Archive for April, 2012

Paint Update!: Bedroom Edition

by readmakedo on April 26, 2012 in Before and After, Decor, Design, Home, Painting with 2 Comments

That’s right, I have news on the paint color front! We have been in the process this entire week of having the interior of the house painted, and it has been really exciting. So let me share with you what’s been going down.

For starters, for those of you who remember my quest for the perfect “Greige”: We picked a color! To recap, our dilemma was that the paint color needed to span the kitchen, living room, dining room, and hallway, since they are all connected. Gotta love these 60s Ranch homes. The existing color was lovely, but a bit too warm and heavy for my taste. I’ll reveal next week what color we ended up picking for those rooms (SUSPENSE!), but I can tell you we ended up picking THREE of the original six for the entire house. Variety is the spice of life, right?

Let me show you what’s been happening in one of the rooms that is [almost] done.

This is my room a week ago. You can tell it’s my room, because my BFF Skipper has his room in here too….his “room” happens to be a box in my closet, but he’s cool with it. You can see reflected in the mirror is the master bathroom, which (thankfully) we don’t have to do much painting in, since I just did that in December. The bedroom originally was that same brown color (which I found out, is called “Wise Owl” by Kelly Moore), but you can see that we had to re-texture the wall behind the bed. That’s because there was a super charming AC unit from probably 1963. It was rad. Just kidding, it was horrible, which is why we ripped it out of the wall and never looked back.

I actually managed to dig up old photos to give you an idea of the “before”.

So there is the before. Check out that AC unit in the wall. Sigh, I still miss it.

Totally kidding.

Well, the bad news is I don’t have some sort of gorgeous fantastic “After”, but just progress so far. The paint is LITERALLY still drying, and I ain’t putting my clothes back in a wet closet. But still, you can see the color, which is really exciting. So the color we ended up picking for the bedroom?

Drumroll pleeease……….

BALBOA MIST!

Here’s a shot of the room with one coat of paint…

and two coats (done!).

This photo is taken facing towards the bathroom. Yes that is all my stuff on the bed. Yes that is my good friend Skipper with a cone on his head. He’s also had an exciting week.

It is fun to look back at all the little things we’ve done that have made a big difference since we moved in last fall. If you look at the picture of my room from a week ago, you can see that we added crown molding (which makes the room feel way fancier!), and added crown molding to the top of the closet track.

It’s really exciting for me to look back at the starting point, and how things are coming along. Even though I’ve been slummin’ it on an air mattress in the living room all week, seeing things shape up makes it all totally worth it. Plus I can fall asleep with the TV on, so that’s pretty cool too.

Isn’t painting awesome? If you have any before and afters of paint projects from your house, I’d love love love to see them. Email them to me at readmakedo@gmail.com – Afterall, who doesn’t love a good Before & After?

What’s in a Name…Card?

by readmakedo on April 24, 2012 in Design, DIY, wedding with 3 Comments

I’m gonna get real with you right out the gate here: I’m a vegetarian. Not only that, I’m lactose intolerant (I’m sorry lactose, I try to be tolerant of everyone but I’ve had it up to HERE with you), which makes me ostensibly vegan. Whenever I attended other people’s weddings I never really gave any thought to my name card. They were always different than everyone else’s: sometimes it had a ribbon on it, or was a different color, but I always just thought this was because I’m special. Like when you get a Roy Rodgers’, and the bartender puts two cherries in it.

It turns out, I haven’t been living a blissful life of preferential treatment, but instead I’ve been singled out because caterers need a way to know who is eating what meal. It still doesn’t explain the two cherries in my Roy Rodgers’, so I still feel pretty special. Now that I’ve also burst your bubbles, fellow vegetarians / food allergy sufferers, it’s time to share with you what I’ve come up with for the name cards at Jason and I’s upcoming wedding.

Originally I drew this picture for our Save the Date, and the dahlia’s and spider mum drawings have been a theme throughout the wedding paper goods we’ve sent out.

I considered printing out little folding cards with these same peonies and mums and then writing everyone’s name on them, but I didn’t want to scare my guests with my terrifying handwriting. Seriously, I’ve had people receive letters in the mail from me and not want to open them because my handwriting is so spooky.

So I knew I wanted people’s names typed out (to not terrify my guests), and instead of doing the yellow maybe doing something a little bit more fancy. So my awesome friend Stephanie gave me the killer idea of using my new obsession:  STAMPS.

Step 1: Print out Place Cards

Stephanie and I bought these super easy to use place-cards from Paper Source. They come with a template, either for Word or InDesign (I used InDesign so I could get fancypants with the ligatures on people’s names…so even though I didn’t write people’s names, they still were lovingly crafted by me). You just run them through the printer, unfold them (WARNING: I got about 200 paper cuts while folding these, but I think that’s because I was distracted because Jason and I were watching Troll 2 while we did this).

 Step 2: Get some fancy colored stamp pads.

We bought a really pretty metallic gold, and a mossy green. The green is for the vegetarians (interestingly enough, the Trolls in Troll 2 are vegetarians…hmmm), and the gold is for everyone else. We also picked up these super gorgeous stamps, also from Paper Source, which look really similar to the Dahlias and Spider mums that I originally drew for the Save the Date.

Step 3: STAMP STAMP STAMP.

Yup. Pretty easy. It’s fun to kind of get zen with it, and try different stamp combos. Everyone’s name takes up a different amount of white space, so when I was stamping I’d try to balance everything out accordingly. That way, each card is unique, like a snowflake. And each guest is therefore, a snowflake. Brilliant.

So that’s it! Pretty easy peasy! For the vegetarians, we’re just using the different colored stamp pads. We might even add a ribbon, just so our vegetarian guests (which I will be one of) feel a little bit more special…and so the caterers are totally clear not to put some chicken in front of our veggie friends.

Check out these other awesome ideas for place cards & escort cards! There are so many awesome ideas for place cards out there, even though some of them aren’t super practical (Skeleton keys for every guest? Where are you going to find more than 3 of those? If my knowledge from Adventure Games serves me correctly, those are pretty impossible to get). What are some of your favorites you’ve seen? I love these pinwheels, flippin cute.

 

Small Storage & Chalkboard Paint

by readmakedo on April 19, 2012 in Decor, Design, DIY, Home, Organization, Painting, Uncategorized with No comments

As part of my sneak peak last week, and as a follow up to what I’m going to do with all this leftover chalkboard paint, I came up with this cute and easy project.

I had these really adorable little tea tins that I’d received as a stocking stuffer in 2005….so a while ago. They were out on display in my first apartment, then everywhere else I moved they just seemed a little too loud. These poor, psychedelic tea tins eventually were pushed to the back of my pantry, never to be loved again.

Until I had an idea.

I am constantly needing small storage, for things like q-tips, bobby pins, thumbtacks, guitar picks. Sometimes I use Altoid containers and such, but nothing is more disappointing than thinking you’ve brought some Altoids with you and it’s a bunch of bobby-pins.

“Kate, can I have an Altoid?”

“….No.”

To prevent future embarrassment, here’s what I did.

1. I spray-painted the tins with a metal primer, and then again with a regular spray-paint (I’m sure the metal-primer would be enough, but the color was still coming through quite a bit).

2. After allowing the paint to thoroughly dry, I ran some painter’s tape around the bottom edge of the tea-tin. You could do any other pattern that you want, just cover one side, make a stripe, etc.

3. Then I painted a few layers on. I might suggest roughing up the tin a bit with some sandpaper, because this paint goes on really smooth. Or, even better, if you have chalkboard spray paint (does that exist??), use that instead.

4. Let it cure, add some chalk to it, and BOOM. Done!

Also check out this super cute dip-dying idea from the Kitchn.  It would be really easy to make a design like the one shown above through dip dyeing, rather than taping it off and painting everything on. I might even add a second color to the bottom white area, jazz these up a bit!

Any ideas for other small-storage solutions around the home?

Kitchen Chalkboard is Done!!

by readmakedo on April 17, 2012 in Decor, Design, DIY, Home, Kitchen, Painting with 4 Comments

I know it’s been WEEKS of waiting. Partially because I don’t know how to use an amazon.com shopping cart (I’ll explain). But the kitchen chalkboard is DONE!


Super fun! Here are some things I’m excited about using this bad boy for:

  • Leaving helpful telephone numbers for house-guests
  • Make a list of all the food that I bought but forget to eat since I’m not looking at it
  • Draw pictures of the dogs and their feelings
  • Count down days for exciting events
  • Have friends write on it at parties
  • Having Jason draw ninja turtles (it’s his gift)

With all these uses, it makes me wonder how have I lived this long without a giant kitchen chalkboard?

Skipper is into it!

So let me break it down what’s been going on:

I painted the Rustoleum black paint onto the wall as our first coat, and was really taken aback by how dark it was. Okay doi, it’s black paint, but I just didn’t realize how heavy it would look.

I then ordered some slate-gray paint on Amazon.com, and it was not nearly enough. Then I tried ordering more paint, and I waited. And waited. And waited. And then it turns out, I never clicked “submit” on my amazon.com cart. Genius!

After that, the paint arrived shortly and I got it up on the wall, but then it needs at least 24 Hours to cure. Then you prime it with ground up chalk, and voila! Done!

I’m so happy we went with the gray. It’s like just a shade lighter, but it makes it seem less heavy. And some other site’s advice kept me from freaking out by letting me know that once you “prime” it with chalk, it seems way less harsh. Totally true!

Now what should I do with this lifetime supply of leftover chalkboard paint? Ideas?

 

Facelift + Tea Tins

by readmakedo on April 12, 2012 in Design, DIY, Kitchen with 1 Comment

Hi there! So the usual Thursday post has been postponed (ok not funny) because, if you haven’t noticed, the site has gotten a bit of a facelift. I know you totally noticed though, because you are perceptive and caring like that.

While I am a major nerd, I’m not major enough to be able to pull off installing a new theme, setting up a new database, fiddling with CSS for an entire evening, AND getting a new blog post up.

I know, I’m the worst, right?

In the meantime, here is a sneak peak at an upcoming post…

Don’t get too attached to them. They’re gonna get changed. However, if you’re already attached to them, you’ll be happy to know you can buy this brand of tea at almost any World Market, and sometimes Safeway. Then you can keep them in a drawer in your kitchen for 6 years until you decide to turn them into something else. Sweet!

P.S. Thanks to everyone who helped me figure out the CSS madness with this site. There’s still a lot more to do, but I’m confident that it will be awesome with a little help from my friends.

 

Trapped in the Closet (Part 1)

by readmakedo on April 10, 2012 in Decor, Design, Home, Organization, Painting with 1 Comment

That’s right, my Trapped in the Closet dream post came way sooner than anyone could have hoped for.

*CUE THE MUSIC*

It’s 5 pm in the afternoon, and I’m arrivin’ home from work,

and I see in my office there’s some shelfin’ that wasn’t there at first,

I rub my eyes and I’m so excited I feel like I’m gonna yell,

and out of that closet pops my good friend Mister R. Kell!

Okay that R. Kelly part didn’t happen. Nevertheless, I was pretty floored that we were able to complete the shelves so quickly. My parents surprised Jason and I by installing the shelves as an early housewarming/wedding/we are the most generous parents on earth-gift. So let’s take a look at them, shall we?

I am pretty excited about these. There’s still a lot we want to do to them, but for now just having them up is exciting. Did I just use the word excited twice? I’m just so excited, if you can’t tell.

But now that they are up, what should I do with them? We’re trying to decide if we want to paint the back wall of the shelves something fun and cheery, like maybe a lime green or sunny yellow. Maybe something like this:

Source: flickr.com via Kate on Pinterest

 

Or, if we want to treat these cabinets like built-ins. I used to live in a gorgeous old apartment built in the 1920s that retained all of the original built-ins from the era. They were always so fun to display things in, I loved them so much I even took a picture (long before my blogging days).

While I don’t know how possible it is to turn these new shelves into anything like the old built-in, I want to keep my options open.

The third option would be to put closet doors on these, and turn them back into a closet. The main benefit to doing this is you could truly hide any sort of junk, and you could also trap R. Kelly in there when necessary.

I’m very excited to start organizing these shelves and really making them work for me. So far, the best thing about these is I managed to fit all of my office supplies on the shelves and there aren’t any lingering boxes in the living room (SCOUT’S HONOR!) ! While they aren’t all super pretty and organized yet, for now we can hide everything behind the screen, and keep it on the downlow.

"Skipper Approved!" - Skipper

Bloglovin’

by readmakedo on April 9, 2012 in Uncategorized with No comments

For those of you looking for an easy way to follow Read Make Do, I signed up for Bloglovin’! Check it out!

 
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Keep it on the Downlow: Hiding Unsightlyness

by readmakedo on April 5, 2012 in Decor, Home, Organization with 6 Comments

As much as I love the idea of real life Catalog Living, it just isn’t possible for me. I know that somewhere within these catalog houses there is a closet filled with old skii equipment, an attic stuffed with MVP trophies, a secret dungeon filled with tax returns from the 1970s onward (some of these catalog people are definitely wealthy enough to have dungeons), and what I lovingly call “The crap pile.”

The crap pile, or C.P. as we’ll politely call it, is where you put things that really you can’t put anywhere else, but you need to store them somewhere. So steel yourselves, I am going to show you my C.P.

Printers? Check. Box of crafting supplies? Check. Whitney Houston vinyl that I need nearby at all times so her spirit guides me? Check. RIP Whitney. I’d be lying to you if I didn’t tell you I cleaned up before I took these photos. Shame over the C.P. got the best of me.

A few months ago, I tried to dress it up by color coding the books, but there is only so much you can polish a C.P. (However, to see an awesome example of color coding books, check out this post on Remodelista).

The C.P. in this room really is a drag, because otherwise the room is pretty** pulled together, considering we haven’t been here long (except the paint swatch. No we’re not painting the room that color, it was a bad idea).

"All this stuff makes me sad, because none of it is dog toys." - Skipper

My C.P. resides in what was once the closet of the 4th bedroom of this house, which has since been converted into a den. Eventually we are planning on building some shelves and making this shelf area more of a built-in, but for now I need a quick fix to hold me over until that happens.

Originally, I considered getting some curtain panels and a tension rod, and hiding the rod behind the beam that separates the closet. I thought about getting these super adorable chevron curtains from Etsy (and eventually hanging them in the guest room…I’m sure there will be a long post about that room in the near future. SPOILER ALERT), but then I found this:

Okay, not exactly a steal, but we actually were planning on buying this awesome screen from World Market for the wedding to display the seating chart/escort cards on, and then we realized it would be great for hiding the C.P.

And thanks to the magic of the internet and a free shipping promotion, the screen arrived in no time.

It still looks like it is missing something though…what could it be….

PERFECT! Thanks Skipper! Now the room looks way better. Good boy.

So this was a pretty easy and quick fix, and I absolutely love this screen. It ties in nicely with the pseudo Morrocan-themed carpet in the room, and it is totally a piece you could keep for a while and then reupholster on the cheap (or even do it yourself!). Plus it’s great for hiding a C.P. Not like I have one. Nope, There’s nothing to see behind that screen now. Move along.

P.S. You can’t get through a blog post named “Keep it on the Downlow” without some R. Kelly.

P.P.S. I aspire one day to write a series of ongoing, gripping blog posts about closet organization and calling it: “Trapped in the Closet“. Thank you Kel.

** Fact: This room also has a ways to go. But thank God we have a blog to document it all on.

Mirror, Mirror

by readmakedo on April 3, 2012 in Bathroom, Design with 3 Comments

My fiance Jason started the process of moving his belongings into the house this past weekend (this is getting pretty real!), and while he very graciously declined the use of the master bedroom closet (GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAALLL!!!), he was scratching his head over where to put his things in the bathroom. Allow me to show you why:

Oh, what a lovely bathroom. But wait, what else is there?

Hmmm…Well, that’s pretty small. But I’m sure there are some drawers somewhere?

See, there are DEFINITELY drawers in there. Wait, what?? There aren’t? Where do you put your toothbrush and thousands of bobby pins?


Oh. Wow. That’s….that is taking up valuable bathroom square footage. I see your dilemma.

I know, right? I thought that the fact it was mirrored would camoflauge it, but it only is a major toe-stubber. It’s okay, I have a plan. Even though this bathroom certainly puts the “Closet” in “Water Closet”, I think we can make it work. I checked out a few blogs on home bathroom organization, and I feel validated knowing that I’ve done basically everything I could with the current setup (Here are some of the links I checked out: this post, and this post).

We decided the best way to make this space work is to do the following: Take down my beloved mirror that I brought with me all the way from my previous house, bite the bullet, and get a medicine cabinet. That’s right guys, if you want to snoop through my bathroom during parties, now you can! I promise you won’t find anything remotely interesting though, since I wear my dentures constantly and keep both my glass eyes in most of the time too. Sorry, bro.

If I’m giving up my beloved current mirror, I might as well get something good. Here’s the rundown for what we need. Ideally, we want a recessed mirror (one that will be installed flush within the wall). My current mirror is 34-inches tall, 21-inches wide…it’s pretty tall, and ALMOST too close to the light fixture. I’d like a mirror that is about as wide as the one that is there now, but maybe a few inches shorter.

So let’s see what’s out there, shall we?

Option #1 This one is really elegant and pretty, but it might be a tad ornate for the bathroom, which has a very streamlined look.

Option #2 Probably the safest option, it is the same width as the current mirror, and is actually the exact same size as the center mirror panel.

Option #3 I really like this mirror, because it is slightly special but not super ornate. The biggest bummer is that it’s very narrow. Bonus though, it is named “Ashton.”

So, if you were me, what would you do? Give up my beloved current mirror, or go for door number 1, 2, or 3? Play it safe, or go big? Since Bob Barker isn’t here to give me advice, give me your counsel!

P.S. Like the paint stripes? Check out my inspiration here and here!