Our current plan, now that we actually live upstairs and thus travel up our staircase multiple times each day, is to grab some sticky house numbers and turn our regular stairs into fun numbered stairs. Because not only do the numbers make the stairs a bit more interesting, as someone mentioned back when I posted about numbered stairs, they also give kids a chance to count along. That was the plan. But now I’m not so sure because I just came across this:

Probably more work than it's worth, but still...

You can see my conundrum! Or not – is it too much? Would you ever consider it?

Awesomeness on wheels

I was browsing furniture with my daughter the other day, and I was so proud when she zeroed in on this gorgeous wheeled coffee table that looked like it came straight out of a barn and said “I will buy that for you, mama.” But it’s not all about the farm for yours truly – I’m also enamored by all things pulled off the factory floor and out of the warehouse. Like this sweet yellow coffee table on wheels that was crafted from… something used to wheel other things around. I love the original yellow paint that’s just the right amount of old and crunchy, the wheels, and how it balances out the softer, more traditional furniture in the room.

What do you think? Should industrial furniture stay in the seat of industry, or is there a place in the home for factory cast-offs?

Once upon a time, I had a plan to build up a full service of awesome mismatched plates. As this was a world before Etsy, my plans were foiled by the local Goodwill not having a strong supply of very interesting plates. I could have had a set of mismatched plates that was meh, but isn’t the whole point of mismatched plates having them all be kind of fun, kind of cool?

Who needs a full matching service?

It’s still a look I love, even though my current dining set is a matching set of plates and things. It’s very nice – and of very good quality – so I can’t very well justify ditching it to go collecting. But as things break, and break they will for I have a child, perhaps I will replace my set with mismatched plates and bowls. Maybe even plates and bowls I’ve made myself!

What do you think about the mismatched plates look? Cool? Cute? Good for the young, but not past, say, 35? Too silly? Just plain dumb?

I'll take one of these...

and one of these...

and one of these!

Before I get going, I should say that needing to make large rooms feel cozier is not a problem that I personally have. Cozy is one way to describe my house, right out of the box. But it is a problem that some people have – whether because they just don’t know what to do with a big room or because they previously had only small rooms so are used to decorating for small spaces. A huge expanse of room can feel cold and uninviting if not decorated properly, so for those who need the help, here are four ways to make big rooms feel cozy.

Choose colors carefully in a large room

Choose Colors Carefully
Stark white is a no-no. Neutrals are super duper, but keep in mind that lighter colors won’t do anything to make a large room feel cozy. Darker colors absorb light, and give the illusion of a smaller space. Warm shades and rich, saturated ones work best. And paint those ceilings to bring them down! Finally, if you are updating your furniture and accessories, keep your new color palette in mind.

Furniture and Arrangement Make a Big Difference
With a big enough room, you can arrange furniture not in one large group, but in micro-arrangements that reflect how you want to use the room (and turn a big space into lots of little ones). You might have a reading corner and a gaming corner, and the main sitting area, and a writing area with a wee desk. Keep furniture and accessories scaled to the room – lots of tiny accessories will only emphasize the hugeness of the room. In other words, go big!

Floors Need Attention, Too
A big, bare expanse of floor is going to emphasize the size of a room – particularly if it’s a very long rectangular room. One area rug is good, but two can be even better. If you’re taking my advice and dividing your big room up into fairly clear usage areas, your floor coverings can be a part of that. Perhaps a large area rug under the main sitting area, then a round area rug under your reading chair in the book nook, and a third square area rug under the gaming table. Think about how you use your big room, and choose flooring wisely.

Big patterns? No problem.

Don’t Ignore the Walls
A big room, especially one with high ceilings, has lots of wall to fill. I mentioned scaling appropriately when choosing furniture – the same goes for walls. If you’re wallpapering, there’s nothing to stop you from using a big pattern, but consider papering only certain walls and doing it strategically. Art should be big, or if it’s small, grouped in an interesting way and in a big enough grouping.

First it was kitchen chairs versus kitchen benches, not it’s beds versus hammocks. Before you say ‘Whaaaa?’ consider that I’ve featured some pretty weird beds in the past: a bed without a mattress from Linda Topic and beds with feelings and a bed made of filing cabinets, all spring to mind. But all of that seems pretty normal to me compared to a small space solution I read recently. Which was ditch the bed, and get a hammock.

A hammock? A hanging-from-the-walls honest to goodness hammock. And not a chic queen size hammock bed like this fancy number from Le Beanock:

Now this I could do...

I’m talking about a straight up piece of fabric hanging by two points that is a bit more, er, enveloping than your average bed. A bed like the sailors of old crashed out on between watches. A hammock like you might buy at Amazon and is meant for outdoor use. A hammock like this one perhaps. I guess I can see it as a space-saving measure in the tiniest of New York or Tokyo apartments.

But does anyone else’s back hurt just thinking about ditching a traditional bed to make space and sleeping in a hammock instead? Because mine sure does!

Full disclosure: I don’t do wallpaper. After stripping a border in a single room, I vowed that I would never, ever hang wallpaper – no matter how much I loved it – because I did not want to sentence myself to someday having to strip it. So while I adore the large pattern wallpaper I’m about to show you, I can never hang any of it my house ever ever. To which I say *le sigh* but the memory of spraying the glue stripper and standing on chairs wielding the steam machine we rented from Home Depot is too fresh in my mind to change it.

Bringing the outside in with natural chic

Mmm, turquoise!

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Got a ton of cardboard boxes stacking up in your basement and nothing to do with them? If there’s no Craigslist around where you are – people will snap up free moving boxes in two seconds flat – and you’d rather do something other than simply recycle them, I have just the project for you. From Inspiration & Realization, a tutorial that will show you in a few easy steps how to create an upcycled cardboard vase (link). Are you going to use your upcycled cardboard vase when the in-laws are coming over? Maybe, maybe not. But it’s definitely a cute project, maybe for kids or a kitschy pad or an eclectic girl who likes her springtime flowers.

Who couldn’t use a little more Zen in their lives? Buddha is here to help, thanks to factories and print shops all around the world churning them out like crazy. You may not be able to find Zen in the short term, but Buddha? No problemo, samanen.

Beautiful silk Buddha pillows from Zen & Bhakti and ARTE ETRA

DIY Buddha busts from Pudel Design

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