I’m one of 18 bloggers participating in the Home Depot Patio Style Challenge. Considering this is what the back patio off the mudroom looked like when we bought the Underdog…

…and this is what it looked like after we removed a bunch of dead trees {and replaced the roof and converted the original dining room window to french doors}…

…and this is what it looked like when we excavated the entire yard last fall {yep, the old cracked patio was ripped out}…

…and this is what the newly poured patio looked like pretty much all winter…

it should go without saying that we have a burning desire for a decent outdoor living space. Ideally, we’d like to see the patio off the mudroom used as an outdoor dining area. The goal is to make the dining area reflect our style {simple, modern, cozy} and make it feel like an extension of the indoors. To achieve the look, we’re using some new pieces, incorporating items we have on hand and doing a little DIY. Here’s the plan.

1 – I’ll bring in a pillow or two from the living room to cozy things up outside. I just bought these Crate & Barrel pillows and they’re great. I was recently asked to suggest a non-IKEA place to grab pillow inserts. C&B pillows are affordable and a feather down insert is included with your purchase. Can’t beat that! Of note: These are not outdoor pillows so I’ll only toss them outside when we’re enjoying nice weather.

2 – Stringing globe lights above the patio will give the al fresco dining area instant ambiance and a sense of festivity. Party on the patio!

3 – We’re giving Ariele Alasko‘s reclaimed wood wall panel our own DIY spin. Her pieces are amazing!

4 – On cool mornings or evenings, I can throw in a wool blanket that usually lives at the foot of our bed.

5 – My heart is set on a large succulent centerpiece for the outdoor dining table. I’ll use this oval concrete planter to make it happen.

6 – We’re using a simple outdoor dining table and coordinating benches for the basic dining pieces. I hope to show how this practical dining set can be personalized by mixing it with items from other sources.

7 – Mabrey enjoys pulling to stand {no steps yet! she can take her sweet time as far as I’m concerned} with the help of this leather pouf. On warm, sunny days I’ll carry it out to the patio for her to play on – or maybe I’ll prop my feet up on it if she’s napping and I have five minutes to sit outside in the sun. Dear summer 2013, please give me five minutes of sun-to-myself time at least once!

8 – This woven chair looks good enough for an indoor dining room but it’s made of rattan-like plastic and is suitable for outdoor use as well. I think it’s airy feel and white color will contrast nicely with the clean-lined, dark brown dining set. I also like the fact that it’s light enough to move around easily. We can move it up to our future deck when extra seating is needed.

9 – We have a bright green garden stool leftover from our previous house but I think it could use a fresh coat of brassy gold spray paint. I paid less than $40 for the green stool. Transforming it with gold paint will be a cheap DIY version of pricier drum stools.

That’s the gist of our plan. Of course, I’ll be adding greenery and maybe a surprise too. I can’t wait to share the reveal in early May on The Home Depot’s Apron blog. In the meantime, click over to check out a bunch of other inspiring reveals!

I also have a patio-related post on Wayfair today with a few more before shots of our patio and a brief discussion on painting the french doors. What color would you paint them?

images: 1-4) Dana Miller for House*Tweaking  5) Polyvore collage by Dana Miller, linked within

Some of my favorite bloggers have a case of the kitchen blues.

John and Sherry of Young House Love recently painted their kitchen walls a happy blue. The blue-gray walls play nicely with the white cabinets, warm wood tones, gray accents and bursts of cheerful color.

Lauren Liess of Pure Style Home is using blue bead board in a client’s kitchen. I think it gives the farmhouse style kitchen a youthful feel.

Chris and Julia are in the midst of a complete kitchen overhaul. They updated their existing cabinetry with new paint – white on the upper cabinets and sophisticated navy on the base cabinets. I’ll be checking in on them tomorrow to sneak a peek at their new walnut countertops which are sure to look rich and handsome next to the navy.

What do you think of using blue paint in the kitchen? Would you try it? Where? Walls, backsplash or cabinets?

images:  1) Young House Love  2) Pure Style Home  3) Chris loves Julia

You first got a glimpse of the new wall planter in the kitchen here. Today I’m sharing how I filled and hung the planter. The gist? It was really easy! I installed the planter by myself. HH was away on business and the kids were tucked in bed for the night.

I ordered my wall planter from Wayfair but I’ve since seen it available via other online retailers. If you’re interested, my suggestion would be to google “BrightGreen” or “GroVert” to compare pricing and styles. As shown above, the living art frame holds ten 4″ plants. There are ten separate cell planters so you can customize the potting soil to each plant if desired. At first, I was leery of plants falling out of a vertical planter but the cell planters actually tip back to hold their contents.

The directions that came with the planter said to fill the planter before hanging it. Since I was working alone, I decided to hang the planter empty first {it’s really easy to remove from the wall} to make sure I had everything level and secure. It ended up working really well. The planter comes with a mounting bracket but no hardware. The instructions said the planter weighs ~35lbs when full. So I grabbed some drywall anchors from the {very messy!} garage. They can support up to 90lbs vertically.

Without an extra set of hands, I kind of had to guess where I wanted the frame then measure accordingly by making a bunch of pencil marks on the wall. Once I settled on the placement, I held the mounting bracket in its proper place with a small level resting on top of it to make sure it was level. {As you can imagine, this step took two hands leaving no hands for taking pictures – sorry!} I marked the two screw holes with a pencil on the wall – see above – and then double checked that they were level.

I screwed the drywall anchors into the wall with a manual screwdriver. Luckily, I didn’t have any problems hitting a stud but if I did I could have just screwed directly into it. I held the mounting bracket in place and used the accompanying screws to secure the bracket to the wall.

There’s the bracket in place.

I hung my empty planter on the bracket to check the placement. Perfect!

Knowing the placement of the mounting bracket was where I wanted it, I lifted the planter off the bracket and proceeded to fill the planter. I like Miracle Gro’s organic potting mix.

You’ve already seen the finished product but here are the plants I used. To be honest, I didn’t have the time or patience to think too much about which plants to buy. I had all three kids with me at Home Depot and I was going on day five of single-mommin’ it. To make things less easy, my local Home Depot had a very small selection of 4″ plants to choose from. At first, I was thinking of doing all succulents but there weren’t even ten 4″ succulents available so I ended up grabbing a mish mash of 4″ers. The composition was nice but I worried that the various plants wouldn’t survive under the same watering schedule.

I played around with the arrangement until I finally decided on this one. I planted each cell individually adding potting soil first, then a plant, then more soil if needed. It’s nice that the cells allow for individual soil customization. My succulents are happy in the rockier soil they came with.

After all the plants were potted, I gave them a good watering. The directions say to water the newly planted planter on a horizontal surface then let settle for 2-3 days before hanging. I couldn’t wait.

Needless to say, I had some dirt spillage. But it was easily cleaned up and the plants seemed to be snug in their cells so I left it on the wall. But you should follow the directions – just not that part about hanging the planter full right off the bat. Test it out empty first.

The planter sticks out ~5″ from the wall.

When figuring out the exact placement of the wall planter, I made sure the upper corner cabinet could be opened with no problems. I can still reach my fancy heirloom wine glasses. Whew.

As for watering the wall planter, it has a pretty innovative built-in irrigation system. You simply pour water into the top water chamber {see the sponge?} and it slowly disperses across a moisture mat all on its own.

There’s a small tray at the bottom of the planter to catch any runoff and there’s no worry of any water running down the wall. I’ve seen a bunch of DIY outdoor wall planters but the design of this planter’s watering system makes it ideal for indoor use.

All in all, it took me about an hour to completely install the living art frame. And it took me about 5 seconds to fall completely in love with it.

Now for the big question: How are the various plants holding up? I took the following unedited picture of the planter early this morning just for your viewing pleasure.

So far, so good! Even after 10+ days of being unattended while we were on vacation last week. I simply watered the planter very thoroughly right as we were leaving for vacation and the plants managed to stay alive while we were away. I can’t say what might happen over the next six months with my black thumb tendencies. The good thing is if one {or all ten!} of the plants starts looking weak/dead, it would be very easy to remove an individual plant and replant something else. I don’t think I paid more than $4 for any of the plants you see, so if some of them die it’s not a huge deal.

Still, if you’re thinking of trying this particular wall planter it might be a good idea to choose your plants more wisely than I did!

Would you ever try a wall planter indoors?

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Some of you noticed the black and white horizontal wall stripes in the boys’ bedroom. Good eye! Would you believe the striped accent wall is the result of peel-and-stick wallpaper? Well, it is.

The boys’ room it set up to keep the middle of the room open for floor play – a big necessity when the room doubles as the playroom. Originally, we were thinking of DIYing a desk along the wall opposite the bunk beds. But over the last several months, I’ve discovered that it’s much easier to help the kids with homework and crafts out in the main living areas. {Typically, we use the kitchen island or dining table for homework and crafting.} So we nixed the desk idea and opted for bookcases along the wall to hold toys, costumes, books and more. More on those later…

With the bunk and small dresser on one wall and two tall bookcases on the opposite wall, the room was starting to feel a bit galley-ish. I’m sure you’ve heard of a galley kitchen. Is there such a thing as a galley bedroom? I started thinking about adding something to the far window wall to make the room feel wider. That’s when I discovered the peel and stick wallpaper by Chasing Paper. At the time, the company hadn’t rolled out the new product and was looking for DIYers to try it and give them feedback. You know how I like DIY and feedback. One thing led to another. I chose a simple stripe in black and white hoping a horizontal application would give the optical illusion of a wider room. Here’s how it all went down.

To prep, we removed furniture, outlet covers and one of the boys’ book ledges – all of which were on the wall to be wallpapered.

I wiped the wall down with a damp microfiber cloth and let it dry completely. This step ensures good wall-to-wallpaper contact.

The wallpaper comes in 2′ x 4′ precut sections. Essentially, it’s one huge sticker. You just remove the backing and press the wallpaper onto the wall. I’ve worked with traditional wallpaper before and this peel-and-stick stuff is SO MUCH EASIER. No long and winding rolls of paper to get tangled up in, no dripping adhesive. Still, I found it helpful to have a second set of hands. HH – and the three kiddos! – was/were at my disposal.

We started in the upper left-hand corner of the wall. I used a tape measure, level and pencil to draw a horizontal pencil line to line up the bottom of the first section. HH mentioned something about leveling each and every section but that sounded too engineer-ish to my impatient self. I figured if the first section was level and we based all of the other sections off of it, then everything would be fine. Maybe not perfect but good enough. {Yes, Everett is wearing a Batman t-shirt tucked into underwear. He has the personality to pull off the look.}

One row of wallpaper in and we were on a roll!

Three sections got us ~6″ short of the entire width of the wall. We used a sharp utility knife {a razor blade would work too} to cut a small piece to get us just past the corner. We decided to leave a bit of overhang at the end of each row in this corner and trim them all together at the end for a nice, straight edge.

At the window, I wallpapered up to the window then HH carefully cut the wallpaper while I held the wallpaper taut.

Three rows in and we had a good technique down.

I would peel one side of the wallpaper away from the backing, get it all lined up then HH would slowly pull the backing away from the rest of the section while I smoothed out the wallpaper. We took it maybe 8″ at a time. If we got too ahead ourselves, we found that resulted in lots of air bubbles under the wallpaper. If we did get a bubble, all we had to do was peel back the paper to the bubble, release the air, and re-smooth. Super easy but even more so if you avoid getting too many bubbles in the first place.

One thing I noticed while we were working…too little overlap of neighboring sections caused a small line of the painted wall to show through and too much overlap resulted in a slightly visible seam. I’m guessing the wallpaper works best on white walls. {Ours was a taupe-y gray.} Now you know.

Once the wall was covered, there was trimming to do – at the baseboard and at the right-hand corner.

HH simply cut along the baseboard edge and corner with the utility knife then pulled the trimmed wallpaper away.

Super clean edges and super easy!

When we were done, only a small section of wallpaper remained. Thank goodness for measuring twice! Oh, and for fun HH checked the rest of the stripes with his level when we completed the wall. Such an engineer! Guess what? They were spot on.

Somehow in the chaos that is DIY + three kids, I managed to not take a picture of the finished product right after. I think we were all hungry. I’ll get you an after but until then here’s a little sneak peek of the aforementioned bookcases. {There’s still a lot of little things to do in the room.} We – the boys included – are crazy over the results. The horizontal stripes really do make their room feel wider and larger. I’ve yet to meet a stripe I didn’t like.

HH asked what was the benefit of wallpapering the stripes versus painting them. Obviously, removable wallpaper {did I mention you can remove this stuff without damaging the wall underneath?!} is geared towards renters, dorm residents or even those of you in military housing. When you move, pull it up and take it with you if you want. Just save the backing papers! But I have to say, the quality of the wallpaper gives a depth and crispness to the stripes that wouldn’t be exactly the same with paint. The company also offers plenty of other patterns that would be much harder to duplicate with paint.

If you’re thinking of trying this new peel-and-stick wallpaper, here are my thoughts:

*Make it a two person job.

*Start with a clean, smooth, white wall. I don’t think this wallpaper would be a good option for bumpy or rough walls.

*Level your first section of wallpaper and go from there.

*Work in small sections, removing the backing paper and smoothing slowly.

*Don’t overstretch the wallpaper. The paper does have some stretch to it.

*For the cleanest cuts, use a sharp utility knife or razor blade.

*Wallpaper is not only for walls! Try framing it, covering an unsightly outdated appliance, lining a basic tray or adding life to vinyl rollup shades.

Hop on over to Chasing Paper to view the entire product line. UPDATE: Initially, I thought the wallpaper was constructed of vinyl but after clarifying with Chasing Paper, the wallpaper is actually constructed of PVC free fabric {!} NOT vinyl and printed with latex ink. So sorry for the confusion! Still, I did allow the paper to off gas in the garage for several weeks before installation and aired out the room after installation by cracking the windows for a day or so. When we recently returned home from vacation, there was no odor in the boys’ room even after being closed up for 10+ days. Hope that clears up any concerns!

Would you ever try removable, peel-and-stick wallpaper?

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

I bought a new coffee table. Technically, it’s a bench but the proportions were right. Our previous coffee table was almost five years old. It was West Elm and I found it at a Pottery Barn outlet for $40. It was originally red but, for the price, I primed and painted it white. It worked really well in our previous living room but it was too high, too round and too chunky for our current living room. I envisioned something longer, lower and narrower. I bought the bench/coffee table from Overstock although it looks like it’s currently out of stock and they’ve raised the price. I used a coupon and paid $171.58 total for it two weeks ago. The dimensions are working out perfectly and I’ve been having fun styling it.

With the help of Target and their new Threshold collection, I’ve put together three different coffee table looks for you. I took Mabrey shopping while the boys were in school one morning in search of tabletop accessories and, boy, did I find them. Candles, vases, figurines, bowls, hurricanes…you name it. You guys, Target is killing it right now. And that’s why I agreed to work with them. Everything I’m about to show you are things that would be on my personal wish list even if I wasn’t partnering with them.

Without further ado, look #1. POPPY & GRAPHIC

This is probably the “springiest” look. It’s a combination of graphic patterns, red-orange pops of color, gold and wood.

At one end of the table is a stack of colorful books, a pair of single stem vases, a gold dipped bowl and a small matte white bowl painted chartreuse on the inside.

At the other end of the table I put down the marble pastry board I introduced to you here. I topped it with a third single stem vase, a brass hurricane, a black and white canister and a chevron wood box.

I tossed a white pillow with gold embossed edges on the chair and added a punchy patterned pillow with sequins and now they are planning their wedding.

I stole a graphic black and white pillow from the boys’ room for the leather couch.

Cheerful?

A bright red-orange candle brings color to the marble slab vignette. And it smells uh-maaaaaazing. Melon-y.

I can’t get enough of the brass hurricane/lantern and wood box.

Shop the look: dipped bowl / lattice canister / chevron box / brass hurricane / embossed pillow / dot stripe pillow

For look #2 I kept a few of my favorites {the lantern and wood box} on the table and brought in other items. WORLDLY & ECLECTIC {a.k.a. PUT ME IN THE ZOO}

This look is more masculine with ethnic-inspired patterns, animal figurines, brass, wood tones and a little quirk.

I grouped a yarn wrapped gazelle figurine, the same brass lantern {this time with a neutral, less aromatic candle} and a pierced tin hurricane.

Near the middle of the table is a hand painted wood bowl and a thrifted wood sculpture. To achieve a “lived in” look I threw in an open magazine, fresh greenery, a small bowl of cashews and cloth napkins.

The other end of the table holds books, gold animal figurines and another snack bowl filled with cashews.

There is a diamond patterned pillow and sheepskin on the chair.

I threw down a chevron runner under the table. The same embroidered pillow from look #1 is on the sofa along with a Nate Berkus gold mesh & tweed pillow. Of all the pillows shown today, the gold + tweed is my favorite. I love you Nate.

Can you see how the seat of the leather sofa is starting to patina and wrinkle? I love it. Good leather only gets better with age.

The painted detailing on the wood bowl is an art form. Of all the non-pillow pieces I selected, this bowl is my absolute favorite.

The gold rhino and elephant are pure fun. Everett asked me if rhinos and elephants eat cashews. It does look like I’m feeding them cashews out of a fancy trough, no?

Shop the look: yarn wrapped gazelle / brass hurricane / silver lattice hurricane / wood bowl / snack bowls / brass animals / diamond pillow / gold & tweed pillow

Finally, for look #3, I decided to go au naturel. NEUTRAL & LOVELY

This look is casual and effortless. It’s all about matte whites, warm wood tones, piles of books & magazines and glowing candles.

On one end of the table I brought in a white serving platter and topped it with a natural wood vase, two curvy white vases and a silver tea light holder. I cut a few crape myrtle branches {from the store…still no sign of spring!} and stuck them in the vases.

In the middle of the table is a stack of my favorite home design books. The gold & wood box makes another appearance in this look alongside a ceramic tea light holder.

I brought back the marble board and used it as a casual serving tray. I filled a chip and dip server with salsa and tortilla chips. A squatty candle and stemless wine glasses round out the tray. Chips and salsa go with wine, right? I consume them together all the time. YUM.

Our new coffee table has a large open space under it. Here, I slid in a woven basket and a stack of glossies for my reading pleasure. I could get used to having stuff under the table.

On the couch is a simple striped pillow and sheepskin.

When I was trimming the crape myrtle, I thought the fallen leaves looked pretty on the white tray. So I left them.

The tea light holder has a super functional design. The silver top and suspended candle holder are all one piece that lifts up and out of the glass surround. It’s easy to set a tea light in, light it and then drop it into the glass surround. So cool. I think it looks like the tea light is sitting on a swing.

The cutouts on the ceramic vase make for a spectacular light show.

I have to fuss over the squatty candle for a minute. I’ve been around the candle block a few times over the years, ifyaknowwhatImean. I’m a bit of a candle whore. If it smells good, I’ll give it a go. But this candle? It has three wood wicks. Say what? Wood wicks. And, get this, they CRACKLE when they burn. It’s like a mini wood burning fireplace right on top of the coffee table. A mini-crackling-wood-burning-fireplace-that-smells-like-vanilla-dolce heaven. You guys. I could live off of this salsa/chips/server/wine/crackling candle vignette for the rest of my life and be very happy.

After I wrote this post about using 3M adhesive strips to hang frames in the mudroom/dining room, I received these instagram pics from a reader.

That, my friends, is a dorm room. Let me repeat myself…a dorm room…as in dormitory. Can you even believe it?! Denise hung an eclectic gallery of frames using 3M adhesive strips on the block walls of her daughter’s dorm room to create a homey atmosphere. By far, it is the most adorable dorm room I have ever laid eyes on. Do you spy the stickygram door?

I’m coining a new word. Adormable. And this room is the epitome of it.

So there is something to look forward to when my babygirl goes off to college. She’ll be there before I know it. You guys, she turns 1 in a week. HOW CAN THIS BE?!

P.S. – Five things I’m doing in anticipation of spring.

images: Denise via instagram

I didn’t realize what a pain it is to make bunk beds until we got them for the boys’ shared bedroom. It makes me sweat. No joke. After struggling with the beds for a while, I thought “there’s got to be a better way!” When I googled “how to make bunk beds” all I came up with were a bunch of tutorials on how to build bunk beds. Not what I was looking for.

I thought maybe something was wrong with me and possibly bunk beds were to be dressed just like a regular bed. When I read about how to properly dress a single level bed, I was in shock. WTF?! I’m supposed to iron bed sheets? You’ve got to be kidding me. Me, the girl who doesn’t even break out the iron unless there’s a wedding or a photo shoot. And all those layers of bedding – sheets, blankets, duvets, coverlets, throw blankets, pillows?? Um, that’s so not happening in my kids’ room. So, I set out to find little tricks for making bunk beds easy – or at least easier – on my own and I’m happy to share those with you today. Let’s do this.

Tip #1 Use a stool. Unless you’re 7′ tall or have go-go gadget arms, you’re gonna need a step stool. At the beginning of my bunk bed-making journey, I would get up on the top bunk and try to make it. Do you know how hard it is to make a bed that you are in? It doesn’t work. Now I keep a small stool in the boys’ bedroom just for making the bed. It’s a lifesaver.

Tip #2 Use sheet clips. From what I can tell, plastic surgery is glorified bed-making. You’re not going to get good topical results unless everything underneath is smooth. Some kids are the busiest sleepers, aren’t they? When my oldest wakes up in the morning, it looks like he’s been practicing swimming from sharks all night.

I use these bed bands to hold his fitted sheet in place. He’s on the top bunk so I can fasten them from the bottom bunk. Basically, you put one clip in each corner, grip the perpendicular sides, clip shut then adjust the tension to hold the sheet snugly. Even if you don’t have a busy sleeper on the top bunk, I’d still suggest using sheet clips to keep the sheet in place.

Tip #3. Skip flat sheets. Kids + flat sheets = balled up flat sheets at the foot of the bed. It never fails.

After trying unsuccessfully to teach my kids the “right” way to sleep – with the flat sheet OVER their bodies – I gave up the fight. We parents must pick our battles.

I did away with flat sheets on the kids’ beds all together and instead use a thicker, heavier cotton blanket right on top of the fitted sheet. Go ahead. Say it. Domestic rebel! I’m a happier mom because of it. Sometimes the boys sleep on top of the blanket {who am I to judge?} but when they do use it as a cover they don’t kick it off.

Tip #4. Choose a fluffy down comforter + duvet cover. It’s nearly impossible to get the outermost bedding on bunk beds perfectly smooth because you don’t have direct access to both sides of the beds. I’ve found it’s easiest to go with bedding that looks good kind of rumpled and that’s thick enough to disguise wrinkly imperfections. A down comforter inside a duvet cover fits the bill. In the winter I use a down comforter with a higher warmth rating and in the summer I use one with a lower warmth rating.

On the top bunk, I tuck the foot of the duvet first. Then I pull the duvet all the way up to the head of the bed. I tuck the wall side then the wall-free side.

On the bottom bunk, I do the same but fold the duvet back a bit just for something different.

Tip #5. Use comforter clips. A duvet cover is essentially a really big pillowcase. There’s a lot of room for the comforter to shift. I use these padded clips to hold the comforter to the duvet cover. It makes for less duvet adjustments in the morning.

Tip #6. Go easy on the pillows. One standard pillow for sleeping and one or two throw pillows are plenty.

Kids don’t care about pillows. Moms do. Keep it simple for your sanity.

More than likely they’re going to end up on the floor anyhow.

And that’s it! Six tips for making bunk beds. None of which require an iron. Of course, you can apply these tips to regular beds as well.

I’ll be honest. I don’t make the boys’ beds everyday. Some days I ask them to make their beds themselves because it’s a chore I think they should be responsible for. But seeing as how I have a hard time making the bunk beds, you can only imagine what the beds look like after an eight-year-old and four-year-old work their magic on them. When company’s coming, I make the beds.

Or I just close the hideout curtains.

The step stool {nearly five years old}, bedding and curtains are all from IKEA. I didn’t plan it that way. It just happened. IKEA has really great inexpensive bedding which is perfect for children. 

I know what you’re thinking. THOSE WALL STRIPES! Sorry, that’s another post.

Do you have any tips or tricks for making kids’ beds? Do your kids make their own beds? Do you make your kids’ beds? A little of both? A little of neither? Yeah, we have those days too.

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Still no sign of spring. But that’s not stopping us from turning our attention outdoors. Last fall we had two plain Jane concrete patios poured just outside the two sets of french doors {one in the mudroom & one in the kitchen} at the back of the house. We have plans to build a platform deck spanning the gap between the two patios.

These are HH’s hand drawn plans. We’ll be implementing Trex materials to build the deck. Looking for inspiration online, we came across some pretty elaborate deck designs that were amazing but a little over the top for us. Our house is a single level ranch on a modest flat lot and we don’t want our deck to look like we pulled it off the back of a large home with sweeping lake views. So, we’re going with a simple 15′ x 17′ design.

If you can’t read HH’s notes, here are the details:

*The deck will adjoin two concrete patios that are flush with the ground.

*The deck itself will sit ~6″ higher than the patios.

*The deck floor will be split into two equal sections.

*Each section will have a picture frame detail at the borders and the deck boards will run parallel to the house.

HH put together a more detailed 3D design using Trex’s deck designer tool. You can view the pdf here - Platform Deck Plans - if you’re a visual person. It’s a better representation of what the deck will actually look like although the decking material will be more of a gray color. As you can see, the deck is low enough that no railing is required. Our backyard isn’t that large so we like the idea of a low deck sans railing to avoid obstructing views and chopping up the yard. The window looking out onto the deck is the window above our kitchen sink. We’re hoping to use the deck as a casual outdoor seating space and the patios as dining and grilling areas.

With the way the weather has NOT been cooperating, it’s likely we won’t start on the deck until mid April after a little spring break action. To give you a better feel for what we’re working with {not much!}, I’ll be sharing some real time photos of our backyard soon. I’m also working on converting one of the patios into a dining space. Stay tuned. Have I mentioned I am so ready for spring? You?

We have partnered with Trex to build our deck. They will provide us with some of the materials for the build but all other materials, designs, labor, injuries, flubs, four-letter exclamations, opinions and reaping of the benefits {i.e. chillaxing with a beverage on our new deck} will be our responsibility. If you’re considering an outdoor space, see what a few pros have to say about designing, entertaining and living outside.

image: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Two of the three munchkins are sick. Snot and phlegm are everywhere. There are not enough tissues in the house. The everyday responsibilities that come with being a parent {piles of laundry, piles of dishes, piles of other stuff, putting something edible on the table, dentist appointments, school parties, wiping noses, changing diapers, helping with homework…why am I telling you this? You know the drill.} suddenly feel very monotonous and tedious. I blame cabin fever and there is no sign of spring in sight.

I’m craving a project. One that does not involve carving a bar of soap. Yes, I’m talking to you second grade art teacher. Thank you. Thank you for sending home a bar of soap to shave and prod and poke and toothpick and sculpt and cut into a work of art. Layne made the most beautiful pile of soap crumbs which Mabrey promptly ate. I understand why you made this a home project. Thankyouverymuch.

I’m fulfilling my parenting duties today then as soon as HH gets home from work this evening, I’m headed to IKEA. Alone. I warned HH last night. Please tell me someone else out there considers kidless outings to IKEA and/or Target mini vacations. And, mark my words, I won’t feel guilty. Listen up mommy conscience. I WILL NOT FEEL GUILTY.

Of course, I need a shopping list. Of course. If I don’t write stuff down, it doesn’t happen. Hell, sometimes even the stuff I do write down doesn’t happen. And that’s the kind of week it has been. A week of writing stuff down then nothing happening. Because of snot and soap. Both of which, I’ve discovered, Mabrey has an appetite for. Sugar and spice and everything nice, my a$$.

FYI – To fully experience my moodiness, please replace “stuff” with “sh*t” in the previous paragraph.

Here’s my shopping list.

IVAR shelving or RIBBA picture ledge? I can’t decide but I’m finally doing something about the surround sound speakers behind the couch.

BRANÄS basket I’m finally doing something about the clutter in the boys’ shared room.

LAPPLJUNG RUTA I’m finally buying this pillow after talking about how great it/the price tag is. But what a horrendous name!

NUMERÄR countertop + LERGBERG trestle leg We’re finally DIYing a table to put behind the sofa.

Seven o’clock can’t come soon enough.

Click here to see who won this week’s Jack & Ella Paper Press giveaway!

images: polyvore collage by Dana Miller, linked within

Hi Dana,

Paint color is my biggest home DIY nemesis. I’m inspired by your choices. I’ve noticed that the colors you used in your previous house were gray with green hues. Was there a design reason for having a green base in the paint colors? Even the dark accent wall that was in your master had green undertones.

I’ve also noticed that your new house doesn’t have the infamous green-based hues. It seems you’ve chosen warmer hues with subtle, lighter creams. I’m just curious, why? Is it the latest trend? What’s your strategy? – Angelina

Well, Angelina, I have to say that choosing paint colors for our previous house was a quicker and easier process. It was a large home with tons of tall windows, plenty of natural light and high ceilings. Those attributes alone set the stage for nearly any paint color to work well. I chose Valspar {Lowe’s} bonsai for 95% of the house. Three walls in the formal living room were Valspar {Lowe’s} dry riverbed which is a muddy gray. The mini mudroom and laundry room were a soft blue-green. I had a dark accent wall behind my bed. My craft closet was a light lavender-pink. Quite the mix!

Looking back, other than most of the walls being a gray-green, I had no real strategy in regards to paint. And it totally showed. I chose colors that I liked without paying much attention to how they worked as a whole. It wasn’t as noticeable in the house because the different colors were somewhat far apart from one another but if I had laid out all those color swatches next to each other, I think I would have realized it was a strange color palette.

I was intimidated to repaint anything on a large scale. {That’s why the few other colors in the paint palette were painted in small rooms or only as accent walls.} The rooms were huge and pretty much all open to each other and there was a two-story foyer. We paid a professional to paint the entire house the gray-green color before we moved in. I wouldn’t have wanted to redo the work we had already paid for and, for the most part, I really liked the gray-green. I chose it because the house’s numerous windows had views to the outdoors which was mostly green trees and grass. The green undertones worked really well.

Our current house is very different from our previous house. It’s older, smaller, squattier {technical term}. There aren’t as many windows and the ones we do have are smaller than what was in our previous house. We also have a deep overhang blocking some direct sunlight. And the house feels different to me too. From day one, it’s felt very masculine.

Many of the paint colors I originally chose for this house aren’t jiving with the masculine feel I get from it. It’s taken me several months to realize that. Also, paint colors look totally different in this house than in a house that is blessed with natural light aplenty. Thankfully, paint is an easy fix here because the rooms are smaller. So far, I’ve repainted Mabrey’s room, the boys’ shared bedroom and the mudroom {several times!}. I’ll be repainting the master bedroom and bathroom soon. Gradually, I’m building a paint palette that feels masculine and cozy just like the house itself.

What I’m getting at is my previous and current homes have different palettes because they are two completely different houses. It’s not my intention to follow any trends – although I’m seeing moody colors everywhere right now! I’m trying to choose colors I’m drawn to that also happen to work well in this house. I’m more conscious of the overall palette too. It’s been complete trial and error but a great color palette is evolving. Take a look…

Laying out all the colors together like this helps me to see the bigger picture and to see how the colors in different rooms relate to one another. I even went as far as to lay them out in the order that I normally see them upon entering the house. Nerd. {By the way, I stole the paint-dipped clothespin idea from Emma. She’s a genius.} Whites, grays, blacks and deep blues are giving my house a very cozy masculine look. I’m loving the way they all look together too.

Here, I’ve labeled them for you. As you can see, there are a range of light and dark colors. In rooms where the walls are dark, I use a lot of white to lighten them up. In rooms where the walls are light, I use dark items to ground them. I love contrast. FYI – The gravel gray will be going on the outside of the clawfoot tub in the kid/guest bath.

The palette isn’t complete. I’ll be painting our bedroom Benjamin Moore’s anchor gray but I don’t have it on hand. Maybe a paint palette update is in order when I do get it?

I hope that gives you a better insight into why you see a different color palette evolving in my current house. In my opinion, choosing a paint color palette for a home is just like anything else house-related. It takes time and a little trial and error. What looks good in someone else’s house may not be the best choice for yours. For example, I adore all white California rooms but, come to find out, they don’t work well in my midwestern house. Try looking to your wardrobe for inspiration. My current palette is very indicative of my wardrobe. Mostly neutral basics with pops of color and pattern in accessories. Thanks for the question Angelina!

What about you? How do choose color palettes for your house? What palettes are you drawn to? Do you have a great method {like Emma’s paint-dipped clothespins} for seeing the bigger picture?

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking