Deuce Cities Henhouse | A Design, DIY & Lifestyle Blog from the heart of the Twin Cities

Notebooks!

by Scoops on February 11, 2013 · 7 comments

Notebooks have become a part of my life in a major way. I live with a notebook, I carry it around the house from room-to-room and if it’s not nearby I get panicky. Maybe it’s because I’ve entered the stage of life where so much is going on that I can’t keep anything straight. If I have an idea I need to write it down before it passes, because it will pass. I also write lists, lots and lots of lists. From blog ideas, to shopping lists, to sketches, to floor plans, and website redesigns. I’m tearing through notebooks like nobody’s business and I need something new. I would love to get a notebook with tons of pages that would take me forever to fill. Most importantly I want it to feel good, like a soft covered book that you can bend in half, or a record with a really nice matte sleeve. If it doesn’t feel good, I won’t use it. I always love a good moleskine, and am considering getting another “batch” of them, but I’d also like to branch out and try something new. Anyone out there have a unhealthy relationship with their notebook too? Do you have any recommendaishes for me?

Here are a few of my favs:

Moleskine journals in “Grey Pebble”

Orla Kiely Brown Stem Notebook

Arwey Moura Notebook

Leuchtturm1917 Pastel Cover

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Cool Things, Inspiration

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Etsy Finds

by Scoops on February 8, 2013 · 0 comments

Adjustable Vintage Pink Double Gooseneck Lamp
from Vintage Resolution – $15.00 + $14.50 (for shipping)

Mid Century Modern Desk Lamp
from Junk House – $27.00 + $13.00 (for shipping)

Vintage Brass Goose-necked Metal Lamp
from Happy-Go-Vintage – $56.00 + $12.00 (for shipping)

Vintage Cream Gooseneck Desk Lamp
from Evan’s Picks – $18.00 + $12.00 (for shipping)

I was inspired to do an “Etsy Finds” after my recent gooseneck lamp purchase. I realized there was so many cool lamps out there! I had a hard time choosing just one. In case you’re in need of the perfect side table, desk, or bedside table lamp I suggest you give these a look. I have a crush on the 1st one in the top left, that light salmony pink color is too good. Which one is your fav?

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Cool Things

Tutorial : DIY Grommet Curtains

by Scoops on February 7, 2013 · 8 comments

Hello friends! I know in the past I’ve shown you how to make Ikea curtain panels into grommet top curtains, and I shared with you the curtains I made for Gus’ nursery, but I never got down to business and showed you how to make your own grommet curtain panels. I was in the market for a new curtain panel for the window at the top of my staircase, and I wanted to make it from this awesome triangle fabric (Stamped By Ellen Luckett) I picked up at the fabric store a few weeks ago. I figured “what they hey, man” this would be a good opportunity to put together a tutorial for anyone out there who is considering trying the same.

I don’t do a ton about sewing, but I know my basics, and I can find my way around a sewing machine. I also know enough about making curtain panels to offer a few pointers from what I’ve learned in the past.

First things first, you need to get your shiz together! Let’s start with your supply list:

Next let’s talk logistics. The thing you need to know is the distance between your curtain rod and how long you would like the curtain to hang. I needed my curtains to hang 90″ from the curtain rood to the floor. I’ve already done the math for you figuring in seams and allowance for the fabric above the grommets. Add 10.5″ to your total and you have your curtain length.

DISTANCE FROM ROD TO FLOOR + 10.5 = TOTAL AMOUNT OF FABRIC

Curtain width isn’t as important. Most standard fabrics come between widths of 44″ and 56″. Any width of fabric within this range will work just fine with the style of grommets we are using.

The tutorial continues after the jump, click on “read more” for the whole enchilada!

READ MORE

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Decor, DIY, Tutorial

Friend Art & Ribba Ledges

by Scoops on February 6, 2013 · 2 comments

A few weekends ago I finally got around to actually finishing up the music room, I mean it only took a year, but whatever. It’s always the final details that I just can’t seem to get done. I mean, it’s really hard to hang up some artwork and a small shelf so you better just never do it, at least that’s what I like to do.

Anyways, I finally hung that stuff up and I think it’s looking pretty great. I wanted to tell you that A: Ribba ledges from Ikea make the perfect In-Play-Vinyl shelf, so if you have a record collection (big or small), you should consider getting some of these cool shelves. This “in-play” shelf system works in theory of course, you could be like my husband and then you won’t need one of these; just pile those bad boys up until your wife puts them away. And B: If your short on artwork, consider scrounging up some handmade items that your friends may have given you, framing them and putting them on the wall. Our good buddy Matt always makes us handmade B-Day cards, graduation cards and other sorts of cards. I had a whole bunch of them starting to pile up so I stuck my favorites in some old frames, and hung them on the wall. I included a drawing from our pal McTubbins (aka Aaron) too, he gave that blue and grey squiggly drawing to me on my birthday when I turned 25.

You might not have a friend that makes you handmade b-day cards, don’t worry, you can frame other things too. Consider items you hold near and dear, frame that growing pile of birthday cards from your grandma that you don’t have the heart to throw away, or a collection of kid artwork that you don’t know what to do with. You might be surprised by how good a group of favorite things can look on your walls, plus it’ll make you happy every time you see it.

Ribba Ledges are the Perfect In Play Vinyl Shelf

Hang up Friend Artwork!

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Around the House, Decor

Thinking About : Graphic Rugs

by Scoops on February 5, 2013 · 13 comments

Graphic Rugs
We’ve been saving for a few months now and it’s getting closer and closer to shopping time for some new living room furniture!!! In case you couldn’t tell by the excessive exclamation marks, I can’t wait! If you remember from previous posts, our living room sofa and arm chair have seen better days. Now that kids are getting a little older we figure we can trust them not to puke or pee on our future new couch… we hope. I’ve posted before about dream sofas and chairs and now you get to hear about rug candidates too.

Our living room has recently been painted and now has dark teal walls set against dark woodwork. I knew that getting into the dark wall game meant adding more contrast to the room. Using colors like black and white as accents throughout the space and painting picture frames white give the space the contrast it needs. All of our pillows and throws are black, white, bold and graphic. Our current rug (Jorun from Ikea) is also, black, white and graphic, although it looks awesome in photographs it hasn’t held up too well. The furniture tends to stretch the rug out and it drives me crazy when the edges don’t run parallel to the wood flooring. I am obsessed with straightening it out and I pick at it all day long. I love our graphic chevronesque black and white rug and it’s replacement needs to be just as awesome while having the ability to hold its shape for this highly used area.

Souk Rug from West Elm

I love, love, L O V E this rug! I’ve admired it for a year now and I just can’t get over it. It’s just so pretty and perfect. This would be my living room rug in a second if it wasn’t for those kids who have a crazy ability to stain almost anything in our house. The pristine white would really lighten the space and everything would be perfect. It’s probably not meant to be, but I do love it so.

Shoowa Rug from Room and Board

This is an expensive one, but a good one. I really like the indigo blue against the creamy white and I could see it looking fantastic in a space that had neutral walls but needed more color. I had to include it in this post because it’s pretty good, right? For instance, I think this rug could look great under our dining room table giving reference to the blue walls in our living room, but I don’t think it would work in our living room unless I really wanted to be the crazy lady with all the blue everything!

New Anatolian Tulu from Kilim.com

Don’t you love this?! I would seriously consider a kilim rug like this for our living room. I love the look of kilim rugs and I can’t resist a good triangle. Unfortunately, the shape of this rug (apprx 4′x6′) is not what I’m looking for in our living room. That being said, I’m sure with a little bit more looking I could find something similar that could fit the shape of our space much better. Do you think I could live with a rug that was not perfectly square on all sides? For this, I would consider it.

Hayden Zig Zag Rug from Pottery Barn

This rug is really cool, I really like the pattern, and chevron is still pretty hot right now. However, I don’t think there is quite enough contrast for me. This rug would look super good in a living room with white trim. The trim would provide the contrast and the rug wouldn’t have to be so bold. So go ahead and think about it for your space, all you white trimmed wall people ;)

Kite Kilim Rug from West Elm

This totally reminds me of the rug we currently have in our living room and I’m sure it would work well in the space. I don’t know if I want to get something so similar to what we have now, I like the idea of shaking things up a bit. This rug is a 80/20 wool cotton blend, much nicer quality than our current rug, and handmade too. Based on the price I would hope this rug wouldn’t lose it’s shape like our old Jorun rug from Ikea does now. Definitely something to consider.

Stockholm Rug from Ikea

Who doesn’t love the Stockholm Rug from Ikea?? I wanna marry it every time I see it, and I think I it would look pretty good in my living room too. Seriously, have you ever seen a space that this rug didn’t look awesome in? I’m gonna think about this one, hard.

Okay, so now you know that I am no closer to making a decision then when I started. I seriously love the heck out of that Souk Rug and I would be super happy it if my kids could just not be so dirty all the time. Maybe I can buy new bubbles for my boys and I wouldn’t have to worry about them and all their dirty stuff, then I can get this rug. I think that seems like a cool idea, don’t you?