Birch + Bird Vintage Home Interiors

I never pass through a thrift store without browsing through the book section.  Lily and I love old books and between the two of us, we could start up a small library.  I have piles of coloured books that I’ve collected over time.  Turquoise, green, brown, black and more. We often layer them for a dash of colour, interest and height, if we need it, in our Birch + Bird shop photos and vignettes at home.  Lily wrote a great post awhile ago on using books for display, if you would like more inspiration.

Holly Farrell

If a book is falling apart at the seams, there is still hope for it.  We’ve found incredibly beautiful book plates that  make beautiful works of art.  The large paper punches available at craft stores or even a pair of scissors can turn old pages into unique and affordable gift tags.  Book pages from large coffee table books or atlases make great gift wrap.  Re-purposing seems to be on everyone’s mind these days, check out these book inspired images.

The Shop House via More Design Please

via Apartment Therapy

eclu

Skona Hem photographed by Patrik Hagborg

100 Layer Cake

Book:  The Repurposed Library via sfgirlbybay

Not Tom

photographed by Francesco Lagnese via You Are My Fave

1.  Country Living 2.  The Posh Blog

Speaking of books, the winner of our first ever giveaway will be announced on Friday!  Stop by to enter.  Have a great day!

Can you believe the date today? I can’t. It seems like only a couple of weeks ago that we were counting down the days for summer to begin and now it’s nearly over…sigh! But I think that my kids and I are all ready to get back to school and into the usual daily routine. This will be the first year that two of my three children will be in full-day elementary school and my youngest will be in preschool for two mornings a week. Although I’ve often counted down the years until my “freedom” during school hours, it’s actually kind of bitter-sweet now that we’re finally here. But I’m hoping to make the most of my childless hours so that I can focus more on my domestic duties when the kids are home, rather than feeling spread too thinly as I did by the end of last year. Is there a magic formula to juggling parenthood, housekeeping and the rest of life? I’m pretty sure the answer is no but I have high hopes to find the right balance for myself and for my family.

It’s no secret that Rachel and I have a major soft spot for vintage schoolhouse finds and we’re lucky enough to have a number of amazing mini chalkboards, ruler sticks and other studious treasures in our collection. Our last market, The Old School Market, was housed in an heritage schoolhouse on the outskirts of our town and it only increased our love of vintage education…

Home of Abbey Hedrickson of Aesthetic Outburst via sfgirlbybay via Apartment Therapy

One Charming Party

Poppies for Grace via Oh, Hello Friend

Hostess with the Mostess

Uppercase Gallery via Poppytalk

I got inspired browsing on Etsy yesterday by all of the amazing schoolhouse inspired goodies out there, like this inspiring and poetic pillow, so I put together this Back to School treasury with some of my favourites…

My Bearded Pigeon

“Back to School” Etsy Treasury

Organization is going to be key for the school year ahead. I came across these DIY clipboards that would be perfect to get my kiddos prepared each night for the school day to come. Inspired by a list I saw on Rachel’s fridge, I came across a multitude of fantastic lists over at Design Finch and printed off some weekly calendars for myself to keep track of our schedules and even meal planning.  Shayla has collected so many fantastic printables there, you’re sure to find one or more to help you keep track of it all!

The 36th Avenue

How are you preparing for the school year ahead? Do you plan ahead or just wing it on Day One? I think I’ll be doing a little bit of both!

I have to say that I’m glad that this weekend is over.  Not that it wasn’t enjoyable, it most certainly was.  It was just so crazy busy that I’m looking forward to getting back on track.  My husband was also away on a business trip so I was a single parent and I’ll be happy to see him walk through the door later on this afternoon.  Lily and I had a work night on Friday night.  We do this occasionally to power through together and it eliminates the need for a sitter.  The kids love “real” sleepovers and they always have a blast.  We managed to sneak in a few re-runs of Mad Men for research purposes.

1. AM Radio 2. Amanda McLauchlan

Saturday evening, we met up with all the families we went to Oregon with plus many more for a barbeque.  I think the kid count was up around 25!  The food was amazing especially the burgers and a lovely Beet Salad that I’m still dreaming about.  Then Sunday, we met up with family at a local park for a picnic lunch and to play in the splash park.  My mom ended up taking my girls for one last sleep over before they go back to school and I got to spend the evening all by myself.  Ahh.

Apartment Therapy

So, today is clean up day and I’ve got a quite a few piles to take care of.  I don’t know if you do this around your house but when we get caught up in activities we tend to do the “dump and run”.  I really wish that the end of summer wasn’t so near but with school starting very soon, it’s hard not to think about the Fall and I’m feeling like I should be a more organized than I am.  Oh well.  Emma showed off this stunner of a kitchen last week and I loved. loved. loved. everything about it.

Leslie Unruh

My walls are a little dinged up and will probably need to be repainted sooner than I had hoped.  I’d love to try white but I haven’t even begun to figure out which one would be just right or if it would even be the route to go.  Our house is north facing and is surrounded by trees that cast a green glow at times.  Have you  painted any rooms white lately?  What white did you settle on?

via A Note on Design

unknown

1. Amanda McLauchlan 2. AM Radio

Red Online

If haven’t heard already, we’re giving away a hardcover copy of  The Meghan Method to one of our lucky readers!  We’ll be announcing the winner on Friday so stop by last Thursdays post for your chance to enter.  Have a great week!

Oh yes, it’s that time again…the weekend is here! Nothing on the agenda except sunshine, playing with the kids and fun with friends! With maybe a wee bit of market planning and treasure hunting thrown in for good measure but, all in all, we’ll be savouring this second last weekend of the summer break. Thank you so much for all of your sweet comments on Rachel’s giveaway post yesterday! The Meghan Method is a fantastic design resource and you have until September 2nd to enter our giveaway.

Sparrow’s Nest Script

Endless Summer

Old Crow Farm

The Wee Lass

What are your plans for the weekend? Whether by a pool, in the backyard or at the sea, enjoy these last lingering days of summer…cheers!

I’d love to go to design school and always have but it’s never quite worked into my plans so far, unless  you count an 8 week course at our local college.  Awhile back, I found myself searching for instructional design books or even text books that would go into greater detail about the design process and fill me in on all the secrets that end in great design.  But I came up empty-handed.   Then one day, Lily and I got an email asking us if we would kindly review the brand new book  The Meghan Method by Meghan Carter.  Of course!  We love books.  And it didn’t hurt (and may have made  us blush a little) that she mentioned the Birch + Bird blog as an online design resource among many of our favourites on p. 82.

The Meghan Method isn’t the usual design book, you know, the ones with the glossy pictures of fabulous over the top rooms that are inspiring and at the same time discouraging.  This book is all about you and your design hopes and dreams.  It is exactly what I was looking for.  If you’ve always wanted to learn a little more about what goes on in the head of your favourite interior designer and can’t afford to hire one, Meghan walks you through from inspiration to finished room.  It’s a hardcover design workbook, at your service.

After completing not one but two degrees, Meghan realized that she hadn’t been following her dreams.  She had always wanted to be an Interior Designer but with two degrees behind her already, she couldn’t justify another.  So, Ask the Decorator, was born.  Her online home-improvement and decorating show, features product reviews, design tips and of course, her interviews with experts in the design field from whom she gained her wealth of information.  Now, with all the tricks of the trade, she published her first book and is passing all this knowledge on to us.

all images from  Meghan Carter

And we would love to pass along a hardcover and autographed edition of  The Meghan Method to one of our loyal readers!  If you would like to win some DIY design inspiration, here’s what you need to do…

1.  Leave a comment at the end of this post.

2.  Become a BirchandBird Facebook fan.

3.  Follow @Birchandbird on Twitter.

Oh, if you do win and follow Meghan’s advice, we’d LOVE to see your finished space.  We will announce the lucky winner on September 2nd!  Good luck!