darling octopus and r•home magazine – the november issue

This months do-it-yourself article for R•Home Magazine is all about chalk paint. If you pay any attention to DIY, Pinterest, or painted furniture I’m sure you have heard of chalk paint. But you may not have tried it – there seems to be only one producer of chalk paint, Annie Sloan. And although her product is pretty wonderful it is also pretty expensive (usually costing upwards of $40 a quart, ouch!) And it is hard to come by – only stocked by a handful of stores. It is now available near Richmond, in Ashland, at a store called the Thrill of the Hunt.

But crafty people everywhere have been making their own recipes for chalk paint and I share one in my latest R•Home article. It is super easy to put together and pretty close to the Annie Sloan version.

Here are some pretty chalk paint pieces to inspire you:

from dittledattle.blogspot.com

 

from cherishedbliss.com

 

from alittlebitoshizzle.blogspot.com

 

from anniesloanunfolded.com

Annie Sloan also makes this amazing clear and dark wax. Even if you decide to make your own chalk paint I recommend trying her waxes. The clear is just a good finish for the chalk paint and the dark adds age.

 

darling octopus and r•home magazine – the september issue

In the new R•Home magazine my DIY article is all about using an overhead projector to paint an image onto a piece of furniture. This is a really fun technique because you can take an image from anywhere – a favorite fabric, a drawing, wallpaper, or an illustration.

For more details about the project read the article online here.

Here are some other projector projects that I found online that might inspire you!

from sawdustandembryos.com

From paintedfurnitureonline.com

From designsponge.com

From sawdustandembryos.com

darling octopus and r•home magazine – the july issue

The new R•Home Magazine is out and my how-to article is all about creating a fun space in your backyard. I take an old window and make it into an outdoor chalk board – perfect to entertain your kids on these hot summer days.

Writing this how-to wasn’t much of a stretch outside of my comfort zone. And now I think it’s time for me to admit it. I have a chalk board obsession!

When I started to think about it I realize that with this new chalk board we now have a total of 4 chalk boards at our house. That’s kind of a lot, right? Part of the problem is that I am a list maker and the chalk board really comes in handy and it is great kid entertainment.

Here is our kitchen chalk board – and it gets the most use. We write down things as we run out of them so I remember to pick them up at the store. I recovered the top cork board section with a piece of fabric to make it a little cuter.

This vintage chalk board hangs in the office area of my mom cave. It has a picture for each letter of the alphabet and the “G” had a gun drawing. I found a goat sticker and covered up the gun. I didn’t want to deal with the “What is that a picture of, Mommy?” question.

And you might remember this craft project -  a kids table painted with a chalk board top. I will warn you that once you buy the chalkboard paint you will want to use it on everything.

And one more idea to leave you with. I haven’t made these yet myself but I think these wine glasses look like a fun project. Everyone could write their name on their glass so things don’t get confused. You can get the directions at Vivaciously Vintage.

Photo from Vivaciously Vintage.

darling octopus and r•home magazine – may issue

My article in this months R•Home magazine is all about closet doors. I re-did these door in my basement and they might be the most elegant doors to hide a hot water heater!

We are just finishing a bathroom remodel which included a bonus closet in our master bedroom. (I use the word “master” loosely – it’s the largest bedroom in our house but come on, it didn’t even have a closet!) Anyway, at the end of the remodel, and over budget of course, we don’t really have $400 dollars, or more, for cool closet doors. So my plan is to buy the cheapest doors around and fancy them up!

I bought these hollow core doors for less than $60 for four panels at Lowes. They are hideous, I know! But they are totally flat. A blank surface for my creativity. I am thinking about wallpaper with molding around the edges. I will make sure to post a photo when I am done. Here are the doors that are inspiring me:

from S. R. Gambrel

From House Beautiful

From cococozy.com

From Houzz

From Martha Stewart Living

darling octopus and r•home magazine – march issue

Pick up this months R•Home magazine and you will see one of my chair re-do’s step by step. I give you all of my secrets!

Everything looks so pretty in the magazine but it’s not all so glamorous behind the scenes. The photographer had a special assistant at this photo shoot – frankie!

That’s right, not only did he have to worry about lighting and composition, he also had to work around this snorting, snaggle tooth pug who thought he should be in every picture. Or we should at least stop everything and rub his belly!

The other two guys around my house who are always trying to get in on the action are Jasper and Emerson. Here they are posing with the chair before her big makeover:

One more thing that I wanted to tell you is that this chair is not alone! I have three more just like her and a dining table that are all going to get the same treatment and become a set. If you are going to paint your furniture the pieces don’t need to match perfectly. The table I have is not originally part of the set with the chairs but once it is all painted the same I doubt you will be able to tell.

design*sponge in rva!

R•Home is blowing my mind. First Eddie Ross, then Maxwell from Apartment Therapy, and now, Grace Bonney from Design*Sponge. Could it get any better? (I am voting for Jonathan Adler next year. Are you reading this Brandon?)

Anyway, I am so excited to listen to Grace Bonney talk about her blog and her new book. Design*Sponge is so incredibly inspiring. Their before and afters are my favorite (of course!)

R•Home for the Holidays is a little different this year – it will take place during the day, include lunch and optional workshops. And I will be conducting one of the workshops – yeah! I will be talking about DIY furniture re-do’s. I will share some of my before and afters along with some great hints to help you tackle new projects.

I would really love to see some of you there! So come out Wednesday, November 16th, 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Plant Zero. You can get more information here.

I’ve finally made it – darling octopus in r•home mag!

If you haven’t seen it already, check out this months R•Home magazine and you will find a darling octopus switch plate cover. Yeah!

You can find these guys, in tons of cool fabric options, in my etsy store or at Blue Elephant.

 

eddie ross, will you be my new best friend?

Thanks R•Home for bringing one of my favorite design personalities to Richmond! Eddie Ross talked to us about decorating for the holidays and he had everyone charmed in the first five minutes. In his adorable plaid bow tie and vest he was so positive, down to earth and seriously funny.

I first discovered Eddie Ross when he was a contestant on Top Design. I am addicted to competition reality shows and this one was my favorite. What a character – he totally made the show.

But I had been admiring his work, without knowing it, for years in the pages of Martha Stewart Living where he was an editor. Eddie now has his own amazing website that is sure to inspire you. When you look at his work everything he does looks so expensive but then he tells you how he made it with stuff from the dollar store. His personal design mantra is: It doesn’t have to be expensive to be beautiful. I love that. He also does amazing before and afters – my favorite!

Last night he showed us how to make our own wrapping paper using lace and spray paint. He demonstrated how to tie a perfect bow that slips off the package with one pull. He made a super cute square wreath and a gorgeous poinsettia arrangement. Then he talked about setting your holiday table and some tricks that stylist use to save time and money.

Here is some of his work. Or check out his complete portfolio.

I introduced myself to Eddie after his talk. He was so, so nice. I really wish we could go thrift shopping together and then drink prosecco and do craft projects. What a charmer! Oh, and he loves Richmond, by the way. His favorite place – Caravati’s.