the tale of a dining room who longs to become a study

It's been a long time a-comin'.

We started converting our dining room into a home office months ago, when we gave away our dining room table & chairs. Since then, we've moved the computer desk into the new home office...and that's about it. Why? Because we have no money. :) However, eventually, the 3rd bedroom, which used to be the study, will hopefully be another nursery {PLEASE note that I said EVENTUALLY :)}. So we want to get the ball rolling to have that room empty before we actually NEED to have it empty. Make sense?

We have a bit of a decorating dilemma. This is the room that will be the study:

{See that wall there? Yeah that's the only full wall we have in this room.}

{that door goes into the kitchen. thus the fridge. :) perhaps a curtain would make for a good divider...}

{this is the view of the room from the kitchen}

The room is located to your left as you walk in the front door, so it kinda needs to look presentable. Which is not the case currently, obviously. I work from home, so the computer + desk is functional, but it's not a feasible long-term set-up, because my husband will need to also have a work space in this room eventually. {Check out his hobby here!} Also, one "wall" is actually an opening to the room from the entry, one wall has a double window taking up most of it, and a 3rd wall has the doorway to the kitchen. We have one complete wall for furniture placement, and two slivers of a wall on either side of the kitchen doorway. Fun.

I'd like to do this room with an industrial feel. I think that is a good way to combine my husband's taste with mine. First of all, a desk unit like this would be perfect along that window wall:

Then, we'll need some storage, and I'm diggin' on the idea of some old school lockers. We'll actually need a whole lot more storage than this, since we're losing a closet that's currently holding a bunch-o-stuff, but we'll figure that out later. :)

And the hubs has a lot of sports figures in his own personal collection that he likes to display, which I tend to oppose, but it would make him happy. So I'm considering something like this, up high on the one long wall we have:

For the color scheme, I'm thinking of yellow/gray/blue. Think old globe/school map. {Is this room turning into an old classroom??}

So there ya have it. My ideas for our hopefully-soon-to-be study. If you're on Pinterest {or even if you're not}, check out my inspiration board {and my sources for the above photos} here:

Thoughts? Suggestions? Do tell!

favorite things: the baby edition

When it comes to baby gear, we all know that the bumbo, bottles, boppy & bibs are a necessity. But sometimes it can get a bit confusing when it comes time to choose amongst the plethora of gadgets for little ones. Here are a few of my personal favorite baby items that have made my life with a little one a ton easier & a tad more fun...





A friend of ours gave Natalie these orbit labels from inchbug for her birthday, and they are a great find! These would be especially handy for daycare kids. They fit on bottles and sippy cups as well.







Natalie was a formula baby, and for all formula babies, a formula dispenser is a must-have. Let me save you time and money: go with the Avent formula dispenser. I tried 3 different kinds, and this one is by far the best. I had one other brand warp when I boiled it (even though the directions say to boil it before first use to sterilize it), and neither of the other two brands were as good about emptying all of the formula easily. And also...with the Avent one, the dividers are removable, making it into a snack cup for later. Ours now houses Cheerios. :)

There are a plethora of strollers out there, and I made the mistake of not researching & thinking ahead when I registered. The travel system stroller is awesome when baby is little & still fits in the carrier, but they quickly outgrow it. I bought an older version of this stroller for a plane flight, since this folds up compact like an umbrella stroller. It still has the height of a regular sized stroller, and it's super easy to steer and comfortable to push. This one looks WAY cooler than the one we have, being that ours came from a flea market for $10. :)

And when do you do order that awesome stroller...you'll quickly notice there is no cup holder. Enter this. {Available at TJ Maxx, Baby Depot, and I think Wal-Mart as well.}

Natalie got a super awesome wagon for her birthday, courtesy of her Mimi & Paparoxy. We added this clip-on canopy for some shade, and I've decided it's a must-have if you have a wagon!

Evenflo BabyGo High Chair. This thing folds up almost as compact as a camping chair, and let me tell you, we have already gotten our money's worth from it, and we just got it for Christmas. Ours came from Amazon, but I don't see it on their site anymore. Find it here. This might be the #1 baby gear item I recommend because it's just not very well known.

**UPDATE: This chair has been discontinued by Evenflo. I know, it's DEVASTATING. :) Every time I use this chair in public, I get comments on how awesome it is. I know several moms who would love to have this chair. And it's not available. I called Evenflo, and the best thing we can do as consumers is call or email them & let them know you want this product on the market again. Call Evenflo at 800-233-5921 & just tell them you would LOVE to have this chair. It only takes a couple of minutes, so DO IT. Or you can email them by visiting their website here & filling out the form. {It asks for model # & manufacture date. You can use the info from my chair if you want; the model # is 25703917 and date 10/08.} Thanks!**

What are your favorite baby items? Please share!