Making it Lovely

Tag: tech

  • A Lovely Stardew Valley Inspired Kitchen

    A Lovely Stardew Valley Inspired Kitchen

    Art, design, and coding for funsies! The kids and I have been making pixel art lately and I’ve been using mine to change the look of my farm and and farmhouse in Stardew Valley with some personal aesthetic mods that I’ve made.

    A Lovely Pink Stardew Valley Kitchen

    I had a pink Smeg or Big Chill fridge in mind when I was changing the vanilla kitchen. Then I added the Portal cake (no lie) and thought I should add a mixer too. And if I need a rug, you know I’m going to make a teeny pixel version of the wool kilim I designed for Annie Selke.

    I stand by this as a solid farmhouse kitchen design, digital or otherwise. I’ll leave it up to you to find Leah’s sculpture and a giant wooden chicken.

    A Lovely Stardew Valley Inspired Kitchen | Making it Lovely
    1. I Know How to Cook, Ginette Mathiot
    2. Blood, Bones & Butter, Gabrielle Hamilton
    3. 30″ Retro Stove (Pink Lemonade), Big Chill
    4. Artigiano Subway Tile, Daltile
    5. Foley Side Chair, Rejuvenation
    6. KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer (Watermelon), Crate & Barrel
    7. Round Vintage Butterfly Kaleidoscope Art, World Market
    8. Faux Cosmos Stems, Target (Hearth & Hand)
    9. Portal Cake Recipe, Serious Eats
    10. Marin White Large Cake Stand, Crate & Barrel
    11. Pure White Ceramic Vases, West Elm
    12. Country Kitchen Faucet, Lowe’s (Rohl)
    13. Averi Ribbed Cylinder Vase, Wayfair
    14. Cambria Stoneware Mug, Pottery Barn
    15. Chambray Hemstitch Round Red Tablecloth, Target (Threshold)
    16. Padma Rug, Annie Selke
    17. Weave Natural Floor Lamp, Crate & Barrel
    18. Retro Slim Fridge (Pink Lemonade), Big Chill
    Lovely Stardew Valley Kitchen Pixels

    I mentioned on Instagram Stories that I’d share some of the resources we’ve been using to make mods, so that will be a future post. My SV house is all pinks and flowers, books and bugs, crystals and skulls, plus a good dose of my ever-favorite black/white/brass/wood combo. A lot like my own house (though I need more skulls IRL is what I’m taking away from this.)

    The base recolor I’m using is Toned Down Stardew Valley (ATDSDV) and the art is from Elegant Victorian Interior. I don’t have a mod ready for you to download if you want to add any of my customizations into your own games, but I’m giving you the pixels for now if you want to mess around with cutting and pasting them in on your own. If you already know what you’re doing, fit the kitchen into your farmhouse_tiles.png and the flowers and rugs into furniture.png files. The subway tiles belong in walls_and_floors.png.

  • Boosting Our Wi-Fi Signal

    Boosting Our Wi-Fi Signal

    This post is sponsored by Samsung.

    A typical day for us might have one of us streaming music or a podcast in the kitchen, the kids watching a show or using a tablet, and someone on their phone or the computer — all at the same time. Our house is just over 3000 square feet, but the modem is at the back of the house in the snug. Meanwhile, I work on the top floor, completely on the other side of the house, and we have plaster walls that can interfere with the Wi-Fi. We’ve always had to rely on devices to boost the signal, but the system we had wasn’t terribly reliable, depending on where you were in the house.

    Listening to music in the kitchen

    I’ve just added the Samsung Connect Home to our house. It’s a new Wi-Fi router and SmartThings hub all in one, and you guys. It’s solving problems.

    I was a little nervous about setting it up because if I don’t have an internet connection, I can’t work. But it was easy! I used the Samsung Connect App to set it all up; it walks you through the process and the whole thing took about 10 minutes. The router has a range of about 1500 square feet, but the system is expandable for mesh network coverage. We have three devices connected and the app verifies that they’re spaced closely enough to communicate with each other. Our internet connection is awesome now! I can walk around with my phone and not lose the signal! Hooray!

    The Snug

    The main hub, the one connected to the modem, is in the snug. Our old one was in the same spot, but it was not nearly as inconspicuous. (I had hidden it before when taking photos — that one was triple the size and so ugly with its trio of chunky antennas.)

    Samsung Connect Home Wi-Fi Hub in Plain Sight

    The second is in the den, where we watch movies and play games. It’s kind of in the middle of the house, so the first one covers the back and bottom of the house (including the yard), and this one covers the center and links to the third one all the way upstairs.

    The Den (Pajama Lounge!)

    Samsung Connect Home

    We just bought a new 55″ TV to upgrade from our old one that clocked in at 32″. It feels HUGE. Nice though! The TV is by Samsung too (MU8000) and it connects beautifully to the Wi-Fi and the Samsung Connect App. I can even use my phone as a remote if I wanted to.

    Samsung Smart TV (MU8000)

    And here’s the third hub, up on the third floor of the house in my office. I’m proud to say I haven’t had a signal drop yet (which was a constant problem before)!

    Home Office

    I like to hide away technology a lot — it’s the kind of quirk Brandon just loves about me — but routers work better when they’re out. Thankfully these are small and nicely designed (a welcome change from the old eye-sores).

    Samsung Connect Home in the office

    We had gotten used to the unreliable internet connection, as frustrating as it could be, and now we have Wi-Fi that just works! The Samsung Connect App made the whole process easy, and even works with all of our existing smart devices so I can control them all through just one app instead of multiple. And with the Samsung Connect Home I didn’t have to compromise on aesthetics. Nice.

    What about you? What kind of Wi-Fi struggles could Connect Home help you solve?

  • Cut the Cord(s)

    Cut the Cord(s)

    All opinions are 100% mine.

    NeoCon is a huge annual show for the commercial interiors industry held at The Merchandise Mart, here in Chicago. I attended the show last week for the debut of the new wireless Corian® Charging Surface, and you guys. We are living in the future.

    NeoCon 2015, The Merchandise Mart, Chicago
    Wireless Charging at NeoCon 2015 in Chicago with #CorianPowerUp

    You probably already know Corian®. It’s a solid-surface material that comes in 110 colors and patterns that can be custom-cut and fabricated with near seamless installation. It’s durable, stain-resistant, and easy to clean, so while most people are familiar with as a countertop for the kitchen or bathroom, it’s often used for commercial and hospitality applications too.

    Corian and Zodiac Colors

    The Corian® Charging Surface is a transmitter that can be installed below the surface of a counter to wirelessly charge smart devices, stopping automatically when the battery is full. Zodiaq® quartz counters work with the technology too and there’s no difference in appearance with it installed (unless you want to add an identifying mark), so you get this secret little charging spot that doesn’t change the design of your room! We usually have a phone or tablet (or both) charging in our kitchen, and the tangle of cords drives me nuts. I’m forever gathering everything up to squirrel it all away in a drawer, so to be able to charge everything without wires would be awesome.

    Samsung is already offering phones that can be charged wirelessly, but you can adapt other phones with a special case or Powermat® wireless charging ring. Powermat® is also making the technology work for commercial spaces (coffee shops, restaurants, airports, etc.) with multiple charging spots and remote cloud-based management. Both the residential and commercial transmitters’ firmware can be updated and are PMA and Qi compatible to support upcoming technology.

    Wireless Charging with #CorianPowerUp

    I liked the new Corian® design at the show that looked like marble (without marble’s tendency to stain and etch), and it would work in almost any kitchen or bath. I was into some of the darker options though — almost black, but with enough interest to keep them from looking flat. A dark counter with painted cabinetry in a beautiful color and an integrated Corian® Charging Surface would be fantastic. Adding one to a piece of furniture in an entryway or mudroom would be smart too. And wouldn’t it be amazing for the technology to take off on a large enough scale so that you could head out with your phone, sans-cords and cables, confident that there would be a spot where you could set your phone down to charge wirelessly? Hello, future.

    You can follow Corian® on Facebook and Corian® Twitter to keep up with them and their latest innovations.

    Visit Sponsors Site

  • An iPhone Goes Better With…

    An iPhone Goes Better With…

    Perhaps you know someone who already owns an iPhone, or perhaps you’re surprising someone with one, but either way a pretty case is a good idea. And oh boy, would that Little Printer be extra credit! It won’t be available for the holidays, but they will be taking pre-orders soon.

    Hello Little Printer, available 2012 from BERG on Vimeo.