Getting inspired by autumn’s arrival does not, I repeat, does not have to involve miniature pumpkins, wreathes made of woven hay, and a harvest theme so overt it candies your corn every time you walk into a room. If you’re a fan of fall, let your paint do the talking instead, with colors like these from Behr.

At the same time, however, don’t feel you have to stick to warm earth tones and brilliant oranges. Remember that before the flora puts on its pre-winter mantle, trees and shrubs boast foliage that is a mix of the aforementioned colors and summertime’s greens. Don’t be afraid to play around with that fact by adding unexpectedly green greens to your palette, like this color scheme by Valspar.

On the other hand, combining colors in a room using paint can sometimes be a scary proposition. Who wants to have to paint all over again when it turns out a combo just doesn’t quite work. I recommend Better Homes and Gardens’ New Color Schemes Made Easy, which is an easy-to-follow guide that can help novices get it right the first time.

Babies probably don’t actually need about 85% of the things we’ve all been conditioned by baby magazines and shops to think they need. Somewhere to sleep, yes. Some toys to play with, yes. All those things that keep baby healthy, yes. Does the living room need to be taken over by infant and toddler gear? No, no, NO. You simply do not have to sacrifice chic when a bundle of joy invades your world.

When baby has its own good sized room, then by all means give in to the temptation to spread exersaucers and jumperoos hither and yon. But if you’re fitting baby into an already small space by necessity or because you’re a fan of small space living, then think carefully about what you buy for baby and where you put it. I’m sure you don’t leave your toys — whether they be golf clubs or musician’s gear or paint brushes — laying about, so why not be as neat with your son or daughter’s stuff? If nothing else, those early months will be less traumatic when you maintain some semblance of belonging to the world of grown-ups.

(Photo by Zophos)

There’s some debate in Amsterdam over which house is the smallest, though what I think they mean is narrowest. I’ve found travel web sites and tourists suggesting it’s this one:

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Yet other sources tell me that what we see here is only the rear of another larger dwelling. Then there’s this one, which one traveler asserts is a mere 1.8 meters wide:

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I was going to ask when Urban Outfitters had planted its feet in the world of DIY, but that’s an easy question to answer. I’m pretty sure they did so when crafting went from something people just did to enrich their lives to being something that people do because it’s trendy. Some people, of course, still make stuff for pleasure or profit, but you cannot tell me that there are not at least a few people knitting, making books, printing t-shirts, or carving because it gets them laid. Or they think it might somehow get them laid.

So, yeah, Urban Outfitters DIY… they’ve got your screenprinting kits and your Bob Ross Basic Paint set and your printing presses for the home user. All very crafty.

I am pro-craft, actually. Rabidly. Whether one is doing it because the art simply must come out of you or because the cute girl in apartment 3C loves to knit and you think you could hit that with a few baby booties under your belt. I wish I was a better crafter myself, but time slips away from me and I am no fan of steep learning curves. Sewing is about all I can muster the the enthusiasm to master. But Urban Outfitters as the new go-to for supplies? Please. Take my advice, and go to your local yarn shop or sewing supply store or art supply center where the staff will know how to talk shop and possibly even give you some choice pointers. It worked for me — that’s how I learned to thread my sewing machine!

If you like papercraft, you’ll likely have some love for papercutting, the art of putting knife to paper to create delicate and beautiful things. The Heart of Papercutting as a blog all about exactly that — the writer, Elsa Mora, has a serious knack for papercutting and posts pictures of her complex paper creations.

She also waxes poetic about meditative topics that come through in her art and sells her papercutting kits that will get anyone interested in this artform off to a good start. Plus, she has a book, Blossom Budies, which is *not* about papercraft, but is super cute.

If we had a nursery for our little one and I could have any crib I wanted, I think I’d choose this one.

This Kenridge Crib looks great in its various incarnations, which means no having to buy toddler beds — sorry, racecar bed fans — or twin beds later on. White pine, poplar, and other hard woods mean its durable, too. And the finish? Think white pine and hardwood veneers that are lightly distressed.

Because twin beds? Sure, they’re less expensive in the short one, but they’re not particularly useful later on. You can’t use them as a guest bed unless you exclusively host singles, and I’ve never known a young adult to want them for long once they move out of the house.

Unfortunately, at $1,127 (plus shipping) for the crib plus both conversion kits, this crib isn’t what I’d call economically-priced, especially since the most expensive part of any bed is the mattress. But it is certainly pretty, and it comes in a huge range of colors, from the above surf blue to flamingo to chili pepper to sour apple, and all the usual boring colors like white, black, and the pastels. Nursery-matching is not a problem here. Love it!

We can’t deny that pink is associated with femininity and that femininity is associated with pink, but that doesn’t mean that we have to buy into it. One can, in fact, create a feminine space without reverting to splashes or even tidal waves of everything from amaranth to tea rose. I’m not saying pink is bad or ugly, but sometimes I wonder if society’s current lust for it is a sign that we women are being asked to revert to girlhood as part of that horrid quest for everlasting youth. So let’s get away from it without sacrificing that XX spirit, shall we?

Here are four overtly feminine bedrooms, all done in different style and in different colors, from blue (shown there) to purple, green, and a room that combines a lot of different colors to make one harmonious whole.

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When The Beard and I were house shopping, we toured one house whose previous owners decided to swap a bathroom and a bedroom. What they ended up with what a fairly small bedroom — appropriate for use as a nursery, tiny home office, or perhaps a walk-in closet — and a gigantic, wholly cavernous feeling bathroom. While in the past I might have thought “Bathrooms, the bigger, the better,” that strange house cured me of the very idea.

Which brings me to this bathroom, outfitted with fixtures from Hansgrohe‘s Axor Urquiola range designed by Patricia Urquiloa. I adore the colors and the glass and the overwhelming indoor pool spa aesthetic. All the little stools and tables are darling. The whole thing says aquatic and means it. But while the double tubs are… interesting, truth be told, with a tub that big I’d much prefer to invite The Beard in with me. And as for the space itself? It’s just way too big for my particular tastes. Huge bathrooms over a certain size just feel wrong to me.

What say you?

Summertime may feel like it’ll last forever once it gets going, but the truth is that it’s winding down ever so slowly. I like to keep summer in my life all year long with fun colors. Like lime! It’s so summery — when do we have limeade? Key lime pie? Summertime, of course. If you want to ensure that your summer last, in some capacity, all year long, try these limey goodies on for size:

This Ultra Soft Studio Lime Chair would look as good in the living room as it would in a home office or the corner of a bedroom. I especially like the generous-yet-cozy curves.

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Shopping lists. To-do lists. The lists we use to consolidate all those other lists we have lying around. What, you don’t do that? Maybe it’s just me. I’ll admit that I’m a serious listmaker. A friend of mine just up and painted her kitchen cabinets with chalkboard paint — though please note that the kitchen below isn’t actually hers.

Of course, chalkboard paint isn’t just for kitchen cabinets!

You might consider putting it on a board in the bathroom for when you get momentous ideas while soaking in the tub.

And naturally it’s fab in kids’ rooms… as long as you can deal with the inevitable chalk dust. I recommend combining this trend with something other than carpet, no matter which room you choose to put it in.

(Images via Everything Fabulous, The Homebound, and Our 100 year old Logan Utah home)>