I took a lesson from the BH&G shoot.   Remember how Lisa styled the kitchen with little pops of orange? She had orange cups in the glass fronted cabinets, orange food (cantalopes, orange juice) and orange accessories on the corner shelves.

Even though orange is not my favorite color, it all looked great,  and I decided I should have the same kind of look everyday.    I already have blue rimmed glasses stored in the glass-fronted cabinets so I just needed to repeat that blue on shelves.  While I was at Ikea looking for curtains, I saw those cute little blue cups (I love seeded glass).   $3 for the pair.   And then I just happened to find a half white, half blue bowl on clearance at Marshalls.   It was almost too easy.    The owl is a dollar bin find from Target and I like it because it’s not just a figurine, it has an opening to be a little vase for flowers or a holder for supplies.

Having a pretty bowl on the bottom shelf isn’t just for looks.  That’s where we stash the tv remotes out of sight.

So, that’s my little blue update.   The nice thing is, it’s easy to rotate things in and out of this corner, maybe it will change with seasons.  Since the shoot, I’ve also decided it would be great to have bunches of fresh roses delivered weekly, but I haven’t found a way to make that happen yet.

Do you have an area that’s easy to update when the mood strikes?
-J

We first installed battery operated LED puck lights underneath the cabinets after our kitchen remodel but they ended up not being very practical.  The lighting was dim and more of a spotlight on a focused area.   I see the importance of having a lighting plan in place when approaching a remodel.  It’s much easier to install wired lighting while things (cabinets, back splashes, etc) are torn apart than once it is all put back together.   However, if you are like me and realized this after the fact, or maybe you are renting and cannot install hard wired lighting, this solution works MUCH better than our previous solution.

Ikea has several options for under the cabinet lighting but we selected the LEDBERG.   It is a $15 strip of LED lights that can be connected together (up to 4).  These strips plug in and have an on/off switch at the base .   Installation hardware (plastic clips and screws) is included in the package.   They are bright, don’t make any noise, and are easy to turn on and off.  I LOVE having this extra lighting. It makes such a difference when cooking and using the counter top but it also provides a lovely glow at night to be able see in the kitchen without turning on the overhead light.

I hid the wires and switch using Velcro so they are out of sight.   Of course, since they are not hard wired, they do take up a slot in the outlet, but that’s okay in my space.  These lights would work well in other areas of the home too, i.e. bookshelves, closets. I want to put them everywhere!
-J

Planked walls are all the rage lately.  I recently added this look to my friend’s bedroom in about an hour and half!   But we didn’t do it the traditional, laborious way using wood planks and paint.    We used wallpaper! While wallpaper can offer such a unique personalized look in your home, for so long many people have shied away from using it due to the cost and commitment involved: in both installing it AND removing it!   In fact, removing wallpaper that was not properly applied in all of my bathrooms has left such a strong impression on me, that I vowed not to use wallpaper in my own house!

However, my tune has changed with the abundance of new possibilities in removeable wallpaper!  I am really impressed with the quality of this mural from Limitless Walls.  First of all, it comes well packaged in a large roll that is pre-measured and cut for your own wall dimensions.  For this wall,  the mural came in 5 panels that we hung vertically.  I expected the actual paper to be thin and even flimsy. I was surprised to find the mural is thick and substantial, the paper feels of a high quality, as if it will not easily tear or rip. It’s still very easy to work with, not unwieldy.   It took two of us a little over an hour to install the ‘planked wall’.

Here are the steps we followed to change the look of a plain bedroom:

Prep the Wall

• Smooth out bumps and fill cracks in the wall
• Remove all switch plates and fixtures
• Clean the surface with a warm, damp towel

Install the Paper

• Measure and mark your desired spot
• Peel the backing a few inches away from the top of the paper
• Apply the exposed adhesive side of the mural to the wall and press down
• Peel the backing completely off the paper, smoothing it the wall, rub wrinkles out gently to the edge of the mural.
• Align the second panel with the first panel with a 0.5 in slight overlap, and continue steps above for all additional panels.
• Once the paper is adhered to the wall, cut away any excess material around ceilings, baseboards, edges.

What’s really great is this mural can be removed and reused (on the same sized wall) too! For this reason Limitless Walls suggests saving the liner backing that comes with the mural.   This is a great solution for both those who rent and can’t modify walls, and those who just don’t want the work or hassle of installing wood planks.   Limitless Walls provides a variety of patterns to choose from, stripes would be fun too since they are often a pain to paint.    You can even have your own photo (say, from vacation) turned into a mural for a lovely, unique look in your home.

Are you ready to put some pattern on your walls?  Use “OCD30”  when ordering and you’ll receive 30% off!
-J

Thank you to Limitless Walls for working with us on this fun project.

At the end of 2018 we moved out of our home that we lived in and renovated over 14 years to live abroad in Chile. In Chile, we rented a furnished apartment for a year and just added small personal touches.

We moved back to the States at the beginning of 2020 right before the pandemic arrived here. Since our home that we lived in prior to the move is currently rented out, we moved into an apartment.

Decorating an apartment has it’s challenges, especially when you will only be there for a short time. In our case, our apartment lease is for 9 months. Still, I’m a big proponent of making your space beautiful regardless of how temporary it is. We moved into a blank space in the middle of February and I was super focused on turning it into a space where I felt at home.

I’m so glad I did because less than a month later the entire country shutdown and we were in quarantine for months. Of course, I still had some items on my to-do list when quarantine began, but I’d gotten most of the space situated and it has served us well, being home more than ever before.

We have a 2 bedroom, 2 bath 1200 square foot space. The living, dining, and kitchen are all one large room.

I kept a few key pieces of furniture from our house: couch and king bed frame. The other pieces: day bed, dining table, bar stools, night tables, desk were all purchased once we moved in. I also kept a few curtains from our old home but found it’s tricky to reuse window treatments in a new space. Our old home had 8 foot ceilings where I used 96 in curtain panels. The apartment has 9 foot ceilings where I’ve used 108 in curtain panels.

The living room has four forest green velvet curtain panels from Half Price Drapes. They are a great resource for inexpensive curtains. I purchased the blue curtains in the large bedroom and the yellow curtains in the second bedroom from there too.

The second bedroom is both an office and guest room. Of course, thanks to the pandemic, we haven’t had the guests we were scheduled to host. But I use it everyday since I work from home.

We even have a small outdoor space. I enjoy having breakfast out here in the mornings.

In Chile, our apartment was about 700 square feet, so this apartment is nearly twice the size and it feels a bit luxurious. For comparison, the home we moved out of before Chile, is 2000 square feet. I have to say, I don’t really miss the extra space here. Maybe that is due to the pandemic and not being able to host guests or maybe it’s just that my expectations and needs have been reset. Either way, it’s been nice to enjoy this cozy space.

-J