Charming Innovations by Katie Carruth

we were getting ready to eat thanksgiving dinner at my husband’s aunt’s house last week, when i noticed the neatest addition to her newly remodeled kitchen. instead of having an annoying switch on the wall for the garbage disposal that is inconvenient and hard to access when you are in the middle of washing dishes, she has this little button on her counter, right by the sink. what a great idea! it was so convenient and easy to use. technically they are called, “air switches,” and from what i can tell, they seem pretty easy to install. do any of you have one? what are your thoughts on them? me and my husband were sold and added it to our wish list for when we buy a house one day.

there are countless reasons to add a mirror to virtually any room in your house! in a previous post on brightening up a space,  i talked about how mirrors can make a room look bigger and lighten up a dark room.  here are some more rooms with mirrors to inspire you & further convince you to add mirrors to your home!

here is a mirror that looks like a window. the Grand Palais Mirror from Ballard Designs is a 24×48″ rectangle that can be paired with another to create a square “window” or topped with an arched version to create a Palladian “window”. Each mirror is $189.

designed by storm interiors, via desire to inspire.

i love these round wood mirrors by bobo intriguing objects!

see how this mirror makes the dining room light up? and it beautifully reflects the chandelier & the windows across from it. image via traditional home.

so i’ve been talking for a while now about a project i’ve been working on and i’m finally ready to unveil it!!! i had the fun opportunity to re-do my husband’s childhood bedroom at his parents house. it had glow-in-the-dark plastic stars all over the walls, and things from all the many different stages of his life. it was a small budget project so i did a lot of work on the room myself – for example painting furniture, making the headboard, reupholstering the chair, etc. this was a great way to save money and re-use items he already had but it took a lot of time. i have been really anticipating the opportunity to show you the finished result!

i changed the wall color from green to a light blue (white satin by benjamin moore) and replaced the cornice and blinds with shutters. i found the old window pane on the wall at an antique store for $7

i painted and distressed this laminate dresser and painted the mirror.

this headboard is made from a door i got at the habitat for humanity re-use center for $5. i added molding and then painted and distressed it.

the night stands on either side of the bed were pulled in from another room

to reflect on paul's trips throughout the world i incorporated a world traveling theme

special thanks to katherine of furnished photography for the pictures.

in college one of my best friends katherine always had her camera around her neck and was constantly snapping pictures. you could count on her to document any and every event, and she always caught the perfect “kodak” moments. it was so fun because i didn’t even have to worry about taking pictures, she would always supply me with discs with all the images i could ever want. i have always been so proud of her photography skills, and now i couldn’t be prouder that she has launched her own business, furnished photography. i am thrilled that she has agreed to take pictures of a few of the projects i am currently working on. she is extremely talented and she loves what she does, wich is the perfect combination.

a few people have asked some questions about how to paint furniture since my last post, so i decided to share  what i learned about doing the “impossible,” aka painting laminate.

there really are just a few simple steps that we were taught in the furniture class that work for painting any type of wood furniture…real or fake!

1. sand the piece of furniture. i used 100 grit sandpaper, you can really use anything. you don’t have to sand it too much, just enough to give the paint something to adhere to.

2. using krud kutter, wipe down the sanded furniture with some paper towels. this helps prepare the surface for painting.

3. prime the furniture with kilz. (mine got really grainy-the primer made it kinda bumpy, so i sanded it after priming, then wiped it down just with damp paper towels. i don’t know if i got a bad bunch of primer or what, but i got it at lowes, which is where our instructer suggested to get it. she said sometimes you get bad cases of it at wal-mart…or maybe i didn’t shake it enough before using, she said to shake it until the can gets cold!) i used the kilz spray paint & i used a spray paint gun, which are awesome!

4. paint the furniture. by hand. with a paint brush.  i am usually too impatient to paint things by hand, but they strongly recommended doing this in the class, so i obeyed. it wasn’t too bad. it was actually kind of therapeutic and i enjoyed it, surprisingly. they recommend using purdy paint brushes.  the color i went with was valspar queen anne’s lace, it is a beautiful off-white, not too pinky, nor too yellowy.

5. {optional} distress the furniture around the edges and detailing. i used 100 grit sandpaper and distressed it a little, you can do as much or as little as you like. i love it because it gives it that old, rustic, antique look. but some things look good sleek & freshly painted.

that’s all folks! let me know if you have any questions! happy painting! :)

ok, so i have to confess something. i seriously loved everyone’s answers, and i really was starting to get a little stressed out when it came to the decision of whose answer i liked best! i buckled under the pressure. so, i chose to go a more anonymous route and used the random number generator.

sorry for those of you who worked hard on writing a great answer! however, your efforts were not in vain, because i througoughly enjoyed reading everyone’s responses, and it got me even more excited for FALL! and this was so fun that i will most def do another giveaway soon! :)

so, to end your anticipation, thanks to random number generator, the winners are….

NATALIE RENSTROM & JILL WACHTEL! CONGRATS!

i  will be emailing you to get your address. :)

and, because i said i would share my secret and tell where i find these amazing candles, the shockingly surprising answer is: WAL-MART! my good friend lindsey parker introduced these amazing apple cider candles to me a few years back, and i can promise you, you will never find a better-smelling candle! they are delish! they are called “mulled cider” and can be found at your local wal-mart. so all of you who didn’t win, have no fear, just rush out to your local wal-mart and you, too, can have your home smelling amazing in no time!

thanks to everyone who participated!

p.s. love this:

images via pottery barn

yay, the weekend is here! yesterday was my husband’s birthday, and there is nothing more disappointing than realizing your birthday is over and it will be a whole year before your next one! so, to prevent that from happening, we like to extend our birthday celebrations, therefore we will continue to celebrate over the weekend.

as far as projects are concerned, i took a furniture painting class on monday, and can’t wait to show you the furniture i painted & distressed this week. to look for monday: a newly painted dresser, headboard, and nightstand. i am really excited about the results!

annnd before i go, this is a reminder: today is your LAST CHANCE to enter the fall giveaway, aka your opportunity to receive a free yummy apple cider candle!

i will leave you with this image for some inspiration:

i LOVE the way they did a black & white color scheme, with some bright yellow for bold-factor. so fun!

(image via metropolitan home.)

enjoy your weekend! :)