When people say things to me like, “That’s my dream living room!” or “That’s my dream bed!”—I think to myself: “Which dream?”

I have so many that I’ve lost count. For instance, take the Eames Eiffel chair, designed in 1948. I love this chair so much that my heart goes aflutter just mentioning it. You could say it’s my Dream Chair—my Midcentury-Modern-Florida-Beach-House-Dream-Chair, to be specific.

So when I came across Anthropologie’s On-A-Whim dinnerware yesterday, I got very excited because it fits my Florida beach house fantasy perfectly.

By adding Crate&Barrel’s Everyday silverware, Alfi’s modern classic yellow carafe, and Chiasso’s serpentine fruit bowl—

my sun-soaked breakfast table is ready.

Unnnggghhh.

That’s the sound I’m making as my head slowly makes its way to the keyboard. I’m drained, with a capital D. For the past two-plus months, my angelic four month-old has decided he no longer needs to nap, at least not longer than twenty minutes. My sweet and gentle three year-old has decided he’s finally ready to enter the Terrible Twos and throws public tantrums every time we leave the apartment. So I feel trapped. Trapped at home, and trapped by motherhood.

I started thinking about my “prison” and chuckled when reimagining my living room to reflect my mental state. I could turn my prison into a prison! A glamorous one, of course, with wallpaper and patent leather.

I love the jail-bars wallpaper; the stiff daybed; the table lamp with a pendulum that I could stare at blankly all day; the tough-as-nails ottoman; the rug that looks like it could have been swiped from a page in my journal; the shuffling slippers, and the haunting photo of Alcatraz island that reminds me…

it could be a whole lot worse.

The cupcake trend will eventually wane, but I don’t want it to. Perhaps I’ve been out of the U.S. too long (read: cupcake deprivation), because a cute, personal-sized, decorated cake in a pleated paper cup sounds like the best idea ever invented, and the thought of them fills me with delight and nostalgia.

A few days ago, I came across this set of four cupcake prints by Etsy seller teconlene. While I do love cupcakes, my favorite thing about these illustrations isn’t the subject matter; it’s how the subject matter is treated. Because it’s so easy to take a cupcake motif and make it overly saccharine, it’s impressive that this artist keeps it under control and actually makes cupcakes cool.

In seventh grade, I sewed a cupcake-shaped pillow for my Home Economics class (by the way, how are cooking and sewing “economics?” Anyone? Baffling, isn’t it?). If I was still in seventh grade, I’d love a cupcake-themed bedroom, but the tricky part would be not overdoing it—just like teconlene manages to do in her prints.

Once I start thinking in these “what ifs,” it’s impossible for me to stop; so I went ahead and started pulling together some ideas for a cool cupcake-themed bedroom, using the set of four prints as a starting point. Then, to capture the sweetness and nostalgic quality of cupcakes, I chose items that are a little bit “cottage” and a little bit retro, with sprinkles, er, sprinkled, everywhere.

Oh, and because this is my blog and I can do whatever I want with it (hooray!), here’s a link to a great, four-minute segment on NPR, A Renaissance for Cupcakes, first broadcast a year ago.

I have a particular fondness for Room&Board sofas, since the first major piece of furniture that we bought together was their 79″ Mercer sofa in celery. For that three and-a-half years before we sold it and moved overseas, that sofa was well-loved and well-worth every dime we spent on it.

When I saw Lindsay and Jeremy’s Mindfully Merged Space this morning, I was immediately swept off my feet by their inky blue sofa.

It’s from Room&Board, naturally—but I can’t seem to find it for sale. The closest thing I can find is the Clarke sofa.

…Which is also gorgeous, by the way. And would look amazing in front of Amy Butler’s Georgia Midnight wallpaper.

Mustard yellow is hot right now. I’m seeing it so much that it’s infiltrating my dreams; every night I close my eyes to images of blooming marigolds and streaming spicy condiment. The obsession was getting so out of hand that I finally dragged my toddler to the bus stop and made the long ride to H&M to buy a mustard yellow cardigan. Whew!

So, of course, a lot of my inspiration these days is coming from mustard yellow. I can’t show you the projects I’m working on, but I can show you why this color is awakening my creativity.

Mustard yellow in fashion (Fendi used it particularly well in their fall collection—gorgeous!):

Mustard yellow in home décor (I am envious of anyone in the market for a new sofa right now):

And, because I can never resist creating a wedding inspiration board, this shows how glamorous mustard yellow can be when combined with black and white (somebody plan an early fall wedding, please!):

Perhaps knowing we’ll end up back in the U.S. next year is what makes me cling desperately to any expression of Mediterranean style. So when I saw DwellStudio’s New Peacock Citrine Duvet Set, I actually whimpered. This is what I want to come home to every day.

And while I’m sprawled out on this bedspread, by the way, I want to reach over and turn on Crate&Barrel’s Swell Table Lamp.