The Options: White or Bright?

First of all, I wanted to thank all of you for your participation in my Reader Feedback Survey 2013!! Apparently more of you than I thought get the same satisfaction out of surveys that I do. At any rate, I really appreciate the honest feedback (and the sweet comments!). The results have given me a lot to think about and changes are on the way, the implementation of which starts today.

Reader Feedback Graphic

This morning, we move beyond “One Word.” With hardly a vote in its favor, I’ve got to succumb to the fact that it’s just not valuable to your creativity – And THAT is something I won’t compromise on. So, onward and upward as they say! Don’t think it’s gone forever though…I’m sure it’ll crop up every now and then when I’m feeling particularly inspired by a certain catchword.

So what’s the new plan? Well one thing that ALSO garnered some noticeable tabulation in the survey (this time in the affirmative) was interior design. Thursday’s “All in the details…” feature is meant to be a home design tip jar of sorts, but how about making it a little more interactive?

After giving it some thought, I came up with “The Options.” You’ll get two sometimes opposing, sometimes complementary styling options to choose from – Both will be explained for you and tips will abound, but my ultimate hope for this feature is that you all will weigh in and help each other. Have you tried this at home? Which of the two options are you most drawn to? In the end, you should be able to walk away with two simple, affordable interior design options in your back pocket.

First on the docket? Which is your go-to wall color of choice – White? Or bright?

White or Bright

Option 1: The Design Files | Option 2: Sadie + Stella

Option 1: As I’ve slowly come to realize, white walls are a fabulous way to spotlight colorful accessories. A great option for renters, white walls allow for a LOT more versatility since you don’t need to stress over rollers, trays, brushes and gallons of new paint when you want to change things. If you want to mix up the look of a space that sports white walls, all you have to do is rotate things like pillows, lamps, rugs and linens.

Option 2: But if you’re a die-hard color lover, you can’t stop at just the linens, rugs and lamps. From rich peacock teals, to hot pink and cool mint, the walls are no match for your saturated taste! If you go for vibrant color on the walls though, take note from the inspiration image and tone down the furnishings with monochromatic white and amp up the accessories with oversized, blown out patterns.

P.S. If you haven’t given your 2 cents, my (quick 4-question) reader survey is STILL open – click here for access!

Pinspiration Monday: DIY gold urchin

I’ve got another installment of “Employing my DIY Discount” for you! See the first here, but essentially the idea is to use what you have (or stick to purchasing really, really cheap materials) to recreate a big ticket item – I’ve taken to calling this my DIY discount.

Now, I know I can’t be the only one craving designer brass sea urchins as of late. They have kind of hit the ground running throughout Pinterest, blogs and magazines, turning up on entryway tables, lucite bookshelves and even hung in clusters on the wall.

If by chance you HAVEN’T seen these trendy accessories, allow me to introduce you. They really serve no purpose other than being the beautiful, sculptural pieces of art that they are. Maybe it’s the unique shape, maybe it’s the shiny gold finish, but either way, I wanted one (or three) for myself and I wanted it bad.

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Source | DecorPad

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Source | You’re Welcome Savannah

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Source | Marcus Design

The problem with this particularly strong craving was that each one cost $38 – and that’s just for the smallest size. As you can imagine, I had trouble stomaching that price tag for something purely decorative. Thankfully, Pinterest stepped in to save the day once again with an affordable DIY alternative using nothing but a styrofoam ball, a handful of toothpicks and a little gold spray paint.

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Source | The Sweetest Occasion

With the DIY project in mind, I picked up this bag of 1 1/2 inch styrofoam spheres from a local craft store that was closing down – This was actually months and months ago, but the clearance price tag meant that I could buy them and save them for a rainy day project in the future. And that’s exactly what I did. 

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Several weeks later, with my to-do list finally cleared out, I had the time and opportunity to knock this easy DIY out. After grabbing one of my clearance styrofoam balls and a box of wooden toothpicks, I parked myself on the living room couch and got to piercing. Working my way around the ball, I sunk my toothpicks about half an inch into the soft material one after the other. I didn’t bother covering the very bottom because I wanted it to sit a little closer to the tabletop, almost as though it was cut in half like the real deal gold urchins but without the hassle of sawing the styrofoam down. It worked like a charm, which you’ll see in the final photos.

As I filled my ball in with the toothpick spikes, I found that more was definitely better. Just when I thought that I was getting close to being done, I would work my way back around with more and more toothpicks. Hardly a spot of styrofoam was safe from the toothpicks. By packing them in tightly, I was able to hide most of the styrofoam center from view.

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Once I felt like I was at a good stopping point, I took the urchin outside and sprayed it with a few thin and even coats of metallic gold spray paint, which I already had on hand. After giving it about an hour to dry, I gingerly flipped it over onto its top side and sprayed a few more thin coats on the underside just to make sure I had full coverage. After another hour, I took the DIYed urchin indoors for an overnight dry session on the shelf in the laundry room, away from curious husband fingers and pet paws.

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I’m so in love with the glittery finish, and even MORE in love with the $4 price tag (just for the bag of styrofoam balls). The great thing is that, with maybe another box of toothpicks, I have enough material to make 11 more of these DIY urchins. A large cluster of them could be really fun on a tabletop or even a party buffet. Maybe I could even branch away from the gold with neon yellow and pink next time, or keep it metallic but go with silver AND gold. The options are endless…

For now, I set my loan ranger up on the shelves in our living room. I love the unique sculptural effect and how it carries that shimmery gold look throughout the vertically centered vignette created by the metallic vase, apple and swans.

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Oddly enough, that round styrofoam center is a whole lot more obvious in photographs than in person. I have no clue why that is – Any photogs out there know why? At any rate, don’t let that visible rounded center deter you from tackling this mini project. You’ll be surprised by how sleek it is in person.

Bottom line – I sure am glad that I got to keep my $38 by creating something with my own two hands. What have you guys successfully DIYed lately?

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