Home Decorating Insight

Since I’m new to home decor blogging, I’m just starting to find the good decorating blogs. This morning I found “Design Talk” and it seems to be very good. It’s been around for a while, is current and quite informational. The only thing I couldn’t find was the name or names of the writer(s), I guess they want to stay anonymous.

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The most recent post is touting a FABULOUS tea cart that’s being sold on Ebay. Check it out, isn’t it beautiful? I’m definitely going check out the person who does this. I’ll let you know…
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Here’s the link to the new blog I found:

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Design Talk

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Until next time ~ here’s to a beautifully comfortable home.

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Reba

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Brent and I have been working on our bedroom wainscoting for several months now. With only one day a week together and the fact that we don’t even get to work on it every week, it’s just taking some time.

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Recently we’ve been at it every weekend and since the whether is now nice, Brent has had the garage door open when using his circular saw, jigsaw, sander, or whatever power tool of the moment. The other day we were pulling into our driveway and noticed the neighbor across the street taking a few pieces of lumber out of the back of his truck. At that moment it struck me, our project prompted his.

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Our neighbor across the street is a wonderful, sweet retired man, I’d say between 65 and 70 years old. His wife still works and his kids are grown but he is VERY involved with his grandkids. My office is on the front of our house and when I used to work at home, I could see out the window and just about everyday, he would be outside with one of his grandkids playing football, baseball, hockey or some sport. Only a great man could be so patient as to take care of his five-year old grandson in such a caring way.

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So what is it about men that makes them so competitive. Would our neighbor have started his project had he not seen that we have a project? For the last few days, our neighbor has been in the garage sawing and sanding, was it our sawing and sanding that prompted him to follow suit?

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You know, I honestly don’t think this is a “keeping up with the Jones” type thing, but I really do think it goes back men’s competitiveness. What do you think?

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Until next time ~ here’s to a beautifully comfortable home.

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Reba

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As I showed you in my last post, Brent and I are redecorating our master bedroom. Right now we’re in the throws of constructing the wainscoting but I have visions of what it will look like when we’re done and to keep me interested in the project, I have to shop.

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Recently I drug Brent with me to one of the local furniture stores to find the right headboard for our new Sleep Number bed. We’ve never had a headboard, well, with exception to the time when we had a waterbed (oh my, I was so glad when that thing left the house!), we’ve always just piled the pillows up against the wall. Well, my new vision is much more sophisticated and I want a headboard.

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The other reason I want a headboard is that putting the pillows against the wall wears it smooth and it eventually looks dirty. Yuck! At our old house when we painted our master bedroom, the paint didn’t even cover the mark, we had to use Kilz to seal it and then repaint it. I certainly don’t want to ruin my new wainscoting! We’re getting a headboard!

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Anyway, once at the furniture store we started looking for what we want. A dark wood, contempory but a little on the traditional side headboard with posters. You see, I want posters but only two, just at the top of the bed to frame any artwork I may decide to hang. Four poster beds are beautiful, but in our bedroom, I just think it will take up too much room and make the room look too small. So two posters is what I want.

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We found a lot of beds and spent a lot of time looking, then finally we came upon the style I want. However, the display was a four poster with a canope. I got to looking at the price tags hanging on the headboard and got my hopes up. It appeared from the tags that I could purchase JUST the headboard as it had a tag for just that piece. But ~ it didn’t show the separate price.

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I quickly found the sales lady that had been stelthily following us from afar and asked about purchasing JUST the headboard. To my disappointment, we couldn’t do that. “But it had a separate tag….,” I questioned. “Oh, that’s just for our inventory purposes,” she replied. With great disappointment, I asked if they had ANY separate headboards we could look at. The reply was no, they just don’t sell beds that way any longer.

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So, that day I learned that furniture manufacturers decided they wanted to make more money when they sell a bed. Now, if you want a headboard, you also must buy the footboard and side rails. And of course, if it’s a four poster bed, you an also throw in a canope. The price you’ll pay will be just over twice what a headboard alone would have cost…that is, if a headboard alone was even available.

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Until next time ~ here’s to a beautifully comfortable home.

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Reba

So you’re probably wondering what Reba and Brent are working on right now, since it seems like we are always working on something. Well, aside from getting the yard in order for spring, our big project right now is redecorating our master bedroom.

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Several months ago I saw an episode of, I think it was, Double Take on HGTV. I looked on the HGTV.com site and couldn’t find the episode, but I liked the designer room that the crew on the show was trying to replicate. In fact, I liked it so much, I saved the show and went about trying to convince Brent that our bedroom needed to look very similar to that room, but, of course, my tweaked ideas would make it even better.

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The room will be beautiful when it’s done but right now it’s a mess and has been for quite a while. With just one day a week together to work on it, it’s pretty slow going. Right now we’re putting up the wainscoting. I wanted it to simulate raised panel, so I insisted that we cover the drywall with paneling and then the molding would go on top. Brent protested but in the end, I got my way. Click the picture to see more photos.
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Right now we have two and a half walls done, prior to painting, but we really feel like we’re on a roll. I guess we finally have it “figured out”, and believe me, it took a while. The first wall was tough, but as we moved around the room it got better and easier.

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Right now I’ll give you a peek with some pics, but I’m going to save the “how to” for a later post. Oh, and updates will follow as well.

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Click for more pics of our Master Bedroom Wainscoting Project.

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Until next time ~ here’s to a beautifully comfortable home.

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Reba

Episode HDMIX-405

Romantic Victorian Bedroom

AIR TIMES:

Host: Karen McAloon
Co-Hosts: Daniel Hirsch and Ian Read

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Saturday is the best time for me to watch HGTV and sometimes I get hooked. This Saturday I was busy setting up this website but I was still able to catch a show or two.

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This episode was fun to watch but as you’ll soon see, I’m going to shoot tons of holes in the design the crew put together. So, here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly, project by project.

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Red wall and ceiling with 18″ white band at ceiling.

I love red walls and even using red on ceiling and entire rooms is good for me. Check out the photo of the red ceiling in my entry way. However, I don’t agree with using a lot of red in a bedroom. Red ia a color that is energetic, exciting, and heightens the blood pressure. It is even known to increase the appetite, that’s why you’ll find it used in kitchens, dining rooms and restaurants. A bedroom is NOT the place where you want your enery to race, I don’t care if it’s the perfect color for your theme or not. This design included not only four deep red walls but a red ceiling as well, arrgh!

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On the other hand, the 18″ band of white that they used at the top of the walls was fantastic, especially since the ceiling was red as well. It not only broke up the solid color but it gave the ceiling height. I feel the 8-ft ceiling they painted red was just too low to put such a strong color. A deep dark color like red, will draw the ceiling down, so normally, to use a strong color like that you need a ceiling that is more than 8-ft. Not being able to see the room in person really makes it hard to judge, but from seeing it on TV, the white band made the ceiling “appear” much higher, which in my opinion, is the only way they were able to get away with painting red on the ceiling.

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Shoe boxes on wall.

Are they serious? Who has wall space in their closet? Plus, I think you’d be lucky if the shoes don’t fall out. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t waste my time.

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Jewelry closet.

I love Ian, he can work wonders with any carpentry project. The jewelry closet was a great idea, but only practical for someone who, like the homewoner, makes jewelry for business. It’s a little much for most people.

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Armoire.

That armoire was beautiful and it was great what Ian did to make it usable as a TV cabinet. It added great character to the room, a wonderful addition.

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Wing chair.

Tacky, tacky. The “not too tapered” slip cover just looked cheap. And don’t you think it’s strange that the homewoner “just happened” to have a perfect match of fabric for the cushion and pillow? Probably came from the garage, right? Don’t try this at home, it’s a sure disappointment.

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Light fixtures.

I love the idea of painting the bright gold fixtures a more bronze color. I didn’t really care for the fixtures themselves, they look like they belong outside, but I guess they’ll do. However, painting them was “spot-on”. Bright brass fixtures, although once very popular, now look dated. And as if I’m one to talk, my newly built house has bright brass door fixtures! Yeah, I know, I could change them out for the oiled bronze or brushed pewter door knobs but once I checked the price to replace them, I decided it could wait till a later date. Hmmm, I wonder if they could be painted?

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Speaking of painting brass fixtures, our house had brass carriage lamps on either side of the garage - YUCK! One of the first things we did after we moved in was to paint them black. Oh, what a difference ~ they are beautiful now and no longer look dated. What wonders a $4 can of spray paint can do!

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Roses painted on floor.

I love Danielle Hirsch ~ she is so creative. I also love that she’s working with David Bromstad (the 2006 DesignStar winner) on his show, Color Splash, but I digress.

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Anyway, the roses on the floor are gorgeous but they only work because of the period of their design (Victorian). If later they choose to go modern contemporary, they’ll be in trouble. Not to mention they cut their potential buyer pool to only those who like the roses, heaven forbid they ever want to sell.

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They never said what kind of paint they used to paint the roses. I would guess an oil base. My other worry about this project is that after you reapply the varnish, it might not match the rest of the floor. This project is very risky, in more ways than one, I would not recommend it. However, using a design like Danielle used but putting it on a wall would be beautiful in the right place and right design. Plus, on the wall, if you mess up or change your mind later, you can just paint over it and no one will ever know.

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Pictures.

Well, hmm, the re-mounted grandma pic, not so hot. The Victorian ladies in frames, great idea and inexpensive as well.

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Overall finished design.

Well, doesn’t it always look gorgeous when they’re finished? Especially compared to the way it looked in the “before” pics? Ever notice the lighting? And do they always film the finished room at night, the windows are always either black like it’s nighttime or they are fully covered? Of course the room is beautiful with a “set-up” like this, but most of all, compared to the “before”, there’s almost a jaw-dropping contrast.

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Yes, the room is much, much nicer but all in all, I’d rate it a 2 out of 5 stars. The first big deduction is the red paint in a bedroom. Number two is the risky painting on the floor. Number three is the closet drape and shoe boxes, how inconvenient is that? And number four, and worst of all, it’s a bedroom and there’s no cover for privacy on the windows! Where will these people get dressed?

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Interior design must be functional, practical and comfortable in addition to being beautiful. This design fails in my opinion.

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Until next time ~ here’s to a beautifully comfortable home.

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Reba

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After spending two days getting this site up, running, and looking GORGEOUS, I am now able to make my very first post! I’m so excited to finally get this endeavor off the ground and welcome you to join.

I have big plans for making this site a huge resource to help you make your home beautiful. You’re not going to find pretentious and ostentatious decorating ideas here…no, instead you’re going to find “down to earth”, comfortable, sensible, and affordable ideas. Yes, ideas and information you can use without breaking the bank. That’s why I’m so excited and I want EVERYONE to get involved.

If you haven’t already figured it out, this site is set-up as what’s called a “blog” or weblog. Basically, a blog is a journaling tool where each post is placed at the top of the page so the newest post is always easy to find and read. There are archives and category features to hlep you find specific information and there is also a search tool.

Since the site is new, you won’t see many categories yet, but as articles are added, they will be categorized for your convenience.

Now I’m sure you’re asking, “Why should I come back? What will I find? What’s in it for me?”

Well, those are some loaded questions and I’m going to try to attempt to give you a lot of reasons to not only return, but also get involved. It may take some time but as you can probably tell, I have some big plans.

Do you like HGTV and Better Homes and Garden magazine? What about DIY Network, Southern Living, and House Beautiful? I plan to use that type of media as inspiration for projects, discussion and editorial. Yes, editorial, you see, sometimes I don’t like their work, so I’m sure there will be lots of TV show and magazine article reviews commenting on the good, the bad, and yes, the ugly. As you will soon find, I’m not shy and I have no problem telling you what I think.

Today I’m signing up for the Sheffield School of Interior Design Home Study Course. Even though I know and have been told by many that I have an eye for interior design, I’m not formally trained. So, I’m going to take the Sheffield course to be sure I have all my i’s dotted and t’s crossed. And I’ll be reporting to you what I learn. I won’t be able to replicate the lessons as the course is copyrighted, but I sure can tell you what I think about it and how I’m using what I’ve learned.

Another thing I’d like to do soon is incorporate video and audio on the site with step-by-step projects and an audio podcast that you can listen to on the computer or download to your MP3 player or I-Pod.

And lastly, when I get to that point, I’d like to include information about working in the interior design field or starting your own company ~ but that’s a ways off yet and we can cross that bridge when we get there.

Doesn’t all this sound exciting! It does to me and I sure hope you join me in that excitement. Leave me a comment or trackback on your blog! I’d love to hear from you!

Until next time ~ here’s to a beautifully comfortable home.

Reba