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Gifts With Heart: Your Curated Gift Guide to a Compassionate Christmas | The Citizenry

You know that moment when you feel like you’ve found your people? They share the same love languages, the same aesthetic, they’re passionate about the same things you are, and when you look at what they are all about you keep saying “Me too!” Yeah. That.

The folks at The Citizenry are my people.

A brilliant marriage of beautiful design and compassionate purpose, with The Citizenry‘s collection, neither is compromised. Each makes the other more beautiful. And together, they leave you utterly inspired. That’s why I am beyond excited to feature them as a part of my Gift Guides for a Compassionate Christmas.

ONE: DEL CAMPO INDIGO BLANKET // TWO: NADIRA TABLE LAMP //

THREE: PALERMO COPPER BUTTERFLY CHAIR // FOUR: ADIA WOODEN PLANTERS //

FIVE: CREAM + INDIGO FLAT WOVEN RUG // SIX: LIGHT HORN TUMBLER SET

By personally traveling to each artisan country and using only local materials, the team at The Citizenry has created sustainable relationships with their artisans. And by selling directly online, they’re able to offer handmade goods – crafted with the highest quality materials – at more reasonable prices than traditional luxury boutiques.

I love the philosophy behind their name: THE CITIZENRY.

“We set out to build a company that celebrates the people behind our products. Our name is a reflection of the collective of individuals – artisans, designers, and dreamers – who rally together across cultures and continents to craft our collections. The Citizenry is our way of sharing these stories and products with you.”

The designs are so beautiful that you’d love them without that backstory, but knowing the beautiful process behind the products makes them the kind of treasures you can happily share stories about at dinner parties for, like, ever.

As a designer, I’m in love with the entire collection. The modern aesthetic and their use of wood alone had me at hello. And that butterfly chair with the copper frame? Come. On. Needless to say, you will not go wrong in choosing a gift for the design lover in your life from their collection.

To sweeten the deal, they’ve offered a couple of lovely little perks for my readers:

1) They always offer free shipping within the continental US, but they have happily offered a code for free international shipping on all orders (including rugs and chairs!!) for my fellow Canadians. Use code: FIRSTCLASSTICKET

2) Free gift wrapping on an unlimited number of items. Click here to add gift wrapping, and then use code WRAPPEDWITHLOVE at checkout and the $5/package gift wrapping costs will be removed! Easy peasy and delivered right to your door with the proverbial bow on top.

I hope this makes giving gifts with heart a little easier for you this year! I truly believe the most beautiful gifts are ones that don’t compromise on either the process or the product.

xo
s.

P.S. A little shipping/shopping nitty gritty for you below:

USA, to deliver on or before Wed, Dec 24…

Standard/free: Order by Sun, Dec 21 (midnight CST)

Express 2-day: Order by Mon, Dec 22 (midnight CST)

INTERNATIONAL, to deliver on or before Wed, Dec 24…

Standard for all countries, excluding Canada and Mexico: Order by Sun, Dec 14 (midnight CST)

Standard for Canada and Mexico: Order by Wed, Dec 17 (midnight CST)

Express: contact support@the-citizenry.com

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|December 9th, 2014|1 Comment

Project Nursery Update | Art Grouping #1

With the bones of the room just the way I want them, it’s time to get on to the one of my favourite parts: the art! I have so enjoyed curating the art groupings for this nursery. I wanted the art to mark the space with a sense of joy and delight, not to mention a healthy dose of whimsy. This is the grouping that now sits over the change table. Here’s what it looked like all laid out on the change table itself before we installed it:

And here’s how we installed it, along with a bit of the story behind each piece!

The central piece is by far the most storied. It just happens to be Graham’s favourite bear from when he was a little boy. This bear was/is undoubtedly besties with the Velveteen Rabbit, because his formerly velvet paws were rubbed raw by Graham’s sweet little baby hands. Seriously, just picture that for a moment. Cue heart melting. I swoon at the sight of his roughly stitched patches, matted fur and cock-eyed smile, especially knowing that he comforted my man when he was just a little man! This bear has seen some really good lovin’ in his time.

I commissioned my furniture maker to craft the beautiful natural walnut shadow box for Graham’s bear to nestle into, and I love the way it turned out. Because the solid wood shadow box is heavy, we put two anchors into the wall and drilled screws right through the back of it, hiding the mechanics with a simple board that I covered in a piece of blue and cream abstract modern linen from Kelly Wearstler for Kravet. I love the modern backdrop it creates for Graham’s vintage snuggler. A sweet little nest for this very “real” bear to call home.

Once the central piece was installed, we moved on to installing the two whimsical wood prints from Big Bear’s Den that I picked up at this year’s Christmas One of A Kind Show. I once again had my furniture maker craft the frames for these two little lovelies {which he then generously gave me as a Christmas gift! People are so kind!}. I’m thrilled with the result and love the way the walnut frames create a sense of warmth and connect with the wood on the change table/dresser. He made the frames to be installed with a wood block cleat on which to hang, and I love how stable this makes them. {See Graham installing the wood blocks above.}

The piece on the right says “wisdom begins with wonder,” and I don’t know about you, but I could use more awe and wonder in my daily life. I also think babies – and kids in general – are an invitation to be present and utterly mesmerized by simple beauty, observers of the oft-missed wonders in the world around us. It’s a good little mantra for life, really!

From there it all came together rather perfectly with a few final pieces, as you can see below:

TOP RIGHT: A dollar store DIY of mine, simply mounting two feathers in a shadow box frame on a remnant piece of oyster coloured shagreen wallpaper. {Total cost: $1.50}

BOTTOM RIGHT: The most charmingly debonaire faux taxidermy rabbit from Felt Factory, which I also picked up at this year’s One Of A Kind Show. I simply couldn’t leave that booth without bringing one of her sweet woodland creatures home with me! It was love at first sight.

BOTTOM LEFT: A gorgeous piece by printmaker Emma Nishimura from Art Interiors, floated on top of a heavy piece of watercolour paper in a simple but lovely black shadowbox frame. I’ve secretly been coveting this piece for a long time and LOVE how it connects with the birds in flight on the drapery panels. I also love the sophistication and refinement of this delicate print.

TOP LEFT: These bocce balls are also from Art Interiors. I’ve actually owned this piece by artist Erin Vincent for a few years now. It used to sit on a bookcase in another room in the house, and I have to take this opportunity to once again make a case for the value of buying smalls. {I know, I’m a broken record!} But really, you can rearrange smalls endlessly, reinventing the look and feel of a room simply by moving around the art. I love the sense of play this little piece infuses into the overall look of this grouping, and the fresh pop of colour is quite welcome.

Overall the grouping is rather soft and gentle. A little bit sophisticated, a lotta bit whimsical, and it totally makes me smile. With each addition to the room I have the growing sense that I’m really going to enjoy spending time in here. It’s a good feeling.

I promise to show you more photos of this grouping above the finished change table below. I’m thrilled with the beautiful change table topper that Graham made for me. It’s simple, good looking and super functional. As if he hadn’t already, Graham has quite firmly planted himself at the top of the super-husband list for life around here by making it. I am seriously so grateful for all of his talent and hard work!

And of course, there’s also the art grouping on the panelled wall that sits above the crib to show you…and the crib itself…and the rug and the chair and the ottoman…and the baby. Oh yes, that small matter of meeting the petit oeuf for whom all of this has been created! I’d say he’s the biggest reveal yet, wouldn’t you? All in good time {she says calmly while secretly thinking “soon, I hope!”}.

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|January 10th, 2014|2 Comments

Project Nursery Update | Getting the Bones Right | Wall Paneling, Paint Colour + Curtains

You may remember my post from a few weeks ago on where to start for inspiration when decorating. The advice I shared in that post really does apply to almost any room in the house {save kitchens and bathrooms}, but the nursery is a lovely example. Working with this gorgeous rug and incredibly charming and slightly whimsical Thom Filicia for Kravet fabric, I knew we were off to a great start.

The mood I wanted to create in the nursery was something of a quirky elegance; a whimsical sophistication. I knew I wanted a quiet colour palette to soothe and calm both baby and me, so the grey and cream colour palette offered the perfect place to start.

To up the sophistication factor, we opted to keep the walls very simple while still making a statement. Enter one of my favourite go-to wall treatments: paneling. Some applied moulding added to the new baseboard and crown give this room a sense of “bones” and presence without working too hard. It creates just the kind of elegant backdrop I want for the kind of new eclecticism I envision.

Sherwin Williams very generously provided me with my all-time favourite go-to paint for the walls, ceiling, baseboard and trim: Creamy 7012. The walls, paneling, crown and ceiling were all painted flat, but the baseboards, casing and doors are done in a semigloss. I love this colour because it is a warm white without being yellow, and yet it has more depth to it than some of the other go-to warm whites commonly used. Even better, we used Sherwin Williams’ Harmony VOC-free paint to ensure a happy, healthy environment for the sweet babe.

{Side note: I wanted to see the floors sanded and stained in the nursery to match the floors in the rest of the house, but the time and effort required as well as the fumes it would have produced nixed that decision. Another project for another time.}

Once the painting was done it was time for the custom curtains to go up. I can’t begin to tell you how much I l-o-v-e these drapery panels! The Thom Filicia linen fabric – an incredibly generous gift from my kind and lovely friends at Kravet – is both lighthearted and elegant and will transition through many years of living. I would happily use this print in a living room or a grown-up bedroom just as much as a nursery, and I love the sense of freedom connoted by all the birds in flight. I have no doubt we will be living with these gorgeous linen panels for many years.

Working together with the feature wall of books and art in the reading nook, things are really starting to feel inspired. I just know I’m going to enjoy spending countless hours in here with my little one!

There is still more artwork to be installed, and of course the rug, crib, chair and ottoman need to be put in place, so stay tuned! More sneak peeks ahead…

xo
s.

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|January 8th, 2014|0 Comments