The Power of a Paint Swatch

Keep your paint swatches, even ones you haven't used.  I make notes on the colors i have used, what room I used them in and what sheen.  Add Swatches of comparable shades and accent colors to the actual color used.  Keep them together and bring them with you when shopping for furniture, fabrics, and accessories.  Trust me this is a must have when fabric shopping. 

www.distinctivedesignhomestaging.com
Check out my New Business!!!! So excited I finally am taking that chance on my dream career!!! 

I'm Finally Gonna do it...Decorate!!

I'm on my journey to start my own Home Staging Company.  Yay Me!! I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.  I'm sending all of my postive energy to those who have a dream and are afraid to go after it.  Yes I am terrified of owning my own business but it's something I have to do to be happy and to share my design ideas.  I do daily research on new fun and interesting design projects.  What I have recently discovered is a product called Rapid Fit sold exculsively at Lowes.  It is a baseboard, door frame, I guess I should just say Molding...covering.  If you want to change the style or color of your exisiting molding or trim but don't have the heart to paint over the beautiful natural woodwork in your home then Rapid Fit may be the product for you. You just cover your existing woodwork with it!  This is why I have to make a career out of design because I feel the need to share my research.  Wish Me Luck on my new adventure and if I try Rapid Fit I'll let ya know how it is. 

Awesome bedroom for my awesome little girl!!

My daughter is about to turn 2 years old and she deserved a special room.  I see a lot of tree wall decals that you can buy but I would probably end up ruining the decal and wasting my money so the first thing you need is a talented husband who is artistic. Well I just got lucky that I have one of those:-). Really there are beautiful wall decals that you can use but instead of spending $192.00 for the specific one I wanted my husband took on the task and painted it himself and it had cost about $10.00 for paint and brushes. A few tips we found along the way:  1.) use chalk to sketch your design before you paint, don't use pencil it's harder to get off the wall if you end up with lines outside the paint, chalk wipes right off.  2.) we discovered this when we were almost done but to paint fine lines use a paint marker to trace the outline and use it to fill in small sections.  We found a few different size paint markers at a local craft store which also came in a variety of colors. 3.) TAKE YOUR TIME!

 

Here's my favorite part! The framed artwork.  The bird and butterfly are painted on the wall.  I bought 2 frames at $5.00 a piece and 2 black mattes at $2.99 a piece.  I took off the back of the frame and left the matte and glass to frame the artwork, so cute! How we hung the frames and letter K: the frames and letter K are hung on the wall with nails just as you would hang any picture. The ribbon is thumb tacked to the tree branch where the bows are tied. Then the bottoms of the ribbons are not actually attached to the frames and letter, they are taped to the wall just behind the frame and letter.  This gives a clean look and the ribbon is straight.  If you attach the ribbon to the frames and try to hang from a nail they don't hang straight and don't lay flush to the wall giving them a not so neat look.

The window treatment. I used the front panel of material from her crib skirt.  The crib skirt was only in use for a few months because once the crib mattress needed to be lowered to a safe height for the baby the crib skirt now crumpled to the floor.  I'm all about being thrifty and stylish so I reused the crib skirt for the window treatment. It was so easy. I cut off the front of the skirt and used iron on Heat & Bond no sew adhesive on the top edge to make the pocket for the curtain rod.  This took less than 10 minutes to do.
Now the only things left for me to do to complete the room is to get her new bedding for her Big Girl Toddler Bed and I'm going to attempt to make throw pillows from the  never used crib bumper.  You don't have to be artistic to have a great room.  There are great design elements that you can purchase to create a great space.  I just happen to get lucky that my husband was able to take on the task! Since I saved so much money with him doing the labor I guess I better buy him a nice present!!!

Pillow Fight!!!

I LOVE to support Handmade Crafters on Etsy.com!!!  I've been looking for accent pillows for my Family Room, Living Room, and Bedroom.  My only problem is all of the beautiful pillows I find in the store are beaded, silky, and frilly...PROBLEM is I have a dog who loves to sleep in them, mash them up, and leave the occasional drool spot.  Don't get me wrong I love shiney, sparkley, fluffy, glamorous girly pillows but this would not be the most economical or intelligent pillow purchase for me.  I love mixing pattens and even colors but to go with my furniture  and decorative pieces I needed to stay subtle with the colors but I could still mix up the patterns. 
Although it is not so practical to have your couch loaded with pillows I love them in the room anyway.  I feel they add warmth and fun to the space.  By placing a basket by both of my couches I can put the pillows in them when I need the seating space.  I can have all my fancy fun pillows and still let them be shown.

So next time you need washable pillow slip covers to add a touch of fun & style to your space Support the Handmade Crafters on Etsy.com

I guess a spot of blue or orange wouldn't be so bad but for me...this is what I like and what makes me like my space...and that's all that matters is that you find what best fits you :-)

Hat Box Accent Table Made for under $15.00

I had picked up the cutest hat/gift box at TJMax Homegoods one day.  I didn't have a use for it but it was only $9.99 and had an awesome pattern with colors that I love.  I actually could have used it for a gift but I just couldn't part with it.  One night I woke up to the thought of turning it into a accent table.  I have the most random thoughts while trying to sleep.  Anyway I picked up 4 table legs from Lowes on clearance for $1.04 a piece and 4 bolt nuts.  All I had to do was paint the legs black and screw them on and now I have the cutest accent table.  The best part is that you can store  things inside the box like remotes, coasters, pictures, etc.  To tell you the truth I think I will use it in the summer on my deck as a beverage bin.  I'm going to get a tub or water tight bucket and put it in the box, fill it with ice, and load it up with a few of my favorite beverages.  What a great way to fancy up drinks at a party! Right Now I have my Venti Nonfat Chai Tea Latte sitting on it so I'm gonna go drink up!

My Mini Kitchen Facelift

The reason I use the word "mini" is because we only changed our cabinets.  I would really love new beautiful hardwood floors and new counter tops.  I would actually love to gut the entire space and redesign the layout but that calls for money that I don't have.  My husband and I decided to change the cabinet color to make the biggest impact on the look of the kitchen.  First we had a free consultation with a very well known Home Improvement store for cabinet refacing.  We fell off of our chairs when quoted $18,000 for the project or they would do it for $12,000 if my husband did all of the work except for the making and hanging the doors.  We had to have new doors made because the old doors were part wood and laminent, which couldn't be refaced.  See ya lady, there was no way we would pay that since we only spent $6,000 in our previous house kitchen where we removed a wall and took all the walls to the studs and redrywalled, put in all new cabinets, counter tops, and floors. So here's my tip...Look for locally owned cabinet makers.  We had found someone who was a retired cabinet maker who still did side jobs for as he called it "vacation money".  My husband sanded and stained all the bases of the cabinets, which I might say he did a FANTASTIC job, and the cabinet maker made us all new doors.  They worked as a great team and completed a beautiful facelift.  The total project cost was $4,000. Let me say I do have alot of cabinets in the kitchen plus a wet bar area. It would have been cheaper if we just refaced but since all new doors needed to be made that increased the cost.  Some important things to do are:  Ask to see other projects that your contractor has done, ask previous clients for their honest feedback, DO NOT pay all of the money quoted before the job is started. Make sure you are happy with the end result before you make final payment.  We paid half before the project to help with the supply purchase and the rest when the project was completed. 
Here are before and after pictures.
                                                          BEFORE

                                                            AFTER