Warm It Up with Red

Aaaaannnd.... over a week later, here I am!  Whoops!  I haven't fallen off the edge of the blog universe, or been eaten by purple people eaters.  I did, however, pick up a little bug, which has left me hacking up a lung for the past few days.  This cold along with adjusting to being back to reality after the holidays has made a bad blogger out of me. But I promise to get back on track!

Quick update: I was up at my mom's again this past weekend, finishing up the curtain stenciling project we started a while back. So the curtains are up and the room is just waiting to be photographed. I can't wait to show you!

In the meantime, my mom and I have been pondering ideas for the other areas of her house. We've been talking about using red in the living room. A color associated with warmth, comfort, and excitement, seems fitting for my warm-hearted and enthusiastic mother. I'm not sure if this idea will stick being that my mother has a little problem (or asset) of loving every color in the rainbow, but I've been searching for inspiration despite her indecisive ways. Here are some images I came across that add warmth and comfort with the use of red.

Source: Our Fifth House

Source: Real Simple

Source: Joy Tribout via Pinterest

Source: Country Curtains

Traditional Living Room design by Minneapolis Interior Designer Lola Watson Interior Design

Source: Houzz

Contemporary Living Room design by Los Angeles Interior Designer betsy burnham

Source: Houzz

Source: House Beautiful

Source: Pinterest

Source: Pinterest

Source: Pinterest

Traditional Family Room design by New York Media And Blogs Little Red House

Source: Houzz

New Year Resolutions

I never really make new year resolutions... because I never really keep them when I do. But this year there are a few things I'd really like to improve on. Lets call them New Year Goals instead.

1. Attend more ASID events.  That's the American Society of Interior Designers. I've been a member for a little while now, but it seems that school and work and responsibilities have been putting a damper on that area of my life. In 2013 I really want to make it to more events. Yay networking!

2. Eat healthier. I'm sure this has been a resolution of mine in the past and I seem to keep wavering back and forth between eating right and not. In the past, I've discovered that the easiest way to do this is to add in a few healthy things instead of thinking of what you can't eat.  Here's a simple start that's easy to apply and accomplish: eat more salads!

via Little Kitchen, Big Bites

3. Spend more time outdoors.  I used to go camping every summer and skiing every winter when I was a kid. And then, of course, there were all those hours spent riding bikes, playing at the park, and investigating trails.  Now, I'm afraid I spend far too much time indoors in front of a computer or taking care of whatever other responsibilities adulthood has brought on. Darn adulthood and responsibilities!  (I'm actually quite content with adulthood.) We did make it to Malibu Canyon for a hike though!  Even something as simple as the time I had my lunch on a bench overlooking Newport Beach and the ocean helps sooth the outdoorsman in me.

Frank and I in Malibu Creek State Park

My lunchtime view of Newport Beach (the photo doesn't do it justice)

But still, I'd like to take more trips to the wilderness and pack more outdoor activities into my life.  So in 2013, I intend to go for more hikes, take a camping trip, and maybe even make it to the snow for a little boarding!  Perhaps I'll even try something new like stand up paddling.  Anything to spend more time in the great outdoors!

4. Spruce up my office. Like I said in the previous post, it's become the catch-all room and I want to get it more pulled together soon. I plan to give it a fresh coat of paint, fancy-up my cork board with a little fabric, get a futon on Craigslist so guests have a little more space, maybe paint my desk and chair, and reorganize the closet. That fake plant has got to go too!

My little office needs help!

5. Get more in touch with God. Meditate more. Trust the perfect plan a little more. And let God work through me as much as possible.

Sheesh... I'm already wondering how I'm going to have the time for all this with school, work, and projects. I suppose if its part of the perfect plan, there will be enough time for all of it! Can you tell I've been reading a spiritual book?... The Game of Life and How to Live It by Florence Scovel Shinn... I highly recommend it; great way to start off what is going to be an awesome year!  How are you starting off 2013? Any resolutions or goals?

2012 Review

I don't know about you, but for me 2012 has been a great year.  Amidst the usual work days, hours in the classroom, birthdays and outings with friends and family, play time and snuggle time with Duchess (my kitty), and goofing around with Frank (my wonderful boyfriend), there are been some events that have stood out and some projects completed that I hope to tell you more about soon.  So here's a little review of things I've done in 2012. *Stared items are things I hope to devote a whole post to in the future.

Brought in the New Year in Las Vegas with friends. No real big wins, but lots of fun, lots of love, and we came up on some fancy New Year hats!

Took a perspective class and applied my rendering skills to my Commercial 1 project, a bluegrass music inspired restaurant, which I named Plain Spoken.

Turned another year older and got this (below) in the mail from my sister shortly after. Made my day! I love my family!

Got this hand made card from my loving sister, Emily.

My Plain Spoken presentation boards where chosen to be displayed in the school's "Hall of Fame" as examples. *I'd love to do a post on my restaurant design, especially with the popularity of the Pinterest board I made to collect my ideas for the project. Everyone seems to love mason jars and reclaimed wood.

Advanced my Photoshop skills and learned important Building Codes including how to make a space ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant for the elderly and disabled.

Went to the Wild Animal Park in San Diego with my mom and Frank. We missed my favorite, the gorillas!, but got to see many other cuddly (not exactly) creatures.

Made an upholstered headboard for my bedroom.*

Hung Ikea shelves in my home office to display school projects. *I hope to show you more of my office as I pull it together. It's kind of become the catch-all room, but I plan to spruce it up soon.

Headed back to Las Vegas for Frank's Birthday. This time I got to see the beautiful Chandelier Bar at The Cosmopolitan... talk about amazing interior design!

Didn't forget to stop and pick up some alien beef jerky on the way home!

Spent the 4th of July relaxing on the beach then watching friends shoot off fireworks.

Had a strangely jarring dream about a friends pregnancy about a month and a half before she was due. Woke up and said a prayer. Two days later Isabella was born by emergency C-section. Crazy right!?

Celebration x3 on one August day!  Went to 2 baby showers, and a housewarming/engagement party for my wonderful friends.  Marveled at the bride-to-be's beautifully decorated LA rental. *Maybe one day she'll let me take more photos so I can so you what an amazing job she did.

Isn't her place beautiful!? Modern, chic and cozy. Love it!

Repainted dad's carved wooden pheasant that greats you as you come down his driveway.

Happy Dad

Took Frank's sons and their friends to a Padres game. Although crazy traffic made us almost an hour late, our seats were right behind home plate and the boys got themselves on the big screen making the trip a great success!

Began transforming mom's TV room. First step, reorganization of office supplies into the closet where it could be hidden away. Next, hung a gallery wall of mom's art. Bought an Ikea Ektorp sofa and filing cabinet on Craigslist... I love Craigslist! Stenciled an Ikea curtain panel (got a few more to go). Then bought pillows. *This whole process and final before and after photos coming soon!

Took a few West Coast Swing dance lessons with Frank. Unfortunately I don't have any photos.  :(

Began this blogging adventure!  This has been a super inspiring and motivating new addition to my life, so thank you blogland and thank you readers!

Practiced applying barrier free design and learned about the planning process in a Spaceplanning class. Many bubble diagrams later, I laid out 3 plans: one for a small attorny's office, another for a a real estate office, and one for a large marketing firm.

...Duchess helped.  We also took a field trip to Systems Source in Irvine to check out the many office layout options in the Knoll systems furniture line.

Learned about the assembly of a structure, laughed at silly construction jokes, and saw my teacher in Halloween costume in a Construction Principles class.

Added a little seasonal flare to the apartment with fall decorations.

Made a quick DIY fairy costume for Frank so that we could be the cutest fairy couple in town for Halloween.

I put together a design for Melissa's modern enchanted bedroom. I also found a night stand (craigslist again!), which Melissa transformed with a little paint and hardware.

Participated ASID's Real World Design Week (RWDW) at Cosentino, "the world's leading producer of Silestone quartz surfaces." Not only do they care their Silestone quartz products, but they also have all sorts of beautiful granite, marble, sustainable ECO products.*

Then, continuing the RWDW, we toured the fabulous Fixtures Living store in Costa Mesa, which has the most beautiful installations of stone surfaces, fixtures, and appliances. They even give you free coffee or smoothies when you enter!*

Had non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner at Dad's. Even made cute little menus for the event!

Began DIYing like mad and switched out fall decor for white, silver, and gold accessories to create a Fancy Feather Christmas in my apartment.

Made ottomans out of Lack side tables from Ikea to give mom for Christmas for her TV room.

Celebrated the holidays with family and friends.

My amazing family!

I gave each of my family members a cute little gold elephant, which I made
by spray painting an inexpensive plastic toy with a little Rustoleum

So a year that began with lots of love, was filled with lots of love, and ended with lots of love. And I can't wait for God to provide more of the same next year!

Wishing you all the best in 2013

Ikea Lack Side Tables Turned Ottomans

I've been in the process of helping my mom with her TV room/den. You can see a little snippet of the reorganization we did here.  We also stenciled curtain panels, created a gallery wall, got a sofa on Craigslist, and bought a few new pillows and accessories.  I plan on posting more about all that soon.

Everything has been coming along nicely, but I knew it needed something and I had just the thing in mind.  The Ektorp sofa that we found for the room on Craigstlist is great for one person, but add another and it's not quite as comfortable. It's difficult to really stretch out and relax. So I figured the perfect Christmas gift would be a pair of ottomans customized to fit the room. Not only do ottomans provide a place to put up your feet, but they also function together as a coffee table and fill the space much better than the small table she had before.



Here are some photos of the process it took to make them.

Thanks to IKEA Hackers and all the lovely DIYers out there, I discovered that I could do this by upholstering LACK side tables, which are only $8 each!

I skipped expensive upholstery foam and bought a camping foam carpet pad at Home Depot thanks to Sarah M. Dorsey's tip for only $20.  With the table top lined up with the foam I cut along the edge with a sharp kitchen knife.  Duchess thought I needed some supervision. ;)

Then, you'll need some spray adhesive and batting.  I sprayed both the table top and the foam with adhesive and then simply slapped 'em together! Actually it took a little precision, but this part is easy as pie.

Next, I stapled the batting on starting at the center and stapling one side and then the opposite side to make sure it was evenly taut.  (If you're doing this project, when you get to the corners, make sure you don't cover up the hole where the legs will screw in.)

 

I used a hammer to make sure all staples were in there good and trimmed the excess batting away.

With Duchess's approval I moved on to the next step: stapling the fabric on. I used Ikea's Sofia fabric. Making sure to line the fabric up so that it was centered, I used the same method used for the batting and stapled away!

To make clean clean corners, I stapled down the side fabric first, pulled the fabric over the corner to the front, stapled again, and then folded down the front and stapled again. I'm not sure if that is super clear, but Sarah had great pictures of this on her post.

After the tops were done I wanted to cut some length of the legs so that the ottomans would be even height with the sofa seat.  I headed to Home Depot only to be disappointed to hear that they could not cut the Ikea legs because they were hallow.  I guessed this was because their large machine would split them, although I was frustrated at the time and didn't ask for specifics.  Instead, I asked Frank's cousin to help. He trimmed a few inches of each leg with a hacksaw and once sanded down, this worked great!

With all that done, I added a few coats of Scotch Guard for a little added protection.  Then I decided to wrap everything up separately, tie it in bows, and thoroughly confuse my mother as she opened each piece on Christmas (starting with the screws).  I didn't take any photos of the assembly process, but  all we did was follow Ikea's instructions and voila!  

My apologies for the dark photo.  By the time we got through Christmas festivities, assembling these, and rearranging some furniture, the sun was down.  But, check it out... success! Custom ottomans being put to good use by my lovely family!

A little candle light and a spot of tea in mom's newly transformed TV room was the perfect end to a wonderful Christmas visit with the fam before I took off to drive home.

Coming soon: I can't wait to show you the before and after photos of the room and tell you all that's gone into putting this space together. It's really been an amazing transformation!  So stay tuned!