introducing katie's place

Posts have been more than a little infrequent on the blog since Jane was born. And while I do have a backlog of posts, they seem to all be just a touch unfinished and thus rather difficult to publish. Babies take a lot of time! Especially one who isn't particularly fond of napping...

Thus I am very excited to announce The Place Home's first guest blogger! My younger sister, Katie, will be starting to regularly blog here with a series entitled Katie's Place. Katie lives with her husband in San Francisco and while I will let her tell you more about herself, her place is the kitchen. A lover of all things food and cooking, her posts will detail what makes her house (or rather rented apartment) a home - food. My hope is Katie's Place will be just the first of many series in which contributors blog about what makes their homes significant and really their own. Please welcome Katie! 

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Hi all, I’m Katie, a health coach in training, a food lover, and kitchen aficionado. I have always had a big passion for health, wellness, and anything that has to do with food and the kitchen. Taking a page from Emily’s book, my place is the kitchen.

Living in San Francisco with a husband who works until 8:00 p.m. most nights, the time that I am most grateful for is the time we can spend, just the two of us, at our dining room table in our little apartment. I am beyond lucky and grateful to have a husband who loves my cooking, loves me, and loves our time together.

On a weekly, sometimes daily basis, I share pictures of my meals, tips that I’ve come across, or a great new recipe with Emily (whether she wants to listen or not) and that is where the idea for Katie’s Place originated.

I will share my kitchen trials and tribulations, my favorite recipes, tools I love/hate, and anything else that comes to mind. I hope you will follow along with me on my kitchen journey here and on The Place Home Pinterest page! Have a great weekend everyone!

Want to read more? Check out one or all of these related posts.

slow cookers
september 26, 2013

resource review: food blogs
february 18, 2014

ikea kitchens
august 26, 2015

nursery series | boy or girl

As I have mentioned in this post and this post, we weren't sure about finding out the gender of our baby. And while I didn't REALLY source/decorate the room before we found out, I knew what direction I was headed in if it was boy or if it was a girl. 

For a boy, I liked the idea of mixing reds and navy with the BM Caldwell Green paint color. Red is pretty out of my comfort zone but I did and still do really like the way a true red looks against the green.  I pictured a room that had a cool, somewhat expected, vintage vibe. Similar in feel to these great boys rooms...

design by Amber Interiors | THE PLACE HOME

design by Bailey McCarthy via Style Me Pretty | THE PLACE HOME

Wixom home via Camille Styles | THE PLACE HOME

via One Kings Lane | THE PLACE HOME

For a girl, I initially loved the idea of doing a blush and dark green room. Emily Henderson shared this mood board for her daughter's room which is a bit more boho than I was thinking but still amazing. 

design by Emily Henderson | THE PLACE HOME

Ultimately, the more I thought about the more I realized so much pink just wasn't us. Don't get me wrong I love blush and consider it one of my "power colors", I just didn't want to be so tied to it. Similar to my thoughts for a boys room, I wanted a nursery that had a vintage feel but mixed with more modern elements. A space that was a bit whimsical and romantic - sort of like the feel of these sweet girl's rooms...

via Inside Out Magazine | THE PLACE HOME

home of Miranda Brooks and Bastien Halard featured in Vogue via The Neo-Trad | THE PLACE HOME

design by Lisa Sherry via Lonny | THE PLACE HOME

Having an idea of how I wanted the room to feel was big in being able to quickly move forward once we found out we were having a girl! And what is more romantic and whimsical than a modern chintz! 

Want to read more? Check out one or all of these related posts. 

blush
february 26, 2014

four poster beds
may 21, 2014

chintz
october 26, 2015

nursery series | paint color

After 14 weeks, I was off and running on the design of the nursery. The starting point proved to be really easy - the paint color. It was a decision that came naturally which is not usually the case when it comes to paint selection. I was just zoned in on what I wanted - dark green. A dark green that wasn't too olive but also wasn't too blue. I had one inspiration image that really stood out for me and once I did some digging and found out the color, I pretty much didn't look back. 

Animal Print Shop Nursery Series photo by Laure Joliet

The inspiration image is from Sharon Montrose's featured nursery projects and I love how the color isn't too kid and works well with lots of different color tones. At the time of selection, we didn't know that we were having a girl or if we were for sure going to find out the gender. So I wanted a color that would be gender neutral for not only this baby but also for future kids as we are unsure of how we might use our bedrooms down the line - see my general design criteria in this post. 

The color, which the Animal Print Shop so nicely displayed at the bottom of their post, is Benjamin Moore's Caldwell Green. This made my life even easier as I have used exclusively BM paints in the house. I bought a sample can, tried it on the wall and that was pretty much it - decision made. 

Now that the color is up, I love it. It looks great with white trim and other neutrals as well with lots of different colors. Some doubters of my color selection (uhhm Mom) thought the color would be too dark but it isn't at all the case. The room has two windows - one with eastern exposure and one with northern so the light is really nice throughout the day but especially in the morning. And being as the room is quite large, it makes also feel more cozy which is the main feeling I want for the space. 

Want to read more? Check out one or all of these related posts.

artist feature: sharon montrose
july 24, 2013

olive green interiors
june 8, 2015

animal patterns for kids
april 3, 2015