Category Archives: Around the house

Happy Halloween!

Posted on October 31, 2011 by | Leave a comment

I got bit by the “craft” bug this weekend and jumped past Halloween straight to Christmas and beyond . . . .

I saw this tutorial on How About Orange for paper lantern/ball thingys.  I’m picturing about twenty more strung together to make a funky garland.  I might even use the white Christmas lights and make them into glowing lanterns.

It was pretty easy, just some quick paper cutting, a few hole punches and a brad — voila paper lantern.  I picked out a few more pretty papers at Hobby Lobby and think I might use up the rest of my paint swatches as well. 

Next I tried out some crochet fun . . . .

Eight loops of a “chain link” type necklace thingy done while watching the Cardinals victory parade. (See the tutorial here.)  Yes the Cardinals are World Champions!!  (or at least Champions of the USA and Canada, but we’ll take it.  I’m using this as my excuse for why I didn’t get a lot of other things done this weekend . . . .any one else buying it?  If so, you are probably a Cards fan too.)

Shenanigan was also in a non-productive mood . . .

Considering this dog is about one foot tall, he sure is long. While Shenanigan snoozed, Sophie tried on her princess tiara Halloween costume.

Happy Halloween everyone!  That means it is closer to Christmas and I can put up my new decorations!

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Posted in Around the house, Dogs, Hand Crafted, Miscellaneous Diversions

Design for all . . . including dogs

Posted on October 27, 2011 by | Leave a comment

I’m finally starting to get more projects finished up around the house.  A while ago I shared some images of our first artwork (here) and after looking over those pictures the wall still felt a little empty.

So I did what any obsessesd-with-monograms person would do.  I put a “T” on it.

I made my trusty little newspaper template and hung up one of my many letter “Ts” on the wall.  It felt so much more balanced — happier if you will.  But see that piece of wall on the other side of the kitchen door.  Blank.  Boring. 

It is no longer blank, or boring.  It’s for the dogs!

Sophie and Shenanigan got their own (handmade) artwork.  As a finishing touch I updated their placemat with the rest of the left-over table runner. (A story about why I hacked it up here.)

I’m not sure if they appreciate and/or enjoy their new artwork.  I think they only appreciate and/or enjoy all the dog treats I gave them to stand still for these photos.  I pieced together some paint swatch chips (Sherwin Williams Bosporus, Gecko and a couple of grays, can’t remember their names . . . ) and used a picture frame I already had lying around. 

Shenanigan, true to his name, was being squirrely and kept checking Sophie’s bowl for more treats.  Little monkey.

I tried for the life of me to get my models to cooperate for some better pictures but luck was not with me.    But with sweet little faces like this . . . .

. . . . it’s hard not to give them all the treats in the bag some day.  So I gave them some artwork instead.  Next up is a designer dog bowl.  Maybe for Christmas, if they’re good puppies.

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Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Dogs, Hand Crafted

Finally – a reveal! Kind of . . . .

Posted on October 24, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Well folks, I had other projects and things to tell you about from this past weekend but the office/music room just can’t wait. 

It’s (mostly) done!

We put together the FLOR area rug and cleared out all the furniture orphans (banished to the basement with my ever-growing alley finds collection).

We managed to fit in all of JT’s amps, guitars and miscellaneous equipment.  Thanks to my luck at IKEA, we had an extra faux sheepskin to create a bench on our Gap sweater drawer (right now holding, you guessed it, miscellaneous musical equipment.)

This will be a great room for listening to our vinyl collection.  Although once it was all organized (alphabetically) on the shelf, the vinyl collection didn’t look so big.

I was finally able to get all of our books out of storage and organized.  Feels good.  The little black clip lamps came from our IKEA escapade as well.  I spray painted the wire pulls black as well to give it a little extra pop.

We’ve been hanging out in here all weekend.  Sophie and Shenanigan stayed away for a while because all the furniture re-arranging seems to frighten them.  But after things had been settled in for a little bit, they came sniffing around to see what was going on.

That may be one of my favorite pictures ever.

Sophie and Shenanigan love listening to music.  We call them studio dogs because they like to hang out while JT plays.

That’s Shenanigan posing with JT’s newest guitar.  I’m still not sold on it as he traded the Gretsch for it.  I really liked the Gretsch . . .  maybe I would like the new one better if JT would hurry up and make me an Explorer? (Hint, hint.)

Sophie seems to like it though.  Traitor.

So, for now, things are in good working order in the office/music room.  I still need to figure out a window treatment situation as the bamboo shades we have on the windows now don’t really provide privacy at night.  We did go look at the office from the backyard and alley and thankfully you can’t see the hanging guitars from the street.  I also have two more alley orphans downstairs awaiting money for reupholstery, so I want to eventually change out the two chairs for something more comfortable.  I also am working on lighting and a few other little projects.  My house will never really be “finished” though, so we’re going to enjoy the music room as it is for now.  It’s come a long way baby! 

PS — The before pictures are so horrible I didn’t want to put them up here.  If for some reason you want to assail your eyeballs, you can see them here.

PPS — If anyone knows of a good photographer in the STL area willing to barter me some good music room photos for design help on their own house, put me in contact.  My photos need an upgrade!

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Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Dogs, Furniture, Music related

Fall’s First Fire

Posted on October 20, 2011 by | 2 comments

It finally kicked into fall weather in St. Louis and that meant one thing — time to open up the ol’ flue and have a FIRE!  We still have enough firewood left over from last year that I don’t think we’ll have to scavenge any but I want to know where all the designers get their piles and piles of pretty birch logs you see in the magazine images. I think we only get oak in Missouri.

At any rate, it wasn’t the largest fire but Sophie seemed to enjoy it (and her bone — that girl loves her some bone).

The Cardinals were on TV, winning the World Series (we hope),  so JT and the fur kids and I all settled in for a nice evening in front of the fire.

With two dogs and a husband on the sofa, there wasn’t a whole lot of room for me.  No sweat, I took over the (faux) sheepskin in front of the fire and crocheted my heart out.  I’m moving at a turtle’s pace on the crochet thing, but at least I’m still moving.  Here’s my progress on the second panel as of last night.

I keep all my yarn in my great little Rock and Roll Craft Show bag I got last year. (This year’s show is November 25-27, check it out.)  I love the stitched guitar logo.  Plus I can pick it all up and stash it easily if I don’t want my yarn cluttering up the room.  Still three more panels to go after I finish this one and I’m thinking about doing another (different) blanket for the bedroom . . . so I best get a move on!  I guess this calls for more cozy nights in front of the fireplace.  Sounds alright by me.

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Posted in Around the house, Dogs, Hand Crafted, Miscellaneous Diversions

I Survived IKEA – barely

Posted on October 17, 2011 by | 2 comments

This Saturday was the epic IKEA trip.  My mother, sister and I left St. Louis while it was still dark (5am) and headed northward to the great city of Schaumburg, Illinois. 

We came, we shopped, we conquered.

I thought I was ready for this trip but it took every ounce of planning, preparation and group ninja shopping skills to pull this one off.

The store opened at 10am and we were in the more-than-half-full parking lot by 10:30, ready to go.  I saw cars from Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa and Michigan besides the scores of Illinois plates and of course us with our Missouri-mobile. 

We plunged right into the fray but didn’t make it more than halfway around the top floor (which we hit up first) before we decided to break for some Swedish lunch.

After trekking through the 3rd and 2nd floor, the three of us had three very full carts.  We decided to go on down to the check-out line and pay up for Round #1.

After off-loading Round #1, we went back for seconds.  The main floor has the warehouse aisles of all the furniture and items in boxes.  This part was a lot easier because our handy-dandy IKEA lists told us exactly what Aisle # and Bin # to look for.  So we swept through Round #2 in record time.

IKEA is nothing if not efficient but my one complaint would be at the end, we were herded like lemmings to a loading zone surrounded with rails that wouldn’t let the carts out.  So we were forced to bring the car up to the loading zone after each round of shopping.  We looked pretty hilarious trying to fit Round #2 (the bigger heavier furniture stuff) in UNDER our Round #1 (the lighter, more breakable, decorative stuff).  Maybe we would change the plan in retrospect and do the heavy stuff first.  Who knows.

We cruised back to STL as the day faded to dark.  JT helped us unload everything and I crashed and burned to an un-funny Saturday Night Live.  I awoke in the morning to the aftermath of what I had done.

Disaster zone!  While I was out shopping all Saturday, JT rewired and redid T001 to be an Esquire.  You can kind of see it hanging out over by all his amps and equipment which have been living in the living room since I still have the office/music room all tore up. 

  Mr. Shenanigan at least seems grateful for my IKEA finds.  They had some faux sheepskins!   I didn’t have to be a sheep murderer to have my house covered in furs.  Since the faux version was only $9.99, I grabbed up 4 rather than the real versions of which I had budgeted for 2 @ $29.99.  I saved $20 and got two more sheepskins than anticipated!  (Disclaimer:  I didn’t really SAVE money, I just tell myself that to make myself feel better.) 

So Shenanigan and Sophie now have their own sheep friend to cuddle with.   In the picture above, Shenanigan is hanging out with his sheep friend (I call it Hairy Potter actually) and his “baby” which is actually a squirrel toy he alternately loves to cuddle or loves to destroy.  Maybe it’s the Rally Squirrel?  Cardinals move on to the World Series!!  More on how the IKEA finds slowly make their way into our house.  Have a great week folks!

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Posted in Around the house, Dogs, Furniture, Miscellaneous Diversions

Flor-ed Part Deux

Posted on October 14, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Before I lucked upon the FLOR carpet tiles at the thrift store last weekend, I had already been considering FLOR for our bedroom.

The blue colored area is what I had been dreaming about for some comfort on the wood floors.  But here’s the problem.

These two monkeys.  (We think) Sophie used to pee on one spot on all the rugs we ever put in the living room.  So we’ve been rug-less for the last three years or so.   I think that the FLOR carpet tiles will be a good solution for us and here’s why:  If Sophie pees on a tile, I can pull it up and hose it off or replace it with another.

I had ordered some samples before JT and I went crazy and decided to paint the bedroom blue.  So at one point I was thinking of bringing the color in through the area rug.

Now that’s out the window so I want something textural and graphic but not too crazy for the floor so I ordered a few more samples:

Yeah, #1 was too crazy, but I had been considering it for the office before the big score.  Isn’t it gorgeous though?  And those chairs . . . and that table . . .

Option #2 was much more subdued but still had that graphic punch.  For the bedroom I was picturing a warm gray to match the new sheets.  The only picture on the website had the much louder purple.  You can see how the cut pile and the loop combine to create a really elegant texture.


My favorite and the current leader of the pack is #3.  It’s a pattern called Sophistikat and I love it.  The only picture from the web has it in a delicious teal color but I think we will get it in the more neutral grey/tan colorway shown in my swatch.

Guess what – tomorrow is IKEA day!! One step closer to having this bedroom thing wrapped up!  After I posted the floor plan above, I realized that the only thing I had in this room originally was the black chair.

It was a gift from my grandmother when she downsized from her house into her condo.  I should ask her more about its origin as there are no markings.  I’m thinking about having another adventure in sewing and trying my hand at a tailored slipcover.  Not like you see the chair a whole lot, usually it’s covered in clothes.  Just keeping it real.

Have a great weekend everyone!  If you see someone hyperventilating in IKEA Schaumburg from over-exertion and general exhaustion due to awakening at 4am to drive there, it’s me!

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Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Dogs, Furniture

Flor-ed

Posted on October 12, 2011 by | 1 comment

This weekend, between painting and moving furniture, I realized it had been a while since I had been to a thrift store.  The pull was growing stronger.  I couldn’t stay away any longer.

Off to the nearby St. Vincent de Paul thrift store for a quick fix.  The furniture seemed a little over priced.  I had my eyes peeled (gross saying I know) for a little mirror or something for the bedroom.  Instead I spotted this:

A whole table of Interface Flor carpet tiles, all boxed up.  Most of the patterns were not my cup of tea, but one caught my eye:

After I emailed my find over to my trusty Interface rep (the advantages of working in commercial interior design), he told me this was an old pattern called Jailhouse that used to go for $30 per square yard.  I had just bought a box of twenty 50cm tiles so about 6 square yards — what should have been $180 was $30.  We’re going to use this as an area rug in the music room/office. (The image below is an install shot from the Interface European website, it’s not available on the US site any longer. . . .)

There has been a lot of commentary on the passing of Steve Jobs.  I most certainly respect and honor Mr. Jobs’ contribution to technology — he definitely seemed to be a champion for form AND function — creating things that worked well and were well designed. 

However, another big CEO passed away this year — Ray Anderson of Interface Flor.  I think Mr. Anderson also “thought different” like Steve Jobs and pushed the boundaries of his industry.  Mr. Anderson wrote a book, “Confession of a Radical Industrialist” and understood that a eco-conscious company could also be a profitable company.  Interface Flor not only creates gorgeous carpet tile, it is a highly sustainable organization.  Plus and plus.

I was trolling around the Herman Miller website today for a work project and found an interesting article — “30 Successful Companies that Get It“.  Of course Herman Miller was in there, but so was Interface and Apple.  I hope more companies can “get it”.  Heck, I hope I can “get it” too! 

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Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Thrifting

Countdown

Posted on October 10, 2011 by | 2 comments

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have 5 glorious days until my next IKEA trip. 

My mom and sister and I have decided to dash up to Chicago for one day to stock up on all the Swedish delights we can handle.  I’ve been plotting and planning for some time now and finally think I have it narrowed down.

All good stuff — some light fixtures and storage pieces for the music room shelving, a neutral duvet and some curtain rods for the bedroom along with the new bedside table that is a fill-in for my Tulip.  And more sheepskins.  I can’t quite reconcile this with my vegetarianism, but I can’t seem to help myself either.

I know a lot of people disagree with IKEA and the mass manufacturing of home goods.  I think IKEA makes great filler pieces and background items that can let all the more original items in your home shine. 

Speaking of my home (we were, right?)  I feel like I always show the same few views on this here blog.  First, because I suck with a camera and second because I still have a lot I’m working on.  One of the things on my list is a “House Tour” or something like that.  I did add a “Floor Plan” tab that shows the whole floor plan with its current furniture arrangement. 

Here’s a new view for you — the buffet opposite the dining room table.  It’s where things land when we get home — keys, phones, junk. 

It’s a mixture of such random things — an IKEA lamp, a Pottery Barn tray, a glass hand from Urban Outfitters and an Elvis postcard we received as a gift.  The buffet we found at an antique/junk mall a few years back.  It had more primitive wooden handles on it which I switched out for the brushed nickel to class it up a little.  The top of the piece has some water damage and needs a little restoration, so for now I use runners.  The one I have on there now is some extra fabric I hemmed up after my last pillow making adventure. 

So I’m not worried about it looking like we live in an IKEA catalog because I know I’ll always mix it up.  In the words of Violet from Downton Abbey (I just watched it all on Netflix and AM OBSESSED!) — put that in your pipe and smoke it!

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Posted in Around the house, Furniture, Miscellaneous Diversions

Another Weekend Update . . .

Posted on October 3, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Monday is BACK.  How?  I don’t know.  Also, it’s October.  Crazy.  But we had gorgeous weather this weekend in St. Louis and I got a lot done.  Yay.

First up was finishing off some pesky little things from other projects . . . I’m not always the best about finishing one project before I jump into the next one . . . .
Like the front steps.  I painted everything except the one at the door (because I thought it would get scratched up during new door installation) and the side by the azaleas (because I thought I would get scratched up!)

The azaleas did try to eat me but I put a towel around all the scratchy branches so I could push them back long enough to get my brush in there and paint it.  The epoxy paint has proven to be very durable so far, I would definitely recommend it as an outdoor coating.

The office . . . . I’ve been painting ’til I’m blue in the face . . . .


It’s STILL NOT DONE!  But it’s getting closer.  One step at a time . . .

But a girl (okay adult-type lady) still needs time to relax and refresh.  So Sunday JT and I headed to the winery with his dad and step-mom for a belated birthday lunch.

The drive was scenic, the wine was very good and we had the best weather ever. 

There’s nothing like sitting outside getting comfortably inebriated with a group of friends and strangers alike.  All in all a great weekend.  Cheers to a great week ahead!

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Posted in Around the house, Miscellaneous Diversions

Pillow Party (a.k.a. Adventures in Sewing)

Posted on September 28, 2011 by | Leave a comment

A while ago I stumbled upon this great outdoor fabric that had all the colors I was thinking about for our house revamp.
Over the last month I have slowly but surely been making these into accent pillows.

While I was having my pillow party, I thought I would make a monogram pillow too, in honor of the sheets that got away.  (I also had some extra fabric that I had purchased to make the backs, more on that later.  Waste not, want not.)

First I started out by making a template in my trusty Photoshop.  I don’t know what I would do without Photoshop . . . .
Since the pillow was 12″ x 18″, the whole template didn’t fit on one page — I printed out each half with some overlap and cut and taped them together.

Then came the fun/tedious part – fabric painting. I taped my template down to a piece of cardboard and centered my pillow front over it.  Since I had printed my template in black and the fabric was light-colored, I was able to see through it to trace/paint the outline.  If you were using a darker fabric, I have used a large piece of acrylic or plexi with a bare lamp bulb underneath as an improvised light table before.

I just mixed up my front door paint  (Sherwin Williams Briny) half and half with some Liquitex fabric medium.  I was a little nervous the fabric medium would dilute the color and make it kind of meh, but the teal stayed nice and vibrant.  The Liquitex directions did say to let it dry for a few days so I waited four just to be sure and then ironed the heck out of it for good measure (this was extra – the fabric medium didn’t need to be heat set but I wanted a nice flat pillow front before I started sewing.)  Full disclosure: I still haven’t washed it yet.  I’ll update if there are any disasterous results.

Then I just got to work with my trusty Kenmore sewing machine.  And then I ran out of thread . . .  And then it took me two weeks before I could buy more thread . . .  And then I photographed these pillows three different times and didn’t like how any of the pictures turned out . . . . So needless to say this one has been in the hopper for a while.  If I were to do it over again, I would shrink down the height of the monogram a little to accommodate for the curve as it wraps around the pillow.  Live and learn.

I haven’t mastered the art of the zipper yet, and as you will see below, anything on the sofa gets a lot of love from the dogs.  So right now I do envelope back style pillows so I can take them off to launder them.
I had only purchased a yard of the outdoor fabric because I wasn’t 100% sure on the colors while I was at the store.  So I didn’t have enough to do the whole back with the pretty fabric so I settled for just a stripe.  The monogram pillow has a matching teal zig-zag stitch on its back closure for just a little extra detail.

Sophie and Shenanigan have gotten the most use out of the pillows so far . . .
While we were at Winslow’s Home last Friday, I picked up Nellie’s Dryer Balls.  For a quick dog hair removal, I just throw the whole pillow in the dryer with the dryer balls and it gets the dog hair cleaned off and the pillows plumped back up for King Shenanigan.  Those dogs are SPOILED!  But we love them so . . .

In related pillow news, I was over at my mom’s house and saw that the ruffle pillow I slaved over is displayed with honor.  That makes me happy.
(Are we seeing where I learned to love the color blue?  And Diet Coke?  Not the Diet Coke?  Well blue at least . . .)

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Posted in Around the house, Dogs, Hand Crafted