Home Decor

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential
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As a Silhouette America affiliate, I have the opportunity to try new products and earn a small commission on sales while passing along  special promotions. Here’s the current deal with awesome savings. Just use code “CONFIDENTIAL” at checkout.

Oky dok, now let's dive into the fun stuff aside from discounts... those are fun too! This project took me a grand total of 30 minutes and that includes making the actual pillow cover too! I love a good fast project! So we are going to dive right in, let's go!

Begin by choosing an image and opening it in your Silhouette Software Program. I chose to make my own kilim pattern which you see attached below. If you would like something similar, feel free to right click and save. You will need to download a triangle shape from Silhouette and then modify the size according to your needs. 

 

For the various proportions of the triangles you will want the largest to be double the size of the medium triangle and the medium triangle to be double the size of the smallest triangle. For mine I used, 2.5" across the bottom, 1.25" across the bottom, and .75" across the bottom. I realize .75" is not half of 1.25", but we were getting into the very tiny and hardly worth it range. 

Now the fabric interfacing is really easy to use... it's the layout that is the most difficult. If you are working with only one color, simply layout your triangles as you see and then follow the instructions that follow, easy peasy. Of course I had to make this hard by including several colors in varying amounts of triangles... but for the sake of this tutorial, let's pretend I didn't. 

 

Once you have laid out your pattern in your Silhouette Software, select fabric for the material and adjust your blade as indicated (a 3) then you are ready to get your fabric set up...

Begin by cutting a piece of fabric that is 1" larger than your pattern or image and a piece of the fabric interfacing that is a tad smaller than your fabric all the way around. 

 

The bumpy side of the interfacing should touch the back of your fabric, then iron together on a heat appropriate for your fabric type. 

Trim all the way around your edges so your fabric and the interfacing are the same size. Then place on your cutting mat.

Cut away and then when all your pieces are cut, lay them out on your fabric.

To iron them in place, you can simply use your iron on the same heat setting from the previous steps and iron these cute little pieces in place. For this pattern I began in the middle and worked my way out after I made sure everything fit properly! 

Once your pattern is ironed in place you are finito... yahoo! easy peasy, right?

Now If you would like to order some of this amazing stuff, click here and enter CONFIDENTIAL at checkout for a discount! 

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential
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Post and giveaway sponsored by The Home Depot, but all opinions are my own. 

It's been a whirlwind week or two working with The Home Depot for the DIH Workshop, Inspired by Pinterest. There have been tv segments... workshops... projects... succulents... dirt under my fingernails... and it's been an amazing ride! I am excited to share all the deets with you and also launch a giveaway as our way of saying we heart you and to wrap this amazing partnership! One of you lucky duckies will walk away with a $100 gift card to The Home Depot, yahoooooo... For the giveaway, scroll all the way to the bottom, and for a recap of all the excitement as well as a fun video tutorial for a DIY succulent garden, just hold on to your seats folks... it's gonna be fabulous! I'm also including the link to another DIY succulent garden I created specifically for The Home Depot and can be found on their blog, The Apron... it's awesome-sauce, if I do say so myself (which I do...).

Also if you would like to watch my segment on KCRA, click here and watch away (I haven't figured out how to embed it yet) and my segment on ABC click here. Don't judge... I'm still chubby from hatching the bird, I have this strange tendency toward crazy eyes... and I'm downright goofy most of the time, pretty sure that's why you guys guys tolerate me though, ya? I will try and post the other links to the other segments as they roll through.. weeeeee.

The DIH Workshop at the Stanford Ranch Home Depot was amazing, with an amazing turnout! Yahoo! Everyone was completely into the topic and the whole experience was amazing (Thank you Stanford Ranch Store, I heart you guys!!!)!

We tackled a vertical garden, classic potted garden and even hypertufa... ya be jealous... hypertufa rules! 

 

Now let's get down to business for our DIY project, shall we? 

Materials:

  • 4x6 piece of lumber at 6' or less
  • Spade Bit or Hole Saw at 2"-2 1/2" would be perfect, but smaller will work with multiple holes (see my video below!)
  • large and long drill bit for wood
  • succulents of your choice
  • sandpaper
  • acylic paint of your choice
  • paint brush (I used a 2" brush for this, it went faster that way)

Oky dok, the directions are all included in this short video below. yahoo... 

 

 

 

Oky dok my friends... and now are you ready to get this GIVEAWAY started? One of you lucky ducks will win a $100 Home Depot Gift Card! Yahoo!

Enter using the Rafflecopter form below!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential
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I have been making some major headway in the new house, despite my radio silence on the matter... I have had freelance project after project and haven't hardly had a moment to update you on what I have been up to otherwise! In fact I am almost completely finished with the Family Room, squeal... can't wait to do the full room reveal for you guys! Such a fun space... 

In the meantime the other areas of my house are needing some love desperately too! Remember this painting I found at Denio's, my new home away from home? Well as much as I loved it as it was, I wanted something fresh and exciting and so I took a paint brush to it, duh. After all, the reason I purchased it in the first place was the sheer size and of course the price of a mere $3! Doesn't get better than that folks, except when it gets a new 'do' and that 'do' is a little reminiscent of a space I loved when I shared it with you here... See the room with the spotted art above the bed? Yep, loved it...

One of my goals in the new house is to turn my design style up a notch and mix things up. I want to really push my design boundaries and find a new style to love for a while! The only way for me to do this is to take risks, so a few dalmatian-ish spots above the bed are a great place to start! 

I will spare you the 'tutorial' since it's pretty straightforward, but I will mention that I used Rustoleum spray paint and primer in one to give it a good base coat. I used just regular acrylic craft paint for the spotted goodness and a sponge brush with a round tip. That made the spotting that much easier to do! Easy Peasy update and I couldn't love how it sets a fresh new tone for the space any more than I currently do. It makes me happy to remember it's there and stare at it. Ya, that's probably weird but, it's my way...

Also... how devious does that pup look. I clearly caught him in the act of something, I have yet to simply find out what... He's a little out of focus here because I was shooting the painting, but that look on his face is priceless. Part, leave me alone, part, did she see what I was doing? eek...

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential
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It's has taken me the better part of two days to finish this project, and it was much like a blooper reel, I'm sure, to have seen this unfold. To say that I struggled would be a major understatement but... you guys... this is the first time I have ever used a Silhouette and believe me, it was apparent through each and every step! Eek.

At long last, I finished this cute little addition to our family room and I learned a ton along the way! At least you all won't suffer much when it's your turn to give this a whirl... there is something to be said for that. Believe me...

So let's get into the wwwww.... oh and one of you lucky folks will be going home with your very own Silhouette Portrait! Sqeeeeee... Aren't you so excited? I posted the giveaway here, so click on over to enter, yay!

Please bear with me through this crazy maze of instructions, and know that the images don't coincide directly with some of the ultimate results. This is because many of the details I was able to photograph were midstream or before I decided to scrap the whole thing for the 3rd time and change it entirely. The details remain the same, but the appearance may get wonky throughout.

Also we are going to begin at the very beginning of using a Silhouette machine and this is because I learned much that might have been helpful to know from the start and I couldn't find any exact instructions along these lines. Now there will be something helpful for those of you in my situation! 

Let's dive right into the chaos, shall we? So the first thing you will need to do is set up your image or text in the Silhouette Studio. Now as you will see in the next couple of steps, the guides for where your paper should sit, aren't exactly accurate so you will want to be sure your image or text sits down 1/2" from the top of the 'paper' edge on your screen. Likewise, it should sit up about 1" from the bottom of what appears to be the 'paper' edge. and at least 1/2" in from either side. If you keep your image within those boundaries, you will have better luck when you start to cut! 

Once your image is set you will need to get it ready to send to Silhouette and you will have to choose a few settings to make this thing function properly.

First you will want to choose chipboard from the dropdown of paper/item type. If you don't have that option (as I didn't) you can choose custom OR you can choose heavy cardstock paper weight and make sure your cutting blade level is at a 6. Now, if you do have the chipboard option, it will set your level to a 7, but if you have never used your machine, mat and blade before...this will cut right through your brand new surface and leave you with a mat that is a bit crazy. So start with a 6 to be safe. You can simply adjust the number using the little arrow buttons. 

Also, if you haven't cut anything with your machine before, stick an extra piece of chipboard or cardstock to your mat and peel it off to de-sticky it a tad. Mine was so sticky at first that it ruined my cuts. 

Once you have your level set to a 6, you will need to trim down your chipboard so it will feed through the machine properly. I removed about 3" from the width of the chipboard and stuck it onto my mat, centered and lined up with the guides on the mat. 

Once your chipboard is on your mat, you will want to center the mat between the white roller wheels on the bar in your machine. This will make sure your page goes through properly. 

The image above shows what happens when you don't add that extra clearance for your image (the 1/2" extra bit of margin I suggested earlier). Eek. 

Now let's chat about your blade. That cute little thing above has markings around the white portion with numbers. When I mentioned you want to set your screen setting to a level 6, this also means you need to adjust the actual blade accordingly. To do this, use the gray cap that comes with your blade, or the hole on the front of the machine to set your blade and then turn to adjust where the red marker aligns. Once it's set for 6, you are good to go according to the blade directions and set up instructions. Unfortunately my blade still wasn't cutting. After chatting with support for an entire day, it turns out that I can make the blade cut by removing the teeny tiny top portion of that white cap (which the instructions say to remove for cleaning and then replace). It seems as though it is supposed to sty on, but my blade doesn't stick out far enough for that to work, so I simply left it off. I am sure I am ruining my machine or something devastating, but I tried 2 blades with the same results and 2 blades in 2 different packages can't both be defective... so my thought is that a new safety measure perhaps, is a bit too safe? Not sure, but this is the story I am sticking too! 

This is what it looks like with this little piece removed. You simply unscrew it by turning it counter clockwise. 

Voila she cuts... and then if your mat is too sticky, she doesn't come off. Double eek.. 

At this point I figured perhaps the sticky mat and the chipboard dont mix and I should just send the chipboard through without the mat... wrong... that sucker got crazy and folded over on itself and made a horrid horrid mess. No, you need that mat to keep the small cut sections from lifting, but you need that mat to just be a little less sticky, which it was after my first incident with my cuts not coming off properly. Another problem accidentally solved... after I spent 30 minutes trying to scrape the residual chipboard off, of course! 

Finally after I adjusted my margins, used a less sticky mat, adjusted my blade to a 6 so it didn't cut all the way through, removed that cap from the blade and re ran that sucker through... everything worked properly! And then I decided it was too small... womp womp womp. 

Back to the drawing board, and I don't have pictures of these steps since by this time it was nearly midnight but I will happily suggest you paint any of your pieces prior to removing them from the mat. This just makes things easier... 

Ultimately I was able to fit 2 hello images per sheet and I cut a total of 6 to layer and give it dimension. This isn't necessary if you are making a banner in the traditional sense, but I was of course moving to the beat of a different drum... 

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential
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UPDATE: This contest is now closed and a winner has been drawn at random. Check below to see if it's you! If you would like to purchase any of the bundles listed below, you can do so with a discount by entering CONFIDENTIAL at checkout! Yahoo

I am excited to bring you all an amazing giveaway today and a promotional bundle of deals for those of you who prefer to buy your way to bliss! Silhouette just came out with a new product... Chipboard! I know, right? For those of you who like banners and anything with glitter, chipboard is the stuff for you! And for those of you who like to win big, one of you will be going home with a new Silhouette Portrait... Sqeeeeeee... I know, right? Could you die? Yahoo. I will be back in just a bit with a project showing you how to use this cool stuff... stay tuned!! 

There are three bundles available to TDC readers which you can take advantage of by visiting www.silhouetteamerica.com/chipboard and entering promo code "CONFIDENTIAL" at checkout by May 15, 2013:

1)  1 pack of chipboard, 1 $25 download card for $19.99


2)  1 Silhouette Portrait™, 1 pack of chipboard, 1 grey dust cover, 1 $25 download card for $129.99

3)  1 Silhouette CAMEO®, 1 pack of chipboard, 1 natural dust cover, 1 $25 download card for $269.99

And now for the even more exciting part? Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter to win your very own Silhouette Portrait from Silhouette! The giveaway ends at midnight just before May 13, 2013 (so on May 12 basically) and a winner will be drawn at random and notified via email! 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential
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Post sponsored by The Home Depot, but all opinions are my own, of course!

I couldn't be more excited to partner with Home Depot for a fabulous Do It Herself Workshop on May 16th (mark your calendars people) and a Twitter Party on May 2nd! That's right people, the ladies have spoken. The Home Depot is expanding their Do-It-Herself Workshops to more of The Home Depot Stores. It’s time to get hands-on, so find a local workshop in your area today. If you are local to the Sacramento region, I hope you will join me for this at the Stanford Ranch Store (10001 Fairway Drive, Roseville, CA 95678), I can't wait to meet you! It's going to be such a fun night...

Are you a gardening guru? Are you a gardening guru? Learn how to make your own succulent garden with The Home Depot. Registerfor the May 16 DIH Workshop today! Get inspired by Pinterest on May 16th from 6:30pm to 8:00pm EST at The Home Depot Do-It-Herself Workshop. Join us and The Home Depot on May 2 at 8:00 PM for a one-hour Twitter Party to learn about the Do-It-Herself Workshops: Inspired by Pinterest and succulent gardens! This will only be my second twitter party ever, but the first one was so fun and I loved it, very truly! I hope you will hang with us for this too. You will see what I mean about the twitter parties. Fast paced and pure DIH adrenaline! 

The Home Depot wants everyone to have the skills and confidence to be a first class do-it-yourselfer. These free weekly workshops are a great way to get step-by-step instructions and hands on experience learning to do basic repairs and easy home improvements. Did you know The Home Depot holds DIH workshops monthly? Me either, so I was super excited to hear this great news...Check your local The Home Depot store to see if it’s holding Do-It-Herself Workshops. These aren’t designed specifically for women, but a lot of ladies do attend. Register today with our online registration link.  With clear instructions, plenty of time for questions and answers and a wonderful demonstration, Do-It-Herself Workshops will give you a dose of do-it-yourself inspiration. More and more women are taking on do-it-yourself projects these days. Join in on the fun with participants and The Home Depot associates at theDIH Workshop: Inspired by Pinterest. 

So here is what will be on the agenda for May 16th:

We are going to create a Pinterest-inspired succulent garden by identifying and selecting succulents to create a container garden. Register today if you want to attend this one or one in your area! Succulents can be used for decorating- on a sunny, dining room table, hanging on the front door, or in pots around the yard. Learn more and join us at The Home Depot Inspired by Pinterest: Succulent Gardens workshop.

Of course I couldn't let this opportunity pass without posting a couple of stylish succulent tutorials to top it all off, since that is what we will be doing at the DIH Workshop! Yay! Stay tuned for those in the coming weeks, I think you will LOVE my take on them, at least I do...

Disclosure Language:

The Home Depot partnered with bloggers such as me for their Twitter Party and DIH Workshop program. As part of this program, I received compensation for my time. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about any product mentioned in these posts. The Home Depot believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. The Home Depot’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential
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Is it just me or do any of you folks have those projects that haunt you... plague ridden with problems from the start? This was one of those projects for me, but luckily it was only because we were in the middle of a move and I didn't have the proper tools I truly needed to complete this project with ease. 

I can't stress how much the 'right' tools are the make and break of a project, the true determining factor of a project's ultimate success or utter failure, outside of the more obvious potential design flaws that are a definite possibility with some of my hair brained ideas. What can I say, I'm a dreamer, and some of my creative endeavors speak volumes to that fact. This was not one of those failed whimsical projects, but it could easily have gone more smoothly and so we shall just look at this as the crash test dummy to your quick and fast DIY project and count ourselves lucky that someone had to take the bullet on that one and that it wasn't you! Yahoo!

When Wayfair and Hometalk challenged me to create something using this bad boy, I actually jumped at the chance because a) it speaks to my inner Macgyver persona and b) I kind of needed a light fixture in my family room. Would you believe I didn't notice that there wasn't one when we moved in? Yep, I'm that gal.. the oblivious one sitting in the dark... in her own family room, eek!

The challenge also included the caveat that whichever item was chosen needed to be made over using one of three themes: black and white, rope, or geometric. I actually chose two of the three themes being geometric and black and white, and obviously took some liberty with the 'white' portion of that combo...

Anyhoo, would you like to know how to make one for yourself? Yes? Ok then read on my friends.. read on...

Materials:

  • 1 - 4x6 (Lumber) at 20" or so... (this can be to your desired height)
  • Saw (or you can have your lumber supply cut this to size for you)
  • Deran Lamp Shade
  • Lamp Kit
  • Drill
  • 11/16" Spade Bit
  • Sanding Supplies and Sander
  • Duct Tape (in color of your choice)
  • Paint

Cut your lamp base (lumber) to size and create an X shape, from corner to corner, to designate the center of the post. Using your spade bit, drill a hole into the center of the top of your post. 

Drill a second hole about 4 or 5" from the top on what will be the back of your lamp base.This will be the exit point for your cord.

 

Sand your base well and begin taping the cord from your lighting kit. You will want to work in small sections so the tape is manageable and I think it's easiest to work vertically with this so you aren't wrapping the tape for days on end. 

Once your length of cord is wrapped up in a pretty little package, so to speak, it's time to paint your base and wire your lamp! 

To paint with a nice looking wash that isn't too contrived seeming, first paint with a layer of water in the designated area then use a bit of watered down paint and layer until you achieve your desired result. You can see below that I didn't drown my lamp base, I simply gave it a minimal coating of water. I wanted a bit of gradation so as I layered I also varied the height of the paint.

When your paint has dried completely you can wire your lamp! This part was tricky and I used teasers to help me collect my wires and pull them out through the top. Once you pull them through, follow the directions on your lamp kit and they should go a bit like you see in the images below. 

  • 1. Pull through your base
  • 2. Thread through bottom portion that is supposed to screw into your existing lamp base (which in this case doesn't exist).
  • 3. Tie the wires into a fancy schmancy knot according to the kit
  • 4. Wrap designated wires around the appropriate screw (silver or gold) and secure.
  • 5. Fasten the part with the switch over the top of the wires, then lock down the gold cover on top. 

All that's left at this point is to add the bulb, test that baby out and add your lamp shade. Unless of course you want to alter your lamp shade, in which case I highly recommend you use fabric and cover rather than paint, but of course I didn't do that... womp, womp, womp. 

It turned out rather nicely, after 207 coats of paint for the shade, don't you think? 

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential
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We are still completely in the midst of our move and I am slowly trying to decide where things should go in our new spaces. I know for certain I have dozens of projects I have been conjuring up and will at some point perhaps even finish. This particular project was one I managed to knock out in about 30 minutes but had planned for the last few weeks, of course. I blame my lack of a ladder for the majority of the time this project actually took. If I had a ladder it would have likely been more like a 10 minute project. Still, I am entirely happy with the outcome, which is both simply and chic, if I do say so myself... oh and completely removable too since this baby is vinyl. My design ADD persona loves things that are temporary and this is perfection. One small space down, 874 to go... 

Have you guys been completing any small projects in your own spaces? I love those quick fixes...

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential
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If you follow me on Instagram you may have already seen a sneaky peaky of a few of these details... If not, then this will be fun and new for all of you! This wall needed some much needed gussying up and a store bought abstract art piece kicked off the project perfectly. I followed that beauty up with 2 DIY projects and one kiddo creation. Hopefully you can guess which is which, and if not, perhaps I need to reevaluate my skills as a Home Decor Art Creationist... eek! 

That horizontal work of genius was created by my Monster Mash boy using MDF and acrylic craft paints. Such a great way to have a unique piece with importance. If you want some tips on creating Home Decor art with kids, I will share that soon, in the meantime just consider choosing the colors you want them to use to coordinate with your decor! 

Materials: All you need for this art project is a canvas, either new or to be recycled, Black and White Acrylic Craft Paint and a Brush at least 1" wide.

A breakdown of the other pieces in this gallery wall creation go a little something like this...

1. Abstract Painting purchased at Tuesday Morning

2. Black & White Abstract created HERE in this article! Yay

3. Horizontal kiddo creation

4. DIY Neon Chalkboard Organizer

Truthfully I'm not sure I love this gallery wall in general. I think it is a bit to symetrical and a bit to matchy matchy for several of the pieces. BUT, I love the fact that this Black and White beauty is actually a fabulous before and after, if you will, since this is it's second life as a piece of art.

Behold... the beauty that once was...

I loved this when I got it 6 years ago for the colors and the landscape scene but at some point shortly after I purchased it, the canvas itself became the value rather than the painting you see before you.The fact is, I scored this beauty for $10 on sale one day at Michael's and I knew even then that once my heart grew tired of the look, the canvas would come in handy for remaking into something else! 

My friends... that day came! 

I gave this canvas a nice good double coat of White Titanium acrylic paint from DecoArt, my go to white for Home Decor paintings. It does double duty for me serving as a decent primer as well, even when you are starting with a blank canvas.

Be sure to cover your canvas thoroughly, especially if you are covering an existing painting. For this particular project a vertical brush stroke will work to your advantage, but I recommend having your first layer be horizontal and then following that up with a vertical coat (or 2 if needed). This goes right in line with the age old technique used for painting walls in a multitude of directions when laying down your base color to be sure you have proper coverage especially on a textured piece. 

Now for the fun... run a couple of lines of black paint near the bottom of your canvas.

Blend up several inches and wrap the bottom of your canvas as well as the bottom portion of the sides. This will give your piece a more finished look.

Add a bit more and drag the color up about 6 or 7 inches in a vertical irregular pattern all the way across the bottom section.

Add a bit of white just above your black section and pull it down into the top 2 inches to create a gray section and blend well using vertical brush strokes as often as possible. 

Add a bit more black just below the gray section and pull it up into the gray just a tiny bit,1 inch will do the trick. You simply want to be sure the gray overlaps the white in an irregular vertical pattern and that the black overlaps the gray in the same manner so that your painting appears to fade black to white in an upwards manner.

Note: if you want to pull down a few small streaks of black from the top as you can see I did, feel free, but this certainly isn't required.

The top portion of this gallery wall...

And the bottom portion... 

Submitted by RyTurner / The Design Confidential
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Some of you probably remember my plan of attack for the bird's nursery.. you can read more about that here. I thought I would update you on what's been done so far, yahoo! I am obviously avoiding my master bedroom right now since my last update was on the progress in that room, or lack thereof... But my next round of projects for that space are a bit more involved and the bird leaves little to no time for that fun stuff, most days.

So I'm flitting around room to room working on little projects here and there, and like the terrible blogger that I am, this project is one I could have shared months ago, and didn't... yay for procrastination. 

In the bird's moodboard, I show the most fabulous mobile with paper gems and a pop of color among the remaining moody blues. I was so excited to order this guy and so excited to put it together and get it hung (way back in April of last year...) and then tragedy struck! Nobody croaked or anything, but the mobile thread (yes that is what it dangles from) broke in two places and 2 of the paper gems didn't have the sticky stuff to put them together. *Insert unhappy face here* 

Luckily customer service was wonderful and they sent a replacement right out and this one was intact. BUT... in true pregnant mama fashion I decided I hated the colors. They weren't quite like they are shown on the package or on the site. They were decidedly more muted and a bit blah to be quite honest.

Since this bad boy was paper... you know I couldn't let it rest as is and I took to it with some craft paint and crayon. I added a turquoise blue, sea green, and pink in paint and went over the browns and beiges. Then I used a white colored pencil and lightly went over the orange color which made it decidedly more neon orange in person, which is awesome!

You can see how this little corner of the room is shaping up. I still have a ton to do and of course as soon as I finish I will very likely change everything up and begin again since I have the worst case of Design ADD known to man... In the meantime it will be fun to share some of the easy peasy projects with you guys and see how baby bird likes his new digs. He will be ready to move in within the month I think, and it will likely take me till next year to get around to sharing the deets, ha... exciting times my lovelies!

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