Archive for May, 2010
Fab Freebie: Maine Attractions
***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries***
It’s a shame we can’t take any major road trips right now (thanks to our wee one) since this week’s giveaway has us itching to head north to Kennebunkport, Maine. That’s because Spaces Kennebunkport- the shop behind today’s prize- embodies just the type of comfortable seaside home accents that Sherry and I love. Never mind that we can barely spell the name… we still want to eat up everything in their store.
But have no fear if you also can’t make it out to K-town. Spaces Kennebunkport has an awesome online shop and one of you is gonna win a $150 gift certificate to spend there. Score.
And not that we’re in the business of telling people how to spend their prize money, but here are some things we would totally snag for ourselves:
Wanna take home some of this beachy bliss? Here’s how to enter this week’s Fab Freebie (oh, and stay tuned for a discount code this Thursday):
- PRIZE: $150 toward anything in Spaces Kennebunkport’s shop
- TO ENTER: Comment on this post with the words “MAINE ME!” and…
- BONUS QUESTION: … since our giveaway sponsors reside in a fairly uniquely-named town, we’d love to know of any unique / weird / funny city names that you live in, have visited, or have noticed on a map (i.e. Love, VA; Bummerville, CA; Sweet Lips, TN)
- GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Wednesday, June 2nd at 8pm EST
- NUMBER OF WINNERS: One
- PRIZE SHIPS: Anywhere in the USA
- USUAL STUFF: One entry per e-mail address is permitted. The winner will be selected using random.org and announced on Thursday. Good luck!
Find more freebie info on our Giveaway FAQs page. Pics courtesy of Spaces Kennebunkport.
Reader Redesign: Makeover Magic
When Bonnie sent us her charming kitchen before and after pictures we just had to share the goods. Here’s her letter:
I’ve been enjoying YHL for the last year. My husband and I bought my grandparents home this past November and have had so much fun renovating it! We turned the place upside down and within about five weeks we got this outcome. We were on a really tight budget, so most everything is from Ikea, thrifted or made by us. We drew tons of inspiration from Young House Love and referred to your ‘how to’s’ quite often! My readers really enjoyed our kitchen before & afters, so I thought you might like to see them too! And you can find more info on my blog (and see more photos too). We live in Franklin, NC, somewhat close to Virginia! We love the south and we love all the inspiration you provide, so thank you! -Bonnie
Here’s Bonnie’s dated kitchen before:
And here it is after her totally affordable DIY transformation:
Isn’t that lovely? We adore how light and airy it feels (even with the same appliances and cabinets). And that eating nook is fantastic- along with that heartstoppingly beautiful turquoise stove nearby. Plus all the charming touches like the art and accessories really make it feel even more inviting and airy in there. Oh and here’s a handy source list from Bonnie:
- Countertops: VÄRDE
- Wall color: Valspar low-voc in ‘swiss coffee’ #7002-16
- Fabric for the curtains: Tea Types Writing by Timeless Treasures
- Curtain rod: DEKA curtain wire with clips
- Lights: Fado pendant light & Calypso ceiling lamp
- Shelving: FÖRHÖJA wall shelf & VÄRDE wall shelf with hooks & VÄRDE wall shelf & BESTÅ shelf unit
- Accessories: egg crate & blomster candelsticks & SLOM jars & DROPPAR spice jars (seen here) & SEBASTIAN bar stool (seen here)
- Thrifted: ball jars, fire king jadite green bowls, green glass vase, & frames
- DIY: cabinet door knobs, frames, wall painting, bench cushions & curtains
Didn’t Bonnie do a great job? We love her work-with-what-you’ve-got spirit. She certainly saved a pretty penny by keeping those cabinets and appliances while opting to switch out the counters (for affordable Ikea options). Plus all of her thoughtful accessorizing really took the entire space to the next level. Gotta love major makeovers like these that don’t require tons of gutting and spending. What do you guys think? Any favorite items like that great round pendant above the table or those sweet homemade curtains above the sink? Do tell.
Burning Question: Counter Intelligence?
When it comes to kitchen counters, which material do you like best? Are you a sucker for natural stone options like granite or marble? Or manmade materials like Corian and Silestone? Do you love the charming and rustic look of butcher block or tile? Or adore the eco-friendly stuff like recycled glass and sustainable bamboo? Is sleek stainless steel or industrial poured concrete more your speed? Or do you like the easy care and low cost of laminate? How about a combination (like a butcher block island with marble counters)? So many choices, so little time…
We’re itching to hear where you stand on the issue. In fact, we whipped up this handy little poll to keep everything tabulated:
[poll id="16"]
We’d love to hear more about why you voted the way you did, so feel free to comment away with more details.
Image courtesy of Cottage Living.
Look & Learn: The Bold & The Beautiful
We’re back with another installment of Look & Learn, which is all about studying inspiration rooms and trying to figure out how and why they work. Because admiring a beautiful space is always fun, but figuring out what elements and ideas can actually be borrowed or adapted for your very own casa (preferably on the cheap) is the icing on the cake. This week’s theme is how to use saturated, vibrant or bold colors on the walls of a room without creating a chaotic and overwhelming feeling. First let’s check out this room with smoky-yet-rich slate blue walls (for a similar look try Benjamin Moore’s Hemlock 719).
The space still feels balanced and orderly so it’s definitely not crazy and overwhelming thanks to that saturated tone on the walls. And perhaps it has to do with the fact that everything is within a pretty tight palette, so instead of filling the room with every color of the rainbow, the furnishings are all tones of dark wood while the curtains are a soft and complementary celedon color which is picked up in the bedding (along with tones of brown and blue just like the walls and the furnishings). Even when you factor in the rug and the lamp you realize that this room’s palette is pretty much just made up of the bold blue shade that’s on the wall, the dark brown from the furnishings, some mocha hues in the rug/lamp/bedding, and a few splashes of celedon in the curtains and bedding along with some pure white.
Next let’s check out this vibrant yellow bedroom (for a similar wall tone, try Benjamin Moore’s Hawthorne Yellow).
Again it’s easy to see that while it’s bright, it’s hardly a room that’s hard to look at. The eye pleasing balance and the simple and refined color palette again helps to temper the yellow walls (all the white and the brown really “grounds” the yellow). And there’s just a bit of tone-on-tone interest going on with a few different splashes of yellow in the upholstery – but it’s really more serene than a room with yellow walls and a red sectional might be, for example.
Next let’s examine this bold kitchen complete with almost shockingly bright red cabinets (for a similar look try Benjamin Moore’s Million Dollar Red). We love how confident and unapologetic this kitchen feels. It’s almost like it’s saying “so what if I’m bright- deal with it.” But it’s actually a very well thought out scheme when you stop to analyze it, no matter how random and crazy it appears from the get-go. You’ll notice that the walls are soft and neutral, along with the woven blinds and the medium toned wood island. Meanwhile the counters and the stools are espresso/black (along with the hardware) and there are a few hits of stainless steel and greeny-yellow in the accessories and fixtures. That’s it. No nutty zebra print window treatments. No bright pops of orange or lavender in the accents on the counter. Just neutral tones like black, stainless, brown and tan with that bold red hue and a small splash of greeny-yellow here and there.
Next let’s switch gears to a room that still has a saturated color on the walls (a dark mocha), but is a bit less intense. You probably know where I’m going already, right? See how the bedding and the curtains have a bit of soft green, ivory and blue in them but nothing that stands out at all. In fact, if you squint at the screen, the curtains and the bedding appear to be a softer mocha color than the walls so they really are close when it comes to their tonal values. We also notice a tiny shot of yellow and pink in the art on the wall, and just for balance there’s a tiny shot of yellow and pink across the room in the form of those pink flowers and the yellow accent pillow on the bed. Otherwise there’s just a brown-based rug and woven ottoman along with some soft cream tones in the upholstered chair, the frames, the trim in the room, and the lamp shade. So again, we’re noticing that the walls in a room can be bright or dark, and the effect isn’t overly dramatic and chaotic if the rest of the items in the room are semi neutral and the palette is kept pretty tight.
Lastly let’s check out this second blue room. We picked this space to demonstrate that there’s more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to wall color and accompanying decor…
It’s quite unlike the formula that the first blue room followed (no tight color palette, nothing too coordinated, a few unexpected and eclectic touches) so for that reason it reads as a room that’s a lot less structured and a lot more mix-and-matched. But look again. Although it appears to be completely random, there are still definite patterns to be seen (the salmon color in the curtains is picked up in the pinkish blue upholstery of the chairs by the fireplace, and the blue flowers on the mantel are in the same (but deeper) color family as the walls and the chair that’s in the foreground. The lesson: it’s still not a free for all of random colors, and a fairly limited and well thought out color approach was actually implemented, no matter how hard they tried to hide that fact.
So the common threads that we can identify in all of these lovely spaces are:
- One semi bold or saturated color on the walls (or the cabinets)
- Pretty tight palettes with smaller-dose hues like tan, white, green, salmon & brown
- Tone on tone textiles (none of the curtains, rugs, or bedding is too high contrast & bold)
- Similarly toned furnishings (whether they’re all white or all dark wood, they always work together)
- Accessories that play second fiddle to the walls (or cabinets) instead of competing for attention
So what’s the takeaway anyway? There are definitely a million and one dramatic and lovely Domino-esque spaces with bright walls, high contrast bedding, dramatically colored accessories, and other bold patterns and prints going on. But the rooms above are an example of how one color can really be the star (while the textiles and accessories can sit back and create a soft layered look in a space – as opposed to fighting to be noticed like something a bit more bold might do). You really can have a yellow guest room, a red kitchen, or a blue bedroom without creating that overwhelming and chaotic feeling, it’s just all about keeping the palette relatively tight, bringing in furnishings that are all similarly toned, keeping the textiles pretty toned down so they don’t compete, and even coordinating your accessories so they work with your palette to blend right in seamlessly. So don’t be afraid to paint your office walls that vibrant celery green you’ve been eyeing- just introduce a white desk, chair and filing cabinet, and keep your accessories limited to just a few colors (like soft yellow and blue). Then you can add white curtains (to work with the furnishings) or even soft yellow or blue ones (since those hues are already in your palette) and you’ll be well on your way to having a room that’s colorful without feeling completely insane.
Remember that neutrals like tan, chocolate, and white are one of the easiest ways to “cut” through a brighter or more saturated color and temper those bolder paint choices. So go for that orange accent wall or that deep red dining room- just bring in some dark wood furnishings and a woven jute rug to immediately “neutralize” the walls for a balanced and agreeable look that still has a ton of energy and attitude without any headache-inducing side effects.
And so ends our fourth installment of Look & Learn (check out the other three here). Is anyone out there now ready to add some serious color to their casa? Have you noticed other common threads in the rooms that we included above? Or have you picked up other “formulas” that seem to work like a charm when it comes to introducing some major hue to your home? Do tell.
All photos courtesy of MyHomeIdeas.
Your Perfect Shade: Freebie Winner!
We hope you guys had fun playing around with the Design It tool in this week’s giveaway from Lamps Plus. Between that and your run as pillow designers a few weeks back, you guys must be feeling pretty good about your product-creating skills (as you should be).
Before we announce the winner of the Brushed Nickel Contemporary Table Lamp with the choice of any pattern, color and trim for the shade, we should remind everyone that you can score $10 off any order of $129 or more on Lamps Plus with the code 37YHL now through June 7th. Just click here for the details.
And now for the big winner. After shining a light on random.org, it plucked out the name of one lucky reader… Heather H (who loves a dusty rosey pink). Congrats! We’d love to know which pattern you’re planning on picking for your custom lamp. Can we expect some pink in there somewhere?
Oh and fret not if your name didn’t float to the top this week. Monday’s giveaway is gonna be another fun one. In fact it’s taking us to a place we’ve never been before (and yes that’s a clue as usual).
Find more freebie info on our Giveaway FAQs page. Pics courtesy of Lamps Plus.
