Whats Ur Home Story

Decor Inspiration @ The Philly Home Show

January 31, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran Leave a Comment

Reading my post last week about the Philly Home Show did y'all think that I forgot about you? Nope, not once! I mean, how can I let down my wonderful readers? Amidst the hustle and bustle of meeting and greeting folks I managed to take a few (Iphone) pictures of the booths participating in the decorating section of the show. First stop, the Crafty Camper, a mobile DIY workshop & market inside a 1972 Shasta camper. Seriously, who wouldn't love to craft in a space like this? Denise, you did a splendid job, I'm so jealous! Here's some inspiration for all of you looking to work in the 2014 Pantone Color of the year, Radiant Orchid into your decor courtesy Kyra Shepard of J&L Designs. Another fabulous space, a nature inspired desk area by Tina Delia of Delia Designs. As … [Read more...]

One Air Plant Five Different Ways

January 30, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 22 Comments

decorating with air plants, Tillandsia, air plant terrarium

My birthday is still a week away but yesterday I got myself an early birthday present, a Tillandsia or an air plant. I've been eyeing it on Etsy, Amazon, and West Elm for a very long time. The only thing that kept me from ordering it online was the shipping cost and the ambiguity on the size. So when I spotted them at our local Wegmans it was Seventh Heaven! Air plants are so versatile that they can fit into any decor easily. Here are 5 ways of decorating with air plants. Perched on a crack in a block of wood with a mini Armadillo for company. You may remember the wood chunk from my Fall mantel post. By the way in 2 years of blogging this is my first post where I've shot all the pictures in manual mode! Yay! A zoomed out shot of the same thing. I guess by the time I got around to … [Read more...]

Reader Showcase – Happy & Colorful Kids Room

January 29, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 7 Comments

Isn't it strange how you become friends with folks you haven' t even met? The magic of Internet! I first discovered Reshma's blog, Weekend Tweaks, after I casually clicked on her comment on another blogger's blog. To say that I was super excited to see another fellow Indian who is equally passionate about DIY & home decor wouldn't be an understatement. What I admire the most about Reshma is that she is never afraid of color. This is a gal who painted a dresser in her living room hot pink! Yes, you read that right HOT PINK and you know what it looks great! Today she is sharing her son's room with us. Not one to be bound by the usual dark colors in boy's room decor Reshma took the happy and cheerful route with the fun yellow and red combo. Any guesses on the number of DIY … [Read more...]

Transform Thrift Store Frames

January 28, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 5 Comments

As promised today's post is all about how we created this look from this! As you can see the caricature frame used to hold the flower still life. I just swapped out the tacky flower poster for my kiddos' caricature that we got done during our trip to San Diego. The large frame on the right was also a thrift store score from the same Goodwill about a year ago. In its previous life it used to house Scarp book paper art on the floating shelf in our family room. You can read more about the previous makeover here. I looked up black and white images of Bridges online, resized the print of Brooklyn Bridge, and got it printed on high quality photo paper from Office Depot (I think it cost a quarter). The small frame on the left is from Walmart that I already had. Again the same story with the … [Read more...]

A Lil Bit of Blog Housekeeping

January 27, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran Leave a Comment

Today's post is geared more towards bloggers or would be bloggers. If you came looking for a project feel free to skip this one but be sure to come back tomorrow to see how I transformed thrift store frames into art for the gallery wall in our powder room. There is a lil something for non bloggers too, in case you want to stick around. The reason that I wanted to call this out today is because the change is small and easy to miss. If you take a second look at the Primary Menu you'd notice some changes, especially the new "Resources" tab. It looks like there's been a lot of traction on my 2 blogging tips posts from a few days ago (this and this) on Stumble Upon and Pinterest. That got me thinking and I realized that none of my blogging posts include the details on the technical … [Read more...]

Philadelphia Home Show

January 24, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 12 Comments

There is a saying in my mother tongue which literally translates to "Like a cockroach that boarded a ship". You see, when a roach claims that it was aboard a ship and it has traveled to different ports, won't you take its words with a grain of salt? Well, that pretty much sums up my trip to the Philadelphia Home Show last weekend! I was at the show to attend a meet and greet event at the Crafty Camper. Denise, who is the brains behind the Crafty Camper is a very talent interior designer who blogs at The Painted Home. We stayed with friends in NJ and drove down to Philly for the event. By the time we parked and found our way to the venue amidst blistering cold and the hustle and bustle of Philly China Town the event had started. I headed straight to the Crafty Camper while B browsed … [Read more...]

Same Look 4 Less Office Space

January 23, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran Leave a Comment

We haven't worked on office space decor in this series so I thought why not try to find similar but less expensive pieces for this bright and beautiful office space featured on Better Homes and Gardens. Coral wouldn't have been my first choice for a desk but doesn't it look fabulous? The mint green walls act as the perfect backdrop for the bright accents pieces. I would love to sit at that desk and blog all day! Here's my take on the look. The details; Campaign Desk - $180. You can paint it if you are hung up on coral. Ceramic Owl Table Lamp -$50 Green Velvet Lumbar Pillow -$10 Gatehill Red Pillow -$17 For the chair you have two options both from Ebay. A Vintage Faux Bamboo Chair ($98) or My personal favorite, the Chippendale Bamboo Arm Chair -$145 Total - $355 … [Read more...]

Bathroom Lights…..Up or Down?

January 22, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 8 Comments

We're still stuck in our powder room. Don't really have a choice as I've packed the room full of projects; some planned, some that happened on the fly. Flipping the light fixture though was a happy accident and when I say happy, a really happy accident. Still can't figure out what I'm getting at? Maybe a Before & After shot will help. See the orientation of the lights? The plan was to switch out the shades. We tried out quite a few without realizing that we had flipped the fixture upward when we screwed it back on after wallpapering. Nothing seemed to work and we went back to our builder shades. That's when we realized that in the process we had changed the light from a down facing fixture to an up facing one. Not sure if it against the decorating rules but it works for us. … [Read more...]

Mirror Mirror…..

January 21, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 10 Comments

Octagon mirror, powder room mirror makeover

How was your weekend? Ours was fun. We drove up to Jersey, met up with old friends, went to the Philadelphia Home Show, and even won a great swag from Ryobi! More on that on Friday. Also my first post a monthly contributor is up on Saved by Love Creations. I'm sharing the details on how I made the felt tree on my winter mantel. Do head on over to SBLC and check it out. Now for the mirror makeover in my powder room. We went from this..... to this..... Truth be told, painting that darn thing red was not at all my plan. I had envisioned a more metallic, bronzy look for it. When I found the mirror on our local Facebook yard sale group for $30 it was all silver with the paint finish worn in some places. After spotting a bunch of makeovers using Rub 'n Buff on Pinterest I was in … [Read more...]

Deal Alert – Ceramic Garden Stools

January 17, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 6 Comments

You all know how obsessed I'm about ceramic garden stools. The only reason I don't have more than one in our home is 'coz B has placed a moratorium on buying more. :( Last week we were at Marshalls looking for stuff for the laundry room (yeah, the reveal is coming soon) and saw a slew of ceramic stools, all for $40! Yes, you read that right $40. I have been on ceramic stool watch for over 3 years now. They usually range from $70 and up. The only one I have seen at $40 is my lil red guy, which I grabbed as soon as I spotted it at Home Goods. These are slightly bigger in size than mine. So $40 seems like a fabulous deal. Wish I had seen this bright yellow square one when I was doing the guest bedroom makeover. Would have been perfect for my yellow and navy room! (Ok, I almost done … [Read more...]

Keeping Your House Warm

January 16, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 14 Comments

Tips to keep your home warm this winter,

We've had great weather the last few days, in the 40s & 50s, but it is starting to cool down again. Thought I'll tell you a story from last week when our region and almost the entire US was under the siege of the polar vortex. We live in a new home (3.5 years old to be exact) with energy efficient windows and appliances, which by the way are my favorite things about new construction. Our previous home was a 30 year old town home, a star of the 80's in all its original glory, complete with a 30 year old furnace, water heater, old windows, and poorly insulated garage that made the bedroom over it totally useless in the winter. One of the first things we noticed after moving into our current home (apart from the considerably lower VA taxes) was our energy bill. The cost to heat up our … [Read more...]