Seriously, don’t. I’m so adamant about this that I’m not even going to tell you where you can buy it.

That’s right, my dear readers. If you love the thought of a DIY chalkboard do be prepared to brush on about a bazillion coats and sand thoroughly between each one. If it’s something like a chalkboard table you’re after, that’s one thing because most tables start out relatively smooth. But a chalkboard in the kitchen or in a kid’s room on a normal wall? That’s what we did, and what we thought would be a simple couple-of-coats job turned into a two-day, all day project for The Beard while the baby and I were in Florida.

Oh, things turned out all right – the baby’s room now has an almost floor-to-ceiling framed chalkboard (magnetic, even) that she’s going to love when she’s older. But ask my husband and he’ll tell you that it was a real pain in the rear.

So how do you get a DIY chalkboard like a pro? Easy: Chalkboard decals. There’s no painting, no sanding. You don’t have to worry about taping off an area, and getting cool shapes like fruits, elephants, and such becomes a whole lot easier when you’re dealing with a peel and stick panel. If I was doing the whole project over again, that’s what I’d go for, since the decals aren’t that much more expensive than a can of the paint. The only bonus to painting? A lot of leftover paint, so now I can find smooth things to chalkboardize!

Above: Word bubble decals from Scribble

What you see, you can get. Okay, everything except for the first blue velvet seat, which I found in someone’s Flickr stream without any identifying details. From there, though, you have: Room and Board, Brocade Home, (steal them from the) Hotel Roger Williams, 5th Avenue

I wrote about Domestic Construction’s teacup chandeliers way back in the day, but at $60 for one DIY is the order of the day (at least in my household). DIY it with some thrift store teacups, some Ikea pendant kits, and something to hang ‘em from.

What else can you make with a simple teacup? How about an itty-bitty bird feeder or a wee candle? The candle is easy – just melt the wax, pour it, and dip in the wick. As for the bird feeder, all you need is the tea cup, a stick of some sort that you can stake into the ground, and some waterproof heavy duty glue.

And when the birdies who’ve eaten all your seeds need a drink, you can use a second teacup to create a very sweet bird bath. This one was created by Oh The Pollybilities and can be bought along with others at Etsy, but if you have the right sort of drill and the right sort of teacup, consider making your own!

Then you have your three-tiered antique jewelry stand (created in this case by Who Made It, and there’s more) and a surprisingly lovely teacup clock created by Sweet Paul. I love them both!

And there’s this, too. It’s a teacup light sconce for an outdoor space – perhaps a shabby chic garden room or porch? Not sure what the light source would be… tea lights? Pillars? I’d love to see more of the yard that this teacup sconce illuminates, but you could put yours together any which way and still come away with something gorgeous.

I am not ashamed to say that I have a lot of stuff on my walls, but even I felt a little crazy looking at this picture. Maybe it wouldn’t drive me batty, but it would definitely be the most distracting part of my whole house. Why, I wonder, would someone want people to pause there? It seems like it would be uncomfortable – here, stop and look around in this narrow, confined space. But maybe I’m alone in feeling this way. To find out, I created a little poll. Please cast your vote, and then explain yourself in the comments if you feel pressed to say more!

(Image via Elle Decor * Design by Steven Gambrel * Photo by Eric Piasecki)

To answer my original questions, here are a few things you can do with a black and white Greek key rug:

Er, I realized after the fact that the second and fourth pic are different areas of the same room. Still good for ideas, though!

(Images via: 1, 2/4, 3)

I count one, two, three… four patterns in this pretty pink and gray bathroom. There’s the flamingo (or as my daughter calls them, flamenco) wallpaper, two hand towels with paisleys, a third hand towel featuring a different pattern, and the the pattern on the tablecloth, which could be anything for all I can see. Mixing patterns – or mixing too many patterns – is sometimes considered a decorating no-no, but if your patterns come from the same palette and aren’t crazy complicated, you should be golden!

(via)

Adorable! I’m in love!

I still grab it when I go to the beach, which is a lot, all year round.

What I didn’t know was that beach glass is apparently not just one of my things. Nope, it’s an industry and a hobby and a something people make money off of. Not near a coast? You can buy a bucket of beach glass. There is jewelry that features chunks of beach glass, and cosmetics inspired by it in fashion colors. There is, if you can believe it, even a book geared toward people like me who like to find beach Glass, called The Sea Glass Hunter’s Handbook. And other books besides!

But a $90 sea glass wreath from L.L. Bean? That’s where I have to draw the line. I probably have enough beach glass right here in my house to DIY a beach glass wreath but I’m going to do no such thing. this one is admittedly very cute, but it just seems like a waste of perfectly good beach glass. It’s also how I think of the sea glass jewelry I see at local arts fairs – I just can’t imagine anyone who’s lived all their lives on the coast buying a pair of sea glass earrings. Or an indoor-only sea glass wreath, especially since it’s not even real beach glass. It’s just tumbled glass, boo.

as seen on

I guess that makes my own house solidly middle class, with it’s carved wooden masks, framed portraits, art prints, paintings, and such? I have about as many masks as I do photographs of people hanging on my walls.

So I want you to tell me what you think about the above statement.

Is this more representative of an upper class or upper middle class lifestyle than, say, this:

Are paintings and sculptures the only acceptable upper class embellishments? Where do artsy photos fit in? What would you say about this:

I included the third example because it is in a way the compromise between the two, with artful photographs mixed in with portraits. Or does the rule only apply when you’re talking about photos taken at Sears or something like that? Personally, I definitely think art is important, but I don’t agree that you can pigeonhole someone just because of what’s hanging on his or her walls. That said, what *is* on your walls, and what do you think your choices say about you?