No More Hospital Blinds!

Laura, of lauragunn.com, a new St. Louis favorite and artist, has agreed to help Gina and I with our Haven of Grace project. I am so excited about her right brain joining our team.

I was searching her blog -- Paint in My Hair -- and found so many amazing ideas for stretching our decorating dollar. I will feature a few here, so stay tuned, or visit her site if you can't wait.

Her slip covered blinds (see above photo) should win some kind of prize! Oh, how I dislike those metal or plastic hospital blinds -- so sterile, home use should be outlawed. Learn more: click here.

And look how Laura retrofitted an antique highchair to buckle in her son so he doesn't take flight. How did they do without seat belts in the olden days?

Wow, I am impressed. Laura wins my DIY prize for the week!

Modular Carpet

Have you discovered FLOR?

Easy, easy, easy... liveable, affordable, stylish and fun!

FLOR provides us custom DIY carpet to fit any style and space. And it is so easy you can install it yourself. It's ideal for tight budgets or if you just want a custom look.

Right now mod*mom will give away the newest addition to the FLOR line-up. Carpet tiles designed by Alexander Girard.

If you want to see FLOR tiles in St. Louis, check out UMA at 1100 Locust, downtown.

Tell me your favorite FLOR tile and why.

Mod Bedding and Giveaways--found it at the Big Box

Bedding by Dwell at Target

For a long time I have been moaning the fact that there has been few sources for modern bedding at affordable prices.

Thankfully, that is changing.

At our "Design Hop" (more on that later, it's a design club, think "garden club"), Stephanie was asking about sources for modern bedding. I told her about an exciting development. Dwell, relatively new to the industry and fast becoming a household name for modern bedding, has partnered with Target to bring us affordable and stylish designs. Check them out at: Target. And for a limited time receive free shipping on orders over $50.

Bedding by KuKunest


And take note of a fun offer from mod*mom. She has several giveaways going on including darling mod bedding by KuKunest. Click here to enter: mod*mom giveaways. It is easy, just scroll down to her giveaways and leave a comment.

Let me know your affordable sources for modern or unique bedding.

Hoppy Easter!

Wow, Easter has crept up on me. In less than a weeks time we switch from the green of the Irish to the pretty pastels of the season.

Felicia visited me and I followed her bunny trail right back to her blog and Etsy shop. Look at her darling glove bunny. Yep, that's right, it is made from a glove. I think the BIG eyes are a hoot.

Hop on over to her shop -- Fluffy Flowers -- and see more, including funny bunny jokes.

Etsy is always a Phoebe favorite. Consider how your holidays can be made more unique with handmade goods. For just about any holiday, you can search Etsy to find special goods. For instance, search for "bunnies" or "eggs" and see the incredible collection.

I hope you have fun Easter plans...I will go to church and enjoy my dove dark chocolate.


Hoppy Easter!

Being Green

Nesting bowls from LUREARTS.

It's St. Patrick's Day...are you wearing green?

Let's explore "green" -- my very favorite color. I love all the shades.

Kermit the frog said, "It isn't easy being green."

For a frog, that may be true. But for those who care about the environment, being green is made easier by such St. Louis groups as Freecycle, Restore and E-cycle. You can find a Freecycle and ReStore in almost any part of the country.

Or do like my friend Julie did, she started her own recylce group with women at her church. They email each other with items they want to give away.

On Etsy today, take the "green tour" via the treasury list courtesy of leavesofglass.

Consider being green and adding green to your decor today!

Blue Makes it New!

Gina Adolphson, my partner for the Haven of Grace project, sent photos of her DIY project.

Gina's husband is a med student, so they live on a tight budget. They make the most of cast-offs and yard sale finds to furnish their home. The result is a very custom look.

Recently, they painted an old chest of drawers to complement their son's bedding. The dark, worn wood finish was made to look new with blue paint.

What a dramatic transformation! Their three year old, Josh, is very proud of his parent's work.

Haven of Grace

My, time flies when you haven't blogged. There are several excuses and several projects taking my time.

Topping the list: Haven of Grace.

Haven of Grace is a special organization to help young homeless mothers and is championed by Editor, Christy Marshall of St. Louis Magazine AT HOME. She invited eight designers to decorate eight apartments for Haven of Grace.

I am lucky to be one of the designers working on the project. I am especially fortunate to have enlisted designer and friend, Gina Adolphson, to work with me. She has taken the lead in collecting fabrics and brainstorming the design.


This is not your typical project. Our inspiration is limited by what donations come in. So our color palette is not inspired by our favorite fabric on the bolt, but rather by what is given to us by kind retailers.


Gina made the rounds collecting miscellaneous items. We selected a few to create our palette.

We were given a fabric panel of leaves and fruits in an unusual mix of chartreuse, plum, slate blue, turquoise, burnt orange and bright orange and rosy reds. We decided to pull a palette of mostly blues and oranges from this piece for the living and dining rooms.


Gina told me today that she has enjoyed the challenge of creating a design around a fabric that was not of her choosing. "It has made me consider other possibilities with color I never imagined", she says. "I really love this palette."


Gina also loves the idea of a graphic bird mural painted above the dining nook. She picked birds just because she likes the shape of the template she was given. She doesn't know why, but it just appeals to her.

I like it too.


Please tell us how you've found design inspiration by something that was given to you.

See related blog: Take a Chance on that Sofa

Creative Cousin Craig

I was born with the right side of my brain, that I know for sure. I can't say what has happened to my left side, atrophy most likely. I don't take to math or science.

I have to create, make and forge new paths.

Many of my kin were born like me -- a heavy branch of artsy folks weights down the family tree.

Let me introduce you to one of them, my cousin Craig. Though his imagination is more wild than mine, I claim him anyway.

When Craig is not composing music or blowing up cars (for real) in the desert, he is making furniture, sculpture, paintings and redesigning his home.

I love his niche display (pictured below) in his living room wall that features prisms in the style of his hero, Frank Lloyd Wright. I think it is stunning.


See more of his work at http://www.craigsibley.com/

In my dreams, it would be so fun to collaborate with Craig on a project.

Love you Cousin. It's been too long, let's get together.

Writing on the Wall -- Katherine's Kitchen

Here is more on Katherine's Kitchen, a DIY project.

Wallwords -- also called wallstickers, vinyl stickers -- are becoming popular and I used a version of the art form in Katherine's kitchen on her soffit.

I cut letters from paper, positioned and adhered to the soffit using a forgiving re-positioning glue found at most stores selling scrapbook supplies. The glue makes the paper act like a "post-it-note" to allow you to reposition the paper. Left in place it adheres permanantly. The cost for the wallwords was under $3, that included paper and glue.

Wow, that is a lot of bang for the buck.

To create the letters I choose a font on my computer and printed each letter to be 4 inches tall. Next I placed a blank paper on the bottom and cut around the printed letter using it as a template. You could use any color paper. We choose white to complement the white cabinets.

This project takes a steady hand and some time. If you don't want to attempt this yourself, there are plenty of online sources for wallwords. Check out Uppercase Living or do a search on Etsy for wallstickers.

Send me a photo of your "writing on the wall".

Makeover - in St. Louis Magazine AT HOME

Katherine's Kitchen Before

Katherine's Kitchen After Makeover

My project to remake Katherine's Kitchen is featured this month in St. Louis Magazine AT HOME. Ten designers' projects were highlighted. You can read the stories online, or if you live in St. Louis, pick up a copy of the special "design issue" at your local grocery store or Walgreens.

I have copied the article about my project for your convenience:

Picture This: The Kitchen
Designer: Dana King, Dana’s Design Studio

It began with unpalatable pink ceramic tile and a problem picking out just the right color paint.

Now, Katherine Bish’s rejuvenated kitchen is like an alarm clock on the first day of school, ringing out reasons for her sleepy South County home to wake up from its 30-year nap.

Ms. Bish, a photographer whose work appears in several magazines including St. Louis Magazine and AT HOME, bought her home about a year ago. The kitchen was the first to be tackled.

On a limited budget, a wish and an unusual request for the designer, the project moved forward—ready or not.

“Katherine called me and said the painters were ready to go, but she had been called to Chicago on a shoot. She wanted me to pick out the paint colors for her kitchen,” says Dana King of Dana’s Design. “I had never picked colors when a homeowner wasn’t there, but Katherine said, ‘I trust you, I trust you,’ and I knew paint is always easy to fix.”

What inspired Ms. King was the very feature that troubled Ms. Bish. Decorative tile with a pink floral center covered the countertops and backsplash, and that pink definitely needed toning down.

“There was terra cotta and green in the tile, so I chose a khaki green color for the walls,” Ms. King says. “It almost made that pink in the tile read the same color as the terra cotta.”

Ms. King then brightened the dark wood cabinets and the wainscoting with a fresh coat of white paint—a project that demanded only a good primer and a steady hand. No sanding required.

A coat of leftover khaki paint and a bit of roughing on the edges gave an old dark wooden table a perfectly distressed look. Black chairs given to Ms. Bish were the final touch.

Ms. King framed a montage of Ms. Bish’s photos in $6 white frames and then hung them, as well as adding a funky red lamp that Ms. Bish discovered in an antique store some time ago.

An iridescent copper bowl was placed on the island, and a few more accents were added, bringing the entire project cost to $900.

I will blog more about Katherine's Kitchen. You can also learn more about the makeover in my previous post, click here.

"Stylish Spaces for Little Faces"

I love to highlight home decorating entrepreneurs in St. Louis.

Recently I met Sara Zigman, creative director and the brain behind Three Little Ziglets, children's room furnishings and accessories. Inspired by her triplets, Sara discovered a passion for painting and designing furnishings for her girls. She turned her passion into a business.

Her items are not only beautiful and custom, but also practical:

The furnishings are designed to grow with the child from the nursury through elementary school.

Her murals are painted on cloth or canvas -- a clever and easy way to provide a focus for a blank wall. Unlike murals typically painted on walls, Sara's are designed to be moveable, infact she calls them "moveable murals". This is ideal for anyone who might move and doesn't want the hassle of redecorating the new place.

It is easy to shop online for her items. Just select a pattern from nine selections, pick the pieces and click a button.

1-2-3, as easy as three little ziglets!

Shout Outs for Faves -- art and design

Here is a shout out to a couple favorites:


It is so fun to find people around the world via the blogosphere, but especially fun when you meet a neighbor. In my backyard of St. Louis, artist, Lee Klein, found me. I am so delighted. She does such beautiful contemporary art. You can find her work on the East coast and in the West; in Washington DC at the Watergate Gallery and in Jackson, Wyoming at the Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary.


In addition to her own work, Lee can help you to collect and display the perfect art for your space. She says:

"I can work within your budget to help you build your fine art collection to include photography, paintings, works on paper, and sculpture from artists around the world. Fine Art in a home or corporate setting lends class and sophistication".

Our favorite for elegance on a budget: Brocade Home is having a 40% off sale. Also check out their new scrumptous bedding collection: Mist Dream.

Chalkboard Art

I have been searching blogs for examples of DIY projects using chalkboard paint. Here is one from design*sponge that is a work of art.

Simply stunning.

Did you ever think you would see this on a chalkboard? It beats stick figures!

You know, if I got this artistic on a chalkboard, I would want to preserve it with a matte finish spray varnish. I would preserve just the design and leave the blank space free to write messages.

I have discovered that visiting blogs and websites is a great way to search out design ideas. On sites that will let you search, type in something that interests you. In my case, I want to find examples of chalkboard paint DIY projects. So I search for "chalkboard paint". I have found tons and will share my favorites in the next couple days.

Kimberly's Vintage Chalkboard

Chalkboard paint designs continue with this beautiful vintage chalkboard created by Kimberly of Niesz Home ...and fabric.

Get her how-tos by clicking here: Easy Weekend Project -- Framed Chalkboard.

Also, check out Kimberly's website -- Niesz Vintage Fabric and Design -- a wonderful source for vintage fabric.

Thanks Kimberly for sharing your project!

Keep those chalkboard projects coming! Please share what you have created or anything you have found on the web.

Good Bathroom Reading!

Oh, I wonder how long we can keep this chalkboard theme running? Well, the Queen of Theme, Becky, wrote me with this contribution.

What a riot, I just love her bathroom walls painted in chalkboard paint. Look at the very fun sconce (or soap dish?) on the wall to hold the chalk. And it looks like a letter or magazine organizer holds the erasers. VERY clever!

I just may do this in my bathroom. What great "bathroom reading" material. LOL

Ok, let's keep this going, if we can.

I challenge you to find, on the web, the best examples of DIY projects using chalkboard paint. Or maybe you have an example from your home you'd like to share. Either way, email me with your examples. Then we might vote for the best ones!

Write me at dana@danasdesignstudio.com or post a comment with a link.

Thanks Becky!

Cozy at Home with a Chalkboard

We are on a roll with chalkboard paint.

Cozy at Home's Elizabeth Raubach sent this photo of her chalkboard in her kitchen.

She simply painted it and her husband installed the molding to frame it. To keep it fresh, Elizabeth gives it a new coat of paint now and then.

Thanks Elizabeth!

Chalkboard Dresser

Here is another idea for using chalkboard paint. I love this!

Take an old dresser and paint the drawer fronts with chalkboard paint! Look how this young boy decorates his drawer fronts for organization.

Learn the how-tos at Familyfun.com by clicking here.

Valentine Vase

A fun idea from UMA ( Urban Materials and Accessories ) -- chalkboard vases. What a fun way to write your loved one a special message.

This gave me an idea. Why not take chalkboard paint and make your own DIY vase.

What other items can get the chalkboard treatment? How about a chunky picture frame or a decorative plate -- write a message on the rim and place treats in the middle.

What ideas do you have for using chalkboard paint?

Remake by Rhoda

I am so glad I listed my blog with Delightful Blogs because I have been introduced to a whole new community of friends. Last week I met Rhoda and found her blog: Southern Hospitality.

With all the inspiration on the web, who has time to watch HGTV? I can sift through content rapidly and find inspiration without any commercials!

Rhoda focuses, like I do, on remaking or repurposing furnishings and stretching a budget. I was so impressed by her remake of a lampshade. The lamp is a vintage piece with a beautiful crystal and marble base. It was in good shape except for the tired shade. See more details and step-by-step photos to learn her tips for remaking a lampshade.

"Steel" Crazy for John Beck

Look at what's new from John Beck -- a St. Louis favorite -- this console, above.


I am "steel" crazy for his designs. Check out more: click here.