
Posted:
September 2, 2010 by
deb under
Remedies
I grew up with a spotless home. My mother was very good about keeping everything in tip-top shape. I picked up quite a few pointers from her, but dealing with hard water stains was something I didn’t know anything about.
If you have hard water, you’ve more than likely have seen stains appear in your bathroom or kitchen where there is a water source. The minerals from the hard water build up over time, and are not easily scrubbed off. I’ve found the best cleaner at attacking hard water stains is vinegar.
Here is my kitchen sink faucet before I started cleaning.

Yikes, huh?!
Here are the steps I took to treating this baby.
1. I took a few paper towels, soaked them in white vinegar and wrapped them around the faucet.

2. I’d pop in with a toothbrush every 6 hours or so and scrub away the hard water stains and then reapply the paper towels. After 1 day of letting the faucet soak, it looked like this.

It was looking much better already. But it still wasn’t clean enough so I reapplied the paper towels, added a little vinegar and let it soak for about 3 more days, still popping in with a tooth brush every once and a while. Here’s what it looks like now.

It looks much better. Although, it’s still not completely back to new, I couldn’t deal with the vinegar smell anymore. I’ve heard that you can mix a little lemon juice in with the vinegar to help it along. Has anyone tried this? If you have any pointers, I’d love to hear them.

Tags: faucet, hard water, Kitchen

Posted:
September 1, 2010 by
erin under
Fun
So we all know what a computer workstation is, right? Well how about a walkstation?

Yes, you heard me right, Steelcase has made a walkstation. I’m not sure what to think, other than the fact that it might be hard to walk and design at the same time. At least it keeps track of distance, time, and calories burned. What do you think?

Tags: computer, office, steelcase, workstation

Posted:
August 31, 2010 by
erin under
Design Basics
Back to school means many different things to many different people! For those college students you know it’s an exciting time! They get to live on their own, make their own choices, and design their own unique place! Here are some great little pieces to consider:

Writer’s Block

Moustache Pencils

Fillsta Lamp from Ikea

Peacock Circles pillow from Pier 1
Speaking of layouts for small spaces, we now have a new option available to help with your home, apartment, or dorm room! This is perfect if you’ve already got the furniture but just don’t know how to lay it out as efficiently as possible. This single room service is a one time fee of $75 and includes a new floor plan for your room. Visit the Hire Us page to learn more.

Tags: apartment, design, dorm, school, studio

Posted:
August 30, 2010 by
deb under
Space Redesigns
A short time ago, I had the joy of working with Janna on her family room space. Her family room is a great open room with a lot of windows. She had a couple challenges, though. So we stepped in to help her out!
Here is a picture of the space and what we had to work with:

Janna’s family room had a few challenges that made the layout tricky.
- A built-in bookshelf spanning the entire room
- Large, angled windows on one side
- A great, open floor plan, with little wall space
Below is the floorplan that suggested for Janna. To be quite honest, it’s not all that different from what she originally had, I just tweaked a few things. I placed smaller chairs for the seating area by the window, and suggested that she move the couch and love seat over {towards the windows} to allow more room for traffic flow. I also added a floor rug for the main visiting area to help ground everything on the tile floor.

And here is the mood board for her new space:

A break down of the goodies:
1. I used the Tullsta chairs from IKEA covered in the Licorice Emilio fabric from JCaroline Home.
2. The Ottoman is a large 18″ square one from JCaroline Home covered in the solid Chocolate fabric.
3. Accent pillows from JCaroline Home covered in solid Chocolate and Marzipan Clarise.
4. I wanted to keep the window treatments simple in the space so I went with these white window panels from Pottery Barn.
5. Accent rug (8×10) from FLOR. This is the Feelin Groovy pattern in Russet.

This redesign was done in partnership with Glamour magazine, JCaroline Home and FLOR. If you’re interested in hiring us to help you redesign your space, check out our services here.
Tags: family room, Glamour, jcaroline

Posted:
August 27, 2010 by
deb under
Inspiration
Happy Friday everyone!
I have to say, I’m exhausted today. I’ve been nesting like a mad woman, organizing every room and closet in our home. I worked myself so hard on Wednesday night that I started getting contractions. After a night’s rest and a relaxing morning, I was ready to get back at it Thursday afternoon and haven’t stopped since. I have about 7 weeks to go until the little boy comes, but with my first being 3 weeks early, I’m feeling a giant push to get things done while I can still bend over.

A little Friday inspiration is in store for you. I’ve seen so many cute things this week that I just have to share with you.
DIY Sunburst Mirror that makes me crave fall for some reason. Is it the branches? {pictured above}
I’ve been taking an online Home Ec class to use with my new sewing maching. This is one project I’m looking forward to. Didn’t Amy do an awesome job?
I love balloons and I want to try this at the next event I host.
An easy $5 fall wreath. Oh, how I love fall!
Nom Nom Nom Nom Brownies. Yum!
Another nester organizing the nursery closet. It’s on my list!
Have you seen anything inspiring this week? Do tell.
I hope you have a great weekend. We’ll see you back here on Monday!

Tags: links