Mash-Up Chic

Sneak Peak - Sassy Tween Room

2012-10-19T06:13:00.002-07:00

Not at all finished, but sneak peak on how the stripes turned out. LOVE!

excuse ugly night time lighting on the camera phone

We have lots left to do, like:
1. bedding changes, need something more neutral, swap out dust ruffle
2. dresser to be painted with a fun paint treatment (not pictured, but it is on the other side of the bed in the middle pic above
3. art/collage wall above the dresser, thinking several mis-matched mirrors and maybe some other pops of color
4. FUN fabric for the curtains, looking for a bargain and the right print - this is my biggest challenge, figuring out how much is "too much"
5. More art, and bookshelves

So, what do you think?

Level Headed

2012-09-27T11:03:00.000-07:00

Just spent my lunch hour using a level, tape measure and Frog Tape keeping a new projects going. At work now on my most recent BIG project, an overhaul of my daughter's room. This is the goal (yes, OOOOOOOOOOOOH AHHHHHHHHHHHH) is completely in order:

Sorry, this is the best picture I can get. I saw this in House and Home Magazine in the June issue and couldn't get it out of my head. I thought my 10 year old would poo all over this, but she LOVED it - she's turned into a true vintage modern junkie like her mother (PRIDE!). How cute is this room? I just love the mix of modern horizontal stripes with vintage pieces. By the way, H&H is my FAVORITE design magazine hands down. I can usually find it at bookstores or even Walgreens.

I'm about half finished, here are some before pix (note the furniture was already removed!).

Right now the house is chaos as I have all of her furniture and STUFF (so much stuff) out in the hall and living room. I need to wrap it up soon so we can get our house back. I recently finished painting the entire room white, which took MANY Coats over this dark turquoise color. So, I have a big white box!

Since I work full time, and the kids seem to have full time sports schedules, I grab time for projects whenever I can. I went home at lunch today and started measuring and taping the lines. Here is my progress:

This is actually very easy, and I showed you my handiwork from my boys' room overhaul in THIS POST. To accomplish great stripes, just measure out your stripes (one tick mark for each measurement in the middle of the wall) and then use a long level across the wall to continue the line. It can be a bit daunting if you're over-critical, but once the paint is on the wall, you won't notice small imperfections, promise!

More to come!

Featured!

2012-09-24T06:46:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Lindsey at Better After for featuring Mash-Up Chic today on her blog! Better After is hands down one of my favorite blogs of all time! I've been linked via her blog to so many other blogs that I've come to love as well. She featured this post about how to hide scratches from cats or children or husbands off leather furniture.

Check the entire post out HERE.

THANKS BETTER AFTER!

Plagerism, I mean Imitation is the highest form of flattery!

2012-09-24T06:38:00.003-07:00

It's pumpkin pickin time! Or, it's grab a pumpkin while getting paint at Home Depot time!

I saw these pumpkins on one of my favorite blogs a couple weeks ago and have been dying to try.

These are done by the great gal over at My Sweet Savannah , here's the LINK to that post.

So last night, I plunked down in front of the TV for about 30 minutes (I know, unheard of right?) and of course couldn't just sit and watch TV so I taped up my newly purchased pumpkin. Cause, why be "normal" as my husband always mockingly asks me. It was an easy process. My daughter cut strips of tape for me to keep it rolling.

I simply did a light coat of gloss black Krylon spay paint and let dry (not long enough) for about 30 minutes. I forgot to take a picture after I painted it, but before I removed the tape - but picture a glossy black pumpkin and you get the picture. Here's how she turned out!

I also had a can of yellow and white spray paint (and every other color in the rainbow) and decided to do a candy corn pumpkin. Ideally these are done with a taller, oblong pumpkin, but I still think it turned out cute. Just prop the sucker up on something so you can paint the bottom, do light coats from the bottom of yellow, then from the top of the white paint. Key to keep the finger light so you don't go down too far on the pumpkin. Also, if you use too much paint, it drips down through the grooves of the pumpkin. (you can actually see previously described glossy black pumpkin in the background)

Here's a crappy phone picture of how they looked on the porch, of course I moved them well before they were dry and ended up soaking in the tub to get the paint off my hands. But you get the picture. I really want to paint my plastic mum pots black. Hope to get that finished this week!

TAGS: fall decorating, pumpkins, halloween

What a difference a bulb makes

2012-08-08T13:05:00.001-07:00

Just made a fun and simple change to a vintage chandelier in my house. Said chandelier was in my dining room when I moved in. I initially wasn't a big fan, thought a more modern drum shade fixture was more my speed. You do have to be careful when using a vintage style to ensure your house doesn't look like Grandma just moved out.

Here she is (the chandelier, not my grandma):

Sorry, taking pictures of lights is tough! Anyway, she grew on me after a while and I decided to keep her. Then one day I saw a vintage fixture with round bulbs instead of typical chandelier shapes. So, I swapped those suckers out and here's what I have now:

I really like the result, such an EASY and really free change because I would have changed out those bulbs eventually anyway. It gives a much more modern and fun look.

TAGS: vintage, chandelier, round bulb, crystal chandelier, new bulbs, vintage modern

let there be light (from matching lamps)

2012-08-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Quick update on some thrift store finds turned fabulous new lamps for my living room. My living room is extremely symmetrical, see below:

On top of that I don't have any lighting except some lighting that shines from the ceiling onto the mantle. I've been looking for some matching floor lamps to bring some light and style to the space, was looking for something like this:

Like this one from CB2 - except I wanted gold

But at $150 a pop, that would be $300 for lamps (see my mad math skills?). Needless to say, I didn't want to shell out that kind of cheese for two lamps, ain't my style. I have looked at Target and found some similar options, but even at Target it was going to cost a minimum of $50 each for these, so $100 total (again, math skills are sick!).

$50 option from Target

But then I came across these at a Thrift store for $10 each, shades for $2.50 each. It appeared said thrift store had a boatload of stuff from a hotel that must have liquidated old furniture and lamps. I pushed aside the grossness of buying things from a hotel. I mean what can people do to lamps? Nevermind, don't want to think about it.

As I referenced in THIS POST, I'm kind of totally super obsessed with painting things gold. So, a $5 can of gold spray paint later, and I had two awesome floor lamps with nice sized drum shades for only $30 TOTAL! (that's $15 x 2) Dontcha just love 'em?

IN PROCESS: (sneak peak of another project - black chair)

Here they are in my living room: (excuse crappy cell phone photos)

I'm loving them and super-pleased with the great deal I got on them. What do you think?

TAGS: thrift store, floor lamp, gold, drum shade, spray paint

Enter at your own risk

2012-07-31T09:09:00.001-07:00

Did you ever walk into a house and think, how welcoming, how inviting, how indicative of how the rest of the house must be because it's so fabulous . . . .

Well, you wouldn't think that about my house a couple months ago. We enter the house through our front door (no mud room) and with 3 kids, coats, backpacks, sports equipment, etc., it often looked like you were walking into the Goodwill. We are not the tidiest of folks, but I REALLY like my foyer to look lovely - smoke and mirrors baby!

So, a while back I decided to add a variety of decorative coat hooks to an open wall in the foyer. Here's how it looked after I applied the hooks:

Super cute, right? Each of the hooks was picked with care to represent the new owner of said hook or something important to us. It was a great idea (I say so myself), however in practice, here's how it actually looked each day.

And the view from the front door was this:

As you can see, my masterpiece of the hook collection was covered by books and bags and CRAP constantly. So, I decided a revamp was in order. I developed a new solution for the bags and coats and what-nots (we have buttloads of whatnots) to be tucked in the main hallway of my 1960's ranch, just off the foyer.

First, I stained some boards I had cut at Home Depot. I bougth a 8ft piece of lumber, and had HD cut it in half. Then I came home and stained a dark cherry/walnut color:

I wanted them to look a bit rustic, so wasn't very precise. I then sanded boards down a bit with steel wool and applied the hooks. This was actually pretty easy as the screws bit into the wood nicely, vs. the foyer where I had to use anchors for all of the hooks (fixing all those nail holes was awesome).

Here's how they look up in the hallway, ahhhh, much better!

Now they are out of view, but still very accessible!

Here's how it looks with just our "summer" stuff, of course in the winter it's filled to the gills but there is plenty of room for each person to have 2 hooks!

This pic gives you some perspective on how it looks from the foyer, out of sight but still neat.

Now for a pic of how the foyer looks AFTER:

Better, right? Here's a pic of the door that leads to the hallway with the new hook rack, just off to the left:

Love the bright aqua sideboard and mirror wall - great upcycled pieces anyone can do!

And here's a better pic of the wall of holes that I filled to add a nice little entry spot.

So more coming this week on some nasty old floor lamps I purchased at a thrift store, see BEFORE:

TAGS: foyer, entry way, bench, coat hook, coat rack, messy entry way, messy foyer

Celebrate Good Times!

2012-07-27T08:33:00.002-07:00

Earlier this month my brother married the most wonderful man - yep, I said it, man. I'm super lucky that my brother (who is BEYOND smart, creative, hard-working and wonderful) married someone equally so. I feel so blessed he has a partner with whom to travel life. PS - these two are the GREATEST uncles of all time.

Here's a pic of the happy couple:

My bro on the left, wonderful new hubby on the right

Anywho, my mom and I threw a rehearsal dinner get together for them. The wedding was held in Chicago where he lives. We rented a large 6 bedroom house/mansion (to-may-toe/to-mah-toe). It was a great place to stay and a wonderful venue for the get together. In our family, we very rarely have things catered or hold parties at hotels or restaurants. I think the very best way to show someone you want them to be your guest is to invite them to your home and serve them food and drinks you've made yourself. Just me . . . . so when we figured out we wanted to throw this party, finding a house/venue all in one was AWESOME.

I went with a black and white and yellow theme. First of all, black and white always make a statement, and I already had some pops of yellow to bring along. Here are a few pix!

Sorry this pic is crappy, but it's the only one of the bar.

Fru-fru tooth picks from Hobby Lobby

These food signs were super easy add a custom touch

This is a Tipsy Arnold Palmer
(Tea, Lemonade, Vodka, Mint)

TAGS: black and white party, black and white and yellow party, rehearsal dinner, gay wedding rehearsal dinner, black chevron fabric, candy sticks

The Novogratz are Coming the Novogratz are Coming!

2012-07-26T13:46:00.002-07:00

Ok, so I'm a HGTV junkie, I've seen about every episode of every show, and have watched it since it came on the scene. Most of us who read blogs like this would say the same, and it was the only "fix" for our addiction before blogs came on the scene. So, picking my favorite show would have been tough, that is until last year when Home By Novogratz came on the scene. Cortney and Bob Novogratz are a super hip and cool couple who live in NYC with their SEVEN kids and have one of my favorite design styles: Vintage with Modern. Their sense of style is truly unique, eclectic, and they always pack some WOW factor into their designs. They love original art, re-purposing vintage finds, and create rooms that have amazing interest and personality.

They actually just did a promotion with CB2 where you could enter to win a room design by the fashionable couple. Alas, my phone is still not ringing to say I've won said prize -I'd give my first born! Sorry Mary Alice. Speaking of Mary Alice, she adores this show too and we wait in anticipation for new episodes.

So, check out some photos of their work and Season 2 which starts on HGTV on August 4!

This rug available @ CB2 - it was their design.

Gold is the new black

2012-07-22T17:37:00.004-07:00

Hi I'm Tricia at Mash-Up chic, and I'm a gold-spray-paint-a-holic. I'm finding my new go-to "fix" these days to be gold spray paint. It gives just about anything that pop of sparkle and finishing touch. My 3 year old looks like of odd spray painted, but it will wash off eventually. Also, just like every room needs just a touch of black, layering gold with silver has become a very popular new color combination. Having both colors together adds depth and dimension.

The latest project is one of my Craigslist school stacking chairs that I previously referenced in THIS POST. This time I decided to make something a bit more glam. I think it would make a great desk chair, foyer chair, use as a bedside table or any place that a splash of pizzazz is needed.

As a reminder, BEFORE the chair looked like this:

After some glam-in-a-can:

So, what do you think? Not sure the pictures do it justice, but it's really a fun chair! It will be for sale at the Flea Off Market in September.

TAGS: vintage school chair, spray paint, gold paint, repurpose

Well DUH!

2012-07-18T18:53:00.001-07:00

I decided to use some lettering to up-cycle (my new fave word for turning old junk into super cool crap) some vintage school chairs and make them one of a kind. I stenciled the word "sit" on them. My husband's synopsis of this idea was "duh, what else are you supposed to do in them?" As usual he thinks 95% of my ideas are stupid, but typically his disdain means I have a great idea on my hands.

I bought these chairs months ago (6 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days says the hubby). I loved the vintage feeling, and the practicality of stacking chairs. I found them on Craigslist and bought 11 chairs for about $20. The seller tells me they were used in a classroom in Fort Knox, KY at the army base there. I set up the deal about 10 miles north of Fort Knox at a gas station parking lot. I don't make this crap up.

Based on the wear, I think they are from the 60's-70's. Been pondering what to do with these gems. Several have found a home in my daughter's craft area, but they could easily be used as dining chairs or a chair for a desk. I'm excited about about all the possibilities - lots of fun paint treatments planned! So, here is my first go. I'm a big fan of using words on furniture or on walls. So here's what I came up with:

BEFORE

AFTER

I used a stencil made from letters from a stencil letter pack I bought at Home Depot. I just taped the letters together to keep them straight:

Then I sprayed a very light coat on one of them which turned out like this:

I sprayed the other one more heavily and then sanded it out when still a smidge wet:

I can't decide which one I like better, but if I had to pick, I like the roughed up one, just because I can imagine it being worn down over time (from all the booty action) and getting naturally worn like that.
What do you think?

If you just fell in love you can buy these at the Flea Off Market in NuLu (Louisville) in September! Or make me an offer I can't refuse now! I can't wait to unveil the rest of my chairs. The possibilities are endless!

TAGS: vintage school chair, SIT, repurpose

Way to go E-V-O-O!

2012-07-17T08:09:00.003-07:00

Pets are great - they add to your family, they don't judge you, they provide unconditional love, they scratch up your leather sofas . . . . . So, my cat Buddy, and another Cat George before him, decided that when they were young kittens, jumping on and off my leather sofa was a big time. Unfortunately they left their mark behind. Evidence below:

Hideous, right? After a while I started not to notice, but one day I realized how awful it looked and went online and typed in "cover up cat scratches on leather furniture." Well, there was a world of options out there, but one that I had in my good old pantry was Olive Oil. Found several sites that indicated rubbing olive oil on the surface of minor scratches would do the trick. So I decided, what the heck, it's worth a try, and if it doesn't work I can wipe it off with some baguette slices and have a nice snack with my wine.

Results = FABULOUS!

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

I am THRILLED with the outcome. I used a soft cloth to rub the olive oil into the leather in circles. I think the key is really rubbing it in. I followed up with a paper towel and buffed it off a bit. I was a bit worried about oil residue on the leather, but the paper towel buffing revealed there was no oil left on surface of leather. A few weeks later it still looks awesome. There are a few deeper marks that are still somewhat visible, but it looks tons better than it did. The oil also brought back the rich tone of the leather a bit.

TAGS: scratch repair, leather furniture, cat scratch, leather sofa, leather chair, repair

Slacker Alert

2012-03-16T06:59:00.001-07:00

Sorry I've been so incognito lately - I.E. slammed crazy busy! Lots going on with work and family in this bustling spring season. But, thought you deserved a sneak peek at the boys bedroom which is coming along.

Dying for Diagonal

2012-03-02T07:06:00.001-08:00

Stripes. I love them. They add visiual punch to just about anything. Usually it's super cheap to add them to a piece of furniture, accent wall, whatever. But, did you know the type of stripe you pick says something about you? More on that later. Here are some pix of a dresser I redid in DIAGONAL stripes.

I love how the uber-traditional lines and detail on this cabinet compliment the graphic and modern stripes. Here was the chest before:

It was "cute" but certainly not a WOW of a piece. LOVE THIS ONE! Super easy - just taped off the stripes, painted and voila. And my project was featured HERE a while back on one of my very favorite "Before & After" design blogs, Better After. This is my MUST CHECK blog each day!

Now, back to my stripe personality test:

* Vertical Stripes (that's up and down to you and me) - traditional, orderly, neat.

traditional hall design by san francisco architect Barbara Chambers

* Horizontal Stripe (across) - modern, punchy, unexpected. Horizontal striping, especially in paint teqniques have become super chic these days.

contemporary bedroom design by hawaii interior designer Julie Sumile Interior Design

And finally, the super cool and unexpected cousin of the horizontal and vertial stripes, the DIAGONAL stripe.

CLICK HERE FOR SOURCE

So, I decided to go a bit unexpected with the stripes on this dresser, and I LOVE IT. You can see this dresser from my front window - it's a bit cooky but a bit of an art piece all it's own.

So what do you do on your lunch hour?

2012-02-29T06:13:00.001-08:00

Most people, oh, I don't know, eat lunch or maybe run errands, some exercise. Well not me, because I'm either kind of crazy or super diligent. Yeah, we'll go with diligent. So here are some pictures of what I did at lunch yesterday:

First I spray painted some letters that will go above the boys' beds. I had
already applied 2 coats the night before, but wanted to get another coat.
But, I'm concerned the color is a smidge too orange-ey red, not apple red.

The shelves going on the opposite wall are to the right of this letter.
They look pretty close in color here, but in person they contrast a bit.
May be off to Hobby Lobby to buy a more apple red can of spray paint.
They have more selection than Home Depot or Lowes on color.

While my spray paint was drying, I decided to lay out the
cube shelves that will be going on one of the striped walls.
I did this in the store before buying, but now can't seem
to get the right arrangement. The blue tape is to mark my
hanging area - it's the same size as the hanging space on
the wall.

Here's another way I may arrange them.

I couldn't wait any longer and finally hung one
of the shelves on the wall. I'm not sold on my
arrangement, but I may buy one more shelf to
pull it together.

So there you go, some progress on the boys' room that I'm feeling like will never be complete. I'm also struggling on the blinds for the room - one of the windows is 76" long which is longer than the big box home stores carry. So, I'm having to order something custom which makes me ill - remember, I'm cheap as hell. Another primary reason for wanting to get things complete is that this is what my living room and dining room currently looks like:

Now if any of you who know me are saying to yourself, "how does this look different than normal", we're not friends anymore.

And finally, I think I'm obsessed with these cube shelves. They add color, storage and are like art - I found these at Hobby Lobby this week. Thinking we'll work them into my daughter's room when we overhaul it soon - and since her brothers are getting a new room, all of a sudden she hates hers. Typical. But, these shelves make me want to jump in - super cute, no?

TTYL

Anything that ends in 'Z' sounds cooler

2012-02-28T12:01:00.001-08:00

Like, instead of being like "Hey boys, what's up?" you could say, "hey boyZ wazzzuup" - see how much cooler that is? Much like my new fave home design and decor blog, Houzz. They have bazillions of room pix, and you can slice and sort them based on your style or by room type. Well I like LOTS of styles, kind of all MASHED-UP, so that would be eclectic. So, clicked the "eclectic" box and it came back with 32,000 pix - decided to whittle it down a bit and chose 'living room' in addition. Here are some FAB pix it came back with - super inspired!

Love the white and simplicity of this room, especially the large black and white photos:

eclectic living room design by other metros media and blogs Michelle Hinckley

Pop of color with the turquoise island is just enough and a bit unexpected:

eclectic living room design by austin photographer Robert K. Chambers

Strong lines of the black and white striped curtains tie nicely with the softness of the pale pink sofa and feminine furniture:

eclectic living room design by kansas city interior designer Nichole Loiacono-Young

I'm ga-ga for the chevron zig zag rug, want it so badly . . . notice how the big pattern of the rug compliments the small pattern in the curtains:

eclectic living room design by other metros interior designer Debbie Basnett

Love the pop of yellow against the fairly traditional grey walls and cream curtains:

eclectic living room design by richmond tile stone and countertop Charles Luck Stone Center

This room just makes me happy. Great mix of modern lines on the sofa with the rustic beams on the ceiling. White walls (my fave) are a great backdrop for the bright mix of art and furniture:

eclectic living room design by other metros media and blogs Jan Skacelik

Bright turquoise toned down with glossy black and a tiny pop of pink just works:

eclectic living room design by boise interior designer Judith Balis

YUUUP, this is my favorite, and look - the F is my last name initial too! Love the industrial look of the brick walls, the huge black and white photo and the unexpected color of the chandelier. Did you notice the chandelier has round bulbs instead of traditional tapered ones - brings a modern touch:

eclectic living room design by atlanta interior designer decordemon

So, go look around on Houzz and see if you find anything that strikes your fancy!

It's hard being brilliant

2012-02-28T09:38:00.002-08:00

Well, no it's not really, it's pretty awesome. Sharing a crafty project with you today. It's kind of nerdy - practical, but has solved some major problems. Sooooooo, at my daughter's latest school conference, I heard several of her teachers indicate that her main source of problems and roadblack to big success is . . . . having a pencil. Really. She evidently never has a pencil. Yes, I rolled my eyes too. I mean, how hard is that? I've sent in like a go-jillian this year and every year. Yes, she loses all of her other supplies too, but they literally all said she'd be better if she just had a pencil. One suggested, could you get her a necklace to hold it. Well, at our uber-conservative school where even colored hair accessories are prohibited, I was surprised but jumped on the opportunity to come up with something. I googled for hours online for things like neck pencil holder, pencil necklaces, etc - no go. So, decided to get my DIY on. And here you go:

Yes, that is like a nerdy pocket protector but for your neck. Here's how I made it:

This is an ID holder for your neck I found
at Office Depot

So that the pencils wouldn't fall out, I put a small piece of velcro on the INSIDE of the pouch:

And voila, the coolest nerdy pencil holder of all time. I half expected my daughter to tell me she wouldn't use it, but to my surprise she was excited and tells me she uses it every day. I've not had reports of missing pencils from teachers, so heck, maybe it will work. What has NOT happened is rush orders from her friends who want one too. Hmmm, still researching the mass market appeal for this product! One more pic of the after.

I'm seeing stripes

2012-02-27T06:56:00.001-08:00

Here's a sneak peek at the boys' room. I had a sick kiddo on Friday and used my afternoon of work to get this party started. It actually took less time than I thought and the outcome is WOW.

Sorry for the crappy picture, just from my phone. I looked into lots of ways of doing this paint application before I started and found most folks simply use a level and a measuring tape. I've heard of folks using a laser level, but I don't have one and didn't want to spend the money. So, I found my middle point on the wall, then measured from there. I planned on 10" stripes, but due to a mishap, I ended up with 11" stripes on half of the wall. So, I had to erase all my pencil marks and start over. Anyhoo - you just measure up to your next stripe, then use the level to draw your stripes with a pencil. Then use painters tape where you drew the pencil stripes. Then you fill in every other line with your accent paint color.

All in all, without my mis-measuring debacle, I'd say the drawing of the stripes took about 1 hour, the taping about 45 minutes, painting (2 coats) about 30 minutes. Not much time for a huge impact.

Left to do:
- new blinds (large window is special order, UGGGHH)
- hang curtains: I have the old black tab tops, but am thinking of adding some red stripes using the bedskirts I'm no longer using on the beds.
- one more coat of paint on the trim
- touch up a few spots on the walls
- hang artwork and shelves
- make a DIY coat hook board

Once I get a couple more things done I'll take some better pix. The boys slept in their new bed last night, so major progress over the week long slumber party they held in my daughter's room. She's glad to have the "stinky varmints" out of her room. Who says varmint?

Right again

2012-02-21T11:06:00.000-08:00

In my house the hubs or now even the kids like to tell me my decor ideas are wacky or weird or bizarre. In many cases, I find an example on a blog or design site showing how my zany idea is super hip, cool and NOW. For the boys room, mood board seen below, the graphic wall stripes were a key part of my design.

The hubs and my 9 year old daughter both heckled me that they've never seen such a thing in a house they know, did I even ask the boys what they wanted for their room, WHY CAN'T I DO ANYTHING NORMAL??? (Normal, blech . . . . . .)

And, what do I find on Apartment Therapy's post today about Bold Black Stripes being "it" right now. See some examples:

And Mommy's still on trend ladies and gentlemen! Just wait til this Boys Bungalow comes together, gonna be the bomb.com.

Do-Over

2012-02-20T11:45:00.000-08:00

Well I'd like to have a fat ole do-over for this weekend . My plans to get the boys room totally finished this weekend was a bit unlikely I see now, and I way underperformed. If you'll remember, here is the design board for my boys who are 8 and 3. Need to free up some floor space plus baby boy needs a big boy bed (wiping . . .tears . . .).

As you can see we're featuring their University of Louisville bedding that we already have and trying to MOD it up a bit. I want something cool, modern, hip, but also feature our fave team. My plan this weekend was to paint all walls white and get the black/white stripes done.
PROGRESS:
1. Well, so far only two walls are completely painted white. It took 3 coats of primer/paint in one (yeah right) and still needs a smidge of touch-up in the trim areas. I bought some Kilz for the other walls to hopefully use less paint. Kilz primer is about $21 per gallon, vs. $35 or so for the paint/primer. So, 2 walls complete, 2 need another one or two coats.
2. Bright idea dawned on me at Home Depot to add magnetic paint to one wall where the boys will have a desk area. If you haven't heard of this, it's a very cool paint with magnetic bits in it that you paint on the wall then paint a top coat over. Now, I screwed up and put my first can over an area about 30 sq. ft. Evidently it's only supposed to cover 16 sq. ft. so the it wasn't as magnetic as it needed to be. So, off to Home Depot for more. This stuff is about $20 per can. Also, it's BLACK and the directions state more than 1 or 2 coats of top color could reduce how well the magnetic quality of the paint works. So, thinking this wall may be BLACK to stay, which is great as it goes with the rest of the room.

3. Friday night stop at Home Depot (alone, in no hurry = heaven) yielded a GREAT find, these cube shelves. I paid $45 for all 4 of them, but saw them for $100 online. These are going to go on the black/white stripe wall - how rad will they look? They'll hold my 8 year old's trophy's and other personal items he doesn't want left out for his brother.

4. Cleared out all toys and furniture from the boys room. We will be sorting through them all and getting rid of some, then figuring out how to organize them. Any advice? Now we have toys in the boys room on a cube shelve, in their closet, and the family room. What should go where? I did buy these super cool bins for a large cube shelf unit in the room. (mine are red with white zig zags - chevron pattern is so in it's gotta be almost out!)

So, will be working on this all week. Tonight I plan to tape up the stripes which will most likely take a couple nights. Finally painting the stripes and TEARING OFF THE TAPE will be an amazing feeling.

Wish me luck as I press on . . . . especially as kids have lots of practices, homework, tests and other activities all week. Oh and I have that job thing too.

I really want to knock it out of the park, or score a touchdown, or well you get the picture

2012-02-14T06:27:00.000-08:00

Since I'm working on a sports or team themed room for my boys this weekend, I decided to check out a few other examples for inspiration. I'm going for something that has a level of sophistication, sharp design, and "cool factor" while incorporationg the boys' fave team. What I don't want is an "out of the box store" solution where I just throw some team bedding and posters on the wall. I found a few really cute ideas.
Check 'em out.

LINK to sweet NFL Room

LINK to this soccer room, check out the use of color on the ceiling.

LINK to this sophisticated soccer room

LINK to this modern and colorful basketball room

You can see my stripes!

2012-02-13T14:20:00.000-08:00

Long time, no talk - that's how I roll sometimes. I like to stay mysterious, like all of you followers are like, I really wish I knew what Trish was up to . . . . a girl can dream. Anywho - am planning a big project-o this weekend for the boys room. My boys are 8 and 3 and share a bedroom. This is both done out of necessity, but now that they've shared, neither of them would want it any different. I'm sure that will last forever. We are from The Ville and the boys are UofL fans so we're doing a University of Louisville themed room.

Gimme a C - A - R - D - S!

So, here is what they call in the biz (and that biz is interior design which I pretend to be a part of) a MOOD BOARD for their room:

Notes:
* Two of the walls will have horizontal stripes of black and white. Not only are these graphic and fun, but HORIZONTAL STRIPES (unlike their traditional brother the vertical stripe) instantly add a modern feel to any room or so says my design icon, David Bromstad (of HGTV's Color Spash). I'm sure I'll gush about him some other time.
* Bunk beds are from Ikea, but are being sold to me from a neighbor used. You know me, I'm so thrifty (CHEAP HAS HELL).
* I already have (boring) black tab top drapes in there, but I want to punch them up by adding some additional fabric as trim on the sides or bottom. Would love to add some red/white chevron.
* Using black disc chairs for seating. My daughter has these and they are super comfy, even for adults, and can be folded and put out of the way.
* I already have two sets of UofL Cards bedding. My older son uses it now, and the extra set that has been in storage for 2 years while I waited for my 3 year old to grow out of his baby bed. Said 3 year old (3.5 yrs really) has NEVER tried to get out of his bed nor realizes he's fully capable to do so. I am reluctant to give that up . . .
* I am using some decals from Fathead to add some graphic and easy to redo Cardinal Spirit to the room. We also have several UofL posters and signs to throw about the place.

So that's the plan, Stan. I'm going to have to really bust it to get this done in one weekend, especially with the stripes. But, so that this project doesn't linger forever, I am going to do my best - plus, the boys will eventually need some place to sleep. I also need to paint a modular shelf unit, but that could be done later.

So, wish me luck. My goal is to provide the boys a classy team-themed room that they can grow into. If you were me, what would you include or add? Feel like I'm missing some elements.

What's on your agenda this week????

Orange you glad you're not a slacker like me?

2012-02-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

Hi friends and happy Friday. I'm so glad it's the weekend, I have a lot planned . . . Wait a minute, I know yesterday was Groundhog's day, but this blog sounds like Groundhog's day. The last post you have from me was a week ago and started just this way! I'm sorry I've been a SLACKER, but I was traveling this week with work and had an otherwise blechhhhhhh week. But, not to fear, the weekend is here!

First of all, an update on all the projects I got done last weekend. . . . . . . . . . . . Bueller, Bueller, Bueller . . .
Ok I got a whole hell lot of nothing done last weekend. Hoping to get some of these projects (click here) finished that I didn't do last weekend.

Next, I'd like to share what I think is the new "it" color with you. URNGE as they say down south, AKA Orange. You are seeing it everywhere, and it looks awesome with the "new neutral" = grey. Also, people think they're super cool and are often calling it "tangerine" or "carrot", etc. Here are some cool items I'm digging these days:

Links to the items:
1., 2.,3., 4., 5., 6., 7.

And I finally picked up my "Pik-Nik" cooler from Crescent Hill Trading Co. I can't wait to have a party, thinking I fit a case of cold longneck beer in this baby! Always a problem at parties on how to serve beer in a "nice" way vs. plunking a plastic red cooler down in your dining room.

Have a fabu weekend and LMK what projects you're up to! Enjoy the Superbowl, although I'm not really digging it. Both of the family teams are out, Packers and Saints. However, I do have a football shaped Summer Sausage the family is excited to dig into!

Friday, Friday, Gotta get down on Friday . . . and all weekend long

2012-01-27T07:23:00.000-08:00

First of all, happy freaking Friday! ("Friday, Friday, Gotta get down on Friday . . .", if you don't know this reference, look up, super annoying song by super annoying teenage girl). I'm stoked that I got through another week of work-work, so I can spend time doing my fun-work over the weekend. Not totally sure what is in the works yet, but here are a few "loose plans":

1. Pick up my vintage Pik-Nik cooler from Crescent Hill Trading Company ! You may remembered when I adored it (almost embarrassingly) on this post. Thanks to owner Kathy Schmitt for helping me achieve my dream of ownership!

2. Picking up some chairs I found on Craigslist. They are Vintage school chairs, stackable, and will make an awesome industrial vintage touch around a dining table. Buying these to sell in my booth once it's up and running. I had to buy all 11 of them, but got a great deal - don't think I'll have any problem selling them and making a bit of moolah. Parting with them, that's the tough part.

3. Finish my hook rack for hanging coats and backpacks. I've been working on this for weeks. I took down this coat hook wall:

My intial idea was that I wanted something more interesting than a standard coat rack from Home Depot or something (Hubby chuckles as I confirm his mantra that I don't ever pick anything "normal"). But, in reality, when you actually hang things on said interesting coat hook wall, you can't see them and it's not very functional. If you're saying "Duh" then we're not friends anymore. I don't know why I didn't think of that. But here's how it actually looks when in use:

So, I've taken all the hooks off the wall and will be screwing them to these pretty large wood "planks" that I had cut at Home Depot, then I stained:

I spent some of my crafty time last weekend adding some paint to some of the hooks that were darker and showed well on the white wall, but not so much on these darkly-stained boards:

This was a brown/bronze color, I wiped on some silver paint.

Froggy hook was brown/bronze, rubbed on some green paint
and added some blue spots and eyes.

4. Sew (or fake sew) a small curtain to put under my bathroom vanity. You should be super excited, because sometime soon I'm going to show pix of my super totally big time vintage PINK BATHROOM. It looked kinda like this when we moved in, but maybe a smidge less Pepto, just a smidge:

I loathed it when we moved in, got used to it over time, and now kind of dig the charm. There is an entire website devoted to love for pink bathrooms: Save The Pink Bathrooms Website. I have jazzed mine up a bit with some black and white accents, better than the floral wallpaper when we moved in. Anyhoo - I want to add a bit more fabric, texture, and pattern with a small curtain below the vanity top. Something kind of like these, but a bit different scale:

5. Work through laundry hell. Although Grandma was in town this week (WOOT) and my laundry is looking up. Now I just need to put it away.

6. Jonesing to paint something! Weather has been super crappy, wet, cold - not ideal for painting in my garage.

So those are all the things I want to do, but the following is a list of what I have to do:
Boot Camp Saturday morning - BLECH, B-Ball game for a kiddo, Baby shower for my wonderful and long-time friend Ramona expecting her first!, hitting the Boat & RV show, play in my volleyball league, clean the house. Hmmmmm, maybe my to do list is too long above.

What are you up to this weekend?

I am an AR-TEEST

2012-01-25T06:18:00.000-08:00

Soooooo, got my artist hat on this Sunday. Big kids were out of the house with the Hubs for a couple hours and Max was down for a nap. Two hours in the clear - yesssssssss. I had some plaques that I bought at Michael's years ago for like $2. Decided to sit down with some teal paint and go to town. I started with the dark color across the top third, then mixed some lighter teal into the paint for the middle area, then added a bunch of white for the bottom. I then took a dry brush and blended the areas. Here is what I came up with.

Getting started

Finished product before it dried - I like it shiny.

Finished product dried. I think it needs a glossy coat.

And just so you know, this is what my house looks like over the weekend when I'm working on several projects. Note the dining room table is covered in paint supplies, the chairs had the cushions taken off. Plus, still hadn't taken all the Christmas decor downstairs.

More chaos as the kids got in the act to paint, too. Some nice work me thinks:

But later in the evening the dining room came back together and looked like this. Ahhhhhh, I can go to sleep now.