Fun shelf paper site

I've been searching for some fun patterned shelf paper lately for a project I'm working on in the bedroom. I was really disappointed in the limited selection in my local stores but once again my favorite bloggers came to my rescue.

This week's sponsor love post at Young House Love featured a site called Chic Shelf Paper. Seriously, Petersiks...were you reading my mind? Awesome!!

I'm still working my way through the many awesome patterns available but you can be this site has gone into my bookmarks list. I can envision this site being helpful for other things, too, like backing bookcases to make them more interesting to DIY artwork for my gallery frames. I love me some fun graphic prints and this site is full of them at super-low prices.

What are some of your favorite places to shop for fun, inexpensive decorating and organizing items?

Lots of work, but not much blogging

I can't believe it's been 5 months since I last posted to this blog. The end of 2011 was rather chaotic for me so blogging feel by the wayside, but I am proud to say that working on my apartment decor, organization, and fashion did not. In fact, when I re-read my last post about the "to-do" list I was floored by how many of those things I had actually accomplished. I'll be updating with detailed posts (and pictures!) over the coming weeks but here's the same list updated with what I've actually accomplished.

Dining room:

• Find a fun fabric and make a table runner. (I used mirror tiles instead of fabric)


• Bring the curio in the corner back to my mother. (it's hers but she lent it to me) - I put it in the attic instead. She's not ready to take it back yet, but I had to get it out of the room.


• Get a small Expedit shelf and wine rack for the corner to create a little bar and dining room supply cabinet for linens, napkin rings, etc. - Done! I am most proud of this project.
  

Kitchen:

• Replace the prints over the laundry closet door with a decal. - In the ordering process for the decal now but a mock-up is currently on the wall.


• Purge and reorganize cabinets with only what I need and use. - Mostly done


• Accessorize above the cabinets with something more attractive.- Waiting for an upcoming kitchen remodel to do this one

Guest Room/Office:

• Make a larger fabric magnetic board to replace current corkboard. - Done!


• Get a third file folder for my active file baskets. - Done!


• Secure the magnetic strip holding my supplies with Command Adhesive strips. (The screws it came with aren't enough for the strength of the magnets in my supply containers!) - Done!


• Finish filling the picture frames on the display shelf. - Done!


• Clear out the closet/clutter and donate stuff to Goodwill. - In progress


• Sell my old desk and chair on Craigslist. - Done!
  

Living Room:

• Finish painting the TV wall and the edges around the other walls. - Done!


• Add a self or artwork in the space above the TV (between the bookcases)


• Find a home for larger books/binders and re-accessorize the last bookshelf. - Done

Bedroom:

• Put duvet insert back in to puff up the bed. - Done!


• Paint and re-organize the closet. - Reorg done, decided not to paint


• Take down the white curtain panels and paint the back wall. - Done!


• Find art for over the bed. - Opted to leave it blank

That's way more than I would have told you I've done in the last 5 month if you asked me. I'm proud of how much progress I've made. There's still some things to do, but the place is finally starting to feel like a real reflection of who I am and who I aspire to be.

Decorating To-Do List

I think most people who are into decor and DIY have a constant running list of to-do projects. I know my favorite house bloggers John and Sherry at YHL do so I feel less bad about the length of my list, especially since this is a hobby and not a full time job for me. But I do think it's helpful to keep a master list running so that when I have some spare time I can find something to knock off. This may not be a complete list, but it'll be a brain dump of everything I can think of at the moment:

Dining room:

• Paint chair legs to match the wood finish on my new table.


• Find a fun fabric and make a table runner.


• Bring the curio in the corner back to my mother. (it's hers but she lent it to me)


• Get a small Expedit shelf and wine rack for the corner to create a little bar and dining room supply cabinet for linens, napkin rings, etc.

Kitchen:

• Replace the prints over the laundry closet door with a decal.


• Purge and reorganize cabinets with only what I need and use.


• Accessorize above the cabinets with something more attractive.

Guest Room/Office:

• Make a larger fabric magnetic board to replace current corkboard.


• Get a third file folder for my active file baskets.


• Secure the magnetic strip holding my supplies with Command Adhesive strips. (The screws it came with aren't enough for the strength of the magnets in my supply containers!)


• Finish filling the picture frames on the display shelf.


• Secure the desk shelf to its brackets.


• Find or build a cabinet for under the desk to hold the shredder and external hard drive. (Will have the added benefit of making the desk more stable.


• Clear out the closet/clutter and donate stuff to Goodwill.


• Sell my old desk and chair on Craigslist.

Living Room:

• Finish painting the TV wall and the edges around the other walls.


• Add a self or artwork in the space above the TV (between the bookcases)


• Sell existing sofa/loveseat. Get a new sofa and chair (or two) that are better scaled to the size of this room and the way I want to use them but don't block the window.


• Donate existing coffee/end tables and get new (white) end tables.


• Replace table lamps with something more modern (current lamps are 80s brass).


• Find a home for larger books/binders and re-accessorize the last bookshelf.

Bedroom:

• Put duvet insert back in to puff up the bed.


• Paint and re-organize the closet.


• Get a cheery plant to brighten up the patio.


• Take down the white curtain panels and paint the back wall.


• Find art for over the bed.


• Find 2 - 3 white textured throw pillows to polish off the bed dressing.

Yikes! Even I didn't realize the list was quite that long! Luckily I have vacation coming up so I'll be able to knock some of this off the list soon. The furniture will probably take a bit longer b/c I have to sell the old stuff first but I am very much looking forward to having couches that don't choke off what little light makes it into my great room.

Stay tuned for updates to this list as I check things off, and more recaps of the work I've been doing over the last few months but just haven't blogged. It feels good to be back!

One Happy Dining Room

A few years ago, I redecorated my dining room in a neutral taupe color scheme. At the time I was trying to take my place from busy and cluttered to clean and calming, and for a while this worked.

But then I got bored.

My apartment can be dark, and I wanted to brighten it up. I can't add windows, so I decided to spruce it up with a bright cheery paint color in the dining room and kitchen.

I had also been wanting to buy a new dining room table for the entire time I've lived here, but I dragged my feet for 5 1/2 years for reasons that are too complex to go into. The one I had belonged to my great grandmother and while it is solid mahogany, it is old, creaky, and generally beat-up looking (you'd be that way too after 20+ years in my mother's basement!). Plus it's not my style from a decor perspective either.

Fast forward to today, and I now have a dining room I am starting to really love. Drum roll please....

Here's what I did over the last couple of weeks to make this transformation:

• Painted the walls with a pear-green paint color matched to Benjamin Moore's "Wales Green", with white trim on the chair rail and baseboards. ($30)




• Added a large mirror from Target to reflect light back into the space from the large windows that are on the other side of the great room. ($69.99)




• Added two glass wall vases from Pottery Barn ($20) and some cheery pink daisies ($3.99) from the grocery store.




• Replaced the dining room table with the Bjursta round/oval table from IKEA. I got this during tax free weekend so I saved a bit, which is always nice! ($229.)

I still want to get a new table runner (this might be a venture into DIY after a trip to the fabric store), paint the legs of my chairs dark to match the new table, and replace the curio in the corner with something that better matches the new table and is more functional. (I'm thinking about the 2x2 Expedit shelf from IKEA with some wall shelves above it, for storing party supplies and wine bottles.)

Total cost of this redo to date is under $350, which is so amazing. I can't wait to have people over for a dinner party!

Spicing up the kitchen!

Because I live in apartment there are many things I can't do decor-wise, but I managed to find a way to implement one of my favorite kitchen ideas without getting in trouble with the landlord. It's a metallic spice rack over my stove, implemented thanks to the magic of Command Adhesive Strips. I used 6 of their picture hanging strips on the back of a sheet of galvanized steel that I bought (pre cut!) at Lowe's. Those strips allowed me to stick the metal to the tile behind my stove, and (so far) have been more than enough to hold 18 fabulous metallic spice canisters from Bed, bath & Beyond.

I love looking at it and - even better - it's inspired me to cook more and use the lovely spices that are so beautifully displayed. I was also able to move some of my other spices from a basket atop the cabinets to my spice rack inside the cabinet so the full array of options is in arms reach.

So if you're thinking your hands are tied with decorating because of landlord limitations, have faith! With a little creativity you just might find a way to work around it. And here's a photo of my masterpiece:

The total cost of this project was lower than what I saw for pre-made kits online, which were over $100. I spent about $73. Probably could have gotten the spice jars for less, but I wanted it done ASAP so I skipped the online bargain hunt this time. Here's the breakdown:

Command picture hooks (Lowe's): $5

12 x 24 pre-cut sheet of steel (Lowe's): $10 (make sure it's steel or they won't stick!)

18 spice jars (Bed, Bath & Beyond): $53

Clear cartridge for label maker (Target): $5

Total = $73

In a decorating frenzy!

I've been on vacation since December 17th, and in that time have finally started tackling some projects around the apartment like getting a new entertainment center to replace the 10 year old, (broken) pressboard unit I had. I'm not quite done, but I think I've got a plan.

I upgraded to a 42" flat panel TV since they don't sell anything deep enough for an old TV anymore, and I've decided to get the Hemnes TV stand and bookshelves to put it on. Here's my rough attempt to put pictures of the pieces together:

The whole thing only costs $434, which is about $2000 less than the first set I was looking at over at Crate & Barrel.

I've taped the height and width of the bookcases out on my wall with masking tape and they're large, but I think they'll give the wall a real focal point and add a sense of balance that's currently missing.

I have one nice large bookcase now, but I'll need to move that to make room. That's OK, though. It's always felt off balance with a hulking entertainment center and such a tall bookcase next to it, but only on one side. This should provide the same storage but in a much more attractive form.

It'll also force me to do some book cleanout. Some will be given away, some will be moved to an IKEA Billy bookcase in the office, and the bookcase itself will go to my mom. She has a much bigger house that can take such a wide bookcase without it being unbalanced.

I'm going to get the TV stand tomorrow and will pick up the bookcases once I convince an SUV-driving friend to play cargo-van for me. Will update with pictures once it's all put together! I'll probably paint, too, but that'll be a project for another time. Stay tuned - I'm hosting a few friends for NYE so it'll definitely be at least partly up in the next 2 days.

Spring has come to my dining room!

This winter, my redecorating bug was all about achieving a calm, serene look in the apartment. But now that spring is here, I want to punch it up with some serious color! I am attracted to all sorts of bright fun colors and patterns. And luckily the neutral backdrop I created doesn't preclude me from mixing it up a little bit!
I started with a super-cheap, super-practical impulse purchase at Home Goods tonight. This purple pitcher is actually acrylic, not glass, making it very easy to store. It can be used for flowers or drinks (with a good scrubbing in between!) and looks fantastic as a centerpiece. The best part - it was only $7.99! The flowers were half price after Easter, and the other accessories (runner, votive holders) were already on hand.

I love the way it looks - it brings so much color to that side of the apartment! I also got a big hot pink acrylic bowl that I'm going to swap in soon. Stay tuned for more pictures!

Photo Frame Calendar

I'm getting rid of old magazines as part of my spring cleaning, and I always go through them one last time to see if there are any articles or idea I want to clip and save. I found one, and rather than take out the scissors I found the project online and will just link to it here. The project is a photo calendar, but not one with a different image per month. Basically you just take a photo frame, put hooks on the bottom, and hang calendar pages from them based on templates on marthastewart.com.

http://www.marthastewart.com/goodthings/photo-calendar

I like that the project allows you to keep a nice clean look around your desk but still have something practical like a calendar handy when you need it. And there's no rule saying that you can't change the pictures monthly (or seasonally) if you want a new view!

I've been pegged (at least my design style has!)

I got my first gift-subscription issue of Real Simple magazine in the mail today, and the editor's letter piqued my interest right off the bat. It talked about the difficulty many women have putting a name to their personal design style. The article pointed me to a quiz on p. 158 that promised to help me name my style. I was skeptical, but what the heck...off to p. 158 I go.

The quiz was unique - it had no words. Only pictures of items with directions to circle the items that appeal to you visually. I'm not normally a visual person so this was a neat exercise for me. There were letters associated with each image, and after you were done the goal was to count up how many "As" you circled, how many "Bs", etc.

I had mostly Cs and As, which translate in their scoring system to two styles - Sophisticated Classic and Cozy Comfort.

Wow. That's actually pretty spot on. In real life I'm all about cozy comfort, but I aspire to be more sophisticated and classic in most areas - decor, clothing, reading and listening preferences. I typically end up with a room that's somewhere in between. Comfortable and cozy with a few sleek pieces thrown in.

The article also suggested a few places I might like to shop in both categories, and where to shop if you fall in between two of them. A few of the stores were brands I already like such as Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, and Ralph Lauren. But there were a few new ones I'd never heard of, like Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, Baker, and Ballard Designs.

If you're trying to find your style, pick up a copy of the mag and take the quiz - it might help you focus a bit. I also like the quiz associated with the HGTV series Find Your Style (I can no longer find it in between 875 consecutive episodes of House Hunters, but it was a good show) . Luckily the quiz is still up on the site even though the show itself seems to be gone.

Dining room debut

Since early 2009 I have been itching to redecorate my apartment. It took me a while to convince myself that it wasn't a frivolous endeavor, and to find my style. But it's finally starting to come together. One of the easiest rooms has been the dining room because it's so small I have to keep it pretty simple. This room was also the place where I first started experimenting with mixing textures and colors based on what I've learned from all the design blogs I read. It's not 100% done - I still want to get a new table* - but I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

Here's a rundown of the various elements in the room, where they came from, and the cost:

Wall Paint - Valspar "Woodrow Wilson Putty" from Lowe's ($21.75/gallon)

Silver Frames - IKEA RIBBA frames 8 3/4" x 11" (only $4.99 each!)
Canvas Rose Prints - Home Goods ($39.99 each)

Table runner - Home Goods ($13.80)

Updated pictures for frames - various photogs ($39.08)

Total cost of the makeover: $192.03

I already had the chairs (JCPenney), centerpience (Bed, Bath & Beyond), mirrored hutch (mom), and extra chair (JCPenney, cover from Target) so those were repurposed in the makeover. And I sold an old side table I didn't need for $10 on Craigslist, so that money offset some of the costs. Even so, this is a pretty cheap project for such a dramatic difference in the way the room looks. I love it!

And just for comparison, here is the closest I have to "before" pictures, taken right before a holiday party I had in 2008:

*My current table is a very traditional Ducan Fife style table that belonged to my great-grandmother. It's increadibly well-made in solid mahogony, but wasn't taken care of for many, many years so it's in rough shape. It's a bit too traditional for my taste otherwise I'd just have it refinished. But instead I'm going to sell it to an antiques person who can really restore it and use the proceeds to get a more contemporary table in a dark espresso finish.

Use a small roller to make painting easier

I've painted ALOT of rooms over the years, and used to get very frustrated when the roller would bump the ceiling or wall unintentionally. I felt like it was very hard to control the roller, and my painting quality suffered. The last time that happened I had an idea - what if I used a smaller roller? Would it be easier to maneuver? So when I painted my bathroom recently I switched from a 9" roller to a 6" roller. Jackpot!!!

The 6" roller was so much easier for my small hands to work. It's easier to use in small spaces and in corners. And, counter intuitive though it may be, the small roller actually makes the job go much faster. With greater control I am not fighting against my tools and can move the roller over the wall more easily and quickly. So even though it takes a few more strokes to cover the same space the painting goes much faster. I recently painted my entire guest room this way and it only took me 3 hours. That's for 2 coats, including all edging, done entirely by myself.

So for the ladies out there, if you have trouble handling a standard 9" paint roller consider the smaller 6" size. I think you'll like it.

New bedding from Crate & Barrel

I am abnormally picky about bedding, but the new Madison pattern from Crate & Barrel is fantastic. I bought it in two colors - taupe and green - with the idea that I'd use it in either my master or my guest room. After trying both, I may keep them both! What do you think - is it weird to have the same duvet cover in two rooms as long as it's two different colors?


I plan to do white pillow shams and accent pillows in a complimentary but different pattern. Once I have it all put together I will post pictures, but for now here are the pics from the C&B Website:















In real life the green is much more green than it seems here - this looks more yellowy. I love it! Very modern and fresh - just what I've been looking for.

My favorite things - January 2010

I love "my favorite things" post, and right now I have several. I'll try to do a list of 5 each month. Here are my 5 favorite things for this first month of the new decade:

1. Chi Flat Iron

I have curly/wavy hair, and like to wear it straight occasionally because it's just easier. Blowdrying works OK, but it never gets truly straight unless I have it done at a salon. And on a humid day - forget it! My mom got me a shiny red CHI flat iron for the holidays and it is AMAZING! My hair gets pin-straight in less than 5 minutes, and stays that way through any kind of weather. I've gotten so many compliments on my hair when it's straight, too. I know it's damaging so I only do it once a week, or for special occasions. But it's a great option to have when a good hair day is a must!

2. Bracketron GPS Friction Mount

I got a GPS last Christmas, but the suction cup thingy meant to attach it to the dashboard didn't work. A friend suggested a friction mount, and I finally got around to ordering this Bracketron Friction Mount from Amazon.com 2 weeks ago. It came last week and quickly rocketed to the top of my favorites list. It really does stay put, even around corners. And it puts the GPS at perfect eye level. I can glance at the map without taking my eyes off the road, and because the GPS is no longer sitting on my lap the speakers are exposed and easier to hear.

3. LG's env3 Phone in Maroon

I just got this awesome new phone for free with my "New Every 2" discount. I was very happy with my old flip phone except that it took 10 minutes to type a text message using the typical phone keypad. I'm not a huge texter, but my friends are so I had to bite the bullet and get a qwerty keyboard to keep up. I also love the color - red's my favorite color and this is just a sexy looking phone! Plus, it is powerful enough to work from the back aisle of the grocery store where all the metal coolers are. My old one didn't, which was less than convenient!

4. The "Young House Love" Blog

If you are in to decorating, this blog is a must read. I just found it last week and have already learned so much from the great advice they give. Plus, the blog's authors are just fun people! Definitely give it a read.

5. SIGG 0.6 L water bottle in "Wheels of Karma"

I was hesitant to get a metal water bottle because I was afraid the water would taste like metal, but it doesn't. I love the design of this one (even the name is great!), and the loop top is super easy to carry. Plus I'm doing something good for the environment by not using paper cups or plastic water bottles over and over.