Sponge painting to add personal style to any room.

Are you tired of looking at neutral colored walls? Do you want an idea to liven up your home’s walls but don’t want to hassle with wallpaper?  Sponge painting might be your answer. It will give you an easy faux finish that will really standout.  It’s an inexpensive way to add your own personal style to your home. When you want to change the look all you have to do is buy more paint.  You can’t mess it up.

For my home office, I chose an African theme.  I started by rolling the walls with a deep harvest orange latex paint. After that coat dried, I mixed some dark brown paint with clear glaze according to the directions on the glaze in a paint pan.  I took a damp natural sea sponge and lightly dipped it in the paint/glaze mixture and started dabbing the walls.

At first, I was strategic with dabbing, but quickly let creativity and randomness take over.  The great thing about this project was not worrying about messing something up. If I didn’t like how an area looked, all I had to do was paint over it with the orange base and re-sponge. By afternoon, I had taped off and color-washed a 10×12 home office.  All that was left was to add shelving and décor to make the room complete.

If you are more cautious by nature, practice on a small area or get a piece of scrap drywall to perfect your technique. But if you are more adventurous, just go for it.  After all, you can’t ruin your walls, just paint over your mistakes. Choose the colors that fit your style and home and let your creativity run wild.

Who’s ready to do a little holiday baking? Our sister site, Taste of Home, is getting into the holiday spirit and giving away a KitchAid Artisan Mixer!

Here’s the skinny: All you have to do is “Like” Taste of Home on Facebook and enter your info. Be sure to enter daily and share the love with your friends. Then, on 12/13, Taste of Home will pick a winner and it could be YOU!

So, head on over to Facebook and enter. You could be the new owner of a shiny KitchenAid Mixer.

Enter Now: Taste of Home Holiday Giveaway

Do-it-yourself art projects seem to adorn the walls of every stylish home.  Inspired, I made a simple color-blocked painting – with text for added personality – for my guest half bath. Follow along to see how I made it.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• Large canvas
• Acrylic paint
• Large paintbrush
• Small paintbrush
• Wax paper
• Pencil
• Computer and printer

WHAT YOU DO: 

Step 1: Decide how many blocks of color you would like to paint. I created three wide bands of color. Using tape to block off sections of your canvas, apply paint to your canvas using a large brush (try to brush away from the tape to avoid bleeding):

Step 2: Allow the paint to dry overnight. In the meantime, decide what word you’d like to add to your painting. Print out the word in the font and size you desire. Place a sheet of wax paper over the word and trace, using a pencil.  Make the lines as thick as possible:

Step 3: Flip the wax paper over and trace a mirror image of the word. In other words, follow the tracing you did on the front, on the back. Make sure to put something under the wax paper to protect your table or work surface from transferred graphite:

Step 4: Once the word has been traced in pencil on the reverse side, place the wax paper over your canvas and, once again, trace the letters. The graphite from your previous tracing will deposit onto your canvas, providing a guide for you to trace with paint. Much cheaper than a stencil, and a bit easier than painting a word free-hand, this is just my way of doing this:

Step 5: Using a small paint brush, cover the letters you have traced with paint. Allow to dry overnight and enjoy! For more details, see my original how-to, and more photos of the painting in the half bath.

Have you ever made your own artwork? Tell us about it!

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Happy weekend, all!

For the past five years, my husband Ben and I have been brainstorming, tweaking, and planning the perfect kitchen remodel. We have basically re-done our entire house (see all the before-and-afters here), and now we’re finally starting on the kitchen. I’d love to show you how we started the makeover just these past few weeks!

Here’s where we’ve landed on layout and design, which is going to require full demolition and rearranging our appliances:

We’re planning for brand-new ceiling-to-counter cabinets, drawers below the counters, sleek stainless appliances, and a custom apron front sink. Once we had a definite plan, Ben started building our cabinets:

We splurged a bit on a vent hood and a backless slide-in range. With those pieces of the puzzle on order, we started the dirty (but rewarding) work: demo. First up, we torn down the the soffits and sheet rock, which exposed the studs:

The following weekend, we did tore down the Berlin wall dividing the living room and kitchen:

After that, the appliances started to arrive. The first permanent thing Ben installed was our vent hood:

Recently, we think we’ve made a final decision on counter tops, and we’re going with wood. We still have to see the slabs in person, but we’re hopeful. What do you think of the combination of floor, countertop, backsplash and cabinet finishes?

With all the planning done, we started stage two of demo: tearing out the old cabinets and floor. We tore up the old tile floor, cement board, and subfloor:

After a full day of floor removal, we finally started the rebuilding phase. First order of business: install the new hardwood floors:

With the floor done, we then installed the cabinets Ben built, along with our custom-made stainless steel apron front sink. You don’t realize how difficult it is to live without a kitchen sink until you no longer have one! It’s nice to have it back:

It was also nice to have the new range and cabinets in place. We moved quickly since we lived without a sink and stove for four days:

To me, nothing says high-end kitchen like nice appliances and a built-in refrigerator:

Phew! All this brings us up to this past weekend, when we started adding decorative trim to the cabinets:

We’ve come a long way, but still have plenty of work to do. Next up, we’ll install our countertop, build cabinet doors and drawer fronts, put in a pretty marble tile back splash, add new lights, and much more.

Have you DIYed a kitchen remodel before? Tell us about it!

Psst: You might also like these kitchen re-dos:

• A bright and airy $1,200 kitchen makeover >>
• A reader’s $1,500 kitchen makeover >>
• A $2,100 kitchen cabinet makeover >>
• A $35,000 dream kitchen renovation >>

A few months ago, I posted about Danny Seo’s new line of eco-friendly, organic towels. He’s at it again, with a line of Danny Seo Kids bath towels, which are, frankly, adorable:

They’re available in two prints, woodland and safari. You can’t beat the prices: bath towels are only $7.99, hand towels are $5.99 and washcloths are $2.99. Find them in stores like TJ Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods. I think I might have to stock up for my nephew!

And don’t forget to treat yourself with Danny’s Eco-Existence towels and bath mats ($12.99), which are also available at stores like TJ Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods:

Get more information Danny’s towels, bath mats, sheets and more on his site, dannyseo.com.

Do you splurge on luxurious towels for yourself or your kids?

Hi there. Cara Corey here with a fun DIY project. It’s an easy way to use up fabric scraps that are too small or misshapen to do anything else with — make a wreath!

For the base you’ll need a circular wire frame. You can usually find these in craft stores in the floral section. Pick whatever size fits best with the shape of your front door, knowing that the fabric will overhang about 3 inches around the frame:

I used some vintage fabrics straight from my grandmother’s sewing room. She saved everything! And I love finding ways to use those scraps so they don’t have to stay in a drawer somewhere.

You’ll need to cut the fabric into 7-inch by 1-inch strips. Don’t worry too much about getting them perfect — you want a kind of shabby chic look with frayed edges:

I found the fastest way to cut fabric was to start with a long strip 7 inches tall, fold it in half, and cut strips 1 inch apart:

I used six different patterns of fabric in a variety of colors, but some other color combinations would be great:

• red and green for a Christmas wreath
• all white, and then hang it from a red ribbon
• different shades of one color — you could make several and change them out seasonally

For each strip, you will fold it in half and wrap it around your index finger. Then you’ll push the folded part up underneath one side of the bar you plan to wrap it around. Push the two tails of fabric over the bar and underneath your loop and pull it tight.

It’s kind of similar to making a latch-hook rug, if you ever did that as a kid:

I found that the best way to work without things getting too crowded was to move up and down the rows of wire, finishing one section at a time:

As I got low on some colors I had to cut a few more strips to keep the colors even. But overall it was a very easy process.

When you finish, make sure all of the fabric strips are facing front. Then you’re ready to hang your wreath:

I’ve always loved my blue front door, but now I think it looks even better. And I’m sure my grandma would be proud to see her fabric there.

What have you made with fabric scraps?

Psst: You might also like:

• How to make a Christmas wreath >>
• How to make yarn wreath >>
• How to make an herb wreath >>

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• 10 upcycled and recycled DIY party projects [Re-Nest]
• FREE printable thank-you cards [How About Orange]

Happy weekend, all!

Hi all, Linda Facci here. I’ve whipped up some free printable wine tags for you, which will be great for wine-and-cheese parties, Thanksgiving dinners and holiday get-togethers.

Most of my family prefers beer, but I like my wine. So, if I’m going to host a holiday party, that’s the beverage of choice. How do I get my family and friends to learn a bit more about this fine drink ? I make it simple and fun with descriptive wine tags.

To make the tags, I researched some of the more popular red and white varietals, jotted down their pronunciations, and added a short general description:

Download the tags (you’ll need Adobe Reader), cut them out, and punch a hole in the top. Then, hang the tags on your wine bottles — use red ribbon for red wine; silver or white ribbon for white. Print extras for all the wine you’ll receive as gifts.

Now, if a guest doesn’t quite know what wine they might like, all they have to do is read the tag and try it … and then try another, and another …

Download your free wine tags here! >>

Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized.
- Andre Simon, “Commonsense of Wine”

What’s your favorite holiday drink or cocktail?

We need your help! First, “like” us on Facebook if you haven’t already, and vote for your favorite cover image for our new book (out in December)!

Here are your choices:

Which is your favorite?

Go to Facebook to vote, and tell us why you voted for the one you did in the comments. The winner will be our cover!