POSTS WITH TAG: renovating

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    We've loved living in the French countryside for the last five months. The home we're renting is called La Cressonnière, and it's a beautiful farmhouse filled with details that I'm going to be sad to leave when our journey ends.

    We haven't yet found a home for when we move back to the States, but I'm already thinking of ways we can bring a little of La Cressonnière with us. One idea I love is using sliding barn doors inside. Not only is it a great space saver, it adds visual interest and can be done to look modern or rustic.

    See some examples of this look below.

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    Never let it be said that I suffer from excessive maturity or seriousness. Many, many online tools exist to help you figure out how to arrange and decorate your home for maximum beauty and pleasure. But in the hands of someone like me, these can become dangerous -- or just plain fun, depending on how big an idiot you are.

    Me, I'm a massive idiot, so when given a virtual room, I like to see how hideous I can make it. Given that I've actually enacted projects like this in the past -- oh, yes, what a cute idea, making the molding a different unbearably bright color in each room of my bachelorette apartment -- I think we should all be grateful for a virtual way to explore our rearranging and redecorating urges.

    Here are my latest creations. Which would you move into, if you had to?

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    We have a great friend named Marc who is a true DIY dad. He re-did his kitchen (like plumbing and all), he's refinished bathrooms, he's built furniture. He is the friend you always want around, the one you would almost pay to have around when you are re-painting as he does a professional-level job. Seriously, we have one wall in our apartment that looks awesome, while the rest are kind of so-so -- we call it the Marc Wall.

    Marc is the dad of two amazing little ones, and his wife is always in search of cool tools, gadgets, whatnots to give him. Father's Day is no different, so I'm helping her find some fabu gifts that celebrate his DIY-ness!

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    While doors are an essential part of every house, they're often overlooked. I like the idea of bringing attention to them with a splash of color instead of simply letting them blend in with the wall.

    These yellow double doors are pretty bold, but you could do something a little more subdued and still add some fun to your place. See examples of both bold and conservative-but-stylish choices below. 

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    On last night's episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the world met the Brown family, who lost one of their two daughters in a car accident caused by texting and driving. Since then, the family has become extremely active in Texas, speaking about the dangers of distracted driving, and were seriously deserving of a new home and a fresh start.

    If you're like me and weren't already crying after hearing the family's story, then you started to when Ty Pennington told the Browns that the team was setting up a "Remember Alex Brown" fund in her memory. In typical EHM fashion, the team wanted to do something fun to uplift little sister Katrina's spirits. What better way to cheer her up than bring her to see every 12-year-old's dream boat, Justin Bieber?

    Well, let me tell you something about Justin. That guy is a sucker for attention. In fact, I have never seen such a shameless display of self-promotion masked as a charitable act of kindness. Let me explain:

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  • Home Depot Dumbs Down to Attract Women

    posted by Emily Abbate January 29, 2011 at 11:10 AM in Home & Garden
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    Want to attract women to your store? Home Depot has the perfect idea: Simply treat them like toddlers!

    The home improvement giant is attempting to lure female customers by simplifying its store aisles. The new "improvements" will include the addition of a variety of products from Martha Stewart Living, which are labeled with matching icons (like moons and stars) to alert women as to which items coordinate together. Oooooh, I love shapes!

    And, if the shapes weren't enough, then there's always new female-friendly paint colors: Nothing screams estrogen quite like choose between "Cornbread" and "Bay Leaf." Simply delicious! I WANT TO EAT MY WALLS!

    This new idea angers me to no end. Why? Just last weekend, I went to the home store to buy carpet, caulk, and a TV stand -- none of which had these fancy shmancy symbols on them. Yet, I still made it out of there all in one piece.

    So, Home Depot, you and your "woman friendly" new way of things can go shove it.

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  • 10 Design Blogs You Should Be Reading

    posted by Gabrielle Blair January 20, 2011 at 10:29 AM in Home & Garden
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    I'm at Altitude Summit this week. Alt Summit is the conference for design and lifestyle bloggers, and as you might suspect, hundreds of the top design bloggers are in attendance. It's a super stylish, highly creative group and I'm certain I'll come away from the summit full of new ideas, goals, and projects.

    So, for this week's interior inspiration, I thought it would be fun to share some of the best design blogs you may not have heard of. Blogs that feature great content and beautiful images -- like the beautiful room pictured above that I found on A Life's Design.

    Take a peek at my list and, hopefully, you'll add a few new favorite stops to your daily reads.

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    As I cross off people's names on my Christmas shopping list, my heart always sinks when I get to the last name: DAD.

    Not because I don't want to get him a present, but because, like most men, he's impossible to buy for. He's a big tool guy, so I spent the majority of my teenage years bulking up his toolbox, but after ten years of buying Christmas and birthday gifts, he pretty much has everything he needs. Now what? What the heck do you get a tool guy that has plenty of tools?

    Gotta think outside the (tool) box.

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    Bento box, a traditional Japanese food container

    Did you catch the bento-box-inspired NoHo apartment in the NYT this week? It's quite amazing and an organizer's dream home.

    Adam Weintraub of Koko Architecture and Design in Manhattan, who planned the renovation, said the apartment is "half storage." Wow. Sounds quite brilliant until you realize, "They live in the 50 percent of space that’s left."

    Sound crazy? Well, you won't believe how incredibly efficient and extraordinary the space is. Let's take a peek.

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    When you're renovating your home, your biggest hang-up is probably setting a schedule and hiring the best contractor to make the process easy for you. 

    But when your neighbor is President Obama, then that's the least of your problems. Instead, you're worried about the Secret Service and passing the background check. Will that one eccentric college friend who wanted to form a kibbutz prevent you from putting up that white picket fence?

    The Moynihans dropped $1.4 million to be the Obamas' BFFs, and I'm sure they're regretting it a little now. They have to get things approved by the White House and there are background checks for the workers at the house. There's also a strict rule against smoking, food, and coffee.

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