Time to cut bait

(Print by Dekanimal via Etsy)

I've been slowly, but surely trying to beautify our guest bedroom. I fell in love with Caitlin Wilson's new line of textiles, and used the "Mustard Fleur Chinoise" fabric to make roman shades which are almost complete.

I wanted to use this color palette as a base to paint the room. The room has been daunting to tackle because it has yellow trim on the doors, windows, closets...ugh. And yellow beadboard. I'm really not a fan of colored trim. It's just a total pain in the neck.

I settled on a paint colors; Palladium Blue by Benjamin Moore for the top half, and White Dove by Benjamin Moore for the beadboard and trim. I had some unexpected free time over New Year's weekend and started to slowly paint the beadboard, and work my way around the room. I've been working on it here and there throughout the week. After taping up one of the windows to paint, I realized that with my limited time, completing this job was not going to happen anytime soon. So, I gave in and called our handyman. He'll come later this week, and it will be a relief to then be able to just install the roman shades I've made, and work on the fun part of decorating the room.

Now, who's going to be our first guest?

Black Out

During a recent freak snowstorm in our area that left us w/o power for FIVE LONG NIGHTS (poor pilgrims!), my husband was convinced we had an animal in our house. I told him it was a miniature pony. Naturally, he didn't believe me. But, when the power came back on, look what I found in our bedroom:

And guess who was hanging out in the kitchen?

Casual Dining

I've had this dining room image (from online Rue Magazine?) saved on my desktop for awhile. I like the casual coziness of it, and I think it's a good example of how you can pull a room together without having it "perfect", yet perfectly appealing. To me, it seems more indicative of how a room is actually lived in, rather than a formally elegant staged dining room that you're apt to see in most magazines.

Our handyman was over the other day in a first attempt to hang the new pendant light that we bought for our dining room. The old chandelier was really not centered in the room in anyway, and once we started trying to figure out where it really should go, we started realizing how the whole room is actually a little "off". If we centered it "correctly" in the room, it would create a very tight space around the dining room table, and the room is also a passageway into the living room. It also has doors that lead to a patio out back. After much deliberation, we decided it was best to just put the light and table somewhat uncentered, and keep the room so that if Jake and various friends decide to run around the room, they'll have space to do that. That's the way we live, and it's silly to try to pretend otherwise.

I also had our handyman install these wall sconces from Shades of Light. They look great, and are a much improved version to what was originally there. I LOVE them. I get so excited when my home design projects work out. As a graphic designer, it's very easy to delete things you don't like with the stroke of a key...I wish it was that easy for home design mistakes! It would definitely take the pressure off, wouldn't it?

It's been awhile...

But, things have been busy around here! We've been making pumpkins to hang in the windows. I originally thought I'd cut them out, but they're looking pretty cute the way they are.

Every woman needs a super hero, and I am no exception. My personal helper washes paint brushes (for lengthy periods of time...always so upsetting when your super hero "muscles" get soaked with soapy water!).

And, I've made progress on creating a dining room that looks a little more "designed", and less like we're camping out. I cleared everything in the room, and made room for our new chairs. I LOVE them. Our new lights arrived, and they'll be installed next week. Still need to choose new paint colors,a rug, and window treatments (if any?).

My superhero also likes to help me sew. (Do you see why it's very difficult for me to get anything done?) These are the roman shades in progress for our guest bedroom. The project stalled for the summer, but now I'm in full swing again, and managed to get them sewn. Unfortunately, I don't think I love them anymore, but we'll see what they look like when I hang them up.

Online Mags

Lonny Magazine

For some time, I've been promising my mom a post of some of my favorite on-line magazines that are becoming increasingly popular...and plentiful. At the closing of so many of our favorite printed magazines, these come as a very welcome treat...and they're free! While I do love to hold a printed magazine in my hands, there is no denying that these online magazines are quite revolutionary. I love being able to click on a featured product that I like, and be able to link to the website where it's available for purchase...it takes shopping to a whole new level! And, I imagine that the advertisers themselves must love this feature. It allows them to track views from the publications they're advertising in.

Also, if an online magazine is doing a feature on a designer, or blogger, who, in turn has a blog or website, you are easily able to click on a link provided and find out more about them and their work. They are also unique in that they have the capability to embed video streams into the magazine that traditional printed mags obviously can't do. There is endless exploring to be done, and now that my mother HAS the link to some of my on-line favorites, I imagine she will be spending quite some time on her computer! (Have fun, mom!)

These on-line magazines are not hindered by many of the operating costs of a printed magazine. For instance, an on-line magazine is not limited to a certain page count, they could include any length article, or any number of photographs or illustrations they want. They have limited staff, and no overhead office costs.

A couple weeks a, the New York Times published an interesting article about four of these online mags: Lonny, Rue, Matchbook, and High Gloss. I found the tone of the article somewhat flip...it seemed that the writer didn't give enough credit to the extraordinary women creating these publications. The women who started these magazines are all quite young, and have not had extensive professional experience in a traditional magazine/publishing setting. The editor-in-chief, and co-founder of Lonny, Michelle Adams, was an assistant at Domino when the magazine folded. Her lack of traditional experience didn't stop her from creating this amazing online magazine which now has close to 250,000 readers. I give her a huge amount of credit for creating a wonderful product out of what was probably an upsetting job loss. Good for her!

If you do read the New York Times article, you might also be interested to read what Grace Bonney of the popular blog Design*Sponge had to say about it. She wrote a thought provoking post from the viewpoint of a very successful design blogger.

In summary, I find these magazines to be a treat, and hope that you all enjoy them too, especially if you are not already familiar with some of them. Just click on the covers below and enjoy!

http://www.lonnymag.com/

Chalkboard Masterpieces

After a recent trip to the Children's Museum of Manhattan, I was inspired to make these outdoor chalkboard murals for Jake. The museum had a fun outdoor play space with a lot of different water-based activities. We had a lot of fun "painting" with water on these pieces of framed slate:

Once the water dries, the image vanishes...magic! I loved all the kooky frames in all the different shapes. I originally wanted to do something like this to hang on the fairly unattractive fence in our backyard. However, when I got to the wood store, I realized that A.) I would probably never finish this WITH frames because I don't have the proper saw and would spend most of my time trying to figure out how to get that done; and B.) bigger would be better...he would have more room to draw and create his own masterpieces.

I've been wanting to try out some projects with the ever-so-popular chalkboard paint, and thought this would be the perfect project. It's super easy. Once you have the wood cut to size (which you can have done at Home Depot), you just prime, paint, hang up, and you're good to draw!

My husband added a cute note...he's been having fun playing with them too!

Guest Bedroom

I recently stumbled upon this image of a guest bedroom while looking through past issues of Lonny Magazine. The room is in the house of Marlien Rentmeester and was designed by Hilary Thomas. It sparked my interest because it seems so simple, and put together...and achievable.

Although the individual elements in this room are not what I would personally choose, I was inspired to get a similar look and feel for our guest room. I think the room that Hilary Thomas designed looks very inviting, sophisticated, yet fun and relaxing. I've been a little all over the map recently in the number of projects I want to do, and have very limited time. So, having the inspiration photo is keeping me on track and motivated to add a little sparkle to our currently very boring room! Here's how our guest bedroom looks now (very dull I'm afraid!):

I made a trip to Calico Corners the other night, and came across some similar fabric to my inspiration photo in a different colorway:

I also found these nice fabrics by Thom Felicia (also from Calico Corners) that would coordinate well...yet not be too "matchy matchy"...pillows perhaps?

I love the look of the bedspread in the photo, but don't want to spend a gajillion dollars for it. Pottery Barn has a simpler, yet similar look. Or, I could add ribbon trim to a white bedspread to jazz it up, but occasionally, my husband is right...I don't have to make everything myself (and thus make it more complicated and unfinished). Simple is good (and done!). So, Pottery Barn is looking good! (Blue of course, not brown):

I like the light colored walls in the photo, but we have beadboard trim which goes halfway up the wall. I played around in photoshop w/ a paint color idea, and it's not bad. But, I'm still debating...it will be best to wait until I finish the roman shades to see what will work best. Also, my husband suggested switching the painting that's above the bed to something more modern looking...I just stuck a recent photo from our trip to Mexico in my Photoshop rendering.

Once I borrowed the fabric, I tacked it over the windows, and took some photos. I find when I do this, and look at the images on the computer, it gives me a new/different/helpful perspective. In this case, it was the added boost I needed to place my order!

The fabric should be coming this week, and I hope I get a little spare time soon to start! Now, who's coming to visit?

Bench Cushion

We got this great bench from Pottery Barn over a year ago, and I keep meaning to make a cushion for it. I've been playing around with a couple fabric ideas.

I've had this fabric from Maine Cottage for awhile that I thought I would use in another project that didn't work out:

It looks nice on the bench, but I think this pop of red would be more fun (fabric from Company C):

On further thought, I think the fabric from Maine Cottage would look better on a seat cushion for my office chair. It ties in nicely w/ the subtle colors from the rug:

I'd like to trim both cushions with some type of piping/cording. I'm no expert at that, but I'll just have to play around with it. Now, I just have to find the right foam for the cushions, and another project will be underway!

Simple and Cute

I was browsing through Etsy today, and came across these darling pillows by Sukan. Every now and then I see something, and wish I'd come up with the idea myself! So instead, I'll just share her lovely creations with you!

Painting with a twist

I've got projects on my mind lately, and the desire to play with paint...with a twist! While exploring fun paint projects lately, I came across these cool paint supplies from Rustoleum that I never knew existed.

Of course, I've known about chalkboard paint, but did you know that they have glow in the dark paint, dry erase paint, and magnetic paint? How cool is that? I've always believed that at least 25% of creativity is knowing about the right supplies. Another 25% of the equation is actually having the supplies on hand so you can actually get started!

Have you tried any of these paints? If so, I'd love to hear about it, and see what you made!
Have fun creative friends!