Sunny Sunday Inspiration

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

This Pottery Barn bedroom feels sunny with it's bold yellow walls, doesn't it? You can just tell it's SUMMER outside, too. Sigh... I thought the wall collage was interesting.

Taking a turn in decorating styles, I like this room designed by Tamara Robbins Griffith that I found at Style at Home (Photo David Bagosy). It's not sunny exactly, but it's got a cheerful vibe. I love the crisp contrast of the white against the dark walls and the bright splashes of yellow and orange. I guess I could have used this in my chevron/zigzag inspiration post as well.

Happy Sunday! Tomorrow is March already. Can you believe it? That much closer to spring...

Area Rugs/Window Treatment - Questions Answered

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

Phoebe Howard

There were a couple of questions on the "Large Impact vs. Small Accessories" post, so I thought I would answer them in a post in case some of you had the same questions. As with anything I talk about on this blog, these are my opinions based on my experiences, what I've been taught, and personal preference. I've learned long ago that my opinion is not the only one and that I'm not the source of all wisdom and knowledge, so if your opinion or experience varies from mine, I'm cool with that. :-)

QUESTION 1: Do you think it'd be too boring to do solid colors for both the windows and the rug?
ANSWER: There are many successful rooms that are done using solid colors for both the window treatments and the rugs. I've shown one example at the beginnning of this post. One way to avoid being boring, if that's a concern, would be to add trim to the window treatment and use a very textural rug as they did in the room below. If you're not a fan of pattern OR color, even very neutral rooms without much pattern can be made interesting just by using a variety of finishes and textures. This room by Phoebe Howard is a great example of that.

Southern Living via myhomeideas.com Van Chaplin; Charles Walton IV

QUESTION 2: How do you feel about rugs on top of carpet? I love a rug on a hardwood or tile floor but not sure about on carpet.
ANSWER: If your space needs an area rug to add a different texture, define a seating area, pull some colors together or add color that doesn't exist, it doesn't matter to me if it's hardwood or carpet, you still need it. The rug in the living room below doesn't look expensive and it's not some totally unique pattern or color, but imagine the room without it. It really defines the seating area and the slightly darker color grounds the space.

myhomeideas.com Photo:IPC Images

QUESTION 3: Are they a pain to vacuum around and under when they're on carpet?
ANSWER: I have an area rug on my carpet in my family room and I've never had any trouble vacuuming on, under or around it. A carpet pad will help keep thinner rugs in place.

House Beautiful Photo: Jose Picayo

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Large Impact vs. Small Accessories - Have a Plan

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

Amanda Nisbet Design

Thank you for all of your kind, supportive comments on my previous post. Some of you had questions and, if your e-mail is linked to your profile, I'll respond in an e-mail because, quite honestly, that is all the blog time I want to devote to that problem. I'm getting out-of-town guests today, so it probably won't be today but I'll do it as soon as I can. As for that other thing at the beginning of my posts - sorry. Ugly necessity. Moving on...

I'm a big fan of both area rugs and window treatments because I think they can go a long way toward softening a space, adding texture and color (or pulling colors together) and making a room cozy. I've seen people spend a lot of time and effort trying to make a room feel "right" without them, when if they would have just added them the room would have been complete. Sure, there are definitely rooms that can do without them but, in more cases than not, at least one of these is what a room needs.

Coastal Living Photo: Tria Giovan, Stylist: Heather Chadduck

I've run across a variety of people over the years who don't have either in their space because it's just not in the budget. What I've found really interesting, though, is that some of these same people have a BOATLOAD of small accessories. Some are displayed, but many are just stashed in closets, bins, or wherever. You know, those absolutely adorable or inexpensive little things we all run across when we're out and about and just have to have but have no clue where we're going to put them. Sometimes we almost feel compelled to buy them because they ARE so inexpensive! I mean, who would pass up a deal like that? :-)

Southern Living Designer Paige Schnell/Tracery Interiors
Photo Laurey W. Glenn/Robbie Caponetto

If there are any of you who have that same dilemma (missing window treatments/rugs/large acessories, but more than your share of small accessories) here is a suggestion. Analyze your space and determine where you still need small accessories and what you need. Not the specific item, necessarily, but generally what would work as far as size, etc.. Make a list and keep it with you when you shop. Every time you bypass one of those absolutely to-die-for little accessories that isn't on your list, take that amount of money and piggy bank it toward window treatments, rugs or a larger accessory that would make a bigger impact in the room. Depending on how many little accessories you normally buy, you might be surprised at how quickly your little cash stash multiplies. Once you've grown your cash stash, you can purchase these items fairly inexpensively at a variety of sources and, as we've seen all over blogland, there are DIY options as well.

pointclickhome.com Designer Monelle Totah/Photo Simon Upton

I know that making a plan for accessorizing takes some of the fun and spontaneity out of the process, BUT if you're on a limited budget and really looking to make an impact in your space, and you DON'T have an area rug or window treatments, or you're missing LARGER accessories, why not forego the instant gratification of the small accessories for the delayed gratification (and much bigger impact) of the larger items? (I'm getting super good at these run-on sentences, aren't I?)

Just saying it's something to think about... What do you think?

Disappointing News

It's come to my attention that there are at least 3 blogs currently harvesting my posts. Disheartening to say the least. I know who they are but won't say because I don't want to give them any exposure. I'm taking steps to remedy the situation.

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

Decorating with Maps

House Beautiful Designer Peter Dunham/Photo Victoria Pearson

I was totally amazed by all of the comments on my last post! Thank you so much! Even though I wanted to post about it because it was out there in the magazine and I at least wanted to say that it was mine, I felt a little weird after hitting publish, like it was kind of a "look at me" post, but none of you made me feel that way at all. (How's that for a run-on sentence?) You rock. (I should have said "our" bench though, because it was definitely a team effort with my husband. Couldn't have made it without him.) The comment that gave me a LOL moment was from Leanne who offered to find all of the copies of the magazine in her area and write my name in them. :-)

House Beautiful Photo by Don Freeman

In case you haven't figured it out yet, this post is inspiration and ideas, large and small, for decorating with maps. If you love maps, you'll probably like it. If not, I'm fairly certain it will be map overload and you may hate it. If you try to visualize something else you love in place of the map in each image, maybe you'll still find something to inspire your decorating. Otherwise, I promise NO MAPS in the next post. :-)

Adding maps as art can help create a pretty vignette. I love the warm colors of this one...

Southern LivingPhoto Robbie Caponetto

and the cool colors of this one (I know. I'm fickle, but they ARE both pretty!)

Trisha Brink Design via flickr

Six vintage maps, framed, create instant wall art.

Country Living photo credit: Steven Randazzo

We've already seen this in a previous post, but I still think it's an interesting way to use map art (or any other art for that matter).

David H. Mitchell for Southern Accents 2005 via House of Turquoise

Rather than framing your map, put it on the wall and hang a frame over it. (diyideas.com)

Large scale maps...
Centsational Girl's warm and cozy game room/lounge


A nautical chart of Long Island in the style of a blueprint

House Beautiful Designer Kim Coleman/Photo James Merrell

I've loved this room that Kimba at ASPTL decorated for her son since the first time I saw it. To see how she created this map art click here.

A map headboard from BHG.com

Papering the walls with maps...

House Beautiful Designer Steven Gambrel/Photo Eric Piasecki

Impress Your Kids created a map wall for her son's room. She shows you how she did it here

Pottery Barn

Map place mats...

Coastal Living Photo Charles Walton IV

Map coasters from San Francisco Chronicle (tutorial on site)

Have you noticed that butterflies are appearing everywhere in decorating? Image Surgery uses maps to create their butterfly art.

A map cupcake tower by Laurie Federico featured at mydiyweddingday.com. This one was obviously for a wedding, but would it have to be? Instructions here.

Kristi at Addicted to Decorating created this globe pendant light. Tutorial on site

Chez Larsson makes a map lampshade. Tutorial here.

Wisteria has a map chest...


And Bombus makes map chairs...

Sasha Andreev (HGTV) created a map rug by by attaching a large map to a piece of linoleum. He adhered the map with spray adhesive and finished it with several coats of polyurethane. He also made a map window shade and shadow box. You can see those here.

Map trays from Carolina Cottage

Art print from StudioLyon

If you like your maps in really small doses, Denise at Living Life Creatively made this cute map bird. She teaches you how to make them here.

So... What do you think? Do you/will you decorate with maps or are you completely overloaded and can't wait to get away from this post? :-)

My Mudroom Bench in BHG publication

Imagine my surprise and excitement when I saw a comment this morning that was left on my DIY Mudroom/Laundry Room Bench post by Holly at Homebody . She said that she had just been at the bookstore looking at magazines and was almost positive that she had seen my bench in a Better Homes and Gardens special interest publication (wasn't sure which one) and wanted to let me know (Thank you, Holly!).

Thinking there must be a newer issue of BHG Do It Yourself magazine than the latest one I had received in the mail, I headed off to Barnes and Noble to check it out. After realizing that their latest DIY magazine was the same as mine, I decided to look in BHG's Spring 2010 issue of 100 Decorating Ideas under $100 and there it was! As you can see, they didn't say it was my bench, but it IS my bench. :-)

I was also excited to see the numbered flower pot project right above it, because it's my blogging buddy Roeshel's.

(EDIT: There were some questions as to how they found my bench and why I wasn't given credit. As to how they found it: Some of you were wondering if they blog hop and I can't answer that. In my case, I had uploaded my bench photo to their site a while ago and had forgotten about it until now. I'm sure that's how they found it, and I'm flattered that they thought it was a project worth noticing. As to why they didn't mention my name like they did for Roeshel's, I'm assuming it must be because I go by PK rather than my full name? That's the only reason I can think of.)

Judith B Designs Giveaway Winner

The winner of the Judith B Designs giveaway is An Eye For Detail. Congratulations! Please e-mail your giveaway choice (see this post for the 5 options) to Judith at Judy(at)JudithBDesigns(dot)com. Enjoy your new jewelry!

Adding Custom Detail with Ribbon

marthastewart.com

Sometimes just a simple, inexpensive detail can make a big impact and take your look from basic to custom in a matter of hours or even minutes. There are many items you can use to embellish, but in this post I'm just going to talk about ribbon.

In this dining room makeover at BHG.com they used ribbon to add this X pattern to chair cushions

and to add a decorative detail around the dining room table.

This is a great ottoman on it's own, but adding the pink ribbon gives it a custom look as well as a little more punch. Simple and inexpensive.

idealhomemagazine.co.uk

I love the way Karen at Strictly Simple Style embellished her window treatments with this design based on a Greek key pattern, using wide black ribbon and iron-on fusible tape. For instructions, go here.

Here's another example of ribbon detail being added to window treatments. If you have white/neutral treatments adding ribbon that coordinates with your color scheme is a great way to tie them in.

houseandhome.com Photo Ted Yarwood

We saw yet another creative way to embellish ready-made window treatments with ribbon in this post.

There are so many ways you can use it to add pizzaz to accent pillows, and it also works great to add detail to bedspreads, shams and bedskirts.

Country Living Designer John Loecke/Photo Lucas Allen

In BHG.com's 3 Easy Slipcovers slideshow, they added black ribbon trim and rhinestones for a custom look.

Add a band of ribbon at the top and bottom of a lampshade to finish it off or completely cover it like they did at craftstylish. Instructions are on their site. The look would really vary depending on the type, size, and color of ribbon and also how many colors were used.

These homeowners painted a 6-inch-wide band of pink around the center of their daughters' bedroom wall, ran brown grosgrain ribbon (held up with white tacks) through the middle, and hot-glued lime green ribbon to the bottom edge.

Cottage Living via myhomeideas.com Photo Jeremy Samuelson

The same homeowners added a variety of ribbon to this bulletin board to create some happy stripes.

Cottage Living via myhomeideas.com Photo Jeremy Samuelson

Wouldn't this be a fun bedskirt for a girl's bedroom? Again, a completely custom look by just adding ribbons to a ready-made white bedskirt. We also saw a fun ribbon window treatment for a girl's bedroom in this post.

BHG.com

I've seen ribbon added to both pictures frames and mats, but I don't have any examples to show you.

A simple vase spruce up which would also work great for candles.

Good Housekeeping Photo Monica Buck

And last, but certainly not least, I had to show you this amazing chair. It's completely upholstered in ribbon! Diana at Fine Diving sewed ribbon together to make a fabric of sorts. Complete tutorial on her site.

Have you added ribbon anywhere in your home, or do you have any other ideas for ways you could use it in home decor?