Blog - Oh, I Design Studio

OUTDOOR DECK DESIGN #OHIDESIGNHOME

June 21, 2017

My favorite day is June 21st. It’s Summer Solstice which means we get 16 hours and 38 minutes of sunlight, and since I thrive off of sunshine, I’m a very happy camper on this day. I plan on spending the late afternoon/evening on our deck and not leaving until the sun is completely gone. Since moving into our home, we have done a lot of work to the exterior. To give you a bit of a refresh or if you are new here, we bought our first home 2 years ago – the top floor of a triple-decker in Boston, MA, it’s 3-bedrooms & 2-baths and 1,200 sq. ft. It’s pretty common in Boston to own a floor of either a brownstone or a triple-decker instead of living in a single family. I absolutely love it, but there are definitely some pros and cons. You know, like carrying Evie up and down 4 flights of stairs every day, but looking on the bright side, it’s keeping me in shape. 😉 I digress. So we have two decks, one at the front of the house and one at the back. The back deck is where we spend most of our time, there’s more space, a nice little view, and it’s that’s where our grill is located.

Since my husband is a Landscape Architect, we’ve had a great time designing and planning our decks together.

Below is some exterior inspiration that looks nothing like our home, but aesthetics we hope to achieve in other ways if that makes sense.
Below is the in-progress design scheme for our patio. We already have two of the rugs from dwell studio, the sofa, string lights, and some planters & decor from Ikea. What’s next on the list: side table, dining table & chairs, different planters with a hole at the bottom (or drill a hole in our ikea ones…our plans keep dying). Does anyone else have this issue? Also, how amazing is that outdoor rolling cooler?! That’s definitely on my wish list. Because it’s really exhausting to walk 15 feet to the kitchen. 😉 haha!

Once we have everything styled and ready to photograph, I will be sure to show you some before’s & after’s with final products we use.

Thank you to Wayfair for sponsoring this post. All opinions are, as always, my own. Thank you for supporting brands that support Oh, I Design Blog!

photo credits: photo 1 // photo 2 // photo 3 // photo 4

FATHER’S DAY GIFT IDEAS

June 7, 2017

Alright friends, Father’s Day is coming up (June 18th – mark your calendars) and I wanted to share some gift ideas to spoil the father in your life! Not only do I have an incredibly special dad, one that had to take the role of mom and dad when I was 15, but I also married a wonderful man who I’ve enjoyed watching become a dad. I also have a father-in-law that I feel very lucky to have gained when I married Cody! Since we will be celebrating them from afar, I may have to slip something in the mail for them!

Here are a few of my favorite gifts for dads:
one // men’s ugg ascot in chestnut from amara two // ahead headphones from amara three // black brogue domino set from amara four // nash leather desk chair from pottery barn five // concourse rolling briefcase from mark & graham six // google home via nordstrom seven // aesop jet set kit eight // bike repair kit (and other kits) via mark & graham nine // cole haan grand pro sneakers ten // crux post shave and josh rosebrook styling cream via follain

5 SAFE SKINCARE PRODUCTS FOR A DAY IN THE SUN

May 24, 2017

As I sit here writing this post, I’m looking at my freckled-covered fair skin and reminiscing about some bad decisions growing up. Especially this one day in high school when a couple of my best friends and I were laying out by the neighborhood pool and we were putting on baby oil (gasp!) instead of sunscreen. Did I mention my friends are Persian and they didn’t burn? Not to say they’ve never gotten a sunburn and that they shouldn’t put on sunscreen, but let’s just say I went home and within 30 minutes I was A LOBSTER, and they were fine. Luckily I have good friends and my other fair-skinned friend felt bad for me and put aloe vera on my naked body because putting on clothes was excruciating. Hahaha, I will never forget her repeating how much of a good friend she was while she had to do this. Thanks, Madi!

There’s no denying that my bad decisions in my younger years have added quite a few years to my skin. I definitely feel like I look older than I am because of my skin and so now I’m working extra hard to keep it looking like this for as long as possible! Not only that, but skin cancer has affected a few people close to me and it’s serious. Let’s just say, Evie will be learning from her mom’s mistakes and not stepping foot into a tanning bed in high school (OR EVER) or rubbing baby oil on her skin just to get a “tan”.

Now that I’ve transitioned to healthy products for my skin, I’ve decided to move away from the toxic sunscreen products we used to use. We have collaborated with Follain on a skincare series (see other posts here and here) and I’m really excited to share some of my favorite suncare products!!

THANK GOD FOR FOLLAIN. Seriously.

ONE // Raw Elements Tinted Facial Moisturizer SPF 30+ – I’ve been using this on the warmer days we’ve had recently where I don’t want to put on face makeup and I LOVE IT!

TWO // After Sun Body Mist by Herbivore Botanicals – aprés sun? Well, I just bought this body mist and it’s so good! It smells AMAZING.

THREE // Erbaviva Sunscreen for Children & Adults SPF 30 – we use this for Evie and it has not let us down, even when mom forgot to pack a hat in the direct sun (oops!). I love that this is completely natural (ingredients: Non-nano zinc oxide, aloe, sunflower, olive and jojoba oils combined with calming and antibacterial organic essential oils of chamomile and lavender). Did you know that most sunscreens you can buy at your local drugstore have ingredients that are known to disrupt your hormones? Yeah, not good. Look for Zinc Oxide, that’s the ingredient you want. Some of the natural sunscreens I’ve used do not blend in well and this one does!

FOUR // Hydrating Accelerator by Josh Rosebrook – another soothing mist full of amazing ingredients. I need to stock up on this spray because I’ve been spraying it on my face like every hour at my desk. HOOKED!

FIVE // Mineral Sunscreen by Suntegrity SPF 30 – I have been using this for over two weeks now and it’s good stuff! I won’t use anything else again. It’s packed with amino acids and antioxidants that give your skin extra therapy while protecting it from the skin. Plus, yet again, it smells like a dream.

These are my go-to products after trying and testing a handful of other products. I hope this helps you get ready for the sunshine-filled Memorial Day weekend ahead!

p.s. I plan on trying this Suntegrity Self Tanner and will report back! This fair-skin definitely needs some color. 😉

5 FRIDAY FAVORITES: Z GALLERIE

May 19, 2017

I had the pleasure of visiting Z Gallerie’s new store at the Natick mall in Massachusetts! When I lived in San Diego, I sourced a lot of art and decor from their store and am so happy to be able to visit their location here to see various pieces in person. Insider tip: they have some beautiful large-scale art that is affordable – I love sourcing art for clients that have large walls to fill with smaller budgets. After perusing their glamorous store last weekend, I found a few pieces I LOVED (and a couple I saw online).

one // animalia canisters two // rose quartz on gold stand three // laurel flush ceiling sconce four // winslow bar cart (stunning in person!) five // pastel sweep 1 art

Have you been to Z Gallerie?!

I SIGNED UP FOR A HALF MARATHON! WHAT?!

May 15, 2017

Maybe it was witnessing all of the brave runners cross the finish line 3 years in a row or the excitement of Spring and being able to run outside again, but I just signed up for a half-marathon with one of my best friends, Jenny! We have been talking about it for over a year now and finally clicked the register button on the Rock n’ Roll Brooklyn Half!

Am I totally freaked out? 100%.

Have I run a half marathon before? No. But, I have run a few 5Ks, which I’m very aware is much less than a half marathon. 😉

Why am I doing this? I always played sports growing up (a little track, a little swim, but mostly softball) and it’s been too long since I’ve challenged myself physically. I used to have trainers and coaches that would make me run/workout every single day and now I am my own coach and well let’s just say, I’m pretty lenient. 😉 Now with this post going live, I have all of you to keep me accountable and my friend, Jenny. I’m also at a point where I’m learning to bring wellness into my life in many ways – beauty, eating, exercising, and overall mindfulness and I think this will be a great way to help in all areas. In addition, I am raising money for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital – it was an option as I was signing up and I thought, well it’s crazy enough that I’m running a half marathon, might as well raise money for my favorite charity as well!

When is the Rock n’ Roll Half in Brooklyn? October 14th, 2017

I’d love to bring you all along with me during my training and journey into running. Perhaps you have been wanting to sign up for a half marathon as well? Let’s do it together!

Interested in helping me raise money for a terrific cause?! Click here. To thank you for your generous donation (every dollar counts!), I will be hosting a giveaway with all of my favorite wellness items. I will choose a winner right before the marathon and let me tell you, it’s going to be GOOD. Once I work out all the details, I will give you more information on how many winners, what the items are, etc.

Lastly, I would love any tips from you runners out there on gear, training, recipes, etc. Feel free to comment below or email me at hello@ohidesignblog.com! 🙂

Photo by: Jeremy James Roloff – follow him on Instagram and check out this website here via Free People.