DI-Wednesday: Fun Wire Treatment

I love this idea for using an unsightly cord to add a nice design element to the home. Electrical wires and cords are a part of our lives, so why not make it something all your own?

Refinishing Butcher Block

Though next week's Home Cure tasks revolve around giving the kitchen a good top to bottom scrub, I can't help but envision what I want for the future, when the remodeling budget is full again. I know I want to have butcher block somewhere in the kitchen--it's durable, usable, and it warms up the space immensely. Being the far thinker I am, here's a great little tutorial on refreshing your butcher block. It's about as easy as you'd think, and it includes a great product for polishing and sealing.

Monday Inspiration: Color, Color, Color!

An oldie but a goodie--we tend to see the decor of the 50s and 60s as more muted and streamlined, but then how do you explain aquamarine appliances? I've yet to see any of these decor ads in an actual home, but I'd love to see if anything like this came to fruition! Anyone have a secret stash of room photos with pink ceilings?

Vintage Color Inspiration

If you're looking for inspiration, there's no need to look further than the past. For instance, thedesigncubicle demonstrates how classic posters can inspire current design--he's referring to graphic design, but there's no reason this can't extend into the look of our home.

Check out his long list of vintage (and vintage style) posters, and see where you land--the one above blends muted colors and shapes that remind me of an old textbook I had in elementary school. The yellow could be my wall color, the maroon a major accent, and the dark aqua could show up in pops around the room--this would make a great den!

Christmastime is Here!

There's always something about Christmas--even when we're grown and know that Santa won't be coming down the chimney, there's always a spark of happiness in the air, that gives us an excuse to hang sparkly lights to our heart's content.

With that in mind, here are a few inspirational pics to get us in the mood:

Monday Inspiration: Curb Appeal!

I've got gardening on the brain--in December, we're planning to use our holidays to spruce up our curb appeal, adding some rocks and borders, and hopefully building a small retaining wall and sprucing up the porch with new slate tiles and some paint. It won't look exactly like my inspiration photo, but I love the calming colors of the slate, the gray on the house, and the red door.

Setting the Table in Style

Today we finally bit the bullet and decided to purchase our first adult plates. As the hosts of Thanksgiving this year, we looked at the sad mish-mash of dishware in our cupboard, some found, some bought, some inherited, and most chipped, and decided to head out to the restaurant supply store. Now, we are the proud owners of some plain off-white plates, bowls and mugs, and a set of versatile bar glasses, all for around $70.

Restaurant supply stores are usually worth checking out, especially around the holidays. Most of them are open to the public, and, by nature, their serving items are designed to be used and abused (mostly the latter in my house). They certainly aren't the fanciest place settings possible, but who needs fancy? It's all the same when it's covered in gravy!

For good measure, check out how to decorate your table simply, with items from your own back yard!

Racking up the To-dos

The holidays are just around the corner, and hubby and I will be treating ourselves to an in-house vacation at the end of December. Being the crazy planner that I am, I'm already looking to create our to-do list for the two weeks we'll be trying to fill. On the list so far:

1) Replace the side door to the kitchen - right now, it's a hollow-core door. I can't imagine the heat loss right now! We'll likely replace the entire door and frame, and we're hoping to find a good option at a local salvage yard, and try to do the work ourselves.

2) Put in an extractor fan/light in the guest bathroom - we've only got a light right now, so there's no air circulation (and no air circulation in a wet place=mold!). We've already got the unit, we're just waiting for the time we'll need to crawl around in the attic.

3) Re-tile the fireplace hearth - it's just a gas fireplace that we barely use, but it's got some classic 1950s speckled ceramic tile that has started to lift and crack, right to toe-stubbing height. I'm thinking of some mosaic tiles, such as you might find on Modwalls.

And, if that's not enough, I've been sniffing around for more projects, and Re-nest has obliged with this best DIY ideas round up...hubby is probably feeling a chill run down his spine right about now...

Keeping it simple

My hubby is heading out of town next week, so I've decided to keep myself occupied with a good housecleaning and by rearranging some things--I've found a few gems (like an Eames look-a-like lounger) that are begging for a spot of honor in the living room. I'll likely dedicate most of a day or more to this (though an afternoon might be enough) but for this weekend, I'm setting myself a simple goal that tends to help me get started: move one thing.

I think we can all be bogged down at times (at least, I can) by the pressure to finish everything perfectly--I get so hung up on this, I never end up getting started! So, I let myself feel good about doing just one thing, and the rest falls into place. Try it this weekend and see how far you get!

Finally, plants that can live with me!

With my aforementioned cats and dog, and my infamous "black thumb" (one of the reasons I love living in the desert--cacti are hard[er] to kill), I've had to forgo house plants in the past. I forget to water them, there's not enough light, and pretty soon that poor ficus is on that big wheelbarrow to the sky.

That's why I'm in love with this recent Etsy Find: Teeny Tiny Plant Terrariums from Tortoise Loves Donkey! Not only are they compact enough to fit comfortably on a windowsill--without the pesky vine hangover that has so attracted my curious cats in the past--but they also only need a misting of water every once and awhile. I'm so excited to be able to add some stylish and affordable green to my home!

Garden Dreaming on a Fall Day

I'm at home sick, dreaming of fresh air and gardening. Gardens have always been my decorating Achillies' heel, trying to balance the Mid Century style of my ranch house, with the water-conscious gardening of the desert, with the complication of some very old bushes and trees that I just don't have the heart to get rid of.

I went looking for images and found the one above, from Fine Gardening, and I love the clarity and simplicity of it. I also love this image of some Mid Century Modern front steps. If only I can combine these into something...I'm sure a eureka moment is coming soon!

Arizona Design Inspiration

I was browsing through design sites, as I do, and I came across this gem from Apartment Therapy: a design from Coco + Kelley called "Arizona"--a fresh take on the typical southwestern style that has, in the past, ended up with oh-so-many unfortunate peach and aquamarine sofas with faux Navajo designs.

I love the deep colors combos here, like the desert at sunset over a deep, blue lake. While the original intent here is the design of a study, I'm definitely keeping this as inspiration for our master bedroom!

Great Fall Recipe: Sinful New Orleans Bread Pudding

As Halloween is this weekend, I thought I'd share a sinful and fairly easy desert you can share with your ghoulish guests. This was a favorite of mine growing up, and I plan to be whipping up a batch on Saturday. This recipe is lovingly borrowed from the Creole and Cajun Recipe Page.

• 1 loaf French bread
• 1 quart milk
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup raisins
• 3 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk the beaten eggs into the milk. Tear bread into chunks and soak in milk and egg mixture. Crush with hands to make sure milk has soaked through. Add sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, raisins and stir well. Pour melted butter into a heavy 9 x 14 baking pan to coat the bottom and sides. Add bread mixture (and I sprinkle more cinnamon and raisins on top) and bake until very firm, about 40 mins. Cool pudding, cube it and put it into individual dessert dishes. When ready to serve, add whiskey sauce and heat under broiler for a few minutes (last step optional).

Whiskey sauce

For a nonalcoholic version, you may add a teaspoon of rum, orange or vanilla extract (but where’s the fun in that?)

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 stick butter (or margarine if you insist)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 ounces Bourbon whiskey or Southern Comfort; rum also works well

Cream sugar and butter and cook in a double-boiler until very hot and well-dissolved. Add well-beaten egg very slowly and whip very fast so egg doesn't curdle. Cool and add liquor.

Serves 8

Bon Appetit!

Crafty DIY Glass Decals

I'm loving these Alice in Wonderland glasses from Urban Outfitters, but at $5 a pop, I can't bring myself to purchase a usable set. Luckily, I found this craft-tastic technique for making my own decals on How About Orange.

All I need now is a Google image search, a laser printer, some packing tape and some glass candidates--I suppose I will have something extra to search for in the thrift shops this weekend!

Great Tool for Developing your Design

I just found this fantastic inspirational tool, and I wanted to pass it along. It's called Imagespark, and it provides a depository for images you find on the web. You can use the images to create your own groupings through tags and moodboards, which I love, because I can never seem to keep my ideas straight when it comes to design inspiration (outside of tearing magazines apart, and I never like to do that). You can also check out what other people have been saving to their moodboards in the community.

You can even download a widget that allows you to right-click on whatever image you find while you surf, and save it directly to your account on Imagespark--so no more saving to your desktop and uploading later! I can't wait to get started with some garden inspiration--it's starting to get just cool enough to spend time outside again.