making it work
i remember reading about the novogratz family a while back, thinking that i really needed to DVR their new show, 9 by design. which i totally forgot about until now and just ended up programming the show five minutes ago. their story -- they're a husband and wife team (now with SEVEN kids), who through the renovation of a rundown town house in new york city, realized they had a knack and love for interior design. soon after (1995ish), they founded sixx design, now a crazy successful real estate renovation company, specializing in turning funky into fabulous, as they say.
below are a few home decor | design concepts i love. photos courtesy of sixx design.
check out this awesome garage door wall (we hope to have one someday) and the huge photograph -- LOVE! now dreaming of a huge print or two, for our tampa house.
another garage door wall and cool kitchen...
and this ground level trampoline. how awesome is that?!
there is no pool at the house in tampa, that we put an offer on, but i dream of having one. and i love this simple, stunning design...
being a military family and moving every few years, we kind of just make it work, from house to house. sometimes it's a military house, where we get what we get and we don't throw a fit. other times, we buy. but it's never totally our style, nor the house of our dreams. and of course, schools are a priority in finding a house, with every move.
here's some photos of our current house, here in KS. although it doesn't really look quite like this anymore -- i have sky and ryder's room almost entirely packed in boxes, all frames are off the walls, a huge purge pile sitting in the middle of my bedroom, etc. we're packing slowly, box by box, over the next few weeks, with a departure date around june 27th.).
with this next move, we'll be packing and moving ourselves because there's money to be made if you do it yourself versus letting the military (outsourced) folks do it all. and so i will be looking at every item in our house with a critical eye, asking do we use this? does someone in the house really love it, play with it, etc.? is there significant sentimental value?
thankfully, we don't have a lot of clutter to begin with, but i want everything to be used or loved and have it's place, preferably in a drawer or closet.
maybe someday, after the military and sailing around the americas, steve and i can renovate our own funky to fabulous living space. i know steve would absolutely LOVE that!!
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some design blogs i love: apartment therapy dos family decor8
a new site i just learned about -- living etc. i'd love to get their magazine but it's a bit pricey.
we've been getting dwell for years. i'm in the process of going through hundreds of magazines and tearing out the pages i'm inspired by. my plan is to them create a binder of home inspiration, categorized by rooms.
and i can't wait to get my hands on the novogratz's book, downtown chic.
do you have a design blog you love? please comment and share. i'd love to know!!
p.s. how great would it be to photograph the novogratz family. oh my!