pussycow!'s Profile

I've been doing this with my son (who's now 6) since he was less than a year old. We have tons of awesome art from him. I scored a 100 sheets of large watercolor paper on amazon for $25 awhile back and it lasted me a few years between 2 kids (also painting on other things and drawing on smaller paper). I also never use coloring books and don't "show" or "teach" him how to draw things but rather let him observe, explore, and experiment. He recently started Kinder where the teacher has "Guided Art" (the kigs copy what she draws on a projector)...and it drives me nuts! I tried explaining the value in independent discovery versus direct instruction (its so important in art and science for little kids), but to no avail.

BTW - I love how she framed it :)

If you go to the site and see the post from Sept 22, you will see *the reason* white leather sofas exist. For tagging. Awesome.

When I first read this I thought the wall was painted with magnetic paint. Cool idea, though :)

@everythingistaken: We had a couch for several years w/ no loveseat. We had some pillows on the floor so my husband and I would often sit on the floor while playing with our toddler when people came to visit. We tried buying 2 nice matching chairs, but I felt they took up too much room after having all that extra space. Maybe that will work for you. I also searched Craigslist high and low for an over-sized chair & ottoman, since that would look intentional rather than a mismatched loveseat. After years of trying to buy previously loved yet stylish furniture, we gave up and opted for a new set. Its a bit matchy, but I love it.

I read through the comments, and thought many of them won't do for you because of your budget. You need something that works, without a lot of investment (like construction and permits).

Keep your room.

Keep your duaghter's room where is now, or move it to the dining area. I love the full length curtains to divide the room. Besides, her friends do not need to be in her room or even see it if the curtains are blocking it. They can chill in the living room and not get up to shenanigans.

That said. I think if your home has a more modern look with clean lines and some art on the walls then it will have more of a "loft" look, and an "open faced" bedroom will not look odd but rather "lofty". KWIM?

Here are some tips for working with what you have right now. Pick a color and go with it, just get it done. I am thinking a Navaho White (sounds boring, but will be bright and clean). Then when you get your home more homey, you can then see if you still want bright green. I say this because you need different furniture (clean lines), and since I suggest you peruse freecycle and craigslist (free stuff is awesome)...you many end up with something that doesn't exactly go with bright green.

Also, hang art at eye level. Large items look nice anchored to a sofa or something, about 12 inches from the top of the sofa. That framed item in your living room looks too high.

Don't put stuff on the floor for storage. Keep all horizontal surfaces clean (including the floor).

And check out Freecycle, Craigslist, and Estate Sales. You can find great stuff for very little.

You could totally do the slices of log on a wall in a rental. I think it would look great to paint the wall dark chocolate first. Make it easy to install and remove my adhering with that blue putty that sticks stuff to walls.

I had an awesome dream about this color combination about a year ago. But it was mostly bright turquoise and white with hot pink accents (like in an orchid). After the dream I painted the wall behind my bed robins egg blue, and plan on doing a tree mural with indian orchid flowers. But I have 2 little ones so maybe when they go off to college... :)

If you really want to paint it, I would say the spray paint that is supposed to bond to anything (I saw some at Lowe's).

As for color, I was thinking chocolate brown. But everyone else said white. I also like the robin's egg blue color...but maybe not for that set in those rooms.

Skip the varnish if it has VOCs or contains lead. Perhaps get a glass top (from Pier 1) to protect the surface from daily wiping/cleaning/using.

We updated my dad's bathroom, which looked shockingly like the one in the pic, with standard stuff form Home Depot. Tore everything out, found a huge rotting area of wood floor, took that out, replaced with strong composite particle board (cheap), laid backerbaord, tiled w/ leftover free tiles. Then reinstalled new toilet with NEW wax ring, which apparently had corroded causing the floor to get wet and rot. New pedestal sink and faucet. Took one day and about $100. And 3 trips to Home Depot.

I live in So Cal near the US-Mexico border and I always see pick-up trucks loaded up with old mattresses like a Dr. Seuss illustration, heading south. I can only imagine their fate...either they go to needy families in Tijuana OR they are re-covering them with a new cloth and then selling them as New at the mattress discount shops back here in the US. I saw an expose on the many years ago....so I'm not just being germy-phobic paranoid.