DIY: Hiding the Flat Screen

While perusing the mail the other day, I came across the “Lowes Creative Ideas” catalog, and I found an idea in there I thought worth sharing. If you don’t already get this free magazine, check it out- you might find a few DIY ideas you want to tackle.

On to what I found- this project is called “slide and hide” artwork, and basically it’s creating an art piece to hide your flat screen TV. There are a few, already made, much pricier versions of this out there and I thought this was a great budget-concious DIY to solve such a common problem in living rooms. (Lowes estimated the cost of this around $80 + the price of the paint you use)

Their idea is shown above a mantel, although I think this could work anywhere for a TV hung on the wall. In the example they painted a leaf pattern, but the panels could easily be changed up- you could do wall paper, decoupage an art print or photos, or even hand paint something.

Of course I love the flexibility of having the TV seen or unseen, but the fact that you could make this yourself? Even better.

 

Found it on Etsy… (Lighting)

Lovely hand-dyed pendant in beautiful blue.

This “Hydrangea Lamp” is truly unique- I love how it looks both off and on. Gorgeous.

And some vintage too: a sassy blue-green mid century modern lamp pair.

 

Home Sweet Home (a work in progress) Front Entry & Hall

Front entry- there is not much about this space that is the same as when we moved in. You’ll notice in the before pic that there is carpet everywhere. One of the first things we did when moving in was to free our trapped hardwood floors from the bondage of really old carpet. Yeah, something like that. Also notice the super fun wall paper that went all the way up the stairs. (so if you have to remove wall paper, I feel for you, really I do!). This wallpaper was actually not too hard to get off though, compared to the monstrosity in our upstairs bath-but I’ll save that for another day. We worked wonders using “DIF” and the “Paper Tiger” . I liked the liquid concentrate better than the gel stuff if you’re wondering. It was also helpful to use a plant mister to apply the concentrate, after first scoring the wallpaper with the paper tiger. Anyway, this part of the house was a bit of work- but isn’t it all? And the results are worth it, too.

How it looked right before we bought the house. The only thing that’s the same here now  is the front door, but that too will be on it’s way out eventually.

How it looks now- sorry, this photo does not win the “quality” award- it’s a bit dark. I need to start using my photographer hubby’s cool camera but I never remember until it’s too late. Anyway, you can see we painted the door, ditched the carpet, painted and replaced the railing & light fixtures (we did, even though you can’t see ‘em in the pics), and added carpet tile stair runners that I cut from FLOR carpet tiles and secured with carpet tape so they don’t slip. Another addition was the cute little hooks so we can hang our most used stuff or guests coats and such. Whew! (And you get a sneak peak into our dining room, fully equipped with my daughter’s Ikea Kitchen!)

Another before shot of the stairs, complete with snazzy bandana.

After, showing our paint job (Benjamin Moore Lenox Tan), new stair railing (yay for friends who are carpenters!) and pics of our kiddies.

A before shot of our upstairs hallway. The railing here was nothing close to safe and had to be replaced- several of the spindles weren’t connected to the top railing. Not cool. At least we didn’t have have little kids when we moved in!

Upstairs hall after, with new railing. And yes, I did paint all the doors like this upstairs. (6 total) It makes me happy.

Shot of another bedroom door & the art in the hallway. I framed some Eames fabric samples that I had leftover from a project. (Eames is a favorite of mine!) Fabric + Ikea frames =instant art.

 

Layered Light

I have to admit, there aren’t a lot of designers on TV that I follow. However, Candice Olson is one exception- both my mom-in-law and I DVR her shows and occasionally watch some together- “Divine Design” and her newer one, “Candice Tells All“. I think I originally enjoyed her show because it was so quirky and yet her process seemed the most like a “real” designer. Her results in the rooms she does are beautiful. One thing she always nails (among many) though, is lighting. And yes it is true that lighting can make or break your room.

Candice Olson: Kitchen

The secret to her lighting success? A guy named Chico, perhaps… (you have to see her “Divine Design” show to get that one) but the real secret is lighting in layers. In just about every space she creates, there are several different layers of lighting:

Ambient light (a general light that illuminates most of the room so you can see- think, in-ceiling can lighting or track),

Accent light (makes the room interesting by lighting up focal points, such as artwork or the inside of a shelf),

Task lighting (the light that helps you get something done, like a desk lamp or lighting over your kitchen counters) and last but not least,

Decorative lighting (things like fun sconces or chandeliers that also add interest & sparkle to the room but don’t necessarily provide lots of useable light)

A room with all of these lighting elements will be functional but also sparkle and look amazing. The next time you’re in a room that you love (or just love the atmosphere) look at the lighting. Odds are, it plays a big part in why you like that room! And back to Ms. Candice- she uses this principal in every room (as do I!)- that includes bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchens- because every single room in your home needs layered lighting. Here are a couple more of her rooms:

candice olson: bathroom

candice olson: multi-purpose room/office

 

Found it on Etsy…(cute frames)

Today’s pick is one of my favorites (literally, I have this Etsy store waiting for me in my Etsy favorites, for just when I need them!). If you’re looking for some unique, hand made- to order- in pretty much every size and configuration you can imagine- made in the USA- picture frames, then you have to check out the selection at 2 Dogs woodworking:

 

Home Sweet Home (a work in progress)- Powder Room

I’ve got a good before & after for you today, from my powder room. (my house has had no shortage of before photo opps, let me add) Well, here it is, shown before we moved into the house,  in all of it’s “before picture” glory(*cringe*):

most definitely “before”… (outdated wall paper, giant vanity in a small room, cheap looking window treatment)

For the “after”, my goal was to create a little “jewel box” bathroom. Something a bit unexpected. Thus the red walls. And let me say that I searched high and low for the right shade of red, until I finally decided to have Seven’s (local Benjamin Moore Paint store) color match…wait for it…my favorite shade of OPI red nail polish. They did an excellent job, and I am very pleased with the deep red results. (yes, red is my favorite color) Another note: this bathroom is small, and I mean tiny. So, I decided to paint the ceiling red as well as the walls. A trick to make small rooms seem larger is to reduce the amount of contrast between walls/floor/ceiling. I liked the tile floor (original to the house) so we kept that bit of contrast but took it out in the ceiling. A white ceiling with these deep walls would only emphasize the smallness of the room.

And voila! After…

 

Framing the Fam

Looking for some unique photo display ideas?

Found this one via houzz.com. I love the use of stacked frames, and how they did some of the frames without glass. Different shapes & sizes also make it interesting.

How cute is this? You could also do a group of these together for bigger impact.

Looks like a lot of work, but worth it in the end! This arrangement uses painted Ikea frames, so pretty economical considering the quantity involved. I also like how it wraps around the wall.

From Martha, so this grouping has a DIY tutorial. Great idea instead of buying a pre-made frame collage. You could customize this even more with different colored frames, or a gradient (dark to light) effect of one color. You could do this with frames you already own. Many possibilities.

 

Designer’s Faves: Kids Rooms

Here are some of my faves when it comes to designing kids rooms- (in no particular order)

#1) Dwell Studio Bedding. I had this pattern in my daughter’s nursery, and now have a Dwell Studio for Target set in my son’s nursery. Dwell Studio is pricey but excellent quality and I love their patterns (and I’m picky about pattern). If you want similar modern style with less of a price tag, check out the Dwell Studio for Target line of bedding (or surf EBay or Craigslist and see what you can find!). Bonus? My daughter still uses the comforter as an extra blanket in her reading nook.

#2) Craigslist and/or your local antiques/resale shop. Seriously people, don’t shell out the big bucks for every piece of your children’s furniture! We chose to spend a bit more on some pieces (cribs/beds), and less on others (shelving, dressers), and some people are amazing and find everything second hand. Go for it. I scored some great deals via Craigslist and our local antique shops. All I had to do was paint the pieces and get some new hardware, and voila! Gorgeous children’s furniture on the cheap. And when it’s time to change things up? You guessed it- either re-paint the piece and use it again or re-sell it and get something new!

(my husband showing my daughter the fine art of installing drawer hardware. All this dresser needed was a coat of white paint. dresser=$30, via craigslist.)

(a non-styled real life, shot of my daughter’s “big girl” room, as we call it.  This shows the finished dresser.

The little side table was purchased from an antique store & painted. Cost=$20)

#3) Can’t find what you want? Don’t like the choices out there? Make your own! (or have someone else make it for you!) For my daughter’s room, we already had a twin mattress I wanted to use. Even so, I looked around at toddler beds and for the price didn’t find anything I really liked. We also had a bed frame but it sat up a bit too high for her, so we needed something low to the ground/platform style.

Instead of looking for new headboards/frames, I did a bit of web/blog surfing and found an awesome DIY project for a toddler bed (on one of my favorite blogs, Design Sponge), which we converted into a twin headboard/bed.  At the time my hubby was super swamped with work to tackle another DIY, and I was a giant pregnant lady, so I enlisted the help of my awesome craftsman carpenter friend to help make this bed happen. He did the building part, then we upholstered it with a retro-graphic pattern I found on ultra clearance at the fabric store.

 

Etsy Find of the Day…

My current favorite Etsy find (Etsy, via Pinterest, actually. Saw a pin that made me go check out this shop- Primele, on Etsy! Photos from Primele’s shop)

Such a beautiful return address stamp. I loved this one too:

 

Home Sweet Home…(a work in progress)

Homes can be like people- warm, funny, imperfect and always changing. I’d like to share some of my favorite (and perhaps some not-so-favorite) things with you about my own lovely 1941 brick colonial dwelling that we (my husband, daughter, son and senior-citizen pug dog) call home.

And hey, guess what? Just because I’m a designer doesn’t mean my home is “done” or “perfect” or I wake up every morning to a beautifully styled Pottery Barn catalog shoot. (really? with a crawling 9 month old and an active 3 year old living here??) Nope. My home (probably like yours) is always a work in progress, and even if I “finished” every single room today, it would still be a work in progress because there’s always something to change, move around or update (in my opinion, anyway). And yes, I work on a budget, too. (oh to go back to school to have those fictional clients with no budgets! but I digress…)

So, you could say that my philosophy of “design for real life” starts at home. Mine, to be exact. We got a whole lot of real life happening around here, and we love it!

So my work-in-progress tour starts at the beginning, that would be- my neighborhood, and the exterior of my house. Not too much has happened to the outside of our house, due to all the projects that have taken place inside. But here it is.

A reason I love our neighborhood (besides the awesome neighbors): an old tree lined street. I’ve always loved those. It’s gorgeous especially in the fall.

Now onto our piece of the neighborhood. Here’s what it looked like when we moved in: (side note- I have also always loved brick exteriors. I guess it’s the traditionalist in me)

And currently… We haven’t done much to the exterior- nothing fun yet, anyway- new roof, new gutters, and new house numbers & mailbox to carry us through until we can add on more. I’d like to build an awning over the front door, change out the lighting/add more landscape lighting, replace the front door & paint the shutters a charcoal-grey color. Oh, and the trees need to be trimmed…that will be done this summer.

Backyard, when we moved in…(yep, that’s me in the pic, the guy on the ladder was our house inspector)

A recent addition to our backyard- a playhouse, given to us by our neighbors! The blue paint was done earlier this summer. Again, more plans in the works for this crazy back yard- but as you’ll soon see in my next posts, the interior needed our help much more than the outside. So, the major projects for the outside will wait with a few little touches & improvements here and there.

Petunias, colorful and easy to grow! A favorite of mine, especially right now with not much gardening time available. Flowers make me smile. And the more things in and around your house that make you smile, the better.