Blog - Oh, I Design Studio

#OHIDESIGNRUNS – HELP ME RAISE MONEY FOR ST. JUDE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL!

September 20, 2017

Hello, friends! I can’t believe I’m just a few weeks from running my first half marathon!! CRAZY. If you didn’t see the post about why I signed up for a half marathon, click here, and for my training schedule, click here. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I am not only running for personal reasons, but I’m also running to raise money for the kids of St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. With a large goal of $3,000, I am hoping this incredible online community of mine can help!

I have put together an opportunity to win some incredible wellness items I love & use in my own home – for anyone that donates at least $5! Your donation ensures families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – because all a family should worry about is helping their child live. I can’t even imagine what these families go through and I want to continue to make a difference for them! I truly appreciate every dollar donated – and to those of you who have already donated, you are THE BEST!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Okay onto the details…

HOW IT WORKS:

For EVERY $5 you donate, your name will be entered into a drawing to win 1 of the 9 Wellness Items shown below! So let’s say you donate $25, your name will be entered 5 times!
Email me (jessica@ohidesignstudio.com) once you’ve donated so I have your contact info!

We might be adding a few more items to the giveaway (possibly the products of my skincare routine), so keep a look out for that as well! 🙂

HOW TO DONATE:

Click here. Or you can venmo me: @jessica-klein-16

Terms: U.S. only // Winners will be selected in mid-November (I need to confirm the final date for donation submissions) // Winners will be notified by email (you must email me once you have donated so I have your contact info).
one – Runkeeper Men’s Tshirt & Shorts

two – The Optimist Co. “Green your Home” Sets (3 winners will be selected) – I use these products every day in my own home!! LOVE THEM.

three – Runkeeper TriggerPoint CORE Foam Roller THE BEST!!!

four – Follain’s refillable hand & body soap – we use this for our dog, Bella, too!

five – Runkeeper Women’s Tshirt & Shorts

six – WELLSummit Wellness Basket filled with: Banza Rotini, Wedderspoon Manuka Honey, David’s Toothpaste, Piperwai Natural Deodorant, Tenoverten Nailpolish

seven – The Everyday Co. Kitchen Towels – we have a few of these and are obsessed!

eight – Organic Bath Co. PeaceFull Body Scrub, Body Butter, and a Soy Candle – I use the PeaceFull Body Butter after baths or when my skin feels extra dry…it’s my favorite and such a lifesaver.

photo by: Laura Saur of LCS Studio

OUR NEW FAVORITE PILLOWS!

September 19, 2017

Recently Evie and I were asked to be “models” for our favorite local company, The Everyday Co. Not only did we have a blast and Evie was a natural, but we also LOVED the pillows and thought I’d be fun to share some of the photos with you.

We have this ritual every morning in our house when Evie wakes up, she asks to get “cozy” and that basically means she wants to get in our bed (which has already been made for the day) and have some milk + watch Moana. This does allow me to get a few emails out in the morning, so I’m welcoming the new ritual. That being said, we are going to add a couple The Everyday Co. throw pillows to our bed as they are truly the perfect “cozy” pillows, Evie loves them and so do I. They are oversized and liveable, yet stylish. All good things in our books! Evie is turning 2 this month (WHAT?!) and we are soon going to turn her room into a big girl room. Which means, new bedding, taking the side off of her crib, and adding more storage in her closet for toys/books/etc. I’m using The Everyday Co. Navy Windowpane Lumbar pillow and these xoxo sheets from Land of Nod! Blog post to follow. 😉
How beautiful are these handmade, limited edition Rifle Paper Co. pillows featuring Folk Horse Coral from Les Fleurs Canvas Collection?! Shop them here: lumbar / 18″ square Also, FYI!

The Everyday Co. will be at Field + Supply, 3-day weekend show in Hudson Valley, with their tabletop goods + brand new pillows!

Hutton Brickyards

Kingston, NY

Fri., October 6th 2-5p

Sat., October 7th 11-6p

Sun., October 8th 11-5p

All of the stunning photos in the post are by: Lara Woolfson of Studio Nouveau

5 FRIDAY FAVORITES: FRESH BEAUTY

September 1, 2017

You know what makes me entirely too happy? A well-design shop that smells like a spa – and that’s exactly what Fresh is. You may know Fresh as their products are sold at brands like Sephora and Neiman Marcus. But what you may not know is that their very first apothecary store was opened in Boston in 1991. Ever since I moved to Boston I fell in love with this shop and is part of what got me excited about caring for my skin more and why you see so many skin care posts on Oh, I Design. I’m thrilled that they invited me in to try some of their newest products and I have a few favorites listed below. But first, can we take a moment to “ooh and ahh” at their store design?! Don’t forget to sign up for their new Loyalty Program! It’s free & you basically get a ton of amazing perks like a welcome gift, a free birthday gift, access to private sales and free shipping at Fresh.com. Also, the more you spend the more you receive!

Shop my Favorites Below!

6 WAYS I’M SAVORING SUMMER

August 29, 2017

Excuse me, August, where did you go? Anyone else feeling like this?! A part of me is excited to transition into Fall (it’s my favorite season after all) but the other part of me wants the warm days to stick around. In the next couple of months, we will be traveling to Charleston, NYC (twice), Oklahoma City, Vermont, and Newport. I’m trying to get a lot of work done now so that I can really enjoy my time on each trip. Which leads me to how I’m going to savor the last days of Summer:

1. Take a Personal Day: Last week I took the day off with my new friend, Megan of The Well Essentials, and we headed to Nantucket to get inspired and unplug. Since taking the day off without Evie can be pretty expensive, I brought her along and she had a blast. There’s something incredibly motivating about getting out of the studio and visiting shops that inspire you. A couple shops that I loved on Nantucket Island were: Bodega, Space, and Parchment. The next day I was feeling extra rejuvenated and tackled SO much on my to-do list! Talk about a return on the investment. FYI Boston friends, I recommend taking the 8:30 am fast ferry out of Hyannis and return on the 5:45 pm ferry – it’s the perfect amount of time to explore the shops and beautiful streets + enjoy a nice lunch. It only takes 1 hr. 15 min to drive from Boston to Hyannis. It’s definitely a long day, but it’s very relaxing and well worth it!

2. Eat Outside: Since moving to New England, I try to find a way to eat lunch and/or dinner outside as much as possible during the warm months. Basically anytime there’s a patio option, I’m in! Is it just me or do drinks taste a little better when enjoyed outside in the sunshine? The other night we went to our neighbors to grill out and ended the night with s’mores by the fire pit, it was the ideal way to spend a Summer night. We are making this a priority the next few weeks! We’ve been loving Stonewall Kitchen’s selection of chips & salsa and this jam is a staple in my cheese boards.

3. Pamper Yourself: I’m also focusing on enjoying my Summer skincare products and adding a few more pampering nights to my calendar. Currently, I’m using the Suntegrity sunscreen, hands down my favorite and smells like oranges! This will continue into my Fall routine as well, but it’s extra important during the Summer months. Ursa Major Essential Face Wipes are my new go-to for removing makeup or a quick cleanse. I use these after I go on a run and love the way they smell!

4. Walk vs. Driving/Taking the Subway: Taking the long way home instead of grabbing an Uber/driving or taking the subway is another way I like to enjoy the last days of Summer. A cute coffee shop opened up near our home and Evie & I have been getting up and walking there in the mornings since our kitchen upgrades are not complete yet.

5. Weekend Getaways: We are all about weekend getaways! I’ve said this several times on here, but it’s one of my favorite things about living in the Northeast. We can drive 1-3 hours and be in a completely different place and have zero plans…and those tend to be the most amazing weekends! Like I mentioned above, we will be making quite a few trips in the next couple of months and 2 of them will happen while Summer is still here. I’m excited to travel, go hiking, finish training for my half marathon (ahhh!! more on that in a following post), and then welcome Fall with lots of relaxation.

6. Farmers Markets & Berry Picking: There’s nothing I love more in the warm weather than perusing our local farmer’s markets with my little family. I love knowing we are supporting local farmers while spending less on fresh produce. It’s a win-win! In addition, there are typically things to do in Boston near the farmers markets so we will make a day out of it.

How are you spending the last days of Summer?!

This post was written in collaboration with Follain and Stonewall Kitchen. All thoughts and opinions are, as always, my own. Thank you for supporting brands that we love and use AND that support Oh, I Design!

OUR KITCHEN DESIGN PLANS #OHIDESIGNHOME

August 16, 2017

Hello, friends! I haven’t done a #ohidesignhome update in a while as we have been focusing on the front exterior of our home, but now I’m excited to share we are making some kitchen updates. If you’ve been following along on my insta stories, you may have previously seen our new appliances being installed and the drama of getting the old fridge down + new fridge up 4 flights of stairs…and us almost having to pay for a $600 crane to get the darn thing up to the 3rd floor and through the front deck. Gotta love old homes in Boston. Conclusion? We told the delivery guys we could easily fix dry wall in the stairwell if they could at least try because we know it will fit. Well, they did it (cursing us I’m sure) and we tipped them well. 😉 Oh and during this time, we had to replace our hot water tank that we knew would give out eventually but were not ready for that unexpected cost on top of the appliances. Sigh.

Anyway, the floor tile is cracked in multiple areas of the kitchen (you can’t see in the photos below) and the grout has been coming out little by little since we moved in. The tiles were poorly laid which is not shocking considering the other cheap and quick decisions they’ve made around the home. Side note: Evie tried to eat a piece of grout when she was really little (thank goodness I saw her do it and got it out of her mouth right away!) and I think that’s when Cody and I realized we should put the kitchen updates on the priority list. Plus we want to enjoy the updated kitchen before we sell, which could be in the next couple of years. See the before photos below. Our plan: We don’t mind the white cabinets and since this isn’t our forever home, it’s our 3-5 year home (we’ve lived here for 2 years), we decided to keep them and will be fixing some of the chips in the paint and updating the cabinet hardware. All of the new appliances are stainless steel which really opened up the kitchen, the black appliances felt so heavy in the space.

So the plan is to replace the tile flooring, the cabinet hardware, the countertops, the backsplash, painting the toe kicks, and adding a pantry area/open shelving to the right of the cabinets next to the stove/microwave.

Our goal for the space is for it to feel like a modern cafe, keep it bright and bring in more warmth through the countertops and flooring. We also chose finishes that will help us when we sell our place in a couple of years (or whenever that may be). In addition, we have no pantry or storage for dry foods, so I use a rolling cart right now with glass jars, but I’m ready for some shelving to be able to organize them in a better way.

Below are a couple photos from the zillow listing (from the previous owners), but they show more of the space thanks to their wide angle lens. The photos make it look a lot better than it actually does, trust me. one // delta trinsic single handle faucet from wayfair – we decided to go with the matte black option and match the cabinet hardware.

two // ms international hampshire 6″x24″ slate flooring – we will be doing a herringbone pattern.

three // butcher block countertops from IKEA – I get it, everyone might be over the butcher block, but I’m not! 😉

four // we are still in search of a white farmhouse sink because our dimensions are tricky and we are looking for a fireclay option that doesn’t break the bank. 33″ wide and about 22″ deep – any recommendations?! We need one like yesterday.

five // we will be doing subway tile all the way up to the ceilings on the walls that have cabinets (I know, I’m not shocking you with any new design concepts here, but we have a very low budget…I’m my own worst client).
one // ranarp pendant in black from IKEA

two // we already own this gorgeous sequence rug from Room & Board

three // to tie in the matte black we are going to do these lewis pullsu & lewis knobs

four // we also already own this odysessy round white table from cb2 and think it will work nicely in the new kitchen

five // if you saw my adventure to Vermont recently on my insta stories, you will know we scored these (knock-off, unfortunately) Cesca chairs at a rummage sale for $7.50…for both!!! It felt sinful to just leave them. You can find similar ones here.

I will keep you updated on the process, but in the meantime, follow along on insta stories.

inspiration photo credits: photo one // photo two // photo three