The Inside Scoop: Elsa Greer

Today, to start off our series, I would like to welcome the lovely Elsa, from Casa Greer. Elsa quickly became one of my daily reads and is definitely one of my favorite blogs. She has a great sense of style and a terrific personality that shines through in her writing.

Welcome Elsa...

{Where you can usually find me blogging!}

I have been blogging on and off for about ten years. I first started doing it as a fun way to journal about random things going on in my life but I never really blogged consistently or about one particular subject until I started writing Casa Greer. Casa Greer started out (back in February 2010) as a way for me to write about different design projects I was tackling around our home. I quickly discovered the world of interior design blogs and was hooked! I then realized just how much I enjoyed interior design and decided to pursue a degree in design. I’m close to finishing my first semester and it has been an amazing experience so far, I can’t wait for the many more classes to come!

-Be true to yourself.

-It takes time and dedication.

-It’s important to take some time and visit other blogs. I think there’s a great blogging community out there especially a design blogging community. There is SO much you can learn from many talented people!

{Via A Creative Mint}

I usually find inspiration for most of my designs by browsing through some of my favorite blogs, books, magazines, flowers/bouquets and sometimes art—I can always find wonderful color combinations I would have never thought of by looking at a great piece of art or a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

{Our master bedroom, designed with help from Kirsten Krason.}

This is a hard question! I usually think of myself as a bit eclectic and a bit contemporary. I love to take a vintage piece and give it a new life or use vintage pieces along with contemporary pieces. I definitely love bold pops of color as well as bold fabrics.

{The many shades of gray paint samples on our dining room wall.}

-Patience. This is something I have quickly come to learn. A great design/great room doesn’t always happen overnight. Sometimes patience will also help you find that piece of furniture/fabric/thing that you’ve been after for a much cheaper price.

-Know when to edit. It’s important to know when your space is “done” and doesn’t need that extra little accessory or bold pillow or fabric, etc. Otherwise the overall design can become overwhelming and you may end up with a cluttered space.

-Live with your samples. I’ve heard this tip over and over again. I think it’s very important to put up a few paint swatches, fabric swatches, floor samples, etc. in a room before you actually commit to them. This way you really get to see them at different times of the day and get an idea of how they really “feel” and look in your home. You don’t want to end up with the wrong color on your walls!

{Our aqua striped laundry room!}

No room is complete without a pop of color! Whether it is a yellow dresser, blue curtains or gorgeous pink flowers, color brings so much life and fun into a room.

I am so honored that Elizabeth has included me in this series! I can't wait to read what other fellow blogger's have to share.

Elsa Greer

I totally agree that a design is not complete without a pop of color,
color can breath life into a space.
Thank you Elsa for taking the time to stop by today and inspire us.
Head over and check out Elsa's blog at Casa Greer.

Today, I linked up our cloffice at Houseography.

Design Series

Coming Up This Week...April 25-29th.

The Mustard Ceiling is hosting " The Inside Scoop"

A Design Series featuring:

5 Days- 5 Amazing Design Bloggers

Stop by to check it out, starting Monday, April 25th!

Friday Favorites

Source

Happy Easter Weekend!

Do you have plans for the holidays? We're just planning on taking it easy. Hopefully, I will finally finish the project I have been working on all week! It never ceases to amaze me how much longer a project takes than you think it should, usually much longer than you have planned. I have had a few hiccups this week, but I think I have finally sorted them out. One piece of the puzzle is almost complete.

I have found some really fun Friday Favorites this week.

I came across Danika's blog Gorgeous Shiny Things this week. If you haven't visited her blog , it is a must! She is amazing. This week she created beautiful pillows out of Marushka prints. Check them out here.

Gorgeous Shiny Things Blog

Kara over at Kara Paslay Designs, designed a fun focal wall out of circles cut from poster board. She tacked them to the wall in a fish scale pattern, the end result: a very dramatic feature wall.

Kara Paslay Designs

Isn't this striking? I think in the right setting it could be very interesting. Click here to read more.

I think this weekend I might have to break down and bake some of these incredible looking Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes for Easter. For the recipe head over to Cassie's blog, Hi Sugarplum!
Not only do they look delicious, but Cassie truly has a knack for displaying them.

Hi Sugarplum!

Have you heard of the online store, Redefine Home? I ran across it on twitter yesterday and fell in love! It was started by Home Builder David Betz and Interior Designer Linsi Brownson. They have truly unique furniture and accessories.

Gaston Seat, Redefine Home

I fell in love with the lines of this Gaston Seat.

Finally, tonight as I was catching up on my blog reading, and ran across Centsational Girl's post Craving Creativity.

This week has been tough. I have worked incredibly hard on my DIY trying to complete it so I could share it with you this week. Unfortunately, it just wasn't working. Kate wrote an inspiring post on ways to find creativity. What stood out to me most though was this tidbit "Quality is always better than quantity, so take the time off to recharge and replenish your creative abilities in order to produce your best work. Sometimes you just need a nap and a fresh start!" I think many times we get wrapped up in the world of blogging and the next DIY project and we forget why we're doing this in the first place.

This week I did get frustrated that my project didn't turn out, that I couldn't share it with you, but then I remember how fun it is when they DO turn out and the excitement you feel when your project exceeds your expectations. So....if you need a pick me, check out Kate's post on Craving Creativity.

I hope you have a terrific weekend and Happy Easter!

Decorating with Vignettes

In interior design, accessories are the icing on the cake. They are what completes a room- gives it personality.

One way to accessorize is to create a vignette, or tablescape. It is important when creating a vignette, or accessorizing in general, to use items that have meaning to you, this will make your home and design more personalized.


How to create a vignette.

1. Gather: items from around your home.

2. Group: the items that you have gathered by shape, size, color.

3. Build: Start with three items that relate to each other ( by shape, size, color, etc.). These three items will be your focal point. Next, choose two to four additional items that compliment your first three.

4. Unexpected: Throw in something unexpected, this will make your vignette interesting. It is ok to mix colors, periods, styles. The key is that your items relate to each other in some way.

5. Keep it Fresh: Keep your vignette fresh by changing items once in awhile, creating new vignettes from time to time.

Check out these lovely examples:

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

Do you decorate with vignettes in your home? How do you decide which items to include in your design?

Have a lovely day, the weekend is ALMOST here!

Master Bedroom

I have had several emails with questions regarding our master bedroom design.

For example,

I really like your bedroom and am trying to find a similar color for a room in our house. Could you tell me what paint color you used? Also, did you buy the chandelier in the bedroom or was it original to the house? From what I can tell, it's beautiful and would love to know more about it.

Where is your bedding from?

So today I wanted to share the product details for our bedroom.

I knew when we moved into our home that I wanted a dark, chocolate master bedroom. The rich, dark walls, paired with my husband's handsome bedroom furniture made a great starting point for our design.

I chose a high contrast color scheme for the design, accenting with white to offset the dark walls and furniture. The burnt orange chairs, were originally purchased for another room but quickly made their way into the master bedroom. They worked beautifully in the space. Adding the pop of color needed to complete the design.

Design Board and Product Details:

1. (3) Picture frames, Walmart $15, 2. Ritva Curtains, Ikea 29.99, 3. Paint color: Dark Fig, Valspar, 4. (2) Athens Chair, Target $224.25, 5. Chandelier, Lighting Universe $250.20, 6. Sanela Cushion, Ikea $8.00, 7. Duvet Cover, Pottery Barn $79.00, 8. Bed, Bassett (owned), 9. (2)Nightstands, Bassett(owned),
10. Rug, DIY 11. (2) Table lamps, Lowes $60.00, 12. Hemnes Mirror, Ikea $79.99

I hope this answers your questions about the design, if you have additional questions please feel free to email me at themustardceiling@gmail.com.

A Simple Renovation

Today, I would like to welcome back my wonderful husband to The Mustard Ceiling. He is here to teach you how to replace electrical outlets and light switches. I cannot tell you how nice it is to finally have 3-prong outlets throughout our home. For months we had to carry around plug adapters for the computer, coffee maker, etc.

Welcome back Alfred!

Our home is old.

How old is it?

The wiring in the house has circuit breakers, screw in fuses and the Bar fuses in the electrical system.

Yeah it's really old, and yes I am getting middle-aged myself.

A quick cheap way to update any room is to replace the electrical outlets and light switches.

You will need:
1- Flat Head screwdriver
1- Flashlight
1- Needle Nose Pliers
1- New cover for each plug/switch replaced ( I recommend splurging on the unbreakable kind)
1- New Switch or Plug for each one that you want to replace.

Step 1: Turn off circuit breaker to the switch that you want replace. (Otherwise you may kill or seriously hurt yourself.)

Step 2: Check to make sure the circuit is off. You can check this by plugging in a light and try to turn it on. If you can't turn it on then you should be ok.

Step 3: Remove the old cover and remove the screws on the top and bottom of the plug.

Step4: Pull the plug out of the wall. Don't go hulk and just yank it out, but it should have enough slack in the wires to be pulled out of the wall a few inches.

Step 5: Loosen one of the wires, remove it and replace the wire on the new plug on the same corresponding location.

Step 6: Repeat step 5.

Step 7: If the plug has more than 2 wires, then refer to this link.
http://www.ehow.com/wall-socket/

Step 8: Replace the Switch/socket and replace the cover.

If you don't feel comfortable trying this project then do not. Calling an electrician is always an option.

Good Luck,
Alfred

Thank you for stopping by today, and for changing out the plugs and light switches in our home. I also want to thank goodness for handy husbands, they help with so many projects and always seem to have it figured out.

This week I am linking up our dining room at Houseography.

Melissa hosts a link party every week, featuring a room in the house, this week we are linking up dining rooms.

Also, check out this amazing giveaway at Just Dandy.

Love It or Not?

Today we're talking about dark, glossy kitchen cabinets....

Love them...or Not?

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

How do you feel about this look? Would you ever consider painting your kitchen cabinets a deep glossy navy or black?

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. I am still working away at my project...it is up in the air as to whether it will turn out or not, I have had a few hiccups this weekend. I hope to finish by Wednesday.

Today I linked up at Mingle Monday over at Life of Meg.