The Progression of the Turquoise Room: A new friend and family mascot

The wall has taken on a life of its own. What started as a way to make a new house a home has now been absorbed into the personality of our little family. The wall made it's "official debut" on our annual Holiday card, and as you can see, the bright color makes quite the backdrop for our quirkiness. With the addition of the Mohawk Home Zebra rug, I felt that room was finally beginning to take on its own identity. It went from being "the room we didn't have furniture for or know what to do with" to a room with a flavor all it's own. But do we leave the wall alone or adorn it with something equally as interesting?

Obviously something as interesting. 

The moment we saw it we knew we had to have it. A large, white, ceramic moose head. Right there, on the big turquoise wall. To us, that is perfection. Odd, yet oddly fantastic. If you know us in real life, or following Jason and I online, you know, we like things a little off-kilter. 

While I'm not quite sure my Dad agrees with the awesomeness of the MOOSE, my parents bought the headpiece for us for Christmas this year. How many people do you know that got a moose-head for Christmas? 

But here's the thing, the thing weighs like 50lbs, and OF COURSE the stud in the wall isn't in the right place. It also didn't come with wall mounting instructions, and the people working the hardware aisle of my local Home Depot looked at me like I was insane each of the four times I was in there over the course of a week trying to figure out how to hang the thing. We finally cried "uncle", and called our friend/resident handyman to help us out. He took my call just after finishing re-tiling an entire bathroom and laughed at going from a job so intricate and artistic to hanging a moose-head. Yet, even he was stumped (which made me feel like less of an idiot). Regardless, we got it up... and it's perfection.

Of course with our moose-head on the wall and our zebra rug, the room is looking a bit like a high-end, modern hunting lodge. But, it's always a good conversation starter. Hey, not every kid can play "Gaston" with as much realism as my kids. 

The Moose already seems to be "part of the family" and tonight at dinner we decided to name it. While Zoe suggested we call him "Moose A Moose" (vetoed!) Lucas suggested a play on words, and that we name him Mousse...very proud of his name, he exclaimed "You KNOW, like the Chocolate DESSERT!" And while I'm very fond of animals having theme songs, let me introduce you to the newest member of the HipMamaB/PetCobra household: "Vanilla Mousse."

I think he's fitting in quite nicely. 

The progression of the Turquoise Room – Making it Zebratastic with a rug from Mohawk Home

Photo by Petula Pea PhotographyLast week I showed off my new, bright wall.  While the couch and the wall look amazing in that room, something I may have failed to note is that’s all that’s in that room. And yes, I realize the wall doesn’t count as something “in” the room. Details.

I’m going slowly in the decorating process. Moving to a house 2.5x larger than your previous abode means you have to go in stages to get things done. Also, if you suffer from Shiny Object Syndrome like I do, you may get distracted with other areas, or events, and just live with a painted wall and a couch and call it a decorated room.

When it comes to the Turquoise Room (whose new name is only slightly less strip club sounding than its previous name of “The Chandelier Room”) I have a very exact vision of what I want it to be. I want it to be high(er) design - an adult room.  A room that hosts people over 4 ½ feet tall in style and comfort. I want people to leave my house and comment, “Wow, I loved that room…” Yes, I want to make you jealous of my fabulous, precisely decorated room. And at the rate I’m going, it will be ready to make you green with envy sometime in 2015.

As you may have noticed in the pictures of the new house and the Turquoise Room, we have a large expanse of travertine tile floors. Cold and hard to clean, they are begging for rugs. For the past 5 years I’ve been obsessing over a Zebra rug. In fact when during one of my first visits to this house I fantasized about a beautiful Zebra rug adorning one of the floors of a downstairs room. As if the angels were listening to my pleas (or arguments with Jason over how much I was going to spend on said Zebra rug), a few weeks ago I got an email from a representative from Mohawk Home asking me if I wanted to review a rug. And guess which style was available for review? Seriously, it was kismet.

Soon after, an 8x10 100% nylon Zebra patterned rug called Watamu, showed up at my house.... and I fell ever so deeply in love.

While I was a little nervous that the color (it's actually shades of beiges and browns instead of a traditional black and white) wouldn’t be right, it’s actually perfect. And while I will continue to desperately try to claim this room as one for adults only, the more neutral tones in this rug means the kids can play on it and people can walk across it and I don’t have to worry about staining the bright white parts. And the best part? This rug is totally affordable, with the 8x10 size retailing for under $450 (not to mention it’s on sale right now at Kohl’s for under $250!)

EVEN BETTER THAN THE BEST PART?

I’m giving one away.

One lucky reader will be able to share the love of Zebra print with me with their very own Watamu rug courtesy of Mohawk Home.

Here are the 2 simple steps to enter:

1) Visit www.mohawkhome.com - click on your favorite retailer that sells Mohawk rugs and doormats. Pick one and in the Comments let me know which one you would ask Santa (Or Hanukah Harry) for. Please include a link so we can all oohhh and aaaahhh over your choice.

2) “Like” Mohawk Home on Facebook 

Want a few bonus entries?

If you want to throw your name in the random hat another more time – Tweet this:

@HipMamaB is giving away a @Mohawk_Home Zebra print rug! http://ow.ly/3bFdW Enter before 11/23

And/Or post a link on your Facebook wall to this contest – remember to tag me or the LaLaLa fan page so I know you did it.            

Entries will be accepted through MIDNIGHT PST on 11/23/2010. Winners will be selected via Random.org on 11/24/10.

Good Luck and may your dreams be in Zebra print!

A simple coat of paint

We've now been in the new house for almost 3 months...a trimester.. a quarter of a year... and people keep asking me how I'm settling in. The truth? It's been a little hard. Jason and I are "beach shack" people. Living together, we have gone from a 700 sq foot duplex in Solana Beach to a 1000 sq ft townhouse in Del Mar to a 1400 sq ft (but on about a 1/2 acre of land) Mid-Century Modern "classic San Diego beach bungalow" in Encinitas, all west of the 5 (which, in San Diego, pretty much means minutes from the beach). All of our houses were old, but they all had tons of character. Now we are in this behemoth of a new house, with granite tiles and nice carpet and more bathrooms than bedrooms...and I'm lost. 

Don't get me wrong, the house is beautiful. I guess the problem is that it's too beautiful and grand for me. I'm the girl who shopped Ikea for ideas on "how to make the most of a small space," not the one desperate for big furniture to fill a room. More than anything it's a different frame of mind, having a nice house opposed to a funky house, and that's one that I'm not used to.

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with my Mom's friend, one of those people with an amazing eye for design and who used to (back in the real estate heyday) flip houses in LA. I told him I was having a hard time settling in and he gave me the best piece of advice...he told me to paint a wall.

Simple enough to do, and according to him, the best way to claim your new house as your own - a marking your territory type thing. He said to pick a wall and paint it a bright color. Even if it doesn't stay forever, pick a color that you love and makes you happy and paint a wall. I thought about that for the next 4 days. Then I went to Home Depot and asked them to whip me up a gallon of "Tiffany Blue" paint. 

And I painted my wall. And I freaking love it.

Picture by Patty at Petula Pea Photography

 And, for the first time in over 3 months, I'm beginning to feel at home.