Holly Becker over at decor8 is hosting a virtual Stripe Mania blogger party.  Basically, you just take a picture of yourself wearing something stripey and link to it on Twitter.  Holly is compiling all the photos onto a designated Pinterest board with links to each participant’s blog.  Sounds like fun, huh?  You know me.  I’m a big fan of stripes.

I painted wide horizontal ones on the TV wall in our family room.

I turned canvas drop cloths into stripey curtain panels for my boys’ room.

And one of my favorite pillow covers has raspberry stripes.

So how could I not participate in Stripe Mania?!

images:  Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

By far, the questions I get asked most frequently have to do with the paint colors in my home.  I wrote up a post devoted entirely to which paint colors are where here.  However, we painted our walls over 3 years ago and it seems the Bonsai/Magic Spell Valspar swatch and the Wet Dock Valspar swatch are hard to come by nowadays at Lowe’s.  Even so, my local Lowe’s still carries them.  Southwestern Ohio must be last on the list for a paint department upheaval!  Anyway, for the last few weeks, I’ve been picking up loads of paint swatches from all my local paint supply stores in search of Bonsai/Magic Spell/Wet Dock lookalikes. {I wasn’t able to get my hands on any Benjamin Moore swatches as the nearest BM supplier isn’t within my regular driving area.} I found some pretty convincing ‘fakes’ that I’d like to share with you today. Hopefully, they are in stock at your local stores!  {FYI – Due to the nature of this post, all images are original and unedited taken under natural light.  I always recommend grabbing swatches and taping them up on your walls at home with painter’s tape before committing to a color.}

• BONSAI {Valspar/Lowe’s} – This color covers the majority of our walls including our kitchen, sunroom, dining area and family room.  It’s a light, airy gray that changes throughout the day depending on the lighting, going from light gray when drenched in sunlight to a green-gray in indirect natural light to a warm, taupey gray under artificial light.  I found three Bonsai lookalikes available at Lowe’s and Sherwin-Williams that would make it hard to tell them apart from The Real Slim Shady.  {I didn’t have much luck matching up Bonsai at Home Depot.}

Some great Bonsai alternatives:

1.  Frappé – a Valspar color available at Lowe’s.

2.  Jogging Path – a Sherwin-Williams color.

3.  Linen – a Valspar color part of the Signature Colors/Eddie Bauer Home Lakeside Cottage collection available at Lowe’s.

• MAGIC SPELL {Valspar/Lowe’s} – This color is on the same paint swatch as Bonsai and is one shade darker than Bonsai.  Magic Spell lends a warmer, taupier feel.  It’s in our first floor powder room and looks amazing with white accents.  I was able to match up four Magic Spell-esque colors available from Lowe’s, Home Depot, Walmart and Sherwin-Williams.

Some great Magic Spell alternatives…

1.  Gray Silt – a Valspar color available at Lowe’s.

2.  Olivewood – a Glidden color available at Walmart and Home Depot.  I noted the swatch number for each store above…be careful, they’re different!

3.  Ethereal Mood – a Sherwin-Williams color.

4.  Porch Gray – a Glidden color that’s part of the Better Homes and Gardens Editors’ Choice Paint Colors available at Walmart.  I didn’t see it at Home Depot even though Home Depot carries the Glidden line.

• WET DOCK {Valspar/Lowe’s} – This color is still in the gray family but has a creamier tone to it than Bonsai.  I used it to paint two, wide horizontal stripes on our TV wall in the family room for subtle contrast with alternating Bonsai stripes.  I was able to find two Wet Dock stand-ins at Lowe’s and Walmart.

A few great Wet Dock alternatives…

1.  Bay Sands – a Valspar color available at Lowe’s.

2.  Geneva Swan Gray – a WM119 paint swatch color available at Walmart.

And that’s the extent of my paint swatch hunt.  I really think any of the colors mentioned above could be used pretty worry-free for a nice, neutral backdrop.  They are good Bonsai/Magic Spell/Wet Dock alternatives if you happen to live in one of those cities that’s already had their Lowe’s paint department revamped.  If anything, maybe they will save you some legwork.  Like I said, my local Lowe’s still has the original Bonsai swatch in stock.  In fact, I happened to grab ~20 of the Bonsai/Magic Spell swatches on my hue hunt so if you want the real deal shoot me an email and I’ll be happy to send you one as long as you provide a self-addressed, stamped envelope. First come, first serve!  Which brings me to another paint point…just because you grab a swatch from a certain store doesn’t mean you have to have it mixed up there. Feel free to take your desired color swatch to the paint department of your choice and have it color-matched.

What a gray post, right?  It definitely wasn’t anything pretty to look at but hopefully it was practical and useful.  I’m crossing my fingers that these alternatives are available at your local stores. Happy painting!

PS – If you have an idea for a blog post you’d like to see on House*Tweaking, please feel free to send me an email at danarmiller {at} hotmail {dot} com.  I find that many of my readers have similar questions, styles and interests so it’s sometimes helpful to address certain topics in the form of a post…for instance, suggestions for alternative Bonsai paint colors.

images:  Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

Once a month, I like to share an inspiring paint color with you.  Well, really, I’d like to repaint my walls once a month just because there are so many great paint colors out there to try…but that’s not realistic now, is it?  So, instead, I’ll stick with sanity and simply talk about the colors of my painted rainbow here.  This month I’d like to introduce you to Ralph Lauren’s Winchester #NA64.

I am so happy to share a design e-book that Lauren and Courtney over at Kelly + Olive included me in today!

The e-book, Ideas You Should Steal, features “17 fun projects submitted by top home, craft, and lifestyle bloggers from all over the web.”  {Those are their words, not mine.}  Not only does it benefit anyone looking for a quick and easy design project, but it also benefits the non-profit organization Dwell with Dignity.  Dwell with Dignity is a group of interior designers and volunteers who work to create soothing, inspiring homes for those struggling with homelessness and poverty. Their goal is to expose less fortunate families to nurturing home environments with the hope of helping them maintain a standard of living they can be proud of and thrive in.  So when K+O contacted me a while back about participating in this project, I didn’t have to think twice about contributing.  Who doesn’t want to see everyone live in a home that is inspirational and conducive family life?

Without giving too much away, the e-book features several well-known design bloggers along with step-by-step guidelines for the project they contributed.  I was completely shocked to see my headshot included alongside such savvy bloggers and designers!  It’s an honor to be included in the mix.  If you wanna see it all for yourself, then follow this link on over to K+O and make a small donation {$1 is the suggested amount} to receive your own download of the e-book. It just might make a difference in two lives – yours and a Dwell with Dignity beneficiary!

Oh, and if you’ve never heard of K+O, now’s your chance.  Kelly + Olive is the name of the design biz/blog that two Chicago gals run.  Ironically enough, their names aren’t Kelly and Olive at all but Lauren and Courtney.  And they’re pretty rad.  They offer professional advice on choosing a color scheme, furniture, accessories and styling techniques for interiors…online or in real life if you’re lucky enough to live near the windy city.

With all the chaos going on internationally over the past several weeks, I’ve been reminded of my gratefulness for our safe and healthy home.  Many people, including children, aren’t so lucky.  I’ll admit to getting caught up in decorating, painting, DIYing and just plain homemaking…but there are moments in time like this that make me appreciate all that I have and have done…it’s very humbling. Maybe design won’t save the world, but caring people like Lauren and Courtney can make it a better place to live.  100% of the proceeds of this e-book go directly to Dwell with Dignity. Thank you Lauren and Courtney for such a great opportunity!

Here’s to an inspiring, humbling, healthy and safe weekend.  Give your significant other, kid, baby, pet, parent or friend an extra hug.

images:  all linked within

Once a month, I like to share an inspiring paint color with you.  Well, really, I’d like to repaint my walls once a month just because there are so many great paint colors out there to try…but that’s not realistic now, is it?  So, instead, I’ll stick with sanity and simply talk about the colors of my painted rainbow here.  This month I’d like to introduce you to Benjamin Moore’s Edgecomb Gray.

Even though the name has the word ‘gray’ in it, it’s more of a tan-y warm greige than the typical cool gray that comes to mind when you envision gray paint.

It’s a great neutral that turns almost creamy when bathed in natural light.

And it makes a perfect marriage with wood tones.  I could see it being used in older homes with original wood baseboards, floors and moldings.  Wouldn’t it give a Craftsman style home an airy lift?

If you’re searching for a light paint color for a finished basement, I believe Edgecomb Gray could be a front runner there.  In artificial light, it’s bright and warm at the same time…just what you’re looking for in a basement.

Probably my favorite characteristic of Edgecomb Gray is its ability to contrast.  It’s different enough from your bright white trim, doors and wainscoting to make them pop.  Yet, it’s still light enough to be used alongside black and mocha accents for a contrasting effect.

In a children’s room, Edgecomb Gray would make a great backdrop to deep teal and burnt orange.

In a grown-up casual living room, Edgecomb Gray could be part of a relaxing neutral scheme including white, black and camel accents a la Nate Berkus style.

Finally, for a fresh and modern guest room pair Edgecomb Gray with a deep taupe and rich coral.

I could definitely see this paint color making an appearance in our next home.  That’s how much I love it.  I really think it has the ability to make smaller rooms feel bigger.  And since we’re looking to downsize, making things appear bigger is going to be key.  What about you?  Have you used Edgecomb Gray somewhere in your home?  What’s one of your favorite paint colors for small spaces?  Chime in.

images:  1) Benjamin Moore  2) T. Keller Donovan for House Beautiful 3) Blossom Interiors 4) Justin Bernhaut for Domino via Flickr 5) Vanessa Francis for Decor Happy 6) Shiloe Bear via Tar Paper Crane 7-9) collages by Dana Miller using Benjamin Moore paint swatches

I received an email from Candice in North Carolina who had recently pruned some trees in her backyard and was wanting DIY ideas for the branches she’d trimmed off.  I love incorporating natural elements into home decor.  Who doesn’t love free material found right outside their door?  I think any of these branch projects would be fun to try in the home.

Jewelry Tree

Screw the end of a smaller branch into a square, stained piece of wood and adorn it with necklaces, earrings and bracelets.  It makes for a pretty display and a quick jewelry go-to in the morning.

Paper Cherry Blossoms

Fold tissue paper into petite blossoms and tape onto bare branches.  Place floral branches in a vase and display on an entryway table, dining table or buffet.  {Here’s a great tutorial.}  I did something similar here.

Wall Art

Paint branches to color of choice and then hot glue ends onto the backs of 2 painted & parallel 1″x2″ boards.  Arrange branches loosely for a sculptural effect and hang on the wall.

Whimsical Chandelier

Spray paint an existing chandelier white along with a mass of thin, flexible branches.  Cover the chandelier in branches using clear or white zip ties and string to secure them.  {Steer clear of light bulbs.}  Follow the lines of the original chandelier to keep the form looking chandy-ish.

Stick Starburst

Cut straight branches into smaller sections and hot glue around a mirror.  Find a good tutorial here.

Rustic Frame

Attach branches to an existing mirror or picture frame with hot glue.

Bold Accent

Spray paint a single, large branch with an interesting form a bright, bold color like red.  Simply prop or lean it in a vignette for a quick and temporary splash of color.

Affordable Pendant

Hang industrial lights from a single branch for a simple dining pendant light.  Read more about this project here.

Of course, you could always plop branches into a vase and be done with it but I thought these DIY ideas were worth mentioning.  I hope that they inspire Candice to ‘branch out’ and find a creative way to use the branches from her yard.  Do you have any branch decor ideas to share too?

images:  1) Rian Rae 2) Kristin Sutcliffe for Bloesem Kids 3) Wood Railing 4) Collier West 5) Citified Country Girl 6) CBK via Amazon 7) Evan Thomas for Apartment Therapy 8 ) Anna-Malin Lindgren for decor8

Wow!  The sliding barn door in our bedroom has caused quite a raucous.  104 comments??!! Yowsas.

Wanna know how we, I mean, Handy Hubby did it?  Good.  Because I’m going to tell you. However, there are so many steps involved that I’m breaking this DIY project up into 2 posts:  1) constructing the door  2) hanging the door.  That way you don’t get overwhelmed…or bored.  I’m warning you, there’s a lot of math, measuring and side notes involved.  Ready?  Let’s do this.

We hauled the original fence boards back from Pennsylvania where they once lived at Handy Hubby’s family farm.  Then we set to work figuring out how large we wanted the door to be.  We knew we wanted it to cover the entire master bathroom door frame {including the trim} if possible when in the closed position.  I say ‘if possible’ because when determining how wide you’d like the barn door to be, you must take into account the amount of wall space adjacent to the doorway where the door will rest when in the open position.  Otherwise, the door will not slide open completely.  Luckily, the space of wall to the right of our bathroom doorway was large enough to accommodate the width of door we wanted.  We measured the desired door width and then divided it by 5¾” {the width of each fence board} to get the number of fence boards we’d need for the door. We needed 7 fence boards to get a door width of ~41″.  Once the door width was established, we chose the length/height.  The ceiling in our bedroom is vaulted, so we wanted to hang the door well above the door frame because we knew the room could handle it.  We decided on 88″ for the door length/height. Handy Hubby cut the 7 boards to 88″ long with a miter saw.  {This was way back in the fall before snowpocalypse.  That should be a good indication of how long it takes us to get anything done over here.} On a side note…we inspected each board to determine which end to cut off.  In many instances, there was a ‘bad’ end that we wanted to get rid of.

To hold the door together and give it more of barn feel, Handy Hubby cut 2 wider support boards to attach to the top and bottom of the door.  We also wanted 1 regular fence board placed horizontally about two-thirds of the way down the door for added stability and door handle installation.

Once all the boards were cut to size, they got a good sand job {I said sand job} from a palm sander.  Handy Hubby blew the sawdust off with the leaf blower {hey, use what you got!}, wiped ‘em down with a damp rag, let them dry completely and rubbed them well with tack cloth.  Next came the priming and painting.  Handy Hubby brushed on 2 coats of oil-based primer {left over from our kitchen cabinet makeover} and rolled on {with a foam roller} 3 coats of semi-gloss latex paint.  The paint color we chose was Sherwin Williams Auric.

With the necessary boards all cut to size and painted, Handy Hubby proceeded to assemble the door.  He laid the boards out on our bedroom floor to square it all up, measuring corner to corner and tweaking until everything matched up.  The distance of each diagonal {the measurement from opposite top and bottom corners} should be equal.  Sorry, I don’t have a true work-in-progress image of this step but this might help…

Handy Hubby pre-drilled holes for the wood screws into the horizontal boards, making sure not to drill all the way through the vertical boards below.  We didn’t want any screws popping through to the other side of the door since they would be seen from the bathroom.  **Handy Hubby Hint: Wrap a piece of painter’s tape around the drill bit at the depth you want your holes.  Drill in just to the tape line for a perfect hole every time!**

He alternated the placement of the holes so that the screw heads would have a kind of zig zag pattern.  Another side note…we had already selected our hanging hardware at this point, and Handy Hubby made sure NOT to drill the top horizontal board in places where the hardware would need to go later. More on that in Part II of this DIY post, but the thing to remember here is that you need to know what hanging hardware you’re using before you assemble the door.  Then came my moment of fame.  I stood on the boards to keep them from moving while Handy Hubby screwed everything together…the upper, middle and lower horizontal boards into the vertical boards. Essentially, each vertical board ended up with 6 screws in it – 2 from each horizontal support board.  We liked the look of the shiny, raw screw heads showing, so we chose not to touch them up.

Once the door was assembled, it was HEAVY!  Assembling the door in the bedroom kept us from having to lug the finished product around the house and up a flight of stairs.  It also made quite a sawdust mess in the bedroom, but that was an easy trade-off to aching backs and dinged up walls.

I’m not going to lie.  That door was propped up against our bedroom wall for weeks while we prepped the doorway and waited on the hardware to arrive.  I had visions of it toppling down on us in the middle of the night.  But it didn’t.  Thank goodness.  It definitely would’ve left a mark.  Before it was hung, I was already in love with all the scarred imperfections.  The nicks, scratches, crannies and cracks gave it a story. I even told Handy Hubby not to worry about fixing any damage that he’d done to the paint job while assembling the door.  He was happy to oblige.

So, that’s how Handy Hubby assembled the barn door with a teensy bit of help from me.  Take note that the only money we spent for this part of the project was on the gallon of paint.  And if you’ve made it through this entire post without yawning yet, you deserve a pat on the back.  And probably a link to where our sliding barn door hardware came from.  More on that tomorrow!

images:  all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

There it is…’Old Yeller’…the new sliding barn door between our bedroom and bathroom!

It’s bold, modern, industrial and ever-so-functional.  Way better than the cheap double doors that were there previously.  And I can take no credit for it.  This was all Handy Hubby.  I think I made a few pencil marks on the wall during the hanging process, but that’s it.  It’s made from the same fence boards as our headboard.  I went back and forth about leaving in au naturel or painting it.  But after revisiting one of my logged inspiration photos from Southern Living and seeing Handy Hubby get so excited about a colored something in our house, I had to do it.  Plus, I knew it’d be upstairs in the bedroom…not in the main living area of our home where we spend most of our time…so it wouldn’t be staring me straight in the face all day long.  I took the ruffled, mustard-colored pillow from our bed to Sherwin Williams for color inspiration when I chose the paint color.  It’s SW’s Auric in the glossiest finish they would give me.  We still need to add hardware {a handle on the bedroom side and a recessed pull on the bathroom side}, but I couldn’t wait to share some pics.  I’ve got a full on DIY tutorial in line for next week, but until then here’s some eye candy.  Here’s the door wide open…

…I’ve really got to do something about that oak vanity in the bathroom.  Soon enough.  And here’s the door shut…  {I don’t have to put a pillow over my head in the morning anymore while Handy Hubby is getting ready for work!}

Handy Hubby did a superb job hanging it.  It rolls as smooth as bud-dah.  {That’s ‘butter.’} Since the door itself was free {it’s reclaimed wood from Handy Hubby’s family farm}, we decided to splurge a little on the hanging hardware.  It’s nice and sturdy.  Solid.

Here’s the view from the bathroom…

Now, if that doesn’t wake you up during your morning shower, I don’t know what will!  I have to say, I probably would have never painted the sliding barn door this bold of a color all on my own. But it’s starting to grow on me.  And Handy Hubby absolutely loves it.  Maybe it’s because the entire door’s color scheme is a little reminiscent of a certain NFL team’s black and gold.

Handy Hubby is from just outside Pittsburgh, so it should come as no surprise that he’s a devoted Steelers fan.  As am I.  By marriage, of course.  And, apparently, in Pittsburgh they don’t know about the saying, ‘your barn door’s open.’  When I told Handy Hubby what I was going to title this post, he just stared at me.  I had to google it for him to prove that it referred to someone’s zippered fly being undone.  Have you heard of it before?  Do you know any other special undercover phrases that refer to one’s open fly?

Happy Super Bowling this weekend!  If you’re into that.  If not, just happy weekend then!

images:  1-7) Dana Miller for House*Tweaking  8) National Sports Beat

We’re finally finished patching and painting the 3 door frames in our master suite where some doors once hung.  Handy Hubby patched everything up with wood putty and then sanded it all. Painting was my job.  It took 2 rounds of puttying and sanding to get a nice, smooth finish.  Then I topped it off with 2 coats of trim paint that the builder left behind…so it was free.  Here’s our closet, water closet and bathroom entry door frames now.

By removing the trim within the door frame that originally kept the {now removed} doors from swinging through, the doorways look more like they’ve always been this way…doorless.  Here’s a picture to show you what I mean.

We painted our builder oak cabinets white nearly a year ago, but I still get so many questions about them.  Aside from how we did it, I usually get asked about the results.  Specifically if the wood grain is noticeable.  The short answer is ‘yes‘.  The texture of the original wood grain does show.  The long answer, though, is ‘yes but only under artificial light when looking just the right way.‘  I took some pictures to demonstrate.

When looking straight on in natural light, the cabinets look like this…

Pretty much like they were white all along, right?  When looking straight on under some artificial lighting, they still look smooth and white with a touch of warmth from the recessed lighting.  See…

Here’s a close-up in natural light, looking up at an upper cabinet…

Still nothing very noticeable.  The only time the grain is noticeable is when you look up at the cabinets under artificial lighting…

Basically, the only time we see the wood grain is when we stand at the oven preparing dinner, get bored, lean forward and inspect the upper cabinets.  {Which we did a lot at first after we painted them because we were newly enamored.}  But, honestly, we don’t do that anymore.  We don’t pay much attention to the grain.  When we were still researching the process of painting the cabinets, we read about using some sort of roll-on filler {Brushing Putty maybe?} to fill in the grain.  However, we weren’t turned off enough by the idea of the grain showing through to include that step.  It looked pretty labor intensive for something that wasn’t going to bother us that much. I can say for a fact that I wouldn’t change anything about ‘em.  So, if you’re considering painting your wood cabinets, I hope this helps clear up all the hype about going against the grain.  Literally.

FYI – It’s probably worthy to mention that we used Sherwin Williams oil-based primer tinted to Greek Villa along with Sherwin Williams latex enamel paint tinted to Greek Villa in a semi-gloss finish.  We applied both with small foam rollers, using a 2″ trim brush only in tight spots, to keep brush strokes at bay.  For more info, check out this post and its comments section.

images:  all Dana Miller for House*Tweaking