I have a problem.  I start a blog post, but don’t finish it.  I find 1 good inspiration image, then I get stuck.  My draft list is getting longer and longer on here.  I try to squeeze a post into the free moments that I have, but it’s not enough time.  I have a ton of photos on my camera that never make it to my computer.  And then I have 5 client projects I’m working on.  And calories that need to be burned.  Where was I going with this? 

So I’m going to stick in one or two (okay, 3!) images of a cool product that I’m actually considering for my own house…because I am so excited that the wall between my garage and my laundry room will soon be a distant memory, and it will be replaced with another set a few feet back.  And it will be the new home of my refrigerator and my new pantry.  Because putting food on the open shelf above my washing machine isn’t cutting it anymore!

Beadboard wallpaper. Oh yes…because who can stand to paint brand new wood?  Because I want it painted.  And who can afford to run it floor to ceiling, like my inspiration image.  I saw this image (below) and have saved it for my laundry room.  And I’m a bad blogger and don’t remember where I got it.  Sorry!  I think it’s Martha Stewart, but I’m not sure.  Please let me know if you know!

Cool glass containers should go above my washer and dryer.  Not food.    And I found the cool wallpaper while browsing the latest Land of Nod catalog.  They’re now offering wallpaper (I love the paintable textured options) and eco-friendly Mythic paint from their catalogs.  I’m sure I’ve seen it before, but I forget about things with so many options!

$30 for an 11 yard roll (20.5″ wide). And my mother-in-law can hang wallpaper.  And I am getting a tax refund.  And I’d like to spend it on my kitchen…what are you spending yours on?  Home related or other?  I am excited that our big kitchen plans might be coming to life sooner than expected!

Have a great week!!

-Lindsay

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…

We have 2 large (8 feet wide by 4 feet tall) windows in our living room.  Nice, but they’ve actually always been an eyesore since we moved in a year and a half ago because the previous owner apparently ran her sprinkler and let it hit the house.  Here in Likely, this causes horrible water spots on the windows and you couldn’t even see through the bottom half of those windows!  We’ve tried cleaning them with normal window cleaner and a few other solutions, but those didn’t take it off, and we kind of just gave up for now because we knew we needed something better.  This has been driving Glenn’s dad crazy…almost every time he stopped by (he’s a UPS man so that is often!) he would say something about a product he heard about or asking us if we’ve tried something to fix it.  Like I said, we pretty much ignored the problem and just kept the blinds closed!

Gross, right?  We thought they were ruined and we had to live with them like this!

Now a few weeks ago Randy (Glenn’s dad) dropped off a little white jar of ’stuff’ to clean windows, and we really didn’t think much of it.  He does things like that all the time.  We didn’t jump at the chance to try out this product or anything, it pretty much sat on top of our refrigerator for a week or so.  So one Friday morning I’m making our bed and I stop to admire the view out of our sparkling-clean brand new bedroom window, wishing it was the same in the living room and then I remembered the little white jar.  So I went out to the kitchen and found it, read the directions on the back, grabbed the materials I needed and went outside.  I put some water in a stainless bowl, then you dip a sponge in to get it wet, dip that in the jar of white powder, and then go to work on the windows.  I scrub a little circle, then grab a damp rag to wipe it off and in my amazement IT WORKED PERFECTLY!

Isn’t that a great view?  We were seriously missing out and now we open the blinds every day!  Our windows look brand new with very little effort and no harsh chemicals, thanks to a $4 jar of ‘magic’ powder! It’s called ‘Nothin’s Better Water Stain Remover’ (I’m not making this up) and it is worth its weight in gold!!

For you locals you can buy it at Carsten’s!    Check out these results…before on the left, and after on the right.

See our little jar of the stuff out there?  Love it!  And to do both of our 8-foot windows and the storm door glass, it didn’t even take the whole 4 oz. jar.  Next up is the camp trailer windows!  You can use it on all kinds of surfaces (Glass, chrome, porcelain, tile, fiberglass, aluminum and stainless steel will shine and sparkle as new.  Removes water, mineral stain, rust, scum, paint overspray, oxidization.)

I promise that I started the job, but as soon as Glenn noticed me out there working on the windows he came out to see how it was going.  And took the scrubber from me because he had to try it.  And he finished the job.  Strangely, he does that a lot.  I’m not going to complain. 

Magic.  Seriously.  Go buy some now!

Do you have water spots?  Do you have a ‘magic’ cleaning product you’d like to share?  Please tell us!!

Well, that about sums this post up!  We had this striped brown and cream flatweave cotton rug from Target in our bedroom…but our dogs sleep on the floor in there and we have wwaaayyy too much traffic in that room for a flatweave cotton rug that you cannot vacuum.  Yes, we could go shake it out, but we’d have to do that every day, twice a day.  So we moved it.  I had it in my office, but the same deal; little pieces of paper from the hole-punch and random thread pieces would get stuck all over it.  Plus it kept bunching up under the desk leg and office chair.  So we moved it again.  This time to the laundry room to wash it, and that’s where it stayed.  Until my genius husband suggested it going in the bathroom.  If you’re anything like me you hate a cold bathroom, especially a bathroom floor.  It fits PERFECTLY in there from wall to wall.  And I love the graphic striped pattern it brings in.  *My husband, the decorator.*

It still gets a little bunchy, but that doesn’t bother me as much as it did in the bedroom because it’s easy to put back in its original location…and you might notice that we even took the bathmats out (and now they’re on either side of the bed) because we don’t need them anymore.  This is something I probably never would have thought of on my own – another piece of evidence to show that having someone to bounce decorating ideas off of can be very helpful!  A fresh set of eyes and opinions might be exactly what you need – and don’t discount your husband’s decorating skills – you never know, he might come up with something good a few times out of ten!

Sorry for the blurry webcam shot – I just don’t always feel like whipping out the nice camera, downloading and editing photos, uploading and formatting, linking and…well, you get the idea – quick and easy, that’s what I need these days – THANK YOU PHOTOBOOTH!  At least I am posting, ha! And yes, my daughter is trying to crawl out of her bath because she sees me fiddling with my laptop…

And no, my bathroom is dark brown, not black…but I am dying to paint SOMETHING black, whether it be a room or an exterior!  Will someone please let me pick a black paint for you??

Image via Apartment Therapy

Pretty, pretty please?  Okay, how about chalkboard paint?

Image via Apartment Therapy

Okay, back to the bathroom; I thought I’d point out that cute little green and white baby potty in my bathroom.  I can’t get over how cute my little girl looks while sitting on it.  She’d hate it if it wasn’t for that stack of Wild Animal Baby magazines we put right next to the sink – because of those she’ll sit there forever.  Nothing happens while she’s sitting on it (she’s only 18 months!), but it’s just for fun and for practice. 

She cracks me up…so I’m sorry if I over-talk about her potty, but it’s just precious (to me!).  Here she is, assuming the ‘reading a magazine on the toilet’ pose, with her baby blonde hair combed after a bath.  So sweet!  And I did wrap her in a towel so I could post this online. 

Anyway, the cute little potty, I bought it from Diapers.com because 1) their shipping is FAST! and FREE! and 2) I had a 15% off coupon sent straight to my e-mail because I have a customer account.  All great things when you live in Likely.  Plus the potty is too dang adorable and I thought it would look cute (and not take up much space in my teeny bathroom) sitting in its own little corner!  It’s the Hoppop Torro Potty in Lime. It also comes in blue (Aqua) and pink (Fuschia), but my bathroom is already brown, green and white so I thought it would look good.  Well, as good as a baby potty could.  If it’s going to have to be out, it might as well look good!  Right?

Fascinating stuff, right?    Anyway, this is another baby product that gets the thumbs-up from me.  It’s small, cute and was cheap!  But I also like it mainly because she actually LIKES TO SIT ON IT!  We’ll see how it goes after she actually learns to use it.

Hello out there, lovelies!  I seem to be all-about-blogging for a week or two, then I drop off the face of the Earth for another week or two!  But I’m not sitting around eating Bon-Bons…I’m trying to wrap my brain around all of the projects I’ve got going – AND spend time with my two favorite people in the world!  I’m glad they love me so much and understand my lack-of-boundaries at the moment.    I thought I’d share a small project I’m working on, and I’m loving the challenge.  Picking paint colors for a (in my words) ‘Granny Chic’ loft.  Imagine this – an amazing loft space for visiting family with lots of light and a spiral staircase leading up to it.  But it includes some super cozy and soft rose-colored carpet (that is 12 years old but in brand new condition as the room is never used) – and yes, I said rose as in PINK! – with a few brand new coats of barely-there chamomile paint on the ceiling.  So neither will be changed.  Hmm.  The room also has a ton of oak furniture and a brand new bedding set that will also be the basis for choosing paint.  Double hmm.  Check it out.

The lightest paint color on the strip is the ceiling color: Chamomile by Sherwin Williams (SW 6399).  And that is the pillowcase that matches the duvet from the bedding set.  So ‘Granny Chic,’ right?  I really think it could be pretty, and I’m hoping my choices will help make the loft everything she wants it to be!  And I know my ‘Photobooth’ webcam shot doesn’t do the colors justice, but it will do for now I suppose!

Here are the paint color choices I’m mulling over…plus one more sample coming in the mail…

It’s not often that I get to work with such a girly palette.  And it’s a nice change of pace because most designing that I’m doing is for both sexes and has to be a compromise.  And I know it is in my house anyway!  So I’m enjoying it.

Unfortunately I’m not going to share the paint colors themselves, as my client is paying for those color names*, but left to right is a golden yellow that still feels like a neutral, a muddy olive, a tan with a little green undertone, and a light smoky blue.  What do you like best? I’m actually loving the blue, or the yellow, but I’m hoping it wouldn’t feel like a big easter basket with the rose carpet, ha!  That’s why they’re on the neutral side and not too bright.  But I’m guessing it will be the green or the tan that gets chosen.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

*I’m sure you understand. 

Looking for a chic way to update your kitchen? How about painting your cabinets a COLOR?  I’m really loving white walls in spaces, but with colored trim, moulding, cabinets, ceilings, etc. lately.  If I had the guts to re-paint my house, that is what I’d do…but I need to add the architectural details first so it wouldn’t look so BORING in white!  I saw these kitchen photos and thought that it was such a calming and chic color scheme, I just had to share it to give a little inspiration.  So without further adieu, I give you the Texas kitchen of Sally Wheat (which has been all over blogland, I know, but I had to file it away here in my little corner of the web!).

The cabinets are painted ‘Fieldstone’ by Benjamin Moore, a mid-value warm gray that is just so perfect with those marble countertops.  A great example of how to inject some color into your space without painting the walls an actual color.

I love the casement window, the gorgeous Farmhouse style apron-front sink, the polished nickel faucet and cup pull hardware, and the decorative brackets on the open shelving.  Notice how the cabinets’ hinges aren’t showing?  It keeps the look of the cabinets less busy (or you can try white hinges with white cabinets, and metal pulls).

White subway tile with white grout is always a good choice.  I love the open shelving to show off her great crystal and white glass collection.

And here is the wide angle shot of the whole space.  How about those industrial pendants?  And that plate wall?  If you click over to see the whole house (see the link below), you’ll see that the homeowner/designer loves to mix vintage/traditional pieces with modern elements and trends for an eclectic look, and she does it well.

Want to re-create a kitchen like this?  Try these items:

Polished Chrome Bridge Faucet, Overstock.com: $174.99 (it used to be $109.99 – always check for specials!).

Polished Chrome Bin/Drawer Pull, eBay.com: $1.70 each (eBay is a GREAT place to buy cabinet hardware).

Fisherman Ceiling Lamp, Pottery Barn Kids: $89.00 each.  (But PB should know – clear light = clear bulb!)

DOMSJÖ Double Bowl Sink, IKEA: $312.98 (this one is HUGE at over 3 feet wide!)

And this is their single bowl version, 25″ wide: DOMSJÖ Sink bowl from IKEA, $185.99.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this kitchen!  Have you seen it before? What do you think of painted cabinets? Would you rather stick with wood or white?  Let me know!  Happy painting!

{Images via Cote De Texas of Sally Wheat’s kitchen. Click here to view the entire home!}

File this post under “Things That Catch My Eye So I’m Going To Share It/Save It Here.”  As usual, I just couldn’t help myself.

Because I could totally live here.  Exactly how it is.  Black paint, cement walls and floors (if they’re heated, of course), giant windows, an amazing patio space, giant beds, built in bunks, a view to die for.  We even love that it’s underground.  It is located in a little odd place – I’d rather be out all alone in the middle of nowhere, but my husband and I completely agree – we could move into this house just how it is and live perfectly happy.  How about you?

Is that a heated outdoor tub I spy? (Above.)

The living room furniture even looks somewhat comfortable, which is a necessity in my house.  But where is the TV?

I had to double check for a bathroom picture, just to make sure I liked it all, but it did not disappoint.

If not to live in then to vacation in…right?

I’d love to see a floor plan…

What do you think?  Are you attracted to the slightly quirky, modern aesthetic of this Swiss Mountain House, or does this look do nothing for you?  What style of design would you categorize yourself as your favorite?

{Images courtesy of Trendir via SeARCH and Christian Muller Architects via Gizmodo, via Abitare}

In case you’ve been living under a rock and don’t read Young House Love (or follow them on Twitter or Facebook) then you might have missed their post on the FABULOUS website/blog by the name of Knock Off Wood: How to Build Knock-Out Knock-Off Furniture.  Hey…there might be one or two of you that are coming to my little ‘ol website and haven’t browsed theirs recently…right?

So anyway, on to the furniture plans!  I love these…the carpentry obsessed blogger behind Knock Off Wood is Ana from Alaska, who posts plans, step-by-step instructions and even videos to copy or be inspired by your favorite catalog store’s more expensive furniture pieces.  Plus she’s a mama to a toddler.  Impressive, Ana…impressive!  Here she is in action, oh, just working on a kitchen island.  No big deal…

For instance…have you ever been shocked (like I have) at how expensive a simple bookcase could be?  But they look so easy to build!  And Ana says that they are – this Cameron 3-Shelf Bookcase is in her ‘Fast’ category…but it is on ‘Special’ for $239 EACH at Pottery Barn Kids if you’d like to just buy your own.  No thanks!

{image via Pottery Barn Kids}

And her plans are very nicely illustrated using Sketchup – and did I mention that they’re FREE?  Click here for the plans to make your own ‘Inspired by the Cameron’ bookshelf.

{Image via Knock Off Wood}

And for you more advanced woodworkers, how about your own tiered bookcase, like the Apex from West Elm?  She has a plan for that.  But if you want to buy it, it costs $449 online.

{Image via West Elm}

You can find anything on her site…from coffee tables to beds to picture frames to…

…PLAY KITCHENS!  I was sooo excited to see these EASY plans to make fridges, ovens and sinks for little girls.  Her 3 year old’s room is seriously decked out!  Maybe if I start now I can get something done before Harper’s 2nd birthday (it’s in August, hehe!).

Or you could buy this set from Land of Nod for $448, plus tax and shipping…I do love the chalkboard paint, though!

Or this retro set from Pottery Barn Kids for $699…

And how cute is this ‘Town’ plan?  I need to get Glenn to get building…or have him show me how to use his tools a little better than my current skills.

Thanks for the inspiration, Ana!  And for making building things so simple for rest of us!

{images linked to sources and via Knock Off Wood}

If you’ve been following my Tweets or the Likely Design page on Facebook, you might know that I have a fun new (real life) design project in the works — a daycare playroom!  So in my search for some inspiration for this project, I clicked my way over to HGTV and saw that runner-up Design Star Dan Vickery’s new online show has debuted!  It’s called “Kid-Sized Design” and there are only a couple of web-isodes up so far but after seeing Dan’s celebrity nursery design from Design Star I was curious.

Remember this room from Design Star? So sweet and cozy!  I really thought it was finished well.

Those boat-mobiles were very creative!  I could see why they decided to give him a show about designing for kids (well, really for adults, right?).

And here are a couple of shots from rooms from the show…

A little sparse (rug? more storage furniture? teeny tiny side lamp? they couldn’t change out that ceiling fan?)…but at least it errs on the side of not enough furniture instead of too much.  And the main feature of the episode was that storage valance above the window, not the room itself.

Better, but I’d like to see more.  There are a couple of 4 minute videos to watch, and you might come up with a couple of good ideas from each, but I’d love to see the floor plans, resource lists, etc.  The “Dan Cam” (which is right in his face) is a little strange, but it’s only the intro and ending.  Here is my favorite video from the bunch:

Dividing a Shared Kids’ Room

And here are links to the rest:

Boys’ Room Headboard Storage

Girls’ Room Window Treatment

Kids’ Room Design Tips

Nursery Design Tips

So, had you forgotten about Farm Boy Dan and his online show? Me, too, but I’m glad to see he’s back and working on something fun like kids’ spaces!  Plus he does have the design education that others lacked, so I’m sure he’ll bring it.  And if that doesn’t work out, he always has his modeling…

{images via HGTV.com}

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.