Thursday, December 31, 2009

TDC Top Ten!

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Well, here it is folks. The end of another year. I can hardly even believe it. It went by in a blink, didn’t it? I for one am really looking forward to 2010! :)

So here is the list, in all it’s glory. This was my first full year of blogging, so I had more to pick from compared to last year’s list. I was going to go in order of comments, lowest to highest, but I’m running out of time today. I’d really like to publish this before the new year. ;)

So let’s just go randomly, and I’ll end with the post with the most comments.

First off, my dining room redo was oh-so-popular. I was such a brat and kind of strung you along for the whole redo, so I really appreciate that you all hung in there with me!

The DIY centerpiece post can be found here.DSC01649

The table setting made up of items from Pier 1, Stein Mart, Target and HomeGoods can be found here.

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And the reveal of the whole room can be found here.

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All that’s left to do in here is take it all out to install new floors! Easy, right?! Crikey.

You all loved my insane obsession dislike for icky cords:

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You Squeezies totally get me. You can find out the method to my madness here.

I took a couple $20 lamps and customized them with spray paint and wall paint:

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You can find out more here.

I grouped a few of the holiday posts into one entry. There are really going to be about 20 links on this post, but whateva whateva, it’s my blog so I can. :)

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The ornament wreath can be found here, the Christmas dining table here and the fall door decor ideas here.

YES, I decorated above the pot-tay. And YES, I did it with a table runner:

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You can see how I did it here. ;)

One weekend I decided I would teach myself how to tile. It happened to work out pretty well:

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You can see the process here.

We transformed our deck this summer, finally. It wasn’t necessarily cheap, but we weren’t using the space every summer, and now we do!

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We actually added a fire pit as well, I’ll show you that next summer. :) To see more, go here.

You all loved how I harassed my sister repurposed an item I found in the neighbor’s trash:

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I love to boss her around. I don’t care if she’s not five anymore. You can see the process I went through with this piece here.

I droned on and on and ON about my beadboard island earlier this year. I just love it, I can’t help it!:

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You can see how it looked before here.

I like to yell at you a lot about GETTING RID OF YOUR CRAP! In the nicest way possible.

My love of decluttering and organizing is shown in these two posts that you loved too:

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Our unfinished basement transformation can be found here. And I brag about my closet here. Don’t worry – they don’t always look like this. Just most of the time. Hate me.

This year I plan to purge a TON more from the basement, and we are really hoping to finish it off too, but we’ll see. And I hope to show you our master closet soon too – it’s the one spot in the house I cannot keep clean and organized to save my life.

You know what I love? My posts I label “love” are some of the most popular, by far.

The top five from this year were:

1. A post about rocking my baby found here.
2. Where I share all I know about blogging here. (A second edition is coming soon!)
3. I decided I would have No More Mondays here.
4. You all sending your love to my family here.
5. And probably my favorite post of the year -- your life and home does not have to be perfect to be perfect for YOU. You can find it here.

The “Perfect” post was my most popular of the year with 175 comments. I’m glad you all found it worthwhile to read, and I am so happy I wrote it.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for a fantastic, fun, inspiring year! I can’t wait to share more with you in 2010! I hope you all have a happy and safe New Year. We are staying home and clinking Pepsi cans. ;) OK, maybe a margarita. I’m going to make some fondue and popcorn and we’re all going to relax and enjoy being together.

Happy New Year!!!

Top Ten Projects of 2009


In no particular order, here is my list of achievements on the home project front for 2009. I am sure your list is longer, as I seemed to have created and tweaked less than usual:

1. Sophie's room make-over, specifically her built in "windowless window seat:


2. Her ceiling fan make-over (before):



And after:
3. The "Flip House" we renovated and prettied up:

4. The new slipcover my friend made me:

5. My new dress form I finally found after a long search (Thanks Rhenore!):






7. My felted doughnuts, which are worth noting due to my aversion to sewing anything!

8. My involvement with the new and upcoming Flea Market Style. Thanks to Matthew Mead and Ki Nassauer for believing in me and my abilities and for bringing me on board as Editor-at-Large (which I had to look up to see what that meant!). An even bigger thrill, was actually meeting Matthew and Jenny when they came to my home and photographed Sophie's playhouse for the magazine! They were as lovely as I imagined them to be, and it was an experience I won't soon forget!


9. The resultant landscaping done in anticipation of that event:




10. The glittered bottles and glittered candle lights I made for the holiday season:




Care to share your project list for 2009? Add your link below!


Happy Holidays!


From my home to yours, wishing you all a very happy holiday!!
It has been a great gift to travel this road with you.
Thank you so much for reading, commenting and continuing to inspire me.
Wishing you peace and happiness in the New Year!
xxx-Gina

Gott Nytt År 2010!

Tack för det gångna året, det är fantastiskt roligt att blogga när det är så många som läser och kommenterar och är med i diskussionen. Ni förgyller min värld! Jag ser fram emot 2010, ett helt nytt oskrivet bloggår, det ska bli spännande och se vad som dyker upp i designvärlden. Vilka trender som faller platt och vilka som slår in och andra nyheter som kanske överraskar. Hur som helst så önskar jag er alla en toppenfin nyårsafton och ett riktigt Gott Nytt År! Bilder på en lite rockshic inredning och dukning från Villa Collection.

Space Under Stairs Interior Design



Space Under Stairs Interior Design
Feature stairs can be either classic or contemporary in design because what defines them is not so much their style as their prominence and importance to the interior design as a whole. the details and conformations. These are the best sample designs of modern stairs design ideas that you may use as the guidelines and great inspiration to your modern residential interior design. What do you do with that bit of empty space under the stairs? It’s been a question that has been long asked. There have been many ingenious answers. We take a look at some of them here.

The Best Restaurant Interior Design





The Best Restaurant Interior Design
We created the concept, gave Providence its name, engineered and completely built out nightclub. The space was once a church, then became a world-famous recording studio. Whether you are in need of someone to tighten up your current operations or guidance in your newest adventure, knives and fire has the talent and experience you need.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Best of 2009 Interior Design Trends




Best of 2009 Interior Design Trends

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Craftalicious

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One of my sweet bloggy friends, who has a little old blog called The Lettered Cottage (maybe you’ve heard of her? Hmmm?), asked me today to share a few thrifty tips. I was happy to oblige, and as I was looking through old posts for ideas, I was feeling a little nostalgic about some of the cauuute projects I’ve worked on this year.

I will do another recap of the year like I did last December (probably tomorrow?) but I couldn’t pass up sharing a few of my favorite crafty projects that may not make the cut (I determine the recap by posts with the most comments).

Looking back through the blog is like looking at old photo albums. Some of you have seen all of these, but it’s fun to reminisce, eh?

First project I loved – Squishy’s gumball machine casa! I don’t know if this is really considered a craft, but it involves glue and fish, and what craft project would be complete without fish? I mean, really…

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To see how I made the gumball fishbowl, click here.

Next up, my placemat and table runner pillows:

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Umkay, again, maybe not so crafty. But easy and cheap and WOW, these have held up GREAT!! I’m so pleasantly surprised. To see how I made them, go here and here.

My jute lurve started when I saw something I had. to. have. in the Ballard Designs catalog (shocker) and knew I could recreate something similar for cheap:

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The vase was a project from the spring. I love the natural look of these jute items. Usually I crave more color but they are a great accent, and they are perfect for this time of year – fresh and simple. Want to know how I made them? Huh? Do ya? Go here and here.

I had a ton of fun working on my son’s playroom this year. I used paper to create fun, functional storage. I also took an old tool box from Goodwill and made it into a cute art caddy:

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To see more of these project, go here. Or here for the whole look at the playroom.

I’m all about trying to figure out how to fill wall space in inexpensive ways. Inspired by Ballard Designs yet again, I made this wall art for very little cash. I think it was $20?:

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To make your own Ballard Designs art, check it out here.

And I can’t forget the holidays. A couple of my favorites are from the past few months. I love the little ghouly votive holders for Halloween, and the Santa craft still makes me giddy when I walk past it!:

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To see the votive holders, go here. For the Santa cones, go here.

Did I forget anything fun?

OH MY GOODNESS, I am soooo itching to get moving on new projects! I have a few lined up, and a list a mile long written down, so there should be plenty of content for 2010. I actually wonder sometimes if I’ll run out of things to blog about! Ha! That’s crazy talk.

 
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