Inspired Design Notes

Design Classes at House of Design "Renew, Reuse, Recycle"

For years I’ve called this class, a favorite of mine, trash to treasure (not my originality, but I thank  whoever came up with it).  This year we re-titled it, in keeping with ‘green’ thinking, however the practice is still the same.  Our Mom was a master of it, as she worked to stretch the dollars.  I don’t think there was a bone in her body that wasn’t creative and she always had a project going we could share.  At the store we call my sister Liz the queen of recycling – we save everything for her (right down to the plastic pans the hot glue comes in for paint pans), which she then turns into something wonderful for ‘her’ kids at SERF.  So, I guess you might say “it runs in the family”.

There are so many ways we can renew, reuse, recycle; from how we mix up our accessories and repaint furniture, to creating treasure from ‘trash’ – it is mostly about how we perceive something and finding a new way to appreciate it.  Unless something is broken beyond recognition, I can usually come up with some wild idea for it.  Unfortunately, we have too many catastrophes around the store and there is an ample supply of ‘trash’.  You can see a few of our ideas here and check out the rest on our website, www.shophouseofdesign.com which will have ideas added as we create them.

Red, White and Blue

 My Sister, Liz and I got the outside decorations up just in time for Memorial Day.  It seems to have snuck up on us this year.  I always look forward to putting up our patriotic décor.  A building can’t stand any more proud than when it is festooned in red, white and blue.  I always try to get the bunting, flags, and color out in time for Memorial Day weekend in honor of our veterans and soldiers, and so I can enjoy it for a couple months (I generally can’t bear to take it down for a few weeks after the Fourth of July).  With two months feeling like two weeks anymore, I have had to find a few ways to cut down the amount of time it takes to change the outside décor at the store.  The following are a few tricks you might want to try.

• Plant a pair of large pots for the front porch with either live or artificial green plants – something fairly sturdy and green year round.  Change the color seasonally with a few artificial plants.  Some ideas include red geraniums for the patriotic holidays, bright colored marigolds or kalanchoes for summer, chrysanthemums for fall, poinsettias or azaleas for winter and bulb flowers for the spring.
• Use an artificial evergreen garland (from holiday decorations) as the base for garlands to wrap around lamp posts, mailbox posts, or swag from the eaves.  Use PVC with wires in the ‘branches’ which you can use to wrap around materials you want to add to the garland. 
• To add color, strip inexpensive fabric into 12”-18” wide pieces and attach it to garland.  It can also be tied in large floppy bows.
• For evening festivities use mini lights in solid colors, or pick color combinations for specific holidays, such as red, white and blue; orange and black; bright multi for summer.
• Add solar pathway lights to your container plants.
• Swag inexpensive fabric over the door(s) and tie up the corners with coordinating bows.
• Use chenille stems or twist ties for attaching fabric and garland to headed nails.

Birthday Party Memories

The time flies by so fast.  Our 14th Birthday Party and Basement Sale were a couple weekends ago and we had a fabulous time because of all who joined our festivities.  Despite the rain - which now, with triple-digit temperatures seems like a wonderful thing – our providence of having a basement for our sale allowed us to escape much of the wet weather.  Our Carnival theme was great fun to decorate for.  The Kraft was adorned with MardiGras colors and fabrics that danced in the winds brought by the storms.  It is hard to believe this Monday is Memorial Day, which always seems like the kick-off to long days, picnics, and family fun (and the countdown in our preparation for – dare I say it – Holiday Magic).  This week we took down the hot pink, purple and orange, and put up our red, white and blue bunting outside.  Let summer begin! 

Please view our Birthday Album for pictures of the event.