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

DIY Hand-Painted Furniture

I painted this vintage metal stool a few years ago. I have always loved the French term, "Joie De Vivre" which means "Joy of Life" or "Joy of Living", and I thought this would be a fun reminder (and it looks so much more elegant in French!!) If you have a favorite word or expression that you would like to paint on a piece of furniture, here are the detailed DIY instructions:

Materials

• Furniture to be painted
• Computer
• Printer
• Carbon paper
• Painter's tape or other removable tape
• Dull pencil
• Acrylic craft paint
• Tiny paintbrush
• Water-based polyurethane (optional)

Instructions

1. Type your word or phrase into your computer using a word processing program such as Microsoft Word.

2. Highlight your text and select a font that you like. For the stool above, I used a font called "French Script" (Oh how ironic! I promise, the name is just a coincidence!)

3. Change the font to your desired size. This may take some experimentation. If the drop down menu in your word processing program only lists font sizes up to 72, you can highlight your text, and then highlight the font numbers at the top of the drop down menu and manually type in a larger number (eg: 100) and the font size will change.

4. Print out your text. You don't need to use the best quality print setting, as long as the text is clearly legible.

5. Trim your text paper to a size that is manageable in relation to your piece of furniture (a smaller paper size will be easier to center on your furniture), then trim a piece of your carbon paper to the same size.

6. Layer your printed text and your carbon paper (with the carbon facing the furniture surface to be painted) and tape them both to the furniture where you would like to paint your words (you will have a "carbon sandwich" with the printed text and your furniture acting as the "bread").

7. Use your dull pencil to carefully trace just inside the edge of each of the letters. Depending on what you are painting, you may want to lay your furniture on its back so that you can trace more easily. Be sure to press hard.

8. Remove your text paper & the carbon paper.

9. Use your tiny paintbrush to paint inside the traced outlines of the letters. It's just like coloring in a coloring book--just start with the edges and then fill in the middle. If you make a mistake, you can either turn it into a fonty-looking flourish (see close up photo) or use a damp rag to erase it. (Note: my text appears to have a weird curve in the photo because my furniture surface was concave.)










10. Allow paint to dry. If your furniture will only get light use, you're finished (acrylics are water-based, but once they're dry, they're tough to remove...as evidenced by the many paint stains on my clothes). If you need your furniture to be washable (eg: a dining chair that might get spaghetti sauce splattered on it), you can paint a layer of a clear polyurethane over the text to seal it in. I like Polycrylic because it doesn't yellow the way an oil-based poly will.

Voila! Enjoy your new hand-painted piece!

Clever Storage Alert: Stair Drawers!

I spotted these stair drawers on page 127 of the January issue of Good Housekeeping--what an inventive idea! If you're looking for a tidy solution for corralling shoes (or gloves, or sunglasses, or dog leashes) near the front door, this may just be it. A few caveats: first, this is not a DIY project; plan to consult a carpenter for help with this one. Also, it seems to me that you'd want to find a way to spring load the drawers to close automatically so that you don't find yourself stepping into an open drawer one night and cartwheeling, cartoon-style, down the stairs!



Photo border credit: Stockxchng