Room Design: Bleached Tablescape for Thanksgiving (Tutorial)

 

Last year I decided on a "bleached" tablescape for Thanksgiving: I gathered fallen branches, pinecones and acorns from my backyard, dusted them with white paint, and arranged them in different glass containers for a monochrome effect.

 

 

I varied the scale by mixing in some similarly whitewashed pumkins and gourds and grounded it all on a crisp white tablecloth. What I love about this look is that everything else pops--the bit of gold on the china, and especially whatever food will be served on those plates.

 

 

I shared the steps for this DIY in a Kirtsy slideshow last year and now I'm bringing the tutorial home. Click to read about bleaching your own tablescape.

 

Room Design: Family Room Update

Some months ago my husband commented on the fact that our round table only seated four... It's funny how I hadn't thought about that. Perhaps because Tess was always sitting in the high chair. But obviously we needed a table for five. So we started table hunting. And one thing led to another... We found this table at Crate&Barrel and it is supposed to have an indestructible top. Perfect for children. But I still end up covering it all the time because it is heavily textured and difficult to clean up spills. Oil cloth is perfect for that (except for the PVC! yikes, I know... but laminated cotton is just not the same). I had been using some brightly colored tablecloths I made a few years ago but it was such a clash.

So I looked for something more neutral and found this great silver oilcloth and tan polka dot oilcloth to use for a tablecloht and splat mat. What a difference! Don't know why I didn't do this long ago. (The kitchen table is where my laptop is usually sitting so I can steal a minute to check email while eating lunch or breakfast...)

We got the higher chairs (bar stools) at IKEA and they work great for the three girls. At some point we'll have to replace the rest of the chairs, which I bought before we were married.

We were lucky enough to replace a sectional couch we'd had for what seemed like forever. I never really liked the couch when we got it, but there just were not that many options then for a sectional and nothing else would fit down the stairway in the basement. I had no idea how long you have to keep a couch. The old one was a khaki-gold and we had the wall painted a similar color and every photo we took in that room turned out horribly! It seems strange, but I finally realized that color was really unflattering...! And since we gather so often in this room, and take photos in here, we had to repaint. (Have you ever noticed in interior design magazines when they talk about a wall color being "really flattering"? Now I get it.)

So now we have a grey couch (also Crate&Barrel) and grey walls (Martha Stewart's "Cement Gray": MSL266 from Home Depot) and I like it so much better! I had to come up with some new throw pillows for the couch. I found some different fabrics--a few Ikat inspired--but I realized I prefer a more monochromatic look with some interesting textures on the couch so I used the patterns for the floor pillows. I found these great mongolian lamb pillows at West Elm. They are incredibly soft. I love them but my children love them even more, which makes me really happy!

Because it is the family room, afterall! It's not easy to balance budget, design and kid-friendly function, is it? Sometimes we wonder if it's worth it to replace the worn-out when everything takes a beating. But on the other hand, does it make sense to put off little improvements indefinitely when they would make your surroundings more enjoyable every day? How do you do it?

(They all love the blanket I made for their dad last Christmas too. I should make some more of those!)

Room Design: Bleached Tablescape (Kirtsy Slideshow)

I have always loved the monochrome. Pick your hue and layer it with different depths of saturation and that's my kind of ensemble or room or tablescape! I think it's both modern and timeless, and I think it's a great approach to holiday entertaining.

This year I'm bleaching it. I'm going with white-on-white. I love the way it forces you to look at ordinary, natural objects, such as a pinecone, differently.

Somehow it accentuates the subtleties of texture and shape. The white isn't totally opaque so the warm wood tones come through, which I find captivating. This bleached tablescape could lend itself to a frosted wintertime look, especially if you mixed it with mercury glass and silver, or it could be warmer, say with touches of gold on plates or serving platters. And this restrained palette allows the food--which is really the focus of holiday entertaining--to be standout.

This Bleached Tablescape and a photo DIY is part of a Kirtsy slideshow, called 10 Perfectly Pretty Party Projects (now that's my kind of alliteration!). It's curated by Sarah Bryden-Brown of BlogStar, and features 10 lifestyle bloggers, many of whom I know are familiar to you. Check out all the great ideas for styling a party during the holidays and beyond.

Room Design: Thanksgiving TableTop

Though I have wanted a large traditional Thanksgiving transferware platter for years, I also have wondered about a more contemporary take on Thanksgiving decorating. Most of what I see around feels a bit incongruous when I think of it in my dining room. I thought, why not ask Design Mom? She always seems to find such great modern things for home and kids. Gabrielle steered me towards some metallic painted pumpkins and that gave me this idea.

I found fake pumpkins and gourds on clearance from Halloween and spray painted them white. I love it! Looks very sculptural to me. Now if I used mostly white serving dishes the food would really be the color and the center of table.

These photos look black and white but they are in fact in color. Very dark due to the grey morning of our first big snow day and the interior location of the dining room.  The drama (of the snow and the tabletop) is kind of fun.

Ohdeedoh Small Kids, Big Color: Audrey's Big Girl Room

 

Have you been tracking the Ohdeedoh "Small Kids, Big Color" contest?  There are so many fun and inspiring room designs--so perfect if you're planning a redo. I thought I would submit Audrey's room and it made a feature this morning: entry #58! They are inviting readers to vote and will move forward a subset of the entries to the finals. Would be fun to be among them but it's pretty amazing competition. It's just fun to be included.

I loved Audrey's room when we did it as her nursery, and even more as her "Big Girl Room," when we upgraded her to a bed, and it's been fun adding some things here and there over the years. Just found my old wooden shoes, for instance, and they're the perfect thing in here! I can't believe we're now reading to her out of some of the children's books we placed on her shelves as decoration, seems like just yesterday.

This is my favorite of the photos I submitted: bunny wearing Audrey's birthday crown.

I have been sad about the prospect of the fabrics I used in Audrey's room fading, and the walls getting nicked, and the need to at least repaint if not potentially totally redo in a couple years (just hoping and hoping it won't be forced because she wants to decorate her own room in some garish fashion!) but then looking through Ohdeedoh I think it would be so fun to try it again in a totally different scheme--repaint the furniture, etc.  So many equally great possibilities.

Sewing: Linen and Lavender Crib Bedding

I didn't think I would finish this, but since this baby girl decided not to be early like her sisters I had extra time. So her crib bedding is finished! Not that she needs it immediately, but I feel better having a little nest for our new one. Especially since she doesn't have a room of her own... It looks lovely outside though...

The room that will be hers eventually is the only of our children's bedrooms with stained window mouldings. The idea of cherry wood threw me for a while in my nursery concepting. Seems a bit more tricky (to me anyway) to come up with a color palette and "feel" than if the trim were white, as it is in the other rooms.  Cherry seems more masculine, or at least more grown up, but I kind of liked the challenge too. I was thinking for a while about something very British in feel--perhaps a Spode-inspired blue and white, or blue white and a shade of magenta. I even I found some pretty fabrics but they seemed too serious. I love the whimsy of Audrey's and Scarlett's rooms and wanted some of that for this baby.

Then a few weeks ago as I was finishing the lavender cardigan for Audrey, I tossed it over this crib (which has been sitting elegantly in our entry!) and loved the combination. I also loved the idea of using linen--one of my all-time favorite neutrals. So it was decided: linen and lavender. I seem to be on a bit of a lavender kick this summer. Audrey has inspired me I guess. 

It's always dangerous to start getting ideas in one's head as it seems the actual fabrics or wallpaper or furniture is impossible to find, but I lucked out in finding this jacquard upholstery fabric (at one of my favorite stores) and decided to use it as the only pattern. It feels a bit youthful and whimsical to me even though the palette is sophisticated. I just wish I'd purchased more as I decided to use it on both sides of the bumper and now am out, and the store is out too, and who knows if I'll find more. I was thinking of stashing some for the "big girl" version of the room--throw pillows or something. Maybe I'll find some eventually.

I used a Vogue pattern as a reference for the bumper and crib skirt but ended up calculating measurements on my own for the most part and then totally ignoring the instructions because I improvised so much. Rather than piecing the skirt per the pattern I bought a full bolt of the fabrics and cut strips as long as each of the sides--much more satisfactory final product I think. I added the contrasting band to the skirt, made wider and longer bumper ties, added piping to the bumper and lengthened the skirt decking as the last couple I made were about two inches too short. I'm glad it all worked out! I had to hand sew the entire bottom of the bumper, which is not my favorite thing--way too slow--but it's finished and it was worth it.

I was toying with the idea of finding another patterned fabric for the fitted sheet (maybe a small polka dot) but decided to stick with a solid lavender and I like it. The bed feels very serene to me. A good place to fall sweetly to sleep. More subdued than the other girls' crib ensembles. Maybe I'm mellowing as I mature?

The only "problem" with having finished this is that it really makes me want to do the complete room. I would love to incorporate some of the great apricot and coral shades from this baby's heirloom cut-chenille blanket--love lavender and apricot together. I think I'll display the blanket, in fact it would look gorgeous tossed over the crib I think, and think about using that shade on the walls somehow--paint or paintings or something. We'll see how the timing works out on that project, but for now, at least this little baby has her own crib to come home to.

Rooms: Kitchen Backsplash

More in the category of finishing things left undone... When we remodeled our kitchen about five years ago we always intended to do a tile backsplash but haven't found exactly the right tile to motivate the project. I loved the crackle glaze tiles for a while, and "plain" subways, and various glass incarnations. We have had the walls painted "Cookie Crumb" which is a nice tan/ochre, until now. The tile that tipped us towards finishing (credit to the nesting instinct as well of course) was this Shaw Floors Micro Blocks in "Sea Glass." Sort of a surprising source, but I love this glass--all the colors of the sea, including this nice yellow ochre vein.

I'm loving it! I think it adds another nice dimension to the kitchen. A nice complement of colors to the red/brown cabinets, the counter, the cork floors and the stainless. I especailly love it with the stainless.

Typically one would affix the tile with a white mastic, and that white background would really make the colors pop. We toned down the blues and greens a bit and opted to affix it directly over our paint color to make it more harmonious with those tones. We also used a neutral gray grout instead of white. I love glass tiles grouted in white but this seems to work better here.

So finally, five years later, it's a long way from what it looked like when we moved in!

Sewing: Reupholstered Outdoor Pillows

So the nesting instinct this pregnancy has taken serious aim at "loose ends;" those things around the house that aren't quite finished. Those projects I was always intending to take on. So I am very happy to cross this one off the list!

We got this great patio furniture earlier this year from Costco, which of course can seldom be beat for quality and price, but I didn't love the throw pillows. They're OK, but I'm not crazy about the pattern and they didn't add much in my opinion--no color--while the small scale of the pattern also seemed a bit distracting.

Viewed from the room adjacent to this patio I was wishing for pillows that pulled through some of the colors in the room, red, for instance. So I went on a hunt, first looking at purchasing outdoor pillow covers, but after investing in the furniture the price tag for that was too high. Then I thought I should sew the covers myself since several fabric stores carry outdoor fabrics. At about $29/yard I thought I would save about half. But then, I called one of my favorite fabric stores, HomeFabrics, and learned they too carry outdoor fabrics so I headed over there to check them out. I was a bit disappointed because most of the selection was not at all what I had in mind, but then I found the perfect fabric misplaced in the canvas area--this beautiful warm solid red! Unbelievably, it was $3.99/yard!!! I bought three yards for six pillows, so for about $12 I have what I think are the perfect throw pillows for our patio furniture.

 I think the solid red is simpler, more in keeping with the contemporary lines, but also provides more "oomph," especially when viewed from the living room. It also works well with the flowering pots. 

Of course the fabric sat on my table for a week before I got to it, but when I finally did it really didn't take long at all. I didn't use a zipper because the originals didn't, and I guess the point of outdoor fabrics is that they are waterproof and can be squirted off or wiped clean rather than washed. Seemed a time saver but I don't love stitching pillows closed--very awkward moving the poufy things along the foot and keeping the topstitch straight. But I managed--lots of pins helped. And the bit of effort was so worth it! I love the red pillows and love what a cinch they were in terms of time and budget. Guilt-free. Hooray! 

Rooms: Basement Playroom--Hooray!

I couldn't be happier about this project! Finally, a playroom of our own! I feel so lucky to have a room we can dedicate to a playing space. Up until now (well, for the past three and a half years anyway) the toys have been strewn throughout the house and mostly piled in our family room, which has been fine, and pretty convenient, but the piles kept getting bigger, and as the kids get bigger and there are more friends and cousins around we were really wishing for a room they could play in and not get into too much trouble, and to be honest, not be in the middle of dinner in the dining room or whatever we have going on when they're all over.

So we took the plunge! Before Christmas we engaged a great contractor and talked about our basement space. This house was built in 1969 and the space had always been unfinished. It was convenient for storing large boxes and things we didn't know what to do with but was really a waste in terms of the value we could get out of it. So we made a plan for play room, large "storage hall," and art studio (which may end up being a storage room but I had to dream a little!).



Here is what this space looked like before construction: Totally frightening! And this was after we cleared out the empty boxes, and random things we were storing, and hadn't unpacked since moving in eight years ago. Feels like such an accomplishment to conquer this space!

Now we have built in storage and lots of space to run around in. We're even happier about it since learning we are expecting our third child later this year--phew! We'll need it more than ever.

I wasn't sure what to do about color scheme or theme... So far our girls aren't typically girly. Purple is Audrey's favorite color but pink doesn't show up all that often. We don't really have fairies or princesses or many dolls around. They prefer stuffed animals and live ones. Then with the baby news I thought I should hedge a bit on the girl stuff in case we have a boy and go with something that would be fun for girls or boys.

They say you should start with the rug, and we did. David gravitated towards these great wool rugs at IKEA. So vibrant and fun, and great quality (and great price!). So we decided to do interlocking foam mat tiles on the floor for cushion and top them with these rugs. The rugs have so many colors to choose from but I really wanted to emphasize red and orange so I ordered red and orange strapping storage from Land of Nod. I love these baskets--great sizes for shelves and floor and no hard edges for kids to get hurt on. I'm using the smaller ones to organize toys (baby toys in one, musical toys in another, wood blocks in another...) on shelves and the large ones to hold puppets, costumes, and aprons and kitchen play accessories.

We decided on this great sky blue color for the walls. I was really hoping to be able to cut in some windows but when they got into it they discovered a powerline running right along our foundation--bummer. So we brought the sky indoors. With the lighting and the colors the room is bright and cheery so it all worked out.

We moved the play kitchen down from Audrey's room and the girls were lucky enough to get a cute little grocery stand and a table and chair set from Santa for Christmas to add to it--now they can do the full play: shopping at the store, fixing dinner, setting the table, and sitting to eat. Hmm, who do you think is more excited about that?

I also love the idea of the puppet theater, which could double as a post office, or veterinarian, or some other thing... I hope the girls will play with it. We got a funny sound machine from my sister to go with it--all kinds of funny and strange effects (another good reason for a basement playroom!).

The little tent and giant ladybug came from IKEA too. (LOVE that place!) The tent is our best investment yet. We can fit the whole family inside and the girls love it. They fill it with toys, turn it upside down, you name it. We got some other things too for more acrobatics--swinging rings to hang from the ceiling and a rope ladder, but haven't figured out whether they're a good idea or not. Certainly increases some risk during unsupervised play but maybe we could just hook them up for short periods of supervised time. We'll see...

My favorite thing is this little "hideaway." We had a funky little corner in this room and weren't sure what to do with it so I asked for it to be finished with a little lookout window and lamp ( IKEA again). I'll hang a curtain for better hiding and would like to find a little ladder to attach on the inside wall beneath the window, and maybe one of those play telescopes to attach to the window. Audrey and her cousins filled this little space with a bunch of pillows and any soft thing in the room so they could stand on the pile and look out the window. It was pretty funny. Looked like a good place for a nap too.

Another thing I'm glad I thought of are these open bins in the storage area. It's great to be able to toss the bigger toys and balls in here and not have cleanup be such an effort.

We put full-light doors on the playroom and studio room in hopes of getting some light transfer from the windows in the studio, which will likely be closed and locked most of the time. I also thought it would be good to have the ability to peer in and out of these rooms without opening the doors. I love the look. A little concerned now about the practicality after having a bunch of nephews over, but we'll hope for the best. Thank goodness for tempered glass! And the doors are at a funny angle--would be hard to have anything come at them too hard (I hope).

And then there is the storage hall. Exciting in itself really. We stained the concrete floors for a simple, modern look. I'd like to eventually find some low-pile runners to put down, but I like this look as is. This hall space was too wide to just be a hall and not perfect for a room so put deep storage closets along both walls. I've got fixed and adjustable shelving behind all the doors and am hoping this is what I need to have a place for everything and put everything in its place. Hard (for me at least) to judge whether the space is adequate for the things we've had in boxes. I'm excited to tackle the organization project.

This was the hall before:

We've already debuted the playroom with cousins and friends and they seem to approve! So far they love playing down there and it made for a much quieter extended family dinner--hooray!

Now, in addition to organizing the storage hall, I would love to come up with something for the big blank blue walls. I was thinking of painting a mural but was worried about it being too much. Then I thought of paintings in painted frames on the walls... I'm not sure, but it would be nice at some point. It's on the list and we'll see...