Making it Lovely » Press

The Homies

Making it Lovely — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:11:17 +0000

The Homies

Thank you, everyone, for your votes during the nomination period of The Homies, Apartment Therapy’s awards for bloggers. I’ve moved on to the finalist round because of your support! I really appreciate it.

You can vote for your favorite now through Wednesday. I think Jenny’s going to take the prize (and good for her — I like her, and she deserves it), but I’m thrilled just to be in the company of so many other fantastic bloggers. Thanks.

My Office in Ladies’ Home Journal

Making it Lovely — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 18:16:18 +0000

My Office in Ladies’ Home Journal

My office is in the July ’12 issue of Ladies’ Home Journal! It was great to see my space featured along with the offices of two fellow bloggers: The Nester and I Heart Organizing.

You can read portions the article online (Dress Up Your Desk), or pick up the July 2012 issue. You can also enter to win a design consultation from me, which will later be featured on Ladies’ Home Journal’s website. (Good luck!)

The magazine used my photographs (yikes), and they had me rearrange the furniture slightly so that it would work for their layout. I kept it that way for a good six months before finally changing it back yesterday. Now I’m not so sure which way I like it better. Here’s another shot of it arranged the way the magazine’s art director requested it.

What do you think? It does free up some space for the kids’ easel, but I felt a little boxed in, having the storage at my back. Also? Whoops, there’s a bit of a functionality problem.

Yep. Let that be your friendly reminder that sometimes things in magazines look fantastic from certain angles. Trickery!

My office originally looked like this, and mostly does again, but maybe a little less photo-ready.

Thanks again, Ladies’ Home Journal! It’s an honor. Now, if only you hadn’t confused me about the best layout for the room…

Keynote Speaker at BlogPodium

Making it Lovely — Wed, 30 May 2012 16:31:06 +0000

This has been a Lovely Life List kind of week. I was in Toronto (cross the Canadian border, check!) to give a keynote speech (check!) at BlogPodium, Canada’s first and only design conference series for bloggers. The event was created by Jennifer Flores and Lindsay Stephenson and focused on the business of blogging.

I’m shy and awkward in social situations, but I actually like public speaking. Giving the keynote at BlogPodium felt a lot like the online video courses I’ve been teaching for Alt Summit. I prepared in the same way, by structuring my talk around the presentation I created, and the hour-long format was the same. The big difference, obviously, was in being able to see my audience.

It was good though! You know, except for the part where I tried to leave the stage with the little remote for advancing the slide presentations. I was nervously fiddling with it throughout my speech, and I walked off with it. I only got a few feet away before I realized it, hence my expression in the photo below. (See the remote in my hands?)

The panel after me consisted of Cheryl Kozoriz, Laura Muirhead, Lindsay Stephenson, and Cheryl Dovey, and moderated by Leigh-Ann Allaire Perrault. They spoke further about the business of blogging, and touched on the differences between American and Canadian bloggers.

Toronto has an amazing blogging community (I wish we had something like it in Chicago), and I had a great time meeting and spending time with so many Canadian design bloggers. Thank you, BlogPodium, for having me!

All photos by Mango Studios

Kathryn’s Bedroom in Adore Home Magazine

Making it Lovely — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:07:30 +0000

I helped a reader of Making it Lovely, Kathryn, with her bedroom not long ago. It was a fun project to work on, and the room is now featured in the new issue of Adore Home, an Australian online magazine!

The coverage of Kathryn’s bedroom starts on page 120.

Thanks, Adore Home.

Eleanor’s Bizarro World Room

Making it Lovely — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:52:49 +0000

The Land of Nod was so into the bedroom I designed for Eleanor (which they helped furnish) that they recreated the look for their new catalog. It’s on page 61.

Our copy arrived today, and I showed it to Eleanor. “Does this look like your room?” I asked her. She looked at it, then started pointing at toys and asking to play with them upstairs. The girl really wants her mercury glass mushrooms and toy calliope, please.

Here’s Eleanor’s room, for reference.

Quite the resemblance, right? (Although, now that I think about it… they’re based in Chicago. I’m in Chicago. Dudes, why didn’t you just shoot here?)

Anyway, thanks team Nod! It was neat to see the Bizarro World version in the catalog.

Anthology Winter Gift Guide

Making it Lovely — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:23:42 +0000

Anthology has released a special holiday issue online, featuring winter gift guides and holiday decorating ideas. Be sure to read all the way to the end, where you will find me featured on the back cover for their regular feature: Prized Possession.

Thanks for having me, Anthology!

Ohdeedoh’s Big Blog Family

Making it Lovely — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 06:01:19 +0000

Thanks, Ohdeedoh, for including me in your Big Blog Family!

A Green & Gold Christmas for Ladies’ Home Journal

Making it Lovely — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 17:19:15 +0000

I love coming up with Christmas tree decorating ideas, so I jumped at the chance to do one for the Ladies’ Home Journal blog, The Ladies’ Lounge.

All of the links and information are over at The Ladies’ Lounge. Head on over to check it out!

Spooky Halloween Front Porch for BHG

Making it Lovely — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 14:57:53 +0000

My fourth and final project for Better Homes & Gardens can finally be revealed! I decorated our front porch for Halloween with 2D and 3D spooky crows on twisted branches. My porch is up against the other three bloggers’ projects, so please vote for your favorite at bhg.com.

In addition to the crows, several rats can also be found cavorting about. Even Bernard the monkey (I picked him up on clearance over the summer at Z Gallerie) has found a small furry friend.

The project was pretty straightforward, but here’s how I did it…

Supplies

black construction paper or poster board
scissors
pencil
transparent tape
large branches (the gnarlier, the better)
black spray paint (optional)
fake crows
wire (if your crows do not have it already)
planters and bricks/rocks for bases

Instructions

Sketch a barren tree and a couple of crows onto your black paper.
Cut out your shapes and affix them to your door or window with transparent tape.
If you need to darken your branches, spray them with a bit of black paint and let them dry.
Fill your planters with rocks or bricks and insert your branches.
Perch your birds in the branches and secure them with wire (my birds’ feet had wire built-in for this purpose).

I also took off our screen door (it was blocking the view of the silhouetted birds), and I made new curtains for the front door and window.

Remember, you can vote every day until Halloween for your favorite project at bhg.com. Now I can’t wait to answer the door for the neighborhood trick-or-treaters on Sunday…

Modern Pumpkin Lanterns for BHG

Making it Lovely — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:28:56 +0000

I crafted three modern pumpkin lanterns for my third Better Homes & Gardens project. I painted them in various metallics, and all three are hot pink on the inside. The pumpkins are cute during the daytime, but because I painted the insides they have an amazing pink glow when they’re lit at night!

Please take a moment to vote for your favorite pumpkin project at bhg.com. And here’s how you can create your own modern pumpkin lanterns:

Supplies

faux crafter’s pumpkins
craft paint (I used hot pink, bronze, gold, and silver)
1″ foam brush
small flameless candles
x-acto knife or heated cutting tool

Instructions

Cut a hole in the bottom of the pumpkin large enough to fit your hand inside.
Carve circles (or desired shapes) into the pumpkin.
Paint the inside. I used two coats of hot pink paint, which gives the pumpkin a pretty pink glow when lit.
Paint the outside. Each pumpkin took three coats of metallic paint.
Place the pumpkin over a flameless candle to illuminate it.

Vote for Your Favorite Pumpkin Project

You can vote every day until Sunday for your favorite pumpkin project at bhg.com. Next week I’ll share the fourth and final BHG project: my front porch, decorated for Halloween!