Category — Paint / Color Ideas

Exterior painting is continuing here at Suzy’s. With the front porch painting completed, I’ve turned my attention to the board and batten siding that covers the garage and the rear addition of the house. A rain delay this morning has provided the perfect opportunity to take a break and share with you all the dirty exterior painting details.

The front view of the house is a little deceiving. As these pictures will show, the board and batten siding carries over from the front and side of the garage…

to the back of the garage, the rear of the house…

and all the way around to the other side.

[Read more →]

Tips and Advice on Exterior Prep, Painting and Picking the Perfect Paint Color

Front Porch ‘Before’ Picture

Hooray, Front Porch Painting Is Complete! (Sort Of)

A fresh coat of paint on the front porch can do so much for the overall curb appeal of your home. That’s what I kept repeating to myself as I worked away at the prep work before the actual painting began. Did you know that the most labor-intensive part of any paint job, whether it’s interior painting or exterior painting, is the prep? Yep, all the effort you put into brushing or rolling on that new coat of paint is wasted if you haven’t taken the time to properly prepare a surface to receive that paint. [Read more →]

Continuing with the outdoor room theme…..Get a little closer to nature this summer with an outdoor shower!

I’ve always wanted an outdoor shower, alas, the perfect location has eluded me. Maybe you’ll have better luck.

(For the products, sources and pricing of items featured in this design inspiration board, see below.)

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Where do you find interior design color inspiration? Finding color inspiration is really as simple as opening your eyes and taking a look around! Color is everywhere, all the time. We eat it, drink it, watch it and wear it. You don’t need to go anywhere to find color inspiration, just open your closet door, look under your feet, or glance out the kitchen window. We are completely surrounded by a multitude of inspiring color palettes. [Read more →]

When life hands you an ugly interior slab door, turn it into something functional with blackboard paint / chalkboard paint.

The slab doors most often found in houses throughout Canada and the US are hollow-core with a thin mahogany wood outer layer. There’s just one thing I can say about interior mahogany slab doors - YUCK! Generally, the only thing in a home’s interior that a mahogany slab door matches is the other mahogany doors in the house. They are cheap, unattractive, and unfortunately a standard feature in many homes. I guess that’s saying more than one thing, isn’t it? Oh well, point made.

If you’ve been blessed with these boring slab doors and have been looking for an inexpensive fix up, look no further, your solution is here. With a minimal cash investment, a little elbow grease and a bit of blackboard paint / chalkboard paint, you can turn an ugly interior slab door into a useful blackboard. This is an easy DIY project. [Read more →]

Just like any other trend, today’s hot decor colors could be passé by tomorrow. Well, maybe not that quickly, but because trends do come and go it’s important to put serious thought towards how and where you introduce them in your home interior design.

Here are some tips and suggestions on how and where to use trendy color in your home: [Read more →]

Can you believe it?!  It’s taken forever to get to this point, but the new roman shade for my kitchen window is finally done. 

Without any further adieu, here it is:

The placement of the shade, right at the top of the cupboards, truly gives the illusion of a larger window. 

Am I the only one who thinks it looks waaaay better than the ‘before’ shot shown below?

Next Up:  The other kitchen window.

Small House = Small Living Room

More than just a living room, this area in my home also serves as the entry point from the front door, the access point to the second floor, and a throughway to the den/library.  That means a lot of traffic and very little uninterrupted wall space.

Like the homes of many DIY home decorators/renovators, my humble abode is a (continual) work in progress - it is by no means perfect.  Through my endeavors to make this small living room work for me, I have discovered and incorporated some small space living ideas and solutions that I thought would be worth sharing with you. [Read more →]

Remember that window over my kitchen sink?

The plan was to make a new Roman Shade, specially sized to cover the full width of the space between the upper cabinets on either side of the window above the kitchen sink.  Then, I was going to mount the new fabric window shade at the top of the wall, thus giving the illusion of a larger kitchen window.  The plan has not changed - the process of choosing the perfect fabric, however, has definitely slowed me down.

What I’m looking for is something fresh and bright to liven up the kitchen area.  I’d like something modern and funky, but the fabric I choose also needs to work with the character of this old house.  At this point fabric type, such as linen or cotton, is secondary.

So far I’ve been able to narrow it down to two color families: [Read more →]