The Great Desk Debate

We need your help!

With the office chair re-located, we now have any empty space in the office - the perfect place for a desk for Hubby.

I was thinking of making a console-style table.  Something that doesn't look like a desk (I don't want his desk to look like the secretary accompanying my executive desk).  I found this photo in the May 2010 Martha Stewart & I think this style desk would look great, especially because it complements the headboard I designed that my grandpa welded:

Martha Stewart May 2010

BUT, I also have a fabulous tulip table base sitting in our basement, crying out to me.  Maybe a Mad Men-eque set-up?  I could paint the base another color . . .

Via Elle Decor

So, weigh in: console table or tulip table?  Here's a photo of the office, but picture a gaping hole where the chair once sat.  Scroll down for a photo of our headboard. 

With the chair re-located, we have space for another desk.

P.S. I still can't believe my desk was in Living Etc. magazine!  I get giddy just thinking about it.

I'm Seeing Stripes

Before Hubby & I hung up my collection of silhouettes and my DIY'd magnetic board, I considered painting the nook in bold stripes.  I'm glad I didn't.  I love the all-white walls-trim-doors thing we have going on, plus I think it would have been way to busy.  But I still think about striped walls.  Now that the garage has been fixed up, I'm setting my sights on our uninhabitable basement . . . and I'm envisioning stripes down there.  (I can't do all white down there because the carpet is beige and I think stark white will make it look dirty). 

Photo Via Southern Exposure

Photo Via Southern Exposure

Homes & Property

The Tile Shop: Design by Kristy

Via Decor Pad

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Art Attack: The Corn Poppy

Last month, when Hubby & I were in Houston, we visited the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and Kees van Dongen's The Corn Poppy really captured my attention.  I tend to favor abstracts, but this portrait is so engaging that I wanted to share.

Le Coquelicot (The Corn Poppy)
c. 1919

Doesn't she just grab your attention?

My photo is a bit more faded than the "official" one - see below.

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Inspired by the splash of red with muted colors, I bought OPI's Big Apple Red nail polish as a birthday present to myself.  I wear a lot of greys, creams and beige so I am blatantly emulating the woman in this portrait.  I just don't really like hats - too hair squooshing.

Can't see all of me 'cuz I'm still in PJ's!

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Prettiest One on the Block

I teased you with news of a big reveal, but then delayed this post because I just had to share the news of my Living Etc. feature. 

We have given our garage a makeover!  Check it out:

We have been planning this makeover for awhile, deliberating color choices and ogling other garages.  Hubby will be fixing Charlie, our DIY'd Dodge Colt, so we can race him and Hubby needs a nice space to work. 

Charlie.

This is what the garage looked like when we bought the house.  The mess was included in the sale price, apparently.

The mess the former owner's left us.

 

After I tidied.  Better, but still dreary.



Tidy was a good start.  Fast forward two years and we painted the garage a pale grey/blue.  It is cheerier than grey, more dirt-hiding than white but pale enough that it doesn't look like a nursery.  The paint chip is by Valspar, but we color-matched it to a primer/paint in one.



Some shots of our work in progress: 

With the garage painted and slightly less cluttered, Hubby built an awesome storage unit using Blu wood.  It is treated to prevent fungus and termites, which isn't really an issue for us.  I'll be honest:  I pushed for the treated wood because it is turquoise.  It worked out to be $15.00 more for the whole project, but it saved me the time and effort of having to paint or stain the wood.  I'm going to beg Hubby to do a guest post and explain how he built the storage shelving. 

BEFORE

AFTER

The chipboard was the trickiest to paint.  It took a few coats and it isn't perfect.  We have plans to paint the floor and step a dark grey, but that will have to wait until next spring.  For now, the garage is brighter and more organized which makes it seem spacious.  Success.

Charlie in his new home.  Is it just me, or is he smiling?

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I'm in Living Etc. Magazine!

Or, more accurately, my desk is!!

A few weeks ago the photo editor for Living Etc. (India) contacted me, requesting a photo of the desk Hubby & I made for the office.  The magazine was considering using the photo for an article.  I just found out that my desk made the cut and is featured in the June issue!!  I was emailed a soft copy and I included the images below.  Any ideas how I can get a copy of the entire magazine?

My birthday was this weekend so this news has a nice "special occasion" timeliness about it.

P.S. A huge "hello" to any new blog readers that have found their way here via Living Etc.  I'd love to hear from you!!

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One Down . . .

Remember this fabric?  Before she and her sewing machine had a minor disagreement, my mom was able to whip up a pillow for me.  Looks fantastic, right?  So cheery (and washable!) and that makes me smile.  Mad props to my mom for getting a perfect fit and sewing in a barely perceptible zipper.  I'm looking forward to her sewing me more because I am greedy like that.

I will be internet-less for a few days.  While I'm disconnected from the world, check out my DIY Projects page - I added my new projects.  And we have been hard at work on a BIG reveal so stay tuned . . .

Have a fabulous weekend!!

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Book Review: DIY Art at Home

I'm not planning to review books regularly but this one is too fabulous not to blog about.  You know I am a huge fan of DIY art - just check out my DIY Projects page for proof.  DIY Art at Home: 28 Projects for Chic Décor on the Cheap (which can be purchased on Amazon or borrowed from your library) is a fantastic guide for DIY wall décor.  I used the project photos for inspiration but for beginners, or even kids, there are fantastic step-by-step instructions and even a whole bunch of full size templates.  

Pardon my low-tech "scanning" of the images

Fabulous styling, right?

And look at the step by step instructions!

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More White + More Bright

You might have guessed from my recently revealed half bath makeover that I'm on a mission to make the townhouse increasingly crisper.  More bright whites and more cheery pops of colour.  This little vingette is an excellent source of inspiration:

Design Sponge

Plus, the artwork counts as a silhouette - officially completing the trifecta of things I love: bright, white, silhouette.

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DIY Text Painting

Here is a detailed how-to for the text painting I made last week for the guest half bathroom.  I used parchment paper to transfer my text and desired font onto my canvas, which is a neat little trick!

How to Make DIY Text Art:

I taped off the first colour blocked section.  I painted it a pale blue/turquoise, using a large paintbrush and acrylic paint.  

Don't mind the dim lighting in my "studio" a.k.a. messiest basement ever.

I waited three hours for the paint to dry, then taped off another section and painted it.  I waited for three hours and finally painted the final cream block of colour.  For all three colours I used a dry paintbrush and brushed away from the tape to help avoid bleeding.

Then I had a colour blocked painting:

While I waited for the paint to dry (as tempting as it was to watch), I worked on the letters.  I printed out the letters I wanted on my computer, using a large font, and taped them together with spacing that looked "right".

I laid parchment paper over the word and carefully traced the perimeter of the letters.  You can also purchase artist's tracing paper, but parchment paper was convenient and I found it worked just as well.  And thanks to Costco, I have oodles of it.

Then I flipped the parchment paper over and followed the outline of the tracing I had done.  I placed paper under the parchment paper because the graphite transferred.

I flipped the parchment again and followed traced the letters with my pencil again.  The tracing I did on the back side deposited graphite on the canvas.  Neat trick, right?

Yup, that is a Dora the Explorer pencil.

I filled in the lines using a very small, angled paintbrush.  I prefer this method because it created a hand drawn look (but much neater than my hands could do unassisted) and not a stenciled look.  But this project would work with letter stencils too.

Half-way done.  More paint needed to make the letters opaque.

Here is my colour inspiration: an ad I filed away just because the colour combo was so inspiring. 

My inspiration.

Word.

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