Category: Projects

My Sims 4 Pink Victorian House

It’s a mix of twee and cute with creepy and sinister elements. Much like my own house, hey-o!

A few of you had asked to see my Sims house when I shared our 2017 video games recommendations, and I’m happy to oblige. I’ve shared my Animal Crossing home before, but the building mechanics here are so much more open, meaning I could make a much more interesting and true-to-life house!

This one isn’t completely ‘done’ since it’s my active household. As my family makes more money, I remodel and add on. The social interactions and leveling up of abilities in the The Sims 4 are fun, but I play the game as a big virtual dollhouse and the building/decorating aspect is my favorite part.

The living and dining room are open to each other, and the kitchen is at the rear of the house.

There’s a back door that leads out to a porch and the yard.

Back inside on the first floor, there’s a hallway with a bookshelf at the end, leading to the first floor bathroom on one side, and an art studio on the other.

There are two more bathrooms on the second floor that look very similar, so I’ll just show the one.

The art studio! Ah, this is my fantasy. Painting in my jammies while my well-behaved toddler dances cutely beside me. (So close to real life.)

You can see from the floor plan that there are stairs heading down to the basement. It’s mostly empty down there for now. Then I learned how to make the attic usable while building a different house, so I did the same to this one. The exterior is a tiny bit different from these screenshots since I popped up the room along the sides with their Victorian dormers.

Up to the second floor! Three bedrooms, two baths.

I wish I could upload this to a sharing gallery, but I’m playing on our Xbox and they don’t have that feature. It also means that my builds have no CC, just base game, Vampires, and Vintage Glamour Stuff content. (I have zero interest in playing as a vampire but the furniture and decorations are the best.)

I hope it’s still fun to see though, even if it can’t be added to your Sims’ town. (And even if you don’t play The Sims!)

December 13, 2017
Designing Rugs
I’ve designed three rugs for the Annie Selke Rug Design Challenge! I’ll need your help (in the form of votes) to bring them to production.

There are several other designers and bloggers participating.

I’ve been so curious about everybody’s take on this challenge, and they were all posted to the Annie Selke Instagram account today. They’re all so good! 10 designs will be chosen to go into their lineup, and I would love for at least one of those to be mine. I hadn’t designed products since closing my stationery business, and I’ve realized how much I missed the process.

(↑ Annie Selke)

Our family went up to the North Woods of Wisconsin again a couple of weeks ago, and I brought my markers and sketchbook with me. I drew various repeating patterns, lots of scallops with art deco influences, but ultimately I didn’t go with those. The bugs though! They inspired me.

There are cute ladybugs and butterflies on plenty of products already. Bees and dragonflies can also be found pretty readily, and I did draw all of the above. Weevils though, I found to be so interesting! Rhino beetles and stag beetles, too, but it was the weevils that made it into two out of my three patterns (here and here).

I was also inspired by quilting patterns, which as of writing this post, is the most popular out of my three. And here, a bonus peek at my favorite design in a lighter pink colorway! (Where my girly entomologists at!?) This wasn’t an official submission, but I asked for opinions on Instagram and the dark won out.

Please vote!

I need your help to make these possible. If you want to see any of these available for sale, please vote for your favorites by liking them on Annie Selke’s Instagram account. The other designers did an amazing job too of course, so I know it’s going to be tough competition.
1. VOTE — like this on Instagram: Snug as a Bug in a Rug
2. VOTE — like this on Instagram: Going Buggy Rug (my favorite!)
3. VOTE — like this on Instagram: A Quilty Rug
These are the silly names I’ve been calling them — no doubt they are up for changing should they become official. Voting ends July 20, and Annie Selke is aiming for a capsule collection of 10 designs to be completed and unveiled at High Point Market next April. I would love to have one or more designs in that collection! I would get to write about the process too, taking you behind the scenes of producing a rug for market. I’m always fascinated by the business end of things, from design to materials to implementation. How cool to be a part of that, and to share it with you here!

Thank you already to so many of you that have voted and shown your support. If nothing else, I loved making patterns and designing products again.
July 6, 2017
Personalized Holiday Gifts, and “Wheel Cars!”

This post is sponsored by Shutterfly.

A while back, I took a few quick pictures of the kids while we were waiting for a table at a restaurant. They were bored, hungry, and making funny faces to amuse themselves — August and Eleanor on each end, with a resigned Calvin in the middle who was over the whole thing. It totally captured their personalities. And now? Those faces can greet you as you have your morning coffee.

We have plenty of photos of all three of them where they aren’t making faces, but their silly pictures crack me up and I think it’s even funnier that they’re mugging for the camera on a personalized mug. Hello, grandparent gift! I got a matching set from Shutterfly where you can add Ghiradelli to your order; I included assorted squares of chocolate with ours.

Shutterfly offers non-photo personalized gifts too. I chose a monogrammed pouch for each of the kids in colors I thought they would like. We’re going to fill each one with treats before wrapping them up for Christmas, and then each kid could use them for their little toys and treasures.

I’m wishing I’d picked up a canvas tote for myself! I’m a sucker for embroidered initials.

And here’s the one I’m most proud of because I made the pattern myself. “Wheel cars” (as Calvin calls them) on a custom pillow and blanket! They’re going to go in his room, but the lucky kid got an early peek while I was photographing them to share here.

Eleanor and August each got a fleece blanket as one of their Christmas gifts last year from our family. They use them when they’re cold, but also when they’re playing, having pretend picnics, building forts, making superhero capes, and so on. Calvin didn’t get a blanket of his own, so I designed and ordered one for him.

I looked through our toy cars for the most interesting wheels, and then photographed almost two dozen of them.

I cut out those wheels in Photoshop, arranged them and created a repeating pattern, then added a background color and played around with the contrast until I liked the end result.

I realized when I was done that it would make a cute matching pillow for the bed, so I ordered one along with a plush fleece blanket. There are pre-designed pillows and blankets too, but Shutterfly made it super easy to personalize everything. I saved my pattern as a jpeg and uploaded it just like I did with the photo of the kids, and I love that we have something for Calvin’s room now with a design I made myself.

It’s a total kid pattern, but it was fun to make. “Wheel cars!” And now I want to make a million more. Photo collage style again, or break out the gouache and paintbrushes?

This post is sponsored by Shutterfly. Awaken your space with your vision. Shop Shutterfly Home Décor for personalized home accents that are uniquely you.

December 1, 2016
Planning Our Paint Color Palette with the Simply Yours Tool
This post is sponsored by Dutch Boy Paint.

We took on several spaces for the latest round of the One Room Challenge. The work spanned all three floors of our Victorian from the front entry, up the stairs, down the second and third floor hallways, and then back down the other set of stairs and out to the back door. Dutch Boy Paint provided all of the paint we needed, and as you might imagine, there was a wee bit of painting involved.

I wanted each space to have its own identity, but the entries and pass-through areas touch every single room, so there still had to be a sense of continuity and a color palette that would work well throughout the whole house. I knew I wanted black doors and white trim upstairs, so that was an obvious place to start. Here’s a tip — you don’t necessarily want to use the darkest, most true black or the brightest, purest white. The contrast may be too stark and you’ll likely get a better result with a creamier white and a less severe black.

Here’s how the colors I chose (Authentic Black, 437-7DB, and Brightened Cream, 005W) compare to similar shades.

I played around with the colors using Dutch Boy’s Simply Yours Tool. I started with the most extreme black and white, then brought my choices in and added a creamy white (White Linen, 007W) to be used on the stairway walls.

Next, I turned my attention to the front entry color, which I knew would be a shade of pink. I was looking for a pink that was strong enough to stand up to our unpainted oak, muted (not too bright or saturated), and on the peachy/coral side or with a beige/brown base. I’ve starred some of my favorites below, and again, I played around with those in the Simply Yours Tool, then picked up some paint chips to help make my final decision.

There were four strong contenders: Amber Wood (409-4DB), Ole Washboard (409-3DB), Old Oak Trail (409-2DB), and Sandstone Quarry (408-2DB). Each of the four would have looked great with the wood in our front entry, but Sandstone Quarry also worked well with the wallpaper for the second floor hall and the two spaces connect at the top of the stairs.

There were several surfaces to paint, each with their own specific requirements. Below is a breakdown of the products, finishes, and colors used throughout. You can find Dutch Boy Paint at your local Menards store.

Walls and Ceilings
- Dutch Boy Platinum® Paint + Primer (Flat)
- Brightened Cream, 005W (2nd and 3rd floor ceilings, 3rd floor walls)
  White Linen, 007W (1st floor ceiling, front and back stairway walls)
  Sandstone Quarry, 408-2DB (front entry walls)
- Most people will choose a flat finish for ceilings, but it’s also my preferred finish for walls. I like a matte look.
Trim and Baseboards
- Dutch Boy Dura Clean Cabinet, Door, & Trim
- Brightened Cream, 005W
- A durable choice for the woodwork in a great shade of white.
Doors
- Dutch Boy Dura Clean Cabinet, Door, & Trim
- Authentic Black, 437-7DB
- A glossy black finish sets the doors apart and will offer protection against daily wear.
Stair Treads and Risers
- Dutch Boy Platinum® Porch & Floor Paint + Primer (Satin)
- Brightened Cream, 005W
  Authentic Black, 437-7DB
- Black and white stairs are classic, and using the same colors as the doors and trim ties them all together.
Once I had made all of my color decisions, I paired them up together with the Simply Yours Tool one last time. I referenced it while creating design boards and choosing fabrics, furnishings, and accessories. The brown (Olde Metal, 414-7DB) is there to represent the stair runner I had chosen, but I do like the idea of it as a wall color. (Brown is back, I’m telling you.)

If you want to try your hand at creating a color palette, you can do so right here with Dutch Boy’s Simply Yours Tool. Give it a go, and you could win a color consultation or Dutch Boy Paint prize pack (but hurry, the contest ends on 11/24)! You can also like Dutch Boy Paint on Facebook for more inspiration.
November 21, 2016
Color it! IDGAF Garden Style

I’m spending entire days in the garden lately and I look ridiculous out there. I’m not all that worried about it, but I’m filthy by the end of the day, so I’m not wearing my cute clothes but rather an odd assortment of my workout clothes. There’s my running wardrobe: sports bras, sweat-wicking shirts in bright colors, and compression pants with secret little zipped pockets for your keys. Then there’s my old roller derby gear: tank tops, booty shorts, fishnets, and knee high socks. I’m pulling a little from both, skipping the fishnets and adding a work apron and garden clogs, plus a terribly unflattering but practical pair of sweatshorts. Maybe a hat to top it all off on a sunny day? And for the first time since I was five, I wish I had some overalls to wear.

So anyway, I made something for you. For all of us.

Break out those markers or colored pencils! Like so.

(I cleaned up the type and moved things around when I scanned it, before I colored everything in.)

I’ll be outside in the garden if you need me, looking awesome. ;)

August 2, 2016
DIY Tumbling Blocks Hand-Painted Floor
This post is sponsored by Dunkin’ Donuts.

The painted floor in the bathroom is done! It only took a million hours!

‘Tumbling blocks’ is a classic pattern that has been trending for a few years now. I think of it as a quilting pattern from the 1800s, but decorative rhombille tiling goes back centuries. If I were doing a full renovation of my bathroom, I would lay tile like this, but this project is more of a refresh. The wood floor was already painted and in need of a fresh coat, so I figured why not go for something interesting? And of course, I have painted a floor before. I know it takes time and I know I am sore by the end of it, but I also know it’s worth it.

I’ve seen people take on this particular pattern before, or a variation of it. Here are a few examples.
I found a free template, and I played around with the colors and scale in Photoshop. I was torn between black and white or pink and red, and I decided to go with the more colorful scheme inspired by this encaustic cement tile from Mosaic House.

I looked through my paint fan decks and chose three colors. I wanted pink and red, yes, but not too bright or candy-colored. The pale pink is Puppy Paws, the medium is Odessa Pink, and the red is Crimson — a quart of each in floor and patio low sheen enamel, stopping on the way at Dunkin’ Donuts for an Iced Macchiato.

I used to be more of a latte fan, but the macchiato has become my new favorite. When I was at the Dunkin’ Donuts headquarters last month, we were able to learn about the different hot and iced espresso drinks they offer and then make our own. Both drinks are made with milk and espresso, but a latte only has one shot of espresso and a macchiato has two, giving it a stronger coffee flavor and more caffeine (which was definitely needed as I worked on this project!). I like to order mine with a Mocha Swirl because: chocolate. Delicious.

So, coffee and paint in hand, I was ready to get started.

I started at the far end and worked my way towards the door. Luckily it worked out and my pattern stayed aligned with the floor boards (for the most part). If I were doing it again though, I would have started at the doorway where the pattern is most visible. That’s the recommendation when working with tile too. You want to start your pattern where you are most likely to be looking at it, and if it’s going to go wonky, you want that hidden toward the back.

I only drew out the pattern on the far side because I figured I would smudge/erase it as I worked if I did the whole floor. Again, if I were doing it again, I would have started at the doorway, but alas. I drew a portion of the pattern, painted some of the lighter areas, drew more of the pattern, painted some more, repeat.

I have a pretty steady hand, so I painted the whole thing freehand with a pointed artist’s paintbrush (round, size 16). You can create a stencil or tape off the pattern too, but neither really seemed easier to me than just going ahead and painting it with a brush.

It took three full days of work, and three coats of paint for each color, but it’s done. Hooray! And now you can pretend to play Q*bert in my bathroom.

I just have a couple of details to get to, and the whole space will be finished!
July 7, 2016