My Home Redux

Beautiful Bathroom Vanities from Dressers or Tables

I have posted about this topic before.  It's a great way to have a distinctive bath (typically powder room) but save big on the fixtures.  Literally, you can pick up an old dresser or a table at garage sales, flea markets, eBay, and estate sales for a fraction of what you would pay for a new vanity. The look can be as elegant or rustic as you want AND be totally unique.

Tables like this are extra easy because it's open at the bottom. Just cut out for the bowl (follow the template included) and the holes (if necessary) for the faucet.  Hook up your plumbing.  Note the clever solutions of using a large basket to hold towels.

Dressers are a bit more difficult because they usually have drawers to contend with to fit in your plumbing. You can cut out part of the inner drawer, leaving the face outside. Adhere permanently or use magnets or door hardware.  In either case, you'll have a one-of-a-kind bathroom fixture!

[Editor note:  Photo is courtesy of A Life's Design. ]

 

Kitchen Makeover for Less than $1200

Here's a great example of how you can completely transform your kitchen on a tiny budget. Paint, hardware, and flooring can go a long way if you're willing to do some work yourself.

See how this kitchen was transformed for only $1200.

[Editor Note: Photo from www.freshhomeideas.com]

Custom area rug at a low, low price

Area rugs can be pricey. Especially for large or odd-sized ones. Getting a carpet bound is expensive.

But now you can get custom, bound carpets rugs at a fraction of the price.

First, get a carpet remnant at a local carpet store or a dealer that resells remnants. (Search online for retailers in your area.)  Find what you want. Bring it home. Cut it to size using a carpet knife for a clean edge.

Then use Instabind, a pair of scissors, and a hot glue gun to finish it.

See Instabind.com here and watch their videos. Easy, inexpensive, beautiful as seen in photo above.

How to Combine Different Decorating Styles

This topic was suggested by a reader who wrote:

Dear Julie,

I am trying to blend a old world wine country style and an arts and crafts kind of style in my kitchen and dining room.  My home was decorated in the more Mediterranean look and I inherited the arts and crafts items from a friend.  I have tried to incorporate the two but it looks choppy.  Any ideas? Thanks for any help.

Sincerely,
Shelley

Sounds baffling at first, doesn't it. But not really.

First, you need balance. To avoid one piece in the room sticking out like a sore thumb, you need a balance between the two styles. A weighting close to 50/50 is probably best, but you could also skew it up to 80/20. You just don't want one lonely piece by itself. So mix and match your pieces and furniture.

Second, you need some unifying element. Color is the easiest. You could have a neutral throughout the room and then one or two accent colors. Use these colors with all pieces - on both chairs of mixed styles. Or put a red throw pillow on the Mediterranean chair and red runner or picture frame on the arts and crafts table. Now, the red becomes a unifier bridging the gap between the other two styles.

In this case, if you don't use too ornate Mediterranean pieces but rather a bit rustic with wood and iron, you should be able to blend them. I wouldn't throw in a third style, though, like a modern glass table, for example.

At some time or another in life, we need to blend styles, just remember to balance them and find a unifying element. Might be appropriate to dealing with different types of people too, eh?

Tips on How to Organize Your Home

A dear reader and friend, Cheryl, asked for an article on organization. Here you go!

I'm not organized. I confess. Actually, I am organized but no one could tell by my piles. I'm a piler. Bill pile. School pile. Coupon pile. Things I should probably read someday pile. I need to see it to remember it. Out of site is out of mind ... forever.  But clutter is ugly. No decorator ever says to first throw a lot stuff around. So how can you organize your stuff without forgetting it, to be able to find it again, and to make your house look great in the meantime.s

Since is so NOT an expertise of mine, I've scoured the Internet for great articles.

This article is wonderful. It's about how to actually throw stuff away so you can organize it. How many times have you gone through piles only to realize that if you'd thrown 75% of it out, 90% of your problem would have been solved.  Read here to find the strength to just pitch it.

Garages: a part of the house designed to store cars and now houses everything but. Here are some tips to make your garage usable again.

My bathroom is decorated with soaps, toothbrushes, and hair care products.  I won't be posting photos of that anytime soon. But here are some ideas to organize all those items  you need in the bathroom without letting them take over the room.

Closets. I have a modular wire system in my closet. It allows for shoes, shelves, drawers, and long and short hanging racks. This is one area of mine that's actually pretty organized. Here are more tips for your closet.

Here are 25 ideas for improving the storage and organization of your kitchen.

I read a quote once, I believe attributed to Phyllis Diller, that said:  Cleaning up after children is like shoveling in a blizzard. How true. So organizing kid's rooms poses a unique challenge. Here are some lovely photos and ideas of how to do just that. (I personally would love to find lockers for my boys like the one in the photo above.)

As long as you don't have to organize all of these ideas, you're ready to tackle uncluttering and organizing your home.

[Editor Note:  The photo is from www.hgtv.com]

How to Revitalize Deck, Patio, and Lawn Chairs

My deck furniture is at least eight years old. Obviously, they are out in the elements every hour of every day. The sun and weather had taken their toll, making the vinyl straps on my chairs and chaises faded.  So I used some spray on protectant designed for tires. I sprayed it on, let it dry, and voila. The chairs look nearly brand new - dark, shiny, and dare I say, lustrous. The chaises have born the brunt of it, so they may need a second coat, but it's quite an improvement. See the button below to learn more about No Touch Shine spray or buy some for your deck, patio, or lawn furniture.

 

4 Lessons I Learned Sealing my Deck

I finally finished sealing my deck. This was a process I started in August and just finished in mid-November. During the adventure, I learned four lessons. Here they are:

1) Powerwashing is more difficult to do, longer to complete, and messier than I anticipated.  What I thought would be a couple hour job turned into an eight hour marathon. By the end, I was drenched, cold, tired, and hungry. Sawdust covered the entire deck and part of the house.  It's no surprise I didn't have the courage to come back to this for nearly three months.

2) Wood weathers really quickly. It seemed like hours. But certainly after a week or two. Much less a couple of months. Since it had taken me so much time to get back to this project after power-washing it,  I now needed to clean the wood to remove the weathering that had formed.

3) Wood cleaners are different even if they're called the same thing. I used two brands of brighteners and cleaners. And they were different. One caused a slight bleaching action. The other just removed the weathering. Lesson learned:  Use the same product throughout. My excuse:  I didn't buy enough the first time and ran out to the nearest store - not the same store - when I needed more.

4) Rollers are fast to apply stain/sealer but lead to a less uniform coat. This was truly faster than brushing the entire deck. But you get some lap marks and areas that aren't as dark. I even did a second coat (We'll see how that holds up over the winter. The directions didn't preclude doing it, but the rep at the store didn't recommend it).  Frankly, after all of the time required and taking two additional weekends after the power-washing torture to clean and seal the deck, there was no way I was going to use a brush. Perfectionism would have to wait for a different project.

So is the deck perfect? No.  Is it much better looking? Oh, yes.  Is the wood protected?  Absolutely.  And that is the most important question. 

Will I hire this out next time?  If the bank account allows, you betcha!

How to Create Fall Art

As Autumn begins to display her vivid foliage, it's a great time to bring those beautiful colors inside your home. One wonderfully easy way is to create Fall art. A few simple steps and a week or two of time will yield a lovely bit of Fall you can bring out during the season or show all year.

Simply frame one bright leaf or a collection. Here are step-by-step instructions you can use to create your own art from Alina Bradford at eHow.com.

[Editor Note:  Photo from Alina Bradford at eHow.com]

How to Revive and Recolor Your Upholstery

Got stained upholster? An ugly padded chair?  Now, you can paint it. Yes, paint.

The chairs above were painted to the lovely white color you see.

This clever woman painted them using textile medium and acrylic paint. The medium allows the fabric to take the paint without getting stiff. It also makes it washable and prevents running and bleeding.  Use a 2:1 paint to textile medium mixture.  And should  you stain it again, just repaint. Easy. Love it!

Read how she did it and two other options in this great article.

[Editor Note:  Thanks Maisie for use of the picture too!]

How to Decorate with Books

Books are a great decorating accessory. They're plentiful, inexpensive, and versatile. Of course, you want to decorate with hardcover books. Leather bound may be the right look or colorful covers and spines.  Scour estate sales, garage sales, used bookstores and more if you want to find the right styles. Here are a few ideas of how you can decorate with books.

1) Bookshelves. Of course, you use books on bookshelves, but don't just cram books in. Arrange by size or color. Vary the heights. Lay some down on their sides while others stand up vertically.

2) Color.  Display a collection of books on shelves, mantels, and more by color. Group blues, reds, hot pinks, golds in groups and then segregate into colorful groups.

3) Tables. Casually lay a few books on top of a table. Lean a few under the top in the storage or display areas.  Scatter across a large coffee table.

4) Cookbooks. Use cookbooks in open kitchen cabinets, island ends, or on top of countertops.

5) Border a room. Fill a shelf 18 inches from the ceiling with books for interest, warmth, and to create a studious or library look.

There are more ways you can use books in your decorating. I've even seen filling a non-working fireplace with them.  Just let your imagination go. What ideas do you have?