Just a quick review today of one of my favorite bags, the Mini-Brompton Hobo, in the warm mocha colorway (on sale, pops back!). There are so many reasons for loving this bag: it's a reasonable every day size but fits a ton, the leather is quite nice (pebbled is so much easier to care for IMO), it's offered in J.Crew's usual gorgeous rich colors, there's an optional, easily-removable long strap, and it's a simple but elegant design. I already have the gray/taupe version, which goes with pretty much everything, so I knew it would work for me. I've been carrying a chocolate brown leather tote from J.Crew from I think 2007-8ish? and it's seen it's day.
The online photo of the warm mocha color doesn't really do it justice. It looks a little blah and grayed out. IRL, it's a beautiful rich chocolate color. I was so pleasantly surprised.
I thought it might be helpful to see the difference between the mini-Brompton hobo and the regular hobo size:
On a completely unrelated note, I have completed a minor, but quite satisfying, makeover in my house. It's for the entry from the garage into my laundry room. It's a garage area, and it's in a 25-year-old home, so it's never going to look like a fancy new-house garage, and I can live with that. But since it's the door I walk through every day, I still wanted it to be a bit more useful, and more pleasing to the eye. This was all decided on the spur of the moment last week, when I saw some great makeover pics via Pinterest from justagirlblog (more deets here) and athoughtfulplace . Aren't they lovely?
So of course I immediately bolted to Home Depot that day, picked out some black (exterior) paint, some white trim paint, primer, a roller brush, and I was off and running. Two coats of black paint and three coats of trim, and it was done. I also ordered a vinyl decal from etsy seller DelicateExpressions (super cute, shipped crazy fast!).
The cement is in ugly shape, and there wasn't much I could do, so I put down a couple waterhog stair treads and a nice big waterhog mat from L.L. Bean, and that made a nice -- and practical -- difference. I added several more touches: a sign up above as a reminder that life is good, a tiered basket unit (from Homegoods) so we can each quickly grab our mittens/hats/scarves, a metal basket up on the pegboard, a coat rack from my son's previous room, and new switch/outlet covers. It makes me feel so much happier to come home to this instead of the "before" version. :)
My garage entry door before and after:
Have a great day everyone!