Blog – Page 45 – No. 29 Design

My contractor used a bad word

This morning my contractor came over. He brought along his plumber and electrician to go over some details before he gives me a final quote. Everything was going great. The plumber was up to speed on what was to be done, where the new pipes for the washer and sink were going and what pipes were being moved. We began discussing the electrical changes with the electrician. We estimated how many recessed lights we would need, where they would go throughout the entire space. They were counting up the lights and came to a different number than I did. I was a little puzzled and recounted. I realized they were leaving out the laundry room so I asked how many lights they would put in there. I then heard the most horrible words. My contractor spoke but all I heard was “blah, blah, blah fluorescent lighting.” Cue the record scratching…

No-sew hanging valance tutorial

My kitchen has one window and is boxed in by cabinets on either side. It is the only source of light in my kitchen at this point, so in deciding what I was going to do for a window treatment, I knew I didn’t want anything too “heavy.” I had fallen in love with this fabric so I started playing around with ideas. I couldn’t have an outside mount window treatment because of the cabinets so I came across this one day at the fabric store. A decorative tension mount curtain rod. Who knew? After some experimenting, here is what I came up with. Do you want to try it yourself? Here is what you need. {supplies needed} fabric iron-on adhesive iron curtain rod clip rings I basically cut the fabric so it measured exactly the width of the window opening, with about one extra inch on each side for…

My rug search begins

As our basement project gets closer and closer I want to do a little cybershopping beforehand on some items we’ll be needing down there. First on my list is an area rug. I’ll be putting white board and batten down there, with a neutral color on the tops of the walls. The floors will be the Allure TrafficMaster dark vinyl plank flooring which looks a lot like real wood. I only have one piece of furniture which is my old green leather sofa, lovingly covered over in a neutral slipcover. I want to get my color from fabrics in the form of pillows, an ottoman project, an extra chair or two and window treatments. In order to not get stuck in any sort of color rut, I want my area rug to be neutral. I’m hoping to use some industrial chic pieces down there as well, so I want the…

Bathroom before and after

I showed you yesterday how to add some wall art with fabric. Today I’ll show you where the piece I created ended up. First make sure you are sitting down, I’m going to show you the before. Here is how my half bath looked when we bought the house. Not a great shot, but whatever picture I had would have been just as bad. It was cold, sterile and reminded me of the bathrooms in my high school. Brown tile on the floor. Old sink mounted on the wall. Builders white on the walls. Ugly. I found a sink that was small enough, since this is a tight space. We added some paint to the walls, Benjamin Moore Weimaraner on top (the closest I’ll get to having a dog), glossy white on the bottom. A new schoolhouse light, new flooring, new fixtures and voila… Here is yesterday’s wall art in its’…

Fabric Wall Art Tutorial

One of my favorite things to add to a room is fabric. I love fabric. If I’m not doing it with a window treatment, I’ll add fabric with some wall art. I have a small half bath that needed some decorating. I had already purchased some fabric for the windows and wanted something a little different for the wall. I found this fabric on fabric.com and bought one yard. fabric.com I decided to try some wall canvas art on my own. Let me show you how. {supplies needed} canvas upholstery staple gun and staples fabric Mod Podge brush (I prefer foam) First stretch your fabric over your canvas. Use any size canvas you want, just make sure you have enough fabric to cover all the sides as well. I chose an 8 inch x 8 inch canvas from my local craft store. joann.com Line the fabric up and start stapling…

My old lamp is new again

About 10 years ago we purchased some floor lamps for our living room. We had no overhead lighting in there and decided on the lamp below, two of them. They gave off a warm glow to the room and all was well. Then, after 10 years I wanted a change. I contemplated sending them to the basement, but again, we have no overhead lights in the living room. On a lucky trip through Home Goods I came across two large lampshades for $15 each. I loved the fabric, it was neutral and would fit in well with the rest of my living room. I didn’t have the measurements of the glass piece at the top of my lamps so I thought I’d take a chance. I could always return them if they didn’t fit. The metal piece at the top would work out great and could sit on top of…

Decorating with plates

I’ve already told you how I love to decorate using plates. They add color, they add texture, and you can change them every day of the week if you really want to. Now I’m going to show you how. Typically, plates are hung with these… This method might work great for some people, but it also means that this is what you see once it is up. It is a beautiful plate put up to make a statement. The four spider legs coming over the top and bottom are not part of that statement. I knew I wanted some plates up but thought I’d shop around for another method. I was actually considering hot glueing some picture hangers to the back of the plates. Then I got lucky. I was browsing through my local Ben Franklin craft store and came across these… I grabbed the three that were left, after…

Idea Board – the mudroom

I’ve come up with a new idea to help you give your home a face lift. Gathering items from places such as IKEA, Target, Amazon, etc, I’ve put together an idea board to show you what can be done. The total price of all these items will be $200. Let’s start off with your mudroom. Even if you don’t have a designated mudroom, maybe there is a corner near your back door. Maybe you can stick this idea near your garage, or even in your garage. This is what I’ve come up with…. So here is the idea. Give your space a fresh coat of paint. Benjamin Moores’ Silver Spring is a beautiful blue with warm undertones. Add to your floors an area rug like the Ranch Stripe from Dash and Albert. Now for you shoes, hats, gloves, flip flops, etc. The IKEA Expedit is so versatile that if you…

My barn door obsession

Lately I have felt drawn towards these…. houzz I would love to include a barn door in our plans for finishing the basement. We have a whole section of the basement that we will be partitioning off to serve as the storage /utility room. All the things we don’t want to see on a daily basis will be in there, along with our oil tank, hot water heater and boiler. What better way to close off that space than with a barn door? This is the picture that started it all. I was searching for basement ideas and found this. I was in love. The space looked cozy but the barn door added such a focal point without defining the space. The search for more began. HGTV A punch of color on a door like the one below is such a simple way to add color to a space. Southern…

Pelmet Box Tutorial

My fabric came in, two of my kids are off to school, so me and my 2 year old sidekick made a pelmet box. It took me a total of 30 minutes or half of Sesame Street. That’s counting the time it took to stop and take pictures. So here is my pelmet box tutorial you’ve been waiting for. I’ll go step by step to show you how to do this for your own space. {Supplies needed} fabric (I used one yard for a 37 inch by 20 inch box) foam core (I used two boards) batting (low loft batting) duct tape upholstery staple gun 3M strips Scissors Exacto knife measuring tape {supplies} 1. Measure your window from one edge of the window frame to the other. I always cut my pelmet boxes so they sit just outside the window frame. Mine measured 37 inches wide. My pelmet box will be…