Category: Making it Yours (MiY)

MiY 7b: Teenage Boy’s Room

In this edition of Making it Yours, we’re following the Window Daybed as it shows up throughout a young boy’s life. The bed got its start in his childhood bedroom, and now we see it as he enters his teenage years.

The boy is now 14 (ah, it seems last week he was just a little boy!). He and his dad repainted the walls, but they kept the daybed, painted dresser, nightstand, striped rug, lamp, and guitar poster. Now road signs replace the alphabet, and groovy bedding replaces cute monsters. The phrenology head is awesome (I gave one to Brandon last year), and yes, there is now an actual guitar in the mix. I have a soft spot for Danelectro because that was the make of my first guitar too (a Dano U2). The black swivel chair makes a good spot to sit and practice those pesky barre chords.

Next up, we’ll see the daybed in the living room of his first apartment.

* Edit (08.02.11, 8:45pm)
A couple of comments suggested adding a desk and some storage, and I thought that was a good idea. Consider this bookshelf, desk, and chair part of the room as well.

I also had a little fun dirtying up the place. Literally and figuratively. Can you spot the new addition to the room? (more…)

August 2, 2011
MiY 7a: Boy’s Room

In this edition of Making it Yours, we’ll be following the Window Daybed as it shows up throughout a young boy’s life, starting in his childhood bedroom.

Here it is as a little boy’s brand-new bed, complete with cute monster bedding! A bright blue nightstand next to the bed is a good place to store books, and a dresser with wooden sides has gotten a coat of citron paint for more color in the room. The striped rug adds a nice graphic pattern to the room, and a nice clear blue looks great on the walls. The vintage kid’s chair is mid-century modern and the light is new with seventies style, but they work together well and also with all of the new pieces in the room. An alphabet and guitar print adorn the walls, and a really awesome doll house works in the room for a boy just as well as it would for a girl.

The room is for a little boy, but nothing feels too twee or cutesy about it. Next we’ll see the daybed make an appearance in the boy’s teenage bedroom! A lot of the same elements will remain, but the room will grow up a bit as our young boy gets older.

July 25, 2011
Making it Yours 7: Window Daybed

It’s been far too long since the last Making it Yours (MiY) series! I’m back at it, this time with the Window Daybed.

MiY is all about the way a piece of furniture can see you through several rooms and several phases of your life. It’s not just about the furniture, it’s about the way furniture can fit into our lives and become something more, something versatile, even something sentimental.

Check in later today to see the daybed get its start in a bedroom for a young boy.

July 25, 2011
Design Stasis

I posted about the very pretty Louisa sofa yesterday, and it made me curious about how long we’ve had our sofa. I checked flickr for photos of our old apartment and I just realized how much of our living room has stayed the same over the years.

2006

now

We have had our couch since 2006. We also still have the same pink Robert Abbey lamps, and the same pillows (but moved around a little).

And hello, orange chair. You’ve been with us for five years now too.

2006

now

Yes, the living room in this house has its differences from the living room in our old apartment, but I was surprised to see so many similarities. It’s really my Making it Yours concept put into practice.

And wow, has my taste really stayed that consistent? I’ve been feeling the urge to shake things up a little lately, but I also still like our living room a lot. Do you ever feel conflicted like that?

May 18, 2011
MiY 6e: Texture and Pattern… Refined

It’s time to see the final look in the sixth edition of Making it Yours (MiY)! Lia was pretty happy with the look of her dining room last time, so she refined the color palette and made a few upgrades, but kept the overall look the same.

The Napa dining table has of course remained the same throughout this edition. Lia has also kept her woven chairs, gray rug, glass chandelier, and mirror. The dresser she had been using has been moved to her bedroom and she has replaced it with a proper console. The white lamp has been joined by a wire blackbird, which picks up on the woven texture of the chairs, and the wall has been wallpapered in a modern floral pattern. Lia’s blue plates still work in the room, but she has gotten sleek new glasses to go with them. It’s her dining room as it was, just stepped up a bit.

That concludes this edition of Making it Yours! We saw the dining table start out with Ann in her country style and then more traditional dining room, before it was passed down to Lia with her quirky sense of style. Then as Lia’s taste and budget changed, she added more texture and pattern before arriving at the style you see above. And remember, you can always see all of the archived Making it Yours editions if you’re looking for more inspiration!

December 14, 2010
MiY 6d: Texture and Pattern in the Dining Room

We haven’t checked in on our fictional sisters Ann and Lia lately. A little refresher may be in order, yes? We’re following the Napa Dining Table as it is passed down from Ann to Lia as part of my Making it Yours (MiY) series, and seeing how it fares through several style changes.

First Ann had it in her modern country dining room, and then her tastes ran toward the more traditional. Later, she passed the table down to her little sister Lia, who didn’t have much money but made the table work for her quirky and colorful style. Now Lia has been moving up the ranks at work, and she wanted to change up her dining room a bit. Let’s see what she’s come up with…

The wall color has stayed the same aqua blue, and she has kept her glasses and bowls plus some new light blue plates. The dresser (being used as a credenza) that she painted to look like the latitude grellow dresser has stayed as well. Lia toned down the crazy mishmash of colors though and is instead focusing more on adding interest through texture and pattern. The cool glass link chandelier and smooth white lamp contrast nicely with her new woven chairs. The iron ring starburst mirror plays off of the circles in the rug, and the yellow patterned vase relates back to the dresser. There’s a ton of texture and pattern here, but the overall look works really well without going too over the top.

We’ll see one more look from Lia as we finish this edition of Making it Yours. What direction should she go in next?

December 7, 2010