The Skirted Roundtable

One of my favorite design blogs is The Skirted Roundtable. I love listening to these professional interior designers chat. You hear the story (and real cost) behind the photos you see in design magazines. Their recent post features James Swan who has just written this book, 101 Things I Hate About Your House. Here's how you can find it on Amazon. After reading the preview there, I can't wait to get this book. It starts with the entryway and he works his way through the house. This is what my version of the book would start with: "Welcome, do you have to use the bathroom? Cuz it's right here-right by the front door."

Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of nice things about my house. Like the kitchen.

and the recently finished playroom:

Right now I've been working on the bedroom and BOY DO I HATE THIS WALL:

The space behind the ironing board is a nightmare. Here's what I've got to deal with there:

2 light switches 

(notice one is poorly placed because of vent that runs through wall)

large (dusty) vent

temperature sensor

alarm

vacuum

outlet with co2 detector

Other challenges include: 

3 UGLY oak doors

bad paint color

TV 

DVD and Tivo

old carpet

This is my latest solution for the wall. These photos where drawn by my mom in college. They used to be in a neat row above the hedboard. I put them up last week to see how this solution would work. And see the paint swatch by the door? That's another story. 

Elvis has left the bathroom!

In an effort to FINISH WHAT I STARTed in the playroom, I decided to move the ELVIS tee's in there. That left a huge void in the bathroom. Way back when I painted the bathroom I noticed that these duck pictures looked great with the paint color, but the Elvis theme won out.

In the 90s I started to collect interesting-ly shaped antique shelves. My collection stopped at two:

Notice the candle scent is called "Antique Wood". 

My neighbor had given me this cool box of junk to make a mosiac. I never did.

Love it when you can incorporate stuff you made in shop class into daily life. And it's useful!

But what to do with the deer heads?

And Tom's bulleted practice target?

Now boys, do not aim for the target!

(paper deer has since been replaced with an ugly blue Costco Kleenex box)

I do admit, I miss the bright colors from before. I'm not really a neutral, antique-y person but it works. When you embrace the 80s builder parade home style (ie: fruitwood oak finish EVERYWHERE!), instead of fighting it, things can look good.

Click here and scroll down to see the previous bathroom saga.

your ultimate playroom planner

This is how I make room plans:

I cut out little furniture shapes a play with them.
And I always use a BLUE flair marker.

This is the fabric I bought (maybe a little too early):

Because I thought it might go with the denim chair:

I need a loveseat width couch:

Tom doesn't want anything from IKEA. So I searched real furniture stores in Minnesota. Here are some possibilities:

But it the microfiber was so static-y. The saleswoman said I would have to keep a can of static guard nearby. No way. I have a rule about static. I will not buy static producing clothes, and certianly not furniture!

Now I'm leaning toward a Klik Klak sofa. They fold down into a bed. And were fairly comfortable to sit on.

Even though I like this blue one, I know Tom will want an ARM rest.

And a place for his beer.

Sue's Bookshelves

Sue finished her basement a few years ago. Her husband created these built-in bookshelves using the area between the studs. Trim was added to cover the 2x4s and then it was painted. Deeper books in the bottom row steal room from the area behind the shelves.

Laundry Room Redo

I took down some whiteboards (from IKEA, which suck because the pen will not wash off them!). I had to repair the walls and repaint. I found the original paint in the basement so total cost: FREE. It's tough to repaint the same color, because you can't see where you've been. I positioned a work lamp on the floor so I could see my painting progress. I tried to sell these IKEA racks at the garage sale, but luckily no one knew what they were for when they were lying on the driveway. So I decided to put them up. Very useful for drying clothes.

The clock you see below is from my very first IKEA trip in 1998. I think it was less than 5 bucks. I cleared out some clutter, found receipts from 1993 in a "save your receipts" folder from Dayton's. Relabeled some containers and threw out a bunch of pens.

Even though these built in's are nice, it's hard to reach anything that you store there. My goals of my household re-org/re-dec are "access", "room function" and "vaccuum-ability".

Don't get a BIG HED!

The final concept for the bathroom is nothing like the original plans. It evolved over time. First the paint color decision, and then the knob & hardware decision, and then the artwork decision.

Invited to a friends for Chicago Style hotdogs & a Led Zeppelin imposter concert, I sorted through my drawers looking for an old concert t-shirt to wear. I didn't find one to wear, but in the mix I found 2 old shirts that I had bought in Vegas (1996) that I just couldn't part with. When I got to the party I noticed that chef Steve was wearing an old "Big Hed" t-shirt that he had got in New Orleans. It was the same brand as my Vegas shirts!

The orange/red towel's color drove the concept. So orange and red it is--mix that with my latest obsession for Elvis, the t-shirt brand BIG HED (no relation, funny enough, but these HEDs are) and concept was finalized.

I found shadow box frames at homegoods. Amazingly cheap at $7.99. The second frame was on clearance for $3 bucks, but I had to get glass cut at my local hardware store (two trips to the store were necessary for them to get the cut right).

I thought it was neat that when you look in the mirror, you actually see a tryptych (three pictures). And the cheaping slot machine completes the picture. So project finis and time to move on to the playroom.

My Own Personal Airblade

The best hand drying solution would have been the old-time cloth rotating towel machine. Or the new Dyson fast drying systems for home use. Dyson has been getting credit for these machines, but they have been around in Europe for a while. At $1400, it's not an option for home use.

I was thinking about sewing the leading edges of the towel together to make a loop. Maybe buttons would help with getting it on and off the towel bar. But I nixed that idea. I just folded Toftbo on the bar, showcasing the great IKEA colors.

And what do you hang above the towel bar? A neat old game I bought at the flea market years ago. Perfect!

Cheating on IKEA

I went to 3 HomeGoods stores searching for shadowboxes. Even though I'm "all about IKEA" when it comes to decorating, sometimes I'm drawn to classic and wonder where this could go:
Maybe this could go in the corner of the bedroom:
I loved the GIANT container outside the store. The bowl is probably 6 feet in diameter.

Knob an Easy Decision

The new darker knobs blend into the woodwork and disappear:

Tomelilla Chair Update

A company called BEMZ will sell you slipcovers for your IKEA chairs and sofas. Envision your comfy chair in many types of fabrics, including Marimekko. Here's how my Tomelilla chair could look:

Will Obama Start a Poster Project?

These and many more WPA posters are available at the Library of Congress online gift shop.

Orange Attraction

Urban Outfitters has a lot of neat stuff for your house. Very IKEA like.