5 Design Tips for the Perfect Teen Bedroom

If you are new here, let me share a little background on this DIY teen boys room remodel. When we moved into our current home in 2010, there was one kid's room that was MUCH larger than the rest. With a three-year age gap between each of our kids, we made the decision that each of them could have a turn to have the "big room" starting with the oldest. Each of the kids has made the room their own in various ways, and often, they plan for months as they anticipate their older sibling moving out. This year was interesting as our daughter wavered between going away to school {all her classes at her out of state university were online} and staying home to stay safe. 
Our youngest had been planning for no less than six months {with scaled drawings I might add!} to take over the room and his plans were put on hold. With our daughter out of the house for several months, we decided it was time for the youngest to make the transition to the "big room".  So what started as a rock 'n roll den with our oldest, transitioned to a gray glam girls room and has now moved to a modern teen boys room with a geometric feature wall. In case you missed the first step, you can check out the DIY geometric feature wall in this post. 

All that said, I am kind of an expert when it comes to walking alongside as teens design their perfect bedroom. So I'm sharing design tips for your teen today. I'm also sharing the secret I learned for getting your teen to make their bed daily! You aren't going to want to miss it!

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How to Make a Large Frame Wood Sign for Under $10!

My favorite projects are always upcycled projects. If you've been reading along for any length of time this wouldn't be a surprise to you. It's part me being super cheap and part resourcefulness. I've always had a knack for being able to see something in a different way. Back when I started to DIY and craft Martha Stewart was big on the scene. I remember one time feeling inspired to create something she had shown on her show only to be disappointed that my limited budget couldn't {and didn't want to!} afford the supplies. I tweaked the project idea Martha Stewart had featured and used supplies I had on hand. The project didn't turn out exactly how Martha Steward had shown, but it had a Rachel flare to it that I liked better. 

I'm sure this is my own memory but it's my memory {and my blog, so roll with me}. One of the projects I remember reading about in the Martha Stewart magazine I flipping through at the library pre-thanksgiving the first year after I got married, had a project that required picking berries and then using them to create a dye that you would then use to color the tablecloth that you hand-stitched. I'm not kidding. I was crafty and resourceful but I wasn't crazy! And that's why I try to focus on real projects here.

It's why the final part of my tagline is real projects {real people, real projects, real life!}. I don't want you to feel like you can't make something. I never want you to feel limited based on your abilities or in your access to materials or heck, even intimidated by the process. The crafts and DIY projects I share are one-of-a-kinds, but they should also help you feel inspired to create your own, one-of-a-kind project using similar items, like this large wood frame sign. I see these all the time at thrift stores and garage sales so I know you have too. And if you don't shop second hand we can't be friends you might just have something similar hiding in storage.  Here's how I made a large frame wood sign for under $10 from an ugly castoff.

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DIY a Modern Tree Stump Natural Wood Lamp

I was wandering the aisles of Target like any suburban mom does and I saw a wood vase just sitting there. It was telling me that it wanted to be a lamp. Well, it didn't speak audible words, I'm not crazy. But I looked at it and turned it all around in my hands and was like where the heck is the rest of this? It was just darn near begging to be turned into a lamp. There was a little knot in the bottom back of it that had a hole that would be perfect for the cord to go through and dang, it looked like something I would find in a high-end store. I just knew I could make it without the high-end price and that is what I did. Well, I didn't as much as I instructed my husband to make it. But I supervised. I love how it turned out and wouldn't you know it, a quick google search found similar modern teak lamps for hundreds and thousands of dollars. Now, I wouldn't spend that on a lamp, but you get the point. Why not DIY one and get the look? And that is what I'm going to do. I'll show you step by step how we created this modern tree stump teak lamp and how you can make your own.

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My Private Tour Recap of the 2018 HGTV Dream Home

Thanks to Delta Faucet for inviting me to have a private tour of the 2018 HGTV Dream Home. All opinions are 100% my own.
When I was on vacation in Hawaii celebrating my high school graduation with my family, I got to chatting in the pool with some other resort guests. We exchanged pleasantries and then the next question we exchanged was "where are you from." I remember at that moment in time being embarrassed to say that I was from Indiana. I didn't feel like it had anything special to offer. It was just blah. My friends from the Midwest may even remember a small amusement park that had the slogan "there's more than corn in Indiana...", however, none of us were too sure of what more there was. It wasn't until years later and decades after I moved away that I grew to appreciate the roots in my home state. That said, I'm not sure HGTV is building a dream home there anytime soon, but they did stake their claim to a beautiful home not far from where I am currently planting roots with my family in Gig Harbor, Washington. 
I recently had the opportunity to tour the 2018 HGTV Dream Home with one of the major sponsors, Delta Faucet. Delta is based in my hometown in Indiana. Fun fact, I worked at the headquarters during my summers in college answering the phones. So if this didn't all come full circle, I don't know what would. 
I'm excited to share with you a recap and a tour of some of my favorite spaces in the 2018 HGTV Dream Home and explain a little bit more about the trends I spotted inside the home while being a tad bit snarky about my lack of possession of any design knowledge.

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Paper Succulent Terrarium for the Black Thumb

I love plants I really do, they just don't really seem to love me. It's about this time of year that I start getting the itch to plant anything, inside and outside. We get these glimpses of spring with sunshine and rising temperatures and then BAM!, back to typical rainy Pacific Northwest weather. I have learned through the years that even though I want to be good at gardening and plant growing {I'm sure there is a word for this...}, I'm just not. Especially with indoor houseplants. I keep trying with the plants outside because heck, everything seems to grow here, but I have finally succumbed to the fact that I'm not really good at keeping plants alive inside and that's OK. So, I'm slowing making a shift to faux plants like this paper succulent I'm showing you how to make today. You can still bring in a little green inside but not have to worry about keeping it alive. It's really a win win and the whole project will cost you just a few bucks...less than a houseplant.

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Updating a 90's Living Room in a Model Home

They say that the kitchen is the heart of the home but when you are a family raising kids, I would say that the living room gives the kitchen some competition. Perhaps it could be considered the backbone of the home. So much time is spent there, especially as homes with open concepts become the norm. No longer are we separated in different rooms, instead we flow from space to space. 

We have some dear friends that we have been doing life with for more than a decade. We have kids that are similar ages and have enjoyed serving together in many different ways. They constantly open their home for events and functions and we have spent countless hours together in this living room with them. Over Christmas, the gas fireplace that they use nearly everyday exploded. Glass flew everywhere and sent the family asking questions about the safety of their home fireplace. Experts weighed in and what they found was that something like this is extremely rare and while the fireplace didn't technically "explode" {had it done that, the whole insert would have blown out and landed across the room}, the glass had failed over time. 

The need to replace the fireplace sent this family into complete remodeling mode with a desire to update the room of their home that has become such an important space for this family of five. While my friend knows what she likes and what she doesn't, she often doesn't trust herself to make decisions on design and I offered to be a hand to hold and thought my readers might be interested in going along on the process of updating a 90's living room. So they have graciously opened up their space once again, this time to all of you and we will be working together to complete a new design that this family can continue to grow into as their family evolves and changes.

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5 things to know before you visit Magnolia Market

Until last month, I had never been to the great state of Texas. My oldest son has applied for college in five different states, Texas being one of them. The draw of being thousands of miles away from home with a warmer climate while the rest of us are dripping with rain seems appealing to him, so with applications sent, and an acceptance letter in hand, we set off to Texas to tour three universities. 

One of those colleges is Baylor University in Waco, Texas. What I have known in the past of Waco is David Koresh. Of course now, with HGTV's hit show Fixer Upper, Chip and Joanna Gaines are leading the way to making Waco known for much more than the town with a crazy religious sect.

Our main objective while we were in Waco wasn't to tour Magnolia Market, though I was dying to step onto the grounds of those silos, it was to get a good feel of Baylor and see if it could be my son's next home away from home. In the meantime, I had to keep reminding myself that we were here for a college tour and if we had time, we would pop in before the market closed.

Glory of glories we had time! Plenty of fabulous time, so I was able to come to you with 5 things you should know before you visit Magnolia Market. You know, in case you find yourself in Waco touring colleges, or if you are a die hard fan making a trip with the soul purpose of visiting the market.

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Sochi Design Tips from Almost Gemini

 Last week, I laughed with a girlfriend about the tweets from the journalists arriving in Sochi to cover the Olympics.  There were hotel rooms still under construction and shall we say, interesting choices in decor.

My friend Courtney at Almost Gemini started her own photo stream on facebook and instagram of her take on Sochi design.  I thought it was hilarious and wanted to share it with all of you.

Feel free to pin the images and share the love! I'm sure we can all come up with some #sochidesigntips so let's join Almost Gemini and share some of our own home design inspiration from the Sochi Olympics. I made one of my own!

Use #sochidesigntips so we can all follow along!

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Rethinking the ceiling fan

I live in the Pacific Northwest but grew up in Indiana. It was unheard of to not have air conditioning in the Midwest. Every house I lived in had air conditioning. That is, until I moved out West. I've heard it said that less than 1% of the houses in the Seattle area have air conditioning. The weather is so mild you rarely need it but a few weeks out of the year. However, during those few weeks, I long for air conditioning. I hate to be hot when I sleep. I need moving air and since we aren't footing the bill for air conditioning in the near future {though I would be happy to install it if someone wanted to give it to me} I decided to rethink ceiling fans. Over the past few decades ceiling fans have gotten a bad rap. We all remember the nasty lattice filled ceiling fans with faux wood and brass. I'm with ya. Let's rid the world of all of these! source But a few bad apples can't spoil the whole bunch now can it? There has to be some designer who has listened through the years,  understands the merits of a ceiling fan and has paired it with not only a functional design, but one that is ascetically pleasing. So today, as I start to come around to the idea of installing a ceiling fan in our master bedroom let's peruse the internet together in hopes that there is something better than a lattice fan. You barely notice the ceiling fan in this room right? It fits so well into the clean lines of the decor. But it may just be a little too industrial for my master bedroom. I've never seen something more awesome than this windmill fan! Seriously thinking about selling my house and moving into an loft with exposed brick  just so I can have it.

This fan is pretty darn cool looking too.
Less industrial but still more modern than my craftsman style house.

Contemporary Ceiling Fans by Melbourne Lighting House of Lights and Home Accents

Here we go. Moving more in to the traditional style. Less bronze, more silver. Look at this gorgeous room in House Beautiful. I love how the blades of the fan match the plank ceiling. Plus also I love the deer head cuz I sort of have an obsession. Starting to think that a fan without the ugly light may be the way to go.
I like how this fan blends right in to the room. source So it seems, not all ceiling fans are ugly. Don't get me wrong, you can still buy your fair share of ugly ceiling fans, but on the whole, it seems like they are starting to come around. I'm sold. Get me a ceiling fan stat!

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