thinking of replacing with this Westport pendant from Circa, but in pewter.  I don't want the overhead to be a dominant feature in the room.

Moving Along on the Nursery

D day seems to be fast approaching, with the twins likely arriving sometime between 11 and 13 weeks from now.  Wow, so close.

Time to make some decisions on this nursery.

 

Jenny Lind Crib from DaVinci in cherry

Goa crib bedding from Rikshaw designs; I don't know if the color will work, but liked that this is gender neutral for when they will share a crib.  When they grow into their own cribs, we will find gender-specific coordinating bedding.

Benjamin Moore Covington Blue

Land of Nod bookcase

Chest of drawers is being refinished as we speak!

Initial Thoughts on the Nursery

We found out we're having a boy and a girl at our 16 week anatomy scan the other day.  Let the nursery decorating begin!

Our nursery is the rear room of the second floor of our brownstone and looks out over our garden.  In the spring and summer, the view will be very leafy. 

We are both big fans of the outdoors, and my husband has long been into North American parks and mammals. We are considering a woodland/ animal theme.  Below is a William Morris crewel reproduction fabric from Chelsea Textiles.  I had fallen in love with it over 10 years ago when I saw it in a House Beautiful article paired with lilac.  Here I am thinking blue or green. I like Benjamin Moore's Wedgewood Grey a lot with the fabric.

  I am off to check out Coyuchi's Thor crib bedding at ABC Carpet and Home today.

We will also tie in the theme through some art (calendar excerpts).

I know it's been a loooong time...

The past several month has been real estate torture for me and Mr. OHN.  4 months after our accepted offer on the brownstone in Clinton Hill, we finally closed in the midst of the big NYC snowstorm and moved in the day after New Year's. Over the first few weeks, we struggled with the repairs left incomplete by the sellers.  Mr. OHN installed the dishwasher, a new kitchen sink faucet, and repaired the kitchen sink plumbing, the master bath shower, and the balances in our rear parlour window, so it would actually close instead of hang open a full foot in frigid temps, and we had to repair our gas boiler.  We also had a pipe burst in our garden floor bathroom, flooding the floor and the cellar below.  We need to replace the hardwood floors on the garden floor now because they have warped. All of this over three weeks while unpacking, Mr. OHN starting a new job, both of us fighting the flu, and my struggling with first trimester nausea.  It was rough.

But all that is behind us now!  We're slowly working to make the house into a livable home, tackling a few things at a time, but it does seem overwhelming.  I think a quick win can be getting shades for our master bath to replace the temporary ones I picke up at Home Depot.

I am thinking something like these available on Etsy.

Herringbone Floors

The plasticy, bowling alley appropriate engineered floors in our potential future home have me thinking about alternatives, particularly herringbone floors.  I am not sure the investment would ever be worthwhile, but it's fun to dream.

Photo from Maison Luxe

Photo: Design Track Mind

Photo: Stephen Gambrel

Single herriningbone floor pattern with border from Czar Floors

Caramel Frosting Yumminess

Mr. OldHouseNut is steadfast in his birthday cake preferences: yellow cake with caramel frosting.  After being together for 7 years, I am still searching to find the ideal recipes.  This caramel frosting had an  intense caramel flavor and was very rich.  I may lighten some of the dairy next year.  This recipe is a modified version of a recipe that appeared in Bon Appetit in Nov 2008 (thanks epicurious!).

1 1-pound box powdered sugar + 1/2 cup, divided

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

Sprinkle 1 cup powdered sugar over bottom of small nonstick skillet. Cook over medium heat until sugar melts (do not stir). Continue cooking until sugar turns deep amber, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Carefully stir in 1 cup cream, vanilla, and salt (mixture will bubble vigorously). Stir until any caramel bits dissolve. Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons cream. Strain into small bowl. Cool caramel to room temperature.


Sift remaining powdered sugar into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Beat in cooled caramel. Cover and chill frosting until firm enough to spread, about 2 hours.

Here We Go - Our Offer Was Accepted

In NYC real estate, an accepted offer seems to mean there is still a long way to go.  Nonetheless, we are heading down a path to owning a brownstone, after our previous two attempts didn't pain out.  This one is located in the southeastern corner of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, a few blocks away from the Pratt Institute. More and more interesting businesses are coming to the area, and it's only a short walk to Fort Greene.

This place has been gut renovated.  We liked that this means we don't need to endure renovations right way and don't need to replace basic things like heat, electric, and plumbing.  The downside is the finish choices are certainly not ones we would have made.  Ultimately we would like to redo the floors, the kitchen, and the bath to better suit our tastes.

 Living room on the parlor floor: we will replace the floors with something more historic and panel over the exposed brick.

Kitchen on the garden level: we would like to make it look less modern. We will likely replace the lighting, change the cabinet ardware and replace the countertop and backsplash.