A bit of jumping!!!!

They say you need imagination to do things creative.  Designing one's home is creative.  There are some rules to follow, but today, rules are made to be broken.

Silhouettes are supposed to be mysterious.  Abstract art is something everyone sees different.  Do you like the mysterious?  You can buy silhouettes or have them made.  They were very popular in the 50's.  Have some done of your children or family members and hang in a hallway.  They make very interesting pictures.  Abstract paintings also tell a story in your minds eye.  What do you see.?  there are some that I like, but it is not my forte.  I am a realist.

Here are a few old cliches', "Seize the day", do what you want, YOU HAVE TO LIVE THERE!
Whatever it is you like, or your family needs, do it.  Don't listen to someone who doesn't live in your house!  Sometimes I will say, designers can help, even family and friends.  Remember, no matter what someone tells you, it is your house.  Here is another one, "If it is not broken, don't fix it".  Do you like everything about your house?  If you do, or like certain areas or things, don't try and fix what you like.  I can talk all day about what you should or might do, but I don't live there.  Back to the phrase, "If you love it, buy it".  My very firm belief.

The word classic means, "It never goes out of style".  There are companies whose furniture is timeless.  that is what I love.  I have never been a fad designer.  I like things that will last forever, if I choose to keep them. 

That is how I feel about bathrooms.  The collections that I have, go anywhere including bathrooms.  The light fixtures I have stored, can be used anywhere.  there are no rules, that I follow, except for lighting.  I need a lot of light.  No matter what the room is, I need light to show off everything.

My master bath has 4 sets of lights.  The chandelier hangs over the tub along with 2 recessed lights, a light over the shower, alight in the commode area, and lights over the sinks along with lights under the cabinets.  Granted, I did not put any of them there, except the chandelier.  We did however, put in a ceiling fan.  Even though there is an exhaust fan, the ceiling fan moves the air around. My master bath is large, so it can accommodate a fan, where as some are just to small that one is not feasible.  All bathrooms should have an exhaust fan, as humidity from hot showers or a tub, can ruin things.
On the market today there are combination lights and exhaust fans.  Check online and see what is available.

Look back on design of the past 50 years.  The colors are all back, depending on what you like.  I love the new glass tiles as they add a sparkle to your room.  Home Depot and Lowe's offer a great selection of the newest things out.  I, however like to deal with a local tile man.  Not that I am anti big business, as I shop at those places all the time, I also like to give the hometown guy a chance.  I find that they try harder to gain your business. 

Below are a few things I talked about in the last few days and couldn't bring up the pictures:

 

This is a nifty magazine rack I found on sale at a store that was closing, it was very cheap.  It serves it's purpose.  It can be moved from room to room easily.  These are the type of things to grab up as you shop.  It also folds flat for storage.  I keep my craft books there.

 

 

In case you missed this light fixture before, it now has a home it my guest end of the house in the hallway.  Yesterday, I showed you the hallway, that I will soon be painting and striping.  This hall has 10 foot ceilings.

 

 

 

These are also pediments that I found and put above a door.  they add interest to the room and kind of break up the 12 foot height.  I'll bet you have something that you can hang above a door to give it interest.  This door leads into the hallway I am redoing.  It is the first of many rooms to be redone.

 

Tomorrow more on what is going on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Pieces of a little bit of everything

Do some before and after shots of your bathrooms, hallways, or any room you are going to do.  I take pictures of things that have been done each day, to see my progress. Remember the old saying "a picture is worth a thousand words", well that is what you have.  With the onset of I Phones, Droids, and whatever else there is, I am forever seeing people share pictures on their phones.  Just looking at a picture of your room, many times you can see the voids, the clutter, broken things, crooked lampshades, and so many minute things that you will wonder why you didn't see that before.  Share those with friends and ask their advice, some times it is worth it.  A pet peeve of mine is a crooked lampshade.  Here is a trick for cleaning lampshades.  Use a lint remover.  just run it up and down the lampshade and see how the dust comes right off, without having to drag out the vacuum.  If it is your day to vacuum, run the dusting tool over the lampshades, and the tops of your furniture.  Remember, they collect the same amount of dust as the tables.

I love the swifter duster, for doing baseboards, fans and almost everything.  It is the handiest item, that I use all the time.

See how I jump off on pieces of information.  I had no intention of this as I started this blog today, but there it is to read.  I always offer a little FYI ( For your information).

Let' do pieces of different baths today.  For instance, if it is  very small powder room or a bath where the commode sits facing the blank wall that is normally behind a door, here is a quick fix.  Hang something behind the door, it is wall space.  You may even find a narrow magazine rack that is very narrow, and put a few new magazines in it.  Painting work well, sometimes if you love abstract, use it as everyone finds something different in an abstract. 

Even though I save magazines for a different reason, have newer ones for the people who will use this bathroom.  If you have room,  use a free standing magazine rack.  I like to use magazine racks or even a basket with magazines in it.  There are wall mounted ones also out there to buy.

I will try and upload some pictures in this blog, but at the moment, it will not let me.  So let's go on.

If you can, it is great to have a chair, bench or an ottoman that opens up and doubles for storage.  This way, you have something to sit on as you dress.  I just happened to have a chair at the studio, that I brought home for my husband to sit on.  He has very little balance.

I again have tried to upload pictures and can't do it today, so we will talk about things you can do and tomorrow,  hopefully, after rebooting, I will be able to do it.


Every bathroom should be as comfortable as the next one.  Always have a rug or the new absorbent pads to lay own on the floor by the bathtub or the shower.  They used to have bathmats that matched your towels at JC Penney's, but I haven't seen any lately.  Regardless of what the stores have, I have reverted to order things online.  It is something I never really did until lately.  It is easier to use Google search and type in a word and find what I want.  I think today, I will search out bathmats. Towels also loose there great feeling after so many washings, once they start to show wear, use them for rags if you can afford to.  If not, sew a patch over the wear like a quilt, from another towel.  You not only get a new look, your towels won't show the wear.  I will say, they make the best rags.

I like to use white towels in a bathroom as they are bleachable.  Then they always look clean.  I do use colored towels, blue, yellow and pinks.  I like Navy Blue, but lately I can't find them in the color of navy I like.  Colors change from year to year on towels, and from company to company.  Look for the shade you like the best.  ALWAYS buy extra wash cloths as they are the first thing to wear out.  I usually buy, 2 washcloths to every towel.  If I love the color, I buy 4 bath towels, 8 hand towels, and 8 washcloths so I have many years of wear for that color.  also mix and match your colors.  If you use white towels, as I do, I buy different colors of hand towels and washcloths.  It's a different look every other day.

So today, I think I will surf the internet for bathmats and towels.  How easy is that.  Thank you Google Search!!!!!!!!!!!!!