Home & Decor
With a focus on <a href="https://blog.xbydesign.biz/what-is-green-design/">Green Design</a>, I help my clients reuse and up-cycle what they love and recycle the rest. I love to share <a href="https://blog.xbydesign.biz/diy-console-table/">many of the projects</a> I take on for others & in my own home, as well as share resources for <a href="https://blog.xbydesign.biz/create-a-beautiful-sustainable-living-room/">sustainably sourced home decor</a>.
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One Room Challenge Week 6 ~ Backyard Makeover Still In Progress
Well y’all it’s week 6 of the One Room Challenge and all over the web, lifestyle & design bloggers have completed 1 room in their homes! It has been fun & a true challenge for many of us. Pop over to Calling it Home & check out some of the amazing transformations. We did not make the 6 weeks, but I hinted in week 4 that our’s might end up being an 8-10 week challenge. There are several reasons but mainly my broken foot & patiently waiting for HOA approval for the patio extension – they have taken over 3 weeks for a fairly simple improvement. Rather than talk about what…
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One Room Challenge Week 5 ~ DIY Outdoor Projects
When we decided to makeover our backyard in week 1 of the One Room Challenge, the plans included several DIY outdoor projects. Here’s a recap of a what we wanted to accomplish: Create a garden with seating Build a mobile bar table Outdoor projector screen Build a mobile enclosure for the fire pit (not started) Bonus: Grill tool holder (not in original plan) Reclaimed DIY Bench There were 2 existing benches from the previous deck. We wanted to use 1 in the garden and 1 on the patio but it turns out that 1 was not salvageable as a bench. So those 2 benches became 1 bench, 1 small backless…
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One Room Challenge ~ Week 4 ~ Outdoor Decorations
Just 2 more weeks left in this Spring’s One Room Challenge! It’s crunch time. Until now, I have been focused mainly on building garden beds & creating outdoor rooms. So focused that I haven’t had a chance to share my vision for decorating the new patio. In week 1 I shared the plan for the extension, but I haven’t even given you a hint of any outdoor decorations for the space. Well since I can’t physically go shopping on my own (broken foot with a big clunky boot), I’ll share some of the items I’ve been eyeing online. It’s no surprise that the star of the patio is from World Market…
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DIY Abstract Art & The Truth About Printables
This has been small project week for me. Even though we are working on the backyard for the One Room Challenge, the weather has been a huge factor. So I shifted gears & decided to work on some unfinished art projects. Since moving a year & a half ago, we have been slowly (and randomly) decorating our home. Most of the major things are taken care of – until I decide I don’t like where a door/light switch/cabinet/anything else is located – and with the exception of the kid’s media room, all the major furniture pieces are accounted for. It’s all the little things that are all the difference in making…
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One Room Challenge ~ Week 3~ Creating Outdoor Rooms
Our yard is not huge – it’s about 24′ x 75′ not including the existing patio. It’s still plenty of space for creating outdoor rooms & still have play space. It almost looks like there is not much going on this week. There’s only a few physical changes, but there is plenty going on behind the scenes. Planning & Progress – Creating Outdoor Rooms Room #1 – The Garden The garden will be the first outdoor room. I want it to be a destination, similar to when you walk into a home & make your way to the living room or kitchen, then you discover other “rooms” along the way. We want…
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One Room Challenge ~ Week 2 ~ DIY Elevated Garden Beds
In week 1 of the One Room Challenge, I mentioned that our backyard makeover needed to be done in stages in a specific order. Last week, we completed the 1st part of our DIY elevated garden beds. We started out with the garden so that we can start planting & hopefully have some veggies to harvest & flowers to enjoy by the time we get the rest of the project done. I just started gardening last year when my DH was compelled (by lots of begging) to build a raised planter box. I am definitely a gardening newbie but I have the best mentor, Grandmother. She’s 90 & she’s lucky enough to…
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One Room Challenge ~ Week 1 ~ Backyard Makeover
Well y’all, the One Room Challenge is underway again for Spring 2017. I joined in as a guest participant for the 1st time last Fall (2016) & had a great time working on a room that had been put on the back burner, our master bedroom. I really wanted to participate this time too & I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Since we updated our bedroom, I wanted to dive in and tackle the master bath. It’s no small job since we want to move walls & possibly plumbing to accommodate his & her’s closets, consolidate vanities, & change the lighting. I had been gearing up since November…
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What is Green Design?
I’ve been getting this question quite a bit lately. “What is Green Interior Design? What do you mean by “Sustainable Design”?” I don’t think people are asking for a technical definition of green design – they can google that. More specifically, folks want to know what it means from a practical point of view. “What does it mean to me? How does Green Design affect me?” Isn’t that always what we want to know? Generally green design is about using energy efficient lighting, non-toxic materials (from low- or no-voc paints to adhesives to materials used in producing furniture & accessories), sustainably sourced rugs & textiles, renewable wood products, and carefully choosing…
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2017 Color of the Year Roundup
The “color of the year” concept that Pantone started back in 2000 has been around for 17 years now. Since then, other companies have started to introduce their own picks for color of the year. There’s some debate on whether there is any 1 clear authority on the subject anymore (except for the fact that Pantone’s color of the year influences more than design itself). Either way, I like the healthy competition, innovation, & range of possiblities that the color of the year concept has introduced. Each company’s 2017 color of the year seems to have a little something in common. Nature. They all seem to be somehow nature inspired. THE GREENS…
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Let’s Talk About Good Art
They say that art, or the reaction to it, is subjective. It may be, but I say talent is talent. I may not like something but I would have to acknowledge the talent of the person who created it. I wouldn’t be able to do it, so if nothing else that is saying something. Now that the niceties are out of the way, let’s talk about good art. I wouldn’t call myself an art snob; I don’t analyze pieces, but like most people, I just know what I like & what I don’t. And I definitely don’t think there is a correlation between how much a work of art costs…
