StarterHouse

Cheap Art: Water Color

I love cheap art.  It's no secret around here!  It works out since we don't really have a decorating/art budget.  So my latest venture was to take a pack of cheap IKEA prints (I know, I know...do I ever shop anywhere else?  No.  The answer is no.) and kick them up a bit.  They were black and white prints with a baked goods theme--perfect for our kitchen.  I used my kids' water color set (the cheapo kind from Target or Wal-Mart that has 7 or 8 basic colors) and tried to make them look a little more than 'cheap IKEA prints'. 

I spent maybe ten minutes on the project and after they dried, I taped them to white copy paper and used some plain wood frames that I already had and that was it:

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I'd take a picture of the entire kitchen so that you could see how these fit in with everything...but I only have a few minutes of 'quiet time' (formerly known as 'nap time') so you'll just have to wait on that ;)  

So they won't have me winning any awards.....but they do brighten up the kitchen (which with the dark granite, backsplash and floors the space can use all the help it can get!).  They also make it a little less serious (I'm doing my best to stay away from the word 'whimsy'........ugh, if I hear that word one more time......;).
 

-k :)

Chic Schedule Board

We've been tinkering around with different ways to use/keep a schedule around here...life seems a bit more manageable when we have a plan for the day.  But, as I'm sure you can relate, life isn't written in permanent ink.  We needed something that we could change at a moment's notice.  I made a small board with velcro and little squares with different activities that could be rearranged depending on what we felt like doing....it's not big enough and I don't have enough different cards to accommodate our random activities/outings.  A chalk board would work and I've seen some pretty creative ideas for this in blogland, but I'm not feeling that motivated ;) 

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Then I saw this post from Paper n Stitch  via How About Orange and I couldn't believe the answer was so simple, easy, and attractive:  a message board made from a picture frame.  It's genius!  I had an extra frame on hand (the twin to the one I used for the boat print for the master bedroom shelves) and I tested the front (since it's not glass) to make sure my dry erase markers would work and the ink would erase:

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Then I occupied my 4 year old while I attached the fabric to the cardboard insert:

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Then I just attached the fabric covered backing to the frame and that's it.  So easy!  And here she is in all her glory in the dining room:

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Here's Kate's version of 'play' ;) 

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Also, we had to change 'read' to 'TV' while mommy worked out and showered.  It's awesome to have such flexibility!  And the kids have so much fun sitting with me to write up the morning schedule and helping me pick what pictures to draw.  Let's face it, I'm no artist...but they get the idea.  So far, we've only used it for the morning part of the day.  Hopefully, I'll get my act together so that we can use it post-naps, as well. 

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I'm not crazy about the yellow fabric (and you could use anything--even keeping it white would look nice in a frame..especially if you have nice handwriting!), but it was only $1 and it's a light enough color to work for this purpose.  I liked this green fabric (below) that I put in the frame first, but Townes chose 'yedow' because it's favorite (not a news flash for anyone who knows him):

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This would be great anywhere in your house--kid's room for you to leave cute, loving messages; the kitchen for the day's menu, or daily schedule; or as art with a nicely written quote that you can change with the swipe of a paper towel!

Happy Tuesday :)  -k

Trashy? Not With This Beauty

I am loving this new trash can that sits on our bathroom vanity.  I'll give you three guesses as to where I bought it.....oh wait, you only need one guess?  My sister says that the associates probably know my name at IKEA.  It's not that bad, but they might recognize my face!

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So here she is in all her $12.99 "Gasgrund" glory:

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It's the perfect size for bits of tissue, q-tips, cotton balls, etc.  And our narrow bathroom leaves little room for a trash can.  We had an open trash can in the past, but having toddlers is like having a dog..you can't leave things open.  It's just an invitation for them to get in there and mess things up.  Gross.  Then we had a small one with a foot pedal for the lid.  That was better, but finding the perfect location so that neither of us had to walk very far (and we had to walk because of the whole foot pedal issue) just didn't work out.  (Lazy much?) 

So this little can has been in play for a few days and I'm already loving it.  Joe thinks it's pretty cool, too!  (I'm telling you, finding things for your home that everyone can agree on isn't always easy.)

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We've made some serious progress in the bathrooms.  I can't wait to show you more...

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Also, I'm pretty proud of myself--this makes two weeks in a row of Tuesday and Friday posts.  I'm on a roll now...

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Thanks for stopping by!  -k :)

The Best Part of New Shelves: Decorating!

I had fun pillaging through the house to find some things to 'display' on the new master bedroom shelves.  I toyed around with a few things, but landed on this:

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I had everything you see here (the little clock was originally purchased for the master bathroom shelves, so we'll see if it stays or goes) except for the fresh flowers.  Free decorating is the best!  Now this wall has a little more color.

I've heard several decorating 'experts' declare that the master bedroom should be for you and your mate, alone.  Meaning, no pictures of the kids, parents, siblings, etc.  I think it's kind of a nice rule of thumb.  We have the rest of the house for those photos, after all :)  It really helps when you need to escape from everything to have a place only for you with no distractions.  

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For fun, here's the breakdown of everything using the super cool 'snagit' tool that Joe clued me in to...it's so easy and fun! This was my first time using it, so keep that in mind LOL

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I'm sure I'll change things out periodically and I have a few ideas for what to 'do' below the shelves.  I'll be sure to post if it's anything exciting.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

-k :)

Bullentin Board to Fit Our Decor

I saw a really cool idea on Oprah a few years ago that I thought could help us manage our paper and artwork a little better.  She had Peter Walsh driving around the country on Oprah's Clean Up Your Messy House Tour...it was a great series--he basically knocked on random doors and talked his way into people's homes and helped them get control over their clutter. Most people turned him away, but the few who took him up on his offer had their lives transformed! 

One family lived in a tiny Manhattan apartment with two small children (and the mess that comes with them).  He helped the mom learn some systems to manage the stuff and how to not let the clutter overwhelm them again.  Candace Olsen from HGTV's Divine Design came in to make some cosmetic changes.  She had some really cool ideas for their small living quarters.  My favorite idea was placing carpet tiles on the walls to use as a bulletin board for the kid's artwork:

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Genius!  And it made each piece of art look like it had its own special frame...I was determined to use this idea and I had a few spots in the house where I thought it could work.  I ultimately decided on the wall leading into the kitchen.  I wanted a place to put Townes' school snack schedule/calendar, reminders, art work and whatever else important that usually gets lost in the shuffle.  I am a visual person, so it's usually "out of sight, out of mind."  Having this little wall to depend on would be perfect!

I researched the carpet tiles and couldn't find any flooring stores who carried them (in stock, anyway).  I did find some online, but I would've had to order samples to see the colors, etc etc.  I just kind of lost my motivation and couldn't pull the trigger.  Then, on one of my frequent jaunts to IKEA, I noticed their round bath mats.....see where this is headed? 

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Since we have a lot of squares in the decor (rug in the dining room, our backsplash, and other wall decorations), it's nice to have some circles to balance it out.  I definitely need to do an overhaul of some of the things hanging up (that snowman has had more than enough display time!), but this is realistically how it looks 99% of the time. 

So it's three IKEA bathmats overlapping each other.  I hand sewed them and then glued square cork board (I got a package of four squares at Wal-Mart for like $5, or something) to each of the circle's backs to ensure the tacks would stay put. 

I also discovered something new--pushpin clips from The Container Store!  They're tacks with little clips on them (if the name didn't give that away):

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They're really handy and hold a lot of paper...more durable than I expected. 

So for around $20, we have a custom solution to our artwork/schedule/blank wall situation.  Instead of frantically searching the various stacks of mail/paper around the house to see if it is Townes' day to bring a snack, I can easily glance up at this wall and know the answer.

-k :)

Cheap Art: Map

A while back I was perusing some things on etsy and landed in someone's store who was selling vintage local maps.  I thought it would be kind of cool to frame one from downtown Washington, D.C., since that's where Joe and I met.  I never got around to buying one and kind of forgot about it.  Well, two nights ago I was on a sanity break after Joe came home from work and I headed over to the bookstore for some quiet time.  I passed by the map section and remembered the idea!  I bought a D.C. map for $2.99 and figured I could try to fit it in an extra Ribba IKEA frame that was sitting at home empty:

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I think it'll work!

And we met in Dupont Circle, had our first date there and many more after that (our company was located there), so it is centered almost exactly around Dupont.  (My close up shot didn't turn out, but it's at the center of the spider web of arteries in the map in the shot above.)

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I was thinking we'd hang it above this table where we have our baskets for keys and odds and ends...but it's a little washed out.  It could also look nice in our bedroom against the blue walls.  We'll see...Townes, of course, had to climb up and get in the picture (the little ham!) and it didn't take long for him to find daddy's screw driver.  And Kate didn't want to be left out, so she busted in, too ;)  Sorry it's so blurry...

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They literally come running when they hear the little 'beep boop beep' of my camera turning on ;)  Then they ask to see themselves in the LCD screen.  What have we created?!

-k :)

Fabric Project

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I'm almost finished with my fabric project.  Any guesses as to what it is?

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Kind of obvious?  Yeah, I guess the shower curtain rod and rings gave it away ;)  But I'm not going to show the full finished product until the bathroom (it's for the middle bathroom) is at least a little more done...

-k :)

Cheap Art: Napkins

Anyone sick of hearing about our bathrooms?  Me too...the sinks arrived today (they look great--yay!), so things are still progressing.   Just thought I'd post about something else for a change ;) 

Let's talk about inexpensive art.  Okay, CHEAP art.  After Joe and I got together and we starting decorating our own place, I was shocked to learn how much home goods actually cost...I guess since I'd usually depended on hand-me-downs to 'decorate', I had never paid any attention to the cost of curtains or end tables, etc. 

This was especially true when it came to art.  I mean, I knew original paintings were pricey (understandably), but prints and photos, etc.?  Over the years I've slowly learned that it doesn't really have to be that way.  Almost anything can be used as art: a special rock in a frame, your child's coming home from the hospital outfit in a shadow box, a sheet of music that has meaning to you, a poem, a photograph, plates or even a napkin.

A while back I stopped into our local World Market.  The fabric for the place mats and napkins in their kitchen department just really jumped out at me.  Some of the prints looked like works of art. 

I started brainstorming how I could incorporate them into my home.  We rarely have dinner parties, so using them for their primary purpose didn't make sense.  But framing them might work.  So I bought a few that I loved and that fit my home's color scheme and brought them home to experiment. 

I had some frames that needed some "proper" art in the half bath on our main floor (I guess I can't stay away from bathrooms today.)  I fiddled around with the napkins until they looked just right in the frame opening.  I cut them to size, secured them in the frame, and voila!  Instant art.  CHEAP art...I mean, these babies were like $2.99 a pop!  (The frames were not that expensive--if I remember right I got them at Michaels using the 40% off coupons.)  Check them out:

 

So the next time you're out and about and see something that catches your eye--think about how you can use it on the wall or shelf as decoration!  You never know what you might find (especially in the clearance section!). 

-k :)