Placemats as Art?

Meg and I are big fans of coming up with alternate uses for items. During my most recent visit to West Elm, I picked up a couple of placemats that were on sale for 5 bucks!

I wanted to spice up our TV console. I have tried to update these doors MULTIPLE times, but nothing quite looks right. Here is what they looked like after I used left-over fabric from this project to jazz them up.

Meh....okay....but not the feeling I am going for. I want something bright and fun.

So, I took those placemats from West Elm and put them behind the glass on each door as art. I think it gives our space some personality. Definitely Bright.

Please ignore the price-tags. I was so excited to take the pictures, I forgot to remove them :)

Shade Rules

Finding a perfect lamp shade can be a pita (pain in the a**). Knowing what shade fits best with what lamp shape can be really difficult. While perusing one of my favorite blogs, high gloss blue, I found this great post! Claire has some great tips for picking out the perfectly paired lamp shade. Genius! Why didn't I find this years ago!

Image and Information all via high gloss blue

SR Harris

We had heard of this gem a little while back, but we hadn't had an opportunity to check it out until a couple of weekends ago. We were glad we made the trip!




SR Harris is a 30,000 square foot overflowing fabric warehouse. As with any discount business, you have to be prepared to dig a little or maybe wander is a better word. It's a big place. I could easily have been there another hour. They carry everything from fleece and flannel to silks, jerseys and.......upholstery fabric! Lots of it! In addition to fabric, they have lots of odds and ends; buttons, trim, tassels, snaps, etc.

And here is the best part....all regularly priced fabric is 50%. Always. And if that isn't enough, feel free to bring along your coupons (click here).  Happy Fabric Hunting!

Bleach is my Friend

This blog is about reFinding items and design in general, but it's also about our homes. The projects we take on in them, the successes and the failures. It would be nice to leave this little story out, but I need to tell the story in order to heal. There was crap (a.k.a. feces, poo, doodoo, sh*t) in our basement. Don't worry there are no pictures of the mess.

We arrived home from dinner with friends to find our drain in the basement had backed up. Let's just say there was some undesirable "stuff" in the water. We immediately called a plumber. After several hours of snaking out our pipes, the diagnosis was this.

Our Ginko tree out front, here he is:

Was growing INTO our pipe out front. So the growing roots within the pipe were causing a back-up INTO our house. 

This line was totally blocked up. When the cap was removed (by the plumber) "stuff" came out.

These pipes were also backed up. And were causing this drain.....

and this sink to overflow.

Once the roots were cut out of the pipe we were almost back in working order. It turns out that our special drain cover in the sink wasn't doing much to block the lint from our washing machine from going down the drain, so the plumber cleared out that line too, just to be safe.  After all the pipe cleaning, Jeff and I gave everything a good wash with bleach (twice). 

I'm hoping this is the only time that I have to deal with doody this year!

Special Tip: The plumber advised us to skip the special hose attachment that you can pick up at home improvement stores and just throw an old sock (hoisery only) onto the end of the tube. It's been working wonders so far!

Done!

I'm one of those people that likes to get the tree and decorations down right after Christmas. So, I jumped right in first thing New Years morning to tackle the project.

I can't handle keeping the 85 tiny boxes that all the ornaments come in, so I came up with alternate storage. A wine box! Next time you are at Trader Joe's picking up your three buck chuck, ask for one of the boxes behind the counter. It's the perfect fit for all your baubles and ribbon.

Stencils

We here at reFind aren't ashamed to admit that we use every available tool. While we would like to claim everything we create is just organic, pure ability and genius, we can't.  So, when we want to add a special design element to something, but don't trust ourselves to free-hand it....we turn to stencils. You might remember this dresser that we used a honeycomb stencil on.

Or this dresser, where we used a lattice stencil.

Both stencils were a part of this packet that we purchased at Blick Art Supplies. 

I had been searching for a good stencil kit online for awhile. I wanted something modern, geometric (big surprise there), and classic. So when I spotted this Ed Roth Design 101 Decor stencil kit at Blick, I knew I had to have it.

It has been SO useful and totally inspiring. I would highly recommend these stencils to anyone that is interested in tackling a DIY project on their own, but wants just a little help. Plus, if you need a little extra help, you can check out this video on the Stencil 1 website. If you have a little extra time, check out some of their other stencils up for sale. I love the Hummingbird and I think the Holiday Pack could come in handy for XMas decorating.

Why did I not know about these?

Have I been living under a rock? Do you guys know about these? Am I going to make an a*# out of myself for dedicating an entire post to these?

Furniture Sliders!

Here I am trying my hardest to move a dresser on my own. Total Fail!

And here I am moving the dresser with ease.

Clearly these photos were staged....but you get the point!

These things are Amazing! How many times have you beat yourself up trying ten different furniture layouts? Loading and unloading drawers to move dressers. Throwing out your back. Making marks on your carpet. I know this sounds like an infomercial....but these Furniture Sliders are crucial to remodeling. You just tilt the item up, place the sliders underneath, and you are good-to-go!

Here are some close-ups. 

I am going to go buy myself a set right now!

Accessory Overload

Shopping your own home. 

This is a great approach to re-decorating, especially if you are trying to do so on a tight budget. 

I helped my sister refresh her home (in addition to some other big projects that you will read about in the coming weeks) and one of the things we did was reAccessorize. Before I arrived, my sister gathered every last accessory she owned and placed them on two tables. 

Here are some pics of what we had to work with.

It was great to have everything in once place, because I could.....

1) Start with a clean slate

2) See everything we had to work with in one look

3) See what we could do without

We bought a can or two of spray paint to spruce up at item here or a frame there, just to keep the look coordinated.  Then we started placing the items in our clean canvas of a room.  

We wanted a balanced, symmetrical look. So, we started by placing one item at a time. This allowed us to see how the item changed the landscape of the room. We were able to move and switch each item until we found just the right spot.   This also allowed us to see where we had open space. Did we have something that could fill that spot? Or did we need to purchase something? Maybe we had something that would fit, if it were painted. 

When all was said-and-done, my sister got an entirely new & fresh vibe in her living for around twenty bucks....not bad...not bad at all!

If you do this, I highly recommend having a friend, sibling or parent help out. Let them place things without your input first. You know where your stuff "goes", but they don't.  You will be amazed how different your room can be with some fresh perspective!

CraigsEasy

That's right...not Craigslist, but CraigsEasy. This is a total game changer. I can't lie, Meg and I kiiiiiinda wanted to keep this secret to ourselves, but this is too good a thing not to share.

craigseasy]

x^

We all love Craigslist. It truly is a great thing. It just doesn't function the greatest, especially for those of us that want to see pictures. If you are anything like me, you want to open every single link....because what if someones totally vague description is something really cool? The opposite is also true though, somesones claim of a fabulous, beautiful and unique item - ends up being a crusty dilapidated chair. Here is where CraigsEasy comes in. You don't have to open the link anymore to see the pictures.

Go to Craigseasy now! Or go here to find-out how it all started. It will change your life!

(you can thank us later :) )

Reader Request: Gallery Wall

Gallery walls or photo walls have been all over the blogosphere, so when one of our readers requested that we do a post about gallery walls we were up for the challenge!  A gallery wall is a great way to display photos, display artwork, and a great way to incorporate some of those small and hard to place favorite items.

Whether your photos and/or art coordinate or are totally unrelated, you can bring a collection of photos together with frames that coordinate. Check out my photo wall here in our office.  I couldn't find a piece of art work that was big enough to command this wall space. So instead,  I grabbed a bunch of frames that I already owned. I either kept the frames as is with a wood finish, or painted over them in white.

You can also Mix n' Match Frames for a unique look.  In my photo wall, I kept everything coordinated with color (either wood or white), but some of the most creative photo walls are those where the frames don't necessarily coordinate at first glance. It's fun to think that two frames that have totally separate sytles can end up pairing perfectly together. Check out the gallery wall below from a design*sponge feature of karen hill and frank marshal.

Here is a personal favorite of mine. This photo is from design*sponge's feature of Kevin Corn. Isn't it beautiful! I love the linear quality and the black & white.

Another thought is Mixing and Matching Media. Who says that the frames all have to be filled with photos? Throw in a poster, piece of professional artwork, some favorite paper, or your kids artwork. There really are no rules. Check out this wall from Style Files. She pairs artwork, with DIY art, family photos and more!

Via Style Files

To read up more about gallery walls, check out design*sponge. 

They had a wonderful, in depth post about them here. So much inspiration!  Click here.

The whole process of getting everything up on the wall can be overwhelming, but there are a couple of good ideas for how to get this done without freaking out. In our office, we gathered all the frames we wanted to use and mapped out the layout on the floor. This way we could see the big picture before putting a bunch of holes in the wall. We started with the "center" frame and then worked our way out from there, one-by-one.  It was frustrating at times....but it was well worth the effort!


Check out this genius method, found via Little Green Notebook. These instructions were provided via Roost. Wax paper is your friend. I wish I would have used this method!

I Heart Container Store

If you haven’t been to Container Store, you need to go.  If you are in the Twin Cities area, you can go to one here. Looks like this....sort of (i think this is an artist's rendition).

Image via Container Store

I love me some organization and this store has it all. 

From dog bowls, 

boot hangers

pantry organizers

closet organizers

and air-tight containers

magazine racks, wrapping paper and closet systems…they really have everything.

The best part is that you can re-purpose lots of stuff in the store. They may sell an item in the kitchen organization section, but you can put it in the bathroom too. I did.

I know this post doesn’t seem very design focused and there aren't any fun pictures....but indirectly....it is design related.   I attempt to follow the motto - A place for everything, and everything in its place. The Container Store has lots of “place” organizers….so my house can look spick-and-span and we can enjoy the fun/funky pillows, instead of the giant stack of papers on the dining room table.

Wedding Invites

Remember this post, about our awesome friend Rachel who created out lovely logo? Well, Annie mentioned that she does everything - even wedding invitations

2 years ago, Nate and I had Rachel do our wedding invitations. And I could not have been more excited at how they turned out!!  Seriously - one 20 minute discussion (and it was our first time meeting) and she nailed my invites!

Seriously, who would have thought of this...

I know that my picture taking did not do them justice... but they were perfect, fun, and so unique!

So if you are getting married, having a baby shower - or sending a baby announcement, starting a business, anything that need a creative touch, I would highly recommend contacting her. johnsrachel@gmail.com

Refined reFind

If you are a regular reader of our blog you may have noticed the new logo featured within our header. This logo is the handy work of our friend Rachel Williams. Rachel is an uber talented graphic designer with loads of ideas. One of her best qualities is her innate ability to just "get" your aesthetic. We barraged Rachel with a plethora of logo ideas and she was able to whittle down our range of ideas into something that we think is just perfect. We are so pleased with how everything turned out!

Rachel's work isn't new to us, as she designed and produced Megan & Nate's wedding invitations a couple years back.


If you are in need of some graphic design help, be it logos, invites, business cards, anything really, you should contact Rachel! She is wonderful! The best way to catch her is via email (johnsrachel@gmail.com).

Thanks again Rachel! You are so good at what you do!

Wallpaper as Ceiling Art

Jeff and I just returned home from a visit to Austin, TX where we went to the Austin City Limits Music Festival. We had the pleasure of staying at our friend Kim’s parent’s home while we were there. Their home was absolutely beautiful. From custom painted cabinets, to warm, grooved mesquite wood floors, every detail was lovely. And the views from the deck were breathtaking!

One of my favorite details was the ceiling of the Dining Room. Here is a quick pic of the dining area.

Now take a closer look at the ceiling.....

The ceiling looks like those wonderful tin ceilings tiles that you find in buildings from the turn of the century.....but it’s not! The ceiling is wallpaper, painted with metallic paint. Brilliant idea and so gorgeous!  

I am currently looking at all the ceilings in our home, trying to determine which one needs some wallpaper :)

p.s. Thanks again,  Susan and Cam (and Kim) for hosting us while in Austin. We had such a great time, due in most part to your hospitality!  

Leftover Bottles

The pages of magazines are chock-full of new uses for old bottles. One of our favorite daily reads, Young House Love, did a post here on what they did with some of their old bottles. 

Stores are also picking up on the trend. Check out West Elm’s offering here and below.

Image via West Elm

While traveling in New Zealand (in college) we made a point to make a stop at this public restroom. 

Talk about unusual uses for leftover bottles. Isn’t it surprisingly beautiful though?! What do you guys do with your bottles, do they get tossed into the recycle bin, or do you repurpose them?

Spotted at West Elm

I stopped into West Elm yesterday and saw these super cute mugs. Its hard to see in my cell phone pic but each letter has a different design. Plus the handles are funky. These would be so cute displayed out on the counter...no need to hide these in the cubbard! I am already trying to figure out how to do these on my own...any ideas?

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Unexpected Art

Here are some ideas of ways to infuse your home with artwork without breaking the bank. We have used many of these ideas in our own homes.

Stationery as Art


My elementary school art teacher is a painter. My mother gifted me a set of stationery that she painted and sold at our local Art Fair. Instead of using the cards as they were intended....we framed them. This was an easy way to incorporate one of kind art into our home.

Postcards as Art


When traveling in Santa Fe for our honeymoon we visited the Georgia O'Keefe Museum. She is one of our favorite artists, so it was difficult to pick out one item we wanted. So instead, we picked out one big poster and a handful of small things (postcards, notecards, stationery, etc). We were able to frame the small items as if they were big ones. 

Here is one of our framed notecards.

And here is a notecard at the store for $2!

Calendars as Art
Again, instead of using a calendar for its intended purpose, tear away a page and you have instant art. The best part about this one is that you can often times score calendars super cheap from years past, after they have been moved to clearance. Check out this one!

Get it here for $12

Spotted at Target

Saw this at Target this weekend. Throw some paint on the top and you have a custom table. Love targe-boutique!

Additional Note to Self....

When using spray paint, be sure that the surface under the item you are spraying is well covered.   If not, you can end up with unsightly markings in unwanted areas.

i.e. the patio area on the side of our house. Sorry Jeff!

Let's see that up close and personal. Lovely

A sturdy piece of cardboard would've done the trick, instead of randomly strewn newspaper. What about you? Have any of your surfaces received an accidental update recently?

I heart you Montana Cans

Spray paint is a girls best friend... you can never use enough spray paint when decorating. Seriously. While going down to the good ole Home Depot to get some spray paint is easy and cheap- it really only works if you are looking for the most basic of basic colors. If you have a lamp or a picture frame that you want a special shade of teal or purple, or <<insert cool color here>> - the Home Depot ain't going to hack it.


Enter my love: Montana spray paints. They are an awesome company, used by graffiti artists all over the world. Check out their sites and some of the cool stuff that people have done. 


I love this spray paint because it is really high quality and it comes in just about every color.  Just take a peak below at the colors they offer...

um hello.... is there a color that you are looking for that you would not be able to find there? I think not. If a company has a color called Brain, you know they have everything. 

In addition to selecting any color you want, you can also choose the size of the nozzle.  (While I realize that this probably only comes in handy for graffiti artists, I just think that it is cool):

Here in Minnesota - the place that I found that carries the biggest selection of Montana spray paint is Blicks Art Supply.  So next time you have a project - you should check it out.


And no - Montana is not paying us to say this - or giving us anything free - although, I really wish they would.  Montana - if you are reading this; Annie and I would like a can of every color please :)


Have you recently used Montana spray paint - let us know - we will feature it on our blog!