Fun Ways To Welcome House Guests - DIY Chalkboard Tray

Have family and friends coming to visit this summer? For just a few dollars, you can make a sweet chalkboard tray to welcome them with a personalized message.

All you'll need is a tray, a can of chalkboard paint, and a foam paintbrush (the bristles on a regular paintbrush can leave streaks). The tray pictured here started out as a frumpy $2 tray with a flower painted in the center of it. I added a little chalkboard paint, and now it's "tray" chic! Get it? Tray? OK, moving on.

Start by selecting a tray. Just about any tray will do. Chalkboard paint adheres well to most smooth surfaces, but I've found that really shiny surfaces, such as glass, don't take the paint well. If you don't have a tray, you can make one by adding 2 handles to the short sides of an ornate picture frame and cutting a piece of foam core poster board to use in place of the glass.

Paint a coat of chalkboard paint over the flat portion of your tray (or on the poster board if you are using a homemade tray). In most cases, there's no need to prime first. Allow the first coat of paint to dry for 24 hours, and then add a second coat. Once the second coat has had 24 hours to dry, your tray will almost be ready for your message. Before you write on it, condition the chalkboard by rubbing the side of a piece of chalk over the entire surface once. Rub clean with a soft cloth, wipe down with a damp rag, and allow to dry before you write on it. This will prevent the "ghosts" of previous words from haunting you after you erase them.

The truth is, I'm nuts about chalkboards. For more fun chalkboard ideas, have a peek at this article that I wrote ages ago before the dawn of my blog.

This post is also linked to a bunch of neat DIY chalkboard projects at Reinvented.

Pachycephalosaurus

This is a post about dinosaurs. Well, actually, it's a post about dinosaurs and people. "What," you may ask, "do dinosaurs have to do with decorating?" Admittedly, not much, but people have a lot to do with decorating.

I love my work. I love everything about it (with the possible exception of quarterly taxes). I love applying my creativity. I love problem solving. I love the variety of tasks with which I am faced-- one day I'll organize an office and the next I'll pick paint colors for a nursery. But my favorite aspect of my work is having the opportunity to meet and work with terrific people. It sounds corny--OK, it sounds really corny--but it's true.

On Friday, I worked with a great family that included four children. When I first arrived at their home, my client's son showed me an animal poster that he'd made. I commented on his great spelling, and he announced that he could spell the names of many animals, including the name of his favorite dinosaur, pachycephalosaurus. Given that I'd never even heard of this particular dinosaur, I was impressed--I don't encounter many dinosaur experts in my line of work.

While his mom and I were busy discussing kitchen cabinet hardware, window treatments, furniture placement, and the merits of Sherwin Williams paint, the resident dinosaur expert was busy creating another poster listing every single dinosaur that he knew. Around 35 total. From memory. When it came time for me to leave, he folded up the poster and presented it to me as a gift.

Like I said, my favorite aspect of my work is having the opportunity to meet and work with terrific people. Dinosaurs don't have a lot to do with decorating, but people do.

Copy Cat: Look-Alikes For Less

I love the classic look of pharmacy lamps. Pottery Barn is currently offering the Wyatt Table Lamp (top photo) for $119.00. For a very similar lamp at a fantastic price, have a look at JC Penney's Linden Street Adjustable Pharmacy Table Lamp (bottom photo), which is currently on sale for $49.99. Both vendors also offer a matching floor lamp--the Wyatt floor lamp is $199.00 at Pottery Barn, and the Linden Street Pharmacy Floor Lamp is $99.99 at JC Penney.

Create a Customized, Preprinted Grocery List

As this is a blog dedicated to both decorating and organizing, I thought I'd take a few minutes to point you towards an idea that has the potential to simplify your life, giving you more free time...for decorating!

One of my wonderful clients once said, "I like to think really hard...once." Sure, you can scribble a grocery list on the back of an envelope, but with a minimal investment of time and energy, you can create a preprinted grocery checklist that will streamline your shopping.

Here are five tips for creating a super-functional grocery list:

1. As a jumping-off point, download a free, printable list from the Internet. One of the most exhaustive lists available is "The Ultimatest Grocery List" from grocerylists.org. To customize your list for your family, have a peek in your fridge and cupboards to see which items you use often (unless of course it's been so long since you've shopped that they only contain a jar of fuzzy mayo and a stale rice cake) . You might also want to flip through your "old standby" recipes and note any key ingredients to include on your list.

2. Keep your customized list simple and uncluttered--to be functional, it shouldn't include everything that you have ever bought or ever will buy. (Seriously, how many times in a decade does a person need to buy Old Bay Seasoning?) Instead include only the most frequently purchased items with blank lines for occasional "write-ins".

3. If you really want to make your shopping trips efficient, you can sequence your grocery list so that the categories on the list appear in the same order as the corresponding aisles at your favorite grocery store. For example, if the produce section is near the front door of the store, this would be the first section on your list. This sounds more complicated than it is--you can probably do this from memory. If not, just jot aisle numbers next to items on your list the next time you shop and edit your list accordingly. This simple step will save you from backtracking for forgotten items. It may also save your wallet...and maybe even your waistline! Grocery stores are designed to encourage spending. (Ever wonder why you have to trek past the Chips Ahoy and the Pringles when you're hunting for the milk?) If you know exactly what you need and where to find it on your first pass through the store, you're less likely to answer the call of the cookies. [Insert Tarzan-like cookie sound effect here.]

4. If you regularly shop at multiple stores and there are items that are only available at a particular store, (Trader Joe's Belgian Chocolate Pudding comes to mind as a purely hypothetical example) you'll probably want a separate section of the list for each specialty store.

5. Print several copies of your list and give it a "test run" for a few grocery trips. If it works for you and your family, you can laminate it (or put it in a sheet protector) and use a dry erase or wet erase marker to check off needed items.

Happy Shopping!

Photo Credit: Stock Xchng

Four Finds Under $40

Here are four recent finds that are too good to keep to myself:

Tradewind Accent Telephone Table This neat little accent table is a great size to tuck in between a pair of chairs. On clearance now at Bed, Bath, & Beyond for $39.99.



















The Portfolio 2-Light Bronze Outdoor Fixture from Lowe's is just the right size for the front of the garage or to flank the front door if you have a large scale entryway (the scale of the fixture would be too large for an average-sized front door). Priced right at $34.96, this fixture has been selling out at my local Lowe's. An even larger 3-light version is also available.



















The Seville Rush Cube Storage Ottoman offers attractive, practical storage. Strong enough to serve as an extra seat in your family room, this versatile piece is only $39.99 (available through Target's website).



















The Studio Swing-Arm Table Lamp from JC Penney features simple, classic lines and provides task lighting just where you need it for $39.99.

A Valance Analysis-- Tasteful Vs. Tacky

In a few earlier blog posts, I've highlighted affordable furnishings and accessories offered by JC Penney. I've been impressed lately by their reasonably priced Ballard Designs/ Pottery Barn look-alike offerings. But it occurs to me that a disclaimer is in order: if you're going to shop successfully at JC Penney, you must have good taste...or you must shop with someone who has good taste. Really; it's imperative. Because if you happen to have poor taste and you blunder into the store and start indiscriminately throwing things in your shopping basket, you could very well be heading for decorating disaster. Take the valances above for example. Both are offered on JC Penney's online outlet for less than $15 each, but one is tasteful and relatively timeless, while the other one is essentially the eight track cassette player of the window treatment world. Can you guess which is which?

If you guessed that the forest green number on the right (Sunrise II, $5.99 to 9.99) is the outdated one, you've earned a gold star! Now, let's examine why this one is best left on the shelf. Please see Figure 1A below. What makes this a dated look? Is it: A) the color (hunter green circa 1987) B) the ruffle above the rod C) the way that the fabric is tightly gathered on the rod D) the sawtooth edge or E) all of the above. Correct answer: E! Each of these elements would be OK on its own, but in concert, they spell disaster. (Note: if you happen to own this very window treatment and you love it, far be it from me to tell you that you shouldn't love it. I'm not here to judge-- I just offer this information as a public service.)
























The tailored valance (top left) (Surrey Inverted-Pleat Valance, $12.99) is tasteful, but it could be improved. Adding lining to make it more opaque would help give it the feel of a custom tailored cornice. Also, swapping the buttons for dark, contrasting buttons would give it a smart look.

This concludes my public service announcement. You are now free to shop at JC Penney.

Addendum

After I published this post, I saw the photo below on the JC Penney website. If a bridesmaid dress and a curtain got married and had a child, this is what their unfortunate offspring would look like. I'll leave it at that.

Bargain Alert: Classic Towels at a Fantastic Price!

Many thanks to my clients who told me about these wonderful towels currently on sale at Kohl's for $3.60 to $5.40. With dobby stripes in 24 colors to choose from and solid coordinating towels available, these are an affordable way to give your bath a 5 star hotel makeover.

Printable Sherwin-Williams Paint Coupons

I just spotted two great printable Sherwin-Williams paint coupons here. One is for $10 off of a $50 paint purchase, and the other is a buy-one-get-one coupon for Color to Go paint samples. These generously sized sample jars of paint will cover up to 75 square feet each, but I always encourage my clients to test paint colors by painting two coats of paint on a piece of foam core poster board rather than painting directly on the wall. The foam core board gives homeowners the flexibility to visualize the paint on different walls within one room--as well as in different rooms--and it's also portable for shopping trips. Happy painting!

Photo Credit: Stock XChng