Wednesday, March 31, 2010

New Kitchens - Kitchen Designs

New kitchens can be a abundant accession to any home or accommodation and if advised appropriate should accomplish alive in the kitchen a joy. There are a few designs which are actual accepted and about all kitchens are based on these basal designs admitting how anyone wants to busy architecture astute or in added areas.

The Galley New Kitchens

This is breadth the kitchens is advised to run forth one bank of your kitchen breadth and is best acceptable for continued kitchens or apartments. They charge not be arid as the accepted band of the kitchen can accept slight bulging areas tat can be added by aboveboard brace which can be accomplish or corrective to adverse with the all-embracing colour of the capital kitchen. Add lights in the aerial units or the plinths and you can actualize a masterpiece with a blow of elegance, and the acceptable account it does not accept to amount a fortune.

New Kitchens advised in a U-Shape.

Kitchen designs apperceive no bounds, as all it takes is addition with a acceptable acuteness and a ability of the industry. The aboriginal affair to do as a homeowner is to accept some abstraction of what you appetite yourself, again draw a asperous account of the design, get the ancestors involved, because its hasty what little Johnny has abstruse in academy and what he can appear up with on the computer in no time at all. Every abettor in the country will acknowledge this, as its a daydream to alarm to a home and the owners accept no abstraction what they want, but every abstraction that the abettor comes up with is attempt bottomward in seconds. The u-shaped kitchen is one of the best accepted kitchens in avant-garde homes in Ireland and the Uk, its simple a kitchens that runs forth three walls and in some cases will accept an island in the average which can be acclimated for accidental dining. This blazon of kitchen affords one the ideal assignment triangle accouterment its not to ample of an area. The ideal admeasurement in amplitude is twelve anxiety and over as this will acquiesce you abode an island in the centermost amid both alien walls.

New Kitchens advised in an L-Shape.

As the name advance these kitchens are advised to run forth two walls affair at appropriate angles actual accepted in restaurants and avant-garde homes. The hob can be placed breadth the two walls accommodated authoritative this the centermost allotment of you new kitchen, its the ideal abode to accept your adorned custom fabricated crimson and accept the aerial units on either ancillary disconnected with some anesthetized doors and low voltage lighting. Any of the aloft mentioned designs are ideal for accomplish in any copse but admirable back complete in oak kitchens.

Kitchen Designs

What anytime architecture you accept for your new kitchen, try and get yourself an in-frame kitchen as they are glassy and will be admired by all your ancestors and guests alike. This blazon of kitchen is bogus so that the doors and drawers alcove into the anatomy of the kitchen body and looks added affected than accepting the doors afraid alfresco the body which is additionally actual nice depending on the application. Older kitchens tended to be bogus in this way. Finally get acceptable admonition from bodies and companies that accept been in business for a ample period.

A spring table

 birdyWell, it’s in the 70’s here today, and the weather has been glorious for weeks now – SO unlike the Midwest. I’m crossing fingers and toes that there is no more snow! Puhhhleaze? Considering it’s supposed to be 84 degrees here tomorrow, you’d think we’re safe.

When I showed you the cute little Dollar Tree bird in this post, I told you I had some ideas in mind for others as well. I was so sure my idea would be adorable, I drove back to the dollar store at 8:55 that night, grabbing the last few I could find. (So sorry if you were looking for them…)  ;)

My idea was to use them on the dining room table. The bowls I bought last year for the place settings (from Pier 1) have been such fun to decorate with each holiday/season!

My first thought was to nestle them into some Spanish moss, but then I had a bit of a freak out that the moss would stain the white bowls. Probably wouldn’t – but my freak out made the end result even better!

To protect the bowl, I first used crinkled up tissue paper and made a “nest” – but then it hit me. What’s natural, springy, pretty and moss-stain protecting? Burlap baby! And I already had it!:

041 083

I have six little birds total, but I am using a couple elsewhere, so I still needed to fill two place settings.

When Maryann posted her twine/jute covered eggs back in February, I was HOOKED. I am a sucker for jute. I don’t know what it is – but I love it on just about anything.

So I made some of my own jute covered eggs a few weeks ago – just using plastic Easter eggs we had and hot glue. Fareee!

Last week I found some white yarn in my craft stuff and covered a couple with that as well:

043 044 

Warning:  This cuteness takes foreva and a day to attain. I think about 15 minutes per egg. But it’s good mind-numbing activity while I watch my shows. ;)

I wanted to keep the centerpiece simple but wanted to add a little somethin’. I found some mossy “blanket” stuff at Joann’s today that was perfect to line the bottom:

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I just cut it to fit and I love it! It was pricey -- $9 – but it is reusable.

A couple weeks ago I decided to start using a few of the candle holders as vases, so I’ve been filling a few of them:

057

If you look carefully you can see the toys on the floor…shhhhh. Nothing but the best for you all!

I had forgotten what a great deal flowers are at Trader Joe’s until my friend Kate mentioned it. (You must see her dining room. Swoon.)

Some of these have lasted for two weeks now! The tulips were $10 for 20. Hard to beat!:

070 072

 074 078 

I absolutely love how fresh and bright the table is!

064

    060 And I wuv you, you cute little birdies! Kisses!

087I  have BIG plans for our hutch – I can’t wait to get working on it. I don’t know if it’s going to work, but I’ll let you know, of course.  (And no, I’m not painting it!)

To see how I made the centerpiece, go here.

For a recap of the dining room redo, go here.

Casa moderna de aluminio

Materiales
Varias son las ideas sobre "casa aluminio", el material es ideal para hacer casas prefabricadas, porque no se oxida y resulta liviano para el transporte.
Algunas ideas tienen un grado de sofisticación que lleva a aprovechar el aluminio además funcionalmente, por ejemplo, calefacción y refrigeración. Para la construcción tradicional el aluminio participa hace un tiempo de algunas partes de una casa, como los cerramientos y las aberturas, también siding.

Por ver otras casas modernas construidas en diferentes materiales siga este vínculo, hay una lista de posteos relevantes que podrá revisar.

Casa aluminio
Moderna casa de aluminio
El aluminio se expande con el calor y se contrae con el frío. Si el aluminio pasa por ciclos frecuentes de frío/calor pierde su tensión, se puede oxidar o corroer en presencia de ciertos metales. En los años 70 en USA se usó el cable de aluminio para las instalaciones domésticas.

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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Workin' the Plan

Oh my gosh, it's been such a ca-RA-zy week! 
Our first event here at our farm went well... the weather didn't cooperate at all, but wonderful friends and long-time customers came out to see what we've been up to. Their support is priceless! We are more prepared now for our big launch in May, with a show on Mother's Day weekend that is open to the public. {Click on the 'Petite Retreats' Page link above to see more about that upcoming event!} Thanks to MaryBeth Sande of Poppyseeds, we have one photo of us that proves we were there. One. That's how crazy things were!

In a few short weeks, we have the Remnants of the Past show down in California to attend, and we spent yesterday and today plotting, planning, and then setting up a mock booth to test our plan. Hmmmmmn.... lots of shuffling and swapping out of products goin' on! It's getting there. By end of tomorrow, we'll have it all sorted out. Then we can move on to the details of the displays - yay!

There are some funny things that happen when we do this - like the 'stand ins'.
Items that are still 'in process' in the shop or paint room get another chair or table that takes its place in the setup until the actual item is ready. A 'furniture stunt double', if you will! There is also the requisite moving of an item by infinitesimal increments over and over and over...'just a tch that way... no, that way'... multiple times. Usually until it ends up right back where it started. I messed with a table and chairs for about fifteen minutes and multiple rearrangements until I finally realized that the reason it just wasn't working was that I had the wrong chairs with the table. duh!

Just about the time I figured that out and swapped the chairs, the rain moved in again. Wind was blowing it in under the big 20 X 20 tent {where we set up the 10 X 10 tent!} and I was cold and cranky in about 30 seconds. Deb was done for the day!!!

Cabaña

Casa de troncos.
Cabaña es un tipo de casa generalmente hecha con madera y piedra en ambientes no urbanos. La casa de troncos es frecuentemente una cabaña. Los troncos tienen un bajo grado de elaboración, lo suficiente para poder fijarlos en la construcción de un modo permanente. Este tipo de cabañas derivan de las primeras por lo que intentan mostrar en la mayor proporción posible el material natural, rústico.

Cabaña
El valor por el cual se encarga este tipo de cabaña es que se note como casa de troncos ya que en algunos lugares se integra muy bien a la Naturaleza circundante, muchas veces árboles, pinos o bosques.
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Amazing Kitchen Design - FNQG3U6TYK2E

kitchen cabinets

Pisos torre

Arquitectura
Este edificios de pisos torre se encuentra en un barrio residencial donde las alturas están limitadas. Tiene todas las características de las torres residenciales pero su altura es la de edificios convencionales. Las sombras proyectadas sobre casas residencias es por lo tanto un fenómeno al cual se ha puesto un límite. El despegue de la linea de edificación del frente y de las medianeras permite que el sol de invierno llegue a muchas de sus aberturas en las fachadas. Hay características de diseño que evidencian categoría de un estándar superior.

Pisos torre
Este edificios de pisos torre se encuentra en un barrio de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, en zona de casas, residencias y hasta mansiones.
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Mesa plegable auxiliar

Muebles
Diseño ingenioso, otra versión de la mesa plegable.
Es una mesa plegable ideal para usar en espacios reducidos como mesa auxiliar. Se guarda como una valija de madera liviana y resistentes. Un gran diseño, muy práctco, de Tiny Living. Una mesa en una valija para una ocasión. La mesa tiene una medida de 30 x 30 pulgadas, puede sostener hasta 100 libras (50 kilos). Fabricada en California se ofrece por 259 dólares.

Por más información de mesas y muebles siga el vínculo, hay una lista de contenidos ordenados para revisar con facilidad.

Mesa plegable
Mesa de madera plegable
Las mesas plegables valija son artículos de camping o para el patio, de uso en el verano. Este mueble está pensado para interiores. La mesa se despliega y usa solamente cuando se la necesita.
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wood furniture interior ideas

wood rack furniture designwood cupboard furniture design


wood living room design wood living room design


table wood furnituretable wood furniture


wood furniture desingwood furniture desing


minimalist wood furniture designminimalist wood furniture design

Monday, March 29, 2010

A cozy window nook!

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First of all, thanks so much for your idea on the furniture layout! It’s hard to get a feel for the room just with the pics I posted – there are walkways behind both sofas, so for now, they have to stay put. But I am going to add a console table behind the long sofa for sure – I found a perfect table that isn’t too deep and it’s gorg! But for now I’m trying not to spend any cash. ;)

One of the first changes I made to the Bub’s room was his window –  it looked like this for quite some time:

beforeI’ve gone back and forth for years now about adding a built in window seat in this spot. Some day I think we will, but for now, I needed a spot to put the rocking chair. The addition of a big boy bed made for little room for it. It fit perfectly into this little area -- so I decided to make a little “reading nook.”

Then it was time to address the window. I’ve slowly but surely been replacing all of our two inch blinds with bamboo roman shades (LURVE) and that was the first step:

bamboo

I loved the shutters (found at an antique store) but with the move to a big boy room, they just felt too “nursery” to me. Or maybe I was just tired of them. I’ll go with the former. ;)

I played with a few ideas in my head. One was to make shutters like I did for the windows on our deck and hang them to each side of the window. I loved that idea, but I also had plans to add more light to this spot. It was going to look odd having the light sconces I had in mind installed on top of the shutters.

I wanted it to be light and airy feeling – and then I remembered the white muslin fabric I had bought for another project. I had a ton of it (I need to get more now for the other project, then I’ll share that one!), and it was only $1.99 a yard, and 40 percent off of that.

Score!

It was perfect!:white drapesI found the swing arm sconces at Home Depot ($30-something each?) and they were EXACTLY what I was looking for! Squeal! They are so gorg. And they even had drum shades, with a yummy basket weave-like fabric. (Just like the wallpaper I used in this space!)

I still wanted to add a little something to the white drapes, so I decided to use extra fabric from his headboard project (coming soon). I started by hemming up the ends of the muslin with my iron and hemming tape:

hemming

Then I made panels of the accent fabric, hemming the edges with the no-sew tape:

And then I just ironed the panel to the muslin:

I rarely ever sew drapes – I always use hemming tape! I cannot stress how easy it is to use! I always buy the super weight and it holds up great – for years and years and years. You can even wash items you use it on. I buy mine everywhere – Joann’s, Hobby Lobby, I think even Walmart has it?

This project would probably have been faster with a sewing machine – but by the time I get my little machine out and then try to sew a straight line, I’d rather just use hemming tape. ;)

Now the little touch of navy blue really grounds the drapes, both literally and figuratively:

sconces

The extra fabric at the bottom helps to make them a bit more substantial and they hang much better now.

I planned to make the panels a little thicker than they are, but I didn’t have enough fabric. They ended up being eight inches tall:accent fabric

I love love LOVE how they look next to the built ins:

Wooeee, I am in love with this navy and white combo! Classic.

Each sconce takes a 75 watt bulb, so it adds a TON of light:

after

The sconces are on the wall behind the fabric – and to make it so the arms came through the fabric, I separated the panels of muslin – one slightly thinner panel on the left, one wider on the right. So the arm of the sconce comes right through the fabric:

      

I can still close the wider section when I want, so they are operational.

I’m thinking about adding a cornice at the top, but I’m a little wary that it will get too busy, so I’m holding off for now.

I am so thrilled with the transformation! Before:

After!:

nightI especially love this area at night! It’s so sweet to sit in this chair with the Bub – during the day, looking out on the land behind us. At night, reading, talking, just being.  :)

All in all this spot was in the cost of the sconces and the bamboo shades (from Lowe’s). The fabric I already had for other projects. It is one of the first things you see when you walk in, so I felt like it was worth it!

The room is coming along just as I saw it in my head. Lurve. Lots still to do in here – art, accessorizing, molding, painting, painting and more painting. :) I can’t wait to show you the rest!

P.S. You can see peeks to other parts of the room in these pics – I know I said before I was trying to avoid primary colors when I started thinking of the redo a year ago. The whole irony in all of this is that primary colors are all that are going in here! AND I love it! :)

¿Cambiar bañera por ducha?

Baño
El cambiar la bañera por ducha es la motivación de muchas personas que se encuentran habitualmente usando solo la función ducha o pretenden más espacio en el baño luego de una reforma. Pero hay diseños alternativos, por ejemplo este hermoso modelo de cabina de ducha combinada con una bañera de 1,7 m de largo x 0,90/0,70 m (Phoenix Whirlpools) con pantalla curva para el sector ducha. Capri 1700 Left Hand Shower Bath £539.95 Por más información sobre baños siga este vínculo hay una lista de posteos relevantes para consultar.

Bañera ducha
Los baños europeos siempre avanzan en diseño y se caracterizan por un elevado nivel de calidad de materiales y terminaciones. La forma de la bañera y la mampara, en este modelo, crean un espacio para mejor usar la ducha, que toma la prioridad en este conjunto sanitario.
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Happy Spring Break & Some Good News for Friends!!

Hello!!! We're off this week for Spring Break and I might literally have to duck tape my laptop shut so I don't work.  ;)  But that's the goal. 

I also just wanted to share some awesome things going on with a couple of bloggy friends:

Brooke & Steve Giannetti's {insanely beautiful} Home is being featured on the cover (and of course inside too! ;) of the May isse of Romantic Home Magazine!!  I am crazy over everything they touch and of course theirs is a perfect dream house:


And Kayce Huges's {fun &fresh & gorgeous}home is featured in this month's Country Living!!:



Kayce just recently became a sponsor of Pure Style Home & I am so happy she did!  I'm constantly drooling over a particular dress she designed at her store Pears + Bears.  (I wont' tell you which one because I don't want it to sell out!! ;) ;)   Her company, Pears + Bears also makes beautiful children's clothing.  How freaking adorable?!!!:


Oh if I ever get a girl....

And finally, Eddie Ross is making a pilot for a TV show!!!!  He's looking for a room to makeover for the pilot episode and is accepting submissions!!  Just click here for details.  I am soooo  excited for Eddie!! He can do it all {perfect tables- interior design- styling- photography- craft projects- budget- high-end- etc.} & with his sense of humor & charisma I KNOW he's going to succeed!! yay!!



Ok, so I am pretty much OFF-  no I'm OFF-  for the week but we will be having another super-duper guest blogger before & after!!  Have an awesome week & a Happy Easter if I'm not on before then.!!
xoxo,
lauren
 
ps- I wanted to thank everyone soooo much for the awesome response to my last post on roman shades.  I appreciate each & every one of your emails & comments.  Many of them contained questions about specific window situations & I wish I could answer all of them, but I hope you can understand the time it would take for me to give good, specific advice for each situation.  Right now I'm pretty overloaded with home life, clients & blog & I really hope you can understand that I'm just not able to do this right now.  I offer e-decorating services (you can click on the link at the top right of the blog)  if you're interested in specific advice for your home.  I will work on getting a price on the e-decorating page for general window treatment queries/ advice.  Again, I hope you can understand and thank you for your response!!
xoxo,
lauren
(again ;)

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Petite Retreat and not-so-petite Thanks!

Check out a few photos of today's 
Petite Retreat Preview Party 

More photos as soon as we recover... we were up at 4 AM dealing with wind!

We want to offer a huge THANK YOU to our generous friends Timi & Jay of Come Junk With Us, Patricia & John of Tippy Stockton Custom Jewelry, and MaryBeth & Julie from Poppyseeds for coming out to help us this morning. We cannot possibly thank all of our wonderful customers & friends enough for making the trek North in some absolutely hideous weather today - you are amazing! Your support of Retreat means the world to us.

Moving furniture around (& the holidays?)

First of all, thank you SO much for your thoughts on the veggie garden! I am so excited! It sounds like the Square Foot Gardening technique works great, so that’s what I’m going to try.

Onto the purpose of this post. I blame this one on The Nester. Darn it, I love her, but her post about moving furniture around the other day caused me to push very large and heavy sofas around our family room for hours this evening. Over and over. Large. And heavy.

Her post got me thinking – I don’t move our furniture around very often. Very often meaning never. The open layout of our home doesn’t allow for it – it’s pretty much one way for most rooms. But after The Nester’s post, I got a bug to rework our guest room and I LOVE it. (I’ll show you that soon.)

I’ve mentioned before that our family room layout kind of drives me batty. The room is BIG – about 16 by 14 feet at the smallest points – but the way the fireplace, windows, and cable/surround system outlets are laid out, there’s not much working with it.

We have always had the furniture “floating” in the room, which I do like, but it makes for very cramped cozy actual living space:

before

(Excuse the poor picture, it’s the only one I could find that showed the angle. I was too busy pushing furniture around to take a before pic.)

Then I read that blasted inspiring post and thought – maybe there is hope for a fresh, open look in our family room! Maybe I too can push some large and heavy stuff around and it will happen!

Well, it didn’t. Kind of. Not really. Maybe a little. I have issues.

I moved everything out of the space, and just tried all kinds of options. I’ve tried putting a sofa in front of the window before and it has just never worked. Did I mention our sofas are LARGE? I tried it again – twice. Still didn’t work. Same house Sarah, it didn’t get bigger!

Then I tried pulling a chair from the office and considered moving the loveseat into the office. I actually liked it, but hubs pointed out only one person could lay on a couch and watch TV. My hubby doesn’t dislike my changes often, so when he mentions something like that, I respect it. The loveseat stayed.

I tried it against this wall that I just showed you last week (again) and moved the hall table behind the larger sofa. Loved the table behind the sofa, didn’t love the loveseat way across the room. It was just weird. I felt like we’d be yelling at each other to have a conversation and it just felt odd.

After about 90 minutes, I moved the furniture back to the way we had the room when we moved in years ago:

new layout

Hmmm? What’s that? It doesn’t look different? I know. It doesn’t much. But it is enough of a change to tide me over until we get new furniture someday.

All I ended up doing (after ALL THAT) was switching the large sofa and the loveseat. We’ve done that before. But this time, I also turned the rug as well. So before, it was orientated towards the TV:

old layout

Now, it is placed so wider,with the large sofa:

rug

It does make for more space where we wanted space:

There are things I still don’t love, like this expanse of “back of sofa”:

sofaWhat I do love is it feels like there is SO much more room near our kitchen table now. And wow! Our floors look CLEAN! :)

Another part I’m not nuts about is that the sofa is so close to the window treatments, it makes them look smooshed, even though it’s not smooshing them:drapes

What I do love is this drape is about an inch shorter than the other one and now no one will ever know.  :) I made them myself and they’re not perfect. The inch difference always drove me mad, but now you can’t even see it. ;)

I was trying to get rid of the fact that we have to walk around a sofa to get into this space:

But I still love how cozy it feels. And flipping the sofas puts the shorter loveseat near the walkway, which gives us more open space here:

I’m also not thrilled the printed rug isn’t perfectly centered – the loveseat covers a lot of it, but it has to.

So. many. issues.

I do like the slight change though:

new layout

What do you think? My back hurts. Be kind. I’m not moving them back. ;)

Are you a furniture mover-arounder? Sometimes it’s all for naught. (Did I just say “for naught?”) But it can make your room feel like a whole new space when it works!

In other exciting news, I’m so stinking excited to announce I’ll be contributing a project to Matthew Mead’s upcoming holiday publication. I could die. I mean, I asked if they meant to write to ME when they sent me the email. (Seriously.) I’m giddy! Giddy to be involved, and a teensy bit giddy I get to think about Christmas already.

Yeah, I said it.

Holiday with Matthew Mead is a "book-azine" celebrating and offering inspiration for the Christmas holiday season. It will be released in October of this year and it is offered via online orders only -- in limited quantities -- and will not be sold on newsstands. But, by simply following the BUY HOLIDAY MAGAZINE link below their banner, you can reserve your own copy of this beautiful magazine, with guaranteed delivery of the magazine straight to your mailbox!  Holiday with Matthew Mead will be144 pages of holiday inspiration with well-known and admired designers, bloggers and top-notch features, printed on beautiful paper and not drowning in ads! Yahoo!

Matthew is having a super fantastic giveaway that starts tomorrow. YOU TOO could be involved in this awesome project! To see more, check out Holiday with Matthew Mead to find out how you can win the opportunity to have your blog or online shop mentioned in the magazine.

Head on over for your chance to win! (Click below!):

bloggersbutton1 Giveaway starts tomorrow! Have a great Monday!

 
coompax-digital magazine