I will not be posting until next week. Please enjoy past postings and have a great week.

Country Living

Think Fall!

GREEN IS IN and a movement that helps crucial issues now and into the future.  Go Beyond Just Green is a new slogan for Natura Paint from Benjamin Moore. This paint is now available in WA, OR, CA & TX.  Available nationwide, Spring 2009.

Benjamin Moore has gone beyond the regular standards set by LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and Green Seal.  This interior waterborne paint is a zero VOC, virtually odorless formula.  What is unique about Natura is it is not low VOC, but zero VOC.  It dries fast, provides a durable finish, and also fade-resistant.  Natura also has an unlimited color selection which is very important to me!

Your family will breathe easy with Natura!

I am writing about all my pet peeves!  Another peeve is when your house looks like a model home.  Homes should not be staged and perfect.  I appreciate a well decorated and designed home, don’t get me wrong.  There is just something about a crayon drawing hanging on the fridge that makes a house a home.  I am sure a lot of designers might argue this, but I think a little clutter is acceptable and charming.

I recently read a post from Hooked on Houses that described…. real homes are to model houses, what we normal women are to fashion models.  So True!  Just like we all can not be supermodels our homes can not be super perfect.  We have life happening in our homes……kids making messes, pets making messes, and who could forget husbands making messes.

Customers will send me photos and sometimes I comment, “too model home(ish)”.  I usually have to explain myself and hopefully now, it makes sense in reading my thoughts about the subject.  It is simple, our house should be a home!  Accept a scratch on the wood floor from the toy firetruck.   These blemishes are the reminders of a story told in your home.

Your Family, Your Memories, and Your Mess!

Always use white on your ceiling because that is a rule.  Wrong!  I like white on a ceiling, but not all the time.  Let’s face it, there are no rules which means all colors are fair game for the ceiling!  See what Nate Berkus did on Oprah’sTime Warp makeover show.   Nate painted the ceiling a vibrant green. ’California Chic’ is what he called this updated look.  Nate knows his stuff, so I guess white ceilings are not a must.  I will have to say, the room is warm and inviting.  I do not think white would have accomplished the same feeling. 

Paint a darker color on the ceiling to lower the height visually.  This photo accomplishes that very idea.

Low ceilings can be painted a shade lighter than the walls to achieve some height.  A tip from Behr is to paint the crown molding a darker color from the ceiling to draw your eye upwards.  This photo is called ‘Raising the Roof’…….how appropriate. 

I like to use moldings around the perimeter of the ceiling and border with a color.  Check out how a boring hallway can become interesting.

Look up and design!

$1000.00 BIG GIVEAWAY!

I am participating in Project Nursery’s Share Forum Big Giveaway!   Visit and sign-up….you never know what you could win.  I am donating a complimentary online paint consult valued at $50.00.

Good Luck! 

Grass Cloth is a natural fibered wall covering that provides wonderful texture to walls.  Timeless and chic, grass cloth can hide wall blemishes and add exquisite beauty to the worst plastered wall.  Belle Vivir posted some fab room examples for grass cloth.  Here are some of my favorites from the posting.  

Twenty2grasscloth sells grass cloth by the yard in a variety of colors.  A sneak peek of one of their beautiful selections.

Let’s say you have existing grass cloth that maybe you want to get rid of.  Instead, coat it with paint. Choose a color you want while still having texture to the wall.  My design friend, Hapi Kendall shared her idea and photo of how she painted and glazed her grass cloth.  What a rich look!

Create different looks by being creative with the use of grass cloth to glam up your space.

Grass cloth your walls for timeless and chic!

I suppose a pet peeve of mine is when customers tell me “that doesn’t match”.  Maybe it doesn’t matched exactly, but that is what ideal color selection should accomplish.  Inexperienced customers put their eyes right up close to the fabric and select the only color of green in there.  That is wrong!  You need to take the whole picture into consideration and all the combinations of colors that the fabric gives you.  Do not pick it apart.  It is the blend we are looking for.  Let’s try with the fabric combo from Robert Allen to find the perfect color.

Not ”matching” paint colors to fabric, but finding the perfect “in-between” color………..is the right way to go!  I always use nature as an example.  It is a blend of colors and different shades, nothing is a perfect match……..but perfection is accomplished.  Picking the ”in-between” color makes the space interesting and not the ordinary.  Here are my paint color selections. The accent wall is a very dark navy blue and a brighter green for the rest of the walls (View actual paint chips at Benjamin Moore Store for true color).  I would select a super white for the trim and ceiling for a fresh look.  This room would have a great preppy-look.

 hale navy HC-154 from Benj. Moore

 liberty park 487 from Benj. Moore

(On-screen color representations may vary from actual paint colors) 

So basically I selected “in-between” colors, a soft green instead of the darker moss green found in the fabric.  Also, for drama, the dark navy wall pulls from the blue/gray colors found in the fabric.

Not a perfect match, but a perfect color!

We remember to tile the floor and inside a shower, but what about the walls or a fireplace?  There are so many beautiful glass mosaic tiles that make a dramatic statement to any room in our homes.  I love this example from Susan Jablon Mosaics of a brilliantly colored fireplace.  What a great addition to the room and a masterpiece of art.

See all the iridescent mosaic tiles in a variety of colors.  The custom blends let you create your own unique look. 

Liberty was designed by Giulio Candussio for Trend USA.  These glass mosaic hand cut tiles contain a minimum of 50% post industrial recycled content and are available in 12 colors.  You can create a gorgeous look even with recycled product.  See for yourself.

Piece together beauty with colorful glass

Why not some color and fun to flooring?  I think MiYO floor tiles from Armstrong let us express yourselves and be creative in a space.  A variety of colors and patterns make a boring room turn into a flooring piece of art!  

This “make it your own” flooring is similar to FLOR carpet tiles.  MiYO is a modular system of 16″ vinyl floor tiles. They are sold individually with solid and patterns that you can mix and match to create your own look.  The tile adheres to a liner not your floor…… so what an ideal product for renters or even a child’s room.

This maintence-free flooring is an easy clean and they even have a put it together road map for the little one’s playroom.  How fun!

 Make It Your Own….Color Your Floor!

Many hours, paint, and blue painter’s tape later Sandi Denhof accomplished a darling furniture piece for her living room.  Black and White checkerboard for the top and red underneath for a peek-a-boo surprise of color.  She admits that this project took much patience and time.  It shows!

I have to admit right when I saw Sandi’s dropleaf table I thought of Mackenzie-Childs which is one of my favorites.  The eclectic style and colorful hand-painted unique pieces are very charming.  Home accessories from Mackenzie-Child could be a fab add to Sandi’s room to pull the whole look together.

Checkerboarding in Style!