Tanya from Dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.com's Profile

I have to admit I love the Expedit, over-used or not. It's a practical piece that has never sagged, despite being completely packed with heavy books - a rarity for a cheap bookcase. I hacked mine by adding swinging abstract art to a few cubbies to hide unsightly clutter.

http://dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.ca/p/blogs-i-read.html#uds-search-results

Go Emily Go! I voted for you (and I'm voting for you to keep the minty green door, you know I heart it). GOOD LUCK!!

I like my home. Somedays I feel like my home is deficient, esp. with all the awesomeness floating around the web. I remind myself how lucky I am to HAVE a home. I'm trying to keep things in perspective (even though I blog about home decor and DIY projects). I created a post about my thoughts on this and was happy to learn others felt the same way:

http://dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.com/2012/02/i-love-you-i-love-you-not.html

Great round-up of inspiring spaces. I love a cleaner, less cluttered space. I try really hard to make my space simple but it is a challenge ballancing between comfort + style and battling a small space.

See what I mean, here:

http://dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.com/p/house-tour.html

I love these looks! I had a black/white tree silhouette duvet cover, but it competed with the graphic black headboard I designed (that my grandpa welded). Now I have textured white bedding, which lets the headboard shine and I love it:

http://dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.com/p/house-tour.html

You can't buy/find billy buttons everywhere in the world (ie. my part of the world) and I absolutely hate buying things online. So DIY'ing some with wool is a great option for folks like me. Plus, it is substantially cheaper to do this project than buy the flowers and something handmade is always nice.

Thanks for all the kind comments!
~Tanya

Gosh, can I relate to this. I always jump in without thinking and have many a DIY failure (and success) under my tool belt. But my biggest DIY crap-why-did-I-do-this was painting my car:

http://dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-evidence-of-painting-charlie.html

I ended up painting a tire by accident, plus the muffler. And the inside door jams were still silver. And there were some waves and drips.

But, in hindsight, it was fun & I learned a lot. Like what not to tackle!

The colour inside the cabinets is a great idea. Would look great with my white dishes. Hmmmmm.

I have the same issues with painting wood - my kitchen cabinetry had "paint me" written all over it but in the end I painstakingly stripped and re-varnished them all, just because some of the grain was so pretty.

In this case, save the table if the wood is gorgeous and definitely paint the chairs. The chairs make the set look a tad dated, but with crisp black paint they will look more modern.

For apartments, I like the idea of investments that can be moved with you. Instead of painting walls, leave them the crisp white you have and add colorful artwork. Grab a few giant canvases and DIY your own abstracts - I promise its easy (I have made a bunch for my place). Then add some colorful accessories. Prowl flea markets and yard sales for cheap finds. This way you can take everything with you to your next place. People won't notice wonky walls if they are floored by your art and accessories.

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