by Jennifer Farlin | Feb 22, 2014 | How To, Interior Decorating
Did you read my post about Chandelier Love? This is similar but different. The difference will be…brace yourself…it will NOT be about chandeliers but about LAMPS.
I am now going to go to TJ Maxx to show you some bright options.
I have returned.
These lamps have passed my test. You can put these next to your couch in pairs. Next to your bed in pairs. You can use them individually on side tables or on any horizontal surface that is about waist high, more or less. I used the same mug in each picture so you could better relate the size of the lamps.
Table Lamps.
This skinny style (above) works best on bedside tables that tend to be crowded–the narrowness takes up less room but because it is tall it still makes a statement.
This is important. I went to Walmart. 90% of the lamps I saw there you cannot buy. You know I love a bargain, but a bargain is not a bargain if you have to replace it next month because it is hideous. These lamps are too small. I didn’t have my mug so I found someone’s random empty Starbucks bottle and used that to show you scale.
The shades are sold separately so even though the bases are “cheap” you still have to add the cost of the shade…and in the end you saved money but you ended up with something that looks…cheap. The TJMaxx lamps were between $40 and $90 for base and shade. Lamps are the jewelry for your house. Spend the money. On a side note, I found that Target is not always the better deal compared to TJMaxx. Many of the lamps are sold without shades (which is kind of a pain) and if there is no sale, tend to be the same price as TJMaxx or even more. Also, since Target is such a well shopped store…your neighbor may have the same lamp.
Rooms with just overhead lighting make you feel like you are being interrogated. You must have lamps. Don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be. Save up. Buy them in pairs. Don’t buy “little”. And sorry Walmart, but don’t go to Walmart either.
Next, when you go lamp shopping you are going to see all these cute little things.
See how the mug and the base are much closer in size? You can’t use these next to your couch or on your bedside tables. You can, but I’m trying to keep this simple. Use these as little accents, in the kitchen, the mudroom, in the bathroom, on top of a bookcase etc… If you just bought the base and bought a teeny little shade to go with it—I’d make you return it. The redeeming aspect of these lamps are the shades–they make the bases seem “bigger”.
Here’s what I don’t want you to do. Don’t try to mix and match the bases and shades yourself and get too creative. We’ll end up back in the pickle that we are already in:)
If you need to replace a shade be sure the shade you choose is just long enough to cover up the switch but not so long that it covers the top of the neck of the lamp. In general, shades should be about 1/3 of the overall height of your lamp, no matter the size of your room. Celerie Kemble
I have endless magazine pages that I’ve ripped out over the years. I took some up close shots of great lamps to illustrated how they make a room. I’m breaking a ton of “giving credit” rules because I don’t know who did the designs–so I just zoomed in on my camera to highlight the lamps and nothing else. Most of the pictures are from House Beautiful magazines from the last 5 years. Notice how most of the lamps are big. Not dinky. Notice how the lamps “make” the room–the jewelry.
If this illuminated you check out Chandelier Love🙂
by Jen | Feb 19, 2014 | Happiness at Home, How To, Interior Decorating
Did someone say “Moving?”
From the ages of 18 to 41 I have moved 18 times. It’s not really that bad. Only 6 of those moves involved LARGE moving trucks. The rest involved multiple trips via a car, and/or rental furniture, or just living without. I moved around a fair amount before becoming part of a military family. I’m ok with moving. The world is big.
On the other hand, I hate moving. It’s hard work. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
So here we are, 3 1/2ish months from moving, again. I had a nice break in Virginia for 6 years so I was a little rusty when I had to pack bags this last time. I was so settled. Now, I’m unsettled–in a settled kind of way. People who come into my house think we’ve lived here for years. This either means one of two things: 1. I unpacked too much and am currently delusional over the amount of time we are living in said house OR, 2. I’ve got this down.
Let’s go with 2.
So how do I make temporary housing feel like home?
I have rules. Let’s use my house for examples.
Little stuff is bad. Unpack it and put it all together in like categories. Then repack it. Put it in rubbermaid storages totes. Label the totes. Say good-bye. Who the heck has time to manage baubles, curios, doodads, ornamental items, knickknacks, trinkets, and…tchotchke? (Yes, it is all the same thing but I’m trying to make a point.) UNLESS it’s your kid’s small stuff-let them have what they want if it makes it feel familiar.
Little pictures are even worse. What makes a statement is one nice size picture per room and leave it at that. Easy. I’m talking poster size or larger.
Bigger is Better. Little pictures get lost on walls unless hung correctly. And if they are hung correctly that means they are grouped with quite a few others and, oh, all the holes and measuring, and then patching and painting. Now don’t get me wrong–I think you should USE the walls. But most people I encounter are too afraid to hang anything–so what I’m saying is if you are falling in this category, buy big art. One large piece in a room is awesome. One teeny postage size picture is so so NOT awesome.
Stick to 3 or 4 colors throughout the house. I don’t mean the whole house including the kids rooms have to match–but I kind of do. Don’t be afraid to paint your stuff either.
Me and my sweet cat painting the dining room buffet that became our dresser to the the changing table to each of the boys dresser’s (at separate times).
Paint now comes with built in primer. It’s getting easier. Stick to a strict palette. Choose either white OR cream. You can’t have white and cream next to each other without the cream looking dirty. I’m doing more with blue, green, and white. Most of my furniture is neutral. Camel couch, white painted furniture, shades of blue painted furniture, dark wood, lots of accent pillows that I recirculate. The blue armoire from the craft closet is now my youngest son’s dresser, my youngest son’s dresser is now my oldest’s…it all works because the colors are all in the same family.
Blue armoire was craft closet in previous house.
Shelves were from garage. Table was from porch. BIG art.
Which brings me to my next point. Think outside the box with furniture. Bedside tables could be end tables. Craft closet from laundry room can turn into dresser (blue armoire from above), side table from dining room (from before marriage) can be turned into changing table for babies which evolves into a dresser for big boys. Small old dresser can become office storage. Front porch table can become desk. Garage storage can be turned into shelves for office.
Only display and use what brings you joy. If this is a temporary space–life is too darn short to display stuff you hate because someone gave it to you or because you are too lazy to replace it. Your home is love. It has no time requirement. Own your space now.
Nice lamp!
Gorgeous Lamps. No one pays attention to lamps! I’m going to write a whole post on this whole topic. It will be called Lamp Love. They are the jewelry for your house! Yours are too small. I’m not even at your house but I just know they are. And the lampshades?! They need to complement each other. You have lamps on either side of the couch? One shade cannot be white and the other cream…I told you why above. And are they old? Do they look like you bought them at the Dollar Store? Are your lamps boring? Oh my gosh I can just tell you need help. Not here, but later. Just remember, lamps are worth it.
Keep ONE rubbermaid tote with sentimental items that make the cut. You can display family pictures or trinkets that mean A LOT to you and that make you SMILE. Keep it simple. One large tote of baubles and what nots and snapshots. Go crazy and sprinkle them throughout to make your heart sing. ONE tote. Keep the tote empty. When it’s time to move pack it up again and keep it with you–it’s one of those “Movers Do Not Take” boxes:)
Books. I’m guilty of this and I’m working on it. Why do you have the books if they stay in boxes where you can’t get to them anyway? What are they accomplishing? I like books to be out. They make a house nice. Keep the nice looking ones and arrange them in shelves by color. Just try it.
See the books organized by color? See what they are on? Fake mantle. One of these from a junk shop/antique store etc… can come in really handy for temporary housing. Have a wall you don’t know what to do with?
Trays. I use trays all over to corral clutter and make piles look purposeful. Moving is busy. Who has time to stay on top of papers? At least they will look nice.
Plants. Buy them. Fill the gaps, the lonely corners, and the awkward room layouts. And, bigger is better. If you have lots of small ones invest in pretty pots and saucers–they don’t need to match, just be unusual. (Go to Goodwill.) One piece of greenery per room at least.
Just because it’s temporary doesn’t mean it can’t be pretty…and pretty goes a long way to making it feel like home.
A final note. You know what really makes a house feel like home? Pets.
We were blessed to have our sweet cat for 15 1/2 years. She made 9 moves with us. Yesterday she died, taking a little bit of “our home” with her. Bless you Bella. We miss you so much baby cat. Thank you for making everywhere you were feel like home.
by Jen | Feb 15, 2014 | How To, Interior Decorating
Oh they think they are so funny.
I don’t even know why I bother with rugs and carpet. They are like magnets for animals and kids to pee, puke, and make messes on. Oh the stories I have. I should tell you about the time my husband spilled red Gatorade on our cream carpet…or the time he was shaking a protein shake made up of milk, chocolate and something that translated into slime when it hits carpeting–and the lid wasn’t on all the way and do I really need to go on? Or the time my potty training son used the carpet on the stairs as his toilet paper and slowly slid down them on his backside. And then there was Norovirus 2010. No sir, we don’t believe in toilets or buckets in our house–we just use carpet. Seriously folks, I’ve got a 100 of them, but that’s not what this post is about.
It’s about those brave brave people who want to put carpet, or specifically, area rugs in their homes. Why, is beyond me. Did you see the pictures of my house in previous posts? We use hoses here to clean the floors–rugs are for show and also for our cat to pee and puke on. Sorry, I’m about to digress again.
Area Rugs. Here’s some tips for you newbies. For you young whipper snappers who think, yeah, I want a nice rug under our main eating table and when the baby flings green baby food and my husband spills his red wine…I’m not judging. Really. Go ahead and get some area rugs. I think it’s great.
Here’s what you need to know, about how big to buy and where to look. I’ll keep the rest of my opinions to myself.
Rugs are really important. They define the spaces in your rooms. Stay with me here. You have a huge room and the furniture floats and it’s not cozy and it looks like a dance hall. (I reserve the right to use AND as much as I want.) What you need my friend is a rug. AND you can put a rug on carpeting too. A rug anchors the space. It anchors the furniture to a designated spot. It says this is the part of the room where we sit. This is the part of the room way over here where we pass through. AND this is the part of the room that is the quiet conversation area for just two chairs. Rugs can do all this.
Next. How big should the rug be? I think this is one of my most asked questions.
I’m using Celerie Kemble’s words here. She’s an interior designer extraordinaire. Her book, To Your Taste, does a wonderful job of breaking down the nuts and bolts of interior design.
“Unless I plan to expose the floor completely (which I tend to do only in hallways or dining rooms), I like to cover as much as I can with a large area rug that fills the room up to 9 or 18 inches off the walls. This defines the room and makes it cozier. Beautiful wood will still make its impact in the border areas. The smaller you make the rug the smaller the room feels. Floor areas outside the rug become peripheral to the heart of the room, taking on a border-zone feel. An oversized and relatively inexpensive sisal rug handle the problem of small budget meets big, empty space. When buying a large rug, try to find one that has a flat enough pile to allow for a second, smaller rug to be placed on top. To set apart a special seating group, this secondary rug can be centered beneath the sofa and coffee table.”
Family Room by Orange County Closet & Home Storage Designers Tara Bussema – Neat Organization and Design
I really like natural fiber rugs. Those are the sisals and the jutes. Google the pros and cons of each. There is a ton of information out there. Lauren Lies of Pure Style Home does a great job comparing and explaining about natural fiber rugs. Click here to see her post.
She has first hand knowledge and does pros and cons.
Most of the clients and friends I advise need super budget friendly options. What worked for me while in Virginia for 6 years was a local carpet store. This particular one had great deals on area rugs and most importantly, a ton of remnants in the back. So say you want a 13 x 7 rug. To buy a standard/common made rug they come in 5×7, 8×10, and 9×12–ish. But if you choose a remnant–the big rolls of carpet lining the walls of carpet stores–you can tell them how big and they will cut it and bind it for you. You pay for the cost of the remnant (so don’t buy way bigger than you need) and then the cost of binding–which, depends on the store and area, but in VA was $1.00 a yard. It has been awhile but it is worth looking into.
Finally a word on furniture placement. The front legs should be on the rug the back legs off. UNLESS the furniture is in the center of the room. If it is a dining table there should be at least 2 feet behind each chair when they are pushed into the table. It’s not an exact science, though, just move it around and experiment. Just remember the rug shouldn’t look like an island floating in the middle of the room.
This is an unbiased report. I am silent. NONjudging. Hey, I like a nice rug. It makes the space cozy albeit laden with e-coli. We have a lot of rugs. They are just all laden with e-coli. Y’all come on over and enjoy my house now…
by Jen | Feb 3, 2014 | Art, Fun Style, How To
AFAR Magazine March/April 2014
I don’t know if it’s tooting one’s own horn or validation that motivates this post. Regardless. While flipping through the pages of AFAR, a travel magazine that I love, there it was…matchbooks are trending. And what did I just make a month ago? Matchbook Art!
See?!
Want to do know how to make it yourself?
I bought two 18 x 24ish inch matted frames from Michaels. They were buy one get one free. $20 total.
I bought 4 pieces of turquoise 12X12(?) scrapbook paper from Michaels. Spent about $1.50 max.
I had a matchbook collection from way back filling a large gallon ziplock bag. I went to a vintage/junk store and found another bag of matchbooks from the 50’s and 60’s for $12…which is what inspired this whole project.
I sorted through matchbooks for hours at the dining room table–each of the old ones had something funny or unusual about them. So many of mine had hilarious and fun memories associated with the places. I edited and laid them out based upon their merits–pretty, unique, memorable–on the scrapbook paper with the white matte around them (so I knew exactly how much room I had to work with.) I ripped the excess matches and cardboard out so the matchbooks wouldn’t be too bulky. I moved them around. I edited. I replaced. I rereplaced. Some I kept opened–some I kept closed. I moved them around some more. I tweaked. Then I Elmer’s glued the whole lot. Pretty sweet art. Definitely make two framed pieces if you decide to do this. Companion pieces of art make any room look good…or in this case striking. Get it?
by Jen | Jan 29, 2014 | How To, Life Reflections, Organizing
My dear friend Amy Volk, in Virginia Beach, has an amazing business and blog–Simplified Living. She writes about living better, and who can’t embrace that? I love her blog posts everyday but yesterday’s struck a huge ginormous YES! in me when I read it. I asked her if she would do a rerun over here and she said YES! So without further ado I would like to introduce Amy Volk. Make sure you stop by her blog and pay her a visit. You’ll be glad you did. Love to you Amy!
There are a lot emotions tied to organizing and getting organized. I’ve talked a lot about perfectionism and how paralyzing it is to getting organized, but the other insidious current lurking around is fear. Fear happens for many reasons and because I’m no therapist, I won’t even try to figure it out, but I do see it crop in my organizing sessions with folks.
Often when we acquire things, we feel good about having them. Over time, these things may or may not be useful, but still we feel safe having them, you know, just in case. The just-in-case reason can be rooted in fear of not having, not being prepared, not being in the know, or being unsure of the right decision. Whatever the reason, it stops us from letting stuff go even when our things no longer serve our life.
happinessseries
Here’s an example; say you have saved statements from bills for the past 8 years. You aren’t totally sure you need them but you hang on to them, just in case. So, you attempt to organize them (or not) and find room in your home, attic, or basement for 8 years worth of paper. But you don’t have room for 8 years worth of paper and it starts to pile up. Then I come along and ask you all sorts of questions like, “When is the last time you needed a statement? How would you find a statement you needed in these piles? What’s the worst thing that could happen if you didn’t have these statements?” And so on…
These kinds of questions can make you squirm if you’re living with fear. Because the worst thing might be that you won’t feel prepared or have to ask for help so it’s just safer to keep it all. Just in case.
This just-in-case reason is probably the single biggest hinderance to getting organized that I run across. It causes folks to keep or buy too much of everything that they need and then attempt to find a place to tuck it all away. There becomes a feeling of safety in having things, whether they are used or not.
wired.com
Today, I want you to look around your home and ask yourself these questions-
1. What do I have too much of?
Maybe it’s paper or clothing or food, but it also might be kitchen utensils, drawers of makeup and cosmetics, plastic grocery bags, or tools. The list is endless, but you know instinctually what you have too much of.
2. What is the worst thing that could happen if I let some of it go?
Could you purchase it again if you absolutely needed it? Could you retrieve it online? Could you ever have access to it again?
3. What is the best thing that could happen if I let some it go?
Would you have more space? Would you have less clutter? Would you be able to find other things easier?
Let me give you a quick story. We recently organized a gentleman who did newspaper crossword puzzles. Each day he would do the puzzle then wait for the next days paper to check his answers. He did this over and over and over and never threw any of them out. Why didn’t he throw them out? He was afraid he might want to look at them again and not have the answers. Did he ever look at them again? No, he had never done that. We talked about some solutions and he agreed to throw them all out, but it wasn’t an easy decision.
So, if you have identified something that you have too much of and you’re afraid to make a change, keep asking yourself the questions above. Also, use these Value Questions to help you more. Feeling afraid of change is OK. Letting fear stop you from making the changes you need is not OK. Feel afraid and do it anyway.
by Jen | Nov 25, 2013 | Art, Fun Style, How To, Inspired Style, Interior Decorating
How about a sheet of wrapping paper that costs about $3.95, is poster size (20″ x 28″) and fits into a standard store bought frame (meaning no custom framing)??????
I bought my frame (above picture) at a thrift store with a hideous picture inside of it. I replaced the picture with a piece of wrapping paper called Plumes.
Cavallini Plumes Wrapping Paper
I paid $6.00 total for my mantle art.
Here are some sheets of paper that are categorized as “wrapping paper” from Paper Source–all of which are about $3.95. Most are made by Cavallini Paper (found at Paper Source and at www.Cavallini.com)
Keep scrolling down. Mind the gaps. We had a few spacing issues.
- Cavallini & Co La Maison
Cavallini & Co. La Mer
Cavallini & Co Palmistry Guide
Cavallini & Co Le Jardin
Cavallini & Co Pasta Italiana
Cavallini & Co Natural History Birds
Paper Source Feathers–This one varies in size.
All these and more can be found at www.paper-source.com for about $4. These papers are also at museum gift shops and other little shops. Inexpensive and awesome.
