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Broken and Recovering
If you follow me on Instagram (@jennyfromthebruce) then you will have probably already heard that I was in a bad car accident in March. I just wanted to let everyone know that if the blog seems a little slow in the coming months it’s probably because I’m hobbling around on two broken feet, and as such am not wielding as many power tools as I once was. Speaking of power tools, I want to tell you about some hashtag fun happening so scroll down!
I’ve teamed up with four other awesome saucesome women (@nolan_nest; @kcdesignco; @houseologie; @southernmesatrading) to bring you #YouCanDoItDECOR. Yep. Told you it was awesome. It’s a new hashtag community meant to empower people to get their hands dirty, pick up power tools, conquer fears, try new things, yada yada. So if you want to play along, get your amazing DIY projects featured and access exclusive content the make sure you are following the hashtag and the co-hosts.
See you on the flip side of these injuries – peace.
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Dramatic Boho Inspired Little Girls’ Bedroom Makeover
If you are following along on Instagram then you know that I’ve given up home purchases for Lent (longest 40 days/nights of my life… they should make a move about me). Coincidentally, I am overcome with inspiration. Inspiration is literally growing out of my ears like big tufts of white hair. The next major project I will be focusing on in our home is a refresh of our four-year-old daughter’s room.
The above look is heavily inspired by a bohemian vibe and a love of repurposing furniture. The colour scheme is enriched with a deep mustard yellow and balanced with a light mint green, natural woven fibers and whites, anchored with a dark charcoal bedframe.
The current room is currently painted a beautiful mint green called Irish Mint by Benjamin Moore. This is one of the best mint greens on the market and is such a soothing fresh colour on walls. The idea with this refresh was to bring a more modern boho look to the mint green, which is more of a classic farmhouse country look.
Spruce Lawn is a farmhouse, and it’s an old house, so typical farmhouse paint colours like Irish Mint work very well in the space. However I want to see bold, beautiful eclecticism and dramatics come to the forefront in the home. My plan is to take her room to the next level by utilizing what we already have and then some.
When inspiration strikes me it always hits hard. I get kind of manic and my insomnia kicks into high gear. That obviously doesn’t help the situation, as usually the only thing that soothes me is to manifest those ideas into reality. Not for another 33 days you guys. This is going to be so hard.
Nevertheless, the countdown is on and I’m taking you on this journey with me.
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Handmade Ungrouted Tiles Are Oh So Hygge
I am an unabashed die hard fan of Fixer Upper. When people tell me they don’t know what that is I die a little inside. One of the newest episodes from Season 5 — the Safe Gamble House — really stood out. Yes, it’s a mid century mod dream home, but it was the bathroom’s ungrouted tile that was ultra special to me.
Ungrouted tile backsplash from the Fixer Upper Safe Gamble House The handmade backsplash tiles for the bath are left ungrouted to showcase the raw, rough edges of the tile. The ungrouted tile looks stunning, especially in contrast to the high-gloss deep blue texture of the tile itself. Oh Jo, you’re always coming up with quirky ideas.
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Pastel Palette: An Interview With Artist April Rafko
Several years ago, by chance, I met pastel artist April Rafko (@autumnlaneartistry), whose work is shocking in its depth and complexity. One of her pastel works is an enigmatic portrait of a heron. I have this strange attraction to herons. I see them everywhere and have had weird otherworldly encounters with the elegant bird. Rafko had captured the ethereal essence of the heron with such precision that I couldn’t resist purchasing the piece, and it’s my pleasure to share a recent interview with Rafko about her pastel work since that time and her studio, Autumn Lane Artistry, here at The Crux.
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Get Your Frugal Into Gear With These Inexpensive DIY Projects
In the ongoing spirit of the Uber Frugal Month Challenge, which is much harder than I anticipated but going well, I have put together a list of inexpensive DIY projects that can give you a lot of bang for your buck, or can possibly even be done for free if you have the right skills or resources. These are all projects that have achieved me great results in a very frugal fashion, because I reused and recycled, and in-sourced.
1. DIY Photo Wall Art
This post is an overview of how to acquire any kind of gallery wall, photographic art, or graphic art economically and very easily with the right online tools.
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Bedroom Revamp With Frugal Finesse
Our new principal bedroom is structurally beautiful. It’s big and it has a bank of windows that lets in ample amounts of natural light. It’s a soft white. I have always wanted a white bedroom, and it’s the only room in the house I didn’t paint (aside from those rooms we plan to renovate). Being in a new house I was really hankering to change up our bedroom, and I thought a little bedroom revamp was in order. Of course, having just moved and fully maxed out our moving-in budget on painting, I was hard pressed to accomplish my goal without spending any money.
I did this bedroom revamp before the frugal month challenge that I am participating in right now, but I want to bring it up because I employed tactics that allowed me to refresh our bedroom for our new space without really spending. I won’t lie, I did fill up my online shopping cart at West Elm and seriously considered dumping half my new paycheque, but sense took hold. (more…)
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Frugal Design: Do Frugality and Interior Design Mesh or Mash?
For the month of January I am participating in a little something called the Uber Frugal Month Challenge, which is hosted by a blogger who styles herself as Mrs. Frugalwoods (it’s a thing, go read about it). To really get into the spirit of things I’ve decided that every post I share in January will be built around the core concept of frugality by exploring frugal design methods and tropes. I have some posts lined up for you, but first I want to explain a bit more about why I am doing this.
Basically, the idea of the Uber Frugal Month Challenge is that you reset your super consumerist mindset, so that you can look at the world, your life, and your finances differently. I thought this was a very interesting topic to broach on an interior design blog. For the folks at Frugalwoods the important central pillar in their life was escaping the drudgery of their 9-5 work lives to discover the serenity of self-sufficient mid-30s retirement on a homestead in the woods. These are life goals that don’t apply to me: as a writer I don’t work to live so much as I live to work.
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Whitewash Fireplace Makeover
I’ve been itching to share this fireplace surround makeover project that I completed before we even moved in to Spruce Lawn. Although I’ve done a paint wash on a fireplace before, I’ve never done a whitewash on red brick. This small fireplace was an easy project that just took me a little time in the morning, and yet it transformed the whole room. If you want to keep up with all the Spruce Lawn projects, make sure to follow along on Instagram.
I have been tackling a lot of our home renovation DIY projects by myself these days. My fiancé has taught me a lot and he really doesn’t like doing the work, but I do enjoy it. The makeover in this study took three days and involved painting, removal and replacement of mouldings and millwork, painting the fireplace with a whitewash on red brick, replacing hardware and moving in the furniture. To understand the transformation the before picture is a must-see.
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This One Time At Our New House
I haven’t shared a post in almost two months. That might seem like a long time to you, but to me it’s been a whirlwind of minutes. I have lots of big news to share, and I also wanted to show you some snapshots from our new house so you can get an idea of some of the projects I might be tackling this year on the blog.
So, that news. As many of you know I have been the managing editor of Our Homes Magazine for the past several years. Not only has it allowed my love for design to flourish, but the job itself is just wonderful. However, all good things come to an end. I have decided to take a new job in communications with a really amazing company where I live. I am very pumped to take on this new challenge, and though I won’t be writing about interior design at work anymore, that means I have all the more creative energy to devote to The Crux in my off-time, so that’s really great news too. (more…)
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How To DIY The Moroccan Pattern With Fish Scale Tiles or Ogee Drops
Do you remember my post early this year delving into the history of ogee drop tiles? They are otherwise referred to as Moroccan fish scale tiles. I hope you remember because that backsplash is one of my most favourite features of our house. A couple weeks ago I received an email from a reader who purchased similar tiles and was having difficulty figuring out how to begin laying them to achieve the iconic pattern that we used in our kitchen.
In that post I spent a lot of time talking about what an ogee drop tile actually is, and breaking down the misnomer Moroccan fish scale tile. As you remember, the ogee drop arranged in the right pattern looks remarkably like a fish scale, which is why they have been dubbed fish scale tiles. We went over the history of the ogee arch and it’s English Gothic roots, dissecting where Moroccan comes into the mix. (more…)
Jenny's Old House 