HGTV's The High Low Project

I just discovered this amazing channel called HGTV.  Ever heard of it??  HA...JUST KIDDING!!!  HGTV is pretty much the only channel I ever tune into.  I could probably survive as one of those non-TV owning families if HGTV didn't exist.  And one show I have been over indulging in lately is Sabrina Soto's The High Low Project.  And I saw the most amazing episode the other day that I just had to share with you.

It was called "A Dream Master Bedroom" and you can check it out here.  In this episode Sabrina helps the Erickson family makeover their Master Bedroom.  The Ericksons have 5, yes FIVE, boys.  They have a huge Master Bedroom space but it is pretty much empty.  So to Sabrina's pleasure she got to start from scratch.  I bet it is just the worst for those designers when the client says "you just have to work this piece into the room" cause it is always something horribly awful.  But in this case she had a clean slate to work with.

So the premise of this show is Sabrina first puts together the client's dream room with absolutely no concern for budget.  In this case the first design comes to the grand total of $46,000.  WHAT!?!  I can't even imagine working off a budget like that for one room.  Especially one that needs no structural changes!  That was 46k in only furniture.  Then she recreates the same space for whatever the client's actually budget is.  And what was the Erickson's budget??? $6,000.  Which is not bad but way different then $46,000! 

So what did they come up with?  Well watch below...




Just dreamy!  I absolutely love the color palate.  They gray putty color on the walls is fabulous.  I am totally obsessed with the idea of changing up the traditional beige / brown neutral color palate for rich grays and what seem to be cool tones that amazingly lighten and warm a space.  In addition, I love the layering.  This is a skill I have not yet mastered.  I am always amazed when someone can bring different patterns, textures and feels into a room but still make it look cohesive.  But most of all I LOVE the concept because it is exactly what we are all trying to do in DIY land...recreating a look on a budget while keeping the luxury and style.  And Sabrina just nailed it!  You go girl!

What is yoru favorite HGTV show?  Oh come on, I know you watch it all the time too! 

Big D, Little D, What Begins With D

Can you tell I have been reading to many Dr. Suess books?  I do love how he takes it upon himself to just make words up whenever he sees fit.  I mean what is a Fiffer-feffer-feff? Sorry, focus Jill, focus!  So what am I really writing about today...ahh yes my new D.

Seeing as how I have already laid out my two major spending projects for the next few weeks (cushions for the family room benches and bedding for my daughter's soon to be purchased Big Girl Bed) I have been trying to pinch pennies elsewhere.  And today's project is perfect for that seeing as it was FREE.  I smile every time I type that word.

If you remember way back when I made this frame



I mentioned that it would not only be used for Christmas decs but would then be used again in the guest room.  Well, I am now swinging back around to the guest room project and needed something to go inside of this frame, which is what the D is for.

I started out by cutting a piece of cardboard from the huge pile in our garage - our recycling bin needs to be 3 times bigger.  And then I used this wood D I bought from Michael's and painted black long ago to trace the letter.

Simple, simple, simple...

Next I went back to the garage and spray painted the now cut out D gold

After I let it dry for about an hour I started wrapping and gluing the burlap scraps from another Christmas decoration.  A few hot glue burns later my D was done.  The effect is great.  You can see the gold peaking through the burlap and the spray paint totally hides that it is made of cardboard. 

And here is a sneak peak of how it is going to be used...

But more about that later.