Category Archives: Dogs

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

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

A new bed, hopefully no bed bugs

Posted on August 30, 2011 by | Leave a comment

I thought the only way a new (actual) bed would come into the T’s house would be through months of pleas to JT for a trip to Ikea.  I have been scoping out options on the internet and looked at some things on our stop at the Atlanta Ikea.  I had it narrowed down to these two:

Due to the size of our house (800 sq. ft.!) and the itty-bitty closets people needed back in 1939, underbed storage seemed like a no-brainer.   Along with the function of underbed storage, the drawers will also prevent underbed dog hairball dustbunnies, another plus.

Then the bedroom remodel got thrown into high gear by a potential bed bug outbreak.  Yikes is right. (The exterminator came last night but it’s still not a confirmed bed bug situation).    It turns out having the box spring and mattress on the floor ain’t so good for keeping the bed bugs at bay.  JT, being practical and trying to avoid an Ikea trip (drive to Chicago and mucho shopping), suggested I look around the STL area for a bed we could both live with.

And lo and behold, what did I find?

The Chase collection at World Market.  Probably not the world’s finest furniture but it was affordable-ish at $499 and we wouldn’t have to drive for 10 hours to pick it up.  Once at the store, we found the only ones in-stock were white.  I could live with that.  I wasn’t sure I was too crazy about the faux-rich look of the dark woods.  Then, when we went to check out, we found out it was only $218.00!!!  Cheaper than any of my Ikea options not even including the gas it would take to get to Chicago and back.  We hurried around back, sure they would realize the mistake (or we would realize we accidentally bought a twin size!) 

Somehow it all fit into our small SUV (Saturn Vue Hybrid) and we were off.   But . . . since Target was across the street, and I had just miraculously somehow saved $300 . . .  we ducked in for some new sheets!

Look — a pattern (small scale) and a color (sort of – light grey)

Now things are up in the air a little until we find out more about the dreaded bed bug situation and get the new frame assembled.  Until then, it’s a little bit of urban camping.
It looks like we have a 60 lb furry bedbug!  That’s Shenanigan trying out the new sheets.  The blanket is a crochet wonder that took me about 3 years to complete due to the small, tight stitches.  I’ve had it stored away for a while because the cool grey wasn’t fitting in with what we had going on in the bedroom. . . . now however with our new gray sheets, it looks pretty right on!
This is our “music room” which right now = the room JT stores all his amps and guitars in (and I store all the miscellaneous furniture items that are in limbo).  I also have a plan drawn up for it but with all the other changes we have going on right now, it got moved to the bottom of the list.

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

Gosh I’m Glad You’re Not What I Wanted

Posted on August 17, 2011 by | Leave a comment

There is a little street about four down from ours where I like to walk the dogs.  I have a little loop so I don’t go by twice and look like a stalker.  Except I kind of am a stalker.  There are a few houses on this street that I just LOVE! 

This one (thanks to the scariness of Google Maps Streetview) —

It is pretty much perfection in my book.   Great lines, simple and they have really cool artwork hanging up inside. 

And this one  just a few houses down —

I have always loved the landscaping on this two family.  The evergreens are so unexpected and it looks so private and cozy.

Walking the monkeys by last night, there was also a new addition to the landscaping — a for sale sign. (See the listing here).  I almost died.  With so many projects planned for our little house on Lawn, I didn’t want to think that a dream house of mine might be for sale.  So as soon as we got home, I began the frantic internet search.
Here’s what I found . . .


So a little tradish for my tastes.  Which is fine, my tastes are not everyone’s tastes.  But I don’t think I could justify changing out all the nice work the current owners have done to this place just to make it more “my style”.  It needs to go to someone who will love it just as it is.  And as much as I love love love the private feel of the backyard, methinks the monkeys would not like having any grass and methinks I would not like them toileting on the patio. 

So….. life on Lawn is still looking pretty good.  I’m still dreaming about our bedroom makeover and should have some ideas pulled together soon.  I showed the new layout to JT last night.  He’s game but unsurprised at my sudden need to TOTALLY CHANGE EVERYTHING AROUND.  I guess that’s what it’s like to live with an interior designer.  Love you husband!

PS — Shenanigan got a doggy backpack one year for Christmas, spoiled little bastard.  He doesn’t wear it every walk, but it’s pretty cute when he does. (And they also wear Gentle Leaders so they don’t pull me all over South City!)

Wow that front porch behind Shenanigan looks RUFF!  We are working on that right now!  As soon as our new storm door comes in at Home Depot, I will have a before and after post.

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Posted in Dogs, Miscellaneous Diversions

Baby Steps Bedroom

Posted on August 15, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Thanks to the fur kids always digging little “nests” to sleep in on our bed, two fitted sheets have become destroyed in recent history, leaving us with lots of flat sheets and just one fitted sheet. (Case in point is this fun iphone picture I took the other night of the two culprits. 

 Maybe The Martha knows how to make a bed that stays made with two flat sheets, but I sure don’t.  Trying to be practical at first, I headed up to Target to buy a few fitted queen sheets to discover that everything comes in sets.  I trolled around the interwebs a little as well, looking for that elusive el-cheapo fitted sheet.  The prices on individual sheets were so high that the most logical thing to do seems to be to get a whole new set.  Rats.

So  then I started dreaming of the possibilities.  To date, we have only ever bought white sheet sets, and that’s pretty boring.  There’s a world of colorful and patterned sheet sets out there.  But really, our bedroom needs a total overhaul and we really REALLY need to get a proper bed.  (I hope you read this JT).  Why you may ask.  As you may or may not be able to tell from the crappy picture above, our box spring and mattress are sitting on the floor.  Yep.  And after 6, soon to be 7, years of wedded bliss, my beloved and I have never purchased a marital bed.  It just doesn’t seem right.

So while visions of a new bedroom swirl in my head, I thought I’d browse around the sheet sets for some inspiration.

Crazy Idea #1) I realized this isn’t crazy colorful and is totally devoid of all patterning but monogramming is a shot in the heart to me, the collector of the letter “T”.  And they’re organic cotton which I think may be a prereq for these new sheets.
Organic Cotton Frayed-Edge Sheet Set
West Elm  Organic Cotton Frayed Edge Sheet Set

Crazy Idea #2)  This next set I may have to go see in person to check out the colors but melikes the pattern for sure: Digital Herringbone!

 Anthropologie Digital Herringbone Sheet Set

Crazy Idea #3) This next one is called “Light Aqua Stripe”.  You had me at hello!  Even better, the stripes seem to vary in width.  Yum yum.
 
Lands End Organic Percale Printed Sheet

Crazy Idea #4) The Company Store — the melon/teal option on the bottom was a strong contender for me until I saw it was no longer available as a fitted sheet.  Blasted fitted sheets!!
Company Organic Tile BeddingCompany Organic Tile sheets

Crazy Idea #5) Not organic, but GORGEOUS . . .
Kate Spade Fairmont Stripe Sheet Set, 100% Cotton, 230 Thread Count
Kate Spade Fairmont Stripe Sheet Set

So my new Google Chrome browser exploded from too much bed linen fun and I still haven’t decided.  I think the answer will be to make a finish board for the bedroom.  I do them all the time at work but have never yet put in the energy to do one for home.  Any favorites out of the choices above?  I have one!!

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Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Dogs

Meet the Family

Posted on June 29, 2011 by | Leave a comment

 . . . at least our furry family, the only ones willing to have their photo taken and put on the interwebs. 

Shenanigan
We adopted Shenanigan as a baby. . . they told us he was a dachshund/terrier mix.  When he was nine pounds we believed them . . .


Now he’s 60 lbs and we think it’s much more likely that he’s a corgi/lab mix . . . (a very ridiculous lab/corgi mix!)

Sophie

Sophie came to us from Stray Rescue.  They do miraculous things for street dogs in St. Louis.  Sophie had been used as a bait dog in her former life, which is a horrible part of pitbull fighting that I don’t even want to go into on this blog.  Her rescue story is still posted at Stray Rescue’s site, you can see it here.
We adopted her when she was about two so Shenanigan would have someone to hang out with.  And hang out they do . . .  I’m pretty sure this is how they spend all day while we’re at work . . .


It’s a dog’s life all right.

My life’s dream as a proud mother of fur babies is to have them featured on Desire to Inspire’s blogof Monday’s Pets on Furniture.   Yikes, I need a life.  Hopefully Shenanigan will be ready for his close up!  We already know he likes to lounge inappropriately on all the furniture.

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Posted in Dogs, Furniture