It feels like forever since it’s just been you and me here on the podcast answering questions and I really appreciate your patience while I have been otherwise occupied.
So I did a few best of episodes, which as you know, if you’re a regular listener is not really like me. I’m always on the airways talking to you guys and answering your questions. Well, I’ve been really sick. Luckily, it is nothing negative but I have big news for you.
Listen in to learn more about Betsy’s big announcement and her answers to your burning questions.
This episode, we discuss…
[1:16] Where Betsy has been
[2:39] How Betsy’s been handling the news
[5:41] How to submit questions to be answered on the show
[6:03] Addressing a negative review
[11:35] Finding the perfect rug for a nursery (Taylor)
[1:16] Where Betsy has been
Surprise, I’m pregnant. I get really sick during my first trimester, like I’m on the tilt a whirl 24/7 sick. I wouldn’t even call it morning sickness, because the morning is when I really feel the best. So I get like one or two good hours before the tilt a whirl starts all over again and either I’m just totally sick or I’m sleeping.
Luckily, I am in my second trimester now and I am feeling so much better. I’m not 100% but I am so much better. So thank you for your patience and continuing to listen.
[2:39] How Betsy’s been handling the news
I am still grappling with the emotional news of being pregnant even though I’m no longer grappling every day with the physical symptoms. I’ve had lots of positive experiences with pregnancies, which resulted in my two kids who are now 10 and 12 but I’ve also had lots of negative experiences with pregnancies that resulted in miscarriages or lost babies.
I know that sharing this news and having conflicting emotions about this news is something that I want to be keenly aware of when I’m talking about it. If we’re being honest, I haven’t wanted to talk about this pregnancy with anyone including my children, mom, or my friends until I knew how I felt about it.
I’m not a spring chicken and this isn’t exactly what I had planned but that’s life and I’m just rolling with it.
[5:41] How to submit questions to be answered on the show
Our mailbag has been quite empty lately so if you have any questions that you want to get answered, I highly recommend sending them in by going here.
[6:03] Addressing a negative review
Sometimes I hope on over to iTunes and check out my reviews because it usually makes me feel better but there was one review I wanted to address. I get so many positive reviews which I am really grateful for, but I read this one not so great review and wanted to talk about it.
As you know, ever since we moved, I have been struggling with designing my own home and figuring out what pieces I wanted to buy and just feeling very uninspired by the process so this review said something along the lines of “Depressed over furniture? That is so lame. Get over it.”
I just wanted to say, is it lame to be depressed about furniture? Maybe. There are so many terrible things happening in the world currently from school shootings to the earthquake in Turkey to what’s going on in the Ukraine and so much more.
Just because there’s a lot of other things to be even more depressed about doesn’t mean that I can’t share my feelings about what’s going on with me personally. And it doesn’t make the things that are going on with me personally less impactful to me.
Do I think it’s silly to be depressed about having to pick out furniture? Maybe. Do I think it’s silly to be depressed about being unexpectedly pregnant at a time when I wasn’t really hoping for it, even though I’ve hoped for it many times in the past? Maybe.
Do I know that there’s lots of other people who have lots of other problems or who would pay to have these problems of being depressed about buying new furniture, depressed about having a baby at a time when they weren’t quite feeling up for it? Yes, of course. But this is just my reality.
[11:35] Finding the perfect rug for a nursery (Taylor)
Question:
Hi Betsy, I’m currently designing a nursery for my daughter who will be here in August. The theme is floral/nature. I decided to go with a somewhat neutral wall color, it’s cream, but it has a hint of peach in it so when the afternoon light hits the room, it feels very warm and cozy. I want to play off the peach in that wall color and also use sage and navy as the other colors. I’m having a difficult time deciding on a rug color that will be a good fit in this room. I was thinking about going with a peach colored rug to really highlight the wall color but I’m not having luck finding one that I like. Would it be best to find one that has all the colors in it, and if so, is it ok if it’s more of an abstract/oriental print? Any recommendations to the color palette and rug suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thank you so much.
Answer:
When creating a color palette,I do not do one arbitrarily. I don’t tend to think of the color palette first. The thing I’m always looking for is that inspiration piece. Now in the case of a nursery, the rug is a perfect inspiration piece. The definition of an inspiration piece s that it would have three ROYGBIV colors or more.
It’s going to be the prominent piece in the room from which you will derive the color palette for the entire room, you’re going to pull three colors from that inspiration piece that has at least three and those are going to be those color pops throughout the space.
I do not recommend that you do a solid rug in a nursery because it’s going to show every stain. It’s gonna show imperfections, you’re gonna have diaper blowouts, you’re gonna have all sorts of fun stuff on this rug. Ideally, this is going to be the place where the baby plays a lot, maybe while you’re in there reading a book or on the phone. So I highly recommend something with a pattern to camouflage some of those issues, which is the reason that in a nursery or even a living room or a family room or certainly a dining room, the rug is a perfect place to have that inspiration piece because it can have lots of colors in the pattern.
I love an oriental or Persian or just patterned rug that feels slightly more traditional in a nursery, just because you can play with some of those softer lines and curves. Geometrics are fun too, but they can get a little severe. If you’ve already determined that the color palette is peach, sage, and navy, then you’re going to want to find a rug that includes those three colors, if not more. I would instead find a rug that you really love.
If these walls are cream you don’t really need to go for a peach and I certainly wouldn’t try and match the wall color because it’s going to be a lot of the same tone in the room. The rug could really be that piece of textile artwork, that’s going to give the room some interest and help to break up the monotony of just a neutral wall color.
You could also choose to do artwork and do like a two tone rug. The thing that I would avoid is doing any sort of shag rug in there because it will shed a lot. It could trap allergens. Additionally, when the little one is crawling on it, she might get fiber stuck to her hands that might have some drool on it or whatever. It just can be a hot mess real quick. So I would go for a lower pile rug.
I know when designing a nursery, there’s a lot of questions and a lot of issues that might come up. You want to keep it baby friendly. You want all the pieces of art to be things that could fall and not hurt the baby. I personally love macrame and tapestries, there’s all sorts of tips that I have. So don’t hesitate to write in with more questions Taylor.
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