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Showing posts from January, 2012

Laundry Room Project - Just the Beginning

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This is the first time since early childhood that I have a laundry room that isn't just part of the basement. So, we're excited to put this room to good use. It's also part mudroom, so what you're not seeing are all the hooks and shoes stashed neatly (for now) by the door. We spent some time this week cleaning it up and working on some organizing. Of course, painting the walls will be phase 2. I'm thinking a sunny blue to match the pretty curtains. And notice the Flor carpet tiles that we brought from the old house. These were in our basement and created a path to our washer/dyer. We arranged them into a checkerboard here. Love how easy they are to reuse. Laundry Room Gets Some Cleaning Up

Mood Wall in Living Room/Dining Room

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Found some colorful fabrics for the living room/dining room. And since the room is mostly empty of furniture and art, I hung them on the wall as a kind of "mood board." I'm really digging yellow and sea blues like turquoise. But I really need to figure out furniture for the room first. I'll buy a new sofa, but I want to find some funky vintage pieces at local thrift shops. I'll start exploring next month.

Leftovers For the Kitchen

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I'm planning to make some pillows with my beloved curtain fabric but started with a little valence to cover the shade's roller mechanism over the sink. What do you think? The sun comes in full-power in this window (hence the herbs along the sill), so the shade is moved around a lot during the day, so I don't go blind. Still can't get over how the tan in the fabric just so happens to match the cupboards almost perfectly. Sigh. Pillows this weekend. I want to do the fancy cording with white, so I'll to do some extra research. I'll post photos when they're done.  Related posts: More Kitchen stories

Curtains on the Slider

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Drum roll please ... The final curtains over the porch doors look awesome! And they are functional, too! (Sorry about the foggy picture!)

Our Palm Pet

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Can't waste all this light we're getting in the family room. Introducing Polly or Ginger -- we're still deciding on the name. It's a Palm! Related posts: More Family Room stories

Making Curtains For the Sliding Glass Door

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The Doors! The Problem:   I have this huge door with nothing to prevent the sun from streaming in (in the rare event that I need a break from it) and at night when we're feeling a little exposed. Luckily, there's no direct view into a neighbor's house. There was an ugly vertical blind on it when we moved in, but Maggie and I got rid of that in the first week. Yuck. The Solution: Fabulous curtains! As mentioned previously, I found the perfect fabric at a shop in Montclair. They sent it to me. Then, I had to find a liner and hardware. Which I picked up at JoAnn's last weekend (special shout-out to the Albertons for a great Christmas gift). Ready to be a Curtain! I started the project this morning and it's taken me all day to finish (ignoring the children all day -- the house is a mess). But it's well worth it. Here is a quick outline of the steps. 1) Hang rod (that took a few days -- I got the wrong size first, then the holes were impossible to ma

Snowy Day

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The last time it snowed we were unpacking the truck and moving in. It was gone the next day. This little storm with 6inches may stick around for awhile.

Perfection!

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My fabric arrived today for the curtain on my patio doors. I'll be honest, I was a bit overcome with glee. It's PERFECT!!

Island Living

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We love eating at the island. Lunch is served!

Love this Fabric

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Curtain in Living Room I frequented this awesome fabric store in NJ ( Rock Paper Scissors in Montclair ) and was eyeing some fabric for the new house -- but was hesitant to purchase because I wasn't actually in the new house. One of my favorites was this design for the sliding door curtain. It's by a Japanese company called Lecien for their Isso Ecco and Heart collection. It's called "Love Birds"- perfect! Of course, once I moved in and realized it was absolutely perfect and I felt like an idiot for not buying it. So I called the store and they're going to ship me a few yards. (It's now out of print, FYI.) Joy Joy! In absolutely the right style of my family room and kitchen. Sweet! To compare, I had picked out some fabric for Leah's room to do a fun curtain in her "dresser nook." I'm glad I didn't buy that, because I changed my whole plan for that nook once we moved in.

Bathroom Paint Job

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I can understand why a homeowner would repaint a house all one color to help sell it, but I can't figure out how you can live in a large beige box. My first full-scale paint project (and I do love to paint rooms) is the master bathroom. The ceilings are not super high, and the walls aren't that tricky. It will go from this boring beige to a spa/sky blue. Will update with the results, stay tuned.

Valences Gone - Totally Worth It

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Large upholstered valences once hung above these windows in the master bedroom. In my expert design opinion, they were too large in scale, unbalanced the room and drew attention away from the windows and tray ceilings. I'd lay in bed at night cursing at them, while they taunted me from on-high. Despite the small holes left in the walls, removing them does wonders to lighten up the room -- and my stress. Don't you agree?! :) Now, what to do about the drapery?

Clowning around

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Princess With Dance Moves