Top 3 Reasons Busy Moms FAIL at Interior Design

Hey mama, I see you there, wearing #allthehats and working on all of your dreams, raising awesome kids, cooking amazing food, driving all the carpools- not to mention hosting book club, running a side hustle, and still managing to be an awesome wife/friend/sister/daughter on top of it all. (whew! Go you!)

Who in the world said that us moms had to do all of those things AND be an interior designer?!?!

I don’t know about you, but it’s just too much. Your days are busy, hectic, and probably meticulously planned so that you can get everything done and maybe have a few minutes to yourself at the end of the day ( but who am I kidding!? what is “me time”?!?)

The design of your home is not just something pretty to look at; a well-designed home improves the functionality, the durability, and the livability of your space.

It improves the living that you do when you’re in your home, and supports you and the life you lead outside your home. We love our babies at home, we take care of our family at home, and we make memories at home that last into the future.

Let’s take closer look at the top 3 mistakes you’re probably making in creating the functional, durable, family-friendly (and stylish!) home that you are dreaming about.

Number one.

Busy mamas make the mistake of thinking that they can just do a little bit of design here and there, and eventually hope they will come up with the home of their dreams.

We live in our homes, we work hard and and play hard at home- they are constantly in use. If you’re fixing up one little corner of a room at a time, or adding two new pillows here and there, or shopping for that one perfect coffee table that you think is going to make the room come together….

It’s just not gonna happen, mama!

I’m telling it to you straight because that’s what I appreciate in my life. One little project at a time is not the approach that’s going to result in the dream home that you’re imagining. It just won’t. Sorry not sorry.

Start making a design plan with this FREE design style challenge!

Number two.

The second mistake that busy moms make when trying to design our homes is thinking that we can’t have nice things because we have kiddos, or that our design style must wait until our children are grown up and out of the house.

I say heck no.

There are so many ways to incorporate stylish and trendy home design elements, or classic and timeless designs, that are beautiful, functional, and durable.

Performance fabrics, synthetic materials, and re-purposed and recycled items are the perfect tools to create a home design that is both stylish and suited for the type of living your family does in your home right now. Check out this blog post for my five top tips on having a stylish home with kids.

Number three.

And, finally, the number three reason why busy mamas are never going to design that dream home is you think that you can’t afford the help of a professional.

Would you cut your own hair? Would you fix your own car? Would you butcher your own chicken? (OK- maybe that’s an extreme example.)

And yes, I know there are mamas out there who do you cut your own hair, fix your own breaks, and even cut your own meat. But, that doesn’t mean that you have to know how to do it all.

The mission in my business is to help mamas be better at wearing all the hats that you wear every day- by giving you functional, durable, and stylish home design plans that you can implement easily (and not break the bank!).

This is the reason I created the Mamas’ Design Mastermind. This monthly group program was specifically designed to help mamas get professional advice and support as you implement functional, durable, and beautiful home design that improves the living you do in your house and supports better lives for your entire family.

As women and mothers, the power of community is undeniable. We create book clubs, dinner clubs, soccer mom clubs, and networking clubs to connect with other like-minded moms just like us.

But somewhere along the way someone told us we needed to know how to be housekeepers, interior designers, and family managers without any sort of support or guidance from a professional.

Again, I say, heck no!

It’s not fair that you’re expected to do #allthethings perfectly. You absolutely deserve to have a house that makes you proud to host impromptu play dates and maybe even offer to host Thanksgiving one of these years.

So let’s chat about the Mastermind.

For a monthly subscription of $49, you have access to a professional home designer, inspiration from other moms, and advice from all sorts of professionals – all working on improving our homes for our families. You will get educational home design resources (like master class videos, PDF worksheets, and guides) all specifically tailored for the active family life that you are living in your home.

No more wasting hours on Pinterest or trying DIY craft projects that you hope will improve the design and style of your house. (Please, ladies- give it a rest!)

When you have a design question- post it in the group and immediately get feedback and support from the other women in the community. You can count on me taking the time to respond to your question and give you a thoughtful and intentionally customized design solution.

It’s like having an interior designer in your back pocket!

Ready to join the club? Let’s go!

Still have more questions? I’m always here to answer questions and help you improve your home design.

Book a Design Chat today!

The #1 Reason You Will NEVER Have a Pinterest-Perfect Home

Pinterest is an amazing resource. It is filled with inspiration, tried and true techniques, and pictures from “real people” designing, decorating, DIY-ing, and crafting their way to the home that you are now dreaming about.

Today I’m going to talk to you about why you will never have your dream home if you keep letting yourself be sucked into the Pinterest-Vortex and getting overwhelmed by DIY posts and photos of magazine-worthy homes.

Yep, I said it. You will NEVER have the home that you think you want inspired by Pinterest.

When a blogger posts something on Pinterest, she has taken an incredible amount of time to plan her project, collect materials, write a tutorial, and take well-lit, perfectly-staged images that strategically communicate to you that it is realistic / accessible / affordable to have a home that looks like it is straight out of Real Simple or HGTV magazines.

What you don’t see are the hours that she spends planning, adjusting, and photo shopping her images so that they are the most appealing and the most drool-worthy that they can be. My house looks FANTASTIC right now- so good that I wish I had a photo shoot scheduled so I could share it with you! (But what you wouldn’t see in the photos is that I spend 16 HOURS cleaning and organizing and styling it for an upcoming Open House.)

As a home designer and decorator, I look at the images I see online, of perfectly styled montages and vignettes that are so inspiring and beautiful….. I like to use them as a jumping off point for an entire home design.

What the images from Pinterest often lack, is that they are not a cohesive design plan that will give you realistic goals for your won home. You are likely not reading the whole story of what it takes to implement a home design that is magazine worthy

Every blogger and DIY-er is not the same, either. They do not take into account how durable, functional, or kid–proof your home needs to be in order to make your life easier. Simply copying a style you see online may not increase the livability or functionality of YOUR unique home.

When I started designing homes for busy families, I knew that the biggest challenge my clients face is coming up with something that is beautiful enough for mom, functional enough for dad, and durable enough for all of the tiny humans that you are raising in your house.

The #1 Reason You’ll Never Achieve That Perfect Home Design

Let’s talk about the number one reason why you won’t have a Pinterest home if you try to do it alone.

Like anything in life that’s worth doing well, it’s vitally important to plan ahead. If you jump into every new project or inspiring craft or DIY solution, without taking the time to make a larger plan for your home, it’s never going to come together.

I don’t care how good you are at DIY or chalk painting furniture or hanging artwork on your wall; without a larger design plan, all of those small projects will just look like small projects collected in your house.

The First step towards your dream home is a PLAN

When I work with my clients, I start by identifying the feel and the inspiration behind their dream home. When you close your eyes and imagine coming home to the perfect space, what does it look like? What does it feel like under your fingertips? What does it smell like?

Next, we align all of those images and feelings and sensory input to determine the most important aspects of the feeling of a space.

After we decide on inspiration images and the overall feeling of the space that we want to achieve, we work on a color palette, paint colors, and talk about the largest pieces of furniture in the space. These will dictate how the room is used functionally by all of the members of the house.

The fun, crafty, DIY inspired projects and special touches are the very last element of design that we work on to complete. If you start shopping for pillows before you understand your design style or the main color palette of your room, you will end up with too many pillows that have nowhere to go you will have wasted time and money again and still feel dissatisfied with the design and style of your home.

I cannot encourage you enough to back away from the pillow aisle at Target! Take some time to decide the style you want for your entire house, and let’s get a strategy in place before you do any more shopping for your family home.

Are you ready for a challenge?

This July, I am hosting a free five day challenge where we will dig into the inspiration sources, outline a color palette, and truly define your signature style that you want to see in your house so that you can design and decorate with confidence and ease in the future. You can sign up the challenge here!

Join the Challenge July 17!

5 Ways to Have a More Durable & Stylish Family Home

I see it all the time: busy families living in hectic, pieced-together, stressful homes that have no intentional style or design. Mamas who have resigned themselves to waiting for their dream home until 1) they can afford it & 2) there are no kids in the house to ruin their nice things!

Why do we let children make us feel like we don’t deserve to love where we live? And why do we convince ourselves that our children can’t coexist in the house we really want- so we let them dictate our lifestyle? (I feel like we could draw this line of questioning out WAY further than home decor… but that’s outside my realm of expertise, so I’ll leave that to the other professionals.) Now, back to your home design dreams. 🙂

I’m going to give you 5 simple ways to improve the style in your home while also keeping it kid-proof! Kid-proof in our house means that my entire family can live in our home, they are comfortable, relaxed, and can access everything they need. It is organized in a way that is clear and easy to navigate for each person (grown-ups and 5-year-olds, too!).

1. Don’t over-invest in your home before your lifestyle can allow for it

What I mean by this is that the first thing you need to establish is what is the standard of living that you are willing to uphold in your home. Do you religiously make everyone take off their shoes at the door? Or do you sometimes like to have “couch-dinners” (my daughter LOVES to have special dinners while watching a movie on the couch!)?

The standard of living that you are willing to uphold sets the stage for the types of items you have in your home and the future design choices you make! A very formal home filled with expensive furniture can be so beautiful, but if it adds stress and friction to the lives of the people who live there- (in my honest opinion) the beauty isn’t worth it!

Work on setting the stage in your home so that the design and decor supports the type of life you want to live.

2. Introduce a simple color palette so you can quickly dress up a space without scrambling

When I’m working on bringing the design of a home together, I always focus on only THREE main colors. A light neutral, a dark(er) neutral, and an accent color.

When there are 4 or more colors in a room that are competing for your attention, your eyes become fatigued and confused, and aren’t able to really take in the entire space. Adding backpacks, extra shoes, the dog leash, Legos, and art supplies…. and that is one HECTIC place to live!

Simplifying the color palette of your homes is a simple way to begin updating and adding peace to your home without making a huge change with furniture or decor.

3. Choose floor coverings that are washable and withstand foot traffic

I love dark wood floors and white area rugs. I’ve heard over and over- how in the world do you keep your rugs clean? Do you just keep the kids in their rooms or in the basement? (Ha! no way, Jose!)

To read all about the rugs I use in my home, check out this round up!

My tip for purchasing rugs that will stand up to all of the foot traffic, shoes, food, pets, etc- is to choose indoor/outdoor quality rugs that are made from synthetic materials. If it says “can be sprayed with a hose” – EVEN BETTER! Now, I don’t take my living room rug outside and literally spray it with a hose. BUT- I do soak it with soap and water when it is inevitably spilled on, and scrub it when needed (WITHOUT freaking out about ruining the carpet).

Seriously- check out this video of me spilling my Saturday morning coffee on our ivory and silver rug!

4. Be sure pillow cases, throws, and other covers are washable and dry-able for easy clean up

Pillow cases and throws are one of the easiest ways to update the decor of a space. They are relatively affordable, can be removed and washed (hello- couch dinners!) and can also be updated and changed for seasonal decor if you want to refresh your decor. Pay close attention to the care instructions for pillow cases (Dry Clean Only is NOT ALLOWED in my house! LOL).

Also check the care instruction of sofa and chair cushions when you’re investing in new furniture. All of the seat and back cushions on our couch are machine washable. A quick wash and dry, and the couch looks brand-new!

5. Designate kid spaces and be mindful that EVERY thing in the room is kid-proof

The final component to planning a kid-proof home design is that you are clear in your home where each activity belongs, and where all of the people “fit” in your home.

I talk with clients about 3 stages of a room design:
People & Purpose / Function & Flow / Design & Details

In each of the stages of designing a room, consider how your kiddos will fit in your home. What spaces do they live in the most? Where do they need self-guided access to their belongings? Can you help put systems in your home to encourage them to learn? grow? help you keep your home clean and organized? 😉

Every home functions differently, and my kids need different systems than yours. But by being intentional about making home design WORK to support your lifestyle can help every day tasks be smoother and less stressful.

For more support in designing your kid-proof home-
Join the busy mama’s home design club!
A free community for moms to get advice and support as you design and decorate your active family homes!

Family Friendly Design: Hide the Kid Stuff!

Do you ever feel like you’re living in a preschool playroom? You’re dreaming in primary colors? You consider decorating your mantle with teddy bears, or you’ve stepped on SO MANY LEGOs it doesn’t even surprise you any more?

Never fear, mama. I’ve pulled together some of my favorite, super-STYLISH, and always practical storage solutions that will hide the kid stuff so you can reclaim your home from your children’s belongings.

I don’t believe that you have to sacrifice great style when you have children in your home. I DO, however, believe that you need to put some care and thought into strategically designing your home so that it works for everyone in your household.

In my home, this means stashing a puzzle, coloring book, and magnetic blocks UNDER the ottoman we use for our coffee table. Our 5-year-old always has something to pull out for playtime, and she can also manage putting it away when she is done. There is NO reason for her toys to be floating around the living room.

My son is 15-months old, and his things are a little harder to corral. For now, we have a collapsible play pen set up in the living room where he can play while I cook or work on the computer. His toys go INSIDE the pen, and straightening them is a piece of cake! I keep only a few options out at a time, and they aren’t too much of an eyesore. The play pen can be quickly folded up and put away if we have adult company!

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THREE strategies to designing around “kid stuff”

1) Give everything a HOME

Whether it’s a basket by the door, or a storage ottoman for each room- when everything has a place to be “put away” it is less of a struggle to keep it picked up.

2) Limit the amount of stuff stored in each room.

Depending on your lifestyle and the age of your kiddos, this will look differently for each family. My kids get three things to play with in the living room, and everything else needs to be put away in their rooms. It’s enough “out” that my daughter feels included in our home (there is LOTS of grown-up stuff, she says!) but easy to put away and out of sight! The less stuff, the easier it is to put back where it belongs.

3) Be intentional with your furniture and organization choices.

There are SO many products out there designed to hide, store, organize, and camouflage our JUNK- be tactful and intentional about how you incorporate storage solutions in your home design. Some of my TOP choices are below.

These links may include affiliate links which help support my business by contributing a small amount of your purchase without costing you an extra penny!

Storage Ottomans:

Storage ottomans are one of my all. time. favorite. pieces. You can find them in bold patterns or classy leather upholstery, and they are great for storing blankets, board, games, remote controls, and other living room essentials. This is an awesome example of an ottoman that could be used in an entryway, living room, office, or bedroom.

Stylish storage containers:

Fun storage baskets like these from ILovebarushka can be coordinated to your decor and give small items a designated place to belong. I would love to use these in a kid room design, or for a fun addition of organic color and texture to an office, media room, or reading nook.

For an even cleaner look, keep all baskets and bins in the SAME color. The fewer colors in a space to distract our eyes, the cleaner and more put together the room will appear.

Grown-Up Storage Furniture

Stick with storage furniture that matches the rest of your home. (NO primary colors! unless that’s your style….) And opt for pieces that encourage your kiddos to put their OWN things back where they belong. This piece is low and simple, and would compliment all types of white trim and classic design. The bins help children learn to put their own toys away, and keep it hidden so mama is happy!

Love the idea of hiding the kid STUFF- but not sure where to start?

Join the busy mama’s home design club- and we’ve got you covered!
Join other mamas in this free community working on designing and decorating their homes to be the perfect retreat for the families we love.

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Designing a Farmhouse Master Bedroom

I’m happy to share with you the progress of the Romantic Farmhouse Bedroom that my client Peg has been installing after we wrapped up working together. I love dreaming up designs, researching the best products for my clients, and giving them the confidence to update and decorate their spaces. But the most fun is seeing the finished product and hearing about how they are loving their home!

So you remember, the design for this space started with an inspiration photo of a dreamy white bedroom featuring white linens, natural wood tones, and greenery.

As part of my design proposal, I found representative products to recommend to help my client realize the room that she was dreaming of!

We chatted about furniture choices, reviewed some wonderful pieces she found at local antique and craft fairs, and brainstormed how to arrange furniture in the space so it was the most comfortable and attractive in the space.

Designs sometimes get installed 100% how I present them to my clients, and sometimes clients change their minds or add new elements to a space after working with me.

One of the best parts about ONLINE home design services is that I’m accessible via email and my private Facebook group for my clients to utilize for help throughout the installation. I also love that my services are project-based, and not bound by hourly rates- so you never need to worry about a design taking too long or hesitate to reach out to get my opinion on a design choice.

In Peg’s case, she decided to put her bed back to the original layout because it was the most comfortable for her and her husband, and we agreed that her current furniture looked great in the room (instead of following through with my suggestion that we paint it.) We’ll save painting the dressers for another space!

This great bed frame is the foundational piece in this farmhouse inspired bedroom design. The window and wreath are such a sweet touch!

The existing espresso stained furniture blends seamlessly with the new black metal bed frame. The cathedral window in a dark finish ties it together, and the mix of family heirlooms (the upholstered chair) and new pieces (the window and greenery) make the room feel purposefully designed.

This bench was a lucky find at a local shop, and the creamy linens, crisp white sheets, and muted ivory rug blend to create a warm and inviting space that is till bright and clean.

The pops of greenery really go a long way to bring personality and intentional design to this room. They create a color palette that feels fresh and clean, and perfectly fit Peg's farmhouse inspiration. These industrial inspired nightstand shelves are great for small spaces and really add to the design! — The pops of greenery really go a long way to bring personality and intentional design to this room. They create a color palette that feels fresh and clean, and perfectly fit Peg’s farmhouse inspiration. These industrial inspired nightstand shelves are great for small spaces and really add to the design!

Enjoy these sweet moments in your finished master bedroom. It was a joy to work on this space, and I’m so happy you love it!

Our sweet helpers for the photo shoot <3 — Our sweet helpers for the photo shoot ❤

How to add Transitional Design Elements to your home

Do you have treasured family heirlooms you want to include in your home design, but can’t figure out how to make them match? Or love the outlines and formality of traditional housewares, but also feel drawn to more simple, modern pieces? Chances are, your favored design is Transitional.

A client asked me to illustrate key pieces to include in her living room for a Transitional Design Style, featuring mostly neutrals and a pop of color.

Navy is my favorite accent color lately, and it was so much fun to put together this navy, ivory, and gold living space!

The room is grounded with a neutral rug inspired by traditional Oriental rug designs. The Chesterfield sofa is a very traditional silhouette that continues to be a classic and lasting addition to any home. Great accent chairs can be found for less than $200 and are a high impact piece that really accentuates your design personality by adding bold colors and patterns to your room. Emphasize your accent colors with pillows, blankets, and accessories that are easy to update as your tastes or seasons change.

Looking for the product information for this design? You can get this design (and every worksheet and design sheet I will ever create) in the Design Vault! See you there!

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How to Add Professional Design to an Empty Room

This week, I had a mama ask me how to update the design of a newly renovated room. Starting with a clean slate can be so much fun, but it can also be intimidating!

Read on for a run-down of my design proposal for her room, and some quick tips for adding professional style to your home.

This room design started with a pretty bare room that includes sunny yellow grommet curtains and a yellow and gray rug. The homeowner let me know that the sofa and tables would be replaced when they update the rest of the room, but I wanted to create a design that could work with their current couch if they want to update the space sooner than the new sofa arrives.

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I really like the grommet curtains, and the rug is a good match. My suggestion would be to stick with these pieces since they can be expensive to replace, and the yellow is really nice paired with the gray paint.

The neutral floor is beautiful; multiple rugs could be used to divide the space into separate zones if she wants to create several divided areas.

Are you planning a home improvement or design project? Stay organized and on track with the Busy Mama’s Home Design Handbook- created just for you so you can design like a pro.

Get the Handbook!

For this space, I relied on my “5 Components to Create a Complete Design” that I layout in the Home Design Handbook.

Color:

Yellow and Gray are the leading colors in the room, but don’t feel like you have to stick with ONLY one shade of each. Including black and white adds contrast, and several shades of yellow make it feel rich and interesting, instead of cut and pasted from a showroom floor.

Texture:

The main texture in this space is the mix of textiles. Lots of pillows creates a blend of patterns and designs that make a room feel organic and inviting. The pouf and chunky knit blanket add to the cozy and welcoming feel. The soft textiles are in stark contrast with the industrial metal and wood table and glass lamp.

Function:

First and foremost this is a family room, that will include a fireplace, wall mounted TV, and give the family a cozy place to unwind and relax together. Plenty of seating and comfortable places to lounge are the first priority!

Lighting:

There is an overhead light in the room, but I recommend having several indirect lighting sources for different times of the day and different uses of the room. Table lamps on end tables are a great addition, and I would even explore an arc floor lamp to add another zone of lighting near the accent chair if there is room in the space.

Personality:

This room certainly does not lack personality! Artwork and textiles are my favorite place to add personal touches in a space, and they are easy to update with seasonal decor or current trends if you wish, as well. An affordable and personal way to add artwork to this space would be to print black and white family photos and create a gallery wall. The wall in this room are large and currently bare. Make sure your artwork matches the scale of the room- err on the side of too BIG if you’re concerned!

Want to hear me break down this design and get into more detail about my choices for the room? Check out the video in my Facebook Group: the busy mama’s design club!

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Steal-a-Style Sheet #1: Fresh White Bedroom Update!

I’m so excited to share my new weekly design resource with you: Steal-a-Style Sheets!

These are streamlined design plans that you can use for inspiration to update your own home, or you can cut and paste the entire thing into your room for a complete refresh.

Each Style Sheet will include links to all of the products on the page. You’ll get early access to the Sheets in my Facebook Group: the busy mama’s Design Club. I’d love to see you there!

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This White Bedroom Design is inspired by the versatility and classic style of all white bed linens. When you start with quality foundation pieces in your home design, you can easily and affordably change the style of your entire room by just changing your accessories and accent colors.

I love the idea of a reversible duvet cover as well- it’s like having two sets of bedding for the price of one! In this room, I stuck with black and gold as the accent colors. Metallic pieces can be adapted to MANY spaces, and black and white are always a good idea in my book!

Another key element of these Style Sheets will be that they stick to a strict budget. This entire bedroom refresh can be installed in your space for $300 or less. If you already have window treatments and a duvet- it’s even easier to add personality with a few key pieces.

Need some more help with a room design project? Let me know! Schedule a Design Discovery call today.

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Design Dilemma: How to Choose Wallpaper for an Accent Wall

As part of my #100roomchallenge room update, I am adding an Industrial Urban design spin to my master bedroom. One of the key features in this design is exposed brick, but adding a brick veneer to my bedroom wall is way outside the scope of this project!

Choosing a wallpaper has been a much more stressful decision than I originally thought it would be! There are countless options out there, and it can be difficult to judge the pattern of a roll of paper from online images alone. Check out some of the options I’m considering, and the 3 things I’m looking for as I narrow down my decision!

As I navigate the process of choosing a wallpaper for an accent wall, I am considering 3 key factors to help me make my decision: Pattern, Installation, and Quality. Let’s look at each component, and I’ll show you my choices as examples for each one!

The links to these products may be affiliate links and are provided for your convenience. If you choose to shop through these links, I can earn a small percentage of your purchase to help support my design business at no added expense to you. Thank you!

A quick background note: I am updating my master bedroom as part of the #100roomchallenge, a $100 challenge for design bloggers to showcase awesome style and creativity on a serious budget! I have decided on an urban industrial loft design as a tribute to Chicago where I met and married my husband. We now live in Michigan (and love it!) but miss the city, so this bedroom will be our little urban retreat. Here is the moodboard for the room:

Evaluating Wallpaper

1) Pattern

For this industrial urban-loft inspired bedroom design, I want to add the texture of exposed brick to our room. Adding real brick veneer is not a realistic option, and certainly will not fit in the budget for this challenge! So a realistic printed wallpaper is my plan.

Real brick is an organic texture, as in, there are not intentional patterns, and it often looks rough and weathered in older buildings. The problem I’m finding with wallpaper is that there is a visible pattern when you put a wallpaper on a large wall. (You can see where the paper repeats itself!)

With brick patterns that are made to look weathered, the details start to actually draw attention to the fact that it is not real brick- instead of fooling your eye into thinking you’re looking at a textured surface.

When you’re shopping for brick wallpaper, consider this: Do you want it to look REAL? or is a noticeable pattern repeat OK for your space?

I love the color of this wallpaper, but the repeat of the brick shading stands out to me a little too much. On a smaller wall this would be beautiful.

This cream brick pattern is less noticeable, but I do notice the horizontal pattern of the brick shapes where they repeat. Do you see it?

I like the realistic color of this wallpaper, though I see the horizontal pattern here, too.

It was important to me to find a pattern that looks as realistic as possible, without a pattern repeat that distracts my eye when I walk in our room! Look for customer submitted photos and read all of the product reviews that you can when evaluating if a brick-print paper is right for your space.

2) Installation [non-pasted, pre-pasted, peel and stick]

I have never installed wallpaper before, so a non-pasted paper is a little intimidating to me. I can’t give you a DIY on how to hang different types of wallpaper, but I know there are LOTS of tutorials out there! Check out these great DIY bloggers and read about their experience with each:

How to hang pre-pasted wallpaper- DIY network

3) Paper Quality [thin, thick, textured]

The question of quality is always a concern when I am shopping online. I rely heavily on customer reviews when evaluating the quality of an item, especially when comparing it to the price I am willing to spend. If I am looking for a great bargain, I know that quality will not be my top priority. In this case, I want a wallpaper that is going to be fairly simple to install, and also newbie-friendly! Thinner papers are reported to tear easily and be harder to install, and super thick papers also get reviews that they are tricky to get up on the wall.

Another consideration is texture. Some brick papers have a vinyl/plastic texture that has been added to make the bricks appear to be 3D. The raised texture helps them appear more realistic than a flat matte paper.

The quality of the paper impacts the price, so for this budget-conscious challenge I’m trying to balance the two very carefully.

One last thing…

Don’t forget to consider the impact on the market-value of your home!

We see our home ownership as an investment in our financial future, and always try to make smart decisions when it comes to the design of the house. When I asked my Realtor about faux-brick wallpaper, she had an interesting response. Buyers in my area either prefer real brick, or none at all. She told me she has had buyers actually get MAD when they went to a home showing to discover that a brick wall they saw in a photo was actually wallpaper. (yikes!)

Because of her insight into our housing market, I am considering stretching my budget a little *teensy* bit and investing in the peel-and-stick wallpaper. I’m pretty sure I want it in a painted brick finish. While I LOVE the rustic look of real-brick-look-alike prints, I want to be sensitive to the buyers market here in Michigan. Removable wallpaper will let me sleep easy that we can change the room design quickly if we need to when we decide to sell the house. (Or we will just deal with the challenge of stripping it when the time comes!) The painted brick pattern also has less of a noticeable pattern repeat to me, which feels more editorial than a faux-finish (that is obviously FAUX!).

This paper surprises me with the effect of a slightly shiny grout line that creates a 3D effect. It's also a great deal for the product! — This paper surprises me with the effect of a slightly shiny grout line that creates a 3D effect. It’s also a great deal for the product!

This rustic painted brick feels even more real and I like the depth of the shadows. It is not peel-and-stick.

This is a peel-and-stick paper that looks surprisingly real considering there is a variation in the back shading.

What do you think my final choice should be? Stay tuned to see which one will be making its debut in our master bedroom at the end of the month!

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How to Add Industrial Style with DIY Pipe Curtain Rods

To kick off my industrial master bedroom update design projects for the #100roomchallenge, I knew I was going to add black steel pipe curtain rods to our undressed windows. This project is a simple DIY that only requires simple measuring, a trip to the hardware store, some elbow grease, and a level!

In my bedroom, I have one large window and two smaller windows. We live in a dense neighborhood, and have had to change clothes in the bathroom for over a year because I couldn’t decide on window treatments! Curtains and curtain rods are SO expensive, and I didn’t have a clear design plan in mind yet- so we went without.

While cleaning out our attic last week, I found three gray curtain panels from my daughter’s Chicago nursery in a storage box.

Hooray!

They are a few shades darker than my bedroom paint color and have a great rustic woven texture that is perfect for the industrial design I am imagining for the bedroom.

My husband created a clothes drying rack in our laundry room out of black steel pipes, and it was so easy! I kept coming across inspiration photos using these pipes for curtain rods, and couldn’t wait to get them up in our bedroom with the repurposed curtain panels.

There are plenty of different tutorials explaining how to assemble and install pipe curtain rods. Some people add additional pieces so the rods are further out from the wall, but I think they are fine without the extra length. I have included links to these products for your reference!

All products referenced may include affiliate links that help support my design business at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

Here are the materials I used for each curtain rod:

2- 1/2″ Floor Flanges (the part that attaches to the wall)

2- 1/2″ 90 degree Street Elbow (the “street” is important! It is what ensures all your pieces will screw together!)

1- 1/2″ Straight Pipe

Measure each window for the length of your desired curtain rod. You can buy pre-sized rods or have them trim and thread a custom length for you at the hardware store.

Each curtain rod required 2-floor flanges, 2-90* corners (street connection), and 1-long rod.

I cleaned the pipes thoroughly with GooGone and a rag to remove all oily residue. You could paint them after cleaning them- but I liked the black raw finish.

I got the materials home, ironed all of the panels, and starting laying out the pieces to clean and assemble. I used two panels on my large window, and cut the third panel in half to split between the two smaller windows. These curtains have tabs (for a more pleased look) or the option to thread your rod through a pocket at the top. I went with the scrunched look of the pocket- pleats felt too fussy for this space. I would have loved the fullness of a full panel on the small windows, but resourcefulness and the budget ruled the day 😉

My hubby helped me center and level the curtain rods. We used two 1-inch drywall screws for each flange to hold them up. They are SO sturdy, and I love that I don’t need to worry about my little guy pulling them off the wall like I would with a traditional curtain rod (those are so flimsy and easy to bend!).

NOTE: You have to put the curtains on BEFORE hanging the rods if you thread yours through like I did. The only way to get them down at this point is to remove the entire rod from the wall!

Large window with black steel pipe industrial curtain rod and 2 gray curtain panels.

Close up of the pipe curtain rod assembly.

In the spirit of the challenge, I’m sharing un-touched photos of our room throughout the month. This is a real bedroom, with real messes, and a real-ly busy family who doesn’t always feel like letting me have time to style the pillows on my bed before it’s time to make dinner!

What a difference window treatments make in a room!

I love how these simple curtain rods add so much masculine industrial style.

The curtains only need tie-backs now, and they will be complete! I’m hoping to find some old doorknobs or hooks to use for tie-backs; our great uncle collects vintage hardware and is letting me go scavenging in his workshop! I’ll let you know what treasures I find in the next post.

Coming Up….

Accent wall behind headboard: faux brick texture?
Update nightstands with new feet and industrial hardware
Floating shelves with reclaimed wood
Update artwork around headboard
Print photos and prints for gallery wall
Curtain Tie-Backs