Summertime Blues

By ADD | Published: August 12, 2010

diywithadd.moyamcallisterI’ve eaten so many blueberries this summer, I’m blue in the face.  We are lucky to live only a block from a great farmers market.  Most Saturdays, I pick up a few pints of Jersey blueberries and some Ronny Brook Farm heavy cream for whipping.  I’m no gourmet cook, but even I can make a  blueberry crumble.  I don’t usually stick to a recipe, but here’s a quick and easy one.  Happy summer!

4 cups fresh blueberries
12 tbsp. sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup butter
1/2 tsp. salt

Combine 4 cups washed and stemmed blueberries with 6 tablespoons (1/2 of total amount) sugar and juice of lemon. Put in buttered baking dish.

Combine 3/4 cup flour, 1/3 cup butter, 6 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Work into crumbly consistency. Sprinkle over blueberries. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. It’s delicious served warm with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream- or both!

Photo © Moya Mc Allister

P.S.  I got the new duvet yesterday and I love it.  And it was so nice to hear from those of you who also have it (and love it).  Yay duvet!

Posted in Inspiration | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Hunt: Slipper Chairs

By ADD | Published: August 11, 2010

diywithadd upholstery2Now that our renovation is finished, I’m on the hunt for some great textiles and upholstery to infuse color and texture into our home.  But I’m also on a very tight budget.  I’ll be sharing some of the bargains I come across along the way.  These vibrant slipper chairs at Target are a pretty good buy at $300.  Actually, that’s the best price I’ve seen anywhere.   I don’t know how good the quality of these chairs is, but they certainly give a lot of fabric bang for the buck.  What about you?  Have you found other sources for inexpensive and modern upholstered chairs?  Well, don’t keep it to yourself!  Please share your sources in the comments and I’ll add them to a future post.  Happy bargain hunting, ADD

diywithadd upholstery4diywithadd upholstery1

Posted in Design On A Dime, The Hunt | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

Chartreuse and Grey

By ADD | Published: August 10, 2010

diywithadd target duvetI ordered this Dwell Studio duvet from Target a few days ago for our master bedroom.   It’s so hard to know what you are getting from Target online, but the reviews of this item were great and it was (ahem) cheap.  I hope it will look nice with our gray walls (?).  Here’s the master bedroom “before” mod duvet.

master bedroom brownstone renovation Photo: ©Moya Mc Allister

Photo ©Moya Mc Allister

I had planned to wallpaper the bed nook in a groovy pattern, but then I got lazy, and now I have groovy patterned bed linens (a faster & cheaper solution).  But, eventually, I have to figure out what to do on this wall.  Has anyone tried the paintable wallpapers?? I’m sure it would be too much with that graphic duvet (and certainly not in pink), but I’m curious to hear anyway from someone who has tried it.  It comes in other patterns like beadboard & simple stripes.diywithadd wallpaper

Either way, the too-small mirror will be getting moved to another wall and we’ll be doing something to add a texture to that nook.  As usual, I’d love some suggestions.  You’re ideas always inspire me.  And perhaps this time they will rein me in!  Best, ADD

Posted in Decorate My Space, Design On A Dime | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments

Decorate My Dining Room, Part 4

By ADD | Published: August 9, 2010

dining room diywithaddOur new dining room rug arrived from overstock.com yesterday and Scott helped me get it under our huge table.  But before I could get a decent picture, he was already spread out on the table making art, so this snapshot will have to suffice for now. (You should see the other side of that table- whew, what a mess!)  I’m happy with the new rug.  I like that it already looks old.  I like that it leaves most of the floor in the room bare.   I like that it has warm colors, but enough blue to work with the existing walls.  I do like Flor’s interchangeable squares and I know that we will eventually have them in our downstairs master bedroom, but, once I held the samples, they didn’t seem right for this room.

I haven’t yet decided what to hang on the walls in here, but hopefully I can grab a few of the charcoal drawings that Scott is making on our table as I write this.   Unfortunately, we only have a few pieces of his work in the apartment because most get shipped off to his gallery right away.  I suppose this is necessary for the decorating budget, but it’s a bit of shame!

I’m still on the hunt for some more substantial dining chairs that I can upholster.  Our current chairs are all hand me downs that are great when we have dinner guests, but aren’t really helping the space.   It might take me some time to find chairs because I’m thinking vintage is the way to go.

I was tempted to go for more modern geometric textiles in this room, but I think perhaps the mantel I found on the street led me back to a more old world, eclectic feel.  Hence the rug.  But wait till you see the mod duvet I just bought for our master bedroom!  It’s scrumptious and I’ll post that on Tuesday.

mantel diywithadd

This is the mantel that I rescued from the garbage collector

Anyway, I’ll post better photos of the dining room when I get a little further along in the project.  Thanks for all of your GREAT comments.  They have been so helpful and inspiring!  Please keep the ideas coming because this room still has a looooong way to go!

Posted in Inspiration | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

I’m Finally Decorating my Dining Room

By ADD | Published: August 7, 2010

dining room renovation rug diywithaddThanks to all of your brilliant suggestions, I’ve finally been inspired (and a little bit nudged) to decorate my spartan dining room.  Today’s post is a quick one.  I bought this wool rug to go under the dining table.  Expecting delivery any day.  I thought I would choose another seagrass, but I was struck by this muted Iranian wool rug, which seems perfectly proportioned for our long table.   We shall see.  Photos to follow soon.

Posted in Decorate My Space | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Quick Silver

By ADD | Published: July 29, 2010

mantel diywithaddOur mantel this summer has been all about silver and peonies. They don’t last long, but I adore peonies precisely for their delicate, fleeting beauty.

I started collecting silver years ago. The refurbished living room mantel is now full of our families’ dented baby cups and other little bits and bobs. Last year, I forbade myself from collecting more silver because of the maintenance required.  But I can’t stop myself from buying other people’s abandoned baby cups and mismatched demitasse spoons when I visit the fleamarket. It’s a sickness. I don’t need any more silver, but I love it. I just wish it didn’t have to be polished quite so often.

My dad had some of his larger silver pieces professionally dipped in a lacquer, so they never have to be polished again. I’m a bit skeptical of this, though his silver does always gleam. Has anyone else lacquered their sterling silver or silver plate heirlooms?   I’d love to be convinced.

I bought an electrolytic plate to speed the cleaning process.  It works with baking soda.  But, sadly, it doesn’t really work at all.  I stick with Goddards now.  That and a little elbow grease does the trick.  I just don’t do it as often as I should.

Do you have any tips to make the cleaning and polishing of silver less arduous?  Please share them with this lazy silver lover. And I’ll post your tips for all the world to google.  Thank you! ADD

Photograph © Moya Mc Allister

Posted in Small Projects | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Decorate My Dining Room, Part 3

By ADD | Published: July 28, 2010
mantel diywithadd

Breaking news....I just found this mantel on my sidewalk. Scott is NOT happy. But it's a Park Slope classic and it might make it's way into our eclectic dining room...

Good Morning DIY’ers!  Welcome to part 3 of the ongoing series, DECORATE MY DINING ROOM.  In part 2, I showed you the Flor carpet tiles that I’m considering.  I haven’t ruled Flor out, but I’m not sold on it yet either.  But don’t fret, there will be a carpet under that table when all is said and done.  There will also be two new (and interesting/colorful) chairs to cap the ends of our long, rustic table.  I haven’t decided on those yet either.  A few readers suggested parsons chairs and that does make sense since I want to bring some textiles into the space.  But I’m just not sure I’m a parsons chair kinda gal.  I’d like something a little more “found” or accidental, but still upholstered and inviting.  So, we shall see.  I’ll have to hit the flea markets this weekend.

I had so much fun reading your comments and visiting your links to wallpapers, rugs and chairs (and your blogs)- very inspiring!  Now, back to the real world, for just a moment.   Because of my tight budget, I have to work with the elements I have and add only a rug, 2 chairs, table linenes & some stuff for the walls to the dining room equation (wallpaper is still the budget-busting wild card).  Here are a few of the pieces I have lying around that may or may not end up in our finished space.  I would love to hear your thoughts on each component.

B&W photos

I have piles of these archival family photos lying around. (Note, we have since stained that threshold to the bathroom, so please don't fixate on it!)

dining room decor

I have 4 of these antique folding chairs that were donated by my friend Allie. They are perfect to pull out when we have dinner guests. But they are not exactly "statement" pieces.

Posted in Decorate My Space, Design On A Dime | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

A Bathroom Love Affair

By ADD | Published: July 27, 2010
lonnymag.com bathroom

photo via Lonnymag.com

I was just clicking through the June/July issue of Lonny (I know, I am so behind) and I noticed this black bathroom.  I thought if I put it on the same page as my bathroom, the two would have a wild love affair and spawn some great ideas.

master bath renovation diywithadd Photo: ©Moya Mc Allister

My recently renovated bathroom. Photo ©Moya Mc Allister

I just need more stuff in mine.  And some color and some pattern.  It’s sterile.  I’m already on the hunt for some bright towels.  But now I see that I also just need more stuff in there in general.  Yay!  Suggestions??

Posted in Decorate My Space, Inspiration | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Don’t Be Afraid of the Slate

By ADD | Published: July 26, 2010

how to care for slate counters

I’m not a practical gal and, according to conventional wisdom, neither are my slate counters.   Scott and I chose cleft slate counters simply because we love them.  We hope to never move again, so resale value wasn’t a consideration.  But, maybe it is for you and so slate might not be a great choice.  People are generally wary of slate because it’s not as durable as granite.  I even had to sign a “slate is impractical and you are a dummy for buying it” disclaimer before our stone cutter would put a blade to our slab.  So clearly, it’s not for everyone.  We LOVE our slate and we learned how to care for it through a happy accident…

About a week after we moved back in, Scott and I had our first dinner guests over at the renovated digs.  We made wild mushroom and truffle ravioli.  As Scott was skillfully sauteing mushrooms for the cream sauce, I bumped the olive oil all over the brand new slate counters.  Our counters had been sealed after installation, but not thoroughly.  We were left with a dark stain next to the stove where the oil penetrated the parched stone.  Instead of panicking, I saw that the counters looked more beautiful in the spill area.  So the next day I oiled all of our counters.  With the olive oil.  And it was gorgeous.

We have yet to reseal the slate with the jug of chemical goo left by our contractor.  Instead, I just wipe the counters down with olive oil every month or so.  I do this whenever I notice that water is no longer beading on the surface.  There’s something delightful about this process.  And if I get tired of it, I’ll think about sealing the counters thoroughly with the chemical goo.  To clean the counters, I wipe them down with water and occasionally add a splash of dish soap.  (I’m not a fan of cleaners made with chemical goo either.)

The moral of this happy accident tale?  Don’t let me in your kitchen.  And don’t be afraid of the slate.  We put hot pans on it, we spill things on it, and I’ve already dropped a knife on it.  A little oil made the scratch disappear.  The cleft surface of our counters is remarkably forgiving and seems not at all fragile.  Note that I can’t speak for honed slate, but perhaps one of you can chime in on that…

Did you know that your comments and questions are what inspire my posts?  This post was inspired by Katherine’s recent questions about our slate.  Thanks Katherine!

Posted in Big Renovation | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

A Wallpaper Interlude

By ADD | Published: July 24, 2010
trove wallpaper diywithadd.com

All images via Trove

I’m overwhelmed by your fantastic suggestions for my spartan dining room.  I plan to read every thoughtful comment and visit each and every one of your luscious links on Sunday in search of much-needed inspiration, so thank you all, my decorating committee.

I’m a bit disappointed that I wasn’t floored by the Flor samples that arrived in the mailbox today.  I was hoping to love them.  I want to support Flor for their sustainability efforts and because they have an absolutely brilliant concept.  I want to have an easy, affordable solution for the unusually sized rug that I need.  But I’m not quite sold yet on Flor for this space.  I need to procrastinate on it for just a wee bit longer.

So today, I’m going to take a break from the overwhelming task of decorating my dining room.  My friend Karen just sent me a link to Trove, the design firm of artists Jee Levin and Randall Buck, that created these whimsical wall coverings.  I don’t need to ask to know that I can’t afford these for my dining room. But a girl can daydream.  I hope you will enjoy this relaxing wallpaper interlude as much as I have enjoyed posting it.

Happy procrastinating, ADD

trove wallpaper diywithadd.comtrove wallpaper diywithadd.comWhat do you think is more exquisite, the wallpaper itself or the styling of these shots?  I can’t decide.

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Posted in Inspiration, The Hunt | Tagged , , | 5 Comments