Loving This Look

Posted on April 25, 2017 by Cheryl @ Artzzle

Our winter has been a light one, meaning little snow. In Minnesota, it’s what is sometimes called a “brown winter”. It does look a bit more friendly, but temperatures still restrict you to inside projects.

This is the exact time of year that we get antsy to do something. The cleaning and purging could use a little more work, but at this point … boring. Coming up with a project or two is easy enough. The problem, as usual, is limited funds.

Long-time followers will remember nearly 4 years ago, we restyled and refinished the cabinetry in our bathroom. It has been is holding up quite well and we still enjoy the look.

Bathroom cabinet redo with Rustoleum Kit

The bath color is a muted, dusty gold, although this picture doesn’t capture it well. Most of the other tones in our open living areas are similar and neutral, and I do want to stay with those. But we’ve been wanting a bit more color and the bathroom walls seemed a good place to add some. This means paint of course. In this case, the colors in my stash weren’t what I had in mind. There was a good paint sale in the area, but it was still above what we could spend. And then …

At Wal-Mart, on a sale table, I discovered a gallon of their “grab n’ go” paint in the aqua color. At $11.00, it was a good price, but I had big reservations. It was a semi-gloss finish which I felt might be too shiny.

I was considering a turquoise color that would match the current accents in the room.

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This color seemed too bright, so I decided against but I kept thinking about it all week. The next trip in, it still sat on the sale table … but now it was at $5.00 on markdown.

Now, most of you know I am a big proponent of mixing my own paint colors. I bought the aqua gallon, and a quart of light gray in the same brand and finish. At home I removed approximately 1/3 of the aqua (saving it, of course), and added most of the gray. The result was much tamer so I did a sample wall.

Bathroom Wall

Still much too bright for us. I wanted a much “dustier” shade, and so did a bit more experimenting. For my darkening color I used a warm, deep cinnamon brown in a finish just one step below semi-gloss. Each test got a wall splotch, until I hit on what I was going for. I settled for the very top color in the picture below.

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We’re very pleased with our results

Aqua Bathroom

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We have a few more small projects for this room. We plan to frame the mirror, and replace the wooden backsplash with glass tile. AND … I’m changing up some of the accessories, starting with this gorgeous shower curtain that is an early Mother’s Day present from my daughter (thanks, Breezer)!

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I’m lovin’ the coral, purple and all the aqua and greens in this. Can’t wait to buy towels LOL.

I’ll keep you posted.

Meantime, I would LOVE to hear what you think about our latest project. Remember, when you leave a comment for me, check the box to receive answer comments. My site systems don’t allow an automatic answer sent back to you.

Thanks for stopping over.

Later – Cheryl

Enough Already!

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Cheryl @ Artzzle

Hi All.

Enough with winter already.

Since November, it’s been snow . . .

and Snow . . .

and MORE SNOW

We live in Minnesota, an hour northwest of the Twin Cities. We’ve had 37″ of snow so far and our average amount at this date is 21″ or so.

It’s still only February, so we know that means . . . “it ain’t done yet!”

It isn’t a monster below . . . it’s my Mister . . . after digging out.

Digging out his truck that was stuck for two days in a 4′ drift at the top of the driveway.
Digging out the propane tank so they can deliver the 175 gallons of gas at a $595.16 cost.
Digging out a space to start the snowblower and find the rest of the driveway.

They say you can’t avoid death, taxes . . . or the weather.

Well, we’re healthy.
We already filed taxes and will even get a bit of a refund.
The snowblower works fine, and winter does have to end . . . sometime . . . RIGHT?

So, we’re trying to brighten up our spaces a bit. I put a new runner and scarf on the table, brought out vases in those colors and put a few houseplants in them.

Do you think it helped a little? Even so, it’s not enough!

Problem is, now I don’t like all our brown and beige walls. That’s a pretty big problem too, because I just painted those walls last year around this time. Hey, I love new paint, I just don’t love putting it on the walls!

And I keep seeing all these other wonderful colors everywhere.

Leslie over at the SEASONED HOMEMAKER brighten up with some pretty new toss pillows. Leslie’s great at sewing though . . . me, not so much!

Look at this recent HOUZZ update. BECKY DIETRICH, HOUZZ Contributor is one of my favorite writers over there.

Centsational Girl, is into blues, grays and all kinds of fun today, TAILORED TOUCHES TO THE MASTER bedroom.

I’ll need to be satisfied with daydreaming for a bit, as we have to handle that propane bill first.

Are you fending off winter blahs? Let me know how, because YOU KNOW I love hearing from you! Meantime, stay warm, stay safe and . . . don’t stress, just start something!

Later – Cheryl

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Fun Fall Decorating

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Cheryl @ Artzzle

Autumn is upon us, and it’s a favorite season for decorators. There are lots of inexpensive and even free accessories out there, that make it easy and fun to add a little Fall flavor to your home. And if all that comes to mind is black and orange, remember that Halloween is just a small part of the season.

Above, several collected items are grouped for a table arrangement. The artificial orange berries add some texture and Fall color. The table is covered with a shimmery leaf patterned fabric, and then a Fall colored scarf centered to ground the vignette.

Bring natural elements in. Branches of colored leaves, pumpkins, gourds and even pretty rocks. Below, the same arrangement is adjusted a bit with a vase and multi-colored branches, adding height, texture and more interest.

The grand piano is opened to display beautiful glass pieces and colored leaves.

A wooly scarf serves as a runner on the coffee table. A pretty orange plate holds a tiny pumpkin, unusual rock and and petite vase with berries. A few little books to the side balance the vignette. Toss pillows in colorful textures and patterns keep the Fall colors going.

Red twig dogwood branches below stretch from a brown glass vase, and are accompanied by a plant in a colorful container (a thrift store bargain at $0.25), a glass pumpkin and some green walnuts right off the tree.

A corner shelf unit presents an interesting collage of items in Fall subject and colors.

Note how many arrangements here work from three main pieces. Again, the magic number 3 is so helpful. Employ everyday items like scarves, books and plants. Just use your imagination and have fun with it.

Let me know if you have comments or questions. Email followers will have a Reply section at the bottom of this post. Online visitors can click the little bubble at the top right of the title to reply.

Thanks for visiting. If you enjoy Artzzle.com be sure to spread the word about us.
And try not to stress too much with any project, just have fun and start!

Later – Cheryl