How To Lay A Brick Pathway
Thursday, February 28th, 2019
Always wanted a brick pathway?…Never sure how to get it quite right?… Well, now you do! Here’s a step by step guide showing you just how to lay your own beautiful brick pathway.
Archive for February, 2019
20 Inspiring Upcycled One of a Kind Bathroom Vanities
Tuesday, February 26th, 2019
Dining Room Redux
This mirrored console table was beautiful as a dining room accent, but it’s absolutely stunning when recycled for the bath. The top was sealed with polyurethane — an important step when repurposing furniture to accommodate plumbing — and the square vessel sinks were sealed with caulk around their edges. Hardware was added in varying shades of brown and a mix of finishes to preserve the vintage vibe.
Repurposed Tree Trunk
This onyx vessel sink has found a home atop a salvaged piece of log. There’s even a bit of embedded barbed wire remaining around the hollowed-out stump.
Why stick to the norm when you can put your bathroom sink on just about anything? Above were two of my favorites. Here are more inspiring alternatives for a traditional vanity.
19 Beneficial Feng Shui Secrets
Thursday, February 21st, 2019Did you know your home’s design can affect your bank account and love life? Try these feng shui tips based on the ancient art of balancing energy.
Put Furniture Legs on Rugs
“Never put all your furniture against the walls,” says Karen Rauch Carter, feng shui consultant and author of Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life. “Furniture should be arranged to support communication, so forget where the walls are. Put at least the front legs of all furniture on the rug — not just around it — and people will sit there and talk.”
Keep the Kitchen Clean
“Your kitchen is directly related to your ability to attract money,” says feng shui consultant Suzanne Metzger. Keep your pantry and refrigerator organized and full of fresh food you actually use. To attract more money, keep the stove clean — every burner must work and be used equally. Lastly, remove all clutter from the kitchen table.
Add Doubles to Every Room
“If you want to start a relationship, don’t surround yourself with single imagery”, says Laura Benko, feng shui and holistic design expert. “Avoid a single chair in the corner, solitary images in artwork and solo photographs. It’s important to create the energy of partnership around you, otherwise you are continually enforcing singularity.” Add a second chair to a sitting area, double up on nightstands and surround yourself with pairs of everything.
Decorate in Red, Purple or Green
“Color has a powerful impact on mood, and red is considered auspicious and powerful. Think of walking the red carpet or wearing a red power tie,” explains Laura. Purple and green are also key colors for attracting prosperity but there’s a hitch. “If you really can’t stand the color green, it won’t work for you. But if you do love purple, paint a wall lavender or add a violet throw to your couch. Then tune in to how your space feels. It’s not just filling your home with stuff — it’s about decorating with mindfulness and enhancing the vibration and power of your own home.”
Add Happy Family Photos
To improve your marriage, display smiling photos of yourself as a couple and your family in the hallways, kitchen or other high-traffic areas, suggests feng shui consultant Ken Lauher. Avoid putting family photos in the master bedroom, which should only include photos of the couple. Design by Cortney and Robert Novogratz.
Make Your Front Door Inviting
If it’s hard to find your front door or it’s confusing as to how to get in, it’ll be hard for opportunity to make its way into your life as well, explains Karen. Put in an archway or gate to denote the front door if you need to, and make sure the doorbell works. The welcome mat should be bright and fresh. Sweep the steps and sidewalk in front, and add a potted plant to the entryway. Karen’s rule of thumb: “If a trick-or-treater can’t tell where to go, your front door isn’t clear enough.”
Arrange Dining Table in a Circle
When it comes to creating more love, the dining room is the second most important space in a home, the master bedroom being the most important. Arrange the dining table so everyone can see each other, and set out enough chairs for everyone even if the family doesn’t eat together every night, says Karen. Symbolically, it’s important to include the whole group.
Lose Clutter, Add Plants and Water
“To bring in more prosperity, it’s important to create a vibrant, healthy, inspiring and clutter-free home,” explains Laura. “Clutter jams up good energy and leads to procrastination. Bring in vibrant life forces such as plants and flowers, and don’t forget to have fresh air circulating. Fountains are important wealth adjustments in feng shui because they stimulate prosperity and energy, and symbolize money.”
Create a Cozy Master Bedroom
Oversized master bedrooms need to be cozier in order to have good relationship feng shui. Start by closing off any adjoining rooms, including a bathroom, office, patio or gym, suggests Karen. If there’s no door, install curtains. If you have a sitting area, arrange the chairs toward each other, and downsize with a smaller bed — go from king to queen or queen to double. “When the space gets bigger and bigger, people tend to live further and further apart emotionally.”
Arrange Kids’ Beds for Better Harmony
“Feng shui applies to all the occupants in the house,” explains Laura. “Children can be even more susceptible to their surrounding energies, so it’s very important to make sure their beds are placed in the commanding position. They will feel easily startled and vulnerable if their backs are to the door.” Laura also says electronics should never be stored or charged near a child’s bed.
Leave Room for Someone Else
“Single people build rooms for single people,” says Karen. “They have one chair, one nightstand and so on. Add another nightstand for your future someone.” That goes for the closet too. “Don’t fill it up with your stuff — honor the space and carve out a dresser drawer or a shelf that’s not yours. You don’t need to literally have enough room for two people to live there, just leave room for opportunity.”
Bring In New Opportunities
Sometimes it doesn’t take money to make money — just a yard sale. “This is a zero-cost fix,” explains Karen. “Take out clutter to increase prosperity; what you don’t use, don’t love, don’t need. Space equals opportunity.”
Add More Fun
If your bedroom is too neat or stuck with a sterile feel, “add something whimsical that makes you smile,” suggests Suzanne. It could also be artwork or a photo of a couple laughing together. This can bring positive energy into the room, and in turn, improve the relationship.
Don’t Use Water Symbols
“Drippy faucets are a sign of money going to waste,” Karen says. “Whatever the state of your water, your finances mirror those.” To increase your bank account, repair broken fountains and remove all stagnant water from your property. “Ever heard the expression, ‘I just can’t get my head above water’?” Karen asks. It’s best not to display water-based artwork or mirrors higher than your nose, which carries the same significance in feng shui. For most of us, that means no mirrors or water scenes above the bed.
Remove Negative Symbolism
“To decrease stress and arguing in your home, check your surroundings,” Laura suggests. “One couple that fought constantly had crisscross swords over their bed, and another couple had guns on their living room wall. Keep photos and artwork pleasing, inspiring and uplifting.”
Set Up a Sophisticated Home Office
“Many people who work from home have a lack of dedicated space for doing business,” says Karen. Take yourself and your business seriously if you want to attract new clients and bigger opportunities. Picture a CEO’s office, with a large desk facing the door and windows. “You’ve got to have space for people to come in, sit down and hand you a check. Putting a desk against a wall is a cubicle type position. It’s subservient, which is not assuming respect.” The amount of space in front of you relates to the amount of opportunities available, so arrange your chair so you have a view.
Focus On One Another
When it comes to the master bedroom, it’s not about the view or TV, explains Karen. “The bedroom is about passion and rejuvenation.” To increase intimacy in your home, install heavy, cozy drapes over large windows, remove the TV and never sleep with a laptop, iPhone or other electronics buzzing near your bed. The bedroom should be low-tech and romantic. Avoid pictures and decor featuring anyone other than the people sleeping there — wedding pictures work, but family photos don’t. Design by Cortney and Robert Novogratz
Add a Splash of Pink
Because it’s the color of relationships in feng shui, pink is one of the best colors to decorate a bedroom with, says Ken. Pink represents love, joy, happiness and romance. It doesn’t need to be a whole room, even a splash will do. Alternatively, light blue is a positive relationship color.
Choose Your Favorite Colors
Make sure your home speaks to you, or the feng shui updates won’t work. “The biggest feng shui money mistakes people make are choosing adjustments they don’t like,” explains Laura. “For example, red is considered a lucky color and you might hear that painting your door red will attract wealth. The bottom line is, if you don’t like red you will hate coming and going through it every day.”
Refresh Your Dining Room on a Budget
Tuesday, February 19th, 2019
Create A Cohesive Color Flow Throughout Your Home
Thursday, February 14th, 2019
Color preferences vary as much as personalities, with some folks loving the bright and the bold, while others feeling most secure surrounded by neutrals. The good news is that when it comes to color, there really is no “correct” palette. That said, we’ve all been inside homes where an explosion of color created a choppy feel between rooms — and sometimes, the urge to run. We asked five color, paint and design experts to share their best tips for creating a cohesive flow of color throughout your home. The strategies vary, but any of them can help you come up with a holistic decor scheme for your entire residence. So choose the ones that work best for you.
Home Upgrades That Pay
Tuesday, February 12th, 2019How a couple of hands-on homeowners took a bungalow from dilapidated to delightful, using home-center finds.
Beautiful Bungalow
It takes a certain eye to see a smart little cottage where others see a stucco teardown. But Steve and Shauna Mullins had exactly that vision when they first saw this 875-square-foot bungalow in Hermosa Beach, California.
“It was in a great location, less than a mile from the beach, and the basic layout was good—it hadn’t been screwed up,” Steve says. Still, the exterior of the 1941 house was showing its age, and its small rooms needed an update. Collaborating with architectural designer Rosa Velazquez on the front of the house, doing much of the work themselves, and enlisting a general contractor for the bigger projects, the couple lavished the tiny two-bedroom with a proud new facade and freshened the interior throughout.
For nearly all their redo needs, they jumped in the car and hit nearby home centers, scouring the aisles for well-priced shutters, fencing, cabinets, crown molding, paint, and more.
Removing the front wall’s stucco and putting up white fiber-cement lap siding refreshed the front face of the house. The other walls got a coat of white paint. Exposing the rafter tails, as well as topping the roof with new asphalt shingles, added welcome detail to the roofline. Relocating windows created symmetry and allowed room for shutters.
Building a deeper portico with chunky columns and crisp railing made the entry more welcoming. A bright red door with brass hardware, lantern-style sconces, salvaged brickwork, and a rose-entwined picket fence helped give the cottage a classic look.
Exterior Before
Beige stucco and a nondescript entry gave the existing bungalow an institutional look, before.
2 Open and Update the Kitchen
Swapping in a new window, clean white Thermofoil cabinets, brushed-nickel pulls, and pale granite counters with an ogee edge made the kitchen brighter and more inviting. Ebony-stained crown molding and toekicks added sophisticated contrast. Stacked-to-the-ceiling pantry cabinets boost storage in the small kitchen.
Kitchen Before
The existing sad-sack galley dead-ended in a side-entry laundry area.
2 Open and Update the Kitchen, Continued
Creating a half wall to one side of the doorway, opened the space to the dining room. Building a post, made from a trimmed-out 4×4, gave it polish. New oak flooring added a warm note to the stainless-steel appliances and tied into the other rooms in the open plan.
3 Upgrade with Molding, Paint, Refinished Floors
Adding crisp white crown and base molding gave the living areas a tailored, pulled-together look. For contrast, walls got a suede-finish neutral beige. Replacing windows with ones that have simulated divided lights added detail.
Living Room, Before
The original living areas were drab and disjointed, before.
3 Upgrade with Molding, Paint, Refinished Floors, Continued
Refinishing existing oak floors with a medium-brown stain unified the spaces. Paint gave new life to the fireplace, white on the wood and fire-resistant black on the brick surround.
4 Extend the Living Space Outdoors
Adding a deck with a pergola off the master bedroom extended the living space without altering the house’s footprint. The deck steps down to the drive, a grilling area, and a lawn set off by a picket fence echoing the front of the house.
Backyard, Before
The back of the house, where the bedrooms are located, had almost no connection to the outside, before.
Replacing a small window with French doors brought in air and light, making the 12-by-12-foot bedroom feel larger.
5 Add Charm With Color and Wainscot
The second bedroom was strictly Motel 6. Adding beadboard wainscot gave the room (which became a nursery) its own identity while reinforcing the home’s cottage style. Painting the wainscot, trim, and furniture white helped keep the lilac scheme from seeming too sweet. Floor-length curtains, hung above the windows, help elongate them and make the ceilings feel loftier.
6 Upgrade the Garage
Swapping in a sectional door with raised panels and divided-light windows brought the garage up to par with the house. A blooming vine over the door softens the all-white facade. The flowering potato vine along the eves is trained on wires attached with eyescrews.
Garage, Before
The freestanding garage had the blank, boxy look of a storage unit, before. Its tilt-and-raise door was sorely out of date.
Floor Plan
The kitchen annexed a laundry area off the side door; the washer and dryer now fit behind cabinet doors. A wider opening and a half wall now connect the cook space to the dining area. French doors lead from the master bedroom to a new deck.
Design The Perfect Laundry Room
Thursday, February 7th, 2019
The laundry room has finally come into its own as a bright and organized cleanup command center, whether in a tidy corner of the basement or a nook next to the kitchen. For help updating yours, check out this expert advice on everything from energy-wise machines and thrifty flooring options to the best labor-saving layout and how to safeguard your home.
Your February Home Checklist
Tuesday, February 5th, 2019February is a time of year to indulge in home comforts like cooking big-batch meals, reading in the afternoon and watching movies with the family. Here are a dozen ideas to add to your to-do list this month, from the necessary (clearing sidewalks of snow and ice, say) to the just-for-fun (treating yourself to weekly flowers).
1. Rotate your mattress. Before you put on a fresh set of sheets, take an extra minute to rotate the mattress if you haven’t done so recently. Rotating your mattress every few months will help it wear more evenly and extend its life (and comfort).2. Pack up a bag of old sheets and towels to donate. If you bought new sheets or towels during January white sales, make some room by letting go of an old set or two. Homeless shelters and some churches will accept donations of bedding and towels in good condition, and animal shelters are often in need of towels. Really worn linens can be cut up and used as rags or dropped in a textile recycling bin.
3. Clean entryway floors. If winters are cold where you are,road salt and melting snow can mean entryway floors take a beating. Pick up clutter and give the floors a good mopping.To keep floors looking their best between cleanings, stash a few old towels in a basket near the door to wipe up messes.
4. Keep sidewalks and entryways free of ice and snow (even while you’re away). Ice and snow can make walkways dangerous for visitors. Aim to shovel snow promptly, and sprinkle gravel, straw or wood chips to provide traction. Frequent, light shoveling is better than letting the snow build up. And if you plan to be out of town during an expected winter storm, hire someone to clear the sidewalk and front steps of your home while you’re away. Your neighbors and mail carrier will thank you.
5. Cook to stock up your freezer. A few hours of cooking on a weekend can produce major dividends if you focus your efforts on big-batch suppers that can be frozen and reheated later.Knowing that you have homemade soup, stew, chili or casseroles in the freezer makes facing weeknight dinners much less stressful. Just add crusty bread and a simple salad and dinner will be ready in no time.
6. Organize bookshelves. Pull out volumes that you didn’t enjoy or are finished with and sell or donate them, leaving a bit of extra room on each shelf for new titles. And if you get distracted by beloved old books you had forgotten about, just roll with it. After all, there are few better places to spend a winter afternoon than in a comfortable chair with a good book.
7. Refresh your movie-watching zone. Winter is a good time to catch up on movies you missed in the theater or to binge-watch your favorite shows. So why not make your movie-watching zone as comfy and cozy as possible? Start by vacuuming the floors and upholstery (using a vacuum attachment) and by clearing away clutter. Next, assess your collection of movies and games, donating extras to charity. Finally, make sure there are plenty of comfortable pillows and throws and lighting that can be dimmed.
8. Boost warmth. Stay toasty and save on energy bills by blocking drafty doors with door sweeps or door snakes and warming up with rugs, throws and duvets. For even more energy savings, shut doors to unused rooms, move furniture away from heating vents and close the chimney flue when it’s not in use.
9. Check bathrooms for moisture, mildew and mold. It can be hard to give bathrooms enough ventilation when the house is closed up tight for winter.Unfortunately, that buildup of moisture can lead to mildew or even harmful mold. Give the bathroom a thorough cleaning, paying special attention to grout, the ceiling and any other areas showing signs of excess moisture.
10. Clean the dryer vent (and check for blockages outside). Having the buildup of lint cleaned from your dryer vent at least once a year is essential to keeping your dryer working efficiently and preventing a potential dryer fire. In winter, snow can block the exterior vent, so take a walk outside your home to inspect the vent and remove snow or debris if needed.
11. Start planning for a spring or summer home sale. If you’re considering putting your home on the market this year, it’s a good idea to start the process now. Set a timetable, interview potential real estate agents and make a list of projects that need to get done to help your home show well.
12. Indulge in weekly fresh flowers. With Valentine’s Day happening this month, the markets will be filled with fresh flowers at good prices.Treat your home to a bouquet of fresh-cut blooms once a week to add a little cheer — spring may still be a ways off, but that doesn’t mean your dining table can’t look like a garden in bloom! Keep your home fresh and organized this month while you plan for warmer days ahead.
