Pinterest-ed.
I have to admit…when Pinterest first started popping up all over the internet I was confused. ‘What is the point? How can this be useful and not just ANOTHER waste of time?’ Well, I’ve found out just how useful it can be, and how awesome it is for corralling all of the random thoughts of my brain into a single area. It’s also great for inspiration. I love Pinterest. The only downside is, I only have the ‘marklet’ on one of my computers…and for some reason ‘re-pinning’ doesn’t work on my drafting PC, so all I can do is look when I’m on there. My fault, not theirs obviously. But not a big deal, I take time to catch up on my laptop often!
So anyway…what is the big deal about Pinterest, you ask? I’m sure if you’re reading this and you already know about it, then you’re ready to answer that question for me, but if you’re not in the loop then here is what the website is all about and how I use it: basically it is a place that you can catalog all of your online finds (like ‘Bookmarking’ using your web browser) but it is so much better because it is visual and you can put each of your ‘pins’ onto different ‘boards’ and that’s how you can stay organized. I use it for individual projects (i.e. so-and-so’s paint color ideas or ‘Harper’s Big Girl Room’ or so-and-so’s party), so instead of trusting myself to remember where I saw something, I can just ‘pin’ it to the specific board and then go back to review. It saves the link, and you can write notes in. The other good part about Pinterest is that you can ‘Follow’ someone’s pins and/or specific boards. And you can re-pin. So you don’t have to only save the things that you find online onto your boards, but you can see what others are pinning and save it to your own boards. It’s awesome.
Here are some things I’m pinning:
I have a whole board dedicated to ‘Amazing Photography Ideas‘ – aka picture ideas I’d like to re-create/steal. 
Bedroom paint color ideas for a client…
Birthday party ideas…
Halloween costume ideas, haha…
Things I want for myself…
Looks I love (and want to copy)…
DIY’s I want us to attempt (this one links to concrete countertop instructions)…
Food I want to make…
Products I love (and want to share with my followers)…
And much, much more…go see what I’m pinning here!
{click the photos to go to my pins…there you’ll find the links to the original web sources for the photos!}
Read MoreA freebie from {my pal :) } Kim!
Aren’t these just absolutely adorable?!? I love the color, the font, the patterns…and the margarita looks pretty tasty, too. And you can make your own Cinco de Mayo Party Circles from a FREE download from Kim at The TomKat Studio! Enjoy!
She also has some cute links and Cinco de Mayo party inspiration at the blog post – check it out!
Cinco de Mayo Party Circles – Tomkat Studio
{image via The TomKat Studio}
Read MoreGo ahead, write on the walls
Cool product alert. Have you wondered how to actually install a look like this? Is it a big board? Is it on a roll (like wallpaper?)? Is it….hmmm…
{Image via Young House Love}
As you probably know, I’m working on a project that involves a local daycare playroom. How fun, right? Right. It’s been a great learning experience for me, and I am thankful for such enthusiastic and trusting clients. So of course, we looked into a chalkboard wall for the kiddies. And if you didn’t already know, it’s simply paint. (You’re probably saying – duh! We already knew that! Well…the folks at the hardware store didn’t have a clue to what I was talking about so you never know!!) Anyway, you paint the chalkboard pigmented paint right on to the wall. The pigments dry harder than normal paint, allowing for a good surface to write on and not damage, and can also be wiped clean. You can find it in all sorts of colors, but I stuck with black for this project. And we didn’t do an entire wall in chalkboard paint, we did a chair rail at about 45″ (so not technically a chair rail, but it worked with the mantle above the wood stove visually!) and painted the lower half of the entire room with chalkboard paint. A dream come true for little ones, right? I know Harper already loves to take stray pencils to my kitchen cabinets…
I love how they painted the top of the table in the packaging, too! You’ll have to do some web searching to find different colors, but this black version is available at Ace Hardware.
And to step it up a notch, pair it with a magnetic primer under the chalkboard paint because what kids don’t love to play with magnets? We only have 3 letters from Harper’s alphabet magnet set left on our fridge…the rest are probably underneath it.
But this way you can paint the magnetic latex primer right on the wall to make any surface magnetic. Just a word of caution stemming from experience – if you’re going to prime, prime the entire wall or section. I.e. don’t just put this where you want a magnetic surface and leave other areas unprimed – you can see what parts have magnetic (or any) primer, and what areas don’t after you paint a top coating on!
Either way it still looks cool and works great! Very excited to wrap this project up – not because I want to be done with it, but because I love to see an end result! Hopefully I can share it with you within the next few weeks! If I ever get online to blog…
My version of a growth chart
Last December, Glenn and I (ok, mostly Glenn) painted our kitchen cabinets white. It happened to be on the day that our daughter turned 4 months old, and so we decided to immortalize the day on our living room wall. We rolled a little of the low-VOC paint on her little foot and stamped it up on the wall by the front door. I love seeing it as I dash out of the door, and everyone likes to comment on it when they come to visit.
Strangely enough, later in the day my dad called to tell me that his mom had died that morning, so it’s also a nice way for me to think of my Grandma from time to time. Miss you, Grandma M.!
So what did we do on the 1-year anniversary of that day? Well paint another footprint, of course! Now we have 2 growin’ footprints on our wall from when Harper was 4 months and 16 months old…and I’m hoping that this giant new footprint means that she’ll be tall – just like her daddy’s family! But then again I’m only 5’3″ with a size 9 foot…I know…I’m a hobbit.
{Real Rooms} Reese’s Nursery
I am so excited to share an adorable little nursery project with you today, not because I designed it (because I didn’t – I wish I could take credit for it!), or not only because it is darling, or hand-crafted with special little details, but because it is the bedroom of a sweet little girl whose mama is an old friend of mine! And as you can see a very artistic and creative friend at that! But if you knew Janet in high school, you would know what an artist she is! A good example showing that whatever profession you choose, you can still be an artist (Janet is a nurse!).
A big thank you to Janet (and Reese! And Matt!) for sharing her little nursery project with us – I absolutely love it! My favorite part has to be the hand-painted details; two tones of yellow in two different finishes and don’t forget the hand-painted ‘R’ (yes, that is painted directly on the wall!) with glitter accents, a painted border and a wooden frame tacked to the wall. I’m sure it is something that little Reese will be so proud of when she starts to learn her ABC’s! Here is what Janet had to say about it:
“As for the “R” – I modeled it after a font I found at Pottery Barn, but I decided to draw/paint it free-hand since I wanted it so much larger. The brown and blue frame is painted as well, and Matt cut and nailed up the final white frame around it all. The R is painted with the same color as the stripes, and has a few glitter accents. It was very fun!!”
And here’s the break down to make up a sweet little nursery, just like Reese’s! Thanks for sharing, Janet!
Paint
- Primary wall color – Dutch Boy ”Honey Bear” – Flat finish
- Stripes - Dutch Boy ”Just Enough Yellow” - Semi-gloss finish
- “R” – Painted the same color as the stripes with glitter accents. Framed with blue and brown paint (color, brands unkown) used left-overs that a friend had. Matt finished it off with the white trim.
Furniture/Decor
- Crib – hand-me-down from Reese’s four little cousins
- Bedding – Baby Martex CoCaLo bedding – Australian Animals (I think this has been discontinued) – From the Baby Depot
- Note from Lindsay – it’s called Down Under and you can buy it here!
- Note from Lindsay – it’s called Down Under and you can buy it here!
- Rocker- a baby-shower gift. From Target
- White Dresser – Bona Vita “Peyton” Dresser/changing table combo – from The Baby Warehouse in Petaluma
- Credenza – given to us from the Funeral Home where Matt works – Don’t worry – it was in the lobby – It fits in there perfectly and is decorated with all her favorite stuffed animals.
- Martha Stewart’s Tissue paper pom-poms – from Michaels
- LOVE these! -Lindsay
- LOVE these! -Lindsay
- Pictures (above dresser)- White frames from Aaron Brothers -a little collage of pictures we had taken at the house when Reese was two weeks old!
If you have a room you’d like to share, please e-mail me at lindsay[@]lindsaychristensendesign.com!
And P.S. – sorry for the interruptions throughout the background of the post – I’m tweaking the blog template and those boxes should be on the right – thanks for your patience!!
Giveaway Winner and New Likely Design Feature!
First thing’s first – my Rosebud Card giveaway has ended and using random.org, we have chosen a winner!
The winner is comment #5 – Colleen – congratulations, Colleen! We’ll be in touch!
I can’t wait to hear how she loves her cards. Thank you Rosemary at Rosebud Cards for your generosity, I appreciate it and I’m sure that Colleen will as well!
Up next, if you haven’t noticed yet – there is a new little ‘tab’ at the top of the blog, pointing you to the new “Lillie + James” page. Lillie + James is my new venture in partnership with my sister-in-law, Erin. We have been crafting and coming up with decorating ideas like crazy, so please contact us if you’re interested in taking advantage of our services!
We had a ball setting up this Christmas table, and photographing it was interesting to say the least…can you say ‘timer?’ Thank goodness Erin’s son came home so he could capture this angled shot for us, ha!
Read more about Lillie + James here. Happy Monday! And happy birthday to our other sister (or sister-in-law, in my case), Kayte!
xo,
Lindsay & Erin (aka Lillie + James)
Read More
About Me
I'm an interior designer and a draftsperson, but I live in the country. I like it that way. I'm also a firefighter's wife, mom to 2 cute kids, and a homeowner and I like that even better. But right after that is a pretty and affordable space...and I mean a REALLY affordable space. Because I believe good design can be for EVERYONE!
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