It's hard being brilliant

Well, no it's not really, it's pretty awesome.  Sharing a crafty project with you today. It's kind of nerdy - practical, but has solved some major problems.  Sooooooo, at my daughter's latest school conference, I heard several of her teachers indicate that her main source of problems and roadblack to big success is  . . . .  having a pencil.  Really.  She evidently never has a pencil.  Yes, I rolled my eyes too. I mean, how hard is that?  I've sent in like a go-jillian this year and every year.  Yes, she loses all of her other supplies too, but they literally all said she'd be better if she just had a pencil.  One suggested, could you get her a necklace to hold it.  Well, at our uber-conservative school where even colored hair accessories are prohibited, I was surprised but jumped on the opportunity to come up with something.  I googled for hours online for things like neck pencil holder, pencil necklaces, etc - no go.  So, decided to get my DIY on.  And here you go:

Yes, that is like a nerdy pocket protector but for your neck.  Here's how I made it:

This is an ID holder for your neck I found
at Office Depot

So that the pencils wouldn't fall out, I put a small piece of velcro on the INSIDE of the pouch:

And voila, the coolest nerdy pencil holder of all time.  I half expected my daughter to tell me she wouldn't use it, but to my surprise she was excited and tells me she uses it every day.   I've not had reports of missing pencils from teachers, so heck, maybe it will work.  What has NOT happened is rush orders from her friends who want one too.  Hmmm, still researching the mass market appeal for this product!  One more pic of the after.

I'm seeing stripes

Here's a sneak peek at the boys' room.  I had a sick kiddo on Friday and used my afternoon of work to get this party started.  It actually took less time than I thought and the outcome is WOW.

Sorry for the crappy picture, just from my phone.  I looked into lots of ways of doing this paint application before I started and found most folks simply use a level and a measuring tape.  I've heard of folks using a laser level, but I don't have one and didn't want to spend the money. So, I found my middle point on the wall, then measured from there.  I planned on 10" stripes, but due to a mishap, I ended up with 11" stripes on half of the wall.  So, I had to erase all my pencil marks and start over.  Anyhoo - you just measure up to your next stripe, then use the level to draw your stripes with a pencil.  Then use painters tape where you drew the pencil stripes.  Then you fill in every other line with your accent paint color.

All in all, without my mis-measuring debacle, I'd say the drawing of the stripes took about 1 hour, the taping about 45 minutes, painting (2 coats) about 30 minutes.  Not much time for a huge impact.

Left to do:
- new blinds (large window is special order, UGGGHH)
- hang curtains: I have the old black tab tops, but am thinking of adding some red stripes using the bedskirts I'm no longer using on the beds.
- one more coat of paint on the trim
- touch up a few spots on the walls
- hang artwork and shelves
- make a DIY coat hook board

Once I get a couple more things done I'll take some better pix.  The boys slept in their new bed last night, so major progress over the week long slumber party they held in my daughter's room.  She's glad to have the "stinky varmints" out of her room.  Who says varmint?

Right again

In my house the hubs or now even the kids like to tell me my decor ideas are wacky or weird or bizarre.  In many cases, I find an example on a blog or design site showing how my zany idea is super hip, cool and NOW.  For the boys room, mood board seen below, the graphic wall stripes were a key part of my design.

The hubs and my 9 year old daughter both heckled me that they've never seen such a thing in a house they know, did I even ask the boys what they wanted for their room, WHY CAN'T I DO ANYTHING NORMAL???  (Normal, blech . . . . . .)

And, what do I find on Apartment Therapy's post today about Bold Black Stripes being "it" right now.  See some examples:

And Mommy's still on trend ladies and gentlemen!  Just wait til this Boys Bungalow comes together, gonna be the bomb.com.

Do-Over

Well I'd like to have a fat ole do-over for this weekend . My plans to get the boys room totally finished this weekend was a bit unlikely I see now, and I way underperformed.  If you'll remember, here is the design board for my boys who are 8 and 3.  Need to free up some floor space plus baby boy needs a big boy bed (wiping . . .tears . . .). 

As you can see we're featuring their University of Louisville bedding that we already have and trying to MOD it up a bit.  I want something cool, modern, hip, but also feature our fave team.  My plan this weekend was to paint all walls white and get the black/white stripes done. 
PROGRESS:
1. Well, so far only two walls are completely painted white.  It took 3 coats of primer/paint in one (yeah right) and still needs a smidge of touch-up in the trim areas.  I bought some Kilz for the other walls to hopefully use less paint.  Kilz primer is about $21 per gallon, vs. $35 or so for the paint/primer.  So, 2 walls complete, 2 need another one or two coats.
2. Bright idea dawned on me at Home Depot to add magnetic paint to one wall where the boys will have a desk area.   If you haven't heard of this, it's a very cool paint with magnetic bits in it that you paint on the wall then paint a top coat over.  Now, I screwed up and put my first can over an area about 30 sq. ft.  Evidently it's only supposed to cover 16 sq. ft. so the it wasn't as magnetic as it needed to be.  So, off to Home Depot for more.  This stuff is about $20 per can.  Also, it's BLACK and the directions state more than 1 or 2 coats of top color could reduce how well the magnetic quality of the paint works.  So, thinking this wall may be BLACK to stay, which is great as it goes with the rest of the room.

3. Friday night stop at Home Depot (alone, in no hurry = heaven) yielded a GREAT find, these cube shelves.  I paid $45 for all 4 of them, but saw them for $100 online.  These are going to go on the black/white stripe wall - how rad will they look?  They'll hold my 8 year old's trophy's and other personal items he doesn't want left out for his brother.

4. Cleared out all toys and furniture from the boys room.  We will be sorting through them all and getting rid of some, then figuring out how to organize them.  Any advice?  Now we have toys in the boys room on a cube shelve, in their closet, and the family room.  What should go where?  I did buy these super cool bins for a large cube shelf unit in the room. (mine are red with white zig zags - chevron pattern is so in it's gotta be almost out!)

So, will be working on this all week.  Tonight I plan to tape up the stripes which will most likely take a couple nights.   Finally painting the stripes and TEARING OFF THE TAPE will be an amazing feeling. 

Wish me luck as I press on . . . . especially as kids have lots of practices, homework, tests and other activities all week.  Oh and I have that job thing too.

I really want to knock it out of the park, or score a touchdown, or well you get the picture

Since I'm working on a sports or team themed room for my boys this weekend, I decided to check out a few other examples for inspiration.  I'm going for something that has a level of sophistication, sharp design, and "cool factor" while incorporationg the boys' fave team.  What I don't want is an "out of the box store" solution where I just throw some team bedding and posters on the wall.  I found a few really cute ideas. 
Check 'em out.


LINK to sweet NFL Room

LINK to this soccer room, check out the use of color on the ceiling.

LINK to this sophisticated soccer room

LINK to this modern and colorful basketball room

You can see my stripes!

Long time, no talk - that's how I roll sometimes. I like to stay mysterious, like all of you followers are like, I really wish I knew what Trish was up to . . . . a girl can dream.  Anywho - am planning a big project-o this weekend for the boys room.  My boys are 8 and 3 and share a bedroom.  This is both done out of necessity, but now that they've shared, neither of them would want it any different.  I'm sure that will last forever.  We are from The Ville and the boys are UofL fans so we're doing a University of Louisville themed room.

Gimme a C - A - R - D - S!

So, here is what they call in the biz (and that biz is interior design which I pretend to be a part of) a MOOD BOARD for their room:

Notes:
* Two of the walls will have horizontal stripes of black and white.  Not only are these graphic and fun, but HORIZONTAL STRIPES (unlike their traditional brother the vertical stripe) instantly add a modern feel to any room or so says my design icon, David Bromstad (of HGTV's Color Spash).  I'm sure I'll gush about him some other time.
* Bunk beds are from Ikea, but are being sold to me from a neighbor used.  You know me, I'm so thrifty (CHEAP HAS HELL). 
* I already have (boring) black tab top drapes in there, but I want to punch them up by adding some additional fabric as trim on the sides or bottom.  Would love to add some red/white chevron.
* Using black disc chairs for seating.  My daughter has these and they are super comfy, even for adults, and can be folded and put out of the way.
* I already have two sets of UofL Cards bedding.  My older son uses it now, and the extra set that has been in storage for 2 years while I waited for my 3 year old to grow out of his baby bed.  Said 3 year old (3.5 yrs really) has NEVER tried to get out of his bed nor realizes he's fully capable to do so.  I am reluctant to give that up  . . .
* I am using some decals from Fathead to add some graphic and easy to redo Cardinal Spirit to the room.  We also have several UofL posters and signs to throw about the place.

So that's the plan, Stan.  I'm going to have to really bust it to get this done in one weekend, especially with the stripes.  But, so that this project doesn't linger forever, I am going to do my best - plus, the boys will eventually need some place to sleep.  I also need to paint a modular shelf unit, but that could be done later. 

So, wish me luck.  My goal is to provide the boys a classy team-themed room that they can grow into.  If you were me, what would you include or add?  Feel like I'm missing some elements. 

What's on your agenda this week????

Orange you glad you're not a slacker like me?

Hi friends and happy Friday.  I'm so glad it's the weekend, I have a lot planned . . .  Wait a minute, I know yesterday was Groundhog's day, but this blog sounds like Groundhog's day.  The last post you have from me was a week ago and started just this way!  I'm sorry I've been a SLACKER, but I was traveling this week with work and had an otherwise blechhhhhhh week.  But, not to fear, the weekend is here!

First of all, an update on all the projects I got done last weekend. . . . . . . . . . . . Bueller, Bueller, Bueller . . .
Ok I got a whole hell lot of nothing done last weekend.  Hoping to get some of these projects (click here) finished that I didn't do last weekend. 

Next, I'd like to share what I think is the new "it" color with you.  URNGE as they say down south, AKA Orange.  You are seeing it everywhere, and it looks awesome with the "new neutral" = grey.  Also, people think they're super cool and are often calling it "tangerine" or "carrot", etc.   Here are some cool items I'm digging these days:

Links to the items:
1., 2.,3., 4., 5., 6., 7.

And I finally picked up my "Pik-Nik" cooler from Crescent Hill Trading Co.  I can't wait to have a party, thinking I fit a case of cold longneck beer in this baby!  Always a problem at parties on how to serve beer in a "nice" way vs. plunking a plastic red cooler down in your dining room.

Have a fabu weekend and LMK what projects you're up to!   Enjoy the Superbowl, although I'm not really digging it.  Both of the family teams are out, Packers and Saints.  However, I do have a football shaped Summer Sausage the family is excited to dig into!