The Architecture of Life

Don’t have much time for architectural drawing these days. It’s sad, I know. But there’s a great thing about architecture; even when you don’t have time to sit down and study it, it’s still all around you. It influences everything about your day; from your mood that first second after you wake up, to the way you get to work. So my question is, how do you think future architectural advancements will affect daily life?

Front Door Makeover

It’s the final week of If Walls Could Dream’s “New Years Resolution Guide to a Beautiful Home”. Last Friday we madeover the kitchen.

This weekend… makeover your front door!

Your front door is the first thing people see when they come to your house. A beautiful front door makes for a beautiful first impression.
Before you start, give it a good dusting to get rid of nasty spider webs and bugs.

Then, pick a bold color! While a bright red or a teal blue is too bold for an entire room, it’s perfect for a front door. (And it’s easy to repaint if you hate it)
Not that gutsy? Neutrals can be bold too! Try a dark chocolatey brown.
Paint shy? Get a new doormat with a graphic pattern!

Now, accesorize! Add some greenery and a table and chair if you have room. And don’t forget the classic door knocker!

1. Sherwin-Williams Red Bay
2. Sherwin-Williams Black Bean
3. Sherwin-Williams Cape Verde
4. Pottery Barn Botanical Door Knocker
5. Crate and Barrel Circles Rubber Doormat

DIY Kitchen Command Center

This weekend… make a kitchen “command center”!

The kitchen should be the heart of the home, but many people find it lost under piles of junk mail and moldy leftovers. Now that your confidence is up from your successful completion of a quote wall and a guest room redesign, today is the perfect day to tackle the kitchen.

First, dissect that junk pile:

Your kids bringing home copious amounts of school work?

Make a gallery with frames and clips. A great tutorial can be found here. You simply nail the empty frame to the wall and glue a clip inside the frame.
Each child gets one frame. They get to choose what one thing they want to display. It’s up to you if it goes in the archive or the recycling when they choose a new one, but the gallery will keep you from putting ALL the papers in the archive. If they don’t think it’s good enough to display, it isn’t good enough to archive.

Your pile overflowing with junk mail?
Leave the recycling bin there. Don’t let the junk mail even make it to the counter.

Were coupons, magazine clippings, and recipes the majority of the mess?
Time for a bulitin board! When your ideas are displayed, you’re more likely to do them.

Now, add to your junk sollution to create a kitchen command center.
I found a great tutorial here. Simply hang up a dry-erase calendar, a grocery list, a place to hang spare keys, and a chalkboard for notes, reminders, and phone numbers. With all your information in one place, it’s easier to stay organized.

Still end up eating out?
Make a Menu Planner (tutorial here) with seven clips and a bag of recipe cards glued to an old board or frame. By planning ahead you won’t get caught by the everyones-hungry-and-nobody-wants-to-cook bug.

6 Things To Do With Old Suitcases

1 Shelves
Cut them long ways and attach them to the wall above a dresser for a funky guest room.

2 Medicine Cabinet
This one’s from Etsy.
Attach a mirror to the front and shelves inside and use it as a medice cabinet in your bathroom.

3 Nightstand
Stack them up as a vintage nightstand.

4 Sewing Kit
This one’s from AllPeopleQuilt

Add elastic or velcro to the top for your scissors and a pouch for patterns, in the bottom there’s space for fabric, ribbon, and jars of buttons and pins.

5 Coffee Table
Attach legs to the bottom and a piece of glass on top.

6 Dog Bed
For the suitcases that smell funky already, just add legs and a cushin inside and it’s perfect for your petit pooch.

Guest Bedroom Redesign

This weekend… makeover your guest room!

You always want guests to feel at home when they visit your house, and your new DIY quote wall is sure to attract friends and family to stay longer. But behind that crafty, do-it-yourself persona you’ve just built for yourself, there’s still the bewildered design newbie. It’s a good thing I have a whole list of tips for you!

Bed Fit For a Queen
Being as this is a bedroom for your guests, the most important part of the room is the bed. Consider buying a mattress topper if the mattress is old or uneven. Layer on crisp, clean sheets and blankets depending on the season. Be sure to have extra blankets or quilts readily available (maybe in a cute basket at the foot of the bed). Also, provide different pillow options because everyone has a different preference. And of course, don’t forget the chocolate on the pillow!

Multiuse Room?
Is your guest room also an office? And a play room, exercise room, storage room? When adding these elements to your room consider ways that they can easily be hidden when guests come. Maybe you could put the desk in the closet so you can simply close the doors when you have guests.

A cute idea from Happy Living Design to use an old chair as a nightstand in a guest room, complete with towels, water, lotion, and flowers.

Don’t Forget the Essentials!
Be sure to provide your guests with space to store their clothes or at least set their suitcase. A simple solution is a small dresser as a nightstand and some hooks on the wall with hangers.
Be sure there’s a clock and a reading lamp on the nightstand, there are electrical outlets available for them to change their cell phones, and there’s a hair dryer in the bathroom.

Bag It Up
Create a welcome bag (or basket) with some items that may be useful during their stay. Include a card with important information about your house such as a security code or a wifi password. You could also include often-forgotten toiletries such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, and shampoo, snacks, and a good book.
And if you want to get really creative, make it all airplane themed, complete with seatbelt instructions, exit maps, a travel blanket, and honey roasted peanuts.

DIY Quote Wall

This weekend… make a quote wall!

Start by making a list of your favorite quotes, favorite song lyrics, or phrases that describe your family.

Pick up a pack of canvases at your local art store and get to work!

You could try using vinyl stickers for your quote and then painting (or better yet, letting your toddler finger paint) the canvas and then peeling the stickers off to revealthe canvas below.

You can also use hot glue to make letters or designs and then paint over it for a 3D quote.

And for those of us slightly less creative, you can always simply print out a quote and ModPodge it onto the canvas.

But don’t be limited by the ideas here! Use whatever materials you have around the house, from fabric scraps, to magazine cut-outs, to yarn for cursive writing. You don’t even have to use expensive art canvas, old windows, doors, or wood scraps with vinyl letters look cool and rustic.

Next, to design the wall:
Cut pieces of colored paper (or paper grocery bags) to the size of your canvases. Tape these lightweight paper versions of your artwork up on the wall to figure out where each piece should go.

Add in some family photographs, mirrors, and display shelves and voila! A personal, creative, one of a kind art wall that all your friends will be jealous of.

Come back next Friday for another DIY project!

Resolutions

Happy New Years from If Walls Could Dream!!
And as we all know, with a new year comes new goals and resolutions. Now I can’t help you much with busting bad habits or losing weight, but I do know a fair amount about improving your house.
So check back every Friday this month for a new, easy weekend project that will make your home more beautiful and more functional.

If Walls Could Dream Turns Three!

Three years ago today, I wrote the first post for If Walls Could Dream. It’s crazy to think it’s been that long!
Like I promised, here’s the new blog design! Check out the new “Becoming an Architect” and “Portfolio” tabs!
Come back soon for new posts such as interviews, reviews, tips, and of course hand-drawn designs.

California Ranch Floor Plan Sketch

There are two main wings to the sides of the house, one for the bedrooms and the other for the kitchen and garage. The wings also have a gabled roof. The two story studio/master suite has a dramatic glass front and a flat roof.

First, I sketched out the floor plan on a piece of white paper, then I traced it on tracing paper with pen and added color on another sheet of tracing paper with markers and pencils.



This unique design was inspired by Cliff May’s Ranch style homes. I especially loved the textural cieling and pool deck in the above design.

What do you think is the most inspiring part of this design? Leave me a comment below!

If walls could dream…. they’d imagine the simple inspiration of a breathtaking home.

Design-spiration

I went window shopping today and found some really interesting pieces. I hope they inspire you as much as they inspire me!

Giant Mason Jars – it’d be fun to make a lamp out of one!

Gorgeous Tiffany Blue Dresser

Quirky Pine Cone Candlesticks

Pretty Pillow – loved the colors and pattern

Studly Trunks