Come On In...

Christiana is on a well deserved vacation this week, and I'm holding down the fort. She's been asking me to post photos of the many wall stickers I have in my home for a long time now, and I've just never found the time to take photos, or the house was too dirty. But, today I cleaned up and took some shots. I decided to start with our entry - I'll post more over the course of the week.

The single Hexagon that I have in our front entry has special significance - when Christiana and I first contacted Trine to become the US distributors, she sent us a package of samples and this was the very first fermLIVING wall sticker either of us had ever seen "in real life" as my 4 year old puts it. The Hexagon stickers are one of my favorite fermLIVING products - they are so intricate and the design has a subtly Asian feel.

After you hang up your coat and push past the dogs (who are oh-so-happy to see you), and just before you step on a Lego, one of the first things that you see upon entering our house is the flock of Birds at the top of the stairs. They're circling a favorite print of the Chrysler Building that reminds my husband and I of when we used to live in NYC almost ten years ago.

If you didn't already know, I have 2 boys (5 and 4 years old) and 2 dogs (9 and 9 months old). I've included some outtakes from this morning's photo shoot. Those of you with kids and/or dogs will understand and appreciate them.

Let's Get This Party Started!

Just last April, Aimee and I formed our company and began bringing ferm LIVING to North America. We can't believe it has already been a year as so many exciting things have already happened. So, we've been paying extra special attention to the fact that our first year birthday is almost upon us. Or maybe we're just looking for another reason to have cocktails? Either way, to kick of our birthday big month, Vanessa at Turquoise has generously offered to host a cocktail party at her studio in Los Angeles with us on March 29th from 6-9. If you live in the area, please stop by to say hello, have some drinks and grab some small bites (and some wallpaper samples). We can't wait!

I Spy Ferm

Bumping into ferm LIVING unexpectedly is always such a thrill for us, so this week's been especially thrilling... Jennifer June just started a lovely blog, About a Hermit, for her shop Hermitage in Portland. We're happy to see our Family Tree included in such a gorgeous way. I've got to see more of this room!

Anna at Door Sixteen used some scraps of Feathers to sweetly decorate two little canisters. Note to self: Must try this!

Julia Rothman's Red Sky design at WallCollection made the SF Chronicle header. What a treat!

Family Tree in petrol serves as a backdrop to Lisa Congdon's latest scissor mobile at Rare Device. A good reminder to keep your scissors pointing down when you run with them. I actually haven't thought of that little life lesson since my 3rd grade teached yelled at me about it. It's a valid point. Don't want to lose an eye...

Go ferm!

Farvel to The Wire

It's my understanding that Denmark is the happiest country in the world, because its citizens keep their expectations low. Such low expectations are constantly being surpassed which results in much satisfaction. Last night turned out to be a great lesson in living like the Danish. It totally works.

For five incredible and intense seasons of The Wire, I fearfully watched Bubbles struggle with an addiction that seemed to have him beat. Every episode, I prepared myself for the very worst. But... he made it! All the way off the streets and out of the basement. I couldn't have been happier! So now, true to the Danish way, I'm going to expect that there will never be another show quite as good. And then who knows, maybe one of these days...

Thank you, Nadine and Jonah for sharing your cable with me :) See you in the East Bay! And last, but never least, a huge thanks to the Freezedog for dialing me in to the best television show I've ever watched.

Wallpaper Superstar

For those of you who don't live in the San Francisco area, on Saturday, ferm LIVING's own Christiana Coop was recently featured not only on the front page of the Chronicle's Living section, but also in the top corner of the front page! Click here to read the full story and to check out photos of Christiana's very lovely San Francisco apartment. It was so exciting to see her talents featured in a major US newspaper. Not since we rocked the cover of the Los Alamos Monitor for our 5th grade musical's stirring dance number, "Hello Mr. Watson" have either of us received such great press!

I may be biased as she has been my dearest friend since we were very small, but her design sense and creativity are amazing and inspirational. The story is a well-deserved confirmation that while she may be the legal world's loss, she is truly the design world's gain. Congratulations, Christi.

In other reality-design-show news, our favorite, Christian Siriano won this season of Project Runway and Christiana and I just had to give him a big shout out on the blog. We're kind of celebrities in our own heads, too, Christian - we'll miss your weekly ferosh-ness and wish you continued success!

Made in the Shade

I recently decided that my bathroom needed a little more color, so was very excited when I came across this iron candelabra at Area. I love the look of chandeliers, but have no idea about (or interest in dealing with) the electrical issues involved in moving wires inside the wall. This candelabra seemed like the perfect solution and was very easy. I just...

1. Picked a fun shade of pink (Benjamin Moore, Gorgeous Red) and mocked up some wallpaper shades in some of my favorite patterns.

2. Primed the iron with a spongy brush.

3. Picked up some super cheap plain white shades ($4 each) from Ikea and decided on the wallpaper design I wanted to use (Little Leaves!).

4. Traced the shades on the wallpaper, cut them out and taped the wallpaper to the inside of each shade with white electrical tape.

5. Screwed in a hook and voila!

To complete the space, I framed two gorgeous prints by Samantha Hahn (thank you, Samantha!) in silver and picked up a sweet crystal perfume bottle at Anthropologie.

Now if only I had more time in the morning to enjoy getting ready for the day in there... I've really must figure out a way to break free from the evil snooze button.

Afternoon Tea

Nothing beats a hot cup of tea in the afternoon to revitalize and help push on through the work day. Unless, that cup is then dried with one of these ferm goodies!

I've been really into tea towels ever since Aimee gave me the one above so that I could remember my roots :) I started picking one up every now and then when I travel to remind me of a happy moment. I also love using tea towels to wrap homemade banana bread and give friends unexpected presents. Okay, I've actually only done that once, but it seemed to go over really well. It might happen again.

I can't wait to add a couple of these clever tea towels to my collection. I'm thinking the yellow will work perfectly. Or the pine tree. Except, hmmmm, I really love the petrol blue...

Spring: Coming Soon!

I was so excited to see Holly at decor8 mention ferm LIVING's new spring collection yesterday! She also just changed up her blog header, which is so pretty and just in time for spring! As much as I am obsessed with gray tones, spring surely is the time to add in bright, soft, fresh color to your living space (or logo header)!

Incidentally, I recently was lucky enough to meet Vanessa, decor8's west coast contributor. Vanessa, owner of Turquoise in Santa Monica, is one seriously fabulous and friendly interior designer, and we're simply thrilled to have her host our first year anniversary/birthday party in LA at the end of the month. If you live in there area, I hope you'll stop by! Free cocktails and wallpaper samples. Can it get any better? More details soon...

Thanks so much for the shout out, Holly! Happy Spring!

Wallpaper Liner

I recently became friends with Samantha Hahn, an extremely talented artist (and crafty do-it-yourselfer) in Brooklyn, when she came looking for some ferm LIVING wallpaper for few projects she was working on for her new place in Prospect Heights. Here's the table she beautifully refurbished, including lining the drawers with our family tree wallpaper design. So pretty! And such a nice way to surprise whoever happens to open the draw with a lovely pop of pattern.

The step-by-step...
I'm also lucky enough to have just received a couple fantastic prints by Samantha (thank you!) which I just framed and will post just as soon as I'm done with my own little DIY project. Thank you so much, Samantha!

ferm LOUNGING

Anh-Minh just sent us a picture of this lovely corner in her home. The hydrangea wall sticker works perfectly with the lounge chair (which I am loving...) and gnome stool. The combination really creates a modern, yet comfortable, outdoorsy feel. I'd love to be lounging there right now! Thank you so much for sending us this picture, Anh-Minh!

My Kind of Place

One of my friends in Chicago just sent me the Your Place section of the Tribune. How cool to see ferm's full page spread! Now, that's some powerful journalism!

Thanks so much, Romy! See you in LA :)

Seeing Red!

Rachel and Ryan threw a little Oscar party last night which included two very special guests, baby Calum and baby Olivia. Lucky for us, they also Tivo'd the show, and because the babies needed to go to bed early, we were able to condense the Oscar highlights into a 2 hour event (instead of 5...) which still included watching Gary Busey's red carpet appearance three times. Awesome.

Olivia and Calum were not that impressed with what they were seeing on the red carpet this year.

Before the show, I helped Calum's dad put up some wall stickers in his nursery. Calum couldn't wait to go to sleep in a field of red flowers and playful butterflies and dragonflies.

Thanks so much for having us over!

ferm LIVING in South Park

Why has no one told us about this site before? Aimee and I found it very hard to get work done yesterday knowing we could be spending time perfecting how we would look as South Park characters. Aimee's above. Aimee, cute shirt, but you look a little tired?

Here's me picking out a perfect shade of grey paint for my bathroom. I've decided to wallpaper the ceiling in Little Leaves and then paint it a more interesting color. So, my expression above should be interpreted as one of nervous excitement!

Have a great weekend!

Pup Tarts!

So... I just started subscribing to Everyday with Rachael Ray thinking that it might motivate me to pull it together in the kitchen. It was through one of those weird offers where they give you 5 magazines free for 6 months, and then I'm not really sure what's next. I'm so happy (at least until I find out what happens after the free situation ends) that I did though, because I just spotted our ferm LIVING birds flying around some lucky dog's slice of quiche. Too cute! And, how pretty are the silver birds against the blue?

By the way, can someone explain why Rachael is ALWAYS smiling? Can a person really enjoy cooking that much?

Speaking of over-indulged pups, I can't resist sharing this picture of Wade, Aimee's newest addition to her family. I don't think he's supposed to be on the couch, but who could resist letting him stay there? Just for a little bit...

Pillow Talk

ferm LIVING just launched it's nature-inspired pillow collection, and we can't wait to rest our heads on these feather-filled beauties!

Here's the Tassette in black and white.
Weed in petrol blue.
Wilderness in black and white (and soon to me mine!)
Ribbed in curry.
Look for our pillow collection on a couch near you this May!

ferm SLEEPING

ferm LIVING just launched its new bedding line at the Scandinavian design fair, Formland, in Denmark. We're so excited about it and can't wait to get the US sizing. Right now it is only available in European sizing, which is oddly small. Trust me, the US sizing will be worth the wait! Above are the berry black and plywood designs. I put those first because those are the two I'm debating between for my bedroom. Please feel free to help me out. Below... Bindweed in yellow (so cheerful!)


Family Tree in petrol (so striking!)

Feathers in reverse (so lovely!)

Wall Dots (rather sexy, yes?)

You can check out all the designs at www.ferm-living.com. We're hoping these will be available in early summer, and will do our best to get them here asap!