Archive for May, 2009
Glow On Freebie Winners!
Ok all you fakers- er, “I’ll Fake It” contest enterers- it’s time to announce the two winners in our Smart Candle giveaway, who will each be lucky enough to receive a 4-pack gift set of these lovely flameless and rechargable LED candles. Perhaps they’ll come in handy for setting the mood during your next romantic dinner… which (based on everyone’s comments) will be made using mainly store brand ingredients. Don’t you just love how economical we all are these days?
Anyways, on to the winners. The two individuals that random.org pushed to the top of the list this week are… Teresa (lover of milk substitutes) and Kendall (an equal-opportunity generic brand supporter). Congrats ladies! You’re about to have quite a hot item on your hands (well, not literally hot- that would defeat the purpose of the LEDs). We hear that Smart Candles are so popular in restaurants and hotels around the world that they have a tendency to grow legs and walk out the door. Some companies have even started to put tracking devices in them! Congrats on winning them without having to slip them into your purses on the sly.
For everyone else, next week brings you not one, but two giveaways. One can be found right here on Monday as usual, and the other one can be found over on our Twitter page this Tuesday. Stay tuned…
Learn more about our freebies on our Giveaway FAQs page. Images courtesy of Smart Candle.
A Reader Redesign Goes Glossy!
When we featured Lindsay’s kitchen makeover as a Reader Redesign back in October, we never could have guessed that the people at Kitchen Makeovers (an awesome Better Homes & Garden’s special interest publication) would contact us for Lindsay’s info. Yup, they saw her before and after pics on our blog and wanted to feature her kitchen! Needless to say we were over the moon with excitement, and of course Lindsay (who just welcomed a little baby a few weeks ago) was delighted to hear about her kitchen’s impending fame.
Fast forward a few months and here’s her gorgeous and budget-friendly kitchen makeover in their Spring 2009 issue, in a column that they call Do It For Less. And do it for less Lindsay did. She only spent a mere $50 on primer & paint and her refreshed cabinets look like a million bucks.
Of course you can click the kitch above to enlarge it (and read every dirty detail) and even pick up an issue of your own for the full effect (it’s packed with lots of other yummy eye candy as well). Congratulations Lindsay- on both the gorgeous kitchen and the new bambino!
And there’s more exciting news in the pipeline. The lovely people over at Kitchen Makeovers have contacted us for more info on a few more of our Reader Redesigns and they’ve already lined up another one of our very own readers’ kitchens for their upcoming Winter issue. Stay tuned…
Our Heart Will Go On
First we want to give a huuuuge thanks to everyone who’s casting their vote for our porch makeover in BHG’s 48-Hour Challenge (for the chance at 5K). Remember you can vote once a day until June 12th so it really adds up! We’re currently hanging in there in second place and we seriously can’t thank everyone enough for their support. We appreciate every. single. vote.
Last week we dared to dream about all the fun home improvement projects we could take on with that titanic chunk of cheddar (bathroom overhauls! fireplace hearth tiling! the list goes on…) and now we’re just dropping in for our weekly remember-to-vote post. You already know we’ll do a lot in return for a vote over on BHG (we’ve danced and even jousted in the past)… and thanks to your support we feel like the kings of the world! Even if we are in second place.
In short: we’d love your vote for our porch project over on BHG.com. And to everyone who’s supporting us every day in the challenge, we’ll never let go of the love and appreciation that we have for you guys! Get it? Never let go?
Slightly doctored image courtesy of unrealitymag.com.
Basket Repurposing & Edible Decor
I try to resist the urge to let decorative accessories like candles, plants and books stagnate for too long here at Casa Petersik. It could just be the fact that I work and live in the same place so I need a little more variety than the average bear, but even sheer laziness often loses out to the fun of reworking the things that we already have in new ways. It’s hardly a weekly or even a monthly ritual, but every now and then I just can’t resist a small switcheroo here and there…
So I grabbed a round woven storage basket from the bathroom (snagged a while back at Ikea for $2) and slipped it over a basic white planter from Ikea. Voila: a woven planter basket with a ton of textural interest. Then I decided to break out an empty green seeded glass hurricane from TJ Maxx (a $5 score from a few months ago) and plopped a pillar candle into it. Still a little boring. What about using some brown rice as vase filler?
The color and the texture actually mimics the new planter basket. And you really can’t beat the price.
It’s always fun to use things in new ways, especially if they’re already on hand (ie: free). And ultimately it can actually save you money since it helps you resist the urge to run out and replace everything that you own whenever you get tired of it.
Oh and on the subjects of plants, we can’t leave without showing you our new little succulent that we snagged for $3 at Lowe’s.
It looks oh so chic in the white one-dollar Ikea planter that we already had- and speaking of using things in new ways, we LOVE to stack a few hardcover books and use them as a plant pedestal. In fact, you’ll also notice some books under our basket planter on our living room console table as well. And while we’re on the subject of hardcover books, they almost always look a lot lovelier without their plastic-y paper jackets (their fabric bindings are simple and oh so fab). So undress those books and get to stacking ‘em!
What about you guys? Do you have any objects, items, or edibles that you use in unexpected ways when it comes to home decor? Spill the beans (hey those could be vase fillers too…).
Shelly’s Design Dilemma
Shelly’s family room is bursting with potential. Here’s her letter:
The house was built in the 50′s and the previous owner did some serious remodeling – knocking down walls, etc. Now, the house has a great open feel. Everything opens onto each other – the “formal” living room opens onto family room (the main focus for the mood board) which opens to the kitchen. The dining table and chairs must stay but the rest of the seating area furniture can go unless you can make it work.When it comes to our style, we’re casual with a touch of modern. I like to be comfortable; I grew up in Florida, so the colors of the ocean will always be appealing to me. As for the wall color, it can stay or go- whatever you think (nothing bold and bright please). I am typically afraid to use color on any large areas (as you can see with all of the brown and cream in my two rooms) and prefer to keep colorful pops of color to the accessories. Thank you!!! -Shelly
This space is primed for a major makeover. Here’s the plan:
And now for the mood board breakdown.
Read the rest of this entry »
