House & Bounty

Pop Culture Halloween Costumes 2021

I’m back with my annual Halloween costume post (check out 2019 and 2020 here). I usually pick 4 women and recreate their looks using everyday clothes that you may have in your closet already or that can easily be purchased. It’s great because you can wear 80% of the outfit in your everyday life, so it doesn’t feel wasteful.

Earrings | Brown Wig | Riding Blazer | Skinny Jeans | Color Deck | Sneakers
Long Wig | Hoop Earrings | Microphone | Sparkly Cup | Sunglasses | Cropped Sweater | Sweatpants

Since I love interior design, every year I pick a famous designer to dress up as. In the past, I’ve done Joanna Gaines and Shea McGee. This year is the iconic Sarah Richardson. Sarah’s style is so approachable and easy to recreate. All you need are skinny jeans, a fitted riding blazer (she likes Smythe blazers, but we are trying to be budget-conscious!), white tennis shoes, and some simple dangly earrings. Add a short brown wig and a color deck, and you have a convincing Sarah Richardson.

One person that has been all over the media this year (and for the last, oh, 20 years) is Jennifer Lopez. First, I just want to talk about how she doesn’t age. Legit. I need to know all of her secrets! Anyways, there are so many iconic Jennifer Lopez looks that you could recreate. For me, I went with a general JLO feel. She likes matching outfits, cropped shirts, and comfortable clothes. I took a lot of inspiration from recent pictures of her and Ben out on a stroll. She wore a casual matching cream suit. So I found a cream-cropped sweater and paired it with matching sweatpants. JLO is known for her large hoop earrings, so those are essential for the costume. She also tends to prefer metal-framed sunglasses with brownish transparent lenses. Add a long brunette wig, a microphone, and a bedazzled water cup to complete the look.

Blonde Wig | Button Up | Bucket Hat | Pleated Skirt | Leg Warmers | Toy Microphone | White Goth Boots
Gold Medal | Cropped USA Shirt | Leotard | Athletic Pants

This next person, Billy Eilish, is more of a wildcard, at least for me, a mid 30s woman. For the last 6+ months, Billie has been rocking bleach blonde hair. She’s always had a 90’s vibe, so those were fun trends for me to revisit. I recreated her outfit from her Teleroma magazine cover (link here). First, I found a blonde wig with bangs. It should be paired with a baby-blue boxy button-up and matching pleated skirt (a little oversized is preferred). Add white knee-high leg warmers and platform/goth boots. Top it off with a matching bucket hat and microphone.

The last outfit can be a range of women, basically anyone from the US women’s gymnastic team, including Suni Lee, Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Grace McCallum, Mykayla Skinner, or Jade Carey. The outfit is so simple – a long sleeve leotard with red athletic pants and a cropped USA top. Add the gold medal, and boom, you’re an Olympic gymnast.

Free Artwork For Your House

A couple of years ago, I learned about public domain art. Basically, it’s art that is no longer protected by any copyright and is free for any personal or commercial use. With the help of the internet, many museums have made this artwork downloadable, making it possible for people to download high-quality images and sell them. Indeed, Etsy (and other websites!) has a thriving market where people sell prints of these paintings/drawings/illustrations, etc. (just check out this article). I’m not against anyone profiting from this. Those people are spending hours sifting through thousands of pictures and curating the best ones. In some cases, even trying to enhance them digitally. But I am bummed that many of the sellers don’t give credit to the artist or provide the name of the painting/print. One of the best parts of art is learning about who made it.

Etsy listings when searched “vintage prints.”

The good news is that anyone can search through these digital archives to find great art, and I fell into that rabbit hole over the weekend, sorting and scrolling through thousands of images. I downloaded any artwork that spoke to me. I learned about some really interesting artists and discovered the styles I like best. I’ve created a gallery page linking all these images on the blog (I’ll link it below). Maybe that will save some of you time if you’re looking for affordable art.

Black Bird | Black Stork | Toucan

While searching, I realized there is an extensive amount of artwork out there just waiting for people to enjoy. It makes me sad to think that great art isn’t everywhere–especially when it can be nearly free! There should be a nonprofit organization or a staff member at every museum who consults with local businesses and government to have art in all public places and offices. Of course, it could be curated for the individual business or setting. It would be a great way to expose everyone to all this art just waiting for people to appreciate it.

Where to Find Free Art

This is a short list of websites where you can find public domain art. Of course, many smaller museums will also upload their artwork too, but this list will keep anyone busy for a while!

Smithsonian

The Met

National Gallery of Art

Art Institvte Chicago

RawPixel

Biodiversity Heritage Library (Flickr Account)

My Curated Collection

As mentioned above, I created this page on my blog to curate my favorite free art, and there was so much more that I saw that stood out to me but didn’t have enough time and capacity to download. I’m hoping to update the page slowly over time. Some of my favorites are below. For example, I love the North Woods Club and For to Be a Farmer’s Boy. Happy hunting!

The Budding Oak
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Interior Design Book Review: Collected, Volume 1

I am a big fan of Sarah Richardson (you probably know this if you’ve been reading here for a while). Sarah, in my mind, makes design approachable and doesn’t take design too seriously. She’s meticulous and thoughtful, but her designs are playful, and she’s not afraid to take risks. Over the last year or so, she started releasing volumes of her latest book series, Collected. Honestly, I hesitated to purchase it because I was already so familiar with her projects. I wasn’t sure there would be anything new for me, but I was totally wrong, and it is amazing.

The first volume is titled: City + Country. The theme throughout the series is pairing opposites and showing those design styles in the same book. I would definitely put myself in the “country” category. Everything about the lifestyle and design aesthetic fits me perfectly, but who doesn’t love visiting a city!? And I enjoy the more modern and sleek aesthetic, even if it’s not how I want to live everyday life. The book is full of so many gems. Here are some of the reasons why I love it.

Other Designers & New Projects

As I mentioned, I was already familiar with most of Sarah’s work (well, at least what she shares on her website and social media). To keep the book fresh, Sarah included other designers like Sophia Burke and Susana Simonpietri. They bring a different but complementary aesthetic to the book. I wasn’t familiar with these designers, so all their spaces were new to me. Sarah also included a couple of her projects that I haven’t seen before (usually collaborations), but Sarah’s island house is featured heavily as it should be…because it’s freaking amazing!

Presented Project-By-Project

The book has two general sections: City & Country. Within each section is a series of projects. The book highlights the designer, location, and basic information about each house/project (size, bedrooms, bath, and, usually, a fun fact or two). This added information gives a sense of the project’s overall scope and provides more context when looking at the pictures. Sarah gives a little background on each project and then calls out clever things about the design. It gives more information about the project but usually focuses on take-home points, so readers can implement some of those design elements in their own homes. I also appreciate that there are usually exterior pictures of the homes. I know that the focus is on interior design, but I wish more books, more designers, and novices included the house’s exterior. I like to see how it all works together.

Commercial Spaces are Included

Spack dab in the middle of the book, between the City & Country projects, is a couple of commercial spaces. I know residential spaces are most applicable to readers buying this book, but I love commercial design, too. I wish more books or Instagram accounts focused on it. Those spaces can be fun, take more risks and demonstrate design concepts (I think it’s hard to fill a large space!)—three cheers for this section.

Highlights Women Artists

One of the best ways to make any space interesting and personal is to add unique art. For a long time, I felt like there were only two choices: big box store art or “art show” art. I didn’t love either option. Nowadays, there are so many ways to find artisans and purchase directly from them on the internet. I love that Sarah highlights some of the women artists that she enjoys. She includes artists with a wide range of prices, so there is something for everyone’s budget.

Overall Impression

Just like everything Sarah does, the book is great. Her writing is friendly, the design tips are good, the book is organized well, and the pictures are pretty. In addition, the book is super affordable (half the cost of other design books). It’s a great addition to the library and I constantly find myself flipping through the pages and reading her tips.

Interior Design Book Review: Made for Living

Okay, I love Pinterest and use it all the time, but design books hold a special place in my heart. For whatever reason, I never tire of looking at them over and over and over again. Each time I find something new to appreciate. Plus, I love reading about design. Design books aren’t cheap and many aren’t sold in brick and mortar stores. I’ve made a goal to build an interior design library for myself and thought I would share the book reviews here.

The inaugural book is “Made for Living” by the prominent Amber Lewis. The book was just released in October of 2020, but it’s already a classic. It’s a quick read that you can get through in an afternoon or two. The writing is conversational and casual. The photography is gorgeous and the featured interiors are inspiring. Amber gives advice throughout the whole book to help the reader achieve her style. But there are several other design gems that would appeal to anyone (not just those trying to emulate her style).

Picking the Perfect White

First, her section on white paint is the best I’ve ever seen. There is so much discussion on the internet about how to pick the RIGHT white paint, but there isn’t much info given beyond designers sharing their favorite ones and touching on undertones. I haven’t seen any articles that tell you the factors which influence a white-paint decision. Amber gets into the nitty-gritty details about this. Undertones, of course, play a role, but she talks about the importance of light, environment, and feeling. If you are feeling stuck on picking the right white, bookmark this section of her book. You won’t be disappointed.

Mixing Shapes

An interesting concept that I never really thought about before, at least consciously, is the impact of mixing shapes in a design. This is something that people may do unconsciously, but reading her explanation for why mixing different shapes matters made so much sense. It shined a light on something I never really thought about.

Shopping Vintage

If you are familiar with Amber, you already know her brand is synonymous with vintage. So it’s no surprise that the book goes into great detail about vintage shopping and the things you must keep in mind. You don’t need to have access to Round Top Texas to be able to use her tips. They’ll help you at your local thrift shop or flea market.

No Filler, Only Facts

Lastly, her room-by-room suggestions are straight to the point and pack a punch. There’s not a lot of filler here and each tip is thoughtful and right on target. Some of these tips may feel familiar (use durable flooring in a mudroom), but you’ll walk away with some new ones too.

Overall Impression

As I mentioned, this book is already a classic. I was familiar with most of the pictures in the book (there may have been a few projects that I haven’t seen), but nothing felt surprising or new. It’s nice (and educational!) to have Amber discuss the details of the project and the thought process behind the design. It gives you a sense of how the spaces came together. Overall, a beautiful book with useful information.

Round-Up: BURRYCO Dresses & Stud Earrings

I’m baaaaack. Every couple of months I need some downtime where I don’t worry about blog content and I just work my regular full-time job and live life. It’s a nice reset and I always come back excited and ready. So, please forgive my occasional disappearance. The last couple of weeks I’ve been enjoying the beautiful midwest spring (which took a 180-degree turn this week when it snowed for two days–oye!).

I wanted to come back with a fun post about things that make me happy. The first is a brand I found a couple of years ago–BURRYCO. Their dresses are so cute and, sometimes, pure craziness. I like them because they feel happy, bold and each piece has a personality. The dresses are reasonably priced (usually between $150-$200), but here is the bummer – I have no idea where these pieces are sold. I always find them on RueLaLa or Overstock. I tried to get to the bottom of it this week and went searching, but I couldn’t find anything. They don’t have a website and they may have a Facebook that is barely functioning (it looks super suspect). Since they don’t have a presence online and are not carried in any stores, tracking down their products is hard. Nevertheless, their dresses are cute and feel completely unique.

1- Midi Blue Stripped Dress| 2-Flower Mini Dress | 3- Red A-Line Dress

I pulled together a couple of my favorites ones right now. I can’t get enough of this blue and white striped dress with embroidered sleeves. I’m not sure what is on the sleeves- maybe birds. It feels summery and reminds me of this dress by Stella Jean. That flower mini dress feels so in right now (can anyone say grandmillenial?) and that red one looks perfect for a day at the office. They also make this colorful Morroco-inspired dress (#4), which seems perfect for traveling, and that pineapple dress (#5) screams vacation. Lastly, I can’t get over #6. It looks like a tweed or other thick fabric that would be perfect for working at an office during the winter.

4- A-Line Dress | 5- Maxi Pineapple Dress | 6- Pink Short Dress

We’ll start my next “happy” list with a fun fact! I’ve had to re-pierce my ears 4 or 5 times since I’ve been an adult. If I don’t have earrings in all.the.time, my holes will close within 3-4 weeks. To keep these babies open, I’ve been wearing small ball studs for a year now and I’m getting a little bored. I started searching for other options and found so many cute ones.

1- Pink Flower Stud 2- Gold Flower Stud 3- Tulip Stud 4-Flamingo Stud 5- Rainbow Stud 6- Ice Cream Stud

I particularly love the Kate Spade flower earrings (#1) and Kendra Scott floral geometric studs (#2). The Flamingos (#4) are small and discreet but add color and personality. The Tulips (#3), rainbows (#5), and ice cream cones (#6) are perfect for summer. I’ve already purchased several pairs and I have to say they make me smile.

That’s it for today! See you next week!