{friday finds: 5 simple home upgrades}

No matter the year, painting remains the easiest and most affordable way to get your home on trend and feel refreshed. This do-it-yourself transformation adds personality to any room. Whether you’re starting from the bottom up and reworking the whole house, or changing one room at a time, here are five ideas to inspire you.

{expert color advice: test boards}

Benefits of sampling paint colors on test boards.

Paint color can transform and revitalize your home. Color expert Kate Smith from Sensational Color realizes this and uses color to engage and create welcoming home environments. Kate advises sampling your paint first to ensure the color creates the desired effect. Rather than painting directly on the wall, use test boards to avoid regrettable painting mistakes.

Advantages of using a test board:

1. Avoid time constraints. A test board allows you to paint colors without the obvious markings on your wall. You may have time set aside to paint your walls completely, but unexpected commitments may require you to stray from your unfinished wall. Avoid obvious signs of the incomplete project by keeping ideas scaled down to test boards.
   
2. Ability to move. A test board has the advantage of movement. Test the paint in multiple lighting situations by transferring the test board around the room. Sample all situations. View the test board paint behind draperies, behind the couch, in corners, next to windows, and all surface areas. This will give you an idea if colors contrast or complement.
3. Shopping partner. Once you have dutifully selected the perfect paint color, you can bring the color to the store with you to partner with other items. The test board gives you a realistic impression of the color in your room, rather than a paint swatch that may not match the dried color in actuality. Transform the room from drab to fab with coordinating accessories that will highlight your carefully selected color choice.

Have you used a test board? Were your resulting color choices surprising?

Since Frank and Elizabeth Hirshfield opened their first store in 1894, it has been our mission to do the best job possible meeting customer needs and solving customer problems. Hirshfield’s. People and products you can trust.

{friday finds: 2013 asid showcase home tour}

The American Society of Interior Designers and Mpls St. Paul Magazine crossed the river to St. Paul’s Historic Hill Heritage Preservation District for the 2013 ASID Showcase Home Tour.

This historic Queen Anne-style Victorian home features the work of 39 designers and the transformation of 22 rooms. Some rooms are part of the homeowner’s private residence while others are part of the St. Paul Bed & Breakfast. Updating the house, yet remaining true to  Victorian design elements, sounds  like a challenge. It will be exciting to see the end result. I can’t imagine how much hard work must go into pulling all the pieces together.

THE FACTS:

May 18, 2013 – June 9, 2013
The house is open to the public Wednesdays – Sundays, 10 AM – 4 PM
325 Dayton Ave. St. Paul, MN 55102
Tours are self-guided
Closed  on Saturday, June 1 for a private event.
Tickets are $20 at the door and $15 at the following ticket outlets:
Hirshfield’s, ASID MN, Intersource @IMS, Bachman’s, D’Amico & Sons, Patina, Rubble Tile, and The Bibelot

For more information on the Special Events at the ASID Showcase House you can go to this link to Mpls. St. Paul Magazine.

{friday finds: what’s on sale}

Hirshfield’s Paints are on sale through Monday, May 6, 2013.

• Hunter Douglas rebates on select window treatments.
• Free upgrades on select Hunter Douglas products.
• The Federal Tax Credit on Hunter Douglas energy-efficient window treatments. Good through December 31, 2013.
• 10% off Benjamin Moore Paint through May 6, 2013

Any graduations or confirmations coming up this spring? Take advantage of this great sale if some of your rooms need a fresh coat of paint or new window treatments. Don’t be like me and wait until the week before, and then decide to paint; you know when you have nothing else to do.

Have a fab weekend. I’m looking forward to the sunshine next week!

(wallpaper therapy = positive energy)

 I’m thankful the snow that blew through parts of the state last night missed the Twin Cities. But it’s not enough. I needed some wallpaper therapy to brighten my day. I hope Fleurique puts a smile in your heart with its cheerful colorways and fun, stylish patterns. From our friends in the Netherlands, Eijffinger always puts the “happy” back in color.

This book is not available at all locations, so please call your Hirshfield’s store before you make a special trip. Here’s another post showing more patterns and colors from the Fleurique book.

(decorating with washi tape)

Trendenser

Washi tape is a style of Japanese paper tape that started in Japan but manufacturing has now spread throughout the world. Washi tape is commonly made using fibers from the bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub (Edgeworthia papyrifera), or the paper mulberry, but it’s most commonly made using bamboo, hemp, rice, and wheat. Washi comes from wa meaning Japanese and shi meaning paper, and the term is used to describe paper made in the traditional manner, regardless of where it’s manufactured. – Wishy Washi Tape

Babble

Over the past few months I’ve finally started experimenting with washi tape: taping photos on the wall in my daughter’s room, adding rows of washi tape to a framed print, and attempting a cross-stitch mini-mural on my bathroom wall…epic fail, but I’ll try again.

 What’s been holding me back from jumping on the washi tape band wagon is how addictive it could become. Thousands of gorgeous patterns and colors and they’re so small and cute; what’s the harm with buying another couple rolls? Am I right?

The beauty of washi tape is there’s just enough tackiness so it sticks, but isn’t permanent. Give kids a few rolls of washi tape and this “arts and crafts” project could keep little hands busy for hours.

Recently introduced by MT Casa is a wider size tape for making a washi tape statement in your home. What a treat for people who are renting and can’t paint or hang wallpaper, but want to add color and their own sense of stye into their space. Washi tape adds an air of whimsey and fun to any project. Non-permanent flair for your walls, floors, furniture…and cars.

The Minimalist

MT Casa

MT Casa

Apartment Therapy has some inexpensive and creative ideas for washi tape and kids rooms here and here. I touched on washi tape in the home, and I can only imagine what the scrapbooking crowd can do with a roll of washi tape.

If you have any washi tape projects send us a photo – it would be fun to see what people can do with a roll of tape. If my bathroom wall turns out I’ll share a photo.

{friday finds: pallets project}

Wood pallet project ideas embrace the inner do-it-yourselfer. They range on any level of expertise and the ideas never run out. From chic and elegant to country rustic, wooden pallets accentuate decorations and room color. These often discarded pieces can easily be attained. As they say, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure!