Design Build Love

The Power of Arrangement

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Design Build Love

Sometimes, you look at a space and it just feels blah. There’s nothing particularly offensive about the space and it serves its purpose, but it just leaves you feeling a bit lackluster. That is exactly how I feel about the media niche in our family room. While I have grand plans for what the media niche will become, until I have the time and money to carry out my vision, I am left with a piddly DVD shelf, woven basket that holds all of our throw blankets, and TV stand. I’m sure many people would be happy to have them and I DO appreciate their functions, but in the end, this are irks me. I want it to be soooo much more.

So, the other day while I was picking up the house, I got a wild hair to rearrange some things! I know, I know… totally never happens to me! Truth be told, the rearrangement came about while I was in the process of concocting a Craigslist/Yardsale plan to purge our house of things that we don’t love. (Eric has yet to fully come on board with this idea, but I’m hoping to convince him with numbers… yes, I am halfway through drafting a “this is what I’ll sell and how much I’ll get… and this is what I’ll buy and how much it will cost” list! Once composed, I’m going to plan my attack and convince him!) Teeheehee… ok, back to the issue at hand.

After a quick move of the basket, I realized that it looked a ton more balanced! Then, I decided to make the best of the DVD shelf and dress it more like a formal shelf with pictures and knick-knacks. After putting a little lipstick on the pig, I felt a bit better!

Now… if I can just get that Craigslist/Yardsale plan done and approved!!! Until then, at least I know the area looks a bit more presentable!

HAVE ANY TIPS TO CONVINCE THE HUBBY TO PURGE THE HOUSE? WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO LOVE WHAT YOU HAVE OR CHANGE THINGS UP?

Posted in Family Room, Home Accessories | 2 Comments

I’m Back with a Furry: Change Your Air Filter, Better Your Allergies

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Design Build Love

An allergy furry that is… Hi bloggy world!!! I’ve missed you soooooo much! I’ve got about a bagillion ideas running through my head, but everything is just a bit foggy since I’ve been dying of severe allergies! Seriously, I could not be happier to be done with exams, but to an extent, I think that exam-taking may have been easier than dealing with these allergies… j/k, kind of.

Since this is the first week back on the blog and the first full week back to a “normal” life without school craziness, I think it’s proper to name this week: LIFE CLEAN-UP WEEK!

Anywho, to kick of the week of clean-up and since allergies are really no joke in this family, I thought I would share an important tip for this time of the year! If you are stuck inside because of your allergies, don’t think that you are necessarily escaping them! Allergies have this nasty way of haunting you just about everywhere. So remember one REALLY IMPORTANT THING…

CHANGE YOUR AIR FILTER

Air Filter Change

That may sound simple enough, but the air filter in your home is responsible for cleaning the air you breathe, and if you are anything like us (i.e.- too busy or crazy to remember routine things), then you may have forgotten too! Our air filter was no-joke nasty!

It’s probably safe to say that it lived in our ceiling for at least 6+ months. Not. Good. Air filters should be replaced every three months, and if you have crazy allergies like us, maybe a little more often. And, for as simple as they are to change, there is really no excuse. All that replacement requires is:

Purchase of a new, properly sized air filter (sold everywhere, including Target, Walmart, and any home improvement store)
Removal of old air filter (most vents have two simple latches that require pulling and the vent’s grate will drop down on hinges. Just pull out the old filter and removal is complete)
Place new filter
Close grate and lock the latches

Like I said… it’s that simple! And in case you’re wondering, costs of air filters can run from $8 upwards of $20. The costs usually depend upon the density of the filter and the material that it’s made from. For our particular needs, we spent a bit extra to get a high performance Allergen air filter. At about $20, this filter is super dense and made with allergen-blocking material. Like I said… our allergies are BAD, so we figured it was worth the investment, particularly for this time of year!

I’ve officially been putting together a cleaning schedule for a little over a month, and now that exams are done, cleaning schedule drafting is going into full swing! Our goal: TO. NOT. LET. THIS. HAPPEN. AGAIN!

Sidenote: We LOVE California, but Northern California has this amazing way of hitting your with allergies year-round, and then full-on attacking you in the spring! If you’re from California, give me a shout out here and let me know your allergy fighting secrets!!! And if you’re not from California, are allergies bad where you live?

WHAT ALLERGY OR CLEANING ADVENTURES HAVE YOU BEEN EMBARKING ON LATELY?

Posted in Cleaning, DIY, Healthy Living | 6 Comments

Something’s Gotta Give

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Design Build Love

Sometimes in life, you have to remember balance. Well, right now I’m balancing a lot, and it’s important to remember that sometimes, something’s gotta give. I am officially in the process of completing my most difficult year of law school- for me, it’s the third year of my four year evening program. Yes, this means that I still have one more year. That being said, trying to tackle all of the information for my exams so that I have it memorized and can actually regurgitate it on an exam and use it to properly analyze the legal issues meant, that I needed to put everything into these exams and these exams only.

I’ve never actually taken a break like this from my blog or the blogging world since this baby began more than a year ago. It’s a really strange feeling, and to an extent, I feel like a part of me is missing. But, with the stress leading up to these exams, the blog was already starting to suffer. So, despite my many completed projects that are needing to be written about, and the super exciting things that have happened lately, I decided to take a blogging hiatus for a bit.

BUT, in the words of Arnold… I’LL BE BACK! Officially, I’ll be back no later than May 14th! I know that seems far, but I’ve got a huge exam left to conquer, and then I need to handle some miscellaneous stuff that’s going on! So bear with me! I miss you guys and can’t wait to share all of our completed projects, our upcoming projects, and some awesome things that have been happening lately!

LOVE you all and talk to you soon!

~Ashley

Posted in Life | 5 Comments

Dressing Up Our Front Door

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Design Build Love

After the saga of refinishing our front door and then the exhausting process of getting it properly hung, we were ecstatic to do a simple hardware swap. We were still 100% in love with our front door, but as time went on, we knew we wanted to dress it up a bit, and the best way to do that cleanly… a new handle set! We ended up selecting a shapely, vintage-inspired set by Kwikset. It was truly love at first sight! Kwikset handle sets can be purchased with an easy-key option, so that you can rekey all of your locks for your house to one key! Sounds great, right? We LOVE it! After all, who wants tons of keys to get into one house. That’s nuts!

All installed, this handle set is the perfect contrast to our ultra-modern front door. I think it perfectly mixed our personalities… a little modern, a little old-school!

In addition to the new handle set, we took the time to add a new door stop to the bottom of the door… after all, we don’t want this door banging into anything! Also see… no more gap underneath the door! That seriously makes me happy beyond words!

Nothing gives me more pleasure than walking up to our lovely, amazing modern door, now adorned with a shapely, vintage-inspired handle set!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NEW HANDLE SET? IS IT TOTALLY WRONG OR PERFECTLY RIGHT? DO YOU MIX STYLES IN YOUR HOMES?

*** I was not compensated for writing about our Kwikset handles. We simply love them, love the product, and thought you guys might too… and purchased them ourselves at Lowes. Smile

Posted in Curb Appeal, DIY, Entryway | 6 Comments

Bench Planning

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Design Build Love

Recently, I re-inherited this little bench from my parents. I say re-inherit because this bench was originally a dumpster-dive-find from my college days that I used as an entry bench for putting on shoes before I headed out the door. Since my college days, my parents have been using it a mini-mudroom bench in their garage. With the purchase and complete gut and remodel of their current home, they no longer had a place for it.

That being said, when my mom called me and asked if I wanted the bench back, I really couldn’t stand the idea of a perfectly good bench going to waste. Needless to say, the hubby got a surprise when we were leaving my parents’ house one night, and I said…

“Babe, can you help me load this up?” His reply… “What are we going to do with that?”

Not knowing exactly what I wanted to do with it at first, I’ve finally decided that I’m at least going to make it over and use it as a porch bench, for now. So, here it sits until I get a chance to make it over, or until I find something that I must have!