DIY - Paint Chip Art

To say that I use google on a regular basis is an understatement really.  I'm not ashamed to say that I am a full fledged googler.  My family makes fun of me because I'll often google whole phrases at a time but the cool thing is I usually always find what I'm looking for.  I was searching google (is googling a real word?) looking for an appropriate picture for my last post about paint chips and I found some really fun DIY projects.  Check out some of my faves.  Click on the picture to find out more about how to create it yourself.

Easter Garland - from modern parents messy kids.

  

Paint Chip Wall Art - from life, crafts & whatever

Framed paint chip art - from young house love

Paint Chip Calendar - from pinterest

Wow!  Hope you are as inspired as I am!  I'm thinking it might be time to hit my local home improvement store.  Now to figure out how to get that many paint chips home without causing a commotion...

Happy crafting.

Picking Paint Colours

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So you want to add a little pizazz to your space.  The easiest way to do that is with paint.  We've all been there, right?!  You head down to your local paint store full of excitement and there it is.  The giant wall of colour choices.  Where on earth is one supposed to start anyway?  After all, there isn't just white but there are 25 different shades of white - some with yellow undertones, green undertones and even red undertones.  It can be so intimidating for sure!  I haven't painted a ton in my life but I have picked up a few valuable tips along the way to help narrow down the choices.

1.  start with the experts - I've found that many designers have a few colours that they use over and over.  I figure they have go-to colours for a reason so why not start there.  Candice Olson recently partnered with Benjamin Moore and put together her top 5 favourite neutrals.  They are a great place to start when trying to decide on specific colours and let's face it they are just plain beautiful.  Click the picture below to see more about her great picks.

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2.  use the fabrics from the room as a jumping off point 

This is fabric I'm considering for my dining room chairs.  The lighter blue and the white were "pulled out" of the fabric and used as the paint colours on the wall.  I think this fabric would look fun as chair upholstery and tie the whole dining area together without looking too matchy-matchy.  You could then pull out the darker blue/black and use that colour as accents in the room - candle holders and picture frames would be a great place to start. 

3.  don't be bashful - use those suggestion cards at the paint store.  Hey, there's no shame in using these little booklets and they are a really great way to know what colours to put together. (unfortunately, I don't have a pictures of one of those little gems).

Here is the MOST IMPORTANT TIP ever!  

Always, Always, Always paint a large square sample of paint on the wall in the room where it will be used.

I can't tell you how many blue colours we went through before we decided to go with Cloudy Sky in our bedroom.  Seeing the paint in the actual lighting of the room will bring out its undertones.  Believe it or not, the undertones that come out can actually change the colour.  At first, I wanted to use the ever popular Cloud White by Benjamin Moore.  Once I painted it on the wall I quickly saw that, in our lighting, the paint turned light green.  Uh...that wasn't the look I was going for.  I eventually settled on Atrium White because it stayed white in our lighting.  

Save your time and money - do a test patch!

Happy paint picking everyone!  I promise there are more pictures to come but there's a bunch of furniture in the way so it may take a bit.  Patience - at least that's what I keep telling myself anyway.

Our Master Bedroom - In Progress

Here is our master bedroom - in progress.  I thought I had some before photos from the very beginning but I guess not so I'll have to start here.

pillow shams, bed & bedside tables - Potterybarn;
lamps - Target;  duvet cover - Ikea 

This is what you see when you first walk in the door.  The bed is pulled away from the wall so I could finish painting.  It will be pushed back against the wall shortly so we can move past the foot of the bed.  Our room is SMALL so it's difficult to get a good whole room shot.  I'll have to see what I can do once the furniture pieces are back where they belong.

The problem - the lamps are way too small, cute, but way too small.  the windows need some kind of window treatment to add softness and warmth and I'd like to add some texture & pattern to add interest.  

The dreaded ceiling fan.  This is an absolute MUST where we live especially in the summer.

   

The problem -  it hangs down almost six inches then the lights hang down from there.  It's just plain too low and the dark colour really makes it stand out and not in a good way.  I'd like to change out the fan for a white one that is mounted as flush as possible to the ceiling and maybe have one globe-type light in the center.  I'll see what I can find.

dresser - Potterybarn

Looking the the left of the feature wall - Mr. D's "side".

The problem - clutter accumulates on the dresser top, there is NOTHING interesting to look at over there except a HUGE expanse of freshly painted white wall.  

Looking to the right of the feature wall - my "side".

The problem - clutter accumulates here too, there is NOTHING interesting to look at here either.  On the positive side, the wall is finally painted and the patch from the new bathroom doors is GONE!  That is reason to celebrate all in itself!

Basically, we need to add some warmth to our bedroom, remove the clutter and add some colour too.  I'm excited about adding things to the walls and finding some fun fabrics to add dimension to the space.  

I'll keep you posted!

Living Room Progress Report

Well, here we are again.  So much has happened in the last week-and-a half that I don't know where to start.  Mr. D decided to take a week off work and start getting ready for our room switch-er-roo but little did I know that the week would end in us ripping, well Mr. D ripping off all of the old molding in the boys' new room.  Phew, it's been a whirlwind of painting, sanding, filling and moving junk stuff from one room to another. Not only that, but Mr. D felt so enthusiastic that he wanted to get our bedroom painted too!  WOW!  I'll post more about these transformations at a later time but let's just say they have been up to three years in the making.  THREE years people.  The hilarious thing is that Mr. D up and decided that he wanted to get it ALL done in one weekend...with a toddler running around... and a pregnant wife who can't really bend in the middle anymore.  Needless to say, we pressed on and it's almost done.  Almost!  I can't wait to show the boys' room but that will have to wait for another time.  We are still waiting on some trim work to be finished. 

OC-16 Cedar Key by Benjamin Moore 

Instead, let's turn our attention to the almost forgotten living room.  This living room update has been a long couple of months in developing.  Actually, it's been almost two years in the making.  You see, we painted one singular wall of the living space a wonderful and warm colour called Cedar Key by Benjamin Moore just over two years ago before little D was born.  It was delightful and made the room start to feel just a touch brighter.  


The other three walls were the old olive, no, pea soup green.  Now, I have nothing against pea soup green but this particular shade was making our house feel like a cave. We're talking DARK people!!!  I actually like the opposite of dark in my home.  I'm a bring on the bright sun, open the curtains and turn on the lights kind of gal.  So, fast forward to last weekend and you can understand my surprise when Mr. D suggested that we paint the living room ALL Cedar Key.  I did a little happy dance inside and ran for my paintbrush.  Well, its done and it looks wonderful.  It's bright, cheery and makes our chocolate sofas pop.  It makes things that much more exciting to update because the "envelope" of the room provides a great foundation.  The carpet is another story.  We won't go there.




The picture on the left is very similar to the two chocolate coloured sofas we have in our space...minus the very interesting throw pillows.




Part of the reason why things have been dragging a little is that I've been very indecisive picking fabrics for throw pillows and the ottoman.  I'm not really sure why choosing fabrics has been a sticking point for me because fabric is a realm that I'm really comfortable with.  I think it's because there are so many great fabrics and patterns out there now that its so difficult to narrow down the choices.  I think I've narrowed it down to the fabrics I really love...for now anyway.  Here's what I'm looking at.

1.  white curtains - Ikea
2.  zigzag pillow - source unknown
3.  wide stripe pillow - Potterybarn
4.  damask fabric - fabric.com


I'm still wavering about colour but I've always loved the crispness of light silvery blue with white.  I'm also really into wide stripes because I think they add an element of fun.  I'm not sure I'm going to find the exact fabric I want to I will probably have to piece things together to make the stripes I want.  I'm still debating the fabric choice for the ottoman because little D plays there ALL the time.  Right now, the pleather is extremely easy to clean so I need to keep that in mind.  There are so many more elements but I have to pace myself.  I get so tired these days so my new "mantra" is one thing at a time.  Right now I'm shifting my focus to getting the painting and finishing done.  After that, we're back in business in the living room and those pesky curtain rods will be the first to go up! 


Until then, happy painting or fabric picking or whatever projects you are working on.  Oh, and I'd love to hear about them so drop me a line and tell me ALL about them.


Ciao!

Blog Love - Recent Discoveries

Hey everyone.  There are those times in life when you are going along, minding your own business when all of a sudden...something comes along that just clicks.  It fits, it works and it's inspirational.  Ok, so maybe that's a little dramatic.  This past weekend, thanks to that amazing little invention called DVR, I was introduced to Mr. Goodwill Hunting.  Some of you may be saying "honey, get with the program.  That's old news."  Others of you may be saying "Mr. who?"  Well, let me introduce you.

This is Mr. Goodwill Hunting and his blog is right here.

photo courtesy of rashoncarraway.com

He is not bashful about his love for thrifting and has found some amazing pieces for decorating his spaces and others too.  Recently, he was on the Nate Berkus show and outfitted a livingroom with all of its major pieces for under $300.  Check out his blog and be inspired!  There is hope to have a great looking space without having to spend an arm and a leg to get it!  Boy, that's great news for this gal's budget.  I'm still exploring his blog but I think his suits are so fun!  Anyway, I couldn't let any more time go by without sharing this fun find with you!

Happy exploring!

Impromptu Break

Two months ago life was just beginning to get really interesting (and really busy).  As my last post before this impromptu teeny, tiny break suggests I was getting all ready for Christmas.  It was going to be the BEST Christmas in a long while.  Our little family of three was traveling across the country to spend the holiday with my family and I was especially excited for little D to really get to know ALL (9) of his cousins for the first time since, well, ever.  I was so nervous about the flight and how little D would do but I was armed with my back-pack-of-goodies.  The flight went well and little D slept through good chunks of both flights but I thought it was weird that he didn't really eat anything.  I just reassured myself that flying kinda threw off his little tummy.  We waited at the airport for our ride and it quickly became clear as to why little D hadn't eaten.  Looking back we realized that he was probably ill before we left but hadn't shown any signs.  That was just the beginning...that flu spread to Mr. D (since he held little D most of the flight time) and then to each one of my sister's family members one by one.  As each person started falling ill we crossed our fingers that we would all be healthy by Christmas Day.  I'll spare you the details...nobody needs to know those...but I will say that once the flu was done a nasty cold set in.  We ended up bringing it home with us, our little family of three, with matching antibiotics to boot!  Whew!  It was the most eventful Christmas and it flew by way too fast.  The rest of January was spent recovering and getting back to regular life in this time zone.  Oh, and on top of it all, we are expecting little boy #2 in June so that added just a tad to my ability to harbour that nasty cold.  Everything together made for one tired mamma so I made sure that rest and getting better were at the top of the list before anything else.  Unfortunately, my blog took a back seat but I'm excited to say that I'm back!

I wish I had pictures to share but that also took a back seat so I'll leave you with some of my nursery ideas instead.  How fun is THAT - 1 room, two boys and countless new ideas!  I can't wait to get started.  And then, jump back to the living room to continue what I've started there.  And then jump over to the kitchen - Mr. D discovered the Food Network and now we have added our kitchen to the decorating to-do list.  Things may seem a little scattered and bounce from place to place but stick with me!  It'll be fun for sure!  

Here are those boy's room ideas (I know some of these pics are girly but trust me, my room will be FAR from girly).  I'm thinking a really great pale, warm grey for the walls - something like this from madebygirl.blogspot.com .

These stripes by teamturnbow are a possibility and the lime/turquoise accents are definitely worth exploring.

Add a little navy with pops of lime green and turquoise.  Something like this would be fun but I think I'll look for something other than polka-dots.  Check out more pics from this room at babylifestyles.com .

This navy carpet is wonderful and would add such a great graphic element to the room.  I love the coral accents too but that will have to wait for another time and another room.  Head over to sarah catherine design to check out more fabulous pics of this great room.

Well, these are a few ideas that have been rolling around in my mind's eye.  I am so excited to get started but there are a few things that need to happen first.  We are switching our home office with the boys' room so we will be cleaning, organizing and packing before paint goes on the walls.  It's going to be so hard to wait but it'll be worth it in the end. 

Happy decorating everyone!

Free Christmas Printables from JDC

I've shared this amazing blog with you before but I just couldn't resist telling you about what's going on over at Jones Design Company.  Emily, the blog's creator, has been offering some great free Christmas printables and I couldn't wait to share them with you.

Christmas gift tags

Christmas art print

Christmas Party Invitations

Christmas Gift List

Click on the links in each title to find out how to print these fun Christmas pages.  You've got to check out the rest of this great blog.  It's SO inspiring!  I think I have a bit of a soft spot because Emily is from the Pacific Northwest and I always love to see what's happening over in my old neck of the woods!

Happy printing!   

  

...one more thing...you've got to check out Emily's "What I wore" section.