Craigslist Treasure of the Week: Desk
Unique old-fashioned desk in Novato.
I love this desk because it is so natural. I think rooms can get so stuffy when they are filled with color and pattern. It always helps to throw in a little texture, and this knotted vintage desk would be a great solution. The top is a vintage door, with even the keyhole exposed.
Until it expires, you can see the original post here.
Shannon Kaye (my sister) on View From The Bay
My adorable and talented sister was on View From The Bay on ABC Network yesterday. She did a spot on creating your own stencils with posterboard, tracing paper and an X-Acto knife. This is such a great way to make patterns in your home. You can design your own, or Shannon says she gets her inspiration from fabrics and artwork.
Check out the video here… click on the segment titled “Personalize Your Space with Stencils.”
Lessons Learned
I am not afraid of color, pattern, or paint. Because of this, I am drawn toward elaborate paint treatments, bright colors and stylized rooms. I learned that as I moved all of my furniture out of my Sacramento house, and tried to sell it, the patterns and colors on the walls stood out. While they still looked beautiful, I believe it took away a percentage of the market that may have been interested in my home.
We were in a hurry to sell, and didn’t want to take the time to repaint all the walls before leaving. Next time I put a property on the market, that is exactly what I’m going to do. In fact, knowing that we aren’t planning on staying in our condo for too long, I have chosen to be more conservative on my paint and decorating so I can save time and money in the future. If I really want to have a chatreuse room, I’ll do it, but I’ll be sure to paint it back before inviting potential buyers into my home. Not everybody can visualize like we can, so keeping the home neutral can help interest more buyers.
My sister once said that she thought that her two-story home lost many potential buyers – ones with young children or older couples who didn’t want to bother going up and down the stairs. These are things we learn along the way, and change the way we look at our next potential home. Since you never know where you are going to end up, it’s important to remember how a potential buyer is going to look at your home in X years when you decide to sell. Will they like the fad wallpaper or the construction you did? If you are worried about getting top dollar when you sell your home someday, consider the potential buyer!
picture taken from Flickr
Love This
Wonderful Graffiti creates all kinds of different vinyl lettering for a range of projects. I love this set of vinyls as applied to a painted vintage highboy.
screenshot from http://www.workstatetest.com/.
Bedside Reminders
Just in case we forget what side of the bed we sleep on…
Condo Chronicle: Living Room Makeover
Still in dire need of small decorative items, but the transformation is nearly complete. Here are the before and after pictures of the living room in our new condo.
Highlights:
- Walls painted a warm beige color (Lady Finger) by Benjamin Moore. Ceiling painted slightly darker for a cozy feeling
- New dark chocolate hardwood floors
- New ceiling fan with dark blades to match the flooring, brushed metal finish on the lights
- Brushed metal star lanterns hung from the ceiling
- New sofa from Basset Furniture
- Refinished vintage dresser with drawers removed as TV bench
- Mounted TV
- Velour drapes from Ikea
- Inner drapes: Coverlets from Target on curtain rings
- Moorish Tile rug from Pottery Barn
- Frames from Aaron Brother’s Penny Sale, with patterned scrapbook paper
Get Organized
Getting organized is one of the most important steps to making your house feel like a home. I would rather spend hours organizing than relaxing because it feels so good after you’ve done it.
Unclutterer is a great blog about organization that I subscribe to. It gives great tips on laundry organization, office organization, home organization, and how to rid your life of things that serve only one unimportant purpose. (Unitasker Wednesday is a weekly special on Unclutterer where they very dryly rip apart products that serve seemingly no purpose. Very funny. Even funnier when you own one of these products!)
Following the guidelines of this great blog will keep your home from gathering unnecessary clutter, and save you time!
Screenshot taken from Unclutterer blog.
Designer Inspiration
One of my favorite poster designers is the late Saul Bass. The now playing “Burn After Reading” that I am still laughing about, having seen it this weekend (I love a good Cohen brothers film), has a Saul Bass-inspired movie poster that I love:
I am going to use these posters as reference for color schemes when I get an opportunity. The bold colors and simple shapes have made Saul Bass famous, and he is clearly doing something right. Here are some of his popular works:
One-Rag Bathroom Cleaning
I have a pattern when cleaning the bathroom that involves only one rag. I think we could all use a few cleaning tips to keep us more efficient. Do you have easy cleaning tips?
Here’s the procedure:
1. Clean the windows with window cleaner.
2. Fill the sink(s) up with hot water and a little Lysol Disenfectant. Using the same rag, Wipe down the countertop, cabinets, faucets, and lastly the sink.
3. Use the same rag with the disenfectant and clean the base, lid, and tank of the toilet.
By using the one rag instead of those disposable wipes to clean the bathroom, you are creating less waste for the environment. It also helps cut down on the number of products you keep.
Bedroom Chandeliers
A recent conversation with my friends over whether or not a chandelier is practical in the bedroom spawned this gallery of beautiful chandeliers above the bed.
My say? A bedroom shouldn’t be practical. A dining room or living room, yes, but a bedroom should be your fun retreat. I had a chandelier in my master bedroom in a previous home and I loved it. It made the room feel important and glamorous. (My small downside; making the bed was a touch more difficult, I had to be sure that I didn’t bump the light fixture when ‘fluffing’ the comforter. Small price to pay, but something to consider when deciding how low to hang the piece.)
My Desire? An itty-bitty glass chandelier in the hallway and the laundry room. Why not make those tiny spaces a little more fun? I could use a little motivation to be in the laundry room more often…
Bear With Me…
As I keep updating the template. I keep noodling this template when I get time here and there, so bear with me as things change! Also, please leave suggestions!
Weekend Office Makeover
Well, I finally got to it. My home office/craft room makeover is complete.
Here are the highlights:
1. Recycling: I didn’t buy a new paint color, I took the excess paints that I had and mixed them until I came up with this creamy taupe. I hate when paint goes to waste, and I hate spending money when I don’t have to. The color turned out a little purple, so I added some yellow acrylic paint to dull it out, and I am pleased with the results.
2. Repetition is key in design. I took the drawer design from my Reeves piece, altered it a little so it wasn’t an exact copy (that would be okay too, but having the pattern slightly different adds more dimension), and added it to the design of the paint.
3. The main colors in the room are black and lime green. But things can get a little boring if you stick with the same two colors. So you can see, I’ve added purple, pink, blue and peach from out of nowhere, and it adds to the warmth of the room.
4. Organization: Some tin boxes, $5 total from a garage sale and some tags keep my craft supplies organized.
5. My bargain find: the Urban Outfitters Chandelier on clearance for $9.99 breaks up the color with white, and makes that bizarre architecture of the room seem meant to be. Plus, my mom’s gift to me: the Urban Outfitters Birdie Lamp which I LOVE.
6. My mom made this GORGEOUS curtain that inspired the whole room. The main fabric was clearance Anthropologie fabric, and the black and white edge fabric was a splurge at $8 per yard. Thanks Mom!!
7. Practical: My husband likes to turn on his iTunes while he irons, so I didn’t kick him out of the room. There is plenty of space for him to iron his little heart out.
8. Reminders: My friend Nikki cut me a piece of this corrugated metal from Home Depot. I hung it on the wall as a magnet board for bills, pictures, projects, reminders, you name it.
Here are the pictures!
Contest Winner
Congrats to Cameron for winning the World War 2 “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster!