Archive for January, 2009
Steal Of The Week: Pump It Up
We recently snagged this recycled glass soap pump from Target for $9 and we couldn’t be more excited about our sleek Restoration Hardware-esque purchase.
It’s a little bit industrial and a little bit classic and it may just help us avoid the flu this year (hand washing just got more fun). In fact we love it so much, we grabbed a second one for our other bathroom, and now we have two refillable soap pumps made from recycled glass full of Dr. Bronner’s Organic Almond Castille Soap (our favorite) that make sudsing up a little swankier.
We can’t find it on target.com but we’re crossing our fingers that your local Tarjay will come through with the goods. And it’s not in the Home Design Event area, it’s right in the regular bathroom section (although there were other recycled glass soap dispensers over there last time we stopped in and picked up our beloved gourd lamp). Happy hunting!
YHL In DIY!
It’s finally here. The first of our three before & after features in BHG’s Do It Yourself Magazine just hit the newsstands.
You may remember us mentioning the two day photo shoot back in October, and later passing along all the lessons we learned from watching professional stylists beautify each room in our house. And now we’re very excited for you to see the fruits of all that labor – all 10 pages of it!
If you recall, we’re especially proud of this feature because we actually got to write it ourselves – marking our first national magazine writing gig (ooh, the pressure!). You can read the text of each page here on DIYideas.com or pick it up in all its glossy glory at Barnes & Noble, Target, Home Depot, or pretty much anywhere else a variety of mags are sold. Oh and just be sure that you’re grabbing the Spring 2009 issue since we spotted a few lingering Winter 2008′s hanging around.
The before photos may look familiar, but you’re sure to dig the fresh way they styled our “afters.” Plus there’s tons of other good stuff in the rest of the issue, from a pair of amazing bathroom transformations and a Los Angeles cottage makeover to a few invaluable painting tips.
And of course we wanna know what you guys think! Beyond our little write-up we’d love to know what articles are your faves (and which DIY projects you might actually take on). Oh and Part II of our before & after story will be out in a few months, so stay tuned…
Carolyn’s Design Dilemma
When Carolyn called on us for help with her living room, we got right down to business. Here’s her letter:
We have everything in the house close to the way we want it but the living room isn’t coming together and we need your help! The fireplace wall is next on our to-do list; we’re going to have all of the three different materials (brick, glass block and drywall) recovered in drywall so that it matches the other walls. Then we’ll add new stone for our fireplace mantle and hearth along with a wood beam. With all of that said, we want this room to be fabulous. I like a more glamorous, casual look and my husband likes a more rustic cabin feel. He also likes things that are sleek and modern in small doses. We have a platform bed and he loves it so you never know with him. The sofa & coffee table have to stay along with the rug. I like the side chairs but they feel a bit big in the room so I am open to replacing them. The bar is built-in but needs help, the countertop is super cool but just doesn’t fit in so we’d love help tying it in. The bar shelves were just put up by my husband but can go if there are better options to display most of the bottles up there. As for the wall color, I like what we have but I HATE the red wall. Please help us complete our living room! – Carolyn
This is another one of those spaces with soaring potential and amazing bones. With a few new furnishings and some swoonworthy accessories, this room will soon become the cohesive glammy-modern-rustic retreat that Carolyn and her hubby dream about. Here’s our mood board:
And now for the mood board breakdown.
Read the rest of this entry »
Stick ‘Em Up
We mentioned this cheap and easy DIY idea in our Holiday Gift Guide, but this specific project is so simple and fun that it bears repeating.
While browsing some fancy schmancy aroma diffuser kits (you know, the ones with oil, a vase and some reeds) we wondered if we could make our own on the cheap. So we did. One pack of $1 skewers from the grocery store plus a vase that we just happened to have laying around (picked up at Target for $3 a while ago) plus some yummy smelling liquid…
… magically became a chic little aroma diffuser:
You can clip the skewers to the right length using a wire cutter if they seem a bit long. And you can find a big bottle of fragrance oil at any dollar store so this whole project (which also makes a great gift) can easily come in under $5. Score!
Due to our recent indoor air-pollution obsession, we decided to shy away from artificial fragrances (which can be irritating to some people) and use a smidge of our naturally scented Mrs. Meyers Clean Day All Purpose Cleaner in Lemon Verbena instead. It might sound weird to put soap in a vase and call it a room fragrance, but the naturally scented essential oils in the cleaning solution lightly scent the air for a refreshing grassy-lemon smell that’s pretty close to intoxicating without having to worry about any toxins. And every so often we flip the sticks over in the vase for another burst of fragrance that lasts for weeks.
In fact we liked our little DIY diffuser so much that we made two of ‘em, one for the windowsill in the kitchen, and one for the open shelves in our living room. And every time we walk by they smell tantalizingly clean and fresh. How about you guys… do you have any favorite ways to keep your home smelling delectable? Do tell.
Hey Bush, It’s Over
No, not that Bush. I’m talking about this bush in our backyard.
It seems we’ve inexplicably lost one of the giant 50+ year old boxwoods that lines our driveway. And of course it had to be one smack dab in the middle of the row, so now we’ve got some creative landscaping to do come spring. Any suggestions?
We’re tempted to try to transplant the one on the end to replace it, and then do something different / lower / more colorful in the corner. That would work right into our slow-going plan to replace the previous owners’ preference for row after row of the same bush (not to mention lines of loriope/monkey-grass everywhere), so maybe we’ll take this as a blessing in disguise.
Any creative bush-replacement tips or tricks for us? Preferably something that doesn’t involve buying a new full-sized boxwood (which would cost us upwards of a hundred clams!). I know Sherry’s itching to up the curb appeal out front, so this backyard bush debacle is just another happy challenge for her. Tell us what you guys would do… we’re now welcoming all bush-replacement suggestions.
