Home Design Cool

Hello all! How is your week going? It’s been a slow one for me…it feels like molasses or something. I’m continuing on Decrapification 2013 (yeah, I named it) and it’s going really well. Our whole front room is a pile of stuff and I’ve decided I may leave it all till I’m totally done, just to get the full effect of how much I’m purging. It feels goooood.

Today I’m sharing a gadget that I LOVE. Let me introduce you to my little friend(s) – these things have changed my life!:

OK, maybe that’s a bit of a strong statement, but they sure have made my life a lot easier. Throughout the basement finishing process I took on a bunch of the projects myself in order to save some money (like all the painting and installing baseboards), but I’m not always so good on the finishing touches, like caulking the trim.

I have baseboards and crown in this house that I installed years ago that are still not caulked. I don’t know what my deal is, I just get that trim up and call it done. But the thing is, the caulk makes a much bigger difference than you think. It hides all the imperfections and gaps and stuff and makes it look pretty, clean and finished.

I used a TON of it on the DIY built ins:

I found those little caulking tools above last year and tried them out on all the little gaps near and on the built ins. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised – that rubber wedge makes it SO much easier and less messy.

I used it everywhere:

I’ve shown you how I caulk before and how much I rely on caulk and spackle to finish up projects. They hide a multitude of sins, let me tell you.

That little corner had gaps everywhere (every house will have not perfect walls, angles, etc.) and after the caulk you wouldn’t even know:

I was doing some laundry last night and noticed the awful gaps behind the baseboards down there. I grabbed my caulk and little blue tool (no idea what the call it) and it was done in no time flat. See how the base is snug on one part of the wall and has a bit of a gap (mind the gap!) at another part?:

Well, it’s annoying. I happens with crown occasionally too. And yes, I went from laundry to sitting on the floor caulking, that is how I roll.

Oh look, a butterfly!

Anyhoo, here’s the thing, always use paintable caulk. ALWAYS. Did I mention always? Always. You may think you won’t need to ever paint over it and then the day will come you want to and you’ll be screwed. I speak from experience (it’s not fun):

I just use regular tape to close up my caulk between uses, it works just fine. Just make sure it’s air tight.

It’s hard to get a picture of using this tool (I guess I did above) but you just put a bead (or line) of caulk down the trim, then instead of your finger, you run the corner of this tool right down after it:

It’s BRILLIANT!! I can’t tell you how much easier it makes this process. And cleaner, so much cleaner. I take a wet paper towel and do a quick swipe afterwards to pick up any leftover caulk, but that’s it.

It takes half the time and look Ma, no gaps!:

Here’s a good before and after shot for you:

See what I mean about making it look so much more finished? It’s such a little thing but I think it makes a big difference. I still need to paint these, but one thing at a time…

It’s a little easier and quicker on projects where the white caulk is going down on white trim. When we built the bookcases in the dining/library I was a little concerned about the caulk showing on the butcher block, so I tried out this little trick I saw on a DIY show awhile back:

You just lay down some painters tape – I used my green FrogTape obviously. Then you put the bead of caulk down, then swipe it (I used my blue goodness):

And when you’re done (I pulled it up when the caulk was still wet), you have a loverly clean, perfect line of caulk:

Ahhh, so nice! I used this method on every support on the bookcases and it worked great. It would be a bit of a mess to caulk on a darker surface like this without that tape laid down first. So much better!

I love sharing new tools that actually work (I guess you could call this a tool?) – I got this from a hardware store and it came with four (or five?) of the blue jobbies. It was only a few bucks if I remember right. SO worth it in my opinion.

Have you found a tool or gadget that makes life easier for you? Honestly, now that I have this one caulking isn’t that bad – dare I say almost enjoyable? It’s kind of a relaxing, therapeutic thing for me. And it’s instant gratification, which I love. :)

There are two key things I'm drawing inspiration from in this lovely 18th century former culture centre in Stockholm. First, the way the books are piled high and used to add colour in the sitting room. And secondly the rustic workman's bench at the end of the bed. Of course the rest of the space is pretty nice too :)

With kind permission from Johan Sellén, featured in Elle Interiör via DecorDots.

I've actually just ordered two workmen's stools from this fab online vintage shop and patiently (read: anxiously awaiting) their arrival, I can't wait! Perhaps the next item on my list will be a workmen's bench for the end of the bed.

Any ideas you're looking to steal?

Have a lovely day!

Norm Architects / Menu / Höst Styling: Emma Fexeus.

Hey all! How are ya? I feel like poo today, and the weather matches – cold, rainy, icy. Poo.

Remember when I blogged about that fun vintage mart here near Indy? Well, while there I found something I had been looking for forever – air plants. I’ve seen these cool little plants for a year or so now and they’ve always intrigued me.

I’m a little plant crazy overall lately – since Christmas I think I’ve added quite a few new plants to our house, which I’ll share with you soon. They are all doing great, shockingly. Who knew I could keep them alive all the sudden? Not me.

Anyhoo, I found a booth at that mart that had hundreds of these little air plants and I was SO stinkin’ exited. I grabbed up a couple of them to try out. A few weeks ago I shared them on Instagram:

The guys at the booth told me to soak them in water a couple times a week and that’s all the care they really needed. Right up my alley baby!

Although when I posted this on Instagram Andrea mentioned that she only soaks hers every few weeks so I decided to try that out myself. Actually I just totally forgot to soak them again for a while, but at least her advice made me feel better about it. ;)

Turns out she’s right – they are THRIVING and I’ve only soaked them a couple times in four weeks. These little plants are the coolest!! You can’t really tell how much they’ve grown from the photos, but it’s just crazy.

The light wispy one started developing a little surprise a couple weeks ago:

Just beautiful! Isn’t that amazing? No soil, hardly any watering. It really boggles my mind.

I’ve had them sitting on the window sill by the sink and they seem to love all the light. This one has grown a ton too, they sprout new plants at the base:

So I was at lunch near the fancy mall in town the other day and decided to stop in West Elm, and I walked out with these precious little bowls:

If you follow me on Facebook you may remember these. ;) I saw them a couple months ago and passed them up because I didn’t have a plan for them -- but now I did. So darn cute!

I found air plants there too, so if you are looking for some check out West Elm. This one was cheaper than what I paid at the vintage mart:

I pulled out some filler, which is actually shell stuff from the pet store I picked up a while back just because I thought it was pretty:

I poured a little in each bowl, just enough to give the plants something to settle into, and then lined them up on the window sill above the kitchen sink:

I just love them all!

The flowering one is my favorite though – so delicate and pretty. I call this one my tiny dancer:

I didn’t realize till I got the bowls home how well they work with the drapes on that window – the blue, green and yellow tie in perfectly!:

They’ve done great in this spot so far, hopefully they’ll continue to flourish.

They join the little fern that could by the sink and I love the life they bring to this spot:

Have you tried these little plants? Succeeded or no? The cool thing is you can place them just about anywhere – mine were just sitting out on the windowsill for weeks and did great. Like I said, they seem to love sun, but I think they’d do OK in less light as well. So fun!

P.S. The technical term for air plants is Tillandsia – you may be able to find them under that name too. I’ve seen them sold on Etsy!

There are some apartments which feel like a little ray of sunshine. And this one in Gothenburg (currently for sale) is one of them. It looks so warm. I can just imagine sitting at the rustic kitchen table, in the leather armchair in the sitting room or cosying up in that bed. And don't get me started on the white floors and exposed brickwork.








 

Stadshem

Oh and, once again I spy a moodboard over the bed....current trend alert?

Well hello all! Hope your weekend was lovely!! I’m pleased to say the basement storage room is organized and CLEAN and there is no sign of the mice! WHOO HOO! It took forever, seriously. I’m sure I’ll share it’s organized bliss with you soon.

Today I’m kicking off a fun little shindig I’ve got going…I’m pinching myself because I’m partnering up with Target over the next few months to show off some of their new items in the Threshold line. Have you seen it? Do you LOVE it?? Of course you do, it’s awesome. (And I’m not just saying that, I’ve been drooling over it for months.)

Target calls this line of decor a “casual-traditional look” and when I read that I was like – bingo, that’s my style! That may explain why I like it so much. You’ve probably seen the brand popping up for the past few months, but it’s about to get even better!

They challenged us to spruce up the foyer this month and I’m so stinkin’ happy with how it turned out! You may remember how I changed up the black buffet in our entryway to the beautiful aubusson blue last month:

I think that was one of the best decorating decisions I’ve ever made by the way – it makes SUCH a statement now.

Well there’s an area off the the right of that buffet that I consider still part of our foyer, but it’s an odd little spot. It’s right by the stairs, kind of in the dining area, but it’s still part of the entry into the house.

It’s one of those spots I’ve struggled with for years now. Over the past year or so I’ve had a settee and a wall of old vintage windows on the wall, but with the blue on the dresser the settee looked all wrong, so it got moved up to the master bedroom.

I had an idea to lighten up the spot and replace it, and I started with a trip to Target. Who doesn’t? :) I knew I wanted a little bench or stool, so I headed to this aisle:

I loved this dark brown one – it was uber sophisticated and had TONS of storage space inside:

 

But it was too big and a little too dark for what I was going for.

I also loved this one, with the dark wood legs and the tufted top:

It had storage too, that seat lifted up! But it was too modern for what I wanted.

THEN. I found her. The one:

She’s a she cause of her pretty little (short) legs and tufted top and of course…nail head trim. Add in plenty of storage inside and I was in luuurve.

I brought her home with me and then started a little redo to finish off the spot. I grabbed a chair I bought at Goodwill eons ago that has been sitting in our closet:

I painted it and recovered the seat forever ago and my plan was that it would be a nice little spot to sit to put on shoes or socks in our closet. Instead it became a spot to pile purses and clothes on three feet high sooooo…it came out.

It’s SO easy to recover a seat like this! If you haven’t attempted it I promise you can do it! Just cut your fabric down so it’s big enough to wrap around the edges and then start stapling:

I usually start on one side, staple, go to the other side, staple, and work my way around, pulling the fabric tight as I go.

The corners get a ton of staples – start with one:

And then staple the heck out of it to get a nice little corner:

Remember, NO ONE will see it. I promise. Unless they’re a freakity freak who looks under your chairs. But then do you really want them in your house anyway? Staple away.

I used the fabric to trim out the drapes in our living room near this spot, so pulling it over to this area worked out perfectly! I added one of my placemat pillows that used to sit on the settee, and I LOVE how it came together:

Yes, that was a placemat – I filled it up and then sewed a button in the middle to give it a little tuft. :)

I had been eyeing this Threshold mirrored tray like mad every time I went in to Target, so I finally picked it up for this spot:

Love it!

I’m not big into the decorating with bugs trend – like the vintage prints I see for example. I think they are beautiful but also think it would freak me out to have them in my house. This little votive holder I couldn't resist though:

You only see really see the image when there’s a candle inside, I just thought it was cool and I loved the bright yellow. (I used an LED votive in mine.)

I like using things differently from their intended purpose, so I used a blue votive holder and a green glass as vases:

It was all coming together beautifully, I was SO happy. But those vintage windows hanging above were just feeling so heavy. That wall has always stumped me because it’s big but I couldn’t do a mirror (there’s one above the buffet), I couldn’t do a gallery wall (one on the staircase right next to it). So what the heck do you put there that’s big but not heavy feeling?

I looked over above the sofa at my DIY painting and knew it would be PERFECT!:

It was too small for above the sofa anyway, so this works out even better. (And now the wall above the sofa is now completely empty, but I’m OK with it. For a while.)

I LOVE how it pulls in the color of the buffet – it was like it was meant to be!:

Crazy.

I don’t move furniture around much in this house but the accessories and art get moved around constantly.

Now it’s so much calmer in this spot – it works well with the area to the left and with the stairs…I felt like it was all fighting before:

We’ve moved most of the Bub’s toys to the basement, but I did keep some of them up in this bench. Things like foam swords that him and his buddies need quickly when they’re playing outside. You don’t how how often I hear “MOMMA, I need my swords!!”

It happened just the other day because we’ve had some days that feel like spring is here…they are brief but they get me excited. I love how bright this spot is now, and that there is so much color!

Funny how our tastes change. Six years ago this would all have been red and black. Five years from now it may be all white. But for now I’m a big fan of color in our home, it makes me happy. Especially this time of year!

So are you getting the spring bug yet? Do you decorate differently when the temps start to warm up? Are you obsessed with the Threshold line at Target too? Here’s a little tidbit – the full line isn’t even out yet! It will all be released in March and I cannot wait to see what else they have in store! (In store…get it? Har.) So do you like my Threshold items in my threshold?

OK, I’m done. :)