So John went for a run, and I painted something behind his back. Let me explain. We usually have a “full agreement” agreement when it comes to decor (which means we can’t buy or change a thing unless we’re both totally on board, which keeps us from holding something against another person for years like a recliner that you hate but the hubs just had to have, etc). But I tend to bend the rules when it comes to things that can be undone if John doesn’t like them. I figure in that case, since it’s 100% reversible, and I’d be the one spending the time reversing it if John didn’t agree with my choice,
How To Use Painter’s Tape To Catch Drill Dust
In the midst of hanging our bedroom curtains last week, I snapped some pics of a little trick I use to control the mess of drilling holes into our walls (in this case to make room for curtain rod anchors). Some of you probably already do this, but I figured I’d pass it along to those who might not be in the know since we only joined the tape trick club about a year ago. And not many people think cleaning up drywall or plaster dust scattered below their work area is a fun way to pass the time. Including me. Anyway, the trick is crazy simple and looks a little something like this: It’s
Grocery Store Coupon Tips For Saving Money
And now for a post about saving money. Because the loot we save on food = more money to spend on paint & projects. I figured since I recently divulged my 2011 goal to figure out coupons and save more money this year, I should share a little coupon-related update for anyone else who’s as desperate to turn paper clippings into dolla dolla bills as I am. So here it is: I saved $53 at the grocery store!!! Coupons really do work!!!! Pardon all the shouting. I’m just really excited. I am definitely far from an “expert” on the subject (I just started trying to navigate the crazy coupon world a few weeks back) but
Fab Freebie: The Bold & The Beautiful
***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries – scroll down to the bottom to see who won!*** We’re always on the lookout for new art these days (lots of empty walls!) so we’re excited to bring you this giveaway from Barcelona-based illustrator Judy Kaufmann. Her bold prints – sometimes colorful, sometimes stark – have a charming combo of simplicity and intricacy. Here are a few of our favs below, but you can of course browse more in her Etsy shop. PRIZE: A $50 gift card towards any print from Judy Kaufmann. TO ENTER: Comment on this post with the words “I’M BOLD!” and… BONUS QUESTION: … tell us about something bold or brave you’ve done.
Assembling Our Karlstad Ikea Sectional Sofa
Despite its original February 4th due date, our big bundle of sectional joy arrived ahead of schedule. Being our first Ikea sofa, we were a bit taken aback by how many different boxes our Karlstad came in. But since we’re no strangers to assembling our Ikea purchases we dove right in…and even made a time lapse video of the longer-than-we-expected process. For those who can’t watch the video (maybe you’re being sneaky at work?) here’s the important stuff: the final pictures of Karl in place. We’re especially enamored with the fabric, which is nice and durable (it’s completely impenetrable to Burger’s claws, which is always the goal). And the dark color is perfect for hiding
January Superlatives
Note: This is a retroactive post that I cobbled together in December of 2011 so I could make this page full of monthly recaps for the entire year (our first in our new house!). Yup, I’m just a bit type A. So here’s what we tackled throughout the month of January – high school yearbook style. Best Deal: Somehow snagging an energy efficient front loading washer and dryer for $638 (not each – total!) thanks to a ton of stacked discounts. And then we took it down another $75 by getting an energy efficiency rebate from our county. Huzzah! Most Likely To Have A P-Diddy Reference: This post about rearranging our built-ins. It was hard!
How To Mix Metal Finishes In A Room
Q: Hey guys! What’s your opinion on mixing metal finishes in a room? Thanks! – Shelly A: Do it! We don’t really like anything that’s too matchy-matchy, so as long as you make it look deliberate and layered (as opposed to haphazard and mismatched) the end result can be chic and elegant. But what’s the trick for making it look intentional and not mismatched and wonky? Well, as one example, let’s look at our previous house’s finished den. We had a chrome-based floor lamp in there, along with oil-rubbed bronze curtain rods and they both stood on their own and didn’t look mismatched because we repeated both colors & materials again throughout the room (in the dark
Our Kitchen Cabinet Knobs Are Eyeballs
Something about the knobs in our kitchen make us feel like we’re being watched. Maybe you don’t see it, but after staring at them for the last few weeks, they’re starting to look a little something like this to us: My favorite is the pirate. But something’s definitely going to have to be done sooner or later. We feel like we’re living in that crazy Geico commercial – only without the good fortune of a stack of money sitting nearby (with some techno music blaring in the background). Speaking of which, we highly recommend playing the Geico commercial below while looking at the picture above. It really enhances the whole experience. Now we can’t eat
Fire Safety Tips
We recently received this email from a reader and have been thinking about it pretty much ever since. So we thought we’d share it in the hope that Melanie’s story will help others out there who may have gone through the same experience and people like us who probably don’t know a thing about being prepared for something of this magnitude. Here’s a photo that Melanie sent to us. Here’s her letter: I’ve been stalking following your blog for just over a year thanks to making an offer on a short sale home in September of 2009. It was our dream and forever home. We spent the first two months washing, priming, and painting every
How To Make No-Sew Bedroom Curtains With Fabric And Hem Tape
Alternate post title: Look how domestic my wife is. I don’t know why I’m writing this post since Sherry is the mastermind/executor of this project. Maybe just to brag about her mad ironing skillz? I just watched the baby and approved comments while she did her thang for the better part of the day yesterday. The first step was cutting our 12.5 yards of our on-sale $8.49/yard yellowy green fabric (more info on that here) into perfectly sized panels for each side of the two bedroom windows (leaving enough leftover for one closet panel). Lucky for us, the living room rug made a great guide for keeping our cuts straight and our corners square. Especially
Decorative Bedroom Pillows
We promised a post about the project that kept us busy yesterday, so we’ll be sharing that as soon as we can get the pics uploaded and sized (we had to wait until this morning to shoot afters in the daylight). Until then, here’s another pillow post (notice a theme lately?) that we’ve owed you for the past week. We mentioned during our failed shower curtain attempt that our trip to HomeGoods wasn’t entirely fruitless. But we just realized we never elaborated about the, er, fruit. So here we go: we found this bold pair of greeny-gold pillows that practically screamed “I want to date your duvet.” So we introduced them: They were just $24
Target Pillows: Purloined
You heard it here first. “Purloined” is the new “snagged.” Just kidding. I’m just being weird. John didn’t even know what it meant when he walked by and saw the title. “What the.. purloined?… are you sure that’s a word?” was his exact response. Which is exactly what I’m going for. Not. Yes, I’m bringing back “not” too. I’m in a strange mood. Anyway, we’re still working on a few different projects today (details soon!), but we figured we’d pop in and share what we recently snagged purloined at Tar-hay (btw, Tar-hay is the new Tar-jay): Ok, so purloined might mean “get by any means necessary” or “steal” – but we paid for them like
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