Living Room Decor

My living room was in need of some serious love... It is nice but need some color and personality. After picking through many paint samples I settled on the idea of a light mint color.

Home Depot has 1 cup paint containers meant for sampling paints, so I picked out my 3 favorite shades and for under $10 I was ready to test some colors on my wall.
Below are the 3 samples I painted. Be sure to take a look at night, and during the day since the color looks different under different light conditions.

The hue on the right seemed too look best so I got to rolling. In addition to the color I picked up a new ottoman/ coffee table this is the room today.. I hope to add some curtains and possibly a new rug that better fits the scale of the room. Hope you like it! I also included a before I had on hand!

Graphic Art

So, I've seen a lot of these recently and was inspired to make one of my own. Using scrap plywood, leftover lettering, and acrylic paint that I already had on hand I created this piece.





First paint the plywood with an array of paint colors, I stuck mostly with oranges and blue hues keep with the accent colors of my living room. I gave it about two coats to get the colors right. Let dry.
Then apply the lettering of your choosing and make sure thoroughly press down each one so that next paint layer does not get underneath.
Apply a layer of white paint. I mixed in some matte medium so the coat would be a bit more thinned to show a little bit of the color/texture of the underpainting. When painting over the letters use the paint sparingly but make sure to fully cover up to edges by working the paint in with the brush.
Let dry a little bit, but remove the letters when the paint still has a little tack to it. an exacto knife is useful for pulling up edges.

Up Cycled Table Part I

So, after several configurations, I have decided to make the second room in my Double Parlor into a semi-formal whimsical and quirky Dining Room. The most important part of a a dining room is a large table for family and friends to gather. A Large table can get quite Pricey so I decided to make this one a DYI. I kept my eye open over the past few months for the right door, a little chipped with beautiful wood grain. I finally found it digging through a garage full of old doors.



This will soon be my new dining room table with addition of legs, and either an epoxy coating or a glass top(to fill in the panels).
The glass top would give me a chance to change the colors of the panels(by adding paper accents) as wanted to go with room decor, but would probably be quite pricey. the epoxy top would cost about $40 total for materials and tools, but would not be as versatile as glass. Which should I do?

PS. I'm thinking royal purple Accents for this room.

Sweet Dreams

I originally set out to make a peaceful yet inspiring place to start and end each day. My ideal bedroom would be comfortable, simple, cheerful and inspiring. Being a rental property I am unable to paint and make drastic changes to the structure. White and several shades of gray anchor the room while sunny yellow accents bring texture and sense of whimsy to the room. With several small DYI projects and by slowly piecing the room together, I have created my new sanctuary for around 250 dollars



When I first moved all I had in the room was my bed an the malm dresser (which I have yet to give a makeover) The satin gray curtains now hung from ceiling height behind the bed, not only add a sense of luxury and some color to the wall, but also hide bright red elements of my apartment’s fire system. I found an amazing headboard and matching wood mirror on Craig list. After 2 coats (4 cans total) of yellow Krylon spray-paint the set had a new life from haggard to happy! The bedside table I cheated and just bought at home goods for $40. The yellow knit runner (found at a savers for a few bucks) on the desk is also used in the center of one of the pillows I made. The open knit helps to create a balanced visual texture in the room.



Zinnia flowers and leaves also bring whimsy and anchor the room. They are used in the lampshade (IKEA), The painting (a DQ original), table runner, the white and light gray Dwell fabric curtain and the 3 dimensional flower/pouf display. The Flower poufs are an inexpensive way to add color and a 3 dimensionality to a space. I found this idea at Sew Sweet Stitches and the best part is the whole thing cost $4!! I chose to hang mine on different lengths wire from the ceiling, about an inch or so away from the wall.



Thanks for taking a look at my space!

Cost summary:

Grey bedside table: 40
Grey curtains($10/panel): 40
Mirror and headboard:70
Dwell fabric: 25
Lamp: 3
Lamp shade:13
Yellow spray paint: 12
Tissue paper: 4
Fabric msc:10
Desk: free (gift)
Candlesticks: free (gift)
Painting: free (had mat’l)

Rose's Five Favorites

Hi, first of all, welcome to Design Query. I'm Rose, Im a lover of all things beautiful, a lover all things functional and a maker of both. I love when you see something from a far that catches your eye and sparks a question, as you get closer listen and observe, it tells you a story, the story of how it functions or how it was made. That is the story that needs to be shared.

I recently took a little hiatus from doing anything creative, actually it ended up being a year long hiatus with a lot of questions, like "what are you doing with your life?" "do you actually like what you are supposedly doing?" My answer was kinda… I realized that I truly do love good design that is well considered, beautiful, and functional. I also realized my passion was more for the history of objects, their stories, and how they lead to new designs. So, that is how I got here, on the one year anniversary of my refraining from designing and beginning to listening, I present to you my five favorites.

5. Our Spanish-English Shower curtain made by the Intuitive Learning Company Promotes learning through every day use as opposed to forced text book . It has 250 commonly used words in both english and spanish.

4. Skype keeps families and friends in contact when distance keeps them apart. Skype revolutionized global communications by offering free computer to computer video chatting. Now in interviews, conference calls, and chats with friends and family you can see people's facial expressions and immediate body language.

3. Compost and gardening is a complete system that nourishes itself. It is a system that is long tried and true; however it is less popular in practice these days. Not only do you get a great value for the succulent food you can produce, but you do your part in helping preserve our ecosystem by promoting and using local resources.

2. All things Mac help me keep my life in check. I'm sure you've hear all of this before, but without them I would be somewhat lost and probably more frustrated with technology. I use both mac and pc platforms at work, however Apple just makes navigating the tech world as simple as turning on a light switch.

1. The Curatorium is a quirky store here in Providence curated by Matt Bird. Upon stepping into his store, the walls are filled with curious creations, everything that you never knew you needed until you see it. This is one of the many places I go to find my design inspirations. I always leave with something new to love, like the aforementioned shower curtain. Matt happily greets you with a smile and knows everything about 1,200 + items in stock. The Curatorium is truly a providence treasure!

Credits:
http://tilcoweb.com/
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/home/
http://www.apple.com/
http://www.thecuratorium.com/index.htm