The Salt Lake Parade of Homes starts tomorrow and runs through August 16. I have gone through the SL parade for the last two years and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Tickets are $12 each, which seems kind of expensive, but if you go multiple times to make sure you make it to almost all the homes, it is worth it. I love to go to get new ideas, but I also enjoy making fun of all the extravagant homes. (Seriously in what world is it a good idea to give each child their own bathroom? I personally wouldn’t want to clean them all.) I hope I’ll be able to go this year, but Salt Lake seems so far away now that I live in Pleasant Grove. Maybe I’ll talk myself into it…

Tags: To Do by Tricia
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One of the easiest ways to make a room look more put together is to hang curtains. However, for some reason people are so, so scared to do so. Why? Nobody knows. Curtains can be super cheap if you want them to be. AND they are easy to make. Maybe someday I’ll post a tutorial on how to make them.

One of the reasons my mom hasn’t bought curtains for her front room is that she is scared to make a mistake. If you aren’t sure what you want and don’t want to spend a lot of money on a mistake, just look for some inexpensive place holders. It will make your home look so much better while you take time deciding exactly what you want. Here are some tips and places to shop for inexpensive curtains:

• Look at your color scheme and decide what neutral color will go best with the room and try to find some solid panels in that color scheme to hang.
• Don’t skimp on panels. Make sure to buy enough panels to cover the window without being stretched too tight. It looks kinda cheap.
• Make sure your curtain rod is a foot or two wider than your window so your curtains can hang to the side of the window when they are open. This way you can see out your entire window, not just the middle of it.
• Look at JCPenney. They have a good selection of solid colors and they seem to be on a half price sale every other weekend. Go shopping now, wait to buy until they are on sale.
• Another great place to look is IKEA. You can buy their curtain panels unfinished and extra long so you can hang the rod up higher than the window so that the window looks bigger. That’s always a plus.
• Just buy some cheap material and finish the edges with your sewing machine or an iron-on hemming strip (can be purchased at Roberts or Joanns or any craft store). Then hang the homemade curtains on your rod with curtain rings. (The 10 pack below is from IKEA and costs $4.99. Not too shabby.) I bought some material for $3.75 per yard and made myself bedroom curtains for under $25. Even though they don’t have a liner on the back they will work great until I can afford to buy some nice curtains.

Tags: Uncategorized by Tricia
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This past weekend we made a little progress with our kitchen remodel. I finished sanding some patches on our walls while Seth tried to hook up our new faucet. Once all the taping, drilling, screwing, praying, and welding  (not really) were completed we crossed our fingers and prepared to see if our efforts would pay off. Alas, when we turned the knob to see if his nifty installation worked only a small trickle of water came out. We were thwarted again! However, there is a good side; we did find out that the drain pipes don’t leak. Hallelujah.

This is the faucet we purchased from IKEA. It looks pretty even though it doesn’t work.

Tags: Uncategorized by Tricia
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I’m not the most crafty person in the world, but sometimes I try. Sometimes.

I’ve never been a scrapbooker, but when I was surprised at Christmas with every scrapbooker’s dream, a Cricut , I decided I needed to do something with it…so I decided to make cards. Surprise, surprise–I love it! Here are a few examples of cards I have made so far. (A Cricut is a machine that allows you to cut out letters and shapes in many different sizes using whatever paper you want. It’s pretty awesome.)

(I made this card with my Sister-In-Law’s cartridge called Walk In My Garden. It is a good one. She may post about it soon on her blog. VanillJoy.com .)

I’ve started getting a lot of handmade cards and want to find a good way to display them. I’ll have to think about it…

Tags: Things I Like by Tricia
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I’m in the midst of planning a last minute BBQ! I’m excited to eat and play outdoors. It makes it feel like summer. I’m off to a wedding tomorrow, so I’ll be posting again on Monday.

Tags: Uncategorized by Tricia
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When you are looking for new living room furniture, try not to fall into the trap of going into R.C. Willey and picking out a "nine-piece set." You know the ones: sofa with matching love seat, two matching lamps, matching side and end tables, and matching pillows–but only two matching pillows so if you want four you have to buy two more. (No offense to those out there that have done this. I know there are many, many of you out there. In fact a few years ago I’m sure I would have done it, if I had the cash on hand. That dang RC Willey is just so enticing!)

You see the problem with this is that anyone can come into your house and see that you felt the need to redecorate, and you did. In one fell swoop. Poof, new front room. And if anything gets broken, or spilled on (stupid rubber cement! yes, mom it was me that spilled it) then you need to throw the whole set out and start over again because, dang it!, it doesn’t match.

The most well put together homes are the ones that look like it has taken a lifetime, where it seems every piece has a story to tell. And thank goodness we have KSL.com and Craigslist so it won’t really take us a lifetime to put together a front room that has some character. I suggest starting with a couch from a store (if you must have something new), and then fill in the rest of the house with finds from the classifieds, thrift stores, or garage sales. It is amazing how nice a home can look on a small budget without buying the "nine-piece set."

Tags: Advice, Home Decorating in Utah--Tips! by Tricia
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I finally got the opportunity today to stop by I.M. Home Furniture on University Avenue in Provo. What piqued my interest is all the modern furniture I’ve seen in their advertisements. Let’s be real here: I’m pretty sure Utah County is on the bottom of the list of places to find a modern couch. So I went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. I’m not someone who loves extremes (either modern or traditional). They have some awesome buyers who have found a great place between R.C. Willey and IKEA. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me or I could have shown you pictures of some of the best looking, and still affordable, sofas I’ve seen in a long time.

Right now they are having a sale where everything is at least 30% off. (All this really means is that you don’t have to haggle them down because they have come down as much as they are allowed to already…According to what the sales person told me, some of the prices are lower than what they are allowed to ever come down on a normal day.)

I’m actually very excited to take my husband back and see what he thinks about a few things.

I.M. Home Furniture: 977 S. University Ave., Provo. Sale ends July 26.

Tags: Utah Home Decor Stores by Tricia
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So I made a bit of progress on my kitchen this week. (Wah-freakin’-hoo!) It really does feel like a major accomplishment to get a tiny piece of the project complete, especially since my husband was at scout camp all week! I’ve started having dreams in my head of actually eating at my kitchen table, unfortunately I don’t have one and need to find one.

I like the style of this table that I found on KSL.com .

I love the wings that can pop out on the sides, love the $80 price tag, and love the curve on the legs. However, I don’t love the fact that it would become yet another project to complete (totally needs to be sanded and refinished/painted). I’ve seen a few other tables that I almost like, but they are oval and I’m not sure I like oval. Does anyone have any thoughts for or against oval tables?

Tags: Interior Design Ideas by Tricia
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I just read an article on HGTV.com (weird, I know) but wanted to let you all know that the color forecasters (what a job!) say it’s official. Chocolate brown is out as the color to pair everything with. The new color is steely gray. I’ve seen the transition in the works and they say that by 2009 it will be everywhere. I’m already planning to paint my kitchen a blue/gray color…I didn’t know I would be so "in."

Tags: Trends by Tricia
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I saw this poster months ago and immediately loved it. I saw it again today and its simple, straight forward message struck me. I’ve been such a whiner (see the post from yesterday) and I just need to keep calm and carry on. I might just order the poster to hang in my house as a constant reminder to not wallow in the ugly-house blues but just move on and get it done! I need to cowboy up!

I also love this poster because of the history behind it. The originals were printed in England during World War II when the British were facing invasion/bombing/other really bad things. If this message helped during those perilously bad times, it can help me! Plus it looks sweet.

(After reading what I just wrote it sounds like I think my life is horrible or something. It really isn’t, and I know that. I am just a WHINER!)

(The poster can be found in sfgirlbybay etsy store .)

Tags: Things I Like by Tricia
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