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Living for Pretty

Celebrating all things pretty, happy and inspiring. From renovation stories, to recipes, decorating, parties and little life lessons, you’ll find a little bit of everything here.

Blue and White French Nursery



April 24, 2022

I’ve sat down a few times in the last two years to write this post. For some reason writing about decor on the internet just doesn’t seem like a priority after having a baby. But I do think it’s nice to take a moment to capture the moment.

This room is so special to me. There is nothing better then nesting for your first baby. So many hopes and dreams get imbued into it. I wanted this room to be calm and a place I liked to be. I also wanted it to be gender neutral to transition a future baby.

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Welcome Baby and 6 Tips for Your DIY Fresh 48 Photos



January 11, 2021

Readers, meet Philip Oliver! “Pip” was born in late March in 2020 during a nationwide shutdown.

Because of coronavirus, it was just me and Billy at the hospital. I had booked a photographer for a Fresh 48 session, which are photos that happen in the hospital in the first day or two of life. I loved the idea of capturing our first moments when we became a family of three.

A week or two before I went into labor, the hospital changed the visitor policy to include only the “birthing partner” (dad, in our case) and no one else. No grandparents, aunts, uncles, and no photographers. We were scared of further restrictions and not even having my husband there (a few hospitals in New York had taken that step based on positive cases), so we felt lucky to have each other.

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Master Bedroom Coffee Station



January 12, 2019

What’s the one thing that makes your morning instantly better? Coffee. It’s the reason a lot of us are able to roll out of bed in the morning. But in our house the time between eyes open and coffee in my mouth was just too long.

We have been long time french press coffee people. The coffee is delicious, it’s one less countertop appliance sitting out, and I managed to score a beautiful silverplated gem from an online auction that ‘sparked joy’ whenever I looked at it.

But since we moved into the new house the french press coffee joy has turned just a touch sour. Because french press coffee is a process.

  • First you heat up the water on the stove.
  • Then you pour water into the french press.
  • Then you wait 3-4 minutes.
  • Then you press.
  • THEN you enjoy.

This was all good and fine when our kitchen was located in between our master bedroom and our bathroom. It was natural to incorporate the french press coffee process into our morning flow–inbetween showering, dressing and primping.

Now in our new home the kitchen is a set of stairs and three rooms away. And having to consistently go back down the stairs for each step in the process grew tiresome. Then the solution came to me after watching Architectural Digest’s Open Door videos of Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s house.

The home’s interior designer, Peter Gurski, calls this the gentleman’s cabinet. It’s got one very important, not-to-be-overlooked feature: a coffee station.

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15 Free Art Downloads



January 2, 2019

With the holiday un-decorating commencing, the bells and garlands come down and the everyday decor goes up. The change of the seasons is the perfect time for a refresh, but with the Christmas budget hangover I know I’m not the only one feeling the lack of cheer in my bank account.

Luckily, the Metropolitan Museum has a lot of their collection available to use, download, share and create upon. Below are just a few of their 406,000 images of artworks that have caught my eye. Click through to learn more about the the piece and download.

The Third Duke of Dorset’s Hunter with a Groom and a Dog
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addictive banana pudding



May 19, 2014

I’ve grown quite addicted to Metropolitan Market’s banana pudding. It feels like every weekend I’m finding a reason to pick up a delicious cup. But at $4 a pop for a small serving, I couldn’t keep it up. I decided to experiment with replicating the recipe at home. I studied the ingredient list: pudding mix, vanilla wafers, bananas, heavy cream, and the secret ingredient – sweetened condensed milk.

It tastes just like at the store, a rich, creamy banana pudding. My taste buds are so excited that I unlocked the secret, my waist line, not so much.

Ingredients

  • small box banana pudding mix
  • 14 oz sweetened condensed milk 
  • 1/2 cup water 
  • 2 bananas
  • heavy cream for whipped cream 
  • 1 box vanilla wafers to taste
  • a few tablespoons sugar
  • vanilla extract
  • heavy whipping cream

Directions

  • In large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk and water. 
  • Add banana pudding mix; beat until well blended. 
  • Chill 5 minutes.
  • In a large bowl, beat heavy whipping cream until stiff. Add sugar and vanilla to taste.
  • Fold in half of the whipped and add sliced bananas.
  • Layer pudding mix, whipped cream and vanilla wafers in a serving dish. 
  • Garnish as desired (in my case salted caramel sauce!)

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our cozy peach bedroom (reveal)



May 7, 2014

We now have a few key elements in place in our bedroom, which means it’s reveal time. Our bedroom is tiny at about 10′ by 10′. It’s big enough for a queen sized bed and small nightstands, that’s about it, folks.

In my opinion, the bedroom only needs to function for two things, sleeping and dressing. Well our bedroom fits a queen size bed perfectly, and the closet (almost as big as the bedroom!) has plenty of room for clothes, storage and dressing.

The wall color is Ecru by Benjamin Moore – and it’s just perfect. It can appear white, but has a pretty peach tint that makes you feel all cozy and cocoon like.

The brass lamp bases were a garage sale find last summer ($3 for the pair!). This season we will be hunting for matching nightstands, with drawers for storage, and I’d love to find an inexpensive platform bed with more storage underneath. I wouldn’t be opposed to fresh new bedding either, or at least a new throw pillow, or two.

Our curtains were another smart move (if I do say so). We bought the fabric to use as tablecloths for my bridal shower, much like the headboard fabric. Love it when things can be used twice!

frames, ikea + thrifted // lamp shades, target // headboard, project here // duvet cover, macys (old)

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Decor and home with a little bit of daydreaming and real life sprinked in. My husband and I are slowly updating our 1900 Dutch Colonial. I love hunting for vintage and flying the pacific northwest and the world with my aviator husband.
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