inspirational abode: niki rosario (first ladies vintage)

    I'm very pleased to bring you Niki Rosario for March's "Inspirational Abode" feature. When Niki contacted me, she stated "I like to keep the girly-ness to a minimum, but there still seems to be sparkles and vintage treasures everywhere...", that is when I knew I'd love to feature her home. Niki is a shop owner, who sells an array of vintage lovelies (many pastels from what I saw so far) and lives with her boyfriend in Chicago. I hope you gather inspirational from the details of her abode, as I did, and enjoy! 

(Lindsey) Tell us a little more about yourself and what you do.  (Niki) "I live in Chicago with my boyfriend, Alex and our puppy, Lucille. I'm a vintage collector and dealer, plant momma, and sometimes costume designer." 

    If you had to describe your decorating style in one word, what would that be? "Second-Hand-Rose! My grandma always calls me that.  Nearly everything in our house is vintage or second-hand.  It makes for a curious mix of objects we've collected over time.  I've been vintage hunting since elementary school!"

    What mood are you trying to create with your space? "Despite our ever growing and overwhelming collections, I like to think we're creating a bright, open space that's fun to be in and interesting to look at."

    What is your go-to spot for picking up ideas to decorate with? "I'm still a fan of The Selby. All the homes that are featured have crazy collections and so do we! It's a good source of inspiration to see how others curate their finds."

    What kinds of things influence your interior design? "Alex's answer to this question was, "Taxidermy! Apothecary! Mad scientists!" So I'll add greenhouses, antique stores and theatre to his list. We both are into a lot of different things but have been able to find a middle ground that satisfies both of us. We definitely influence each other and have broadened our search for cool items that we never would have discovered if we were decorating separately."

    How does your personal style cross over into your interior style? "My clothes and my home are both all over the place. Sometimes I'm in head to toe feminine vintage pieces and other times I go for a more modern and minimal look.  I think our space manages to combine those factors.  I like the clean lines of mid-century furniture with antique mirrors or vintage fabric pillows on a modern sofa."  

    What is the best advice you can give to someone who is re-decorating or gathering ideas for a re-design? "Don't do it all at once. Collections can't be formed in one flea market shopping trip. Take time finding pieces you love and be patient! We found perfect dining room chairs a month before we had the table."

    What is the first thing people normally comment on in your space? "After they take it all in, people usually say something nice about our place being a great reflection of us and our taste." 

    Are you a constant "re-decorator", or does your space normally stay about the same?  "I used to love re-decorating my room! My mom would find me awake at 2am pushing my bed against a different wall just to try it out.  Now I'm much more interested in creating new tiny shrines every time I bring a new trinket home.  Although the peach bookshelf has lived in the kitchen and living room before it ended up in our bedroom."

    No room would be complete without.... "Plants! It feels so refreshing to have a bit of wild green in every room."  

    One color that I could never live without in a room is... "Gold! It makes me feel fancy." 

    Tell us a story about one of your favorite items you featured here. "Every single thing in our house has some funny story behind it. I guess that's why I love vintage.  Let's see... I've had the vintage hair dryer chair since I was in high school. I bought it off my neighbors who were holding on to it for a friend while she was in jail..."

Find more of Niki on Instagram, Facebook, and her shop.

"Inspirational Abode" is a monthly column for Hello, Mr. Rabbit Blog. Do you have a home that you want to share with others? Do you feel your personal space is inspiring? Send me an email at hellomrrabbitblog@gmail.com with a few photographs and a little bit about your home. I cannot wait to be inspired by your personal habitat and have it inspire others. 

inspirational abode: sarah wynne

    I'm so pleased to bring you the first "Inspirational Abode" feature of 2014 and I feel we are starting off the year perfectly with this home tour. When Sarah Wynne first contacted me about wanting to feature her home in Canada for this column, after I checked out her blog I couldn't have been more excited to see the little details of her abode. Sarah is an English student in her mid-20's, living in a small Canadian town. Her use of soft pinks, lovely printed couches/chairs, and displaying of her clothing drew me in right away. I hope you enjoy Sarah's thoughts on her home and her inspiration behind her decorating style as much as I did, as she shares in this post. 

   (Lindsey) If you had to describe your decorating style in one word, what would that be? (and why?)  "Cozy! I live in Canada where the winters are long and frigid, so my home is very much a refuge from the elements." (Sarah Wynne) 

   What mood are you trying to create with your space? "One that is cheerful and calming at the same time. I love intense colors but have come to appreciate more subtle schemes following my high school era bedroom which featured blood red walls."

    What is your go-to spot for picking up ideas to decorate with? "Pinterest, which I’m fairly new to! Allegra, Ashley , and Natalie are some of my favorites."

    What kinds of things influence your interior design? "Films, travel, and fashion are my biggest influences. The good old world wide web facilitates most of my design ideas!"

    How does your personal style (choice in clothing) cross over into your interior style? "Fashion is very influential in my decorating schemes and I like to hang my wardrobe all over the walls rather than keep it hidden away. I love the color pink but don’t like wearing it, so it appears everywhere in my apartment."

  What is the best advice you can give to someone who is re-decorating? "Don’t worry about following the so-called rules of design, and remember that decorating is an ongoing process! I’m forever rearranging my numerous little shrines and switching the placement of artwork around the house."

    No room would be complete without.... "Cats! I’m obsessed with them but am horribly allergic so my place is covered in feline trinkets of every color and size." 

    One color that I could never live without in a room is... "Pink."

    Tell us a story about one of your favorite items you featured here. "The quilt hanging on my dining room wall is one of my favorite recent finds, from a yard sale. Apparently it was originally a bed cover for a small child, and I love the bizarre little characters on it."

Find more of Sarah Wynne on her blog and Instagram.

"Inspirational Abode" is a new monthly column for Hello, Mr. Rabbit, that stared in late 2013.  Do you have a home that you want to share with others? Do you feel your space is inspiring? Send me an email at hellomrrabbitblog@gmail.com with a few photographs and a little bit about your abode. I cannot wait to be inspired be your personal habitat and have it inspire others. 

inspirational abode: kathy's bedroom (my peach days)

   I am so pleased to bring you October's "Inspirational Abode" post, featuring the cutest dressed lady and her love for all things girly. Kathy, from My Peach Days (a personal style blog), decided to share her bedroom details (the rest of her place is being remodeled) with us today from her home in the Philippines  She is lover of romance novels, polka dot obsessed, and an avid writer; which all of these are showcased through her room design. 

   (Lindsey) If you had to describe your decorating style in one word, what would that be? (Kathy) "Feminine. I just gravitate towards feminine pieces and colors."

   What mood are you trying to create with this space? "A cheerful mood! I want to wake up and go home to a cheerful room, with cutesy pieces, greeting me. You might also find lots of pieces from my childhood in my room. I hold on to them because of the rush of nostalgia they evoke."

   What are your favorite spot for picking up items for your space? What kind of items draw you in? "The bookstore! They actually have really cute pieces there. I bought that fake camera from our local bookstore. It’s actually a coin bank."

   What kinds of things influenced your design? "Occasionally, I find myself influenced by colorful Kpop album posters. What’s really great about them is that they are a mixture of my two loves: Kpop and vintage. For instance, one of SNSD’s albums features a 60’s theme with lots of candy colors and vibrant setting. I also love the setting of their “I Got a Boy” music video."

   How does your personal style (clothing wise) cross over into your interiors? "My style is greatly influenced by the 50's and 60's. You will find me wearing preppy, school girl-like outfits, rockabilly-inspired outfits and 60's dresses. I am also in love with dainty floral and polka-dotted prints. My love for those prints is evident in my room. Also, my room is overtaken by books. These books often influence how I style myself for the day."

   What is the best advice you can give someone who is re-decorating/gathering inspiration for interior design? "Stay true to your aesthetics. Add “warming” accents like photos or drawings as they really add more personality to your room. Use whatever you have with you to decorate your room – your beautiful hardbound books or a gorgeous dress. You don’t really need to spend so much."

     My bedroom would not be complete without... "books!"

  

   One color that I could never live without in a room... "Yellow. It’s just such a comforting color. This color gets me through the dreary monsoon season."

     Tell us about your favorite piece in your bedroom. "One of my favorite things in my room is my carousel music box. I loved listening to it…until my younger cousins pointed out that it sounds like the theme song for that Korean drama (which now has a local version), Temptation of Wife. After listening to the theme song, I had to agree. Needless to say, I didn't want to play it so much now."

"Inspirational Abode" is a new monthly column for Hello, Mr. Rabbit, that stared in August.  Do you have a home that you want to share with others? Do you feel your space is inspiring? Send me an email at hellomrrabbitblog@gmail.com with a few photographs and a little bit about your abode. I cannot wait to be inspired be your personal habitat and have it inspire others. 

inspirational abode: my apartment tour

(rooms featured: bedroom, living room, dining area, kitchen, one of my two closets, balcony  total square feet: 1,100. neighborhood: Midtown, Kansas City MO.)  

   I felt, for a first post for this new column, I would share bits and pieces of my new apartment. After two weeks of my move in date, my apartment is looking like home. Although much will probably change within the upcoming months, as do many new homes (buying specific items needed, extra), I am happy to share some details of my space with you. The overwhelming idea of my adobe is "thrifty". I can tell you that all my pieces of furniture, nick nacks, and wall decor have been given, thrifted, diyed, or found in the free section on craigslist  We don't have the expenses to furnish our home with new items, nor is that our lifestyle... and I couldn't ever see it any other way. I like simple things, and my home shows that. 

"Inspirational Abode" is a new monthly column for Hello, Mr. Rabbit, starting in August.  Do you have a home that you want to share with others? Do you feel your space is inspiring? Send me an email at hellomrrabbitblog@gmail.com with a few photographs and a little bit about your abode. I cannot wait to be inspired be your personal habitat and have them inspire others.