Many of you have asked about the throw pillows in my home.  Nearly all of them hail from Etsy. Today I’d like to share with you 3 Etsy sellers that I’ve bought from time and again because I just can’t get enough of ‘em. These aren’t the only sellers I’ve bought from and been thoroughly satisfied with, but they’re definitely a few of my faves.  Check ‘em out.

KainKain: Modern and Contemporary Home Decor

{Green Fern Throw Pillow}

{Teracotta Sunflower Throw Pillow}

{Chrysant Throw Pillow}

KainKain specializes in embroidery.  The motifs are usually nature-inspired {think leaves and flowers} and of high quality.  Since this seller is from Indonesia, shipping can take a while but it’s well worth the wait.  I’ve always been 100% satisfied with the craftsmanship, and the prices are hard to beat.  Many covers sell for less than $25.  So far, the pillows covers I’ve purchased all have zipper closures. In case you aren’t into leaves and flowers, KainKain offers other designs as well: coral, birds and even snowflakes for the holiday season.

Marie’s Cosy Cushions: Home of Very Funky Cosy Cushions

{Contemporary Green Design Funky Pillow Cover}

{Duck Egg Blue Flower Pillow Cover}

Marie’s Cosy Cushions are simple covers with envelope closures but made from thick cotton fabric.  The prints are unique {to the US anyways} and modern with many different color schemes available.  Several of the covers come as pairs for less than $30/pair.  That’s a steal!

Nena Von: Specializing in Decorative Designer Pillows

{Imperial Java Trellis Lumbar Pillow}

{Black Trellis Lantern Lumbar Pillow}

This third seller is the priciest of the 3 I’m mentioning today but still affordable.  Nena Von uses truly designer fabrics.  I’m especially fond of the geometric and trellis prints.  I have a hard time choosing only one {or two!}.  Why not buy more than one?  Etsy shipping rates normally decrease with multiple purchases from the same seller.  Pillow covers weigh next to nothing so shipping charges aren’t too awful.  You can cover a pillow you already have or buy an insert for cheap from any craft store.

If you’re looking for a way to freshen up your home on a budget, Etsy pillow covers might be worth looking at.  So, what do you think?  Have you purchased from Etsy before?  Do you like the idea of me featuring Etsy products for the home here on House*Tweaking?  I’ve got a list of favorites I’d love to share with you!

images: linked within

I was not compensated for telling you how much I love these Etsy sellers and their products.  I just love sharing good stuff.

Hopefully, this week’s series about creating a stylish open space has inspired you to get crackin’ on your own place.  If not, well, at least you got to look at some pretty amazing rooms.  Let’s review the tips for decorating an open floor plan one last time {in case you missed ‘em earlier, you can click on each for details}:

• COHESIVE COLOR SCHEME
• SENSIBLE FURNITURE PLACEMENT
• MULTITASKING AREA RUGS
• LOTS OF LIGHT

To reiterate everything you’ve read here this week, I’d like to dissect one last open floor plan. {Anatomy lab always was my favorite course in college.}  This comfortable and colorful living space is part of Coastal Living’s 2009 Idea House.  You’ll quickly find that is has all the right moves in all the right places.  {Name that song.}  Here’s the big picture…

It includes a kitchen, living room and dining area.  Notice the color scheme of tan, coral, eggplant and white.  Each zone is arranged around its own focal point: the kitchen’s hood/tiled wall, the living room’s fireplace and the dining area’s artwork.  Furniture is set out into the space but allows for adequate traffic flow.  Also, notice the low profile of all the furniture.  It doesn’t obstruct the view from one end of the space to the other and allows conversation to drift easily across the different zones.

Pendants above the kitchen island?  Check.  Backless stools give sitters the option to face the cook or the living room.

The living room benefits from the texture and grounding effects of a shag rug.  To help traffic flow and to break up all the rectangular shapes in the space, round coffee and side tables are used. Color and pattern is brought in on the throw pillows.  The coral stairwell/entry at the far end of the room serves as a warm backdrop.  A ceiling fan {as seen in the first image} and a buffet table lamp {not shown} are the only artificial light sources.

In the dining area, a simple table is highlighted by 2 large pendants.  Large scale artwork {made from bottlecaps!} is the undeniable focal point of this zone.  To further define this area, a patterned rug in eggplant is placed beneath the table and chairs.  2 tall, skinny buffet lamps round out the lighting.  It may be worthy to note that the gold finishes {dining buffet lamps, dining pendants, kitchen pendants, kitchen faucet, etc} scattered throughout this entire open floor plan bring even more cohesion to the overall scheme.

To me, it’s fun to pick apart rooms like this and figure out why they work.  While you’re building up your inspiration folder, you can do the same thing.  Decorating an open concept can be overwhelming because you must focus on the space as a whole and as zones.  But don’t get discouraged.  Just keep those key points in mind as you make your space a happy place.

Have a wonderful weekend!

images: all Angie Hranowsky design, Lindsey Ellis Beatty styling and Tria Giovan photography for Coastal Living

To keep an open floor plan {especially longer, narrower spaces} from resembling a dark and dingy bowling alley, natural and artificial light sources are necessary.  As with any room, lighting can make or break the deal.

LOTS OF LIGHTING

To let in as much natural light as possible, try curtains that can be drawn open during the day to drench your interiors in sunlight.  Maybe shades are more your style?  Make sure they’re retractable.  I tend to steer clear of sheers as I feel they filter natural light too much.  Here’s a great example of an open space benefiting from all that natural light has to offer.

While all the window treatments in an open space need not be the same in each zone, they should be cohesive.  Consider how the window coverings look from different zones.  {This kind of goes back to selecting a cohesive color scheme.}  In spots that receive unwanted direct sunlight, come up with a way to temporarily block it out when desired.

When the sun goes down or when natural light alone isn’t cutting it, artificial light sources may be used.  This includes recessed lighting, track lighting, table lamps, pendants, ceiling fans with lights, floor lamps, chandeliers and sconces.  For open floor plans, I particularly like recessed lighting, pendants, chandeliers and a few lamps.  Just like an area rug, lighting can define a zone within an open space.  Kitchens and family/living rooms are great places for recessed lighting as it reduces the need for furniture or floor space required to house lamps.  Pendants and chandeliers are wonderful choices for open kitchens and dining areas. Placed just above an island or dining table, they automatically give the space below presence and make floating furniture look like it ought to be there.  When used in combination with a dimmer switch, pendants or chandeliers can add tons of ambience.  {Handy Hubby installed a dimmer switch on our dining chandy.  We dim it at night and it puts off a lovely, soft glow…almost like candlelight.}  As far as lamps go, 1 or 2 – maybe 3 in a larger room – scattered around a family/living room is plenty.  {If you need more light, try recessed lighting or a ceiling fan with a light on it overhead.}  The problem comes when trying to figure out where to place lamps in an open space.  Corners are good as long as there is a chair/sofa to anchor the lamp.  Obviously, you don’t want a lone floor lamp standing by itself in a corner.  And by “corners are good” I don’t mean stuck back deep into a corner.  Any furniture/lamp should sit out a bit from the corner…remember you’re bringing the furniture into the room if possible.  Floating sofas, sectionals and chairs in need of a task lamp can pose a problem. Under some circumstances, an outlet may not be easily accessible.  You may be able to plug the lamp into an extension cord and run it under the furniture or rug to a nearby outlet.  Please be sure it’s not a tripping/child safety issue though!  {I have the 2 floor lamps in our living room plugged into an extension cord that runs under the sofa to an outlet just behind a curtain.  It’s out of traffic’s way and nearly invisible.} Another option is to install a floor outlet.  This is easy to do if a basement or crawl space exists under the proposed spot for the new floor outlet. {I would love to install a floor outlet in our family room beneath our sectional.  Maybe a future DIY project?}  I think some people would be very turned off {pun intended} by this solution thinking, “What if I ever move my furniture?”  Proper placement of the outlet would be key but very doable.

Enough talk.  Let’s walk the walk.  Here are a few pendants being used to establish open dining areas.  Notice the shapes of the pendants…they don’t always match the shape of the dining table. Also pay attention to the different types of window treatments used to let in natural light.

In this kitchen/dining combo, a trio of shiny metal pendants hangs above the island while a lighter, softer pendant lights the dining area.

This is one of my favorite open dining areas.  1 large pendant + flowing curtains hung high and wide + textural light filtering shades = an airy place to chow down.  Mmmmm.

How about some recessed lighting?  Check out this open living space.  With ample recessed lighting in the living area, the designer chose to forgo lamps.  A chandelier defines the dining area. Sometimes just a pendant or chandy above a dining table is enough to ground the area, negating the need for a rug.

Here’s a look at a long, narrow space nicely divided up into zones.  {See the dining area beyond the sofa?}  I think the placement of the floor lamp is perfect.  It provides task lighting for sofa sitters but isn’t too far out into the room that it requires an extension cord or floor outlet.  If you look closely, there is also track lighting above the quad of black and white photos in the dining area.

Arc lamps can be a practical choice in an open living space.  The base can sit over to the side of the room {in reach of a wall outlet} while the light source hangs out and over the seating area.

Finally, a few rooms that have a mix of light sources employed to make for an open and bright space.  See if you can pick out all the light sources.

I hope this sheds some light {sorry, I couldn’t help myself} on how to keep open spaces feeling bright and airy.  Tomorrow I’ll be back with this series’ final post that will focus on one living space that uses all of the tips I’ve mentioned this week.

images:  1) Jennifer Worts via DecorPad 2) Traci Kearns for Southern Living 3) Lynn Morgan via Cococozy 4) Sarah Dorio photography via DecorPad 5) Candice Olson via Hooked on Houses 6) DecorPad 7) Wayne Vincent photography via DecorPad 8) Lynda Reeves and Michael Graydon photography via DecorPad 9 & 10) Candice Olson for HGTV

Nailing down a cohesive color scheme and establishing a sensible furniture layout can be difficult, but this next trick can be quite easy and fun. {Thank goodness!} Ground zones in an open floor plan with rugs.

MULTITASKING AREA RUGS

Designers use area rugs to define seating areas and  to add color, pattern, texture or warmth to a room.  In an open concept space, rugs can anchor floating furniture {yeah, all that furniture you pulled away from the wall!} and give a zone the feeling of a room.  Just be sure to use a rug of appropriate size.  Ideally, when used with a sofa, the rug should extend beyond the length of the sofa.  You can choose to place the entire sofa on the rug or only the 2 front legs.  This will determine the width needed.  Some overlap is good…meaning most, if not all, of the furniture in the zone should be on the rug in some way – whether that’s completely or partially is up to you.  If using a rug in a dining room/area, the rug should be large enough to accommodate the table and chairs…even when the chairs are pulled out from the table {see image above}.  Not only is this more appealing to the eye, but you won’t have to worry about pesky chair legs getting caught on the edge of a too small rug.

Besides rug size, the other thing to consider is rug material.  From leather to wool to bamboo – and everything in between – there are a slew of options.  {My kitchen rug is made out of recycled plastic bottle caps!}  Be conscious of the wear and tear you expect your rug to encounter.  With kids and pets, sisal and seagrass rugs are durable options.  For washability, cotton dhurries fill the bill.  For softness under foot, wool and jute are popular choices.  {Just know that they will shed.} Take the time to read up on the maintenance and care of any rug you’re considering.  I once bought a wool rug based solely on the {crazy cheap} price and modern pattern only to be hugely disappointed with its performance.  It shed like crazy and was not kid-friendly {i.e. no stain protection}.  I donated it to Goodwill in a matter of months.

But enough of my sad story.  Let’s have some fun and take a look at a few examples of area rugs in action.  This large rug clearly defines a living room just off of its adjoining kitchen.

The warm texture is a good contrast to the concrete floors.

The next open space employs a seagrass rug in its living room.  The black binding border {say that 3 times fast} helps the rug to stand out against the light floors and white sofas.  Plus it picks up on the other black accents {striped pillows, ottoman and island countertop} in the space.

Yet another binded border.  Notice the matching black trim on the curtain panel, too.  {I could totally live in this room, btw.}

What about you bold, fun-loving homeowners?  This geometric cowhide rug should tickle your fancy.  It’s the show-stopper in this vaulted living room.

One more hide rug for your viewing pleasure…see how it’s placed a little off kilter to ‘mess’ things up a bit?  Perfectly imperfect.

Here’s a wool rug adding some monochromatic pattern to an open floor plan.  Look at how the square ottoman is placed perpendicular to the sofa, closing off the seating area {in a good way} from the kitchen but not obstructing the view.

You needn’t use a rug in each zone of an open floor plan.  The living room below gets cozied up with a shag rug underfoot while the dining area remains bare.  {Let’s hear it for ottomans rounding out seating areas!}

This space just looks great from any angle.  Each zone has its own focal point – the living room’s paneled media wall and the dining area’s fireplace.

And, finally, a room with 2 seating areas.  One has a rug and one doesn’t.  I’d sit in either.

So, are you ready to join the rug train?  I don’t think rugs get enough credit.  Often times, people forgo them thinking they’re pointless since they don’t provide seating or any direct purpose.  But I beg to differ.  Rugs have a lot to offer…texture, softness, contrast, color, warmth, interest, definition and pattern.

For fun, look back through all of the images and pick out the cohesive color scheme and sensible furniture layout in each.  It’s good practice.

images: 1) Natural Area Rugs 2 & 3) unknown  4) Evan Joseph photography for Lynn Morgan Design 5) Keith Scott Morton photography for Elle Decor 6) Katie Denham photography, Jay Jeffers design  7) Ashley Goforth design  8) Sunset via DecorPad 9 & 10) a Mountain Street London apartment  11) Iva via Architecture and Decoration Designs

Homes with open floor plans need good traffic flow and areas designated to specific activities.  How do you accomplish that? Nope, not by taping signs to the wall that read “eat here” or “walk here” or “sit here”.  You do it by coming up with a sensible furniture layout.

CREATE A SENSIBLE FURNITURE LAYOUT

Think about it.  When you’re in an unfamiliar {or familiar, for that matter} house, you take clues from the way furniture is placed.  Indirectly, the furniture tells you where to eat, walk, sit, stand, play, cook and look.  And the better the layout, the more comfortable you feel in that house.  Likewise, an arbitrary furniture arrangement can make the people who live and visit there feel like something just isn’t right.  Like something is a little off kilter.  Or worse yet, a bad arrangement can make cooking, walking, sitting, eating, etc {yeah, all those things you do in a house} difficult.  Not good.

So, how do you find the best furniture arrangement for your space?  First, you need to determine what activities will be taking place in the area.  In my own home, the main living space is where we cook, eat, play, watch TV, entertain and converse.  Thus we have areas designated to those actions…albeit most areas multitask.  {We play and watch TV in our family room, for example.} Once you have a good idea of what’s going to happen in your open space {this could take you minutes or months to determine}, then you can start arranging furniture conducive to those activities.  Set up zones within the open floor plan.  You’ve probably heard designers and decorators refer to this as “rooms within rooms.” That’s what I’m talking about here.  Be sensible and take cues from architecture, built-ins, fireplaces, windows with views and other focal points. Place furniture accordingly to highlight those main attractions.  Don’t worry, this may take several tries before it feels/looks right.  That’s okay.  It doesn’t cost money to move furniture around. Play with different setups and live with them for a while to see what’s working and what isn’t.  This may require you to edit your furniture pieces.  Just because you have that side table {or whatever piece of unnecessary furniture} doesn’t mean you have to use it if there’s not a functional spot for it. Or you may find that you need to acquire a piece {or three} in order to complete a zone.  If that’s the case, then you can take measurements easily and define what size/shape/height/width you need that new piece to be…and be on the lookout for it. Please don’t start buying stuff until you know what you need and where it will go!

A key point to keep in mind when creating zones is to pull furniture away from the walls.  {In children’s bedrooms or playrooms, having an expanse of open floor space is okay for encouraging playtime.  I’m mainly talking about a common living space here.} I don’t know what it is about us humans {this is a total generalization in which I’m including myself} but, for some reason, we tend to want to shove our furniture against walls to leave a large, open floor space.  Why is that?  Sure it’s great for practicing gymnastics but it doesn’t really do much else.  I’ve been guilty of this, too. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a home where all the furniture was placed this way.  Our family room had a TV console on one wall and all the furniture for sitting was lined up on the wall opposite the TV.  What ended up happening was a lot of “Hey!  Get out of the way.  I can’t see!”  That’s because the furniture arrangement left no other path for traffic.  It may have helped {by lessening the number of sibling squabbles} if the furniture was brought in closer to the TV, allowing traffic to flow around the seating area.  If you’re working with a smaller area, you may have no other option than to place your largest piece of furniture {let’s say the sofa} along a wall.  To close in the seating area, place a chair perpendicular to or opposite {and angled in towards} the sofa.  Voilà!  You’ve completed a seating area.  In tighter areas, consider using some round pieces…like a round dining or coffee table.  They usually have a smaller footprint and are great for allowing traffic to pass by easily.

Let’s take a look at an open living area for some inspiration, shall we?  This is an oldie but goodie – and a great example of separating one long room into several zones.  Candice Olson transformed an attic into a workspace for a filmmaker but I can see it working as a family hangout as well.  It’s got an office, dining area, media room, bar and ‘playroom’ packed into one space.  Wow!  It’s one busy attic.

Notice how the shorter side of the sectional juts out into the center of the space dividing one end of the attic into a media room.

A smaller loveseat and armchair placed perpendicular and opposite the sectional completes the seating area.  The seating area is formed around the theater screen…the focal point in this part of the attic.

Behind the sectional is a round pedestal table that sits far enough into the space so that it’s not up against the wall BUT it’s not impeding walk-through traffic either.  The table is centered along a waist-high built-in to accentuate this architectural detail.  This area can be used for playing board games, eating, doing homework or watching some regular ol’ TV…OR meeting with big wigs if you’re a film producer like this homeowner.

Finally, the other end of the attic can serve as an office, meditation spot or open play area.  Even though there isn’t any furniture right in the middle of the room, the desk chair {if turned around to face the center}, bench under the windows and built-in seating ledge form a “U” configuration that cozies up the space a bit and draws your eye to those gorgeous windows…yet a third focal point. Notice how Candice also stuck to a cohesive color scheme by painting all the walls in a light, creamy neutral and adding in pops of green and blue throughout.

Along with a cohesive color scheme, the right furniture arrangement can get you that much closer to creating a comfortable and appealing open space.  Finding the perfect setup can be tricky so take clues from inspirational rooms, play around with your arrangement and kindly remind your significant other that you’re not spending a dime.  Take some time to figure out how you want your space to work for you.  It took me nearly 2 years to come up with the layout we have today!  For a while there, Handy Hubby was coming home to a new furniture layout on a weekly basis.  At one point, I had our dining table in the sunroom and it was awful…too far from the kitchen and too cumbersome to pull chairs out to sit down.  Needless to say, that setup didn’t last long.  What about you?  Are you constantly dragging your sofa from wall to wall?  Do you have a particular layout conundrum? Or maybe you’ve found just the right arrangement?  Share your furniture placement woes and wows.

images: 1) OldNewAgain via Etsy  2-5) Candice Olson for Divine Design & Brandon Barré photography

The way people live their lives influences the way homes are built and renovated.  In today’s busy world, homeowners and/or renters are often looking for an open floor plan where nearly all of the family’s daily activities can occur.  Most current floor plans include a kitchen that is no longer walled off at the back of the house but that is, instead, adjoined to a family or living room.  Our kitchen is open to the dining area, family room and sunroom.  {No, that’s not my house below.}

{image courtesy of Angus McRitchie via Canadian House & Home}

In the same way, older homes are being ‘modernized’ by removing walls to combine individual rooms into one wide open space.  While an open layout can be easy to live in, it can be difficult to decorate and style. {Believe me, I’ve tried and failed many times!}  So, this week I’d like to share some key points to keep in mind when approaching wide open spaces.  Don’t have an open concept home?  Well, don’t tune out just yet. Even though these ideas are directed towards open living spaces, they’re applicable to nearly all living situations.  In fact, treating a smaller home that contains individual rooms as an open space could actually make it feel larger and flow more smoothly.  Ready?  Here goes.

SELECT A COHESIVE COLOR SCHEME

Obviously, if your kitchen and family room share a wall, you can’t tape off a vertical line between the 2 rooms and paint the kitchen one color and the family room a different color.  Well, I guess you could, but I wouldn’t suggest it.  Basically, you’ve got to look at the walls as if they’re a shell of the space.  Pick a paint color for the majority of, if not all, the walls.  Don’t know what color to choose? Start saving images of rooms that you’re drawn to.  Don’t think about why or how it would/wouldn’t work in your home.  If you like it, tear it out of that magazine or if it’s on the web, save it on your computer in a folder designated as inspiration images.  Give yourself ample time to do this…think months.  Once you’ve got a collection, go through all your images and purge any that aren’t giving you that feeling anymore.  It’s okay to change your mind!  Better now than later. Then select  a few images as your top picks.  Study them as a group.  Are they similar?  What do you like most about them?  What color are the walls painted?  Are the walls neutral with pops of color elsewhere?  Or are the rooms painted in rich, bold colors leaving the furniture mostly neutral?  What about the furniture and accessories?  Are they neutral or colorful?  Write down your observations in a notebook.  Eventually, you should see a pattern develop.  Follow that pattern and use it as your guide to picking a color scheme.  It may seem like a lot of work just to come up with a color scheme to live with but, I’m telling you, it will really help you focus. For fun, here are a few of my inspirational images…

{courtesy of Domino magazine via DecorPad}

{courtesy of Sarah Richardson via DecorPad}

{courtesy of Molly Fey and Michael Pertenio Photography via DecorPad}

Something of significance I’d like to mention here…just because your favorite color is {insert favorite color here} doesn’t mean you should paint your walls that color.  Case in point, I love green.  However, when I put together my inspiration folder, I found I was whole-heartedly drawn to grays and whites with just touches of green in the accessories.  So, my walls are mainly gray.  For my love of green, I tried painting a focal wall in a very lovely green hue {even though NONE of my inspiration pictures had green walls in them} and it was a total flop.  Pick a color scheme and stick with it!  Don’t think you can commit?  Then your best bet is to paint your walls a neutral color and let your fickle color-love shine through in easily replaceable pillows, artwork and accessories.

That’s my first piece of advice when in comes to decorating an open floor plan.  If you don’t live in a home with one open space, it would still help you to throw together an inspiration file, too.  Although you do have more flexibility in painting separate rooms different colors, I would urge you to pick a color scheme for your entire home.  Say you decide on tans and blues.  Maybe paint your kitchen a calm blue and paint your living room a light tan with peeks of that soothing blue in throws, pillows or painted furniture.  For an even subtler effect, pick 2 colors on the same graduated paint swatch for adjoining rooms.  Just make sure they’re separated by at least 1-2 spaces on the swatch or the difference may not be noticeable.

Once you decide on a color scheme {whew!  it’s tough, I know}, it’s all about location…the location of your furniture, that is.  We’ll discuss that tomorrow.  For now, let me know what some of your favorite color combos are or what color scheme you have going on in your own home.  Are you like me and get all woozy just looking at airy gray rooms?  Or do those gray rooms make you feel oppressed and bored?

The first thing I do when considering a room makeover is question the current layout.  Is it conducive to what needs to happen in the room?  Does it allow for proper traffic flow?  Are there too many furniture pieces?  Not enough furniture pieces?  Am I emphasizing a focal point?  When I started in on our master bedroom makeover I asked myself all these questions and then some. Even though I had made an attempt to establish a focal point by placing the bed centered between 2 windows, I decided the layout we’d put in place {and stuck with} nearly 3 years ago needed revamped.  Which means I took out some paper, a ruler and a marker to sketch. Sorry, no fancy-schmancy software program here for room layouts.  Sometimes a girl’s just gotta get away from the computer.  Know what I mean?

OLD MASTER BEDROOM FLOOR PLAN

As you can see, the room is wide and by putting the bed right in the middle of one long wall {albeit between 2 windows} the room is cut off right down the middle, leaving little room on either side for functional vignettes. Not to mention, it left Handy Hubby and me staring at 3 doors {entrance, closet and bathroom} every night as we were lying in bed.  Not the most appealing view to wake up to either.  So, I tweaked it a little.

NEW MASTER BEDROOM FLOOR PLAN

The new furniture layout places the bed on one of the narrower walls creating a cozier feeling.  The bench that was at the end of the bed now resides between the 2 windows.  And, look at that!  We don’t have to stare at all those doors anymore thinking, “What’s behind door #1?” Instead, there are 3 tall bookcases to catch our eye and add some height to the room.  The side chair remains in the room angled in toward the bed along with a few other tables to place drinks, books or accessories on.  I’d like to use 2 rugs to ground the 2 separate zones {the bed and the sitting area}. I’ve got my eye on a cowhide. You may also notice that the desk, desk chair and dresser are missing from the new floor plan.  The dresser has to go.  It was left by the previous owners in our first home and it’s bulky, loud and too feminine for what we want out of our new bedroom.  Believe it or not, the dresser only contains clothes that belong to Handy Hubby.  {He has most of the closet, too!}  That means he has some major purging to do. Hear me, Handy Hubby?  You need to get rid of all those things you haven’t even unfolded in 3 years! I’ve promised him a closet organization system if/when he gets his wardrobe whittled down.  As for the desk and accompanying chair, I’m pretty sure they’re not making the cut although I haven’t 100% decided.  I’ve tossed around the idea of swapping out my nightstand for the desk like I see in all the magazines nowadays.  We’ll see.  Oh! And even though we won’t have to face the wall o’ doors while we’re lying in bed, I think removing the closet and double bathroom doors would be an improvement.  I like the idea of curtains for the closet and some kind of sliding door for the bathroom.

So, that’s the plan for now.  Things could change.  I’m not promising anything.  Handy Hubby is out of town and I’m home alone with the boys this weekend.  {I don’t know how single moms do it!}  I’ve got a few projects planned for the bedroom makeover:  hang wallpaper {never done it before}, some painting, shop for a thrifted table, move some more furniture and maybe tackle a slipcover.  I’ve got my work cut out for me!  But it’s all stuff I enjoy doing so I really don’t mind.  I’d like to put together a mood board for our master bedroom at some point, too. Watch for that.

***WARNING: I had an issue with the spacing in this post.  I’ll apologize now.***

A funny thing happened a month or so ago. Remember when Handy Hubby painted this artsy mural on our foyer wall?  {If not, look here.}

Many of you asked where we found the cherry blossom artwork.  I blogged about it here after asking the company, RabbitAir, for permission first, of course.  They kindly gave me the OK to share their cherry blossom image.  And that’s when the ‘funny thing’ happened.  I was contacted by their customer service department and asked if I had an air purifier in my home.  I told them no but that we had considered buying one.  The reply I got was surprising.  RabbitAir hooked me up with one of their home air purifiers {for free!} along with the Germ Defense Filter, Cherry Blossom front panel and wall mount kit.  I was incredibly happy about this because 1) it was super nice of them and 2) I have crazy fall allergies.  Now, I know some of you may think this is all a total cop-out and that I made a deal with this company in exchange for their product but, I assure you, it’s not.  {One of my main goals as a home decor and DIY blogger is to be honest.}  And now that I’ve been living with the air purifier for a little over a month, I wanted to share my thoughts on it.

The MinusA2 SPA-700A Ultra Quiet HEPA Air Purifier arrived undamaged but without the wall mount kit.  After I notified them of the mistake, the company quickly shipped the missing parts.  We decided to install the air purifier in our master bedroom because the manual stated that it covered up to 700 sq ft.

Originally, we had wanted to put it in our main living space on the first floor but that’s roughly 1200 sq ft.  Plus, I’m the only one in the family with allergies so it just made the most sense to use it in our bedroom.  The unit came with a base stand {for sitting upright} and a wall mount kit {for mounting to the wall}.  Since we’re short on table space in our bedroom, Handy Hubby easily removed the base and mounted the purifier to the wall.

I was a little disappointed with Step 4 of the instructions where it says to “decide where you want to position the wall mount bracket and consult a hardware store or contractor for installation materials and instructions.”  For us, it was fine.  Handy Hubby has a huge supply of hardware in the garage and he’s pretty much a contractor if you ask me.  However, I do think it’d be nice if hardware was included along with  installation specifics {like whether or not to tie into a wall stud}.  While the unit is not heavy {think less than 20lbs}, we ended up drilling the wall bracket into a stud for extra support.

The back of the unit has 2 square ‘knobs’ that slip right over the bracket and 2 padded wall protectors at the bottom to keep it from damaging the wall.

Right now they may be considered a trend but I truly believe cowhide rugs are here to stay. They’re versatile, soft and durable.  In a room with mostly straight lines and hard surfaces, the addition of a cowhide rug can be a save-all with its curves, texture and interest.

In the office area below, the calf cowhide offers up a light contrast to the ebony floors.

The natural animal print of the cowhide ottoman and rug mixes in well with the bold apple color and the large, modern print on the throw.

The patchwork effect of this rug creates pattern in an otherwise pattern-less vignette.

The warmth of the area rug in this large, mostly white room helps to keep the space from feeling too slick by adding in swirls of vanilla and caramel.

A cowhide rug in the bathroom?  Why not?

Longevity, interest, warmth, texture and softness…all reasons as to precisely why I want one for my bedroom.  Most of the furniture in our master bedroom has clean lines and the color scheme will be modern.  I think a cowhide rug could work quite well in that environment.  And before you sick P.E.T.A. on me, I’m all for going faux if the price is right.

Images:  1) Michael Graydon Photography via Decor Pad 2) Blair Gordon & Peter Murdock Photography via Decor Pad 3) Keith Scott Morton for Country Living 4) The Rug Company 5) Kelly Delrose via Decor Pad 6) for the life of me I cannot find credits for this photo now that it’s in my inspiration folder!

I get this question {or some version of it} a lot.

“Your house doesn’t look like it has 2 kids living in it.  Where are all the toys?”

Contrary to popular belief, I do not lock my kids up in the basement or keep them outside.  In fact, they eat, play and make messes here every single day.  Just like any other kid.  We do have a ‘toy system’ in place to corral all the kid stuff in our house which helps to make picking up {or ‘redding up’ as Handy Hubby calls it} simple.  Here are a few of my secrets for keeping toys in check:

1. Donate, separate and rotate. About 3-4 times per year, I {sometimes with the boys’ help} go through all the toys and purge.  If it’s broken, missing parts or just not grabbing my kids’ attention anymore {young kids tend to outgrow toys quickly!} I get rid of it.  Most items make it to Goodwill where I always ask for a receipt to write them off at tax time.  A few things get passed onto neighbor kids who see the secondhand toy as new. Some people may have a problem with this idea, wanting to hold onto toys because they remind them of their kids or thinking the kid might play with it again someday.  But I find happiness in knowing that our donated toys can make another child smile while keeping our house clutter free at the same time.  {I do keep the rare family heirloom toy.}  Whatever makes the cut and gets to stay in our home is loosely categorized:  cars, trains, blocks, Knex, books, puzzles, games, etc.  I try to keep like with like.  I’m not military stiff about it; we don’t have labels or anything.  I also try to keep what’s at kid reach to a minimum…meaning I put away a few items to rotate into the mix every couple of weeks once the boys have gotten bored of what’s available.  I find the boys are more apt to focus on a few toys versus a gazillion.  Simply keeping a handle on the amount of toys in our home makes it that much easier to create a space where kids, adults and style can live harmoniously.

2.  Place toys in appropriate areas. In other words, I keep toys in the rooms/areas where I like my kids to play –  mainly the family room and guest/playroom.  I set aside one half of our guest room to act as a playroom upstairs.  I hated the idea of only using this room in our house a couple of times per year when we had visitors.  Now, it gets used weekly if not daily.

Believe it or not, my kids don’t really have any toys in their bedrooms.  Instead, I store all their books in their bedrooms.  My boys have always been great sleepers and it may/may not have anything to do with this. {Kind of the same reason Handy Hubby and I refuse to have a TV in our bedroom.}  To us, bedrooms are spaces for downtime and sleeping…not playing.  Same goes for the front living room in our home where you enter the house.  I don’t like the idea of people tripping over toys as soon as they walk in, so I don’t store toys there.  That’s not to say that we don’t get the occasional car or truck under our feet in the kitchen, living room or even dining table.  But, for the most part, we’re able to keep the toys in appropriate zones out of the way of normal traffic flow.

3.  Store toys in appealing baskets, bins and containers. Not only can this work to keep toys out of sight, but many storage options can actually add texture and interest to a room.  For instance, I use a console behind our family room sectional for toy storage.  The woven baskets hold toys and break up all the dark wood and leather.

I use baskets, bins and boxes all over the family room for disguising toys.

This corner may look unassuming enough but behind the chair is a fabric covered bin holding our Wii floor mat.  {Yes, those are my toes.}

One bin in the TV console is assigned to kid DVD’s.

The ottomans that flank the entertainment console actually house board games.

The black and white geometric ‘book’ has a secret.

Card games!

Even our sunroom is in on the basket organization action.

The basket holds Lincoln Logs.

Truth be told, we do have toys in our house after all!  You just have to know where to look.

4.  Get rid of bulky packaging. As soon as a new toy comes into our house, usually the first thing to go is the packaging.  {Don’t worry, we recycle.}  All that cardboard is unnecessary.  Once that’s out of the way, I’m usually left with a much smaller thing to find a place for, and I can come up with an alternative to the flimsy packaging that holds up way better.

For example, I use this linen box to house a solar system puzzle.

I cut the picture off of the original box and store it with the puzzle pieces for a quick reference.

5.  Pick up as you go. If Layne & Everett have been playing cars all morning {a typical morning} and then decide they want to try Playdoh, I’ll usually say something like, “Okay, I’ll get out the Playdoh while you guys put the cars away.”  That way we don’t have too many messes going on at once.  In case you’re wondering where the Playdoh is…

…it’s in the bottom drawer of this cabinet…

Before bedtime at the end of every night, we make ‘em clean up toys too.  But I’ll be honest.  We do have those nights when I’m just so ready for them to go to bed that I’ll forgo the toy mess until later.  We’re not perfect!

6.  Save large items for special days. Over the years, I’ve kept the kids’ kitchenette, pop-up tent and ball pit in our unfinished basement.  I’ll bring one upstairs every month or so and leave it up for about a week.  After that, they’re usually tired of it and back down to the basement it goes.

So, there you go.  That’s how I keep toys from taking over our house.  Maybe this makes me out to be a stickler, but I assure you my kids have plenty to keep them occupied.  We rarely have the *newest* toy because there’s always going to be another *better* toy to follow.  Half the time my kids prefer to move around the furniture and build forts anyway.  Who needs toys when you have your imagination?