Window Treatments Without the Designer Price Tag

I have always had a problem completing a room’s design when it comes to the windows.  I love the designer look that you see in all the magazines, in the stores, model homes, and on decorating shows…  I just don’t care for the price tag and the permanantcy of creating a designer look treatment.

Today there are so many options and choices; even the local home improvement stores have tons of accessories to help you create your own designer look!

There are few “rules” to decorating that I follow myself when decorating my own home.  One of my pet peeves though is to pass a home that is nicely landscaped and compliments the colors of the home and then as you look at the windows…  Every window has a different treatment that throws the whole look out the window!  So my first rule to creating a beautiful window treatment is to start with a cohesive look to the outside of the home.  Simply stated, pick a type of shade, blind or sheer to put on every window in the house.  I use bamboo roman shades on all my windows.

Now, if you have been reading any of my blogs, you know I like to make changes all the time because I become bored.  Once you choose the base, then the sky pretty much is the limit! 

Besides all the choices at the home stores for curtain rods, finials, brackets, other choices (these are the ones I always like.. the other choices).  Bamboo poles and branches make good curtain rods.   Those metal art pieces made of rod iron work well with swags.  Tie back brackets work for tie or tab curtain panels instead of curtain rods and can be placed above windows in an arch or wave pattern.

Then there is all the fabric choices!  Okay, we’ve established I like change so this is where I get the most bang for the buck!  I can go from floral, plaid, paisley (my favorite!), colorblock or solid color in an instant!  Not only do I change my window treatment fabrics a lot, I can change them from room to room since I have stayed within five colors as my foundation for decorating my whole house!  Are you still with me?  Panels of fabric can be swags, or valances, or can be used for the intention purpose of panels,

You can get that really expensive look of designer fashions by buying panels in the normal length of 84″ and a second panel and make a panel with the combined two panels into floor puddling to ceiling height lengths at a fraction of the cost!  Not to mention unique one of a kind design!

Are you still reading?  Get up and start your own window designs, it’s that easy!

 

Don’t Want a “Cookie Cutter” Look for Your Home?

You can get some great ideas for decorating your home in magazines, catalogs, tv shows, model homes, even shopping at the mall or in a furniture store.   The problem is the designed spaces are perfect; too perfect.  It’s as though no one even lives in the space and it really doesn’t fit daily living.  That doesn’t mean that you can’t recreate the look and feel to fit your life style. 

If you are furniture shopping to re-do a whole room, don’t buy all the furniture in a day or in one place.  You want to create a room over time, with favorite treasures, memories of a past trip where you found the coolest coffee table you shipped back… 

So how do you get started then you ask?  Start with a journal or idea board to keep thoughts, pages of rooms or pieces of furniture you like.  Go around your home to pull in some of the things you already have to create the new room you want. 

Use items in a different way rather than the way they were meant to be used to create a unique space.   Mix and match colors and prints on fabric to use on windows, pillows, table runners and throws.  Collect various local artists pieces that pulls the colors from the fabrics you’ve chosen.  

This will help create an eclectic look all your own and you can be sure that you won’t have that “Cookie Cutter” look of your next door neighbor.

 

 

 

Being Organized when Life is Crazy!

I know what you are thinking; “How can you possibly be organized if you are always on the go?”  I think the real question is: “How can you not?”    To me clutter is a show stopper, I can not operate in a messy, chaotic place.   So I am going to give you some advice and it may take time to change your ways, but I think you will be better for it if you follow through.  Identify your clutter and determine the best way to manage it.

1)  Take the time (I mean the extra step or two) to put things in their rightful place.  The things you use daily should have a proper place, ie: car keys are always located in the dish next to the door you leave out of.  

2)  Junk mail should be discarded the moment you go through your mail.  Bills should be placed in the bill basket. 

3)  Shoes go to the closet, discarded clothes directly go to the dirty clothes basket.

4)  Unload the dishwasher of clean dishes every morning while coffee is brewing, throughout the day load dirty dishes into the dishwasher.  Run it every night and unload again every morning.

5)  Run a load of clothes daily; this way you never have to spend a whole day “doing laundry.”  Have a dedicated place where you fold items and everytime you pass this location on the way to a room where clean items need to be returned; grab them and put them away.

6)  Have a basket next to the door to place “errand” items in so the next day as you are running out the door you just grab it and go.

7)  Whenever changing out towels, do a little dusting on the way to place them in the dirty laundry basket.

8)  Keep a running grocery list on the frig, this way you won’t forget you finished off the last of the mayo when you need it in your salad!

9)  Lay out the kid’s clothes the night before, have them help pick them out.

Okay, you get the idea.  If you follow my motto; “A place for everything, and everything in it’s place.”  It will be so much easier on you!

 

What does Decorating have to do with a Dinner Party?

Simple…  This is a perfect excuse to create a theme for your next dinner party and go beyond the food you are serving!  

Holidays are always family time and we try to make it special; serving favorite dishes, playing games and just enjoying the time together.  At Easter we associate the holiday with bunnies, duckies, and activities like egg hunts.  It is also the marking of Spring, a time of renewal and reflection.  

Dress your table in it’s Easter best.  A beautiful tablecloth, a throw,  or a flat sheet will work.   As with decorating a room with layers, you decorate a table in layers.  Using a second tablecloth or other fabric; pool it in the center of the table.  Next collect small houseplants, figurines, candles, and even river rock or jelly beans to be arranged as the centerpiece on the table.  Don’t forget to carry this theme to the buffet and other areas of the house where your guests will be!

For a Mexican Fiesta you could use things like: chili peppers, clay pots, Mexican tiles, sombreros….  Pots and hats can be lined with foil or plastic wrap and used for serving food and holding utensils.  The tiles are perfect trivets for the hot dishes.

A seafood buffet looks great with fish-netting, Adirondack chairs, sand, plastic buckets, shovels, and shells.  Blue and white serving ware and fish themed dinnerware adds a finishing touch. 

Have a flair for the tropical?  Those surongs that us gals love to wrap around ourselves make great table coverings.  If you are lucky enough to have palm trees; clip a few fronds to use as place mats.  Grass skirts and more of those surongs (you know you have one in every color) tied around the chairs adds a lot of fun!

One last one and then you are on your way to creating a theme for your next dinner party;  have an elegant affair that you need to host?  No problem!   Costume jewelry can be attached to napkin rings, pooled around bowls filled with flowers floating in water, a mixture of candle sticks with same color candles centered on the table. 

Stretch yourself next time you have a dinner party, pick out music, fabrics and serving ware to match a theme and take it to the next level.  You will have fun doing it and your guests will love it!

 

Home Staging

You’ve seen beautifully decorated rooms on tv, in magazines, even when you walk into a furniture store - it feels so inviting.  And then your eyes refocus on your own room…  no matter what you do, it just doesn’t measure up!

Don’t despair!  You can have that designer styled room, for little money, and you can do it.  Have a little faith in yourself.  Start with a small room.  Go through a couple of catalogs, magazines and tear out pages of rooms you really like.  What elements of those pages caught your eye?   Write your thoughts down and keep these with the pages you have.

Next, clean everything and I mean everything out of the room you are going to stage.  Note to self; “This is a good time to purge!  Get rid of junk, clutter and donate anything you no longer need!”  Part of the process of staging a home is to declutter.  It frees your mind and gives you energy. 

This is also a good time to patch holes, touch up trim work and paint the room.  (Check out my blogs on painting).  Clean the floors, if you have carpeting, steam clean it.    Now don’t you feel better? 

One key element that is very important throughout this whole process is “Less is Best!” 

Once you have all the cleaning and repairs done it is time to start the staging.  Start with the largest piece of furniture that is going to be in the room.  This will be your focal point.  Add the next piece(s); arranging them in a pleasing layout.  You want the furniture arranged to maximize the space in the room and be inviting. 

The window treatments and wall decorations are next.  Refer back to your pages if need be.  Wall arangements are similar to furniture placement.  Lay the paintings, photos, mirrors - whatever you are using out on the floor and arrange the pieces until you are pleased with the results.  Similar pieces for a cohesive look and spacing are very important! 

Once you are ready to hang the items:  make sure that the center of the arrangement is eye level; 60″ to 70″ above floor, unless placing above furniture, then the bottom of frame should be 8″ to 10″ above back of furniture.  Start with the center piece and work around it until you have it all in place.  Step back and admire your work - you deserve it!

Adding floor plants or other little greenery are the last touches to finish your new designer staged room.  You will gain confidence and energy from this room - now go conquer the next one!

 

Double Duty or Multi-Functional

I love to decorate!  I eat, sleep and dream in HGTV!  I get some really great ideas and always want to change things up around our home.  I get bored with the same old things I see everyday (I work from home, so that makes it even worse!).  I get in one of my modes… I start pacing around the house, “shopping” for items I need for my new project.  My husband has tried to slow this process down by purchasing large furniture pieces that I can not move on my own… doesn’t work though!

So you are probably wondering… how does this relate to the Blog title “Double Duty?”   Easy!  It’s taking an item made for a specific purpose and changing it up to fit another!  I will share a few of my favorites; so hang on:

A table runner makes a great window valance with just a few cafe’ curtain clips.  A new window look is just a runner away! 

Window panels can be fan folded and looped thru larger rings for a updated swag look.  Use the tie backs (that come with some panels) as rings to create a different swag look.  These tie backs can also be used for napkin rings at your dinner table to coordinate a whole look. 

Window panels can also be made into blinds; go to a fabric store and purchase tape with little loops/pull strings attached.  Sew onto the back of panels - you have blinds!

Bamboo window blinds are a great wainscotting for a small bedroom or breakfast bar in a kitchen once you remove the hardware and add trim moulding for a finished look.

A framed mirror makes a great table top; use a plant stand for the base.  This makes a nice sidetable or nightstand.  A glass top and two taller plant stands for the base makes a great foyer table, sofa table or even a “headboard” for a bed.

Got an old dresser stashed somewhere?  Take it out of storage and dust it off.  Beat up? Paint smattered or just needs a new finish?  (Check out my faux painting blog.)  A dresser makes a great foyer table; a bonus is the storage you gain!  A small one in a bathroom can double as linen “closet.”  Our house does not have any linen closets so a dresser works well.

This same dresser could make a nice bathroom vanity!  Modify the drawers to make them into doors and this dresser could be used as an entertainment center, a bar…. 

An old rickety wooden ladder (or two) and wood planks, cabinet fronts for the shelves, make a great etagere or bookcase. 

A kitchen table can double as a desk in an office, a work surface in a sewing room.  Modify the legs and it can be reworked into a coffee table.

 An old wooden door can be made into a headboard.  Use two sawhorses as table legs and the door as a table top.  Take two doors, cut them in half, hinge together and you have a room divider. 

You know that crib you or your mom is holding on to?   It can be made into a bench for a garden or foyer!  Same with an old headboard and footboard.

Notice that a lot of these ideas can be modified, broken down to be stashed away, or returned to original use.  Your imagination is your only limitation!

 

I love the sound of water bubbling…

I love fountains, ponds and the bubbling sounds of water cascading.  And I love to create little garden settings with tiny fountains using planters picked up at any home improvement store. 

The fountains can be any shape - square, round, urn and any size that will hold a fountain pump.   (Refer to my blog on water fountains to get the list of items needed to create a fountain).  You will also need to buy a clear plastic liner used for catching water under pots; one that will be large enough to sit at the lip of planter you are using for the fountain.

Drill a bunch of holes in the plastic liner to allow water to flow back down to the pump.  Place pump on a brick or small flat rock for stability.  Set the plastic liner on lip of planter, pour layer of pea gravel for base of landscaped garden.  I collect rocks and shells (see my blog on “Are you a Collector?) and I like to use my finds in my landscaped fountains.

I also like to use things like: driftwood, pitchers that I can drill a hole in for the water to trickle out of, aquarium ceramics to create scenes, greenery…  Okay you get the idea.  You are only limited by your own imagination!

 

The Sound of Water (or is that Music?)

There is something soothing about the sound of moving water.  I never knew how drawn to water a person can be; until I got the bug!  I had just moved to Oklahoma and was not in the mood to unpack all my boxes.  Robert had come across a flier about some pond tour - it sounded like fun; let’s go!  (Anything is better than unpacking, right?) 

So we dropped everything, got in the car and went to the nearest garden store and picked up a copy of the “Pond Tour” book.  What’s a pond tour you ask?  It’s just like the popular garden tours in other regions.  We drove around, walked the ponds, talked with the homeowners and after a long afternoon spent avoiding the unpacking - headed home to dream of our own pond and garden.   (You didn’t think I was heading home to unpack; did you?)

The tour book had directions to build a small water feature; it was so simple and I had just the perfect place to put one in our backyard!  This was the beginning of my obsession with ponds and water features. 

 Water gardening is easier than ever, and even if you are an amateur, building a garden pond is limited only by your imagination!  Let me share with you a couple that I have created. 

The first one came out of the pond tour guide and uses one of those small pond liners (found in a garden store).  You will need:

pre-formed pond liner (about the size of a medium planter), pump, shovel, a level, a clean brick, pipes, valves, and fittings, bag of river rock, larger rocks for edging, flexible liner, chicken wire, bag of sand, wire snippers

Dig a hole deeper and wider than the pre-formed liner.  Using the level and sand; make sure bottom of hole is level before placing the liner in the hole.  Back-fill liner to ensure it is supported and stable.  Set a brick inside liner to raise the fountain pump above the bottom of pond.  This helps keep debris from clogging pump.  Note:  you need to plan your location close to an outdoor outlet; the pump requires electricity!

Measure length of rigid pipe for the fountain height from top of pump to the surface of the ground, plus six inches.  With the pump sitting on the brick, attach rigid pipe into pump.  Cut chicken wire into four foot squares to place a couple of layers on top of liner with pipe in a center hole.  This will support the covering over pond and keep fountain centered. Use a flexible pond liner that you have made slits in for water to penetrate and a larger one for the pipe.  This liner will further keep debris out of your water feature and make it more maintenance free! 

Place river rock at edges of liner and chicken wire to anchor it and work in and around the fountain pipe until ground area is completely covered.  Fill water feature with water and plug in the pump once liner is filled.  Place larger rocks around the pipe to stablize the fountain and the water makes the sound that is pleasing to you.  I know this sounds really complicated, but I promise it isn’t; it’s also very rewarding!

Check back again for another water feature for indoors!  I can’t give you all my ideas at once and remember I told you water features are addicting!

 

Faux Painting

It took me quite awhile to take the plunge to paint color on my walls;  I had lived with white walls for a long time (see “White Walls Versus Colored Walls”).  Thank goodness the jump from color to Faux Painting did not!

My first attempt at faux painting was the typical sponge affect; it is great for hiding any traffic wear that kids can afflict in bathrooms.  I had talked with a paint expert about my plan and he suggested using three “like” colors to achieve the best results.    You also need to use a glaze medium when doing any faux technique.  And, of course, you need a sea sponge!

The three like colors I used were from one beige paint strip; a light, a medium and a dark.   Okay, I know what you are thinking!  Beige is not white; besides you have to start somewhere!   

Faux painting is a layered effect to create texture and it takes time to accomplish.  I suggest starting your first project with any faux technique in a small room or on one wall.  Prepping is like any other painting project; you need to tape, lay down plastic or paint tarps on floors and furniture.  Remove any outlet covers, light fixtures, pictures, and move any furniture away from walls being painted.

When sponging;  your first layer is the base coat in the medium color.  You need to allow this to dry overnight.  Next step; cut the sea sponge into manageable pieces, you also need a bucket of water for the next two layers and paper towels or rags.  The paint used in this and the next layer need to be mixed with the faux glaze medium; please follow directions by manufacturer.

A couple of notes here: 

Try the faux technique on a piece of wall board or plywood first to get the feel for it.

If working by yourself, work a small area at a time.

Don’t take a break in the middle of a wall, you need to keep working a wall while the medium is wet!

Step back to assess work frequently.

Onto the second layer!  This layer is the darkest color - yes, the darkest!  Using the sea sponge (dampened with water, but not soaking wet), dip into the dark paint/faux mixture and apply to wall in pouncing fashion.  Repeat this step until all areas are covered.  You will need to clean the sponge in water frequently to keep a consistent look throughout this process.

Again, allow this layer to dry overnight.  The next layer is the lightest color mixed with the faux glaze medium as well.  Same technique, different day!  Repeat the sponge pouncing to cover all the walls. 

We are almost there!  The last step to what I’m sure you are thinking “is sheer madness” by this point… Take the base coat color (the medium color) mixed with the faux glaze medium, along with the other two paint/glaze mixtures and fix any spots that don’t quite look right until you get the desired affect you are looking for.  That’s it!  I know it sounds very complicated and time consuming, but my very first attempt looked great.  Everyone told me it looked like wallpaper!  That was the best compliment to me.

 

101 Ways to Use Baskets (cont.)

Okay, did you think I would really stop before I reached 101 ways?  Sorry, not going to happen because I love baskets!  Let’s see, I think we are still in the kitchen: 

28 a long rectangular one will hold paper dinner napkins

29 another for beverage napkins

30 roll your linen napkins and tablecloths; place together in a  basket

Just a note: rolling your linens prevents those ugly creases that always need to be ironed out before you can set your table for a dinner party and your linens will last longer if rolled!

31  a large basket can hold a set of glasses; pull it out for Happy Hour

32 place several herb pots in a plastic lined basket and set on a window ledge

33 large ones can hide mis-matched planters to hold your larger house plants

34 pool side; a laundry basket will hold rolled beach towels nicely

35 another to catch wet beach towels

36 a large one turned upside down works great as a portable cocktail table

37 cassettes, CD’s and DVD collections

38 board games

39 a picnic basket works great for carrying blankets

40 craft supplies

41 pencils, crayons, and markers each in their own basket

Are you still doubting that I can list 101 ways to use baskets?  Or have I lost you again back there somewhere?  Catch up, we have a way to go yet! 

42 in the office, a picnic basket can double as a file cabinet - it’s portable!

43 a bill paying center

44 have a dedicated ”In” basket

45 and outgoing mail

46 in the car (yes, in the car), a picnic basket can be a catch-all!

47 a large basket with a hinged lid can be a toy chest and double as a bench

48 put together a “guest” basket for overnight guests, toothbrush, travel sized toiletries, paperback book, pen and staitionary

49 another basket for individual sized snacks in guest room or media room

Have you noticed we are about halfway there!  Hey, are your eyes glazed over?  You will never look at a basket the same way and I bet you will think twice before throwing one away.