I Just Couldn't Take It Anymore

The affright of being confined to a cubicle everyday finally got to me and I snapped.  There is something so soul sucking and lifeless about generic office furniture.  Who decided that a sea of beige would be a good idea?  It certainly does not fashion a backdrop that fosters creativity and ingenuity.  Yesterday afternoon I went a little nuts trying to change that.  I neatly filed away all of my paper piles and cleared the clutter from my cube walls.  Then I started printing out pretty pictures that make me happy and hung them up instead.   

       

Sorry for the weird photo, I had to snap it quickly from my cellphone.  Just so everyone knows, I work in an office with mostly engineers and some scientists.  It's an environment where I'm pretty sure most of the people around me don't really "get me".  Taking photos of my cube probably won't help that situation so I was trying to be incognito.  

More pictures went up after I took this shot.  The ones you see there are from the ever so talented Mrs. French of Bliss.  She has a bunch of gorgeous photographs on flickr and even though I was limited to copy paper and a terrible color printer as soon as the first one went up I immediately felt better.  I think I will just slowly add to the collection as I come across beautiful images.  

Any of you out there confined to cubicle spaces for many of your daylight hours?  Have you felt the need to spruce up your space to make it feel less sterile?  If so, I would love to hear what you've done.  Even better, if you have photos (or can sneak a few) I would love to see them.  

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Oh For the Love...

In my previous post I made a comparision of Domino magazine closing to Blueprint magazine.  I mentioned that unlike Domino, Blueprint decided to maintain a blog after the magazine closed.  

I just popped in over at Blueprint's blog Bluelines and it turns out that the blog as been shut down.  They will no longer be updating the site but it will remain as an archive.  Oh well, so much for that.  

I'm Sure You Heard This Already, But...

...just in case you haven't, Domino Magazine is closing up shop.  I'm incredibly disappointed by the news.  While I will admit I may not have been as in love with the magazine now as I was when it was first issued that hasn't stopped me from renewing my subscription year after year.

    

I've gathered much inspiration from the pages of this magazine and while I still have Metropolitan Home and Elle Decor to thrill me with images of delightful interiors I find those magazines much more difficult to translate to a normal person's budget.  Domino was very approachable and offered great ideas that almost anyone could adapt to their home.  

The most important reason why I wanted to pass this information on to you is that I recently went on about the fabulousness of My Deco File at dominomag.com.  From the press releases I could get my hands on, it sounds like we can say goodbye to the website (unlike Blueprint who kept their blog running after the magazine closed) as well as the magazine so my guess is My Deco File will be no more.  I plan on spending tonight making sure that I download all of the photos I have saved there.  What a bummer since I thought I had finally discovered an organized way to save all of the photos that I found online. 

What I'll probably miss the most from dominomag.com is Nick Olsen's Deal Hunter Blog.  That dude makes writing about cheap furniture a million times funnier than you ever thought it could be.   

I wonder what happens to my subscription now? 

One World One Heart Contest...This Should Be Fun

I came across this idea from .marci.photography. and thought it would be fun to participate. One Heart ~ One World is an event blog who's intent is to bring bloggers around the world together. They have organized a one day worldwide synchronized give away. I love giving people gifts so of course I love this idea.

I went through my very long list of prints/photographs on etsy that I want to buy for myself and decided that I would give away a 5x7 of this fine Art photographic print, "Where Ribbons Come From":

Don't you just love that name? Boy this is generous of me, giving away a copy of this print before ordering one for myself (knowing me I'm going to end up order two).

Here's how to enter: Just leave me a comment on this post with a link to your favorite etsy shop (or artfire, or dawanda, etc.) or a link to a specific item on your wish list. And of course since this is the true spirit of the contest, leave me a link to your blog. I'm always looking for new reads so I will enjoy checking it out.

The contest will be open through February 11th. I will choose one winner at random on February 12th. Good Luck!

Check out the list of other blog participants, there's over 500!

Update: I forgot to add that you do not have to have a blog to enter this contest.  If you don't have a blog be sure to leave me some way to contact you.

Chilly Sunday Morning

This is what I would like to do doing on this frigid Sunday morning:

Instead I'm doing this:

Finally getting around to taking down the Christmas tree. It's embarrassing but I admit it, our Christmas tree is still up a month after Christmas. I can't remember the last time I watered it so I'm sure as soon as we touch it all of the needles will spontaneously explode off the branches and make a huge mess. Can't wait.

Some Housekeeping and a Fun Project

Just wanted to direct you attention to the lower left hand side of the screen. I have finally gotten around to updating my blogroll. This list of blogs consists of those I keep up with on a regular basis. Seeing them all listed there makes me wonder how I manage to get anything done. It appears that I must spend all day in front of the computer reading blogs. Not so, I promise. Not all of them update on a daily basis (though most of my favorites do) and Sunday is a great day to veg and catch up on what I might have missed during the week. The list includes a lot of really interesting and talented people so if any are new to you take some time to check them out. When I get a little more motivated I plan on breaking the lists down into categories like art, decor, fashion, etc.

To anyone on the list who enjoys reading Design Evolution (or those not on the list that enjoy reading this blog) I am working on putting together a "Friends" section to include in one of the sidebars here. If you would like to be included email me a static banner no wider than 120 x 120. You can reach me by clicking the contact link at the top of this page.

And now for that fun project I mentioned. Hop on over to Photojojo.com for instructions on how to make a Perpetual Photo Wall Calendar like the one seen here:

The project requires only a few supplies and seems simple enough to be completed in an afternoon. If anyone attempts this, I would love to see the results.

I'm off to enjoy this balmy weather we are having in the northeast. Hope you all have a lovely weekend planned. Peace and love.

Bear With Me a Bit

I hope I am not driving everyone crazy with the constant tinkering of my blog layout. I'm not really happy with how everything is looking right now and I'm slowing learning how to make changes to the format. I just figured out yesterday that I can just set up a test blog, make all my edits there and then carry everything over to this blog. Duh. I will be doing that from now on so that you aren't presented with a new layout every time you visit.

On a totally unrelated note, Ferm Living is having a sale right now on selected wall stickers and wallpapers from collection 2. I'm a huge fan of Ferm Living's products. You've probably noticed the branches on the wall of my bedroom in the last few photos I posted. I originally felt that the Branches Wall Sticker was out of my price range so I opted to draw it, project it on the wall, and paint it myself. Well after an entire day of painting, I realized that it would have been worth the $153.50 that it would have cost me to just order the sticker. That will sticker is now on sale for only $61.40! For anyone who's been considering it I would said grab it because that is a steal.

Jonathan Adler Charity Shopping Event

For anyone in or around New York City this Thursday:

And Now on to the Dining Room

I'm on a roll so far this year with at least making decorating plans for the rooms in my home. About two weeks ago, I shared with you some ideas I have for sprucing up my bedroom. I have gotten as far as setting up the new bedding and picking up a new pillow and throw from Target. It already feels a lot better:

Now I'm motivated to start pulling together the rest of the rooms in our condo. We technically only have three rooms so I think it's about time. I made this mood board for the dining room (or area) since it should be pretty easy to make it feel finished. They only difficult thing about this part of the house is that it's going to take a few large purchases to bring it all together.

Here's a quick break down of the mood board:

1. West Elm Modern Storage Console

2. West Elm Oval Back Dining Chairs

3. Norden Dining Table

4. Custom Drum Pendant

5. Spindle lamp base (x2)

6. Fabric for lamp shades - Joel Dewberry Aviary

7. Casablanca mirror from The Company Store (no longer available)

Looking over the break down, I realize we've made a good dent in the list of things needed. Although, it's the expensive things that we still really need to purchase. I received the buffet from my parents for my birthday, which is awesome. And the lamps were a Christmas gift from my aunt and uncle, also awesome. I ordered the mirror from the Company Store mainly because it was on sale for $32 but now I'm not so sure it works. Right now I have it resting on top of the buffet and it feels too cream next to the white lamp bases and the white doors of the buffet. I'm thinking about painting it; it was pretty affordable that if painting doesn't work out I won't be devastated.

I'm almost 100% sure this is the table we will purchase. It's such a great price (Ikea, of course) and expands to seat up to 10 people. I really only need this much space for the holidays but it will be nice to have. The chairs are going to be the hardest purchase to make. I love these chairs from West Elm so much but it's an investment to get 8 of them. I've been shopping around but have yet to find a suitable replacement. Darn chairs are always so expensive. I'd love to go vintage but finding eight of the same chairs is difficult and the freight shipping for items on ebay is sometimes pretty high. Unfortunately, the antique shops near me rarely have interesting danish pieces and when they do the items are often outrageously priced. I'd would even be happy finding 6 matching chairs and then perhaps getting two different chairs for each end.

I have been having trouble finding lamp shades that I liked for my new lamps. I remembered that I have a couple yards that fab Joel Dewberry fabric and could cover a plain lamp shade with that. Does anyone know where I can find plain white drum lamp shades? I'm hoping they'll be about $20 a piece. Hopefully I those aren't unreasonable expectations.

So what do you think of the dining room plans? Right now the room looks like it's lacking some interest. Some interesting art and fun table linens will hopefully bring it all together.

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Some Really Fun Schlemart

I just spotted this adorable pair of painted canvases by Dallas Shaw this morning. They crack me up and I love the idea of hanging the two of them over the bed. According to Dallas' definition I would definitely be the schlemazel. If anyone is going to end up with a bucket of paint dumped on their head, it's certainly me.

Wouldn't these look great for bedroom option #1? Gee, I really though option #2 was going to be the winner but I keeping finding stuff that would look great with option #1.

Kitchen Remodel Take 2

Yesterday's post was supposed to bring you the tale of a kitchen renovation but instead it turned out to be a a lot of pictures of the process and some scattered memories of the hard work. I feel like I need to take a step back and fill you in on a bunch of important details. For starters, Nick (my lovely boyfriend) and I did almost all of the work by ourselves (which is why it's is still not done). I also need to give props to my best friend and her husband for helping us get those first wall cabinets hung (that was a long day).

We chose Tida cabinets in oak from IKEA because they seem to have the inability to offend anyone. Since we don't plan to make this condo our forever home we wanted a kitchen that we could look at and think "Man, that looks so much better" and that would make most people that walk into the place say "Oh,nice kitchen." I think we were pretty successful at achieving both of those outcomes.

My plan when I was sketching out the new kitchen layout was to try to fit as many cabinets in the small kitchen as possible because I was concerned with it not having enough storage space. Luckily the room didn't end up feeling too cramped and now I know better. When I flip through my inspiration files of dream kitchens, most feel light and airy and have a lot of open shelving or walls with no cabinets at all. The next kitchen I do will definitely incorporate these aspects. It's important to remember that when you are dealing with a small kitchen space the right solution is not always "cram as many cabinets in there as you possibly can". Wall cabinets especially feel very heavy and can over power the space. Our cabinets are hung higher than normal (about 24" above the cabinets instead of 18") which relieves some of that heaviness (and makes it impossible for me to reach anything).

Another lesson learned from remodeling the kitchen is that when the guy at Home Depot suggests that you choose a countertop that has a stronger contrast with the cabinets, you should listen. Also, don't get your countertops at Home Depot. Local fabricators will almost always be more reasonably priced. Back to the point about contrast, we picked a slab of granite that we thought was a nice complement to the cabinets. Once it was installed the entire kitchen looked like too much of the same color. My remedy for this was to paint the backsplash area a deep brick red since the granite has some brick colored veining. It may not be the first choice for a kitchen wall color but it was successful in bringing the kitchen to life.

More about the backsplash. I know when it comes time to sell the condo, home buyers are going to be looking for there to be a tiled backsplash. It was my initial intention to tile the entire backsplash but the problem was my eye kept going to some gorgeous glass subway tiles. With so much space to cover (remember we hung our cabinets higher than normal) it was going to be pricey investment. I would rather spend that money on a kitchen that I know I will cooking in for many years to come so for now I'm okay with the paint. When we do sell we may consider a more affordable option depending on the feedback we receive from buyers.

Here's a few tips I have to save money on a kitchen remodel besides doing all of the work yourself. We bought our appliances at a Sears appliance outlet. The stove we picked out was a floor model with an almost imperceptible scratch that made it 50% off. It was a total steal because we ended up with a convection oven, a warming drawer, convertible burners and more for about what we had planned to spend on a no frills model. Shop overstock.com for faucets. The selection is variable but I was able to find exactly was I was looking for at about 40% less than retail.

So, today's tale turned out to be a whole lot of info with no pictures. Whatever I've learned through the process I'm happy to pass on to you if it could help make a project a bit easier.

I think perhaps my next kitchen should look a lot more like this.

The Tale of a Kitchen Remodel

I first introduced you to my home a few months ago where you got a glimpse of what our lovely kitchen looked like the day we moved in, it's probably what sold us on the place. Kidding of course.

The layout was really not great. The cabinets were the crappiest I've seen in a long time. To say the craftsmanship was poor is a complement. Normally in such a small kitchen you would attempt to maximize what space you have to it's greatest potential. Not this kitchen. The opposite was true actually. There was a rather large built in pantry on one side of the fridge and other side of the fridge was a 50 gallon water heater. While the idea of having a pantry in the kitchen is nice, there isn't really room in a 10'x7' kitchen for that large of a pantry. And the location of the water heater made it so that corner of the kitchen was unusable and all of the cabinets had to be pushed forward several feet. Both things took up so much space therefore both had to go.

We tore everything in the kitchen out. Those were the crummiest kitchen cabinets ever. The faucet on the kitchen sink had been leaking for so long that the entire bottom of the sink base cabinet was completely rotten and fell apart. Apparently the best solution to that problem was to leave all of the moldy rotten particle board under the sink and just cover it with a piece of plywood. That was an interesting discovery.

Tearing out all of the kitchen cabinets led to other interesting discoveries, like a wall of cinder block. That sure didn't make it easy to hang cabinets. It's always a surprise when you try to hang something on the walls of this condo. You never know what you're going to find and a what you think will be a simple project never is.

Out came that giant water heater that was taking up so much valuable space in the kitchen. In its place came a "squat" water heater. It's only 10 gallons smaller than the original heater but is short enough to fit underneath the kitchen cabinets. We cut away part of the corner cabinet so that we could install it around the water heater.

dig those stylish safety glasses

We moved into the condo in September and the above photo shows the progress we were able to make in time for Thanksgiving. The fact that the kitchen was even functional was impressive to us. That piece of plywood in the foreground was the stand in for countertops. I covered it with a vinyl tablecloth so it wasn't quite so ugly and was easier to clean up.

And here is where the kitchen is at today (I think I played with this picture too much on picnik). A year later and it is still not complete although a lot of progress has been made. All of the cabinets are up. There are new granites countertops. The hardware has been installed. We still need to finish the trim molding and install a toe kick (so the dog can stop throwing all his balls under the cabinets and then crying about it). I obviously left out a lot of details but feel free to ask any questions you'd like about the process. When it is finally complete I'll take some nicer detail shots and give you a list of all of our resources.

For more updates on this remodeling project check out this post.

Say it with Love

Valentine's Day is officially one month away.  I know there are a lot of mixed feelings out there when it comes to this particular holiday.  There's the single folks who generally feel like going in hiding on February 14th, then there are those think the holiday is too commercialized and others who don't feel like they need to use a holiday as an excuse for doing something special for their significant other.  I agree with that last group of people but I also think it is nice to have one day of the year set aside that is all about love.  Valentine's Day gives me that warm fuzzy feeling and I like to celebrate it.  For those who dislike the commercialness of the day, skip Hallmark and check out these indie card and stationary shops.  I pulled together a list of my favorite Valentine's, all available on Etsy.  

made by michelle brusegaard

The text on the card translates to "This is not a Valentine". Michelle describes this card as a reference to the surrealist, Rene Magritte? The card is meant to be a parody of Rene's famous painting in which he claims "ceci n'st pas une pipe," underneath a picture of a pipe, noting that it's not really a pipe, it's just a painting of a pipe.

clementine press

All items in the Clementine Press shop are letterpress printed from original designs.

modernemotive

This shop is brand new to etsy shop. All of the cards are printed on FSC certified paper made from recycled materials.

in a card

I love the sentiment on the inside of this card - "At the end of each day, the thought of you makes me stupid happy."

Art Mind

The hand sewn red felt heart gets tucked inside this semi-transparent card. There is room on the back for you to write a personal message.

little brown pen

I was first introduced to "ready-to-print" stationary when I discovered Little Brown Pen's esty shop. You purchase the pdf template and then print out as many cards or stationary that you need. I love this idea for several reasons. First of all because it's so affordable and second because of the immediate gratification you receive even though you are shopping online.

This "You Are Here" Set includes pdf templates for:

• folded notecards 

• flat notecards 

• gift tags 

• an envelope 

• 8.5 x 11 stationery

Paper Tiger Design Co.

Although ready to print stationary was new to me I did find other etsy shops offering a similar service.

This Lovebirds collection contains pdf templates for the following: 

• Folded Notecards (4.25x5.5 folded) 

• Flat Notecards (4.25x5.5) 

• Gift Tags (2x2 folded or 2x4 unfolded); These can double as mini-love-cards

ali design

And here is one more adorable printable stationary set.

The set includes pdf templates for: 

• Folded gift tags 

• Folded note card (4.25" x 5.5") 

• Flat note card (4.25" x 5.5") 

• Size A2 envelope for 4.25" x 5.5" note cards 

• Small flat note card (2.5" x 3.5") & corresponding envelope 

• Letterhead stationary (8.5" x 11") 

• Directions & suggestions!

Want to forgoe the card exchange all together?  How about picking up one of these great love inspired prints and hang it in a ausipicious place for your love one to discover?

madebygirl

16"x24" HAND SILK-SCREENED print on Recycled Paper.  Other cards and prints are available at madebygirl.com

samantha hahn

This giclee print is on heavy weight matte photo paper printed with archival inks. The original is hand drawn with fine tip pens and digitally colored.

Orla Kiely Collection for Target!!!

My guess is you've probably read about this several times already but I'm so over the moon excited about it that I had to share as well. Orla Kiely, the delightful fashion, accessory and home decor designer, is producing a line for Target that will be out this February. In case a certain someone is reading this, any number of these items would make an excellent Valentine's Day gift.

It looks like the line will include a lot of different products which includes those pictured above plus storage boxes, shoe organizers, totes, table cloths, placemats, napkins and on and on. Read more about it and see a bunch more photos here: sfgirlbybay, here: door sixteen, here: decor8, and here: apartmenttherapy.

Photo Credits: Sfgirlbybay

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Finally broke down and ordered a rug

After many hours of scouring the web, changing my mind about what colors I really wanted in my living room, and your general hemming a hawing, I have finally ordered an area rug for my living room and this is it:

It's the Moorish Tile Rug from Pottery barn and it was wayyy on sale. I actually preferred the rug in pineapple as opposed to the clementine that I ordered but I couldn't commit to ordering it fast enough and that color sold out. I'm happy with the color choice particularly since the living room pretty much devoid of any color. I wasn't tied to a color scheme so I can really make any color work.

So that's the rug I ordered, and here is the one that got away. Isn't she fabulous? It didn't actually "get away" persay. What really happened is that the sale at Macy's ended before I ordered it and the rug basically doubled in price and thus no longer fit in my budget. I'll get over it eventually.

The topic of my budget reminds me that I wanted to share with you how I decided on what rug size to purchase and how I figured out what would work in my space. I originally had my heart set on an 8'x10' rug for the living room. The Moorish Tile Rug that I ordered was actually a great price for an 8'x10' rug but once you factor in shipping and tax it was starting to become more than I really was able to spend. Would a 5'x8' work in my space I wondered. Only one way to find out.

Make a 5'x8' rug out of scrap paper and shopping bags and see how it looks. I was pretty pleased with the proportions and went ahead and ordered the rug in 5'x8' (for $199!). Once I have the rug in place if it feels a little small I might consider layering it on top of a larger sea grass or jute rug.

You can use this paper method for any piece of furniture you are considering bringing into your home. I recommend using newspaper which is what I should have done but it already went out with the recycling. It's also great if you are starting a room from scratch. You can make paper templates of all of the pieces you wish to bring in the room and mess with the layout in the sapce. This way you are only shuffling around pieces of paper instead of dragging around sofas. Personally, I love drawing layouts on graph people I but I know many people who can't visualize the drawing in the physical space. This way you get a feeling for how everything will look and fit.

Rug update not related to the living room. How fabulous would this Jonathan Adler rug be in Bedroom Option #1 instead of those striped mats from Ikea? I can dream can't I?

Target Home Design Event

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, last night I hit up Target to check out the Home Design Event. Surprisingly the only things I ended up buying were things that can be found in the 99 cent section. Not exciting I know but I actually did find some really useful stuff there. For instance, I picked up a decent looking trash can for the bedroom ($2.50 though, not $1) so that my boyfriend no longer has an excuse for throwing those little paper tags that the dry cleaner staples to laundered shirts all over the floor. We'll call last night recon because I headed to Target again tonight (a different Target with more inventory) and will probably actually buy a few things for home.

Here are some of things I saw in the store a really loved. First up this lamp is totally fabulous. It looks completely not interesting online but is lovely in person. The glass has a soft green tint and the shade has a green and white leaf pattern on the inside of the shade (nice touch) that you see when it is illuminated.

This side table is also much nicer in person than it appears online (who does the product shots for Target? They could be so much better). The color is not nearly as red as it appears here. I love seeing all of this wood grain. It's a contender for a side table in my living room.

Here are a few great stools. I was actually hoping to purchase the first stool to act as a side table next to my sofa but it is too low. It is in fact a stool. I've been jonesing for one of those twisty stools from Viva Terra which are available in a height suitable for placement next to the sofa. This unfortunately will not make a good substitute. It's very nice don't get me wrong and if you're looking for a stool I'd recommend it.

I plan on picking this pillow and this throw up tonight. I think they'll make nice additions to my bedroom.

Oh, almost forgot to mention the WALLPAPER! I couldn't believe it when I spotted it. These are my two favorite patterns.

And finally (I could go on forever, there really is a lot of great stuff) I really like this collection of gray furniture. I have had gray furniture stuck in my head ever since I saw a post on Haus Maus with beautiful entry pieces from Car Moebel. Alas, this shop is located in Europe so these pieces are out of my reach. The Target collection is a decent substitute. If only they had that lovely piece with the bench and the coat hooks. And again it was much nicer in person. (There is also a bench available that is not pictured)

I'll let you know what I actually end up picking up. I've had a serious case of buyers apprehension lately but since this stuff is available for a limited time only there a few things I don't want to let slip away.

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