Decorating/DIY Archives - Page 28 of 269

Techorate your Space

by Lindsay Ballard on August 12, 2014 1,438 Comments

When Tom and I got married, we entered our union with some decorating baggage. I came into the relationship with a 1990s-style overstuffed beige sofa and love seat (Yes! Beige. Me!) that my cat had loved a little too much. Tom came in with black leather and chrome recliners and a stereo system that had no less than 10 components. Hello, Bachelor Pad!

I knew that it would be easy to get rid of his chairs and my sofas once we had enough money to replace them. But, the stereo system was another story. Until we met, it was his baby, so I knew it was going nowhere. He set it up in his light wood and chrome media stand (another pre-Lindsay purchase), and I just lived with looking at it for several years.

Then, Baby Zack came along.

Within days of Zack learning to walk, he moseyed over to the speakers and ripped the covers off of them. Tom realized that having his big stereo system out where our dear baby could destroy it was a bad idea. So, we went out and bought a nice wooden media cabinet with a glass door. I think it may have been the first piece of furniture that we bought together.

That media cabinet ended up being my first foray into a type of decorating now referred to as #Techoration. Basically, #Techoration is the idea that we can design and decorate around our items like televisions, speakers, and gaming systems instead of just living with looking at them all the time.

Since we bought that media cabinet, my thoughts on techorating have evolved past adding furniture pieces directly intended to house media components. You may have seen shots of my kids’ playroom, which was the first spot that I started actively decorating around our technology. I wanted to make this space a place that served more function than just a playroom, so a TV was a necessary evil.

I really don’t mind the look of a black, flat screen TV. I know a lot of people like to frame them or hide them behind cabinet doors, and those are definitely valid things to do in a room. Instead, I prefer to have a good looking piece of technology that blends into my furnishings.

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How to Create a Dipped Paint Chair {Snapguide}

by Lindsay Ballard on August 8, 2014 2,385 Comments

Technology, social media and apps change faster than I can keep up with these days. Just when I’m getting the hang of one thing, something else pops up to send me in a tailspin. For the last few years, I can honestly say that I haven’t jumped on the newest things to come my way just because they are the newest thing to come my way. Yes, I’m a blogger so those things are important, but since I’m a DIYer, I don’t spend all day long sitting at my computer. I try to put on my blinders and do what I need to do to better connect with you.

But a few weeks ago, I did discover a new-to-me platform that I thought was really neat. It’s called Snapguide, and it is a iOS app and web platform that lets you upload step-by-step how to guides. It’s essentially a mini blog, which I think is amazing for those of you who do tons of projects but don’t want to have your own blog. Think of it as Pinterest, but with step-by-step pictures and instructions – and YOU get the “credit”!

Now, Snapguide has been around for a few years (remember, I wear blinders), but I’m just now getting the hang of it. This week, I teamed up with Glidden on a new pre-mixed paint product called Grab-N-Go and posted a Snapguide on a cute little dipped paint chair that I made in just a few minutes (literally!) for Zack’s new room. I embedded that guide below so that you can see how it works.

Check out How to Create a Dipped Paint Chair by Lindsay Ballard on Snapguide.

I don’t know that I’ll spend a ton of time over at Snapguide, but I think there are a lot of valuable guides over there. It’s mostly the DIY/makers/crafters that are over there, but I’ve also seen recipes, gardening tips, self-publishing guides, and technology hints. I’m sure that it doesn’t have the number of users that you can find on Pinterest, but I love having the step-by-step instructions available without having to search for something that may or may not have been pinned from the original source….

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