The stuff I really love in homes is all the stuff you can’t buy from a store. To me a dream house would be an inviting space full of travel relics, family treasures, and personal creations. All fads and retail aside, this is what makes a house a home. I think that’s one reason why I love the train in my entry so much and an old bookshelf (pictured above) that my in-laws gave to us for our wedding and the boys’ school work that is proudly displayed. I don’t care at all if these things are what other people like, they have meaning and I love being surrounded by them.
On our bookshelf is a Family Creed that is always displayed. Kinda like a motto, our own title of liberty. It is beyond cheesy (hey, I wrote it when I was pregnant), but I love it. An update, however, is long overdue. There are a few themes that I will keep in the new edition, but a lot of the wording needs to be revamped. Here is a little excerpt of our current creed:
“Life is to love, learn, laugh and explore… we vow to give kindly to others… each day is a gift. Work hard, play harder, and pray the entire time.”
So, it’s kinda like a longish statement for the family. Have you ever written a family creed? I know my sister-in-law has one (I’d love to read hers). Have you ever wanted to write one? I am thinking of including a line from a letter my grandmother wrote, “The highest state of awareness is creativity, the infinite realm of imagination and manipulation that requires a total participation in life experiences.” Well said grams.
I would love to read any comments and suggestions on what you think we should include on family creed 2.0.
Happy Creating!
Do you have any furniture that is truly awful, but you just can’t seem to get rid of it? Well, that is my old leather ottoman. I bought it originally with a great Pottery Barn-ish knock off chair that I still use and love, but this ottoman has taken a real bruising over the years. The real kicker is all the black sharpie art on the top created by one of my lovely children. At first I was devastated with the graffiti, then it became a reminder of what is really important and ironically is one of the reasons I have never trashed it. Still, it was time to breathe new life into the darn thing, give my weary feet something to smile about and at the same time add some color to the front room drowning in brown.
I used the same approach that I used when I recovered some parson chairs. But I have two more little tricks to share, I don’t know why I haven’t thought of this first one before! First, have you ever wanted a seam for aesthetics in a place that would be easier to just drape the fabric? Well, just fold the fabric and sew a tiny, tiny fold into the fabric like this:
That way, you don’t need to cut and you keep the pattern perfectly, while still creating a seam where you need one! I know, a little crazy how I get excited about this stuff…
Second trick, when stapling a project together hem the fabric first, especially when you are close to running out, so the fabric doesn’t fray. Save the future tears and spend 20 minutes hemming before finishing. You’ll thank me!
In the end I used 1 yard of upholstery fabric and it took about 2 hours (including stapling the bottom to the ottoman) and now I have some seriously happy feet!
Happy Creating!
I own a college student rental condo. It was built in the 80’s, but I have had fun staying on top of updates. The last few years have drained me however: replacing carpet, fridge, furnace, washer/dryer, water heater, and dishwasher are not the kind of upgrades that are fun. With the expense of all the appliances and behind the wall stuff the general look of the place deteriorated… and the condo wasn’t renting. So, it was time to overhaul.
We don’t live in the same town so we had one Saturday to update the place and get it to rent. We also have four kids, so the kid factor made the time more like a few hours! There are a few things you can do to any space to give it a quick facelift:
1. Paint. You’ve heard this one before. It is the fastest, cheapest, easiest way to transform a space. We didn’t even have time to paint an entire room so I chose an accent wall that extended from the front room into the kitchen. I call this paint “Modern Family Blue” because it is the blue in the Dunphey’s house on Modern Family, Labrador Blue by Benjamin Williams. I gotta say, it looks darker without all the stage lights.
2. Furniture. We bought this set of faux leather couches on Craigslist for $400. We were lucky they were available. We found them on Friday night, my bff went to get them first thing in the morning while I started to paint. When we took the old blue couch to the good will they wouldn’t take it! Ha! That has never happened to me before! They said it was unsellable… but we helped them see the DIY potential and they reluctantly let us unload.
3. Clear the clutter. Old furniture and stacks of books, etc. that are not used just add to the general run down feel. Especially in small spaces like this one it’s important to purge and repurpose each item in the room. The condo had a large, mostly unused tv armoir, yucky old armchair, and a bookshelf in the front room that looked trashy and dated. We donated all of them (although I was lamenting I didn’t live in town and couldn’t take advantage of all these potential DIY projects!) I used the black unused coffee table for the new tv stand and it worked perfectly.
4. Update the decor. My grandma gave me this old mirror about 10 years ago, so ya, it’s old. I threw it up in the condo to help the room feel bigger, but the wood frame was too dated. One quick coat of white spray paint and the room looked tons better.
5. Hardware. This is my name afterall. I took all the hardware off in the condo, cleaned it, and gave it a couple coats of metalic spray paint. Word to the wise! DON’T spray on plastic! When the wind blows it is a disaster! (How many times do I need to learn this lesson!?) Flat cardboard is the way to go. I was in a hurry and thought it would be fine… then the wind picked up, everything stuck together and it was a mess. In the end it made a great difference.
Here is the cost breakdown:
- Paint and supplies $37
- Spray paint $12
- New sofa and love seat $400
One day, less than $450, and guess what? The condo is no longer vacant, which made it totally worth it. Saturday well spent.
Have you ever tried to hang something with pre-determined hanging holes only to end up with it not level, making a million nail holes in your wall, or just frustrated and unsuccessful? Or is it just me? Here is my fool-proof way to hang stuff… without going insane:
Happy Creating!