The Making of the Lists

Hello Everyone.  It's been a while since I have checked in.  We have been going through some financial issues lately, which unfortunately has made me shy away from the blog.  We have windows to fix, teeth to fix, house parts to fix & a new semester of college for my husband - which now that we are married, he gets FAR less financial assistance.

So we have been living pretty tight lately, forcing me to put a lot of projects on the shelf.  I haven't wanted to spend the money.  So what I wanted to do last night was to sit down, and put together a list of things to do to the house.  Because I am the queen of lists, it helped me to organize my thoughts, and also to start having something to "check" things off of.  While the list is overwhelming, there are certain things that we can start doing to check off the list, that have little or no cost associated with them.

So I decided that I wanted to take the list public - make myself start accomplishing things, so that our house can get "done", so that we have something to enjoy for the next few years, while we start to squirrel away pennies to save for our dream house.

I also want to start getting into showing everyone how we are doing things on a budget, how we are saving money, so that all those other people out there, who are struggling to make ends meet, can see that there is a way to achieve your goals without spending a lot of money.

But now we must get on to the good stuff...

THE LIST

The Living Room

1. Pull up the carpet

2. Refinish the floors (if required)

3. Make sliding "c" end tables

4. Hang artwork/photos

5. New Lamps

6. Refinish end tables

7. Rug(s)

8. Reorganize shelves on either side of fireplace

9. Silicone/caulk joint between baseboard & floor, once exposed

10. Acquire bookcase with glass doors to store movies

11. Clean out fireplace

12. Make Birch candles for fireplace (as seen HERE)

13. Find better location for Game Board & organize coffee table

14. Build second shelf in coat closet (above existing shelf)

15. Organize coat closet - making room for vacuums & shoes!

16. Purge old coats

17. Buy new large plant for room

The Dining Room

1. Pull up carpet

2. Refinish floors (if required)

3. Fix broken sash cord in window

4. Repaint trim after window repair

5. Silicone/caulk joint at baseboard & floor, once exposed.

6. Make new burlap table runner

The Kitchen

1. New Flooring - Rubberized Vinyl Sheet Flooring (with stamped tile pattern)

2. New Countertops (decide material)

3. Matching Pulls/Knobs for all cabinet doors

4. New Dishwasher

5. New Fridge (it will die in the not too distant future - better put it on the list!)

6. Smaller Microwave, maybe even one that can be mounted over the stove to give more counter space

7. Bench for mudroom

8. Window treatment for back door

9. Paint back door

The Half Bath

1. New shoe mold @ tile

2. Fix broken tiles (we are having an issue where the floor is moving a bit too much.  It cracked two of our tiles under the toilet.  We aren't going to fix it now, because it isn't obvious, but we will have to fix it eventually)

3. Finish attaching sink to wall with longer screw & silicone around edge of sink bowl.

4. Artwork & Baskets to finish decorating

The Third Bedroom

(I don't have an image for this room, but will edit it soon with a picture.  This room is now our closet, but will eventually be a nursery, when we decide to have kids)

1. Pull up carpet

2. Refinish floors (as required)

3. Rug

4. Paint walls & trim

5. Silicone/caulk joint at baseboards & floor

6. Remove closet door & build two shelves above rod (the closet door is right behind the entry door - too many doors in such a little space)

7. Make curtains for 2 windows & closet door

8. New Furniture

9. Fix Broken window & dropped sash

Guest Bedroom

(Again, no photo here, and not a lot of work to do)

1. Pull up carpet

2. Refinish floors (as required)

3. Rug

4. Paint walls & trim

5. Silicone/caulk joint at baseboards & floor

6. New curtains for two windows

Master Bedroom

(Not a great picture, but it gives you an idea.  Ignore the sheets - we need new sheets, in fact, lets make that number 1, shall we?)

1. New Sheets!

2. Pull up carpet

3. Refinish floors (as required)

4. Rugs - including maybe making a couple of t-shirt rugs (example HERE)!

5. Silicone/caulk joint at baseboard & floor

6. New Wardrobe, like the one seen HERE at IKEA

7. New bench @ window

8. Finish building nightstand, paint

9. Decorate nightstands

10. Enlarge existing closet opening & case opening

11. Make new curtains for 2 windows & closet (closet curtains are temporary)

12. New bi-fold closet doors

13. Fix broken window & dropped sash

Hallway

1. Pull up carpet

2. Refinish floors (as required)

3. Rug

4. Paint walls & trim

5. Silicone/caulk joint at baseboards & floor

6. New bookshelf

7. Photo Wall

Outside

1. Paint railings at front porch

2. Paint porch floor

3. Replace any warped porch pieces (all three porches)

4. Repair damaged siding on garage

5. Paint garage

6. Finish cleaning up the planting beds & move plants around

7. Patch issue in roof over mudroom

8. Table for front porch & back patio

This is the bulk of the work that we'd like to do.  Eventually, we'd like to put baseboard heaters in the finished attic space, so that it can technically be called a bedroom.  We also have some cleaning and organizing to do in the basement.  But that is our list.  Daunting, no?

The goal will be to start going room to room & crossing things off.  Unfortunately because my mind is always working, a few things might get added too.

Hopefully we can get started on some of the easier ones first.  Like pulling up the carpet in the bedrooms - where the floor doesn't have to look perfect right away.  I would really like to get started in our bedroom, since there is quite a bit of work to do there.  We'll see what happens next!

Outdoor Furniture Time!

As April has started rolling along, so has my desire to be outside every day that I see sunshine (like today)!  It is still getting a little chilly at night, so we are still hesitant to move quickly into spring - fire pits, gardens, planting, mowing..... but that doesn't mean I can't think about it.

You all know of my love for West Elm & this year they have spread their wings and widened the scope of their outdoor line!  Sure they used to have a lounger or two, but they are going all out with new designs.  Here are a couple of pictures to get you inspired.

West Elm - Wood Slat Collection

West Elm - Montauk Sectional

West Elm - Montauk Nest Chair



West Elm - Wire Lanterns



West Elm - Terra Cotta Cylinder Planters

Okay, lets be honest, that just made me want to take a trip to the beach!  We love spending time outside in our Adirondack chairs out front, or by the fire pit in the back, and looking at these sunny pictures make me want to be there right now!

I have always been a fan of West Elm's outdoor furniture but the new Montauk line is a great substitute for traditional wicker furniture.  If we had some extra money, I'd be scooping up some outdoor goodies right now.  I especially love the hanging lanterns, which our patio could use on dark nights.  Sometimes the citronella gets a bit to smokey & a little extra light would be nice.

We don't have too much planned for the outside, other than the garden mentioned here & some work on the porch.  What do you have planned with your outdoor space this year?

DIY Blue Mason Jars

My favorite color is blue.  Not just any blue, but bright lovely shades of turquoise, aqua and teal - saturated and stunning.  Funny how blue isn't a main color in our decorating.  It's probably because my husband's favorite color is red.  So we ended up going with a neutral, earthy palette in our home.  Which is okay with both of us.

Knowing that my favorite color is blue, and that I love DIY, I really, really fell in love with this project.  Making your own Blue Mason Jars.  If you have seen the original thing, they are a thing of beauty.


Photo Credit: HERE

They have been very popular with the rustic wedding vibe lately, and people are dying to get a hold of a few of these antique jars.  Unfortunately they are hard to find and expensive.  They can run you $5-$20 each!  Insanity!  But take a look at how beautiful they are displaying flowers at a wedding.


Photo Credit: HERE

I can totally understand why couples are clamoring to get a hold of these jars.  But when planning my own wedding (who's colors were not blue OR red....) I found a DIY on how to make these jars from plain, old, affordable clear mason jars.  You can buy 12 packs of regular jars for about $12.  Way more affordable than splurging a minimum of $60 for a dozen of the originals.

I will give credit where credit is due, and link you directly to the blog that has the how-to instructions.  You can find a wonderful blog here: Bridal Buzz 

But since you are here, I will also give you the how-to from Bridal Buzz's site so that you can see how easy and affordable these lovely jars can be for you!  Whether you are planning a wedding or not, these jars are amazing to house flowers, seeds, plants, etc.

The blogger uses a product called Vitrea160, a transparent glass paint, and purchased the color "turquoise" (approximately $4 each) and a thinner from the same line to get a lighter color on the glass.  She put a jar on a tupperware container, upside down.  She then dipped a fan brush into the thinner and mixed it into the turquoise & just painted it on the glass jar.


Photo from Bridal Buzz

 You let the jar set for 24 hours, then bake it for 40 minutes at 375 degrees F.  Apparently when you paint the liquid on you will see brushstrokes, most of these disappear after the baking process.  Personally I'd try to take extra time to put the paint on as evenly as possible.  But if you are going to put something in these jars like liquid, seeds, soil, you will most likely not see the strokes.

Photo from Bridal Buzz

Here is a link to her DIY for this project:  Bridal Buzz Mason Jars

If I can come up with the perfect place for a few of these jars, I might just be making this project.  I love those darn jars so much!  There are warnings of course to monitor use with candles.  While it's beautiful, there is always the chance that glass and over heat and break, so be sure that the tops are not on, and the candles are monitored if you are using them.  Also beware that any striations in the paint will be seen with candles!

Happy Crafting.
  

Weekend Projects

I am itching SO badly to pull up our carpeting.  Everywhere I have looked (or taken a quick peek in a corner) on the upper floor of our home, the floor looks like it's in decent condition.  And I have to tell you, I'd rather have decent condition hard wood floors than gross old carpeting!


Our next few weekends are crazy busy, and it's probably not a good time to start the BIG bathroom renovation, as we really need one weekend, without interruption to get a good portion of it completed.  But there are a few things around the house that I could get to this weekend, and with it slated to be a bit warmer, painting is not out of the question.


Our stairwell & upper hallway has been bright white primer since we moved in - and I can't wait to get rid of it.  The trim will stay white, but the walls are going to be almost a wheat color.  It will be two shades darker than our bathroom upstairs, but will tie in beautifully with the green & yellow palette of the downstairs colors.


With this project, could come another couple projects. 


1.  Rip up the carpet in the hallway up stairs.   This is sort of a joke, as the hallway is barely 10' long, but it is a start, and might quench some of my "I need this carpet to be gone" feeling.  I don't want to take the carpet up on the stairs, as the condition of stairs can be questionable, also I feel like wood stairs are a slipping hazard, so until we could do a cool runner with new carpet, that carpet will probably stay on the stairs...

2.  Paint the hallway (as mentioned above) & start our photo wall.  As I mentioned in a post here we would really like to put up a cool display wall in our stairwell.  A quick paint job would give it a much more interesting backdrop to start with.  A black and white display on the wheat colored wall would look striking.

3.  The bookshelf...  At the dead end of our hallway, we have a bookshelf.  It's an old target, maple color bookshelf with a "faux" back (one of those cardboard panels that is made to look like wood).  I would like to pull off that panel to allow you to see through to the wall, and paint that bookshelf something.  Maybe it's just white, maybe it's dark brown....  I also think that I might put it at a bit of an angle to give a new look to the hallway.  Basically, it's another warm weather project, that could take place over a series of days & that could really change up the look of the hall.  I would probably just use primer and spray paint on this unit, as it's just another melamine covered piece of furniture.  Notice from the sketch that there is not a lot of room to hang artwork in the hallway, so we needed something of interest here & we needed somewhere to put our bookshelf. 

The bookshelf is something I could easily do.  Maybe I could just paint the trim in the hallway, to brighten that up a bit & do the wall painting next weekend.  This will give me a little more time to look for & put together some type of photo gallery plan on the wall.  Here's hoping that the weather stays warm & projects can get started again.

Soon I'll be taking on the front porch, so watch for that.  The balustrade needs to be scraped, sanded and painted & I'd like to put a waterproof stain/paint on the floor to freshen up the look & protect the wood for a little longer.  This will happen as soon as I can be sure that it won't go below 40 degrees at night!

Happy Friday everyone!

Inspiration: White Bedroom with a Pop

Generally I am not a fan of all white interiors.  I tend to think of it as a stain-fearer's worst nightmare, but I was inspired recently by a photo that I saw of a bright white bedroom with a pop of bright green that made me desire to be in that room immediately.  It was beautiful.  So I thought that I might try to recreate that vision for everyone here, so they can understand why I am now in love with this bedroom.

Bedding: Peninsula White Cotton (Crate&Barrel), Pillow: Hand Blocked Jaali (West Elm),
Mirrors: Malachy & Brighton Floor Mirror (Crate&Barrel), Lamp: Sphere Table Lamp (West Elm),
Chairs: Upholstered Slipper Chair (West Elm), Green Table:  Martini Table (West Elm),
Plant:  Onion Grass Sedum (Target), Mirrored Table: Parsons Mirrored End Table (West Elm),
Vases:  Cabo & Chica Green Vases (Crate&Barrel)

Imagine soft white walls and and trim, a white dresser and bright green curtains from a brushed silver curtain rod.  A white and green rug & dark hard woods make this room cozy, bright & fresh.  Prop the white mirror up against a white wall with a large plant next to it. 

I think that in this scenario, a white room is amazing, and hopefully you can see why!

Stacked Cabinets

Hello everyone, hope your weekend's were fun and productive.  I made it through a few projects at home that I'll photograph as part of our living room update soon, but I wanted to drop in and post one of the greatest ideas that our good friend "Martha" has ever had.  Stacked Cabinets. 

When I came across this, I thought that it might be the best idea, and one of the simplest to achieve.  You can also use this project in several different rooms in your house:  Kitchen, Dining Room, Entry, etc... I encourage you all to get creative!  If you don't have enough storage space, but don't have room to add extra cabinets in your kitchen, or don't want to spend a ton of money on a new sideboard or curio cabinet, try this on for size.


Photo: Martha Stewart

Head to a flea market, a Habitat for Humanity Restore, or even a local second hand shop and look for a set of double lower and upper cabinets.  Make sure that the lower is a little wider than the upper.  Keep in mind also, that upper cabinets are usually 12" deep, while lower ones are 24" deep, so you will have an automatic step back. 

In the photo above, the upper cabinets have glass doors, which can make the cabinet pair a curio cabinet style display case, allowing you to show-off your dishes, nick-knacks, etc.  However you could go with solid doors for hidden storage, or even remove the doors & have an open shelf cabinet on the top and/or bottom.

Sand, prime and paint both sets the same color.  You can use crown molding to dress up the tops of both cabinets and get matching pulls to make the set appear to match. 

The top of the lower cabinet will most likely need a new flat surface, as not all cabinets have a fininshed surface on top, so you can go simple or go fancy with a new top for your cabinets.  For the simple approach, pick up a 3/4" sheet of plywood to cover the lower cabinet top.  Then add matching trim to both the top and bottom cabinets.  For a fancier and more modern approach, get a remnant slab of granite, soapstone, concrete, etc. to act as a "countertop" and place the upper cabinet on that flat surface.

You can bolt the cabinets together, or keep them separate & attach the upper cabinet to the wall with a tie-back.  You can choose from several different attachment options, but make sure that the upper cabinet is secure.  There is a chance that the floor or the furniture may not be level, which could be a disaster if the cabinet is not properly secured.

You can use this as a curio & server in your dining room.  It can be used as extra storage in your kitchen or eat-in area.  You can put it in a mud room fully equipped with baskets & bins to keep winter gear, toys & even outdoor tools kept neat & put away. 

I thought it was a wonderful idea & wanted to share it with everyone today as a quick & easy DIY project for your home.  It is also eco-friendly, as you can re-use someone's old cabinets -another great example of up-cycling! 

Have a super week, everyone!

Turquoise & Citron Inspiration Board

This has got to be one of my favorite new color combos.  We have a pillow on our couch that is turquoise & with the new citron pillows added to the couch, the bright color combo is amazing.  Now we aren't keeping that blue pillow there, it's just for added structure when we are both laying on the couch, but as I look around recently, I see that combo in other places.   I have never been a big fan of yellow, in clothes or in decorating, so how is it that I have fallen in love with this color?

One, it is in every magazine this year, from clothing to decorating & it's such a bright and unusual color, that I'm totally drawn to it.  Secondly, the color appears in the above mentioned combination on my new bags from 31gifts.  The combo is paired with a light grey, and warm grey & a white - leading me to want to create an inspiration board from the bag... here is a photo of my bag:

From 31gifts Spring Catalogue HERE

This picture doesn't really share the citron in as much glory as the bag itself actually does - but believe me,  it's there and it's great!  So this bag inspired me to throw together a room based on this palette.  I am going to start with a living room, but might end up doing a bedroom as well.  You know I'm in love with the Grey & White combo, so when you throw in two wonderful, bright, cheerful colors - how can I pass it up?

Here is the inspiration board for a chic living room scenario:



Lorimer Sectional - West Elm, Audra Slipper Chair - Pier 1, Round
Shell Mirror - Pier 1, Seaglass Lamps - Pier 1, Hive Vases - West Elm,
Recycled Spanish Glass Stacking Vases - West Elm, Remy Canary
Pillow - Crate&Barrel, Tamara Floral Erin Chair - World Market

 
There were so many other great items that I found like artwork:

Aqueous 1 - World Market

And Vases:


Ria Hurricane - Crate&Barrel

 Even these Floor Cushions:

Blanc Noir Floor Pillows - World Market

I think that everyone is in love with this color combo right now.  It's the perfect mix of bright and cheery for your room & easy to make sophisticated, relaxing, casual or any style you prefer.

10 Budget Ways to Spruce up your Bedroom

Since the economy is what it is, I thought I'd take the opportunity to share a few simple and affordable ways to spruce up your Master Bedroom.

1. Pillows:  You can add pillows to your bed to give a little extra color, texture or just a little something special to the room.  You can buy pillows or make pillow covers for ones you might already have that are a little outdated.  Check out how to cover your pillows HERE!

Deconstructed Rose Pillow - West Elm

2. Throw Blanket:  Again, this is a quick way to add color, texture and interest to the biggest feature in the room, your bed!  Make it a warm snugly one for the winter and something light and airy for the summertime.

Hand-Knitted Throw - West Elm

3. Paint your old Nightstands:  Are your nightstands looking a little dated or ragged?  The simple fix is to give them a quick upgrade with a coat of primer and two coats of paint.  Go bold with a bright color, or sleek with a glossy dark finish.

4. DIY Artwork:  Add an interesting graphic print, or even a great quilt to your wall to add interest behind your bed, and draw the eye to the focal part of the room.  You can even buy pre-hung canvases and give them a little touch of "you" by painting them to match the decor.  Make them solids, add a floral or graphic pattern & Viola!  You have a whole new room.

5. A New Rug:  Do you have hardwood floors in your bedroom?  A new rug is a perfect way to change the whole room.  Go with something dark, or bold to give the room a whole new flavor.


Photo from Real Simple


6. New Lamp Shades:  Pick up a couple modern lamp shades and swap out the old ones for a bright new look.  If the lamps are looking a little old, tape off all of the metallic elements & electrical elements and spray paint in thin even coats for a whole new look to the lamps.

7. Window Treatments:  It's amazing what a few new drapes will do.  Get some great voluminous sheers to make the room more romantic, or black-out roman blinds to make the room nice and dark at night.  You can buy great sea grass blinds & cover them with a light neutral sheer to make the room cosy.  You can even try drop cloths with a great border for something dense, but totally affordable!  There are some great deals on window treatments, so check them out!

Wood-Block Circles Window Panel - West Elm

8. A New Headboard:  Make your own!  Here is a DIY tutorial on how to make one for about $100.  It's easy, I promise, we made ours ourselves!

9. New Doorknobs & Drawer Pulls:  Freshen up the look of your door, closet doors or even your dresser drawers with new doorknobs & drawer pulls.  For a few dollars you can really spruce up the look, or even add some color.


Stanly Home Designs - Meis Cabinet Pull

10. Fresh Flowers:  Run to the store and buy a $5 bouquet of mixed flowers.  Grab two small bud vases, split up the bunch and place one on each nightstand.  Nothing makes the room look and smell better than fresh flowers.  Try Lilacs, Roses, or even Lavender to add a great floral scent to the room.

I plan on sprucing up our bedroom soon & I'd LOVE to pull up the carpet, but all in good time!

New Bright Pillows

Another part of our Living Room "Refresh" was to get new pillows.  Since we were looking at adding a bit of citron yellow to our green and cream room, I set out on a mission to add some citron to our pillows.

I stopped at JoAnn's to pick up some great fabric for new pillows.  I found a great citron and cream swirl pattern that would be perfect in the room.  The next step was to find batting.  Now batting is not an expensive material, but it's not cheap either, so I had a thought.  Making new pillows means that we would have to find a place to store our old pillows.  But what if we didn't have to move our old pillows?

The fabric that I had purchased was a thick upholstery fabric, thick enough that color would not bleed through or be seen through the fabric.  So why not just COVER the old pillows?  I purchased 1.5 yards of the fabric for $7.50 - on sale of course!  Then started looking for a pattern for a pillow cover.

I found a great pattern for a pocket cover, so that we wouldn't need any type of clasp, button, zipper and could be easily moved.  So here is the easy step by step!

1.  Measure your pillow.  Take a flexible tape measure and measure from seam to seam across the top of the pillow, so that it's more of a "circumference" measurement.  Be sure to measure it both directions.  Our pillows were 20" square. 

2.  Lay out pieces.  The front piece is the easiest.  You add one inch to your pillow dimension to allow for seaming the cover together - 1/2" on each side.  Because our pillows were 20" square, our front piece is 21"x21".  The back comes in two pieces, one slightly larger than the other to account for the flap.  You want them to overlap to look closed and finished in the back.  I wanted a 3" overlap.  Add 1" to each piece for seaming again.  The two pieces for the back panels were 21"x12" & 21"x13" (21"x11" would make it JUST meet in the center, because I wanted the overlap I added one inch to one piece and two to the other)

3.  I hemmed the exposed edges of the back panels - 1/2" hem (as you can see in the photo above).  Then I pinned the entire pillow together, remember to pin the fabric so that the right sides are facing each other.  You should be looking at the back of the fabric while you are sewing.  I pinned the cover together with the larger flap on the underside of the two flaps, so that it would end up on the outside when turned right side out.  Place the pins in about 2" so that you can sew without having to remove the pins.

4.  Turn the covers right side out and iron flat.

5.  Fill with your existing pillows.

We had enough fabric to make a small bolster pillow, and I had some left over batting in the basement from a past project,  just enough to fill the small pillow.  So for $7.50 and a little hard work, this was the finished product. 

They are so bright and cheery and will make a perfect addition to our final Living Room Refresh.  What do you think?  This project is easy enough for anyone to accomplish!

Magazine Holders

We have been busy this weekend getting a couple little projects done around the house.  If I must admit, I'm a bit of a magazine hoarder.  Not all magazines, just my Real Simple, Family Circle & Martha Stewart Living.  I have some older ones like the beloved and deceased Domino Magazine & a few Self's that I really liked.  I am prepared to box up and cut up a few that I really don't need anymore, but I love to have decorating ideas, design ideas & recipes at my fingertips.  For me, there is nothing like flipping through one of your favorite magazines to find them.

However, with lots of magazines comes magazine storage.... of which we do not have.  So I decided to invest in a quick little project.  I was able to pick up two plastic magazine holders.  They were clear, and I thought, what the heck, this could be a cute little project.  Why don't I spray paint them silver & use them on the shelves in the living room.

This is how we started:

We cleaned them out, and prepared them for spray painting.  We taped the back of each of the grids to keep the inside clear, but coat the outside.  We cut out construction paper and covered the flat surfaces.

The we used a metallic spray paint to coat the plastic.  We put two thin coats on everything.  While they are not perfect, they look pretty great for free!

I had to touch up the one on the right, as the finish was a little too matte, and they look perfect now.  We don't have a final resting place for them yet, but they will be part of the living room refresh.  Look for them in the final pictures!

Warm Grey Walls

When we painted our guest bedroom, I had a simple dusty beige color in mind.  Turns out that what we ended up with was a little more yellow-brown & not exactly what we were looking for.  But because the purpose of the room was to house my husband's older, smaller bedroom set & to make a comfy place for our guests to sleep, browny-beige was what it was, and was on the walls to stay for a while.

The room has yellow curtains that were left by the previous owner.  Nothing flashy, but they work.  There are deep yellow linens with a simple white down comforter.  There are touches of blue in the room, an ice blue fleece at the foot of the bed, a cobalt blue lamp/ end table & blue in the tack board near the desk.  The blue, yellow and beige work well with our other colors upstairs.  However, recently, I have found the perfect color for this room.

Welcome to what I call "Muddy Grey" ---> 

Photo: Martha Stewart Living

While my name for it is nothing short of awful, the color is amazing.  It is warm, it is rich and it looks BEAUTIFUL with yellow.  So while we don't have the money to replace the linens in the room, they would look lovely with this color.  It still has yellow undertones, making it warm, but still 100% a neutral.



Photo: Decor Pad

In fact, when we do get new linens, at least curtains, I would probably go with an even bolder yellow color.  This color is relaxing, very modern, and elegant.  A mix of white and ivory go beautifully with the shade & absolutely everything put up against it will POP against the wall.  And if we've been able to stand the existing color for nearly 4 years, even if it turns out not to be the perfect color, it will be better than what we have, and will be there for a long time.

What would you name this color?  Do you think it works for a guest bedroom?

It Pulls the Whole Room Together

In case you didn't catch the very slight movie reference in that subject line, it is in reference to The Big Lebowski.  And in the movie, when he is talking about that subject, he is referring to his favorite rug.
But "The Dude" was right...Rugs are something that can literally pull a room together.  They can add color, pattern and texture.  They can tie an obscure color into your rooms' palette.  They can soften a room, or accentuate specific design ideas.  But the main thing is that they can give the room a little personality.

Blotting Carolina Rug - Target


We, at our home, are unfortunately covered in carpeting, for now... but if you know anything about me yet,  I am sucker for a bold, graphic pattern, in a fairly neutral color palette.  And when we do bring out the hardwood floors, the great rugs will not be far behind.  Unfortunately, rugs can be VERY expensive - especially when  you are looking at large area rugs - but there are a few places that you can go to get great discounts.


Coinciding Circles Rug - Target

 Marshalls & TJMaxx, if the stores are large enough, will carry area rugs.  They are usually fairly discounted, and they have great basic patterns.  Garden Ridge, if you are lucky enough to have one near you, has a great selection on modestly priced area rugs.  And one store in particular that has great deals, and should not come as a surprise to anyone, is Target.  They were the source for all of the examples from my post today.


Design Rugs Collection - Target

Depending on which room you are in & the size and layout of your room, you will need different sized rugs to accommodate your need.  You can look for accent rugs, which are usually 5'x7' and smaller or area rugs, which are much larger.

Home Circles Rug - Target

For our living room, we could do a small 5'x7' rug that sits in front of the couch, or a large 8'x10' rug that engages the furniture.  I tend to think that the larger rugs do a better job of pulling a room together.  Engaging the furniture helps to make it feel like one space.  It doesn't have to cover the entire floor, it just needs to slide a few inches under each piece of furniture to connect it all visually.

Using a similar concept, you can separate one large room, into two seperate spaces by using area rugs.  For example,  if you have a large Living Room that you would like to make into a Living / Dining room combination, you could use a bold graphic rug to engage the living room furniture.  You can leave the dining room without a rug, or add a simpler rug under the dining room furniture to make it feel like a different space.  The example below is from the website younghouselove.com.  You can see that the bold rug in the Living Room space makes it feel very seperate from the Dining Room space.



Photo younghouselove: Link

 One good thing about rugs - they aren't permanent.  You can return them if they don't quite work or you can move them to another room just to change things up.  They are as much of an accessory as a wall hanging or end table.  I plan on having fun with this accessory as soon as the carpet is gone from our floors.

Do you have any other favorite places to get rugs at an affordable price?  Please feel free to share!