Last week marked our one year anniversary here at 7th House on the Left. Technically, one year for the blog and our 10 month anniversary living in the house. We know it sounds totally cliche, but time REALLY does fly! It seems like it was just last week when we posted the very first post. And it seems like yesterday when we started moving furniture in the house. Yes indeed, cliche or not, time flys when you’re having fun.
Over the past year, many questions have come through our inbox. We don’t have a bajillion FAQ’s to warrant having a dedicated FAQ page and our house isn’t anywhere near “done” enough to have a bona-fide “source list” to answer the “where did you get that?” questions. With that being said, we decided to gather up some of our most frequently asked questions and answer them in a post…
Where did you get the “Rare Prints” sign in your living room?
Pottery Barn. Unfortunately, they don’t carry it anymore, which is a complete shame because we get 4+ emails a week from people asking where they can get one! It’s one of our favorite pieces in the house and we are SO glad we snatched one up when we did. A fellow blogger, Susie Harris, actually saw our sign here on the blog and decided to DIY it! Read how she did it here!
Who designed your blog?
The blog was designed by yours truly. Basically, I do all of the graphic design stuff and Greg does the programming, coding, and makes it happen. We make a good team : )
Do you design websites and/or blogs for other people/companies?
We used to, but due to our busy schedules, we’ve hung up our web design hats. I have a graphic design background (more accurately, an advertising background) and occasionally take on clients to stay fresh and “in the zone”. As for designing for the web, there just aren’t enough hours in the day… or brain power.
Has anyone ever told Greg he looks like Seth Rogen?
It’s funny that a few of you have actually asked this because there aren’t that many photos of us on the blog yet (I know, I know. We’re working on it!). No exaggeration, promise… he hears it 6 days out of the week. Quite a few have even asked if he was Seth Rogen. Which is weird because what would Seth be doing in the middle of Virginia? Anywhere we go… Chick-Fil-A, Target, Cracker Barrel, Wallgreens, Starbucks we hear, “Has anybody told you that you look just like that guy from [insert Seth Rogen movie here]?”
When do you publish new posts?
This isn’t really a FAQ, but it’s a new-ish thing around here so we though we’d throw it in. We post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We post the occasional giveaway on Tuesdays and even sprinkle an Etsy Thursday in here and there. We also may pop in for a random update from time to time, depending on the project at hand. But all in all, we keep to the MWF schedule to keep our brains organized and so you know when a new post is up waiting to be read. Yay for schedules! I feel better when things are more organized, don’t you? Also, when a new post is up, we let you guys know via Twitter and Facebook.
How do you design your His + Her favorite things boards?
I use a mixture of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. If the product photos need to be edited (the background taken out or cropped) I do that in Photoshop. When it comes to laying it all out, I head over to Illustrator and put all of the pieces together. You could also easily do the layout in Photoshop though. As for Greg, he normally just gives me his list of favorites and I put his board together for him, since he’s usually busy with his daily “nine-to-five”. Of course, I always make sure to show him his board when I’m done to get his “seal of approval”.
Where did you get the bedding in the guest room?
The white sheets are 100% bamboo sheets that we picked up from Tuesday Morning for a steal. (They’re SUPER soft and comfy, by the way!) The gray quilt is from Target (the Thomas O’Brien collection), and so are the yellow and white quilt (the Dwell Studio collection), the gray Euro pillows, and yellow flower pillow. Who doesn’t love Target? The blue pillows are from the long lost, yet very loved, Nate Berkus collection at Linens ‘N Things.
Did you ever find a second Jonathan Adler-esque lamp?
They’re talking about this lamp I picked up at HomeGoods way back when. Sadly, no. Since it doesn’t have a mate, the lamp is in my office (you can see it here) and I think that’s where it’s going to stay. I really like it in there, so it kind of seems meant-to-be. However, one reader emailed us from Ohio saying they saw it at their Home Goods and even offered to go back and get it for us and ship it! Seriously, how did we get such awesome readers this early on?
Where is your go-to vacation destination?
Yes, this is the one random/just for fun question. I don’t think we’ve talked about it much on the blog (except for maybe a little in this post), but Greg and I are total Disney World fans. We’ve been to London, Ireland, Canada, and even Australia. All of them are really awesome destinations, yeah. But when it comes to our number one go-to vacation destination, Disney World has them all beat. It may sound crazy, but it’s true. It might be more of a sentimental connection though. Growing up, my family went to Disney World for vacation every single year – sometimes more than twice a year. No, my family members don’t have their houses decked completely in Mickey Mouse ears… though the jury is still out on my cousin Dana (kidding!). We all just enjoy fun atmosphere and the magic that is Disney. When Greg and I got married, for our honeymoon, we spent two weeks at Disney World. I had the best time showing Greg (who had only been there once when he was 10) around and got to show off my Disney World vacationing skills. Since our honeymoon, we’ve vacationed there twice and still can’t wait to go back again. Ugh, I could write an entirely other blog on this. Don’t hate on the rather stylish Mickey Mouse shades.
What kind of camera do you use?
On the blog, you’ll find a mixture of photos taken with our iPhones, a Sony Powershot, and a Canon 5D Mark II.
What breed of dog is Bentley?
Bentley is a full breed Promeranian… though sometimes we wonder if he’s part squirrel. Or deer. Or kangaroo. Or cat. Or fox, even. But nope, his papers beg to differ.
What paint color did you use in your living room (guest bedroom, laundry room, etc)?
We get this question so often, we decided to add a paint colors button to the sidebar. Even so, we decided to include it in today’s FAQ round up because it wouldn’t be an honest-to-goodness FAQ roundup without including the MOST frequently asked question of all time. So, for kicks, here we go: The living/dining room, and Greg’s office were painted Martha Stewart’s Cobblestone (#MSL241) in satin. The hallway is the same color, though in flat. My office and our master bedroom were both painted Restoration Hardware’s Slate in subtle velvet finish. The guest bedroom and laundry room were painted Martha Stewart’s Artesian Well (#MSL117) – the guest room in flat and the laundry room in satin. The trim and doors were painted Sherwin-Williams’ Extra White (in semi-gloss). Whew! That’s a lot of paint!
That about covers the frequently (and not so frequently) asked questions we get around here. If you have a question we didn’t cover, ask away in the comment section!
FACEBOOK ONLY GIVEAWAY ALERT! This week, we’re giving one lucky “Facebook-Liker” a set of our favorite interior design books (the ones I talked about in this post!). So click on over, “Like” 7th House on the Left, and find out how to win!
