Archive for October 2011
Basement Makeover, Part 1: Let’s re-think EVERYTHING.
I have a hard time keeping secrets from you all, but for the last two weeks I managed not to tell you that Ryan was in California for work. Again. I missed him – the house was way too quiet, and I may or may not have found myself talking to the dogs. . .but I found myself super focused and productive. So that’s the silver lining to that cloud.
Last Sunday, when I was alone in the house all freakin’ day and night, I’d sat quietly sewing for most of the day. As night fell, I got this huge burst of “I must tackle decor projects now!” energy. The two victims of this energy? The dining room (which you already know about) and the basement.
The basement rec room is where we relax and watch movies, especially in the colder months when we’re less likely to go outside and play. So, like the dining room, it’s time to make it awesome.
The challenge for me? This is where my experiences renting tiny and awkward spaces get in the way of my success: I’m not used to having the luxury of “extra” unneeded space that I get stumped on how to use it. And I certainly do not want to buy furniture and decor I don’t need just for the sake of decorating.
Basement Rec Room: Before
When we first set the space up we assumed that “naturally” the entertainment center should go between those two support posts and the sofa would go opposite. That left two wide spaces on either side feeling rather vacant, but not totally useable. See above.
Ryan recently had the great idea to divide the space into two, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 
Congrats to Jane and Janery!
Hey all, Julia here. I have hijacked the blog again – this time with fun news – a Janery review!
Jenn at A Home in the Making paid Janery a lovely compliment today, and I wanted to bring your attention to this sweet mention. Jenn has a chic living room with tones of yellow, blue, and brown. We’d be thrilled if you jump on over to Jenn’s blog, say hey, and read the review of Janery pillow covers (because we here at TBA are super proud of Jane for all her hard work!)
Jenn, you have a gorgeous living room!
Congratulations Jane! Your work is really lovely.
A special sale just for Borrowed Abode readers!
Hey all! Just in case you didn’t see the announcement on Facebook or Twitter late last week, I wanted to remind you that my friend Katie is offering up a special sale in her journal shop, Gadanke, just for Borrowed Abode readers!
Until midnight tonight, central mountain time, you’ll receive 10% your entire purchase with the code 10JANE !
It’s a great chance to grab some early holiday gifts, or to snag a Joy to the World {Christmas journal} for your family to create together this holiday season.
Table Topics, part 2: Dining Space Layout Dilemmas
Monday, when I shared my update on the hunt for a perfect dining table, I loved how so many of you were quick to chime in with great ideas and advice! Seriously, it’s one of the things I love most about the blogging community – the way we’re able to share ideas and collaborate.
The funny thing was, once I asked for ideas, and as I responded to the comments – I realized just how set I’d become on the idea of going to a store and buying a table just to get it over with.
So I’d like to briefly apologize to all of you who went to the effort to share ideas. Because I feel bad that I’d already made up my mind – I just didn’t realize it at the time. :/ Oops!
Several of you suggested using that we build our table to suit our space and our needs. Ryan and I had tossed that idea around a while back, because we do love the fact that we can create just what we need if we want to. But we decided against building for a few reasons:
- We’ve got several pieces of furniture that we really, really want to build – simply because there is no other perfectly customized option out there. I won’t spill the beans on what they are just yet, though. Suffice to say that we just don’t have the bandwidth to add another building project to our list, especially between now and our wedding in 2012.
- If we built a table, I’d really want to have the top as one huge solid piece of wood . . . and a piece that size would be very expensive.
Anyway, I think we’re going to buy a table, and buy it new no less. But that means we’ve go to figure out how to make it work in this somewhat awkward, small, and narrow dining space:
To figure out which table sizes would work in the space, and where they’d work, I grabbed my painter’s tape and tried out a few options: Read the rest of this entry »
Table Topics
If you follow me on Pinterest, you may have noticed that I’m currently pinning dining tables. After 1.5 years in the house, I’m tired of not having dining furniture – heck, or any furniture – in the dining room. We’ve made do by lugging a ratty old $10 craigslist table upstairs and covering it with a tablecloth when we’ve had dinner guests, but in the last few weeks I’ve hit my breaking point. I want to get a real dining room table, and I want to be able to sit down at it for dinner regularly.
There’s two issues that have slowed our [sporadic] efforts to find a table: 1. The dining room is more of a walkway from the living room to the kitchen. 2. Ryan’s got long legs, and when he sits downand those legs fold up, they don’t fit under many dining tables with a lot of clearance – which isn’t comfy for him. So he’s requested that our table be one with a few extra inches of clearance.
The “Ryan’s long legs” issue is the primary reason why we haven’t been able to buy vintage mid-century dining table. Most of them have boards that frame the base, like the expandable Bjursta table at Ikea:
After checking out both vintage and Ikea tables in person, we’ve learned that the presence of that framing board below the table top usually brings the clearance from floor to table down to 22 or 23 inches. Ryan needs 24″ to be comfortable and not risk lifting the entire table with a move of his legs.
And now that we know this, I’m realizing that the majority of tables out there are constructed in exactly that way. . . so it’s really narrowed down our choices. As an aspiring ethical shopper, I’d hoped to buy used and not new – but it’s looking like I’ll have to buy new in order to get the table we want, in the time frame I want (1 month, tops).
After some online browsing, I’ve found only a few options. I love, love, love this super-expandable table from West Elm:
West Elm: Angled Leg Expandable Table. $509
The table may still have the height issue for Ryan. I’m going to call the store today and see if they’ll measure the clearance for me. But the dimensions appear to be a bit higher for overall table height, so I’m optimistic that it may squeeze in barely over the 24″ clearance line.
Likes:
- Sleek modern lines. Angled legs add a bit of uniqueness.
- Compact: can be used as a 42″ square.
- Expandable: leaves extend the table to a whopping 90″ long, which could seat 10 guests comfortably. Can you say party?
Dislikes:
- Like many of the pieces sold at West Elm, this table is made of engineered wood with veneers. Which means if it gets beat up over time, we won’t be able to refinish it easily.
But if that table height doesn’t work, I’m also drawn to this totally different style of table at CB2:
CB2: Blox Mango Dining Table. $499
As you can see from the photo, the super simple and blocky construction makes for more space under the table top. And with the total height coming in at 29.5″ , there’s definitely more than 24″ clearance for Ryan to comfortably pull up a chair.
Likes:
- Constructed of solid Mango wood, which is sustainable and sturdy
- Simple lines
- Skinny enough to fit in the kitchen
Dislikes:
- No expansion leaves, limiting us to seating for 6.
I’m not sure, though, that the Mango table’s 6-person limit is a huge deal. That’s the most we can squeeze into the current dining room.
But because this $500-ish purchase will be a fairly big commitment for us (since we’re used to thrifting and freecycling), I’d really like to choose a table that we can use for years to come, even in future abodes. There’s no guarantee that the Mango table would be small enough to use as a kitchen table for kids in a future home. But conversely, there’s no guarantee that the West Elm expandable table would be sturdy enough to stay pretty for use in that same future home’s formal dining room.
Decisions, decisions. So far I’ve looked at CB2, West Elm, World Market, Ikea. Any other suggestions? Ideas?
Beyond White Paint, Episode 3: Tape the walls
Julia here – I’m Jane’s virtual assistant and last wrote on tattoos (ahem, gallery walls) as a spin off on the Beyond White Paint Series. Past Beyond White paint posts have covered gallery walls and curtains as wall decor. This week, as Jane’s out sick (poor thing is laid up bad and won’t be back on TBA till next week), she’s letting me take over the blog again today, as we turn to tape: Glorious tape.
Ah, Beyond White Paint returns with yet another fancy rental-wall-treatment idea. Let us begin with this amazing discovery: GIANT WASHI TAPE invented solely for decor purposes. Thus it is wall friendly. Holla. (Just know this: do you read Japanese? If not, this site may be tough to navigate.)
I had to get that out of my system as I am so excited by the many possibilities such large tape presents. Chevron! Gingham! A whole wall of fat washi stripes! Plaid! Any pattern with corners and lines is possible now.
This post needs to be brief for one reason: There is way too much eye candy to ogle. So the words will be few, but the tape will abound.
So let’s roll with three categories: Easy. Harder. Hardest.
1. Easy: The basic stripe and the discovery of colored electrical tape.
When it comes to tape stripes are as simple and uncomplicated as it gets. Camila at Effortless Style did a great job with a fat black stripe made of electrical tape in her sister’s apartment.
So easy. A nifty diagram is in Camila’s original post regarding spacing as well. Oh, and hello sweet lookin’ colored electrical tape. So many colors. Enough to rival the unconquerable washi.
2. Harder: The diamond pattern and the Chevron in washi and fat washi tape.
This pattern is gorgeous and traditional, even when done with tape. It also seems to do a great job of delineating spaces, as demonstrated by a Dose of Pretty:
Jenny at Little Green Notebook did a fabulous job of explaining just how to do this pattern here.
A step up from diamonds is Chevron, a holy grail of pattern in blog land. Hello fat washi tape. Don’t you look beautiful. (This wall is painted, but I digress).
3. Hardest: The crazy patterns one might not care to attempt because of scissor induced arthritis.
Here is some unrivaled madness from The Vintage Laundress. She painted her design. However, renters armed with an amazing painters tape like Martha Stewart’s Tiffany Blue tape or this particular lavender shurtape painters tape (so, so pretty) could have this design be a reality on your walls in more colors than primary blue. I think any geometric design is good to go when it comes to tape, actually.
As could all of these fabulous designs pictured below via Oh Party. That built in bookshelf slays me. But in the interest of simplicity, why not do just a built-in back with tape stripes?
Now maybe you don’t want the work of a whole tape wall. Behold, a solution which is easier than easy.
Just the corners. Crisp. Clean. Easy. As for other possibilities, here is a nice fretwork idea. Or maybe a Greek key trim as a wall border would look cute.
I have some really ugly kitchen cabinets (pink- i speak the truth people). Maybe some tape fretwork is just the thing to offset their gross glory. What might you consider taping for style purposes? And are there any patterns you think would suit this idea well? Do tell!
Disclaimer: This has not been tried on the walls at TBA and thus TBA assumes no responsibility for damaged walls or peeling tape. HOWEVER, Jenny Komenda at Little Green Notebook mentioned that her diamond patterned entryway suffered no ill effects from her use of washi tape in an email to us. Camila at Effortless Style Interiors also mentioned no damage to walls from the electrical tape thus far. Just a little FYI to be fair. Also, this post is not sponsored by any of the blogs or products mentioned.
Small Business Spotlight: The Pet Shop & Yellow Brick Home
Today I’m thrilled to launch the first post of a brand new series: Small Business Spotlight! Because I’ve got a passion for small businesses, and hope to someday run my own full-time, I thought it would be awesome to interview successful small business owners of all sorts.
Here to kick off this series with me is Kim from the cheerful home blog Yellow Brick Home, and – for the last year – the artist who paints the totally fetching miniature pet portraits from The Pet Shop. Her catchy blog voice, cheerful condo decor, and (of course) her small business have all been inspiring me for the last year – so when I decided to launch this series I couldn’t wait to include her.
This summer I was lucky enough to see Kim’s work up close and personal, when I ordered portraits of my friend’s three dogs as a 30th birthday gift. Kim was great to work with and the paintings were a huge hit at the party.
Q: What inspired you to launch The Pet Shop? How did you find your niche product (miniature pet portraits)?
The Pet Shop was totally unplanned and definitely unexpected. Scott and I are the make-each-other-a-gift sort of folk, mostly because gifts are more personal that way, but also because it saves money! Several years ago, Scott was on the I want a dog! train (this was before we adopted our crazy, adorable Jack), and as a birthday gift, I painted him a Boston Terrier. It was meant to be a joke, but he loved it. We shared the tiny portrait on our blog, Yellow Brick Home, and many readers started asking about getting their own paintings done! I was a little shocked, and at first, I didn’t take it too seriously. But after friends and family started requesting pet portraits as gifts, I began to realize that maybe I was on to something. My first several clients were friends or friends of friends, and last September, I officially launched the Pet Shop through the blog. With the start of the Shop, there was a huge learning curve. I read up and researched pricing artwork (something I hadn’t done since I sold small photo prints in my college days), and over time, I think I’m finally getting the hang of it. The response has been amazing, and I’m thankful every day.
Q: I know you recently responded to customer input and added a second size portrait to your offerings. Why did you choose, at first, to only offer the one size?
The original Boston was painted on a 5″x5″ wood panel, and while I liked that size, honestly, I found that 4″x4″ panels were not only more cost effective, but they were damn cute. I know it seems strange to explain it that way, but they were small, and they were cute. My first clients responded well to this size, and I found a niche creating tiny, affordable custom art. Because of the size, the production time is cut down (which goes back to the affordability), and there’s something to be said about something so sweet and simple that you can just hold in your hand or tuck on your bookshelf. I was stubborn at keeping only one size, but ultimately, the demand grew for something larger. For the one year anniversary of our Shop, I chose to also offer the 6″x6″ which can still qualify as small, but it’s more than double the square inches of canvas space. It’s a win for me, and it’s a win for you.
Q: What are some of the unique challenges you face with your business?
For me, I’ve found that new technology affects the photos that clients send me, and my work is based entirely around a photo. For example, most people gather photos on their smart phones as opposed to a regular camera. While this is totally okay (and honestly, it’s so convenient, so why not?), I find that I need several back up photos to make sure I pick up the details from all angles on each pet I paint. Sometimes subtle spots on paws or the chest don’t get picked up with phones and the (admittedly cool) filters that people use. I’m struggling to find an answer to this question, but if I had to pick something that I find myself saying out loud, “grumble, grumble!”, this would be it. Overall, my clients are fantastic and are always more than willing to provide more information and photos when I request it. And I can be pesky that way, so if you place an order, expect this!
Q: How would you describe your first experience at Renegade Craft Fair, and how did participation in it affect your business?
Our first year at the Fair was amazing! I wasn’t planning on selling custom portraiture at the Fair, but several people asked, so I started taking orders on the spot. It made for a ridiculously hectic month leading up to Christmas, but many of those clients have been repeat customers over the course of the last year! They buy for birthdays, anniversaries, wedding gifts, and of course, for themselves. We applied to the Fair on a whim, and I went in it with my friend Pete who sells these amazing hand-crafted “old man” pipes. A few days before Scott and I left for a 10 day trip to celebrate our 2 year anniversary on the California coast, we found out we were accepted! The timing couldn’t have been worse (I would only have 3 weeks upon returning to get ready for the Fair – from scratch!), but I hustled. Scott and I brainstormed ideas, I stayed up until 3 am every night painting, we crafted all of our display pieces after too many trips to Home Depot, and I found all my vendors for prints, bags, and archival sleeves (local and otherwise) that I still use to this day. We’ve been accepted again this year, and this time I’m much more prepared! You can see our booth in Chicago the weekend of December 3rd and 4th.
Q: I think that you still work full-time, in addition to running The Pet Shop and blogging at Yellow Brick Home. How do you maintain balance?
Balance is all relative, right? Kidding. After a lot of option weighing, I left my full time job at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago last August. I officially became a full time freelance creative (hey, that’s what my accountant calls it!) on September 1st, 2010. I can’t believe I just celebrated a year of freelance, and I feel extremely thankful for this. Any spare time I had in the beginning went towards building the Yellow Brick Home brand identity, and although our blog is sponsor-free, our content fuels traffic towards the Pet Shop, so I do take it seriously – just not so serious that it’s not fun anymore (although, everyone has their bad days, too!). In addition to penning our blog with Scott and running the Shop (which takes up the majority of my time), I also work a few days a week doing post-production work in a Chicago West Loop photography studio. I love that I always have my foot in the door with photography, since that’s what I studied in school (I have a degree in Fine Arts). However, juggling those three things can be hard; I’m not going to pretend it’s easy. I’m consistently working on the answer to this question every day – when you’re your own boss (especially a slave driver like me, har-har!), you have no one to rely on but yourself. But I try to remind myself that everyone needs time off. Everyone needs a lunch break (funny that I have to tell myself that). And everyone needs the evenings to cuddle their kitties, walk their pups, and watch Modern Family.
Q: Do you have any specific tips regarding photography for readers who are considering ordering a pet portrait?
After I receive an order, I send every client a list of things I’ll need from them to get started. This includes their input on background color, their pet’s favorite activities and toys, and most importantly, photographs. I include a few starter tips, but this is my biggest piece of advice: Get down at your pet’s level to snap a photo. If it’s a cat, wait until they’re sitting on a windowsill, then get down on your knee. If it’s a tiny dog, use a friend, boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse to help you. Photos taken at your pets level translate the best to canvas, but I will admit that some non-traditional poses work just as great (and some of my favorite paintings have come from some unlikely images). Secondly, photos of your pet on a hard surface helps. This allows me to see their paws, as opposed to those furry toes digging into a cushy comforter. With that said, I’m willing to work with a variety of images, and if I need more information, I will ask. The goal is to get the best possible portrait, and this requires an open communication between me and the client.
Pet Portraits come cheerfully and protectively wrapped.
Q: And finally, the oldie-but-goody: What advice would you share with new business owners, or people who are thinking of launching a business?
It’s scary, yes. But if you’re honest with yourself and your goals – and you feel positive – then what’s holding you back? It doesn’t have to be all or nothing, so starting at a pace your comfortable with now can only help you in the future. I was painting on the side for almost a year (and doing photography for close to 10 years) before I finally left my full time job. Before then, I juggled my 9-5 with client emails and painting in the evenings and weekends. I was fortunate enough to go full time freelance when I realized that I could receive a contractual steady income with the photo studio (owned and operated by a very good friend of mine). I was scared out of my wits, but I know myself well, and I knew I wouldn’t allow myself to go down without a fight. If you have the drive and heart to stand behind a brand that you love, the only person stopping you from succeeding is yourself. Cheesy, but holy cow, it’s so true. In addition, surrounding yourself with support and encouragement is vital. Scott has been my biggest fan from day one, and he never doubted my decision to leave my job at the Art Institute. Having him root for me pushes me along, and if nothing else, I want to prove him right (just don’t tell him that). Don’t allow outside negativity to affect you, and if it happens, learn to leave those doubters in your dust.
In addition to surrounding yourself with positive energy, put yourself out there. Invest in marketing materials such as business cards and postcards, and carry them with you! Think about the clientele you hope to have, and reach out to them in their forums. For example, working with pet portraiture, I’ve found that donating to local animal shelters for fundraisers is not only an amazing opportunity to stand behind a cause we believe in, but we reach an audience that is specific to us. Blog about your work and use social media to your advantage. At the same time, once you gain followers and supporters, stay active. Leave feedback for them on their networking sites. Be each other’s shoulders to lean on.
- – -
I’d like to give Kim a HUGE thanks for taking the time to participate! I’m sure I’m not the only one who found this super interesting and inspiring. And if you’re thinking about giving some miniature Pet Portraits as holiday gifts, I’d recommend that you order soon - because this is one item that’s sure to fly off the proverbial shelves this holiday season!
New in the Shop: Sunglass Sweaters! (& commentary from Ryan)
Happy Friday! I bet I’m not the only one who’s glad the weekend is here, and I figured we should celebrate with a little giveaway from Janery!
Just yesterday I added a brand new product that I’m really excited about – Sunglass Sweaters!
They’re little sweaters to keep your sunnies safe and warm – just in time for the chilly fall weather. Here’s the story behind this product: Read the rest of this entry »
