The Stuff: Metallic Pouf

A serious deal: Nate Berkus' metallic pouf for HSN is $99.95. (Or 3 payments of $33.32 if you wanna do it home shopping style!) Love!

Happy House: More of Cath Kidston's London spread

Happy House: Cath Kidston's London spread

From the latest Lonny, here's Cath Kidston's London house. If you look at the whole article, you'll see the addition, which is really modern and purposefully doesn't blend in with the romantic feel of the rest of the house. But I'm sticking with the old-school whimsy here. I like Kidston's approach to girly decor better than Rachel Ashwell's for some reason. It has more color, more personality to me. And I'm loving that bathroom wall treatment.

Happy Fab: More of Rebecca Roberston's NYC loft

More fabulousness!

Happy Fab: Rebecca Roberston's NYC loft

I think I might have to borrow (steal) every single genius design idea from Rebecca Robertson's New York City loft. It's one of my all-time favorite houses. Robertson is the decorating editor at Martha Stewart. And in the September issue of the magazine, there's an article on some recent updates she's done to the place, also genius. So I recognize that this loft has some inherent fabulousness to its structure (I, for one, do not have an enormous winch in my living room, sigh), but there are also some extremely simple and cheap ideas here that are so steal-able. Like, in the master bedroom, check out that display of family photos. They're in plastic holders! Which not only means that this project would cost less than ten bucks, it also means that I could just print images right off my computer onto typing paper, and swap 'em out all the time. The precise grid gives it a graphic element that I'm loving. Go Rebecca. (I think this woman needs her own magazine, or at least a blog? She has one set up on Martha Stewart, but no posts yet. We're waiting!)

Happy Family: Cosleeping

We never did the cosleeping thing. With twins (and two high-needs cats) there just was never room in our queen-sized bed. We did the basinet that wedged up to the side of our bed for the first three months, and then the kids were banished to their room (where they slept together in one crib until around six months). Had I had more time during the first year of their lives, I'm sure I could have managed to feel really guilty about this. Maybe I should have squeezed in some time between feeling guilty about going back to work, not enjoying nursing more, stressing that they weren't getting enough sleep, food, time, sun, air, etc... Alas, it's one of the things I forgot to worry about. But on our last vacation to the Madonna Inn, Tom and I took turns sleeping with the kids. I napped with them in our totally blacked out bedroom (we stayed in the Fox and Hound suite!). It was heaven. Two warm little chlorine-smelling bodies snuggled up to me as we all dozed together. I brought a book and a nightlight and would read while they slumbered. At night, Tom would sleep with them and I'd use the sofa bed in the living room. Not ideal for Tom and I, but here's the deal: It was our happiest vacay ever. We had great days full of fun activities and they ended peacefully as the kids climbed into bed with dad. We didn't have the hour-long struggle to get them to sleep. The kids are four and way more flexible, but I can't help wonder if there's some kind of innate need to snuggle up next to mom and dad that just brings down their anxiety instantly. Then it's back to real life. Back to home and schedules and starting school and Tom and I desperate to put the kids down so that we can watch The Daily Show in silence. But I made a deal with the kids: I told them that I would nap with them on weekends provided they actually slept. They've readily accepted the challenge. And now that naps may soon be a thing of the past, I'm savoring every last minute of it.

Happy Fab: Barbara Bestor's House

Barbara Bestor is hands down one of my favorite LA architects—both for her great work and for her totally non-typical architect attitude. She's easy to talk to, doesn't use words like "volume" or "program"—terms I've found often used by architects that make normal conversation feel like some kind of symposium—and I love love love her use of color. Here's her Silver Lake house. Three words for you: Pink barn doors! Love that. I think Barbara's combo of amazing colors and great sense of "space" (oops, did I use an arch term?) really gets the serotonin pumping. Her house feels open, casual, cheerful and has just a touch of the wacky wonderful to it.