Design Your Own Rug - Cafe Press

Have you ever been perusing Pinterest and looking through the various pins and thought you would like to design your own rug?  I know I have and there are so many great ideas out there.  I was beyond ecstatic when someone from CafePress contacted me about doing a review for one of their personalized products.  When I discovered you could design your own rug I was hooked but alas I 'm getting a little ahead of myself.

For those of you who aren't familiar with CafePress they offer customized products in conjunction with letting you sell your own customized products on their site.  It really is pretty sweet.

The range of products you can customize is pretty wide.  You can start out with your basics.  Design your own t-shirt.  The have v-necks, tank tops, raglan style, and even maternity shirts.  One of my all time favorite items of clothing are hoodies.  A person can never have too many hoodies, at least in my opinion.  My husband might think otherwise as he starts to loose space in our closet.

As Mother's and Father's Day approaches you may want to check out their other personalized products.  Their prices are pretty decent and so far I have been impressed with the contact I'm working with.

It doesn't just stop at clothing and dishware.  You can personalize your own shower curtains, blankets, i-phone cases and of course rugs.  

I gathered a bunch of photos for some inspiration and started designing away.  Rugs are a great way to bring pattern into your home and I love pattern.  Right now I'm really into fresh and clean neutral rooms with pops of color and pattern.  If you can't tell, herringbone patterns have always been a favorite of mine.

When I first started the design process I thought I would go with a neutral gray, it would go with everything.  Of course I would add my color through my accessories.

Then I was looking through photos and decided I liked the stark contrast of black and white rugs and came up with this ombre herringbone rug.  I love both concepts.  You have to imagine this pattern at a large scale as it would be a 3 x 5 rug.

I think I will play around a little bit more with a larger print and if I can decide for sure which room I want it in, perhaps I will even add some fun colors.

What do you think?  How would you design your own rug?  I'm so excited to submit my design and see how the final product turns out.  Stay tuned!

Using Grey In Interiors

Photo Courtesy of Keeping It Real

It's no secret the grey is one of the hottest colors trending right now. It's everywhere! From wedding colors to everyday fashion, baby nursery to party themes. And, it comes in almost every color combination imaginable; pink and grey, teal and grey, blue and grey, green and grey, and probably the most popular, yellow and grey. Heck, I even selected grey for my blog and website design.

All around it is a great color.

Today though I want to talk about using grey in interiors, specifically as a paint color. It's a great choice in general terms because it still has that touch of neutralism allowing you to add pops of color through your accessories and doesn't overtake your room. However, using grey in interiors can be a little tricky if you don't know what you're looking for.

When selecting any paint I always recommend that you put a sample up in your house and watch it through out the day under all the different lighting it will go through, because the color will change in appearance. Grey is no exception.

Typically when you are at Home Depot or any other store you are looking at the paint samples under a fluorescent lamp which in basic terms means that blue is rendered onto the object the light falls onto where as your everyday incandescent lamp tends to project a more yellow tone. Thus it isn't unheard of to find a paint sample in the store that looks like a nice cool grey but in your home turns an interesting shade of green, especially at night.

SOMETIMES, the quick answer to avoid your grey turning green is to look for a more blue based grey as opposed to one with a yellow base.

(If you don't know how to tell, look at the colors that are around it. You can also ask to look at a paint fan deck which will have the colors divided by base color. )

Regardless patience becomes the key. When selecting paints I usually follow three simple steps.

1.) Find the paint chips (the paper samples a the store) that I think I want to try. I will get at least two or three samples. I then take these chips home and look at them in the spaces where they would be painted. I watch them throughout the day seeing how the color changes under the various lighting that is found throughout the space.

2.) When I think I have found the right color/s I will purchase a sample kit. If you don't want to paint directly onto the wall/s you can buy a couple pieces of cheap wood to test your sample on. After is has completely dried I again watch it throughout the course of a day to see how it changes. (paint tends to dry just slightly darker than what is on the paint chip)

3.) Finally, if my color selection has passed the two tests above I get to work. If it doesn't pass I start the process all over until I am completely satisfied.

Have you used grey in an interior space? What was your experience?