Chalkboard Paint Inspiration

March 9, 2010

in Inspiration

Seems painted chalkboard walls and doors are all the rage.  I keep seeing them pop up everywhere!  And even though the sound of fingernails raking along a chalkboard makes me grit my teeth and want to rip my ears off (seriously, it took everything I had just to type that), I’m a drooling fool for the look of homebound chalkboards.    

The matte black offers a dramatic focal point while the chalky white scribblings lend playfulness and lightness.  Or maybe I just love ‘em because I was a total nerd in school and devoured whatever the teacher would write on the board.  (My elementary music teacher even had a scary-looking contraption that held 5 pieces of chalk at a time to quickly draw a music staff.  Ah, I remember it well.)  Either way, these homemade chalkboard walls and doors hit a high note with me. 

  

 

  

 

 

 

 

  

And they’re not just for walls and doors, people… 

Kinda makes me want an old beat up fridge to cover in chalkboard paint.  Kinda.  And as the painted fridge suggests, chalkboards need not be black.  The soft green is quite nice too. 

After mentioning it to Handy Hubby and the kiddos, it was unanimous.  We needed a chalkboard painted something in our home.  Check back for my next post to see what ensued… 

Photo credits in order: #1 Cat Scratch #2 unknown #3 unknown #4 Mark Olson #5 unknown #6 Country Living #7 Country Living #8 Coastal Living #9 Country Living #10 dailydanny #11 The Lettered Cottage …if you know the whereabouts of any ‘unknown’ listings please let me know! 

Tagged as: black, chalkboard door, chalkboard paint, chalkboard wall, green, Inspiration, Paint, pantry, wall

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How Wii Roll

March 7, 2010

in Kid-friendly, Organization

My dear Dad gifted us a Wii this past Christmas.  It was a great family gift; something we would have never bought for ourselves.  But imagine my horror as we unwrapped all the different electrical components and accessories:  console, sensor bar, various handheld remotes, floor mat and several games.  Where the heck was I going to put this stuff?  If I haven’t told you already, I strongly dislike the appearance of electrical devices and the wires that undoubtedly accompany them.  

I made it about a Wiik (week, hehe) before I had to find a storage solution for our new gaming device.  Luckily, we already had a pretty efficient console beneath our TV.  All it took was some purging and re-organizing.  Humor me and try to spot the Wii stuff in this picture…”Where’s Waldo?” style.  (Yeah, that’s a reference to the 80’s.)

Did you figure it out?  Two storage bins in the entertainment console hold the Wii console, sensor bars, a few games and various controllers.

Instead of propping our Wii console upright (as shown in the first picture of this post), we decided to hide it in a bin lying flat.  It works perfectly fine this way.  When in use, the sensor bar goes up on top of the entertainment console.

Everyone knows where the remotes go at the end of playtime.  We haven’t lost one yet!  But where are all the wires, you ask?

They are threaded back behind the console and up into the TV camouflaged by…

Yep, you got it, the plant!

At first, we were plugging in and unplugging the dang thing every time we used it.  That got old real quick.  So, we just leave ‘em plugged in all the time and disguise them with some greenery…Tropic Thunder-esque.  (That’s for you, Handy Hubby.)

Have you spotted the Wii floor mat?  No?  Well, that’s because it lives in a fabric bin behind the slipper chair.  Tricky, heh?

Ain’t nothing wrong with hiding things behind furniture… as long as they aren’t edible, breathing or deceased.  So, take one last look at our family room and see how inconspicuous Wiis can be if you’re creative enough.

Tagged as: basket, bin, bins, console, electronics, Family Room, floor mat, hide, Organization, storage, storage bin, TV, Wii, wires

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A Sticky Situation

March 4, 2010

in Budget Decor, DIY

Look what the UPS man brought me!

Wanna know what’s inside?  Well, first, let me explain myself.  You see, I’ve slowly been tweaking our TV wall in the family room.  Initially, I painted wide horizontal stripes.

Next, I added some black-and-white prints to each side of the flatscreen.

In a moment of creative bliss, I slipcovered two leather storage ottomans and filled ‘em with all our board games.  They fit perfectly beneath the framed prints.

Then I left it alone for a few months thinking the wall looked quite good.  But something was missing.  It was too straight and square with the linear stripes, the rectangular TV/console and the square frames/ottomans.  I kept thinking it needed some curves thrown in somewhere to soften all those harsh lines.  Maybe a clock, a starburst or… a MONOGRAM!  That was it!  At first, I thought I would paint one but on a whim I shopped around online for vinyl wall decals.  Amazingly, they were very affordable.  I decided the $$ would be worth the time and effort it would take me to DIY a monogram.  I knew I wanted something simple that had a diameter in the 22″-24″ range.  Plus, it needed to be quality white matte vinyl that was easy to install. 

I found all that and more at Dali Decals.  (See the direct link to the monogram I purchased here.)  With shipping/handling, taxes and the actual cost of the decal, I dropped less than $25 on this baby.  And it finally arrived!

Immediately, I set to stickin’ it up on the TV wall (while Layne was watching “Popeye”). 

The decal included easy-to-follow instructions.  First, I used a level, tape measure and pencil to mark out the top and bottom center points on the wall so I would know where to place the monogram.  Then, I pulled the blue paper backing away from the decal and transfer paper.

This revealed the sticky side (wall side) of the decal and transfer paper.  Using the aforementioned pencil marks as guides, I tacked the decal to the wall and stood back to eyeball it.  (Layne was now watching “Pink Panther.”  It really didn’t take me that long to measure.  Layne must have just caught the tail end of “Popeye.”)

Also included in the package was this nifty little smoothing device.  Yes, that’s its technical name. 

Starting in the middle and working my way out, I pulled it across the transfer paper to smooth out any and all air bubbles.  (A side note:  It’s difficult to take action shots of yourself!)

After I had squeezed out the wrinkles and bubbles, this decal was as smooth as a baby’s bottom.

Lastly, I pulled the transfer paper away from the wall, oh-so-sloooowly.   

Presto!  All that remained on the wall was the decal.  Here’s the new view from our couch…

The “M” monogram is so crisp and white.  I love it.  It adds some roundness to a lot of straight lines and picks up on the white ottomans.  I would have liked it a tad larger but 22″ must be some magic number in decal world… I couldn’t find anything I liked over 22″ under $50.  No hard feelings though.  This is my new crush.

So, for just $25 and 20 minutes, you can add a little oomph to any wall in your home.  Just think of all the places you could use wall decals:  nurseries, playrooms, bedrooms or even on mirrors!  And when you tire of them, simply peel ’em off to expose your undamaged wall.  I’ll be leaving mine up for a while though…

Tagged as: artwork, decal, Family Room, flatscreen, monogram, striped wall, TV wall, vinyl wall decal, wall, wall decal

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A Green Thumb & A Black Book

March 2, 2010

in DIY, Inspiration, Organization

Back in January, I showed you how I organize my home decor inspiration pictures in a 3-ring binder.  Plastic sleeves protect the magazine tear-outs and I file them by room (i.e.  kitchen, living room, bathroom, etc). 

Imagine my surprise when I got an email (yes!  my first email from a House*Tweaking reader!) from an old classmate who took My Little Black Book and put her own spin on it.  Shayna and I go waaay back although I haven’t seen or talked to her in ages.  We rode the same school bus for nearly 10 years?!  (Is that right, Shayna?)  In high school, Shayna was by far the most talented artist in our class.  She did artwork for our yearbook cover and designed T-shirts for us too.  Whenever anyone needed some creative style, they usually thought of Shayna first.  So, you better believe I was ecstatic to hear that she had been inspired by something I’d done.  Apparently, Shayna has a green thumb (something I don’t have) and a lot of land (again something I don’t have).  She enjoys gardening and growing things from the ground up.  To document and organize all her plantings and gardening ideas, Shayna put together a Gardening Black Book.  Here’s what she had to say about it:

“On the cover you can see I’ve traced in a satellite photo in Illustrator of my property and I’m using that to decide my placement for planting and possible irrigation. I located areas with shade and shadowed them so I know to use shade plants in those areas. (We have a lot of trees) In my binder I’ve kept I log of when I’ve started which seeds and when I need to start others. I also printed useful things I’ve found online. I’ve sprouted inpatients, pansies, and a few other decorative plants that can begin this way. I’m now starting some veggies in larger pots.

You mentioned that gardening wasn’t one of your hobbies, I just thought you might like to see another spin on your idea!   – Shayna”

Here’s her Gardening Black Book:

See the way she mapped out the landscape of her property?  Isn’t that super cool?!  The gray shaded areas are places for shade-loving plants.  Genius.

The folder contains a calendar, planting notes, receipts and ideas.  I think I even see a little seedling packet.  Shayna’s twist on the inspiration folder is a, well, inspiration.  Just think, you could use it for recipes, coupons, wedding planning, scrapbooking, sewing ideas…the options are endless.

Thanks, Shayna, for sharing your idea with H*T!

Tagged as: gardening, ideas, Inspiration, inspiration folder, landscaping, Organization

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Countertop Counterparts

March 2, 2010

in Inspiration

Our kitchen renovation is still underway although we seem to have hit a speedbump.  Or a median.  After finally saving enough cash for new countertops, I was 100% sure that I wanted honed black granite for the perimeter countertops as seen in this Apartment Therapy kitchen:

That was until this past weekend when we actually started scouting out granite suppliers and installers. 

Grrrr.  Every person we spoke with claimed the honed finish was more porous (thus more susceptible to stains and oils) than the traditional polished finish.  It seems the honing process removes the barrier that protects the stone from spills and fingerprints.  In fact, the companies we spoke with wouldn’t offer the 15-year warranty in the honed finish like they would with the polished.  Coming from a design standpoint, the honed granite is softer and chalkier in appearance… giving it a more textured/worn feel.  Polished granite, on the other hand, lends a slicker and colder feel as seen in this kitchen:

Don’t get me wrong.  I’d take either over my builder laminate.  Still, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted.  The slab warehouse did offer an antiqued finish (available with a 15-year warranty) that was matte yet kind of bubbly and wrinkly in texture.  I like it.

They also offered another solution.  (They must have seen the tears forming in my eyes.)  Maybe just not polishing the polished granite so much would give it the duller appearance I was looking for but still keep it relatively maintenance-free.  I actually preferred this dusty, dirty slab in the warehouse.  I’m pretty sure I could coax my boys into dulling up the surface quite nicely for me at home.

So, can you see my conundrum?  Honed is pretty much out of the question at this point after discovering how much maintenance (sealing) and cleaning it would require.  Not to mention the void warranty.  So polished, antiqued or dulled?  (Handy Hubby is indifferent.)  It’s definitely not the end of the world, I know.  However, it’s a lot of moolah and it’s gonna be with us for a while.  I’ll let you know what we decide…

Tagged as: antiqued granite, black granite, countertops, granite, honed granite, Kitchen, kitchen renovation, polished granite

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It’s a Mod, Mod World

March 1, 2010

in Inspiration

I did something a little out-of-the-ordinary this weekend.  For me, anyways.  I attended It’s a Mod Mod World, 20th Century Cincinnati.  I had been eyeing the annual event last year but ended up having to work.  (Yeah, at my real job.)  This year the stars aligned.  In a fortunate turn of events, I had the weekend off and my sister-in-law kindly scored me a free ticket to the vintage show.  (Thanks, Amy!)  Handy Hubby practically kicked me out of the house insisting that I go while he watched the boys.  I know, I know, he’s awesome.  I can’t say I wasn’t a little skeptical though…reminded me of a little domestic joke I once heard – “I love you more today than yesterday.  Yesterday you got on my nerves.”

Anyhow, I took Handy Hubby up on his generous offer.  The show featured over 40 dealers displaying and selling vintage modern art, furniture and apparel.  Now, I am no history buff on antiques or art (that’s my sister-in-law’s job) nor do I know all the big names (Eames and Bertoia ring a little bell in my head).  However, I have always been drawn to mid-century modern furniture with its clean lines and simple design.  Amy Butler’s home decor, for example… (Amy Butler is a fabulous Midwestern fabric designer, among other things)

 

See all the spindly legs and low profile furniture?  That’s what I’m talkin’ about. 

But I digress…back to the show.  So, I went with my free ticket in hand feeling a little unworthy, knowing what I didn’t know about modern antiques.  I was a little uncomfortable entering the showroom but that quickly dissipated when I laid eyes on all the home goods.  I was drawn, of course, to the furniture and home accessories.  Here were my fave pieces.

I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been thinking we need an ice bucket but I fell in love with this lime green one.

I was really trying to think of a place I could display this vintage movie reel.

Tell me curvy marble top + desk doesn’t = suave.

Had I been in the market for a sofa, I would have seriously contemplated this reupholstered one.

If spiky, metallic starbursts don’t scream modern then I don’t know what does.

I’ve got a thang for starbursts.  Trying to figure out how to make one on my own.

This chair was originally one of a pair.  When I went back to snap a photo, the mate had been sold.  It’s difficult to tell from the picture, but it’s kid-sized and as adorable as the kiddos who would sit in it.

Sadly, I did not purchase anything but that’s not to say I didn’t want to.  If money were no object, I woulda scooped up each item shown…and then some. 

Another interesting booth that had me at “hello” came from cincinnatimodern.com.  As a sponsor for the event, Susan Rissover knows a thing or two about modern design.  Not only does she specialize in selling ‘modern’ real estate, she lives in a modern-outfitted home with her family.  Too cool.  I had no idea there was a specific market for this!  Check out a view of her modern dining room…(courtesy of Cincinnati Magazine)

If you like that be sure to scan her site for more thought-provoking modern homes in the Cincy area. 

So, that’s how I spent most of my Sunday: drooling over modern in all its glory.  It’s got me dreaming of scavenging The Salvation Army or Goodwill in hopes of coming across a discarded vintage piece that I can bring home and caudle all on my own. 

Tagged as: amy butler, antique, bertoia, cincinnati, decor, eames, home decor, mid-century, mod, modern, vintage

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How’s It Hangin’? – A Follow-Up

February 26, 2010

in Kid-friendly

If you’ve been following my blog, you may remember this post where I described my frustration in getting my kids to hang up their hand towel in the powder room. 

I thought I had found the perfect solution in a $3 adhesive hook that I got at Lowe’s.

To my dismay, the result wasn’t perfect. 

Layne complained that it was difficult for him to get the towel to hang on the hook.  Sometimes he would attempt to hang it up but it would fall down shortly after.  In desperation, I turned to IKEA.  Which is where I usually turn when I’m feeling desperate.

You see, IKEA has hand towels with tags that double as loops for hanging. 

The IKEA THISTED hand towel (at $6.99 a pop) makes it a cinch for my lil’ guys to hang ‘em up. 

It’s not a fluke.  They’ve been doing it for over a month now!  (I might be a little more excited than I should be.)  And the quality of these towels is icing on the cake.  They are oversized, beefy and absorbent…all things a towel should be.  So glad I purchased 2 – one is in use and the other is ready and waiting for the first to get dirty.

If you’ve got kids that can’t reach your towel rings (or even stubborn husbands that are oblivious to the act of towel hanging)…then you’ve got soggy towels.  If you’ve got soggy towels, slap on an adhesive hook at kid (or hubby) level, grab a few IKEA THISTED hand towels and watch the hanging begin.

Tagged as: adhesive hook, Bathroom, hand towel, hook, IKEA, Kids, powder room, thisted, towel, towel hook

{ 2 comments }

Goodwill Hunting

February 25, 2010

in Budget Decor

I love a killer deal.  Gently used clothing from the Salvation Army?  Yes, please.  Secondhand toys from neighborhood garage sales?  Yes, please.  Furniture left on the side of the road in need of a little TLC?  Yes, please.  Pretty much nothing is below me when it comes to finding a great price.  I’m not afraid of dingy little outlet stores with questionable bathrooms and leaky roofs.  (I just make sure to empty the tank before I get there!)  Every few months or so, I’ll peruse nearby Goodwill stores just to see what they have.  Most times I leave empty-handed but on a recent trip I came out with some housewares.  Score!

I walked out of Goodwill with 5 picture frames, 3 drinking glasses, 1 ceramic dish and 2 matching candleholders (and a partridge in a pear tree)…for a total of $19.  Yippee!  You woulda thought I’d won the lottery by the look on my face.

The 5 picture frames are real solid wood.  They aren’t much to look at now but they’ll come in handy for the future family photo wall.  Stay tuned for that…

This set of drinking glasses made me squeal.  They’re a good size (not too small, not too large) and have some weight to them.  I can see my boys and me sipping ice cold lemonade out of these in the summer.  Summer does still exist, doesn’t it?

My favorite part is the raised green sunbursts.  Aren’t they sweet?  They provide great texture and subtle color at the same time.

I couldn’t pass up this small green dish.  I have 2 white ones already.  They’re perfect for dipping sauces, kids’ snacks or food prep.  I kind of feel like Rachael Ray when I chop and measure out all my ingredients in these little guys before dumping them into whatever dish I’m making.

And last but not least, I found a pair of matching candlesticks.  Yep, a PAIR.  It’s truly a miracle when you find a pair of matching anything at Goodwill.  I actually saw one first and marveled over its shiny whiteness but was disappointed when I couldn’t think of anything to do with one lone candleholder.  But, lo and behold, I turned down the next aisle and spotted its twin!  It was nothing short of divine intervention. 

So, there you have it…the fruits of my Goodwill shopping spree.  And it cost me less than $20.  Goodwill and other resale/secondhand stores are great places to score on affordable glassware:  dishes, vases and decorative accents.  You may have to search through junk to find worthy pieces but the hunt is quite fun!

Tagged as: candleholder, dish, frames, glassware, Goodwill, resale, secondhand, thrift

{ 2 comments }

I Think I Can, I Think I Can…

February 24, 2010

in Budget Decor, DIY, Kid-friendly

That title has more to do with how I’m feeling today than the content of this post.  (I’m running a little ragged.)  Still, the phrase “I think I can, I think I can” conjures up visions of The Little Engine That Could.  And The Little Engine That Could was a train.  And kids like trains.  And I have kids.  And my kids need a train table for the trains they like.  There.  You got it.  This post is about a train table.  Whew.  I’m spent.

Okay, moving on.  Right before we moved to Ohio, we were offered a used train table by our dear friends (that we miss!), the Streitmatters.  We paid $15 for it.  Layne was in heaven and we were grateful for scooping up such a great deal.  It was very similar to the train table pictured below except that it was white instead of wood tone and included 4 plastic bins for storage underneath.  Also, the landscaping on the top wasn’t as realistic as the one shown below.  Besides the white frame, everything else was primary colored…red, green, blue, yellow.  (Wait, aren’t there only 3 primary colors?!  I told you I was spent.) 

Sadly, I don’t have a true ‘before’ picture of our train table.  (That was waaaay before I even knew what a blog was.)  But, hopefully, you have a good idea of what it looked like.  Pretty kid-ish.  I’m not knockin’ the train table.  I just knew I could make it fit into our decor a little better because, remember, I like to tweak.  So, I got to thinking that I could probably paint over all the stuff I didn’t like and my kids would still play on it.  I hunted down this image of a painted train table online for inspiration.

Taking cues from the inspiration table, I decided to go with an aqua-celery-khaki-taupe color scheme.  I had sample-sized paint cans (the sample sizes are great for little projects like these) from Lowe’s mixed accordingly and bought khaki-colored spray paint.  First, I primed the tabletop.  After the primer was dry, I sketched out a rough drawing of my new landscape right on the primer with a pencil.  I labeled each area with either an “a” for aqua, “g” for light green, “G” for dark green, “k” for khaki and “t” for taupe to determine my color layout.  It was my take on paint-by-numbers.  It let me keep track of where each color should go.  Then I simply hand painted each area with its corresponding paint color.  In order for it to withstand the beatings of my 2 lil’ boys, I finished it off with 2 hefty coats of polyurethane.  I used the khaki spray paint to update the plastic storage bins under the table.  *When spray painting plastic, you must make sure to use spray paint that specifically adheres to plastic.*  Here’s the more serene train table hanging out in our guest/play/craft room (i.e. the ‘everything’ room). 

As non-kidlike as it looks, I assure you that my boys play on it just as much as before it was painted.  In fact, I even added a dock for them to have somewhere to play with their boats.  Guests can stay in the room without feeling like they’re spending the night at Toys ‘R Us.  It’s a win-win situation.

Tagged as: gray, kid-friendly decor, Kids, Paint, painted train table, playroom, spray paint, toys, train table, white

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In The Works: A Family Photo Wall

February 21, 2010

in Inspiration

After I gifted these heartfelt frames to Handy Hubby on Valentine’s Day, he immediately posed the obvious question, “Where are we gonna hang them?”

Good question, Handy Hubby.  We don’t exactly have a place that we show off our family snapshots except in photo albums.  Nothing right there out-in-the-open.  Possibly because we are both clutter freaks and the idea of propping up little frames on every horizontal surface makes us quiver.  However, I have been wanting to work on a family photo wall for a while…now I have an excuse to do so.  See how this works, ladies?!  Just get your man interested in a few momentos and then you have full reign of an entire wall!  No, really, that wasn’t my plan at all when I assembled and gifted those family heirlooms to Handy Hubby.  We had both been wanting to display family pictures but hadn’t talked about or acted on it yet.  The V-Day gift sparked a fire.  Since then we have designated this narrow, tall, obsolete wall as our future family wall.

This wall resides in our main open living area between the family room and dining area.  It’s only purpose (besides structural) is to house our thermostat, a switchplate and an outlet.  This wall is the perfect candidate for the family photo wall because 1) it’s not a focal point 2) the pictures may actually help disguise the electrical uglies 3) there’d be plenty of room to linger and take in all the pics 4) there’s not much else you could do with it.  The door to the right leads to the unfinished basement and opens up onto the narrow wallspace.  So, we couldn’t put anything on the floor…only on the wall.  A family picture wall is the perfect concept!

Here are some inspiration photo walls that have lured me in…

I love that the frame materials used in this one are different but they still ‘go’ together.

This entire room is outfitted in pictures but it still looks clean and notice the subtle pops of yellow and blue.

This landing could be an art gallery!  I like the way the arrangement follows the lines of the wall and stair railing.

All the different sized rectangular frames form one big rectangle on the wall.

In an otherwise empty space, these photos take center stage.

This Mom made art in a narrow stairwell!   Lovin’ the painted wall with words as a backdrop.

The black and white photos pop out from this pea green wall.

I like the idea of mixing kids’ artwork with photos for a playful arrangement.

I’m totally diggin’ the white frames against the gray wall.  (Not to mention the old floors. Sigh.)

There you have it.  My next, newest project in the works.  A family photo wall.  I’m pretty sure going through all of our old photos isn’t going to help the “having-a-third-kid-would-be-crazy” point that Handy Hubby and I try to remind ourselves of each day when we stumble upon the thought of having #3.  Maybe if I fill the wall full enough we won’t have room for more photos and that would be reason enough not to have a third, right?!

Tagged as: arrangement, display, family, family photo wall, frames, Inspiration, photos, pictures, snapshots, wall

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