The Power of Marketing

Yesterday I received the April 2008 issue of Better Homes and Gardens and was reminded of the power of marketing. Because I am currently on the quest to add furnishings to my home on a tight budget, I slowed down my typical quick page flipping of when I reached a special advertising section featuring basic furnishings. A red storage ottoman for the living room and a storage bench for the entry caught my eye. I flipped back to the first of the 16 page ad and read "Canopy: A unique collection of home furnishings designed for the way we really live." That sounds appealing, yeah? So, things are looking pretty promising and I continued to study the ad. Look at those prices! Awesome! But...hmm...on second thought, something seems fishy. $399 for a big media armoire? I have been drooling over Crate and Barrel, Room and Board, Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware for the past week so I knew that was *really* low. On a recent trip to Ikea, I observed many pieces over $400. So, who are you Canopy? Well, I know but I want you to guess:

Visit http://canopyliving.com/index.html and tell me who is the man behind the curtain!

Tile Take 3

This weekend I went to Syverson Tile and Stone, a lovely tile store in Sioux Falls, SD. While yellow and white tiles aren't completely off the table, I am now considering a different product. This one is called Chloe by American Olean - how cute! I like the Satin White with Opal tile. I realize this option isn't that exciting - in fact you can barely see the opal glass tile - but I am having cold feet to the yellow. Going with something like the below tile I will be able to paint the room any color I want.

If I don't go with the above tile, I may go with the tile I liked for the mainfloor bathroom only in a larger size - 2" or 4" hex tile.

FLOR and TIle Update

FLOR
This posting is dedicated to the stylish Alisa Wills-Keely! I told her I was considering using FLOR tiles in my basement as a way to soften it up but not commit to the cost and risks of floor-to-floor carpet.




I like the idea of using a solid color with a striped border (you can cut the tiles). I like the rugy shirt stripe:

TILE UPDATE

I went to The Tile Shop for more research and apparently I am in in the minority for wanting something other than beige. I guess a store like The Tile Shop has to appeal to the masses. My favorite tile store so far has been Tile X Design.

I am now leaning toward a pinwheel pattern using white 6" x 12" tile and yellow 6" x 6" tile. Ugh, except now that I am searching Daltile's website, they don't have 6" x 12" white tile! I wonder if another company has them?

Decisions are the worst

Even though I have yet to figure out the flooring, I have made some decisions (I think?):

48" Vanity: American Classics from Home Depot $429.00

Kohler Memoirs Classic Faucet $246.19 from http://www.faucetdirect.com/

Kohler K-T465-4C Single Handle Shower Only $167.12 from http://www.faucetdirect.com/

Kohler Wellworth Toilet from Home Depot $118.00

48" Sterling Shower Module from Lowes under $400

Project 3/4 Bathroom

Vanities. Faucets. Toilets. Tile.

That's right. We are creating a bathroom. We chose the basement because it the least expensive place to add livable square footage. Originally, I wanted to create a "rustic" bathroom while we gut and remodel our main floor bathroom. But, the risk of never returning to complete the temporary bathroom is high. Depending on the cost of creating the bathroom, we may also finish the laundry area. So, we'd have a 1/4 of a finished basement!


There are so many decisions to be made. Because the basement feels about 20 degrees colder than the rest of the house (Scott says the official temp reading is 61°), we plan on using in-floor heating below tile. Tile is harder to pick than I thought! I am going for a clean, bright, fun look since it is in the basement. I was thinking of a white and yellow checker look.

I ordered two 12" sample tiles - one mustard and one biscuit. I put them up against the light yellow paint and white baseboard in the main floor bedroom and now I am not sure I like the look. Of course it is hard to get a full understanding of the look because I need more tiles to create the checkered look.

Ugh. I may be back to square one. Any ideas?

Wish List

Looking around 5801 Green House, I see a lot of potential waiting to be realized. Sadly, most of that potential stays trapped in my mind. Maybe by making my wish list public some of them will come true?

• Create basement bathroom
• Finish laundry space
• Organize a brewing area for Scott in the basement
• Add cabinets and shelves in the basement
• Make room for a built-in dishwasher
• New countertops in kitchen
• Marmoleum floor in kitchen
• Remodel mainfloor bathroom
• Paint around the new front door
• Install back door
• Paint office aka "man room"
• Decorate upstairs bedroom
• Replace fence

Meet My Little Green House

In 2004, I moved into my little green house (formerly known as the pink house). We have made a few home improvements most of which have not been "sexy":
- More insulation
- Concrete front steps
- Roof and gutters
- Columns supporting new overhang
- Air conditioner
- Front Door

The most noticeable changes have involved paint brushes.

Pink exterior was painted green. This received many cheers from neighbors!

Before:
















After:

Toothpaste green bathroom painted Restoration Hardware Latte.

Before:














After:

Rose color mainfloor bedroom painted butter yellow:

Before:

After: