Two Birdies

Both Jo and Jen have worked in the interior design industry for a number of years and have designed many beautiful homes. Creating spaces for children is one of their specialties! Let Two Birdies create a room in your home that is both beautiful and functional, one that becomes the perfect nest for you as a parent, as well as your little one. Check out our interior design services at www.jandjdesigngroup.com!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Tis' the Season for Designing..... for Family! Part 1- Morgan's Room


This year my profession really came in handy when it came time to gift giving! What else does your Aunt whom is an Interior Designer get you for Christmas?....... A new fancy room of course!
My sister's children are getting to that age when I am running out of ideas for Christmas presents. We like to refer to her boys as "Tweens" and I couldn't bring myself to buy them another video game that later I find out they never play it because they thought it was lame. My neice Morgan however..... well, she is pretty easy for me to peg since she has all the same interests I did as a little girl. But.... she needed a fancy room too!
As many of you know my sister relocated to Arizona from Ohio about a year ago. They just moved into a new rental home and landlord told her that she "could make it her own, paint...... whatever she wanted to do"
 Well, You don't have to tell me twice... Let's do this! 

First we are going to start with Morgan's room, she is a very creatively crafty 5 year old, who spends all of her free time coloring and gluing anything she can get her hands on. 
 So...... let's see what we have to work with here.
Needless to say, her gorgeous vertical blinds were the first thing to go!

 


I knew I wanted to create a space for Morgan where she wanted to be "creative", not that is a hard thing to do. I needed to keep my budget in check so I needed to get to crafting myself!

My inspiration for the color way was her comforter that we scored at Target last year on the clearance rack.

I pulled 3 colors from my Dunn Edwards paint deck:
DE5041 Sangria
DE5956 Pale Egg Plant
DE5013 Deep Magenta

Home Depot sells those small tubs of  "tester" paint.
Well, that is all the paint I needed to paint her frame wall. they even had them on clearance for 1.00 a tub, TOTAL SCORE!

I knew Morgan needed a place to display all of her artwork, my sister's refrigerator is on overload, plus they are all suitable for a frame of course.

I started by painting a block of white paint on the wall for the base of the frame wall. I then hand painted a grey frame around that to finish the base.
I went online and Googled images of line drawing frames. I knew it would be tough coming up with so many off the top of my head. I meshed those ideas with my own and the photo wall started coming together. It was important to make my frames close to the size of the paper that she would be drawing on 8.5x11. I wanted to add some dimension to the wall so I added three of my own art pieces I made from melting crayons with a hairdryer until they dripped down a canvas. 
I found a set of 3 canvases at Tuesday Morning for $9.99.
Melting crayons onto a blank canvas is all the rage right now.....it is all over the internet and now I finally had a reason to do it myself!

 I hand painted all of the frames with a small paint brush and needless to say it was pretty time consuming. Thank goodness for my husband Dave.... he stepped in and helped me finish them up.

Next up, where all the Masterpieces are Created.



 
 C-R-A-F-T-Y
It's that time of year again when everything is on sale at JoAnn Fabrics... (My favorite time of year)
I found these letters for $1.49 each. I picked up some napkins at IKEA that were in the perfect colors for her room. My sister and I used a few to cover her letters and Modge Podged them on.




She must be starting a Thank You card for her favorite Aunt JoJo!

I found the cute little organizing cups on a convenient rack at Tuesday Morning for $9.99 each. The shelf is from IKEA and only cost me 9.00. 
Now that the big projects were done it's time for the finishing touches.
I took some white drapes my sister had and added a couple bands of colored fabric to the top.
Uncle Dave spray painted her easel to match her new room. I found this stool at Ikea for $5.99.


I had this little flowerpot lying around so I spray painted it white and added some cute flowers from IKEA that I found for 1.00 each.
And there I have it..... a happy customer who is ALREADY busy at work in her new room!

Stay tuned to see what I came up with for Micheal and Matthew's room

xoxo, Jo

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Creating a New Play Yard for Little Marin

My Little Miss Marin has no where to play..... What is a mother to do?
Well, with Mommy's design skills and Daddy's building skills I think she is covered!
We decided to turn our old, boring dog run into a play yard for Marin.

So... The Madness Begins.
What better inspiration for a little playhouse than the beloved home I grew up in in Ohio!


Here it is... in all it's glory, just like we left good ole Leith Street. I was recently contacted on facebook by the current owners letting me know they found the time capsule I made when I was ten. Funny Right? It brought back all the wonderful memories I had in that house and inspired me to create a replica for Marin's play yard.

This is what we are working with.. not much to see.

Day One. Laying the Deck. Dave and my Dad are two HANDY guys:)


Finished Deck.


Day Two. Framing It all out and adding the Windows.
A Happy Little Customer.. She is playing in it already!
Find the Free Play House Plans Here.


Day Three, Four, Five and Six. Siding and roofing.


Daddy poses for a Roof Shot.


We added a door we found from remnants in "as is" at Ikea, mailbox, house numbers, flower boxes from Biglots and fake flowers from the dollar store. But wait.... something is missing. Oh yes! The picket fence and flower bed full of real flowers.

Well............ Here it is..... the finished project!


 I think our Little Marin is one happy customer!



No mail today?



Now what is a fancy playhouse with out a fabulous interior??
Take a peek inside, Marin will be your personal guide!

We got the stove on sale after Christmas last year at Sears. I make the sink from plans I found at http://thecraftingchicks.com
The pots and pans are from IKEA and accessories from the dollar store.

Hey good lookin' what ya got cookin'?
I made the curtians out of fabric scraps and dwell studio napkins from Target.
Who's coming for dinner?
What house would be complete without a family photo wall? Marin's last initial is surrounded by pictures of Mommy, Daddy and her best friend (cousin) Morgan.
Would you like to join me for a spot of tea?
Thanks for visiting my little house!
Love,
Marin

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Garnet Hill- Fun Bedding for the Summer!

So...I woke up early this morning, and had a few hours to myself before the kids woke up..YES!!! I checked my email and found a new online catalog for Garnet Hill!
I took a look and found some of the cutest sheet sets I've seen in a while. Adorable prints for girls and for boys!! Usually, it's a little more challenging to find cute bedding for boys
( I have two adorable ones!) but I loved the boy bedding!! 

My boys share a room and one loves Rocket ships and the other Skateboarding...I love the idea of matching duvets, but the sheets are different, reflecting their personalities...Although Garnet Hill does not have a skateboarding sheet set...We might be able to make the Peace Bedding work... 

Take a look! Perfect bright colors for Summer!








 XOXO,
Jen

Monday, May 2, 2011

Sleepin' High and Sleepin' Low

 We are receiving more and more requests for bunk beds lately...... Who knew they could be so chic! Check out these beauties we found while poking around on the Internet.
 I love all the bright colors... So cheery!

This bunk bed is multifunctional and a space saver.

 This Pirate ship bed is a little boy's dream come true.

 Fun and functional.

A cozy space all your own.


Storage underneath the bed is always a good thing for neat and tidy spaces.

To bunk or not to bunk? That is the question.

XOXO,
 jO
Photo Credits
Elle Decor
alldoing.com
Designer: Steve Kuhl
sohautestyle.com
Elle Decor
Elle Decor




Tuesday, April 5, 2011

The Cutest Little Easter Basket

Easter is almost here!
I love everything about Easter...I love the reason, the food, the drinks, the family getting together in our Sunday's best...but mostly I love watching my kids search for the most Easter Eggs...
and then discovering their Easter Baskets outside our front door!

So... what would the cutest little Easter Basket hold?
Take a look at some of our favorite little goodies....
First Let's start with a cute Easter Basket...
If you are a mom of boys, like me, ...maybe this easy DIY basket would be right up your alley...

I love the simplicity of this bucket with foam stickers...A basket that can be used in the sandbox or for storage again and again!

I love this basket from Martha Stewart (who else?)
 This slipcovered basket is really sweet and heirloom worthy.

You can't go wrong with the classic wooden basket. Again, from Martha Stewart.
To make the "paper grass" the editors at Martha just took colorful paper and shred it through an office shredder....cute and environmentally friendly!

For Girls, This basket is so sweet!

I love the glued on bows and the variety of goodies in the basket. From home made treats to store bought items re-packaged in cellophane bags to make them extra special.


How about a Flowered Easter Basket? Trim your basket in silk flowers or dried leaves...

Use vintage berry cartons as cute baskets for young ones...

Instead of the traditional basket, how about a paper bag embellished with ribbon and cut paper accents.


Some personalized baskets from PB kids are adorable for any little Girl or Boy..

Need some cute Ideas on what to put in the baskets?
How about  some adorable Sheep Sugar Cookies from Just Crumbs on Etsy


Aren't these polka- dot bunnies adorable?
 Package them individually in a cellophane wraper with a cute tag.
Available on Etsy from Sugar and Flour

Bubbles are always a Hit! Especially when they are battery operated!

Sunglasses are a popular treat around our house at Easter...especially in Arizona!
PB Kids

You can't go wrong with the Beatrix Potter Books at PB Kids...A classic!

We hope that have found some inspiration here...

There are so many wonderful places to shop for even more Goodies!
Some of our favorite TO GO places are:
Dollar Store

Some additional Ideas for Baskets Are:
Socks
Toothbrush
Art Supplies
Jewelry
Bubbles
Swim Goggles
Bug Catching Kit
Seeds
Books

Stay tuned as Jo and I put together our Easter Baskets for our kiddos...
We will show how-to's, where to buy,  and the end result!

XOXO,
Jen

Photo Credits:
1-7 Marthastewart.com
8. PB kids
9. Just Crumbs- Etsy
10. Sugar and Flour- Etsy
11-13. PB kids