Pepper Design Blog

Guest Post, A Thank You and Let’s Get Personal…

I’m singing Oliva Newton-John’s ‘Let’s get physical, physical!’ in my head as I type that title but I wanted to pause the usual line-up of posts over here (working on a hallway lighting project now) for a second to offer a big thank you to the following blogs for their mention of PDB.

First, I am honored to be a guest blogger over at Pampers, Play Dates & Parties while Leslie enjoys some quiet time with her band new little one! A big congrats to Leslie and a big thank you for asking me to share five of my favorite eco-friendly habits that any family can try out. Read more here.

Thank you to Alex of North of Seven for nominating me for the One Lovely Blog award!

I’m supposed to share seven possibly unknown things about myself… here goes:

1. My Grandma’s lemon bars are still one of my all time favorite (and treasured) recipes. Gold Medal Ribbon from Baskin Robbins is a close second in the dessert category.
2. I have four younger siblings (Kevin is the oldest of five, too! Marriage psychologists, feel free to discuss.)
3. I secretly wish I could sing. I can’t. at all. (not even a little bit…)
4. I’m taking a glass blowing class next month (a gift from my lovely in-laws) and I couldn’t be more excited! A true date with myself (and possibly 3-4 other class attendees…).
5. I was awarded my black belt at eighteen (my mom has two!). I am terrible at most all other sports, especially those involving a ball.
6. My very favorite way to spend an afternoon is to explore some wonderful downtown shopping area or street fair with a coffee in one hand and a good book (for pausing and soaking in the sunshine in a park, at a cafe or on a bench) in the other. A companion is a plus, but not required. (Did I ever tell you about the time Kevin and his Dad and brothers biked down the coast of Oregon a few years back? Being the sag wagon that I was, I did the above every day in a new small, coastal town for a week – it was glorious.)
7. I would categorize myself as a reluctant pragmatist (but a hopeless romantic ).

I have never been nominated for an award before, but this month I was lucky enough to have two bloggers reach out to me. Thank you to Leigh of 1 of a Kind for the Liebster Award. As with most of these recognitions, here are another set of questions asked to get to know me better. I have loved reading these on other blogs (including Leigh’s!), so I hope you will enjoy.

1. What drew you to creating a blog?
The much needed creative outlet that I knew it would bring. It didn’t matter if there were two people in this world reading it, this blog allowed me to roll up my sleeves and explore what I love (and to keep an online journal of our family – which I know will one day be a treasure in and of itself).
2. What is the funniest one liner you’ve ever heard?
I am not witty nor have I a good memory. Bah. But the next one I hear I’ll be sure to share!
3. What are you hoping to get out of your blog?
More of what I get out of it today – enjoyment in creating, being inspired by and chronicling what makes me happy.
4. Have you ever upset someone by something that you said in your blog?
Oh I hope not! I try to keep it sunny over here – though I’m sure that, humans as we are, not everything reads as I intend it to.
5. Are you supported in your bloggy endeavors?
My family enjoys staying attune to the daily experiences of our family and home, and my hubby supports my extracurricular activity. But it certainly is a balance.
6. Optimist or pessimist?
I would be lying if I said was always the glass-half-full kind of gal, but I try hard.
7. What makes you smile?
My daughter, my hubby, my family, my friends. An encouraging blog comment on a tough day! A cup of coffee when I wake up. An already made meal when I am done with work.
8. If there was one thing that you could do everyday that would make you happy, what would that be?
My most fulfilling job is my role as a mom. Getting to do that everyday makes me unbelievably happy.
9. Do you like the person that smiles back at you in your mirror?
Depends on which side of the bed I rolled out of… but usually yes! I do.
10. If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?
Less dreaming and more doing!
11. What is the most inspirational quote you’ve heard.
That’s a tough one. I can’t recall if this is an abridged version, but “do what you love, and do it well” is certainly something I think about and aspire to.

Oops! Server Down, + YHL Reader Redesign Feature!

My apologies to everyone who has had a hard time getting through these last couple of days! Our server seems to be acting up but things should get back to normal very soon.

In exciting news, our kitchen makeover recently appeared as a Reader Redesign on Young House Love! The swing in traffic has caused a minor overload on the back end but we’re working to straighten everything out. It’s the best sort of problem to have!

If you’re joining us from YHL, welcome! A nice little introduction to this blog and more on our family can be found here, and it’s easy to get caught up on all of our home renovating projects here. (Here’s an even quicker guide to all posts related to: den to kitchen, three closets to a new bathroom, Liv’s nursery, building an office/guestroom, our living room, our master bedroom, curb appeal).

This site is a little journal chronicling the renovation our 1930s home… we’re demoing, drywalling, decorating and creating a lot of dust! PDB is a creative outlet for me as well, and I love to share all sorts of beauty and general crafti-ness over here – on any given day you might find inspiration in the form of favorite entertaining ideas + crafty projects + wardrobe finds + family anecdotes thrown into the mix just for fun. (you can find most of these categorized over in the left sidebar in the form of big pink buttons, too.)

Sidebar buttons on the right will allow you to search the Project Gallery (projects posted here and uploaded by readers) and last but not least a series of interviews I’ve held with favorite bloggers (YHL is right here!).

Thanks for stopping by!

Guest Posting Over at Simplified Bee

Earlier this month Cristin of Simplified Bee asked myself and three other bloggers to design a space around this Serena & Lily Campaign Storage Bench as a part of her Design Blogger Series:

I was excited for the challenge and created a mudroom around Julia Rothman’s Daydream wallpaper:

I adore the playful print – what a whimsical way for your home to greet you each day! But for the rest of the mudroom features (a side chair, fun pillow fabric, matching rain boots, a killer mirror and light fixture…) jump on over to Cristin’s post!

And if you’re visiting from over yonder – welcome!

PS You can read my Friday Guest Blog interview with Cristin on her favorite design secrets right here.