Home Sweet Home Facelifts

06 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Everyday Design, The Home

Tags

better homes and gardens, construction, design, diy, exterior, home, homeowners, makeover, renovation

I have always loved seeing makeovers. Whether it was for a person or a home, they never cease to amaze me when they are done right. Since Dan and I are new homeowners we know how much work a house needs and because we have done it all ourselves so far, we can stand back and be even prouder.

I came across some great makeovers today seen on Better Homes and Gardens and thought they were good inspirations for anyone who is planning to renovate or give the exterior of their home a facelift. I wish you lots of luck and patience if you are doing so! But it is worth it in the end to create something that represents your style and allows you to feel comfortable and at home. Enjoy!

Before | After

Guest Post: Tints & Tones-Brilliant Colors that Work for Every Room

30 Thursday Aug 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Everyday Design, Guest Posts, The Home

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bathroom, bedroom, color, decorating, design, home, interior design, kitchen, living room, open colleges, tess pajaron, tints and tones

One of my favorite parts about starting a new decorating project, or moving into a new home is picking out the color palette. Color has an instant effect on how we feel every time we step into a space. They can help define the mood in the room and can even have an influence on how we act. Each room, however, is different. In some rooms, you want to sleep in a relaxed and peaceful environment, while other rooms are made for spicing up your life with some culinary excitement. Because of this, your color scheme will change depending on which room you are decorating.

If you are starting a new design project, or moving into a new space, here are a few tips to get you started as you choose your colors and make your home your own.

Kitchen
The kitchen is one room where you spend a lot of time whipping up delicious meals for you, your spouse and your friends. In this room, the senses are generally very fine tuned as you smell your food for the perfect spicing, sip your wine as you cook, or listen to your favorite music to make you feel at ease. This is the room where people also head to fit their cravings, and painted with the wrong color, all of this can go awry.

Red and yellow are two of the most popular colors in fast food chain logos. The reason for this is because they inspire hunger and action. While it is true that you head to the kitchen to make something to eat, having your kitchen painted the wrong color can actually affect your appetite and cause you to eat more than you should. These are two colors to steer clear of.

In the kitchen, keeping colors that allow you to unwind while you cook are a much better option. Take a cue from nature and use the psychologically calming color of green. Green kitchens offer a great place to unwind after a long workday as you prepare a culinary delight as they lend themselves to feelings of relaxation. For a touch of sophistication, add deep purples. Not only do these colors go well together, but the touch of purple will inspire just the right amount of creativity you need to make each meal extra special.

Bedroom
The bedroom is your haven to relax and get your much needed rest before heading out into the hustle and bustle of the world again. Because this is your place to escape, you will want to feel at ease as soon as you enter the space to relax and go to bed each night.

The best color to do this with is blue. Blue inspires a natural feeling of serenity. The color of water and nature, this hue can help you feel as though you are mentally washing away the troubles of the day and going to sleep each night ready to be refreshed when you awake. Studies have shown that people who look at the color blue have actually experienced a slowing of their blood pressure, respiration and heart rate. All of these bodily functions inspired by the peaceful color of blue create an optimal setting for rest.

To use this color right, it is best to avoid blues that are too light or too dark. Lighter blues can give the room a cold and unwelcoming feel, which is the opposite effect of what you want in your bedroom. Dark blues on the other hand can inspire sadness – a feeling no one wants to be surrounded by. Using blues in the middle is the right pick for bedrooms.

Living Room
Your living room and family room are the opposite of your bedroom in that they are places to socialize and converse. When you bring people together in your home, you want to create a warm area where people feel at ease and able to be themselves.

The best way to create this space is with a combination of colors. To start by creating a warm feeling, using neutral colors is best. Whites, tans and greys are perfect colors to use on the walls as they inspire a feeling of calm. To peak conversation, however, using red and yellow accents can brighten a space and make people subconsciously want to converse. This hue helps to boost your heart rate, making it a good color for night time conversations and parties where people stay late.

Bathroom
The bathroom is another very serene room as it is a place generally only used in solitude. For this reason, you should consider the place where you feel most serene. For many people, this is the beach. Using teals, sea foam green and tan colors paired with white towels and accents can make your bathroom more inviting and reminiscent of your favorite days on the beach or in the calming air of nature.

For many people choosing a color scheme is done based on gut reaction. But before you pick your colors for your next home or project, think also about the effect they will have on how you feel.

Tess Pajaron is part of the team behind Open Colleges. Her background stems from her exposure to their family-owned construction business. She is a lover of minimalist modern designs and architecture. On her spare time, she loves to travel.

Guest Post: Four Ways to Integrate Mid Century Furniture into Your Modern Apartment

05 Sunday Aug 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Guest Posts

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

design, diy design, furniture, home, interior design, mid century, modern design, window treatments

This guest post is brought to you by Aubrey Boone, design enthusiast. Enjoy!

Home decorating means updating a living space and refreshing dated décor. Whether those updates focus on carpet or window treatments, adding new design elements to your home or apartment can increase value while creating a space of tranquility.

Novel interior design projects now aim to integrate mid-century vintage furniture into your modern apartment. The majority of these vintage DIY projects can be completed in a short amount of time for little to no money. The main thing needed is an imagination of how things were way back when. Here are four ways to do just that.

Collectibles
Finding nick-knacks and collectibles adds the rich history of the past into a modern theme. Consider showcasing a series of decorative porcelain vases made in the characteristic style of the 1960s, or other works from esteemed artist Yevgeny Vuchetich.

Add a small mahogany and bronze table found in apartments dating back to the 60s. The clean lines and small stature will fit easily into your modern apartment.

Lighting
Mid-century styles focused on minimalism, so creating a lighting solution is not only simple, but cost effective. Create a swing bar lamp with a few pieces of steel tubing, a flat bar, scrap wood, cloth covered wire and electrical fittings. With a few bends and welds, the lamp will perfectly adorn any corner or reading nook.

An easy solution to lighting is simply to design a lamp shade, or to add a new set of blinds. Don’t underestimate the effect a great set of window treatments can have on a room. For the lamp shade, consider a large cylindrical shade with solid colors such as off-white or light pastels.

Seating Solutions
According to R. Wesley Hurd of the McKenzie Study Center, an institute of Gutenberg College, the color pallet used during the mid-centuries focused on primary colors. Locate a distressed chair at a flea market or a local antique store and dash primary colors, while adding sharp lines and contrasting colors to create a mid-century look. With a few sprays of paint, outdoor seating is turned from modern to vintage as well. In addition, nothing says mid-century quite like the hard plastic/metallic chairs from an old lunch room.

The Outdoors
The outside serves as the window into the soul of a home. For under $100 worth of materials, individuals can construct an outdoor bench inspired by the great George Nelson, a modern design aficionado. The project does require a bit of woodworking, but the end result is a piece similar to Nelson’s vintage futuristic designs.

Mid-century furniture focused on clean lines, vibrant and primary colors, with a minimalistic approach. Recreating a vintage space requires attention to the details of the past, without losing the continuity of the present. With a bit of time and money, your apartment can be the mid-century modern living space you’ve dreamed about.

Home Sweet Home: Dining Room Redesign

30 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Everyday Design, The Home

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

cabinet, country, crates, design, dining room, entertaining, furniture, home, interior design, makeover, modern, rustic, table, wood

I’ve been waiting to post another room in our home and since the dining room is finally done, I had to share. At first, this space was just a room you needed to walk through to get to other rooms in the house. Although it had tons of character, there was nothing really special about it yet. But now that it is all put together I have to say it is one of my favorite rooms in the house!

So here is what the dining room looked like before. The worst part was the rug. Not only was it ugly but it was everywhere in the house. I give credit my husband Dan for pulling up every single one himself. It was tough job for sure. Other than that, we knew the chandelier had to go too. The risers in the corner had to stay so I just figured we would cover them somehow.

The elements of the space we loved were its character and style. The decorative ceiling and rosette around the chandelier were definitely a plus. We both actually love the toile wallpaper so that was a keeper. I knew once I did my magic, this room would look spectacular. Although we didn’t have a big budget, I did my best to find items I loved at great prices and in some cases waited till they were on sale or found them somewhere else for less. Smart shopping is always key.

After the rugs came up there was an astounding difference. Then all I had to do was paint the woodwork and scrub the wallpaper. Not so bad. Then go searching for the perfect items to fill it up. So after about 4 months or so, it finally came together and we couldn’t be happier. I was going for country modern with a rustic touch. I wanted it to be perfect for formal entertaining but comfortable enough so it wasn’t stuffy. With a combination of dark brown, cream and blue, the dining room was transformed into an updated space that has vintage appeal.

The cabinet piece I purchased at Ikea for a great price. You can’t go wrong at $135 for a cabinet. It’s a new item they just started selling and I am very happy with it. I am also happy I waited instead of dishing out more money for something that would be double the price!

The table, oh how I love my dining room table. With buttercream and dark brown cherry wood, it brings that country modern feel I was going for to a new level. I had bookmarked it before we even moved in the house and waited till we had the funds to buy it. It’s a good thing I did because I got it $100 cheaper than the sale price. At $815 with shipping, this was one of the best buys we made. For a 7 piece dining room set, that is really good. Thanks Overstock.com!

The Home Sweet Home picture was a quick thing I made to fill in a vintage frame we had. I think it fits nicely for now. Not bad for 5 minutes of my time. The vase I already had, it used to be my mother’s, and the dried cotton was something we had used in our wedding so I figured I would continue to use it somewhere in the house. It found a perfect home in my mother’s blue vase.

The blue plaid curtains were a great find as well. I knew I wanted plaid because it goes so well with toile so the challenge was to find a pair that worked in the space and were selling for a good price. I found this pair on Overstock.com as well for only $28!

The chandelier brings so much style to the room. I first saw on it on a popular website but after some searching I found it on a random lighting website for a lower price. I wound up paying like $80 or so for it which is awesome. You would never know! I plan to buy small shades for the lights too. I found a nice wicker pair at Pottery Barn I just might have to get. I think they would look so cute.

The framed photograph is one I took while Dan and I visited Maine two years ago. We already had this piece and I pretty much knew it was going in the dining room. The pitcher and bowl were great finds at a local antique shop I couldn’t resist buying. Especially, since the set was only $15.

The cabinet was the second piece of furniture we bought for the room. I found it at Country Door.com for $250 and simply adore it. What a great piece. I switched out the knobs for vintage glass ones the previous owners left behind. They added so much charm and character, as if they were meant to be. I am glad they were left behind and it makes me happy to have a little piece of history remaining in the space.

Love this chair. We found it a few years ago at a garage sale for a few bucks. This is the second in our collection.

I decided to stack the crates we had in front of the risers to hide them, which worked out really well. Not only can we showcase our collections but now this corner adds that rustic element I wanted in the space. The vintage birdcage is what we used for our wedding to hold all the card from guests. It’s nice to have it showcased in our home.

The cotton braided rug is a mixture of gray, blue and brown that go well with the color of the hardwood floors. I think it helps the buttercream stand out as well. I found it on Overstock.com for $112 with a special code. I love it.

All in all, this space proves you can have a beautiful room and not spend thousands to put it together. With a little creativity, some DIY knowledge and research, you can find items you love without going broke. For under $1500, I was able to design a dining room I absolutely love and it makes me even more happy to say I did it all on a budget.