Stripes or Chair Rail?...or Both?

My oldest friend is pregnant with her first baby (yay!), and she called me over the weekend to run some nursery design ideas by me. Her bun in the oven is a boy, and she and her husband are Giants and baseball fanatics, so it is no surprise that the future slugger's nursery palette is inspired by Giant's colors: orange, black, and ivory. The big question is: should they paint a fun racing stripe on ivory walls?

 Via

Pinterest via Lianna Roberts via Mackenzie Collier

Or should they install a chair rail with orange below and ivory above?

Little Crown Interiors

If they decide to go with the chair rail, they could always add some faux paneling like this to jazz it up a bit. 

Via http://www.liweddings.com/chat/topic-220605-1.html

Or there's a third option. I suggested - just to complicate the issues - that they could do both. Crazy, but I kinda like it.

Picture something like this, but with one narrow, horizontal stripe above the chair rail. (Something akin to that first photo above but without the white stripes.)

Pinterest via Mindy White

I think it's a home run no matter what they decide to do. The ivory walls will brighten up a shady room, but I worry ivory might be hard to keep free of toddler finger and handprints. The chair rail with the orange below might help to solve that problem, but is it as fun and energetic as stripes? And doing both might just be a bit too much energy in a small space. (But it could also be really awesome. Just saying.)

I think you can tell where I stand on the stripes vs. chair rail debate, but now's your chance to weigh in. What design advice do you have for this mama-to-be?

Fashion Friday: Emerson Made

I am having a *moment* with Emerson Made. I want to snatch up everything they make! I could really wax poetic about them... 

Since I can't do their crisp and chic clothes and accessories justice in one post - they just released their spring line! - today I thought I would focus on what first caught my eye: their striped shirt, trouser jeans, and fun flowers. 

The combination feels absolutely fresh and perfectly spring-y!

When stripes hit the stores I know spring is just around the corner. I guess it's like my version of Groundhog Day. And stripes are everywhere this year in different colors and silhouettes!

(First and third image from J. Crew, Saint James naval II tee and Sailor Sweater respectively, and second image, Every Saturday Tee, from Anthropologie.)

So are trouser jeans. The wide, bell leg is so flattering and comfortable, and unlike my favorite skinny jeans that I have been running around in of late, the high waist means you don't have to worry about unwittingly flashing a little crack. 

I am loving the flare on those Emerson Made Blue Bells. Just wish I could afford them! J Brand's Seline Trousers (the second pic, available at Anthropologie) offer a similar look for significantly less. But, oh! The sheen on that Emerson Made denim! I think I might just have to get a piggy bank...

What are you saving up for fashion-wise these days?