Weekend Give Away: 5 Gift Certificates to Poppin!

It's the weekend! I really love short weeks like this one. I feel like I still have some energy left to actually do something productive over the weekend.

We never quite conquered spring cleaning earlier this year, so I'm going to attempt to do a little (or a lot of) organizing and cleaning the next couple of days. I just got a bunch of new desk accessories from Poppin, so I decided to kick things off in my office. New things always get me excited to clean up! :)  

I first heard about Poppin from Joanna, who gifted me a set of red pens. Let me tell you, I LOVE these pens. They are modern and gorgeous (so eye catching - people always ask me about the pens when I whip one out of my bag) and, most importantly, they write beautifully!

I took a peek at Poppin's mission statement, because their products are so well designed I just knew that they would have something interesting to say. Their goal is to help people surround themselves with beauty everywhere they go and in everything they do. I dig.

Poppin sells about anything your little heart could ever desire in the "office accessory" category. Desk sets, pens, pencils, notebooks, file cabinets, desk chairs, etc, etc, etc. All colorful and sleek. You can mix and match of course, but I think it's fun to have a color collection. I chose a deep red-orange color that feels very Hermes-y to me. I love the way it works with the malachite green color of my desk. 

That tape dispenser slays me! Could not love it more.

Now for the important stuff: Poppin is kindly offering up FIVE $50 gift certificates to LGN readers! To enter, simply hop over to the Poppin site, chose your favorite office accessories and leave a comment here with a link to your choice(s). Contest ends next Friday, June 7 at midnight.

Right now I'm giving this chartreuse set the up-down. I really could use a new pair of scissors... :)

Lime green set  //  Blue accessory tray  //  Colorful notebook  //  Blue stapler  //  Black ruler  //  Black and white desk set  //  Orange desk chair

Orange sticky notes  //  Yellow filing cabinet  //  Yellow pens  //  Blue highlighters  //  Security envelopes  //  Things To Do pads  //  Monogrammed Notebook  //  Lime green notebook

PS Poppin is also offering $10 off on every order over $40 from now through June 5 with the code "LITTLEGREEN".  Happy shopping!

Faux Stone DIY Idea

ABC was a having a sale recently so I popped over to see what they had. I fell in LOVE with this coffee table from afar. The pattern on the tabletop is so pretty and so, so DIY-able (using these instructions and neutral paint colors).

Could be so good, right? Plus, if you use this IKEA coffee table as the base (and spray the legs gold like Jordan did below), you'd save yourself approximately $3700. And if you're like me, you'd tell yourself that you basically just earned thirty-seven-huno and that it's time to go shopping (starting with these). Sweet! ;)

Hotel Bedding Source

A few of you asked where I got the three-lined embroidered hotel style bedding when I posted about our bedroom here.

I found the duvet + pair of shams set at HomeGoods more than six months ago. There was only one package left when I bought mine, which I was bummed about. I totally would have bought an extra set to keep on hand. But! I stopped in to my local HomeGoods a couple days ago and they had more in stock in black and a couple other colors! I'm such a fan of this style of simple embroidered bedding and at $50 it's a steal for the look and the quality.

PS They also had this (very popular) mirror back in the store! 

Father's Day with StickyGram (with a Give Away!)

Michael has a seriously great view from his high-rise office in downtown Manhattan.

He can see both the Hudson and East rivers and he has a front row view of the Woolworth Building and the new Freedom Tower.

This year as an early Father's Day present, we wanted to do a little something fun for Michael's office. He works pretty crazy hours up here in this office, so we thought some reminders of home would be a welcome addition.

We ordered a couple sheets of StickyGrams and put them on a piece of sheet metal the girls painted with chalkboard paint. (We thought it would be fun to have a chalkboard in there too, and at least the girls have been putting it to good use when we come up to visit Michael!)

In case you haven't heard, StickyGram is a really lovely UK-based company that quickly and beautifully prints magnet versions of your Instagram images. We have a few sheets on our fridge and we get compliments on our collection all the time. I'm so glad Michael has his own little collection in his office now.

I love that the magnet board sits right next to his monitors so he can see our favorite Instagram photos all day long. No need to have a million picture frames taking up space on his desk! I'm a big fan. :)

StickyGram is giving away three full sheets of magnets today for a lucky reader (anywhere in the world!). Just in time for a GREAT Father's Day present! To enter, leave a comment on this post. Contest ends at midnight on Sunday, June 2. Good luck!

PS Follow me on instagram at @jennykomenda

Mattress Recommendations

Happy Memorial Day! We've been out of town all weekend, and we're having the best trip! :)

It seems like we've been traveling and sleeping in hotels a lot this year. Whenever we sleep on a different mattress it reminds me that it really is time for us to get something new this year. I'm ready to invest in a special mattress at this point, and would love your recommendations if you have any!

We slept in this pretty room at the Four Seasons DC a couple weeks ago and I loved the mattress (though it looks like they sell their mattresses only over the phone?). We've also loved the Westin Heavenly Bed. Do you have a favorite?

(This photo below has nothing to do with mattresses, but seriously, how amazing is this lilac grasscloth and the mirrored closet doors in the hotel room? I especially loved the combo with the Biedermeier chest and the modern art.)

PS If you're looking for a really affordable and decent mattress, I totally recommend this latex mattress that we're using in Heather's room upstairs. It's delivered in a large box (so no delivery charges!), and once you unwrap and unroll it, the latex expands back to its full shape.  

It's really a pretty nice mattress for the price. Great for a guest room!

Weekend Give Away: ShoeMint!

Woohoo! It's the weekend! We're loading up the car today and hitting the road for a little break away from the city. We're hoping the weather brightens up a bit so we can take the girls to the beach. Fingers crossed! :)

Let's kick off the weekend with a give away from one of my favorite shoe-shopping sites, ShoeMint!

Steve Madden makes these fabulous all-leather or suede shoes designed by style mavens Rachel Bilson and Nicole Chavez. 

I'd gladly take that sofa off their hands... 

New styles come out every month that keep me coming back for more. These sandals are my most recent favorites.

They're super comfy and they look great with skirts and dresses.

Here are some of my other favorites:

To enter to win a pair of gorgeous ShoeMint shoes, hop on over to the members-only site and register (it's free and takes just a sec), and then leave a comment on this post sharing your favorite pair.

Contest ends next Friday, May 31 at midnight. Open to US and Canada residents only. Good luck!

PS If you register here with this link, you'll get 20% off your first order!

DIY Starry Ceiling (ala Osbourne and Little Coronata Star Wallpaper)

Furbish Studio Design via Lonny Mag

Kristen Davis, who is a really talented painter based in Atlanta (I've mentioned her before here and here), emailed me photos of this really beautiful nursery ceiling project she just finished. Her client wanted to put Osbourne and Little Coronata Star wallpaper on the ceiling in her baby's nursery, but the commitment and expense was keeping the client from pulling the trigger.

Kristen came the rescue and stenciled the eight-pointed star pattern on the nursery ceiling, and it's pretty much a dead-ringer for the original wallpaper.

Kristen gave a little how-to on her blog HERE. I really love how this project turned out!

Also, when I was searching for the Lonny images from the nursery Jamie did (at the very top of the post), I re-stumbled across this great project that Dina from Honey & Fitz posted a while back. She had a similar idea as Kristen, but used a Silhouette machine to cut out the stars on silver contact paper so she could just peel and stick.

More of Dina's son's beautiful nursery here.

I think both methods are great options for a completely gorgeous look, don't you? I'm crazy-obsessed with the night sky and would love to do my own version of a star ceiling in my girls' room. A dark, dark blue ceiling with glow in the dark paint over gold paint for the stars would be so cool...

JEM Fabrics Update

Just a little PSA today for my fellow New Yorkers: JEM Fabrics, one of my very favorite sources for super affordable velvets and trim (where I bought this trim), is closing its doors this month. :( I'm so, so bummed for the very nice people that run the store (and also for myself).

For the next two weeks they are selling everything at a deep discount, including furniture they had downstairs in the upholstery section. I stopped by yesterday and bought five yards of this laminated black linen (above) for a dining chair project and I also ended up buying this vintage tufted sofa for $100.

I don't need it, but it's comfy, and I've never been known to turn down a good piece of tufted furniture. I'm thinking it'd be pretty amazing reupholstered in a distressed black leather (I spied something perfect at my new leather source). In the end, it might look a little something like this Dwell Studio Chester sofa.

via SFgirlbybay

I passed on this gorgeous down-filled Baker camelback, which I'm regretting a bit. One of you should snag it though (also $100).

I think it could look a bit like the Anthropologie Ditte with a new upholstery job and a set of pretty brass caster cups.

I did end up buying 15 yards of this gorgeous deep blue-green-gray mohair to reupholster my LEE roll-arm sofa. So, so excited for that to happen. 

And now that my beloved JEM is going away, I'm feeling sadly short on affordable, interesting velvet sources. New Yorkers, am I missing out on any great places? Mood sometimes hooks me up, but all the other fabric stores in the garment district have left me empty-handed in the past when it comes to velvets. Trade fabrics are great, but sometimes there's just nothing like the hunt for something really one-of-a-kind feeling, you know?

RIP, JEM. I'll miss you and your cool, worn painted plywood floors.