A Blanket Solution

When you have a giant dog, dog hair is a constant issue. Mesa sheds so, so much. I remember when she was a puppy and someone came up to us once asking if she was a Newfoundland. When we said yes, she said "I used to have a newfie! He died 10 years ago and I still find his hair around the house!" At the time, I thought this was gross. What kind of woman was this? Did she never clean?

And then Mesa grew up and now I totally, completely understand. Her. hair. is. everywhere. It is a constant chore to keep up with it, and it infiltrates everything in our home.

Especially blankets.

One of our favorite things to do as a family is cuddle up on the sofa. But inevitably, our throws, which I would like to think would always be causally and attractively tossed over the sofa, ended up on the floor, turned into a tent, and generally mistreated. The byproduct being they were always covered in dog hair.

I needed a solution that kept the blankets off the floor but still kept them close by and accessible for snuggling. I wanted the kids to be able to reach them. And I wanted the solution to be attractive.

Cue the pipes. Stealing a page out of the Anthro design playbook, I asked Zach to buy steel pipes and flanges to create hanging rods for our throws. They are right next to the sofa. They keep our blankets in great shape because, unlike hooks, they are wide enough that the weight of the blanket hanging doesn't stretch the blankets out of shape. And I like the industrial quality they bring to the living.

What do you think? Too much for an actual house? Or interesting design element? Would you ever introduce something so industrial to your space?

A Stylish Litterbox?

I love this litter box. The worst thing about having a cat is definitely the litter box. The ugly designs, the litter all over the floor... the ModKat litter box solves all those problem. I so want one.

Paul Octavious Book Sculptures

http://www.pauloctavious.com/

I am loving these book sculptures by Paul Octavious. It is making me want to experiment with my books on the coffee table.

via swiss miss

Manor

Friends, there is a new home store in Portland, called Manor. I was immediately intrigued by their beautiful space (full windows, hand-hewn beams) and the fact that under the name of the store is the charming descriptor "Fine Wares, Curious Goods". That was enough to get me to enter, and once inside, I realized what a treasure trove Manor truly is. You know those stores that you could spend hours in? Where you just wander and each corner or nook presents another beautiful or interesting object? This is the kind of store Manor is. About 6 weeks ago, Mom and I spent probably an hour wandering around, and it could have been much longer.

While we were there, we stumbled across the amazing and beautiful blankets by NooNoo. We must have stood around looking at them for at least 20 minutes. The NooNoo blankets are small, beautifully made tactile objects for babies. Have you ever noticed how babies little fingers are drawn to the tags or edges of baby blankets? NooNoo takes that concept to another level, designing pieces that are made to interact with the baby and stimulate their little brains, help teach counting etc. They are embroidered with sweet designs (some based on drawings by toddlers), and overall are such a unique, beautiful little something to attach to a stroller or to become a favorite comfort object.

www.noonoodesign.com

So onto the best part of this story. As stated above, while Mom and I were shopping, we must have perused the NooNoo blankets a dozen times, satelliting around them, oohing and aahing. I was this close to buying one, friends, but the pirate ship purchase had just occurred, so I responsibly (but regretfully) kept my wallet closed. Nevertheless I have thought about them ever since. And we didn't leave Manor completely empty-handed; Mom had purchased some napkin rings that needed to be ordered. Manor assured us they would call when the napkin rings came in and Zach and I would go pick them up for Mom.

We got that call last week, so Zach (in his continued heroic efforts of doing everything I would normally do, plus everything he would normally do, plus more while I'm on bed rest) made a special trip out to Manor to pick up the napkin rings from my mom. On his way home, I got this call:

Zach: Hi hon. I just had the best shopping experience at that store.

Janelle: Yeah, its a beautiful store, isn't it?

Zach: And they were so nice. I walked in and there were immediately two friendly women to help me. And they immediately knew what I needed to pick up. And there was this amazing taxidermed owl that I loved.

Janelle: Well, I'm glad it was a nice errand.

Zach: Oh yeah- the lady mentioned that she threw in a little something extra for you. I'm not sure what, but I brought it home for you.

Well, friends, you have to know where this was going. The lovely, generous owners at Manor gifted us with a NooNoo blanket! I was stunned with their kindness, because really, between the two of us, Mom and I had only spent about $100 at the store. And we weren't regulars (although we certainly will be now). And they must have observed our obsession with the NooNoo blankets because we never discussed it with them, just meandered our way back to them during our shopping excursion.

So thank you, Manor, for such a lovely gift! You turned Sunday into a special day and reminded both Zach and I of why we support small local businesses. Especially those committed to not only beautiful wares, but beautiful customer service.