The Power of the Imagination

I found this via the web, of course. From ReadyMade magazine's blog, to the designer's site, Jonathanfongstyle, to my little blog, and now to you.

When Jonathan Fong discovered that posters were 40% off at a museum's Andy Warhol retrospective, he decided to buy a lot of them and decoupage his kitchen cabinets.



His cabinets were plain white laminate (like most rental apartments) and he applied the posters using regular Elmer's Glue. If you rent, you can eliminate his last step of applying five coats of acrylic polyurethane and it should not be difficult to remove them with a good soaking and an abrasive kitchen sponge when you move.

Affordable design and unforgettable style.

Check out his book, Jonathan Fong's Walls That Wow: Creative Wall Treatments Without Fancy-Schmancy Painting, for more great ideas.

How perfectly cool and retro

This summer whenever I was out in the heat, I couldn't stop thinking about ICED mint green tea. How lovely if it were ready for me when I walked in the door. Well, next summer I want to be prepared.

I saw this last week in my neighborhood coffee shop, Rostov's Coffee & Tea, and fell in love.



It is by Bee House and is a retro styled ceramic iced teapot. A removable stainless steel infuser basket rests inside. This one is in Blueberry and sells for $44.

Last fall, for hot tea, I would just run hot water through my coffee maker, but how about treating myself to one of these, also by Bee House?


This is the 3-cup teapot, also with an infuser basket, for $25 and it is available in so many delicious colors*.


NOTE: As I was looking for the right color, I noticed different retailers were selling different sizes and colors that weren't available on the official Bee House site, probably due to exclusive deals with retail stores. So if you think you want a particular color or size, keep looking, it is probably out there. Good luck!

Loveseat update

I found two place online where someone photo documented their sofa reupholstering project, here and here. I was amazed that in this current DIY culture that reupholstering instructions were not easier to find and believe me, I tried!

Before:


After:


I did finally sew the adjustments I pinned into my store bought slipcover way back when I started this blog. I altered the arms and it makes a HUGE difference that they now fit. I was able to keep the piping in place so it looks as if it was originally made to fit. I have a small loveseat and I bought a slipcover for a slightly larger one so it still has too much length from arm to arm and the elastic they put in back for adjustments just bunches up. I will have to take it off again, turn it inside out, and pin some more adjustmens for those changes. However, with just this small change, it fits better and doesn't slide as much when in use.



I also seriously looked into prices on foam for the one-piece bench cushion I want. I entered the dimensions (44" x 26" x 4") into the appropriate forms on FoamOrder.com and FoamSource.com. They each offer different grades of foam in three densities. Since this is going to be a temporary solution I selected the lowest grade and a medium density foam.

Foam Order's quote came to $68.85.
Foam Source's quote came to $63.24.

Very doable.

Researching high-end paints the cheap way

For smaller projects like the ones I have shown on this blog I have used sample pots. Another great use for samples is using them to find out if those high-end ($$$) paints are worth it when it comes to painting the walls of your home. Here are the paint manufacturers I have found that offer sample pots of their lines.

NEW ADDITION!
Pantone Paints coming soon. Created in partnership with Fine Paints of Europe (see below)

Citron

Ellen Kennon

Cox Paints

• At Cox, you can purchase sample pots from Benjamin Moore, Donald Kaufman, Modern Masters, as well as, from Fine Paints of Europe and Farrow & Ball.

California Paints

Fine Paints of Europe

Farrow & Ball

Ralph Lauren

Pratt & Lambert

If you fall in love with one of these colors and wish to use it on a much larger surface, but still do not want to pay the price, don't forget to use Colorcharts.org. On their site you can find similar colors made by different manufactures all rated on a 0 to 100% matching scale. They can also help you locate dealers that can reproduce any color on their site. They also publish the paint formulations of most of these brands. Which means that you can have some of these colors mixed up in a much cheaper paint at your local Big Box store.