18
Apr

Wash your mouth out…

Um, well… how about wash your laundry room out?!

Yup!  Spring cleaning is here. Duh. Everybody’s talking about it, so I thought I’d hop on the bandwagon!  I’ve got 4 tips for a cleaner life.

#1 Access.  Have your cleaning supplies handy so you don’t have to go hunting around for them.  If the goodies are there, you’re more likely to do small touch up cleaning rather than waiting to do a big ol day of cleaning.  I’m loving Windex’s Touch Up Cleaner because it sits on the counter right where you need it.  There’s one for the bath and one for the kitchen.  Smells pretty delish, too.

#2 DECLUTTER! Everybody knows to declutter during the springtime; however, if I told you you could declutter your laundry room by not having any detergent bottles lying around would you believe me?  Well, BELIEVE ME because there is a washing machine into which you pour a gallon+ of liquid detergent, so you never have bottles hanging around ever again!  Amazing, right?  Also, it has the highest capacity on the market, so fewer loads sounds like more free time to play croquet!  I know, I know… what’s it called? GE’s washing machine with SMART DISPENSE!

#3 Maintenance Free.  I say invest in things that don’t need to be tended to.  Most of us have a bathroom faucet with finger prints and watermarks… not to mention all of the toothpaste funk (but I can’t really help you with that one!).  Moen’s Ashville faucet is science class great!  It’s so smart, and I’m so NOT smart, so I copied all of the crazy details from their site, so you can see for yourself! It has  ”spot resist brushed nickel with Microban® infused into the faucet finish, Microban® technology works 24/7 for durable antimicrobial protection that won’t wash off or wear away.”  See?  I told you it was fancy schmancy… and cute, too!

#4 Protection! You know what they say… no glove no love.  Um, well that actually has nothing to do with this, but I am super serious about this.  We want to toss the crap we don’t need and protect & preserve the stuff we DO need… like our digital lives — whether we’re talking about our work or home life, documents, pictures, music, etc.  For years now I’ve backed up to Carbonite because I have a fear of my computer crashing, or my house catching on fire with said computer in it!  I believe in off-site back ups as opposed to an external HD for the irrational fire fear.  Makes sense and you know it.  Now go back up your files!

Oh, and Happy Spring!

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18
Apr

A Rapper’s Delight

Thank you @Pier1 and Command Damage-Free Decorating for helping me make Ryan Nach’s home studio a little bit cuter… well, OK, a LOT cuter!!!

When we got there, the place was a mess!  NO style.  NO organization.  NO place for clients to chill.

 

Not to mention NO way of even knowing where you were located!  Uh, are we in somebody’s basement, or are we in an up-and-coming rap mogul’s office?

 

Believe it or not, this was an easy makeover thanks to Pier 1’s rich colors and lovely fabrics and 3M’s mini projector!

 

Furniture first:  I gave him a clean-lined white desk from Pier 1 and 2 stunning mustard brocade-backed chairs.  I rearranged where his desk lived which gave him some executive seating… and before you can say Ice T, we had created a fantab place for Ryan to take meetings.

 

Then, I added this moody high-backed sofa and the famous pompadon chair and boom, a rapper’s delight was formed.

 

Projector next: I took an old serving tray that I found in a thrift shop, projected Ryan’s company’s logo for Knock It Out Records onto the glass of the tray and simply traced the logo onto the tray.  Then, I hung it on the wall and voila, the nook became the hangout that was needed.

 

Check out the makeover @spacestv.

 

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12
Feb

10 tips for throwing a great yard sale

  1. Throw your yard sale on (what you hope) is going to be a beautiful weekend… not in the middle of winter!  Spring time is when people are done hibernating, want to get out and explore all that they’ve missed during the winter.
  2. Saturdays are the most productive yard sale days as it’s the beginning of the weekend, people are still happy and not dreading going back to work on Monday.
  3. Always post signs 5 streets away in any direction of the sale making sure to give easy directions to the sale.  Also, include the date on the sign, so they know that the sale is happening TODAY.  Make the signs large enough to read as folks are driving by and yet not too full of info that it can’t be read at a glance.
  4. Post the yard sale on craigslist.com, tagsellit.com, et al sites with photos of what’s for sale making sure to note the hours you’ll be selling.
  5. Be ready BEFORE the assigned start time as serious yard salers arriver early!  You know what they say, the early bird catches the worm… or in this case, the cute wooden chair they’ve always been looking for!
  6. Group items on tables by price and clearly mark prices, so you don’t have to make it up on the spot.  People don’t like it when you make up a price after you’ve “sized” them up!
  7. Make sure to have plenty of change on hand and be willing to negotiate.  It’s a part of yard sale-ing.  A good way to think about it is this:  you’ll get more than you thought on some items and less on a few others.  It’ll all even out in the end.  Remember the point of the sale:  to get rid of stuff!
  8. Have freebies for people such as left over mason jars and vases… things that have little value.  Then, you get to have a table with a big sign that says FREE!  Who doesn’t like free stuff?
  9. Have free water for shoppers… shopping can be parching!  Selling hot dogs is a fun way to get people to hang around a little bit longer and shop a bit while they eat ;-)
  10. Be nice.  Nobody likes to buy from a jerk.  Greet everybody with a, “Hello!  Let me know if you are looking for anything specific and I’ll let you know if I have it!”  And, don’t forget to THANK THEM for taking the stuff off your hands :-)

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5
Feb

Top 5 design trends for 2013… I think ;-)

  1. High contrast graphics are quite popular as they give a lot of bang for their buck.  As in, you can add major pizzazz to a bedroom simply by putting a comforter (with a bold graphic) on the bed.  Boom.  1 down.

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  1. Double duty is 1/2 as cheap!  Making sure items in any given room serve two purposes is quite trendy these days.  For example:  The Murphy bed allows one room to be an office/meeting room part of the time and a bedroom the other part of the time. Using school lockers creates an entertainment center that also double as a very organized clothing system.  And she’s on a roll…

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  1. Sure, people have been using vinyl graphics on their walls for a while, but now people are using them on their actual furniture and cabinets.  Forget replacing cabinets, or even repainting/restaining existing ones.  Instead, placing colorful vinyl sheeting on the insets of cabinet doors to create an entirely new look is quite hip these days.

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  1. It’s hip to be square!  Laying new flooring is crazy expensive laying carpeting OVER existing flooring is a cheap cheat!  Carpet squares from places such as Flor are a fun way to get as creative as you want with jazzing up the ground on which you walk!  Also, if there’s a stain, now there’s no need to replace the entire carpet — simply swap out that one tile.  Genius, I say!  And, my last prediction for trends of 2013…

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  1. Creating wall vignettes is tres happening right now.  Whether it’s 25 mismatched pix frames that are all painted the same color, or a plethora of one item in varying styles/designs… vignettes are a way to showcase your favorite things and yet still be current stylistically!

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Eat it and weep.

 

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12
Dec

Hook & Ladder, er I mean Hook & Loop

Breaking News!

I just spent the morning blabbing on and on about the wonders of Velcro Brand removable hangers for holiday decorating and was just told that you can enter a contest to win an entire bag of Velcro Brand swag!  So, I wanted to share the swagalicious news immediately… if not sooner!  Enter here.  Seriously, the Velcro tape doesn’t damage the walls so it’s simply perfect for holiday decorating in odd parts of the house where you would’t want to damage a wall.

Also, I talked about the need for good lighting during the holidays and in general.  Bad lighting can seriously ruin good design.  I’m just sayin’.  Last week I put a Samsung LED lightbulb in one of the table lamps in my “lounge” and I must say the soft white light it throws off is way brighter and crisper than that of the traditional bulb in the lamp right next to it.  I guess I need to run to Lowes to pick up a matching bulb as this looks kinda silly (the picture doesn’t do it justice… I guess I need to get a new camera, too!)

It was so super fun to showcase my goofy family photos.  I SO hope my mother doesn’t kill me that I showed the silliest pix of her on national TV!  Listen, when I’m sharing holiday table decorating tips, everything is fair game ;-)  Sorry Mom!  Actually, I really do love my idea, so here it is in case you missed the segment.  Take cheap wooden frames, stain them using 1 of 24 colors by Minwax and then place goofy family photos in the frames like I did.  Place those pix frames in front of place settings at the holiday table instead of the standard written place cards.  The silly photos make everybody laugh and they get people talking which is certainly better than what happens at many holiday dinner tables!  Duck, there’s a dinner roll coming your way…

Posted in Craftortionist, Party Ideas, Thrift Freak, Tracy Metro | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment