Summer house DIY

As I sit here in the middle of a raging snowstorm, I'm thinking about my summer house which I want to open next month. Maybe optimism will pay off!  This is the time of year I run through my "to do" list of what I want to accomplish in the coming season.  Most summer home/cottage owners want an inviting, homey atmosphere that can be accomplished on a budget.  I'm no different. Our place is small and quite ordinary looking from the outside, but  we have a million dollar view.

 We are perched on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean on the Bonavista Peninsula in Newfoundland and through the seasons we see icebergs, seabirds, whales and beautiful full moons.  One October I even saw my first display of the Northern Lights.

Come for a virtual visit.

View outside my studio window mid summer

 

Visitors in May

After the storm

Full moon over Bonavista

Before we ever put the plans for the house on paper, the colour scheme  was etched in my mind from my time spend in the community when I was younger.  The inside is a continuation of the outside - ocean, pink/purple slate/ fall meadow and fog. 

It's a back door kind of place (note the dishes in the rack) so we enter into the kitchen area.  Only slate could be used on the kitchen floor because it is a prominent feature of the whole area and works so well with the other colours.  I choose  purple  for an accent wall behind the cabinets which I doctored  with help at  my local paint shop. 

The cabinets were created on a shoestring budget.  My husband made the boxes out of white melamine that was already faced for use in shelving. We bought the doors at a salvage store unfinished. The layout of the kitchen was determined by the door sizes available.   I made a wash from liberal amounts of white and dabs of  the other colours in the house.  The floors are local spruce with the same wash, protected by five coats of water base varathane.  My knowledge of colour mixing gained through art was very helpful for this DIY. 

The butcher block counters are made from maple with strips of purple heart wood.  I would like to say the island had some exotic finish but its plain old laminate.

  The beautiful stained glass that provides light from the porch area was created by my  on-site handyman. We are waiting for our second hand refrigerator to die so we can fill the space up with a new one - we've been waiting for nine years!

The table  and bench were made from lumber salvaged from a hundred year old building that was being demolished.  There's an inlay of purple heart in the back of the bench and on either end of the table.  The dining area is across from the kitchen and the purple accent wall continues.  Our mid century modern chairs were saved  from a trip to the dump when a local company was renovating their offices.  They keep moving around the living area. 

Last summer I covered them in blue geometric fabric and moved them under the window for a change of pace.

This spring the furniture in this seating area will be replaced by ...

 

 .. two new IKEA chairs soon to be ordered.  I'll get my white slipcovers after all (our guests are usually clean).

This newly made cabinet is headed to the summer place and will be placed between the two IKEA chairs. It was made for my living room in my other house but I want  a piece that is twice as large for that space.  Call the handyman.

 I still can't believe I bought this sofa! It is cuddly,  puffy and brownish - not at all like what I am attracted to. Function won out over form.I gave up on my dream of a white slip covered sofa as not conducive to gardening, wood working, hiking and painting.   This one was durable and cheap.  I'm learning to like it.   The trunk was built from scraps of wood by my father when I was a teenager.  It's now painted BM Piedmont Gray.  It still looks lost so it will move to my studio.  What to put there is the big question.  More updates later. 

10 Design Solutions for Small Bedrooms

Are you wondering how to make the most of those small bedrooms you have? Sometimes it's as simple as re-arranging furniture, changing  colours or adding built- ins.  Here are 10  suggestions to make the best use of a small bedroom space, but don't stop there.   Many of these ideas can be used in other rooms too.

Build in around the window

miami interior designer Linda Fisher

Using a window to centralize the layout  of the room and building in around it is an efficient use of space.  It is also very visually appealing because it produces a symmetrical layout.

  tineke triggs

Another version of built-ins add seating space and the trundle bed provides an extra space for overnight guests. 

Symmetrical placement

Kerrie L. Kelly

Long narrow rooms seem to be a common problem in bedrooms.  This room again uses built -ins to frame the bed thus creating extra storage space and the perfect place to highlight a piece of art. Using the length of the room for the bed enables a very symmetrical layout which allows for access to both sides of the bed. Walking in to a room and looking over the length of the bed also makes the room look longer and more spacious.

Compact and serene with one wallop of design on the floor. Do you think removing the rug would make the room look even more spacious?  I particularly love the way the small window has been made the focal point with wall to wall draperies. 

Use the walls

Michelle Hinckley

No place to put a bedside table... just hang one on the wall.  

Move furniture to the edge of the room 

The Lettered Cottage

 Pushing furniture to the far edge of a room works well in some cases.  The addition of the large stripes visually expands this room.  Keeping the colours neutral with very little contrast also adds to the spacious look. This is little more than a large closet, but it is so inviting.

houzz

Another central layout that uses the edge of a room effectively. 

Build it up

  allchildrensfurniture.com

This seems to be such a safer solution than regular bunk beds.  The design also allows you to float it in the centre of the room. Lots of storage space is created as a result of the steps and centre placement.

Build it into a corner

source

Stonebreaker Builders & Remodelers

Using a corner to lay out beds is a very efficient use of space. I've seen this work effectively with two twin beds as in the photo above,  but never two bunk beds!  

Float the bed 

Lisa Adams, LA Closet Design

No closet space?  Don't let that stop you. Float the bed in the middle of the room  with a high headboard and install a closet system behind it. 

Use space at  the foot of the bed

Janell Beals - Isabella & Max

This is a creative use of space for a desk. It builds on the central layout of the room and keeps everything accessible .  Benches, chairs, trunks, a small bookcase etc.  are other possibilities. 

Use glass creatively

Jacobs Design, Inc.

A wall of glass covered closet doors expands the overall visual space of this room.  The see through headboard is another good trick.  To make the room look even larger keep all the colours light. Your eye automatically sticks on dark colours and stays there.  They have become an unwanted centre of interest.

Use furniture as a divider

momoy

This room is a fantastic  example of excellent use of space from the built- in shelves and drawers to the desk used as a divider. The large mirror also increases the visual space in the room.

Look for the bones of a room

There is nothing more boring in decor than an overly matched room!  I work in a home decor retail setting part time  and this gives me a good sense of what the "general public" is interested in or believes about home decor.  I've noticed two constant trends.  First is the belief that everything must match perfectly, and the other based on the first, is the practice of making  design decisions 12 inches from your eyes.  Both will lead you astray and create very boring rooms. The thing that really makes a difference never gets talked about.

 

This room could definitely be described as overly matched, but does it work ? What makes a room with such a limited palette work or not work? 

 One of the most valuable things I learned as an artist that applies to decorating decisions is the "10 foot rule ".  If you can't read a painting when standing ten feet from it, it isn't successful. The culprit is always a weak value range (not enough lights and darks) that causes everything to merge together no matter how bright or startling the colours. Squinting is another quick way to get the same information.

 The same goes for decorating. You need value changes (a range of lighter to darker colours) in a room to help create interest and variety to encourage "visual travel". Most people have no difficulty seeing colour ranges but they are not so adept thinking about the values of these colour ranges.

  If you want to know if you have a room that is visually interesting take a photo and do a black and white photocopy or change the image to black and white on your photo editor.  You'll soon see if your eyes will travel the room or stay in one spot. I believe that even in rooms where the intent is to create visual harmony, you need value changes.  Lets take a look at some successful and unsuccessful rooms. 

 

The Lennoxx

I choose to live in visually quiet environments because they are relaxing.  They are also the most difficult to make interesting.   Even though everything about the room above is soft, the black and white photo shows there are a range of values in the room that move your eye around.  The darks are limited but they are there in accessories mostly. The amount of white contrasts with the darks (legs, accessories on tables and don't forget the shadowing that occurs in every room.)  A light, airy and visually interesting room. My score:  quietly successful .

source

Lovely use of colour with soft whites, lots of variety in textures and shapes but... something is missing for me. The darkest values are in the ottoman legs.  My eyes stick there. The area in front of the window needs some anchoring darker tones to make the furniture stand out from the window. The most obvious change would be the "disappearing lamp- perhaps a new shade is in order.  Having a different pillow in the chair (the sofa pillows) or having a slightly darker value table beside the chair or doing both would move this room up several notches in interest.  Will you look at your furniture legs in a new way now?

Let check out one of my rooms...   I automatically process a room for a range of values, but I've never looked at one of my own rooms in black and white. Ready? 

Not so bad.....

There's a good range of lights, mediums and darks spread around the room. I added a darker pillow near the fireplace because I found the chair blending into the fireplace just a little too much.   I am looking for a new lamp for the spot where the twigs are in the opposite corner. I'm thinking a light shade rather than dark.  Notice how my floor has lights and darks in it too as does the roman shade which my husband loves to jam up into the window frame as much as possible.

Here's a different view with the area rug bought solely for the purpose of making the table stand out from the floor.Like much of the furniture in my home, this table is hand crafted by my husband.  I have visions of a different table but  sentiment wins every time.

Let's go back to the lovely pink and white room and check out the value ranges. Is the room successful?  You can be the judge.

Interesting Possibilities

The idea of adding interest to your home while staying within a budget appeals to most people, me included.  I have to admit that many of the smaller DIY projects you find through a general web search are best ignored.  Every now and them you find one with real possibilities.  Everyone has those clear CD jewel cases lying around.  Rather than throwing them away why not re- use them? Here are a number of options that may appeal to your DIY instincts.

Doesn't this arrangement look great?  I love everything about objects displayed in a grid format.  This idea was on Serenity in Design  blog and the  possibilities are endless when you start to think about what you could put in these simple cases-  photographs, scrapbook paper, origami paper, kids art, small watercolours, quotes, etc.

 

Rikki's Blog gives detailed instruction about how to proceed. 

 Murals ...You can use an enlarged photo and cut it into separate parts to fit into  the cases and then rearrange it in regular format or present randomly for a more interesting statement.  Viewers will be busy trying to fit it together.

 

source 

And for those who want a bigger challenge... 

Recipe Hostess Gift...How about an interesting hostess gift presented in a CD case?  Decorate the front and print the recipe and include it inside.  Check out the link below to see how the case acts as a stand. 

 

 

source  

Gift Card container....Check out directions at Chico and Joe. 

CD Photo Cube... Flickr.

If you use  any of these ideas why not  send me a photo to share with  blog readers. I can tell from my blog stats that I have lurking readers so why not participate and make it a group affair!