Archive for August, 2009
Fab Freebie: Hi, My Name Is…
***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries***
We’re back with another fantastic prize that THREE lucky winners will be able to put their names on. This one comes from Customized Stationary, a fun little Etsy shop that features playfully designed cards and prints that you can customize with everything from your first name to your family name. And they’ve kindly put together three sweet sets for our winners to choose from (each which includes a print and set of coordinating notecards) that we were so enamored with we couldn’t help but snag a set for ourselves.
We had trouble picking, but ended up going with the Carved Tree set, which we got to customize not only with our name and our initials carved into the tree, but also with our choice of colors. That way we ended up with a perfect-for-us set of stationary that was almost too good lookin’ to unwrap.
Want a chance to customize your own set? Here are the giveaway deets:
- PRIZE: 8×10″ print and coordinating twelve pack of 4 x 5.25 notecards in your selected design (Bird Family, Carved Tree or Stump). It’s a $27 value, but stay tuned for a YHL special discount at the end of the contest on Thursday.
- TO ENTER: Comment on this post with the words “CUSTOMIZE ME” and…
- BONUS QUESTION: Tell us about one of the last handwritten letters your sent (or received). Seems to be a dying custom in the digital age, so what was memorable about a recent time you used snail mail to send something special?
- CONTEST CLOSES: Wednesday, September 2nd at 8pm EST
- NUMBER OF WINNERS: Three
- PRIZE SHIPS: USA Only
- THE USUAL: One entry per e-mail address is permitted. The winners will be selected using random.org and announced on Thursday. Good luck!
Get more info on our freebies at our Giveaway FAQs page. Images courtesy of Customized Stationary.
Susan’s Design Dilemma
Susan’s living room is ready to be transformed. Here’s her letter:
I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am about this! My sister-in-law thinks you’re fabulous and this was an early birthday present from her. Yay! To be honest, I don’t even know where to begin with my living room. I guess I am looking for a “Pottery Barn” type space. I’m trying to get the look and still keeping in mind the ages of my young children. The entertainment center is brand new and has to stay. I would like to recover the big chair. It doesn’t go with anything. My couch is comfy and we thought it would be okay to keep it for now because the kids are so young but I was thinking of purchasing a new L shaped sectional so ideas for a later purchase would be helpful. The paint color will have to stay for now but it’s a neutral color so it should be easy to work with. The space is turning into a toy room so any ideas for toy storage are welcome! Three issues I have are: 1). What kind of curtains do I get for these windows? 2.) Where to hang pictures/art? 3.) We need a better fireplace mantel (we bought a cheap one from Lowe’s, but it was too short and we felt not thick enough). Thanks sooo much for the help! -Susan
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 »
Burning Question: Sleeping Like A King?
When it comes to where you lay your head, there are plenty of options available. And we’d love to know where you fall on the size-matters scale. Do you have a modestly sized twin or full? A grander queen-sized sleeping space? Or an even bigger king or california king mattress? We doubt any of you have gone quite as far as Intercontinental Hotels Group when they did their World’s Biggest Bed Jump stunt back in May, but you never know…
Sound off about your choice surface area for catching those zzzs. And we’d love to know if you could ever envision yourself upgrading or downgrading a size in the future. We’ve heard it’s hard to go backwards…
And speaking of beds, here are a few cheap and easy tricks to keep everything in its place (and avoid that dreaded duvet slippage).
Image courtesy of the Daily Mail.
Reader Redesign: A Mouthwatering Masterpiece
When Kathy sent us her kitchen makeover pictures we had to wipe the drool from our chins. Here’s her letter:
I just wanted to send you some before and after pictures of our recent kitchen redo. I love reading your blog and all of the updates keep me inspired. In fact, we were inspired by your “how to” section’s tutorial on painting cabinets. Instead of replacing our kitchen cabinets (we considered going the Ikea route), we decided to paint the pickled whitewashed facade a chic and solid gray tone (Fieldstone by Benjamin Moore- the wall color is Winter White also by BM). We then hired someone to do the following: raise the cabinets to the lowest part of the ceiling, install a new sink and faucet and exhaust fan, tile the backsplash in a white subway tile, tile the counters in a gray marble, and install a white shelf where the bottom of the original cabinets used to be. We saved gobs of money by using tile marble instead of a big slab. We also took the original brass hinges and spray painted them silver instead of spending $150+ on new hinges. The entire cost of the redo wasn’t cheap, but it wasn’t budget breaking either–materials and labor ran us around $1600 (the sink, exhaust fan, backsplash tile, counter tile and white shelves were all from Lowe’s). You can check out some extra details on our blog. Thanks for looking! – Kathy
Here’s the kitchen before the makeover:
And here’s the same space after the cabinet painting/rehanging, the new sink, the new backsplash and tile counters and the shelf installation under the newly raised cabinets:
Isn’t the difference just miraculous. At first glance it seems similar in tone, but the feeling of the newly transformed space is so fresh and crisp and charming as opposed to the builder before. And the raised cabinets and new stone counters really make the entire space feel a lot more luxe and lovely. And last but not least, the price! New counters, backsplashes, fixtures, faucets and rehung cabinets can usually run in the $5000+ range, so Kathy’s budget-friendly makeover is that much more impressive. What do you guys think? Isn’t this kitch the bee’s knees?
Budget Blooms: Myrtle Magic
Thanks to two pretty major road trips, August almost slipped away before I could share my monthly bouquet (a super sweet Christmas present from the hubs). Just like last month’s lush lilies, this month’s blossoms didn’t hail from the grocery store. Again we bucked the normal $3-5 bouquet and headed outside, this time to snip one pretty hot pink branch from the crape myrtle on the side of our house. Here’s my lovely free flowering branch living it up in a blue glass vase on the mantel in the living room:
For those of you who live too far north to enjoy Crape Myrtles (amazing trees that runneth over with pink or white blooms pretty much all summer long), might I recommend moving to the south to enjoy them? They’re planted along almost every road and around virtually every shopping center and they truly make a former northerner like myself feel like I’m in a Disney movie. I practically expected birds to land on my arms and fashion me a dress out of curtains when I moved here back in 2005.
The pop of hot pink really wakes up the entire living room, and the raspberry tone mixed with the soft blue vase is an unexpectedly awesome pairing- especially in our otherwise light and airy home. Gotta love how something so small can make such a big impression.
So what about you guys? Have you snagged any cheerful flowers courtesy of your backyard or your local grocery store? We’d love to know what blooms are tickling your fancy these days and what bouquets your backyard is bearing without breaking the bank.
Wanna see our first grocery store bouquet from January? Itching to check out February, March, April, May, June and July too? Just follow the links for some pretty sweet cheap-o (and even free) bouquets.
