I'm back.....

After a week's hiatus from this little blog, I admit, it felt good to take a break. Yeah, I've missed all of you and I've missed reading and keeping up with your blogs as well (those of you that have them) but sometimes all this social media stuff becomes too much! (does anyone else despise facebook as much as I do?! I hate it but I feel like I have to have it to keep in touch)

I need to have some time to myself and lately that has NOT been happening while working 12-14 hours everyday, including most weekends. That doesn't leave too much time for writing posts, especially posts with any kind of thought put into them! Not to mention spending time with my husband in this supposed honeymoon stage of our first year of marriage. Also, my birthday is tomorrow and I'll be lucky if I get to celebrate by the end of June. ugh.

I need to getaway and relax for a bit. This winter when my business slows down it is ON!

O.k., enough with the pity party: that being said, I'm probably going to be writing less posts unless really super cool inspiring stuff worth sharing crosses my path. And until I can finally get some of my recent projects photographed. And once my business slows down a bit - I'm not complaining about having lots of work - I just wish this business wasn't either feast or famine. Some normalcy would be nice!

I love you guys and I look forward to sharing fewer but better posts with you.....at least until my sanity returns. xoxo.

Laura

Friday Feature: Albert Hadley

Albert Hadley lived a joyful and successful life as an interior designer. Sadly, he passed away earlier this year at the age of 91 (I only hope I can make it that long!). I stumbled across this great article earlier this week which includes some advice for younger designers. That being said, I decided to honor him by making him today's Friday feature.

I love how stylish this interior from the 70's is. Goes to show that good design never gets old!

I would put this chair in my own house for sure.

Have a great weekend!

~Laura

DIY Upholstered Headboard

I made this headboard for the EcoRehabarama house I staged for this weekend and now I'm gonna show you how I did it. This was pretty easy to make and it turned out better than I thought it would for just about $100.

The first thing I did was search for my fabric. I bought this fabric from spoonflower and ordered 1 yard of the heavy cotton twill. The size was 58" x 36" which was the perfect size and the chevrons lined up perfectly. I'm glad I didn't mess this up because there certainly wasn't forgiveness having only ordered 1 yard!

Next, I designed and built the frame for the headboard using 1x2's and plywood. After it was built the whole thing got sanded.

Since my frame was a little larger than the fabric, I bought another fabric to sew around the edges. This could be out of anything. I thought about doing a bright, fun color but then landed on something toned down. I bought 2 yards of this fabric so I could cut a strip long enough to stretch along the top. Otherwise it would have to have a seam in the middle.

Next, my mom and I cut 8" strips of the beige fabric (if your padding is really thick you will want to cut the strips wider in order to wrap all the way around to the back where it gets stapled). We then pinned the top on, sewed it, pinned the bottom, sewed it, and then did the sides.

Once that was finished I ironed it really well making sure to press the seams flat so they don't show once upholstered.

I then laid the foam out on the flat side of the frame and cut it to size. I used 1.5" foam from Hobby Lobby. It was much cheaper there than at JoAnn. You can use something thicker if you want but it will make adding the nailhead trim much more difficult. I thought 1.5" felt plenty soft. 

I then used just a regular 'ol tacky glue to glue the foam to the frame.

Once it was dry I laid the sewn fabric on top and lined it up. I was careful to measure each side to make sure it was perfectly even. I didn't worry about the bottom since that would be blocked by the mattress and pillows. 

The next step was probably the hardest part of it all. The stapling. For this part I held it up and kept everything in place while my dad stapled. Start at the top center and work your way out to the edges working wrinkles out as you go. Make sure you pull the fabric the same amount of tightness or else your finished product will look all lumpy.

Once all 4 sides were stapled, we got to the fun part - the nailhead trim. I cheated a bit on this step by buying this stuff by Dritz:

Every fifth "nailhead" has a hole where you put a nail in so you're not actually nailing down every single one.

Here, my dad is nailing in the trim.

Once that was finished I cut off the excess fabric on the backside. The headboard will just hang on the wall by a couple of screws. Make sure you screw into a stud to make it extra sturdy. Another helpful thing to do is use this:

This will help keep the fabric clean - especially the white parts!

Now we're finished!

Tuesday's Simple Idea: Sewing Hoops

I'm loving all the cute uses popping up for these sewing/embroidery hoops.

What a perfect way to use up old scraps! This would be so fun in a baby's or kid's room. 

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This clock is super cute. I don't think I would actually hang this in my house but it would be fun to make if I had kids. 

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I love these next ideas for organization:

 

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 And of course, you can use them to embroider cute things like this:

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2012 Huber Heights EcoRehabarama

Each year Dayton hosts a "rehabarama" in a concentrated neighborhood in order to help promote home ownership and stabilize the community. The county buys up the oldest, roughest houses in the neighborhood and completely remodels them to include some really beautiful design features. This year's Rehabamara is named "EcoRehabarama" where each of the 10 home remodeled features green features. This year it is located in Huber Heights, a city known for the famous "Huber brick ranch." 10 homes were each adopted by a different local builder, remodeled to perfection and are open to the public for touring this weekend. All of the homes are for sale and listed at prices from $100,000-$126,00. For more information about the tour, please visit here. 

I was involved with staging one of the 10 houses which kept me pretty busy last week. Here's a sneak peak of what I did:

(I also designed and made the upholstered headboard myself....I'll show you how I did it later this week!)

And here are some of the other homes you can tour.

This one is called the "Modern Reclaimer" and had lofted ceilings, open living, dining and kitchen spaces, 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. Tracy Kraft of reDESIGNED did the staging and helped with fixture selection.  

This home's theme is "light and airy." They bumped out the back wall and added an entire wall of windows behind the kitchen. It truly is light and airy and a very pretty home!

 

This next home is the "Ohian" model and is a two story. This builder opened up the ceiling to make a balcony/catwalk in the second story. The kitchen is really nice as well with a huge island than serves as a dining table.

 Here are two of the other homes but I only got shots of the kitchens. These kitchens were completed by Hurst, Total Home, Inc. and I think they did a particularly great job on the material selection and implementation.

 I hope this sneak peak has whetted your appetite! Now go see them in person this weekend! They're open on Friday from 12-9, Saturday 12-9 and Sunday 12-6. Admission is free!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Laura