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the writing is on the wall

26 September 2010 by Andrea 5 Comments

Literally.

It’s fun to have a designated spot to break the rules a bit and write on the walls.

Yeah, you heard right…write on the walls!

By the phone in my office, you can write messages and other stuff on the wall.  (And yes, I do have a pink payphone!)

With permission!

Graffiti is allowed…

Even sarcastic commentary is tolerated…

The teens love to leave their mark…

But that’s not the only place where there’s writing on the wall in my home.  It’s important to remind the kids to find out who is at the door, so I wrote it with a Sharpie around the peephole on the front door…

Even the dogs get some wallspace…

Are you ready to let loose and write on your walls?

Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special

Sharing this post at the link party on Funky Junk Interiors.

robin’s egg blue

12 September 2010 by Andrea 3 Comments

Robin’s egg blue.  Sky blue.  Tiffany box blue.  I love all of those gorgeous blue hues.  But there aren’t really any rooms in my home where an entirely blue room would work well.  So I decided to create a little vignette at the bottom of the stairs that isn’t really part of any room, but the perfect place for a splash of robin’s egg blue.

And because I have a bird problem, when I think about robin’s egg blue, I start getting all literal, thinking about eggs and nests and feathers and birdhouses and branches…need I say more?  I’ll just show you…

I decided to create a vignette that brought a bit of the outdoors in.  Most of the items in the vignette I already owned.  Only had to purchase the nest, eggs, and feather, so this whole arrangement cost me less than $5.

This small square glass plate is from my old house, where I used it as a candle dish on the mantel.  I think it set me back a whopping $1.99 at Home Goods.

Then there’s this gorgeous blue & black floral bowl.  Another inexpensive Home Goods find.

My favorite part of the vignette is the nest with eggs, and the branch with a feather.  I simply hot glued the eggs into the nest, then tied a little floral wire on the back of the nest so I could hang it on a nail.

When I got the bug to do this project and needed a tree branch, I took a walk on the path that goes around our neighborhood, which backs up to a tree-lined corn field.  Whenever I ride my bike along the path, I have to dodge fallen branches, so I figured I’d find something good there, and I wasn’t disappointed.  I hammered some nails strategically at the joints of the branches, so I wouldn’t have to nail through the branch itself, and risk splitting it.

To give the illusion of a bird, I used a colorful feather, which is actually a Christmas ornament, tucked behind the branch.  Who would decorate their Christmas tree with bird feathers?  Me!  Guilty as charged!

Rather than try to hide the thermostat, I just incorporated it into the vignette, and it more or less becomes unnoticeable.

On the little black table sits a metal candy dish with a bird perched on it, a picture frame, and the lid from a china teapot.  Yes, that still is the fake photo in the frame from when I first bought it, even though I’ve had it for a solid 4 years!  Eventually I’ll get around to finding just the right photo!

The teapot lid has a story to it as well.  Someone – a child or pet, but I can’t quite recall – accidentally sent the whole thing flying across the room on a collision course with a tile floor, and I had to piece together the lid with ceramic glue…now that was a project!  But I loved it so much, I couldn’t bear to call it a loss and toss it in the trash.  It lives again in this fun vignette, full of robin’s egg blue.

Do you have something in your home that’s inspired by good ole’ Ruby Redbreast?

PS…this post was inspired by Donna over at Funky Junk Interiors…she’s having a Robin’s Egg Blue link party, so check it out!

Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special

tween paradise

30 August 2010 by Andrea 1 Comment

The other day I was looking back through my old photos of homes and rooms that I’ve designed and came across the photos of my daughter’s old room in our California house, which I turned into a funky tween paradise, inspired by 2 sets of clearance Cynthia Rowley bed sheets from Target.

From 2 king sheet sets, I sewed the duvet cover and curtains for the window and on the wall behind the bed, then added even more pops of color and texture with zebra print pillows and an aqua faux fur throw, making for a funky, yet cozy tween room.

Picking up two of the colors from the striped sheets, I painted the room lavender on top half of the walls, and sky blue on the bottom.

White paper lanterns add light and texture, plus a touch of mod to the room.  Amazingly, I found a mirror from Ikea with stripes that matched the curtains perfectly.

A silver lamp with a striped shade was a lucky find at Target, plus more silver accessories from Ikea give the desk area a punch of mod.

Everything a tween girl needs…tween paradise!

PS…I’ll be showing this room off over the link party at Funky Junk Interiors.

when you said to frame it, is this what you meant?

17 August 2010 by Andrea 1 Comment

Recently, a dear friend who lives in New York came to visit me in Ohio.

After his visit, because I have a collection of masks like this…

And this…

He sent me these…

He suggested that I frame them, which I thought was a wonderful idea.  So I purchased this framed painting from a second hand store…

I paid $7.50 for it, which is more than I usually pay for something like this.  Free is usually more my price range, but I was motivated and had an idea of exactly what I wanted to do, and this was the perfect frame.  And although the painting was cute in a kitschy kind of way and very tempting to keep, I popped the painting out of the frame and began prepping to paint the frame.

So, it went from this…

To this, which resembles something from a bloody horror flick…

To this, which turned out to be cute & funky, adding a pop of color & fun to a classic office…

A close up of the detail on the frame…

What room in your home could use a shot of color & fun?

Showing off this project at Funky Junk Interiors…

Funky Junk's Sat Nite Special

mod bell

10 August 2010 by Andrea 2 Comments

Home decorating magazines are my guilty pleasure, but I’ve become discouraged with how much the decorating mags are about buy, buy, buy.  Consumption of more and more new stuff.

However, many are beginning to sing the green song, and I am thrilled when I see vintage pieces being reused or repurposed.

Like these fabulous vintage 1950’s-era phones from Sweet Bella that have been rewired for modern telephone lines…

Ma Bell goes mod

Absolutely fabulous!   These bad boys were featured in the September 2010 issue of House Beautiful.  Not only do they look *way* cool, but they’re repurposed vintage!  What more could you ask for?

(Well maybe a lower price, because at $210, they’re a little pricey. But definitely worth saving for!)

The things people won’t think of!

For your more urgent calls

under lock & key

1 August 2010 by Andrea Leave a Comment

Under lock & key.  Or at least under the influence of locks & keys.  Vintage and antique locks and keys, that  is – I just love them!  They’re perfect, rusty little tchotckes to give some character to a nook or crannie.

When we moved from California to Ohio, we found an antique mall somewhere on the prairie in Kansas that had some great treasures that now adorn my home.  An antique padlock with key dangling from some old string…

…and a whole bunch of padlocks and keys, from vintage to antique, on a homemade “key ring” made of wire, punctuated by a small, rusty star.   I can picture some farmer in Kansas bending up some wire to hold all of his locks and keys…

…I imagine that this ring of locks and keys probably hung on a hook in a prairie barn or tool shed.  Now it hangs on a narrow spot of wall in my kitchen, where I enjoy its rusty goodness every day.

Unlock your creativity and hang some unusual rusty treasures on empty little wall spaces in your home!

Showing off at the link party at Funky Junk Interiors.

no sew curtains

27 July 2010 by Andrea Leave a Comment

I’ve been reading a great blog that I love – Funky Junk Interiors.

Funky Junk Interiors blogger, Donna, is inspiring in so many ways.  First, she’s made living small an art form by transforming every day junk into fabulous interior decor.

Even more than that, Donna has overcome adversity, yet she’s still cheerful and upbeat, and inspires so many through her blog.

More recently, she’s inspired me to complete a project I’ve been putting off with her “Gitter Done” challenge.  What was the project?

No Sew Curtains!

While my bedroom has blinds, I wanted to add some curtains to soften the harsh look of the blinds and hopefully to prevent some draftiness in colder weather.  And I wanted to do it simply & inexpensively.

So, a couple of months ago, I purchased 12 yards of unbleached muslin, cut in 3 yard lengths.  Unbleached muslin is typically inexpensive, and this was no exception at $1.99 per yard.  Plus I had a 40% off coupon, so including tax, my total was just under $16 for 4 curtain panels.  Not too bad.

(Then my fabric sat in the bag, um, “curing” for a couple of months.)

Last month I found 2 clearance curtain rods for $9.76 each.

But here’s the best part of this project (aside from not spending a whole lot of money for glamorous window coverings)…I pinned the curtain panels on to the rod with fabulous vintage brooches.  A couple were my mother’s, and a couple I picked up here and there over the years.

So finally, after months of contemplation, the big reveal…

A close up of the individual brooches…

Since I’m trying to live small, you may wonder why I even bothered to spend the money on the curtain panels.  Why didn’t I just spend no money and keep things as they were?

Well, if I continue to live in this house, these curtains will last for years.  So for less than $40, I’ve created curtains with staying power for two windows.

And, if at some point I decide to sell my home, the curtains will give the bedroom a more elegant look, one of the many things that can help sell a house at a good price.  (Of course if I sell the house, I will replace the brooches with some that aren’t family heirlooms!)

But most of all, I love them, and they make my bedroom so peaceful!  There’s nothing quite like retiring to a peaceful bedroom at the end of a long day.  And that’s worth $40 to me!

table on a budget

18 December 2008 by Andrea 1 Comment

This year, because money is tight, the theme for our Thanksgiving table was “don’t buy a thing” decor. Also known as “use what you have decorating”.

I wanted to do something different from last year, so I went on a treasure hunt, and scored!

First, I gathered up a couple of tree branches that I’ve been hording for a while. (These branches have been close to being thrown out more than once!) I gave these lovely branches a quick spray painting with an off-white that I had in my garage.

A trip to my basement yielded a couple of blue candles, as well as a couple of small blue mod floral plates. I gathered up some faux pearls and a faux bird.

Then I threw it all together and here’s what I came up with…


The brown tablecloth & napkins were purchased for last year’s holiday…


And the plates are a combination of two sets, since I don’t own a large enough set for our once-a-year big event.


Not too bad for $0!

I encourage you to set your holiday table using a $0 budget if money is tight in your household. After all, the holidays are all about spending time with family and friends.

my dirty little secret

30 January 2008 by Andrea 1 Comment

Door to Chaos…

I have a dirty little secret…it’s called my *house*!

I know, I know, as a decorator, I’m supposed to live in a showplace. In fact, I’m almost certain that it’s at least a state, if not federal law.

A law that I break on a daily basis.

Somebody call the decorating police!

Of course, as with most people who live a secret life, I have scads of excuses…not enough time, messy kids, too much stuff, waiting for the perfect furniture piece to come along, I want to live in a house for a while so it can speak to me, etc.

But the bottom line is that I’m a perfectionist & wait until all of the planets are in alignment and the world is perfect to decorate my house with the precision of a surgical strike.

It’s strange, how I can go into another family’s home, and not only can I sense their style & the direction they want to take their home, but I can take action and make their decorating dreams come true. Now!

But like the nurse with sick kids and the landscaper without a lawn (yes, we lived next door to that guy when I was a kid and it nearly *killed* my folks, with our perfectly manicured fescue), I put my clients’ homes before my own.

No longer!

This year – actually very early in this year – I pledge to get a move on, and finish decorating my house!

No more inviting strangers into my living room and listening to them ask when we moved in as I see them scan the unopened boxes! No more embarrassment as I ramble senselessly about why we still have boxes after a year and a half!

Nope, I’m on a mission!

I will decorate my house, and not just yours!

Starting today!

[Phew! It feels good to get that off my chest! And while I’m at it, I’ll confess that I don’t clean as often as I should.]

Stay tuned for updates on how I’m doing…

moving in…

13 January 2008 by Andrea Leave a Comment


I received my January 2008 catalog from Anthropologie, and while most of their clothing couldn’t even fit on my pinkie, I do love their style & photography.

Since the line between fantasy & reality is often blurry for me anyway, I decided that I’m just going to move into the Anthropologie catalog, since it is totally the kind of place I’d love to live…at least in fantasy.

It’s rustic, yet classy, with all kinds of funky antiques and beautiful fabrics! Very European & tres chic! Who wouldn’t want to live there? Well, probably a lot of people, including those who have a better grip on reality.

But for those of us fantasy dwellers, check out my new home.

You can get a better feel for the inside of my home toward the back of the catalog. In the front are mostly girls wearing finger puppet-sized clothing…

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the tornado lounge

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freshening up the family room

industrial chic curtains

angsty teen boy's room

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