Pepper Design Blog

Wardrobe Style Boards: Anna Kate’s Fall Favorites

So happy to welcome back Anna Kate today, PDB’s very stylish new momma who regularly contributes style boards to our gallery over here. I LOVE the looks that AK has put together for this month, especially the awesome flats and accessories that are adding just that extra little something to each outfit. I must admit that I’m very partial to the oversized grandpa cardigans, skinny cords, wrap around watches and blouses this fall that she’s included, too… you are all getting added to the Christmas list!

Last we left AK, she was 9 months pregnant! and sharing a few of her favorite maternity finds right here.

Mr. Emmett joined her and hubby Ray just a few weeks later, and now momma is adjusting to life with her deliciously handsome little one.

Take it away, Anna Kate.

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Since having my little boy 4 months ago, I’ve started to think differently about my wardrobe. I am definitely much more choosy, and tend towards functional (but pretty) basics that I know will last. I have so much less time, energy, and money to spend on myself, so I look for pieces that can be mixed and matched a million different ways. I also look for things that I can wear to work, and to run errands on the weekends. For fall, I’m all about muted colors mixed with girlie accessories.

I tend to live in oatmeal-y brown sweaters at work, and I love the idea of a chunkier, textured version for the weekend. This outfit is simple, and menswear inspired, so I wanted to add fun and girlie accessories. Anthropologie is killing it right now with their flats (aren’t they always!), and I feel like I could wear these with almost everything! I picture them with skirts and dresses for work, skinnies on the weekends, and maybe even something sparkly for a holiday party.

This next outfit would be great for grabbing happy hour drinks with girlfriends. I’m a huge fan of black jeans for fall and winter – they go with EVERYTHING, and always make me feel a little bit edgy and dressed up. I love the pop of pink in this super-flattering top, and get a load of those shoes! So sassy.

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Have a happy Tuesday everyone and hope you’re enjoying your Turkey Day prep!

As always, you can find ALL sourcing (including brands, pricing, etc in the style board gallery. Easy peasy.)

Giveaway! ‘$50 and Change’ Lowe’s Challenge

Happy Monday! Before we jump into this giveaway, I have to share that Liv has been cracking me up lately. The rate of words that she is absorbing from everyday conversation, stowing away and reusing these days is just crazy to me. She asked for a shovel while playing with sand yesterday and I gave her a side-eye glance because I had no idea she knew what a shovel was, let alone how to say it and how to then fill up her bucket while singing to herself. And here I am trying to remember remedial Spanish for our trip to Spain, awkwardly sounding out verb conjugations when it’s just us in the car and failing miserably. I need a toddler brain asap.

Speaking of quick changes, I have a new hallway project that I wanted to share with you despite the crazy happenings that are going on on the outside of our house. And this post ends in an awesome giveaway! Double bonus and a big thank you to Lowe’s for sponsoring.

Lowe’s is launching a new program called $50 and Change. I don’t know about you, but it seems that $50 is often that magic number when it comes to tackling a small project from start to finish – and recognizing that, Lowe’s is challenging bloggers and readers alike to create our own projects with this budget in mind and to post those ideas over at the Lowe’s Idea Exchange on Facebook.

Beginning in September and continuing on every other month for a while now, I’ll be sharing one of my own $50 and Change projects as well as giving away a $50 Lowe’s gift card so that on reader can tackle their own, all courtesy of Lowe’s.

High on my list of must-finish-soon projects is to repaint a Craigslist corner unit for our hallway. I kid you not when I say that this bookshelf has stayed in its ‘antique white’ form covered in odds and ends (and other ‘where does this go?’ objects) for the past two years. Though it didn’t come with the house, the unit looks like it was intended as a built-in just for this corner! and I sadly neglected it and turned it into a dumping ground of sorts.

But thanks to a little motivation and a friend coming to town to work on a few paint projects, I stripped this shelving unit down and gave her a full makeover (just like exercise, blame partner accountability to get projects finished!).

Once dry and decorated from items around the house (some will likely stay, some will eventally get switched out as the bookcase evolves), I’m so happy with how this bookshelf greets me now when I enter the hall!

Favorite finds include these two conch shells from a garage sale I happened to drive by on our street – $3 each! And this great vintage painting that I scooped up for about $8 at the Rose Bowl Flea Market.

Also finding a new home in the hallway is a lounging cermic bird (thrift store), a stack of vintage (or just really old?) sailing books from Kevin’s collection, a few favorite black and white photos, my Etsy watercolor find (which provides just the right pop of color and contrast to the blue), a white vase from West Elm (on super sale) and a cut of wood that I’ve outlined our small family tree on for Father’s Day for Kevin.

That blank shelf is staring at me… but I think  I might try to track down a triangular basket to give myself even more storage, or load it up with more rolled white towels for guests.

The process was a bit bittersweet. I struggled coming up with the right lining for the shelves, trying out various Paper-Source sheets of wrapping paper to wallpaper to random shades of green, pink and blue before deciding on a dark peacock-navy.

With all of the natural light and soft colors going on in the hallway, the bookshelf was just asking for something deep and saturated.

Plus, when that right door is open you can see the bedroom just beyond, a color that played well with my patterned curtains was a must and this particular blue was almost pulled right out of a scrap of fabric from those curtains.

I actually ended up breaking my own mixing rule and added 1/3 parts Castile to 2/3 Plymouth Blue from Olympic. Armed with a sample of each to test out, I found this combo to be the perfect mix of navy and green – sort of a dark teal, if you will. I saved just a bit of the mixture for patching purposes should I need it.

But before any blue could be applied, this guy needed to go from an antique/manilla white to a nice bright white so that it tied in seamlessly with the trim and doors.

Here she is with a nice layer of primer.

Primer was followed by a semi-gloss bright white followed by taping off top of back bookshelf area and my new favorite blue. That plus lots of touch ups because the edges wanted to keep bleeding on each other…

Looks so great now! So fresh and so clean. The shelf definitely appears to have that built-in quality now that it’s the same shade of white as the trim, and that blue is an unexpected pop of color that meets you as you round the door into the hallway.

My total budget for this project was $50, though I have to admit that I came in about 25% lower and splurged on some extra paint and materials to cover up the back of another bookcase in the house. Details to be shared soon.

My gift card covered: 2 samples of paint in Castile and Plymouth Blue by Olympic (that were eventually mixed together to create that pretty blue-green teal), a small wire frame for rolling (similar to this one – great for cabinetry), a pack of sponge roller brushes, a quart each of primer and a bright white sem-gloss paint, painter’s tape, traditional black sponge brush to help with beadboard (inside of bookcase) nooks and grooves, a drop cloth and paint tray. But you could conceivably tackle this project for $6 (cost of two samples) if you have all of the above painting supplies on hand!

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Giveaway: A $50 gift card to Lowe’s!

To Enter: Leave a comment here with the $50 project you have in mind for your space.

For Additional Entries: Become a Facebook fan of Lowe’s Idea Exchange and/or Pepper Design Blog. Be sure to leave a separate comment for each additional entry.

Giveaway ends Wednesday, September 12 at midnight PST, winner will be chosen randomly and announced on the blog. Good luck!

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For more hallway makeover progress (like my painter’s tape wallpaper), check out this link.

PS If you’re an email subscriber, my apologies if you received ‘half’ an email on Saturday! This is the entire  post .

The Guest Bath: Getting a Little Ombred Away

Terribly cheesy title I know, but today’s post is all about one of my favorite new paint trends + a necessary home addition for a very busy toddler.

Lately Liv has turned into quite the independent lady. If it’s at all possible (and she can figure it out), she wants to do it herself. 90% of the time that’s a little tough, though we do try. 10% of the time it’s to accomplish basic tasks like washing of hands after a messy breakfast. This type of independence I love, most toddlers run from a wet washcloth honing in on yogurt smeared cheeks, but Liv still finds cleaning up a delight.

So I’ve been searching out a fun step stool for her bathroom. I was really hoping for something older with beautiful curved lines (more Jenny Lind – like Liv’s changing table – less modern and boxy) but when I came across this little birch stool from Ikea for $15 I couldn’t pass it up. It was begging for a fun coat of paint, too!

When Sherry and Katie announced their summer Pinterest challenge last week, I decided it was time to tackle this project and make it happen. (PS if you haven’t heard of this fun challenge I definitely recommend checking it out. If you are a procrastinator like myself and thrive on deadlines, this is a great opportunity to give yourself a deadline to tackle one crafty project you’ve had your eye on).

The real Pinterest inspiration for this challenge is actually this coffee mug that has hunkered down in the back of my brain image gallery for some time.

I’ve actually become quite enamored with the ombre trend as of late and have a few idea of else where in the house I might be able to spice things up with a bit of graduated paint colors…

And now for our much inspired ombre step stool:

I used two paint samples and a quart of white paint to mix my ombre layers.

Which left me with five variations of teal blue – from a beautiful deep peacock to a clear summer’s day sky blue.

My first layers of paint were pretty rough. I began at the top and slowly worked my way down the stool painting in loose stripes and not bothering too much with exact lines.

After some time in the sun, I went back with painter’s tape and measured out my layer heights so that each transition could result in a sharp contrasting line.

The top tier is the widest, slowly working down by 1/2″-1″ increments (roughly 5.5″ for tier 1, 4.5″ for tier 2, 3.75″ for tier 3, 3.25″ for tier 4, 3″ for tier 5) so that the stripes at the base were skinnier than the ones at the top.

It turned out just as I had hoped for! I really dig the colors.

Nana helped to distract Liv on the other side of the yard, but occasionally she’s wander up behind me and grab onto my neck. I ended up wearing paint for days and I’m still surprised she left the scene without a drop on her.

The stool is taller than I anticipated (it comes in a flat box from Ikea and I hadn’t paid close attention to the overall height) but it seems to work really well with Liv’s 18 month old reach.

I had chosen the colors right from the existing shades in the space and I love how the turquoise pops against the tiles in the shower, the blues in the artwork, the pale hand towels.

So far she dares to make it to the first step. It might get a little tricky after she figures out that she really can crawl to the top on her own.

But when it comes to hand washing she gets a little help.

Oh wow how she loves it! After the stool moved its way inside, it was all I could do to distract her from trying to wash her hands every 10 minutes.

I’m glad she loves it as much as I do!

Yay for projects that make you get to-do’s done.

Here’s a quick link to the previous Pinterest challenges that I’ve worked on. Still quite proud of that capiz chandelier, painter’s tape wallpaper and gold mercury glass. But don’t forget to head on over to Sherry’s post and Katie’s post (and Kate’s and Michelle’s! who are guest hosts) to find all kinds of crafty and fun ideas.