Another Room Remix

New Remix It Online Project:
Here is a new remix it online project that I just received. This 9 year old girl has been sharing a room with her younger sister and is ready to move downstairs into her own bedroom (currently being used as an office). Her mom has requested that we make a fun room for her using a comforter and throw that they've already purchased and a queen bed/headboard that they've had in storage.

Here's a sneak peek at a before photo that they sent in:

I'll be posting the remix it design board, so stayed tuned!

**TODAY (WEDNESDAY, JULY 1st) IS THE LAST DAY TO REGISTER FOR THE REMIX IT ONLINE GIVEAWAY!**

Have a great day!

New Work - Pop of Colour

Here's a bit of retro and bolt of orange - these salvaged doors were found in Wanganui. We had them cleaned up, re-painted and installed in a vibrant book store/gallery. A good contrast to the crisp white and colonial profile of the skirting and architrave.

Photo by Charlotte Minty.

The Porch

I know that some of you are interested in "remixed" furniture but just don't have the time or possibly the inclination to do it yourself. With that in mind, I thought I would remind you that The Porch in Buffalo is open starting today through the weekend and is having a 20% off sale. Teresa has a great shop with tons of remixed treasures. Here are some photos of July market finds that she posted on her blog:

Check out her blog for more information.

DON'T FORGET TO REGISTER FOR THE REMIX IT ONLINE GIVEAWAY!**

New Work - Whites and Antiques (2)

New Work - White and Antiques

These clients had some beautiful antiques passed through several generations in the family. We styled them in simple displays to work with the modern house and show them off to their best effect. Click on the images to get a closer look.

Photos by Charlotte Minty.

Mudroom/Laundry Room Inspiration

I talked to my husband this morning about my idea for a mudroom/laundry room bench remix. There are many reasons that I love my husband, but one is that he is seriously the smartest man I know. In our years of marriage, I don't think I've ever asked him about something that he couldn't show me how to do or, if he didn't know, he figured it out. I know that this project most likely isn't as high on his list of priorities as it is mine :-), but he patiently listened to my ideas and talked me through the pros and cons of various methods and materials that I was considering using. I think we've hit on a mutually acceptable plan. I'm going to do as much of it as I can on my own, but I will definitely need him for guidance and some help along the way. It's also not one of those projects that I'll be able to "whip out" overnight, but I am determined to do it and I'll definitely share it with you when it's done.

In the meantime, here are some photos that may inspire you with some ideas for your own mudroom or laundry room.

1. A variety of laundry rooms on: apartment therapy

2. Source: houseandhome.com

Photographer: Mark Burstyn

3. Source: houseandhome.com

Photographer: Mark Burstyn

4. Source: houseandhome.com

Photographer: Donna Griffith

5. Source: houseandhome.com

Photographer: Michael Graydon

7. A variety of laundry rooms on: houzz.com

Window Treatment remix

I recently made a window treatment for my mudroom/laundry room. Wanting to do it inexpensively because I don't want to spend a lot on cozying up this room, I decided to use the black and cream toile stationary side panels that I had in my office in our old house (even though I wouldn't probably choose those now if I were buying new because I've already been there, done that). Stationary side panels won't work well in this room, so I decided to make a valance out of them. I'm not exactly a superb seamstress, but these weren't too bad to do. I just cut them off, pressed in a new hem and sewed it by hand.

And... finished window! Cost? - $7.99 for curtain rod on clearance at JoAnn Etc.

Have a great day!

Remix it design board #6

I was inspired by this picture yesterday while reading Erin's post at the Rare and Beautiful Treasures blog.

As well as this car that I mentioned the other day in one of my posts (amazing where we find inspiration, isn't it? :-))
I thought if I showed you the photos you might be in color love like I am, so I decided to do a mix and match remix it board for you today so that, depending on your taste and your room, you can add some of these fun items to your current design.

These items can be found at:
a. Williams Sonoma
b. Williams Sonoma
c. Urban Outfitters

d. Tonic Home
e. Target
f. The Company Store
g. Target
h. Target
i. Target

j. Target
k. Target
l. Target

Have a great day!

Remix It Design Boards #4 & 5

Going green.
Fresh...


Cozy...


Have a great day!

Remix it design boards #2 and #3

Pretty in pink...

or not...

Have a happy day!

Remix It Online - Room #1

You may remember that I posted this room on May 29 and told you that this client was ready for a remix it online. These are photos of her family room before:

Prior to her signing up for remix it online, we had already worked with her to do an accessory remix. We gathered some items from around the house and used only what she already had to accessorize the mantel:

BEFORE

AFTER

Then we moved on to the bookshelves and created a little bit more of an updated look by removing some shelves, purchasing some large black and white pieces of art and mixing some new accessories with things she already had.

BEFORE

AFTER

She was very pleased with the result but really wants to keep moving ahead toward a lighter, even more updated look. That's why she decided to do a remix it online. She would like us to build the rest of the room around the accessorizing that we've already done, keeping in mind that in the future she plans to purchase all new accessories when she is able to redo the adjoining kitchen and decides on what new accent colors she really wants in both spaces.

Here is the interactive floor plan. When the client clicks on each item in the floor plan, it will show her a photo of what the item is and where she can purchase it. If the item is available online it will show her the URL, which she can click on, and it will take her directly to the item on the website.


The remix it design board...

Here is a little of the remix it rundown:

• The walls will get a fresh coat of paint but be kept pretty much the same color by painting them Sherwin Williams Tamarind. The client feels that the room feels dark and heavy and has hinted at painting the built-ins in the past, so I am suggesting that they paint the built-ins and fireplace surround white (something like Sherwin Williams Alabaster) to really lighten and update the room. I would suggest that they carry the Alabaster white cabinet color into the kitchen when they are ready for the redo there. Ideally, the base and windows in both the kitchen and family room would also be painted white. The oak floor in the kitchen would tie the rest of the oak trim on the first floor in.
  
• Because the TV needs to stay where it is and there really isn't a lot of space for a new TV stand, I suggest that the client mount the TV on the wall with a adjustable swivel bracket and build a custom corner shelf, painted Alabaster, which will sit on the wall just far enough underneath the TV to allow room for the DVD player. The homeowner has proven to be pretty handy in the past, so could probably do this himself. The cords can be hidden with a concealer painted the same color as the walls and, if needed, they can set a potted plant on the floor underneath the shelf to hide the outlet.
  
• I would also suggest that, if it's structurally possible, they remove the railing that separates the kitchen from the living room and just make the two existing openings into one.
  
• As you can see, I am giving them a much more updated look with the new furniture and lamps, while keeping the entire palette netural. Having a neutral palette, with the exception of the burgundy pillows to give them a pop of color and tie into the existing accessories and current adjoining kitchen color, will allow them to completely change their look when they decide to in the future by just swapping out pillows, art and accessories for something more colorful.
  
• I typically would have not put a sectional in this small room because it is blocking off the entrance to the room and isn't as welcoming as I would like, but the client was very specific that she wanted a sectional. They only use this room for watching TV and enjoying the fireplace and the view and wanted as much room to lounge as possible while enjoying all three. In this case, the sectional provides the function that they need. I also chose a sectional that is almost the same color as the walls because it helps it to blend in more.
  
• I am recommending three of these little round ottomans for their versatility. The top flips over to reveal a tray and they can be used either way. They can be moved around for extra seating, or for a foot rest, or a handy place to set a drink or popcorn. A lot of function for such a little ottoman!
  
• They feel that they don't really need or want window treatments in this room and especially don't want stationary side panels. There isn't really room with the TV and the function of the patio door to use stationary side panels, so they're off the hook there! If they do change their mind though, I would recommend something like the cordless bamboo roman shades hung above the windows (outside mount).

There you have it! That's the plan.

Have a great day!

Remix It Online GIVEAWAY!

Happy Monday everyone and welcome to Room Remix Week!

The first order of business is: GIVEAWAY! In honor of Room Remix week, I am giving away a free one-room Remix It Online. Sweet! Here's the scoop...

Entering the contest is a simple:

STEP 1: You need to be a FOLLOWER of this blog or become a FOLLOWER of this blog .

STEP 2: Once you have done that, you need to leave a comment, saying "I'm a follower!" It's very important to leave the comment once you've completed Step 1, otherwise I won't know that you are entering the contest.

That's it! Easy peasy...

If you want to enter for two additional entries, mention this giveaway on your blog and link back to this post. Then leave a comment letting me know that you have done that.

The deadline for entering this giveaway is 11:59 p.m. central time on Wednesday, July 1st.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there and, of course, to my Dad! Happy Father's Day Dad! I love you...

Morgan Dane Giveaway Winner

The winner of the Morgan Dane Giveaway is Bonnie Pullis. Congratulations Bonnie!

I didn't get around to the blog yesterday as we spent the entire day away outdoors. It was a beautiful, very warm day here in Minnesota - the kind I live for. We ended up spending part of our "outside day" at the Back to the 50s car show. I must say it is probably the first or at least one of the few car shows I've attended (it must say something about my interest that I actually can't remember?) but my husband wanted to go and it was OUTSIDE, so why not? We actually had a lot of fun checking out all the cars and enjoying the warm weather and I was glad I went. One car that caught my interest, that I really felt I should be driving was this one:

Reality is that THIS one was probably more in the budget :-):

This one was my husband's favorite. It was pretty cool looking. The owner found it totally trashed in a farm field and spent 18 years restoring it in his two car garage, so he was pretty proud of it. I don't think he'll be selling it any time soon.

Remix It Online week starts TOMORROW!

Hope you're having a happy day!

Family Photo Grouping

Here's a little project I worked on with my baby sister. She moved to another state, which means another house of course, and she's going through the process that we all go through of trying to slowly pull everything together. I haven't been in her house yet, but she e-mailed this photo to me to get my advice. She wanted to showcase her family photos but they looked kind of like they were floating and lost on the wall.I suggested moving them down on the wall a bit and doing a variation of the "paint the square on the wall" idea to give it a more cohesive look. We had fun working out the details together over the phone and, since she has always been a thrifty shopper, this project didn't cost her much. She bought the paint at Walmart, found the trim pieces in a sale bin at the home improvement store, and bought the vinyl words for either $14.99 or $19.99 (I can't remember which, but either way it wasn't expensive). Love it! Excellent work little sister! :-)

More Outdoor Decor

Maybe because it's been SO cloudy and gloomy here for the last 4 days and I'm really feeling the need to be outside on a great patio with the SUN SHINING, that I decided to post some outdoor inspiration today. We'll be focusing on the inside all next week with Remix It Online Week, soooo...



Love this! The set is currently on sale at Ballard Designs:
Hope you're having a great day wherever you are... Don't forget to register for our great Morgan Dane GIVEAWAY!!!

The Porch & Atelier

I thought you might be interested in this Garden Day event at The Porch & Atelier in Buffalo. Check it out on Teresa's blog.

Don't forget to enter our Morgan Dane GIVEAWAY!

Remix It Online Week starts on Monday, June 22nd!

Morgan Dane Giveaway!

Heidi Kirwin, from Morgan Dane Designs , loves the room remix blog and has decided to do a giveaway for our followers.

The beautiful necklace that Heidi is giving away is the Firelight Necklace - Jasper, Carnelian, tigers eye,& smokey quartz. Handcrafted in the USA. Value:$42.00. Isn't this a great necklace???

You can enter to win 3 times for a total of 5 chances (remember EACH TYPE OF ENTRY requires a *comment or we won't be able to enter it into the randomizer):

1. For your first entry, visit the Morgan Dane Designs website, peruse the catalog and pick out your favorite item. Then, leave a *comment letting us know what your favorite item is.

2. For TWO EXTRA entries, become a FOLLOWER of this blog or a SUBSCRIBER to this blog, then leave a *comment saying "I'm a follower" or "I'm a subscriber". If you are already a follower or subscriber, just leave a *comment letting us know as described above. NOTE: if you become a new subscriber, you will receive an e-mail from feedburner asking you to confirm - if you do not confirm you will not really be a subscriber and it will eventually just delete your entry.

3. For TWO EXTRA entries, blog about this post and link to it. You then need to come back and leave another *comment telling me you did so, so that we can enter you two more times.

*For those of you not familiar with how to leave comments: To leave your comment, just click on the word "COMMENTS" (next to the time) at the bottom of this Morgan Dane post. Where it says "comment as:" if you don't have a google or other account, just choose the Name/URL option and fill in your name, you don't have to fill in the URL if you don't have one. Otherwise choose the type of account you have (google, etc.). Hopefully, you'll sign up to be a follower - then you'll have a google account! :-)

Contest winner will be chosen using the Randomizer:

Contest is open until 5:00 p.m. central time, Saturday, June 20th. Winners must have a US address that Heidi can ship to. If you win, we will ask you for your shipping address.

Updated Urns

I'm participating in Kimba's garden party
today, so here is an outdoor favorite...

These outdoor urns looked REALLY bad (unfortunately I don't have "before" pictures) and I was going to get rid of them, but decided to try to paint them instead. We sanded them down a bit and sprayed them with Rust-Oleum Multicolor Textured Paint in 223525 - Aged Iron.

I'm VERY happy with the result! The paint went on so well and they still have some variation in color which keeps them from having that "just painted" look.

I also love the different colors of Coleus that I put in the pots this year. The colors are so brilliant that even on a cloudy day, like today, they're beautiful.

Remix It Online Week starts on Monday, June 22nd!

Remix It Online Week

Just a reminder that Remix It Online week starts next Monday. We'll be having a great giveaway to do with remix it online - don't miss it!

Sassy aprons

Dianna over at The Devine Home blogged about these aprons today and I loved them so much I have to do the same! I'm typically not one for wearing aprons, but these are so much fun I think I may start! They don't fall under the "shopping on a very small budget" category but they're not bad and aren't they adorable?

I know at least one person for sure that is going to fall into apron love (notice the fringe on the bottom of some these?) and if she doesn't comment on this post I seriously don't know what I will do! :-)

These are from Sassy Chef Aprons:

These are from Beebops Party Wear:

Too much fun! So if you're looking for that perfect accessory for your kitchen - maybe this is what you've been missing?

Speaking of kitchens... someone asked me to post on accessorizing above kitchen cabinets so I will be doing that in an upcoming post.

Let me know what you think of these aprons. Awesome? Not your thing? Do you know of any apron sources that carry something unique and different that appeals to your taste? Share it with us!

Foyer Art Solution

Here's another idea for those large foyer walls that you don't know what to do with. This is my friend's foyer. She was frustrated with this wall, so I gave her this idea and she put it into action.

She:
1. Painted a large square on the wall.
2. Purchased stock plastic molding at the home improvement store.
3. Painted the molding and antiqued it.
4. Attached the molding directly to the wall with nails.
5. In this case she had a decorative painter come in and antique the painted square and add the decorative scrolling.
6. Hung the picture in the center.

Didn't she do a great job? This is an idea that could be interpreted in many different ways, so hopefully it will be helpful to someone.

As always, let me know what you think.

Creativity Galore!

I went to my friend's daughter's graduation party "up north" this weekend. It's hard to believe her daughter is a high school graduate already! We had a great time and enjoyed seeing people we haven't seen in quite a while.

I've always known Michele (my friend) was a creative, crafty girl and this weekend I took some pictures of a couple of her projects to share with you (with her hesitant permission). She loves rustic, animal prints/skins and, I realized this weekend, horsehoes!

Project #1. She constructed this cornice board, by herself from scratch (we're talking power tools!), covered it with leather and added the nail heads and center horseshoe. It looks even better in person - like she had it custom made by a professional!

Project #2: Again, she constructed this completely from scratch. Notice the horshoe stands. Pretty clever. The top of the center bottle is really cool too but there was someone in the top of the picture that didn't want to be on the blog so I had to crop it. Clearly photography is not one of my strengths or I would have taken the picture from a different direction or asked the person to move before I took it so I could show you the whole thing. :-(

Project #3: Their family's Christmas tradition is that each person has to give a homemade gift, and we're not talking cookies here! I've seen many of the projects over the years and have been amazed at the creativity and craftsmanship that goes into them. The photo below is of the bench that Michele's sister, Jolene, made for her this past Christmas. The bench has been outside for a while so a few of the beads are missing, but can you believe this??? Not only how cute and creative it is but how much work it took to build it herself. And how much more would you love it knowing that your sister made it rather than just having purchased it somewhere?

Leave a comment and let us know what you think!