Whats Ur Home Story

A Country Garden Like No Other!

May 29, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 11 Comments

Today I'd planned on showing you a project in the making for the guest bedroom but then I came across these beautiful pictures of Dandi's country garden. How could I not share this gem with y'all? What I love the most about her outdoor space is her very clever use of containers and how she has mixed and matched various plants. If you thought my bird cage planter was a novel idea then hold on to your seats tight, you are in for a thrill ride! Presenting...........happiness in a tub! I'm in love! The colors, flowers, everything about it. Impatiens spilling out of an old bucket. Here's a zoomed out view of the same thing. Dandi took the hanger off a hanging petunia basket and placed it inside an old milk can and voila! See what I'm saying? A Radio Flyer wagon gets a … [Read more...]

My Campaign Trail

May 27, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 3 Comments

Over the holiday weekend I got a lot done around the house in terms of projects, some that has been in the making for like ever and some that totally started to take shape the last few weeks. Yup, we are finally on the home stretch on the cane chairs but the room that has taken me by surprise on how fast it has evolved into a project is the upstairs guest bedroom. More on that in the coming days but for now my Campaign story. What would compel a grown woman to show up at a stranger’s house, money in hand? I'm totally borrowing this line from Gina of Charming Zebra. As I read this first line of her post all I could think of was, "That was me this Saturday!" Let's rewind a little bit. Back in Feb I told you how I was lusting after Campaign furniture on Craigslist. Every time I saw a piece … [Read more...]

New Floors Anyone?

May 26, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran Leave a Comment

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tarkett NA for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine. In the ideal world, you would call a room makeover done when you can cross off every item on your To Do list but in reality, at least in my world, when I have finished up 70% of my project list for the room I call it done. Why? Not because I like it that way but due to time and monetary constraints. Sometimes I am not even sure of what it would take to complete the room. Take the newly "finished" laundry room for example. I had covered every thing from the eye level and up but look all the way down at the floor. :O Linoleum! That's the only place we have linoleum in the house; something that we'd reluctantly decided to go with in the name of keeping the costs down when building … [Read more...]

Bird Cage Planter

May 22, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 21 Comments

For all of you who love giving handmade gifts to your friends and family, have you ever had trouble thinking up a gift for someone who also happens to be a crafter? I always end up thinking so hard only to rule out every idea that occurs to me 'coz it doesn't measure up. That's exactly how I felt a few weeks ago when I was pondering over a house warming gift for a dear friend. Nothing I thought of felt like it was the idea, you know the one where you get all excited about the end result and start working on without even taking the 'before' pictures? I was in my craft room aka. the basement guest bedroom (which by the way is more like my craft storage dump) rummaging through everything I had looking for inspiration. Maybe a piece of a scrap fabric or those corks or the 2 big packs of … [Read more...]

Lucketts Spring Market 2014

May 20, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 7 Comments

If you follow me on social media you've already seen pics from my trip to the Lucketts Spring Market this weekend. This is one event that I look forward to every year (read about my trip last year and the year before). This year though it was extra special; the fabulous ladies at the Old Lucketts Store were kind enough to provide us, local bloggers with a place to meet at their Design House. After meeting up with Jena from Involving Home and Jeanie from Create and Babble over breakfast we went about exploring. Here I am with Jena and Cassie from Primitive and Proper in front of Cassie's store, Sweet Clover's tent. As in the previous years, this year too the market didn't disappoint; it was a treasure trove of inspiration. Look at that chair! I'm totally bookmarking that color … [Read more...]

Garage Organization with Rubbermaid FastTrack

May 19, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 6 Comments

“This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Rubbermaid, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #FastTrack http://my-disclosur.es/RgFrEH” Signs that you are a DIY’er mom: A never ending list of projects. A garage full of other people’s trash; you know what I mean pallets, old lamps etc. Piles of shipping boxes in your garage that you’ve hoarded in case you need it for a spray paint project. Thrifted furniture peeking out from under those cardboard boxes waiting for their turn to shine. Half-finished paint projects, again in the garage. All sorts of tools, extension cords, Spray paint, paint cans spewed all over you know where. Bikes, skateboards, scooters, lawn chairs all just lazily thrown around in the … [Read more...]

Plastic Storage Bin Makeover

May 15, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 7 Comments

Am I the only one who stores swimwear in the laundry room? Yup, that's were we keep the whole family's swimsuits! In that bin on the laundry room shelf along with the beach towels and such while the pool passes and goggles hang on our laundry organizer sign. It just seems easier to have them all in one place so daddy (he's the pool person) can find them when he takes the kids for a swim. That way he doesn't have to go looking in separate rooms. Think I've had that bin for at least 4 years. It is one of those Rubbermaid ornament storage boxes (see the red and green lid) you get on "After Christmas clearance" for $5. Used to look like this! Your run of the mill see through plastic bin; great for storing ornaments where you can see what is in it but not ideal for swim suits in a mix of … [Read more...]

Gimme More Red

May 13, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 20 Comments

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walmart although I actually purchased the Bella® Linea Toaster featured in this post with my own money. It was not provided to me for this post but I liked the features so much that I bought one. All opinions are 100% mine. I have a thing about kitchen counters. I like my counters bare; yes nothing on them, all wiped clean and stark. It's a habit that I picked up unknowingly while living in a house that was on the market for 3 months. After B moved to VA for his job the kids and I stayed back in NJ and moved only when we sold our NJ home. Out of state relo emergency, two small kids, and a housing bubble meant that the house had to be spanking clean and presentable to sell. Everyday before I left for work I would take everything off … [Read more...]

Painted Dried Flowers

May 12, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 11 Comments

Few weeks ago I was doing some yard work and noticed the flower pods on my crepe myrtles. They kinda looked like clusters of small flowers and I wondered if I could do something with them. Do you do that too? You know, ever since I've been bitten by the DIY bug it's been so hard to let go of things especially if it means trashing them. How do you decide what to keep and throw? Anyways that's when the laundry room reveal came along and I needed some props for the shelves. Added some craft paint and voila! It is subtle but surely adds small pops of color to any space. The process is very simple too. Materials Dried Flower PodsAcrylic paint in whatever color you likeEmpty glass jars/ bottlesA paper plate and brush Method Clean the stems gently with a damp paper towel to … [Read more...]

5 One of a Kind Mother’s Day Gifts

May 8, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 3 Comments

When I look at my 10 yr old son, who is almost as tall as me, I can't even imagine where the time went. It still seems like yesterday I was fumbling with the diaper half dazed from my C section meds trying to figure out how to tie it on him the morning after he was born while the nurse looked baffled. Oh, and she followed it up with a, "You really haven't seen anyone put a diaper on a baby, have you?" to which I promptly replied, "No". He was all too yellow from jaundice and hiccuped a lot. The first time I changed his Onesie, oh my that has got to be one of the scariest experiences of my life. I was a nervous wreck thinking I might hurt him by putting it over his head! Once home, waking up in the middle of the night just to check if he is breathing. I don't know if it just me, I had … [Read more...]

DIY Shelves for the Laundry Room

May 6, 2014 By Vidya Sukumaran 4 Comments

Before I even begin the post on how we added the shelves in the laundry room, you need to see why we added them. Yes, of course for storage but an idea of what were dealing with is gonna make it very clear. Headsup: Most of the in process shots were taken with an Iphone or Itouch camera at night, so the picture quality sucks. We only had a wire shelf that was way high up (same level as the top shelf in the After shot). This meant that the 5.3ft tall "moi" (my daughter's current favorite word) had to tip toe ever time I wanted to take the laundry detergent. We also keep extra rolls of toilet paper and cleaning supplies common to all the upstairs bathrooms in the laundry. All this meant that with loads of heaped laundry piles that needed folding, space was a premium in this tiny … [Read more...]