Wednesday Five - 13
/It's the 13th edition of Wednesday Five and a lucky one it is! If you follow us on Instagram or Facebook, you know we had a pretty incredible week. So, let's jump to it.
1. We were featured in the new West Elm catalog!!! Guys. GUYS. Cue confetti. Cue trumpets. Cue extremely high pitch screaming.
We're on page 29. The photo is from our Southend Project where we used two West Elm modern weave storage baskets under a console table.
For a growing business like ours, this kind of national feature is truly indescribable. We are just so grateful. And feeling just a little, tiny bit famous.
For other designers and Instagram influencers (and any other curious folks out there) - here's how it happened: About a year ago, when we finished our Southend Project, we posted this photo on our Instagram feed.
West Elm commented on the post and asked if they could share our photo on their account. In order to say "yes" we simply had to reply to their comment with the hashtag "#mywestelm". Of course we immediately did so. And then...nothing happened. As far as we're aware, West Elm never shared our photo on their feed. And we forgot about it. Since then we've been asked to "reply yes" by using a hashtag many times by many different brands. We always do and one time our image was even shared by Wayfair on their instastory, which felt pretty major at the time (last fall). All of this is to say, we were never given formal notice (or informal notice for that matter) that our photo would appear in the catalog. Moral of the Story: use those hashtags and look through your catalogs!!!
2. Contrary to popular belief, being lazy is a good thing. According to an article on Times.com, being lazy...truly lazy...doing literally nothing...is when our creative juices start flowing and subconscious problem solving skills take flight. Now I just need an excuse for all the hours of Bachelor in Paradise I've been watching. If you find an article to support my habit, please send it along...
3. I bought a light bulb. Not quite as major as being featured in West Elm, but I think worth sharing. I think. So, I wanted to replace an existing bulb because it was way too dim and way too yellow. I wanted more white and more bright, which is basically my personal design preference for all spaces. The bulb also needed to be pretty because it's exposed.
I started by reading a great article from Young House Love that gives a great breakdown of those light bulb terms that we've heard 1,000 times but still don't understand: watts and lumens. Next I found an article on LifeHacker.com that suggests different lumens for different living spaces (i.e. brighter lights in the bathroom, warmer lights in a bedroom, etc.).
I did a little searching and review reading and landed on these guys from Amazon.
I'm really happy with the look and the function.
4. If you're a knitter or crocheter or you want to become either, I have 2 great follows for you. First, you have to check out www.allaboutami.com. It's written by Stephanie (not Ami!) and it's a wonderful. Stephanie creates patterns that are current and wearable, a true feat in the crochet world as so much of crocheting is all about the granny squares and the doilies. Her stuff is truly cool and her patterns are free. Amazing. I'm also obsessed with Purl Soho, which is a brick and mortar store in NYC with an awesome blog. The blog also contains tons of free, gorgeous patterns.
5. Elle.com has rounded up the nail polish trends currently seen on the runway and here are my favorites.
Dove Gray by Zoya - This might be my favorite
Skinny Dip by Essie - So classic and the sparkle on the tips is amazing
Licorice by Essie - I went through a black nail polish phase about a decade ago (when Lincoln Park After Dark by OPI was suddenly everywhere...including my nails) and I could happily revisit that moment
Have a great rest of your week!
- Leah
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