With the arrival of summer-like weather this weekend and a stream of visitors celebrating kids' birthdays and Mother's Day, I was reminded of our lack of outdoor seating. We spent all weekend hanging out in utilitarian and decidedly un-chic foldable chairs -- you know the ones I mean -- meant for outdoor concerts or trips to the beach, most emblazoned with corporate logos of one kind or another. If only I had caught a glimpse of these beauties a few days earlier, we might have been sitting pretty sipping our drinks watching the kiddos knock heads in the birthday bouncy house.
Garden Treasures Dining Patio Chair, $31, from Lowe's.
Image credit: Lowe's
Looking to replace your towels? We were this winter when we realized that the reason ours were looking so shabby was that they were over ten years old. We decided we could justify replacing them (we recycled our old ones as gym towels), but I couldn't quite fathom spending what most good quality towels cost (mostly because I would have rather spent that dough on sassy new heels). The problem? The quality of most "budget" towels stink. But I found the exception to that rule at the holy land of designer labels at reasonable prices (that would be Target, of course). The 
Last summer I was poking around a bookstore in Vermont and came across Mice, Morals & Monkey Business, an incredible children’s book filled with gorgeous block prints by artist Christopher Wormell. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it – not for our kids’ library, but for my kitchen wall.
When we got home, I hit my fab local stationery shop and picked up decorative paper that coordinated with the prints in the book, along with several LP album frames (thin metal frames with plexiglass fronts meant to showcase vintage vinyl). Using the frame backer as a template, I cut the decorative paper to the exact size of the frame. Then I went to town on Mr. Wormell’s masterpiece. First, using a box cutter (an X-acto knife might be better, but I don’t have one on hand) and great caution, I nicked the seams throughout the inside of the book, loosening up most of the pages. Then I carefully took apart the binding of the book with the knife. I trimmed the rough edges of the pages I wanted to frame and using double stick tape, attached the pages to the decorative paper. After repeating the trimming and taping process with the rest of the pieces, I popped them all into the frames and hung them up.
I really wish we had a mudroom, but since we don’t, we relegate our shoes, coats, and the seven-or-so bags that arrive home with our little family every evening to a 30-inch “mudspace” right inside the entrance of our home. To help define the space and give our two kiddos a little more room to walk in, stretch out and take off their shoes, we purchased Pottery Barn’s Diamond Outdoor Rug made out of polypropolene (yes, it's plastic!). This hip, neutral rug is supersoft underfoot and fit perfectly with our décor, our budget, and the total lack of time we have to devote to cleaning – it can be hosed down outside and still look fabulous.