Making It Work - Piecing Rugs

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

In this post on layering rugs, I also gave you this quick tip: "If you find a small rug that you love, but need a larger size, buy two and put them together with carpet tape. This obviously won't work with every rug design, but will definitely work for some!"

In the office makeover above from Southern Living (photos by Roger Davies - design by Fran Keenan), they actually used silk cording to stitch three 4x6 rugs together to make one large rug to fit the space. The cording becomes a design element in the rug.

I found another great idea at marthastewart.com. Senior home editor, Shane Powers, couldn't afford a runner for his hallway, so he made a long rug by piecing together small floor mats for a one-of-a-kind design. You would obviously have to carefully choose your rugs and layout so that you end up with a great design rather than a hodge podge effect. I love the way his turned out.

Creative Decorating with Ballard Designs

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

I received Ballard Designs latest catalog in the mail today and they featured a great idea in the room below. In case you can't read the text, it says "Create a chair rail using ledges and fill it with your favorite art and collectibles. Paint a contrasting color below to accentuate and ground your new architectural detail". I like it! They also mention mixed up dining.

Did you notice that they used the La Poeme rug that we talked about here in the room? (In addition to the original black and brown, it now comes in denim and sage)

If you haven't checked out Ballard's latest catalog, you can view it on-line here. In addition to promoting their products they offer some great decorating advice (including designer Suzanne Kasler's House Beautiful interview along with photos of rooms she designed using Ballard products).

FOR A POST PACKED WITH EASTER IDEAS, CLICK HERE!

Area Rugs/Window Treatment - Questions Answered

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

Phoebe Howard

There were a couple of questions on the "Large Impact vs. Small Accessories" post, so I thought I would answer them in a post in case some of you had the same questions. As with anything I talk about on this blog, these are my opinions based on my experiences, what I've been taught, and personal preference. I've learned long ago that my opinion is not the only one and that I'm not the source of all wisdom and knowledge, so if your opinion or experience varies from mine, I'm cool with that. :-)

QUESTION 1: Do you think it'd be too boring to do solid colors for both the windows and the rug?
ANSWER: There are many successful rooms that are done using solid colors for both the window treatments and the rugs. I've shown one example at the beginnning of this post. One way to avoid being boring, if that's a concern, would be to add trim to the window treatment and use a very textural rug as they did in the room below. If you're not a fan of pattern OR color, even very neutral rooms without much pattern can be made interesting just by using a variety of finishes and textures. This room by Phoebe Howard is a great example of that.

Southern Living via myhomeideas.com Van Chaplin; Charles Walton IV

QUESTION 2: How do you feel about rugs on top of carpet? I love a rug on a hardwood or tile floor but not sure about on carpet.
ANSWER: If your space needs an area rug to add a different texture, define a seating area, pull some colors together or add color that doesn't exist, it doesn't matter to me if it's hardwood or carpet, you still need it. The rug in the living room below doesn't look expensive and it's not some totally unique pattern or color, but imagine the room without it. It really defines the seating area and the slightly darker color grounds the space.

myhomeideas.com Photo:IPC Images

QUESTION 3: Are they a pain to vacuum around and under when they're on carpet?
ANSWER: I have an area rug on my carpet in my family room and I've never had any trouble vacuuming on, under or around it. A carpet pad will help keep thinner rugs in place.

House Beautiful Photo: Jose Picayo

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Large Impact vs. Small Accessories - Have a Plan

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

Amanda Nisbet Design

Thank you for all of your kind, supportive comments on my previous post. Some of you had questions and, if your e-mail is linked to your profile, I'll respond in an e-mail because, quite honestly, that is all the blog time I want to devote to that problem. I'm getting out-of-town guests today, so it probably won't be today but I'll do it as soon as I can. As for that other thing at the beginning of my posts - sorry. Ugly necessity. Moving on...

I'm a big fan of both area rugs and window treatments because I think they can go a long way toward softening a space, adding texture and color (or pulling colors together) and making a room cozy. I've seen people spend a lot of time and effort trying to make a room feel "right" without them, when if they would have just added them the room would have been complete. Sure, there are definitely rooms that can do without them but, in more cases than not, at least one of these is what a room needs.

Coastal Living Photo: Tria Giovan, Stylist: Heather Chadduck

I've run across a variety of people over the years who don't have either in their space because it's just not in the budget. What I've found really interesting, though, is that some of these same people have a BOATLOAD of small accessories. Some are displayed, but many are just stashed in closets, bins, or wherever. You know, those absolutely adorable or inexpensive little things we all run across when we're out and about and just have to have but have no clue where we're going to put them. Sometimes we almost feel compelled to buy them because they ARE so inexpensive! I mean, who would pass up a deal like that? :-)

Southern Living Designer Paige Schnell/Tracery Interiors
Photo Laurey W. Glenn/Robbie Caponetto

If there are any of you who have that same dilemma (missing window treatments/rugs/large acessories, but more than your share of small accessories) here is a suggestion. Analyze your space and determine where you still need small accessories and what you need. Not the specific item, necessarily, but generally what would work as far as size, etc.. Make a list and keep it with you when you shop. Every time you bypass one of those absolutely to-die-for little accessories that isn't on your list, take that amount of money and piggy bank it toward window treatments, rugs or a larger accessory that would make a bigger impact in the room. Depending on how many little accessories you normally buy, you might be surprised at how quickly your little cash stash multiplies. Once you've grown your cash stash, you can purchase these items fairly inexpensively at a variety of sources and, as we've seen all over blogland, there are DIY options as well.

pointclickhome.com Designer Monelle Totah/Photo Simon Upton

I know that making a plan for accessorizing takes some of the fun and spontaneity out of the process, BUT if you're on a limited budget and really looking to make an impact in your space, and you DON'T have an area rug or window treatments, or you're missing LARGER accessories, why not forego the instant gratification of the small accessories for the delayed gratification (and much bigger impact) of the larger items? (I'm getting super good at these run-on sentences, aren't I?)

Just saying it's something to think about... What do you think?

Decorating with Maps

House Beautiful Designer Peter Dunham/Photo Victoria Pearson

I was totally amazed by all of the comments on my last post! Thank you so much! Even though I wanted to post about it because it was out there in the magazine and I at least wanted to say that it was mine, I felt a little weird after hitting publish, like it was kind of a "look at me" post, but none of you made me feel that way at all. (How's that for a run-on sentence?) You rock. (I should have said "our" bench though, because it was definitely a team effort with my husband. Couldn't have made it without him.) The comment that gave me a LOL moment was from Leanne who offered to find all of the copies of the magazine in her area and write my name in them. :-)

House Beautiful Photo by Don Freeman

In case you haven't figured it out yet, this post is inspiration and ideas, large and small, for decorating with maps. If you love maps, you'll probably like it. If not, I'm fairly certain it will be map overload and you may hate it. If you try to visualize something else you love in place of the map in each image, maybe you'll still find something to inspire your decorating. Otherwise, I promise NO MAPS in the next post. :-)

Adding maps as art can help create a pretty vignette. I love the warm colors of this one...

Southern LivingPhoto Robbie Caponetto

and the cool colors of this one (I know. I'm fickle, but they ARE both pretty!)

Trisha Brink Design via flickr

Six vintage maps, framed, create instant wall art.

Country Living photo credit: Steven Randazzo

We've already seen this in a previous post, but I still think it's an interesting way to use map art (or any other art for that matter).

David H. Mitchell for Southern Accents 2005 via House of Turquoise

Rather than framing your map, put it on the wall and hang a frame over it. (diyideas.com)

Large scale maps...
Centsational Girl's warm and cozy game room/lounge


A nautical chart of Long Island in the style of a blueprint

House Beautiful Designer Kim Coleman/Photo James Merrell

I've loved this room that Kimba at ASPTL decorated for her son since the first time I saw it. To see how she created this map art click here.

A map headboard from BHG.com

Papering the walls with maps...

House Beautiful Designer Steven Gambrel/Photo Eric Piasecki

Impress Your Kids created a map wall for her son's room. She shows you how she did it here

Pottery Barn

Map place mats...

Coastal Living Photo Charles Walton IV

Map coasters from San Francisco Chronicle (tutorial on site)

Have you noticed that butterflies are appearing everywhere in decorating? Image Surgery uses maps to create their butterfly art.

A map cupcake tower by Laurie Federico featured at mydiyweddingday.com. This one was obviously for a wedding, but would it have to be? Instructions here.

Kristi at Addicted to Decorating created this globe pendant light. Tutorial on site

Chez Larsson makes a map lampshade. Tutorial here.

Wisteria has a map chest...


And Bombus makes map chairs...

Sasha Andreev (HGTV) created a map rug by by attaching a large map to a piece of linoleum. He adhered the map with spray adhesive and finished it with several coats of polyurethane. He also made a map window shade and shadow box. You can see those here.

Map trays from Carolina Cottage

Art print from StudioLyon

If you like your maps in really small doses, Denise at Living Life Creatively made this cute map bird. She teaches you how to make them here.

So... What do you think? Do you/will you decorate with maps or are you completely overloaded and can't wait to get away from this post? :-)

Pattern Inspiration - Paisley

Fabulous paisley cakes at carriescakes.com and ameliascakes.com - here and here.

I'm continuing the pattern inspiration series today with the paisley pattern. As with so many patterns, the ideas and sources for incorporating it into your life are many but I've tried to include a variety (some decor related and some not) to inspire you.

Designer Candice Olsen used rub-on decals in a giant paisley design on the walls in this attic transformation. You can see the rest of the transformation at pointclickhome.com. (Photographer: Brandon Barre)

The way they used just one very large paisley wall decal in this room feels very modern...

Cutting Edge Stencils

Designer Kathryn Chaplow used a bold black and white paisley wallpaper in the foyer of this colorful home. She used the green urn to pull in the accent color that you see throughout the rest of the home.

Photographer James Yochum

Designer Angie Hranowsky found these great tub chairs, repainted them with white lacquer and had them reupholstered in this fabulous paisley fabric. Love it!

pointclickhome.com

How fun is this Amy Butler inspired lampshade from BHG.com? (instructions on their site)

Paisley duvet cover/shams and other paisley home decor at Pottery Barn.


Avian Floral Paisley art grouping

Lakeitha at Home to Three Duncan Boys created her paisley art with fabric and some inexpensive frames.

A paisley loveseat, chair or pillows from Pier 1.
How about a paisley bag for this spring or summer?

taylorandesigns.com

Or a paisley laptop skin?

laptopskins.net

Paisley scarf?

World Market

1-rug, 2-dishes,3-outdoor pillows, 4-rug,5-outdoor chair pad,6-art

1-rug, 2-rug,3-appliques,4-pillows,5-dishes,6-throw

HAVE A GREAT DAY!