Tool Time: Chip It! by Sherwin Williams

Ever need help picking out the right paint color? Ever see a great inspiration photo and wonder what paint colors were used in that room?

I'm sure most of you can answer "yes" and "yes" to both of those questions. Well, in case you haven't already heard, Sherwin Williams created a website designed to help pick out paint colors for you! Genius!

The website is http://letschipit.com/ will let you turn any picture online into a color palette.

There is an instruction video (which I did not watch), and you can see there is a tool you can drag to your tool bar (or right click and add to your "Favorites" if you use Internet Explorer) and it will place a little "Chip It!" tool onto your internet bar (much like the "Pin It" button for Pinterest).

Once you have the Chip It! icon on your toolbar, pull up a favorite picture on the internet... I used one I saved Pinterest... and with the picture pulled up, click the "Chip It!" button on your toolbar. Your page will then look like this...

Once you hover your mouse over the picture you want to use, a little Chip It! button will appear for you to click...

And once you click it, a pop up box will appear with coordinating paint colors from Sherwin Williams...

Ta Da! Shop away for your paint!

Here is another Navy room that I love...

...but it is a slightly different navy than the first room...



Chip It! suggests the color "Dark Night" for this second room, and when comparing it with the "Bunglehouse Blue" in the first room, I think Dark Night seems more like a true Navy color. It's a bit deeper with less gray undertones to it.

It's nice that you can compare similar colors with this tool! The website will also let you create an account and save your color palettes online.

And of course, you don't have purchase your paint at Sherwin Williams. You can grab their paint chips and take them to any other store to color-match for you. We do this at Menards most of the time.

So what do you think? Helpful? Fun? Try if for yourself!

Note: All opinions are 100% mine. I was not paid to advertise/comment on this website tool.

Shout Out: 2 Pretty House Tours

Want to see some super awesome home design? I highly recommend checking out the house tours these lovely ladies below posted over the last 48 hours.

First up is Julia from Hooked on Houses.

  

She gave a tour of a new house with turn-of-the-century style (for realz). The architecture is lovely.There are many, many design ideas I’d like to steal from this new home…

 

 

 

 

Want to see more of this house? Click HERE.

 

Next up is Erin from House of Turquoise.

 

Today, she showcased a lovely house designed by Jeanette Van Wicklen. This house has an airy, beachy feel. The pool is AMAAAAAZING!

Want to see more of this house? Click HERE!

I know I’ll be doing some serious pinning on these houses tonight!

Which house is your favorite???

A Blog Shout-Out and Dream House Tour

For a couple weeks now, I've been wanting to share with you all a new blog I recently started following called House of Turquoise. Have you heard of it?


The author, Erin, blogs about home-related design that centers around the color turquoise (of course) plus other shades of blue, and she even includes rooms that use blue as an accent. So, if you don't like the color blue (or bright, bold colors), her blog may not be your cup of tea. But for me, I love it. I think it's so fun and inspiring. Here are two examples:



Anyway...what I really wanted to share with you were some of the images that Erin posted on her blog last week when she did a 5 day tour of the dream home that one of her readers, Christi, and Christi's husband, Jeff, built.

Their dream home took them a year and a half to complete from the design and concept stage to the certificate of occupancy. They selected Hatfield Homes to bring their vision to life. Cristi may not be a designer, but it should come as no surprise that she does indeed have an artistic background. She's not only musical, but is also a photographer by profession (see her blog here) and she has her own Etsy Shop.

While the colors (including Turquoise!) and decor may not be exactly what I would choose for my own home, what I LOVED about this house was the way Jeff and Christi made their design concept flow into every square inch of the house. Attention to detail is very apparent as everything selected for the house fits together so coherently.

So, here are just a few of the pictures represented on the 5 day tour. Click on each day below to be redirected to Erin's blog and see additional pics she posted each day as well as references to where all the items were purchased. Enjoy!

Day 1: Exterior and Foyer



Day 2: Mudroom, Hallway, Living Room



Day 3: Kitchen and Eat-in Dining Room



Day 4: Playroom, Nursery, Nursery Bathroom, Craft/Office Space, AND Retro-Basement



Day 5: Master Bedroom, Master Bathroom, Laundry Room, Family Room



Anyone else feeling inspired by the creativity of this house besides me? Did you notice the variety of floor materials and patterns? What was favorite room?

Hop on over to House of Turquoise to see more pictures like these!

Houzz It Going?

Welcome to Monday! I had a great weekend, and I hope that you did too!

As a little follow up from my post on Friday (see here), I wanted to share with you 3 other pictures I found on Houzz's website that I love. For each picture, I included 6 reasons why I love the room that's being photographed. Enjoy!

Picture #1: Home Office/Craft Space

1. White Floating Shelves: They make the space feel very airy, but still provide a place to store items in baskets, canisters, and jars. It creates more interest in the room to break up a row of cabinets using shelves.
2. Farmhouse Sink with legs: Not only is this sink beautiful, but what a great addition to a craft room. Very practical for washing hands or watering flower arrangements as shown above.
3. White Cabinets with Marble Countertops: So simple, classic, and clean looking! I don't think I will ever grown tired of this look. If you wanted a little more color in the space, you could paint the cabinets gray or a smoky blue. That would be fun!
4. Marble tiled floor: This floor coordinates with the marble countertops, and the variety of color in the marble adds texture and warmth to the space.
5. Area Rug: Given that a tile floor can be a bit hard and cold on the feet, an area rug is great for adding a bit of warmth and comfort.
6. Painted Stenciled Wall: I love the contrasting dark gray color compared to the white walls around it. The stencil adds a pretty pattern to the room.

Picture #2: Family Room/Game Room

1. Rustic Wood Beams: The first thing I noticed in this space were the beams. They do a great job of outlining 3 distinct areas of the room (game table, pool table, living room). The rich color of the wood beams (in addition to the wood floor) warm up an otherwise mostly white space.
2. Table area for Board/Card Games: This is such an intimate little area. I love that a few people can gather around this table for a game while other people may be mingling in the rest of the room. Note that the small area rug on the floor also helps to define it as a separate space.
3. Pool Table area: I love playing pool. I would love a beautiful wooden pool table like this. Amen.
4. Living Room area: This is another distinct area of the room, but I like that the TV is still visible over the couch for viewing in the game and pool areas. It keeps everyone in the room connected while watching a football game or a movie.
5. Rustic Wood Door: I think this door is so charming. It looks handmade. Again the rich wood tones stand out nicely against the white walls.
6. Board and Batten Walls: I'm convinced that it doesn't really matter what color you paint your walls, as long as you have some type of wood molding or wainscoting on them (like board and batten), they will look beautiful. Even the color white does the trick in this room.

Picture #3: Little Girl Bedroom

1. Honey Bee Wallpaper: While I have vowed never to use wallpaper in my house (due to the nightmare-ish experience of removing so much of it), I can't help but love the vintage feel of this wallpaper pattern for a child's room. It's so charming.
2. Clip-ring Curtains: I like that these curtains only extend to the bottom of the window rather than the going down to floor. This gives them a child-size proportion to the space. It also allows more room for furniture along the walls.
3. Cozy Bed: This upholstered day bed looks perfectly tailored for this room. By having it hugged up against the corner of the room, it creates the perfect nook for reading and sleeping.
4. Area Rug: The woven fabric also has a warm old-fashioned feel and pattern to it...like something you would see in an old farmhouse.
5. Twig Lamp: This lamp has such great character and brings a child's imagination to life. It fits into the honey bee nature theme too.
6. Nightstand and Chair: Both are made using a dark wood stain that stands in contrast to the white and yellows around them. They also reflect nature being left in their natural state rather than being painted.

I continue to enjoy exploring the thousands of pictures on Houzz's website. Although, it appears they do not want their photos to be pinned on Pinterest (boo). I'm guessing that's because they want you to use their own Ideabooks. One way around that is to link out to the original website the picture came from and pin it from there instead (my tricky mind finds ways around most obstacles)! Happy Houzz browsing!

Pssst... In case you didn't notice, J&K Homestead created a Facebook Page over the weekend (http://facebook.com/jkhomestead)! Woo Hoo! You can click the "Like" button to the right side of this website to join the page OR click HERE to be re-directed to that page! Thanks to all who "Liked" our page! It's much appreciated!

Houzz Inspiration: Another Great Resource

Has anyone else checked out the Houzz website?

This site is just loaded with oodles and oodles of inspiring home photos (around 130,000 photos as seen above). The site allows you to create what they call Ideabooks to save your favorite pictures. I did not create Ideabooks through this because I use Pinterest for saving my inspiriation, but I'm sure this would work well too.

The site allows you to search through the photos in 4 ways:

1. By Style (Asian, Contemporary, Traditional, Eclectic etc)
2. By Space (Bathroom, Kitchen, Living Room etc)
3. By Metro (Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle etc)
4. General Search bar to type any home/design-related term you want to research

I found that most of the photos I love are in the Traditional category - like this beautiful kitchen.

Once you select a photo view, the site is set up with all kinds of information about the photo. When you scroll your mouse over the photo, green tags appear...

...and each green tag provides information about the product in the room. So, if I scroll over the green tag on the light fixture, it tells me the details...


Below the photo are listed several different actions you can take regarding the photo, including adding the photo to your ideabook (I just pin it onto my Pinterest boards), email the photo to yourself, or ask a question about the photo...


Below the photo is a place to leave comments or ask questions. And guess what? You actually receive answers to your questions from the owner of the photo!


To the side of the webpage, is a list of all the photos from the house where this kitchen photo was taken...


It includes other angles and more detailed shots of this kitchen I love so much. Here are the many things I love just about the sink area...



So, what do you think? Pretty great resource tool for home design lovers, right?

Check out Houzz for yourself by clicking HERE!

More Temptation

I came across another website today that is full of stuff I want to buy. Maybe you've heard of it (or not - like me)? It's called Ballard Designs.


The site provides European-inspired home furnishings and accessories. In just the short amount of time I spent browsing the site, I found a thousand things I wanted. Some of the prices are "reasonable" and some are a bit pricey. But it's inspirational and fun if nothing else.

Here are a few items I liked.

1. One-of-A-Kind Lock ($25): Each style is patterned after a found vintage lock and comes with decorative key. Use them to start your own collection and then collect more on your own. You won't know which type you'll get until it arrives in its own drawstring jute pouch, so it's a fun surprise. (Love this.)


2. Shell Shadowbox (Sale $24.99): Individual sea shells are always beautiful, but massed together, they create stunning natural art. You can purchase a 2-section, 4-section, or 8-section box. Each option is shown in the picture.


This would be a great DIY item...I pinned it to my DIY board!

3. Set of 12 Hanging Label Holders ($16): Crafted of metal with a slot for your own labels and a hole for a ribbon or twine hanger (not included). Antique bronze finish. I love to organize!!!


4. Custom Stamps ($40-$60): This is a totally customizable stamp that adds a personal touch to notes, letters and packages. The personalized design produces thousands of impressions. I want this ASAP! Here is 1 of the many designs they offer...

There are a ton of personalized items to purchase on this website.

5. Carriage House Chandelier - Small ($129): This would be ideal in an entry or small dining area. It can be hung or semi-flush mounted. It comes in bronze (shown below) or white. I want this light in the white semi-flushmount version for our downstairs hallway.


6. Rattan Step Basket ($45): Designed to rest at the bottom of your stairs, so you can fill it with things that really belong upstairs. Small organizer basket inside has three compartments and lifts out. Larger step-shaped basket has one deep well for taller items. We need this for our stairs!



I could shop and shop and shop at this website. However, my pocketbook prevents me from doing so. In the meantime, I'll window shop (computer monitor shop?) ... and plan for Christmas presents in December.

Also, there are only a few store locations in the U.S. (none of them near me), but they have an online catalog for browsing/shopping and you can request catalogs to be sent by mail for FREE. I love the word "free".

Just thought I'd share the world-wide-web-love with you. XO!