Knitted Pouf

I know you have seen the poufs or stuffed ottomans lately in the stores and magazines. I have been admiring the knitted version and decided to try it out. It was a super fast knit with giant knitting needles. I found the pattern on Ravelry and it is called Puff Daddy.

The tricky part was stuffing the pouf. I ended up doing what some of the other knitters suggested and bought a down comforter to use as stuffing. Thank you Ikea for having a sale on comforters! I also wanted the pouf to hold its shape and wrapped it up very tightly in a jersey knit before putting it in the pouf. The knit color I used to wrap the comforter was similar to the yarn, but gave it just enough contrast. I'm pretty pleased with it! Beware, if you have kids it will become their favorite place to sit.

Using Color in Your Interiors

It's been a long while since I've posted on my blog and I've started to focus more on building up an interior design business in Cincinnati. This is the first blog post on my interior design website. I wanted to post it here as well.  

Using Color in Your Interiors

Among the many aspects of design color plays an important role in the space of an interior.  Color can evoke emotions and influence a person’s behavior.  Studies have been reported that children tested in colorful rooms earned higher IQ scores than children who tested in neutral toned rooms. Colors can visually trick our minds in thinking a space is bigger or smaller than it actually is by the color selected. Something to remember when you are painting a room, paint it a light color if you want it to appear larger. If you want the space to feel more intimate then paint it a darker color. The same can be done with painting a ceiling.  The height of it can appear higher or lower depending on the paint color.

To address the subject of color affecting our mood or evoking an emotion we will take a look at the different colors and what feelings they give. Warm colors such as red, orange, yellow are active colors.  When using a warm color remember that they will seem to appear closer than they are. Cool colors such as blue, green, purple are restful colors and would be great for a bedroom.

I’m a huge fan of color and tend to use it more in my furniture, accessories and artwork. I love to see pops of color or an accent wall with a bold color. It really makes a statement!

Upholstered Cornice

I've been on a long blog break. Don't worry I had plenty to keep me busy. My hiatus consisted of getting my house ready to sell in Texas (huge job), keeping my house clean for showings (next to impossible with kids), living without my husband while he started work in Ohio (hated it), finding a new house in Ohio, preparing for the house to be packed up and moved (so thankful the company took care of that part) and then unpacking everything in the new house in Ohio. I can't tell you how ecstatic I am that there is a basement and I can just hide all the boxes I don't want to unpack yet down there. Now that things have settled down, I'm hoping to post more on the blog again.

First project for the new house, an upholstered cornice. The house has sliding doors in the back with vertical blinds which are NOT my favorite! I considered switching to draperies, but with 2 dogs and 2 kids I didn't think they would stay clean. I opted for the upholstered cornice.
They are so easy to make and don't require any sewing.

Materials

Wood (for frame)

L brackets 

Batting

Fabric

1. Build the cornice out of wood.  I used a 12" width so I could cover the track for the vertical blinds and give the sliding glass door some balance. My frame came off the wall 8" on the sides. You can adjust the measurements for your window. 

2. Attach batting to the front of the cornice board. I doubled the thickness of the batting and wrapped it around the edge and stapled it to the back. 

3. Next staple the fabric to the cornice board. I stapled it on all the edges in the back to get the fabric centered. During this step you need to make sure you pull the fabric tight to give it a nice flat appearance. 

4. I like my cornices to look nice on the back as well. I used white fabric and covered the back and attached it with hot glue. It hides the staples.

5. Attach L brackets to the cornice and install to the wall.

New Mirror

I've been slowly accessorizing parts of my house.  It takes a while for me to find the right things and then of course there's the expense.  I'm always looking for a good deal.  I hate paying full price for anything.  I've been finding some really great things at Home Goods which is part of Marshall's.  I felt like my bedroom needed something over the bed even though the headboard was tall.  It just didn't look complete to me.  I found this great mirror at Marshall's for $50 and it was exactly what I wanted.  The mirrors I saw elsewhere where 2-3 times what I paid for that mirror.  It's definitely a place to check out if you want some great accessories or accent furniture.

Moroccan Wall Stencil

I decided to try out the stencils by Cutting Edge Stencils.  I went with the Rabat Allover stencil and used it as an accent wall in my entry way.  I love the way it turned out!  This project did take some patience since I needed to put three coats of the brown paint on the wall, but otherwise it wasn't difficult.  I like the idea of wallpaper, but not the fact that its such a pain to remove later if you get tired of it.  This is much better, so when I'm tired of this color or pattern I can just paint over it.

Upcoming Project

This weekend we were playing catch up around our house in the way of home repairs.  After having our foundation done we have to go through each room and patch the cracks and paint the room.  We finally started this long process this weekend.  The first room to get the overhaul is our guest room.  I've now decided to change into my son's room.  So, of course I've been looking for inspiration and pinning it on pinterest.  So, I'm thinking an orange, gray, and a pop of blue color scheme.

I've also decided that airplanes will be be our theme.  I thought this wall art was too cute.

Here is a cute airplane quilt.  My mom is planning on making a quilt for his bed.  She made a fairy quilt for my daughter's bed.  I need to post a picture of it.  It's really cute!

I thought these fabrics were cute too with the airplanes and helicopters.

Airplane propeller hanging rack.  What a cute idea.  I think I could make something similar for his room.

More inspirational artwork for the room. 

Living Room Revamp

Today I thought I'd show you the living room of our house.  This room has been a work in progress and really the only thing it is lacking is a mantel and a new rug. First I'll show you the before pictures.

You might not be able to tell from the pictures, but it had wood paneling that was painted.  The reason we literally took this room down to the studs was because we were getting rid of our awesome 1970's wet bar and turning it into a half bath.  I say "we", but it was really my husband, brother and dad.

The picture above shows the walled up pass-through from the wetbar. This meant we would have to get rid of the paneling. It was very sad.  Can you tell I was disappointed?  The fantastic part about taking this room down to the studs was that we were able to add more wiring for electrical and lighting.  We had such little light in our living room that it was pathetic! Then of course it worked out nicely to mount our TV above the mantel since we framed out the fireplace.  The brick on the fireplace wasn't anything special.  It was painted white and we found out that it wasn't any prettier underneath the paint.  So, I opted to have it framed out and sheetrocked.  That way the upper cabinets could be recessed in the wall.  Here's the before picture.

In Progress

After Picture

As you can see from the picture we added granite for the hearth and fireplace surround.  It really is silly that we even have a fireplace since we live in Houston and it rarely gets cold enough to use a fireplace. The granite installation was the only task we hired out. Everything else was a DIY project done by either us or with the help of our family members. Thank you to my family for all their help!
This was an enormous project to take on ourselves, but it was a great learning experience.  Here's a list of everything that was done.
1. Take down paneling
2. Add more recessed lighting & electrical.
3. Center the fan in the middle of the room.
4. Frame out the fireplace.
5. Sheetrock the walls.
6. Texture the walls.
7. Build new cabinetry.
8. Add molding and trim (crown, base, door frames).
9. Replace closet door.
10. Paint walls, trim and cabinets.
11. Granite installed by a subcontractor.
12. Rip out the carpet.
13. Install engineered wood floors.

Now to show you more of the after pictures.

Faux Fireplace

Well, I just got back from seeing my sister in Chicago.  It was so much fun and I had a fantastic time there with my sister, mom and sister inlaw.  We missed having my other sister inlaw there, but she is at the end of pregnancy, so she was unable to come.  My sister recently moved into a fabulous new apartment and we were able to help put it together while we were there. So, we spent some time shopping at Ikea and were trying to accomplish the impossible by stuffing all the furniture purchased into a Camry.  Needless to say it didn't fit.  I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of this, it was pretty funny.  After we dropped all the furniture off we headed to the Container Store.  They had a really cool decorative screen panel. You clip it together and hang it on the wall.  I thought this might work really well for her faux fireplace.  It is made out plastic, but it has some give and bends.  

I used 2 panels and cut them to fit inside the wall of her fireplace.  I used hot glue to attach them together. It was really affordable and cost $10 for the 4 panels. I used the other 2 in her bedroom above her bed.  Here is a picture of the finished fireplace.  Doesn't it look elegant?