Midweek greetings all – did you catch Mad Men this past week? Ack! I’m totally hooked again! I loved that opening scene in Hawaii with all the retro aloha prints, didn’t you? And speaking of, I promised a tour of the Aulani where we stayed while vacationing in Oahu a few weeks ago.

The Aulani is one of Disney’s several vacation spots so at first we had our skepticism as to just how relaxing this place would actually be and since it’s Disney, we had “theme park” expectations. We picked it because we knew our kids (age 7 and 9) would enjoy it. Truth is, we found the resort to be just as fun as they did, and the entire experience was incredibly relaxing. Here are some scenes of the amenities and perks that are included when you stay at the Aulani resort in Oahu.

The hotel sits on a manmade lagoon in KoOlina where you can lounge and little kids can play in the gentle lapping waves. There are plenty of water activities, including paddle boarding and canoeing, and morning yoga to start your day.

The greeting is impressive, you’re welcomed with smiles and leis upon arrival and the check-in process is smooth. After a long plane ride and the jostling to pick up your bags and rent a car and find the place 25 minutes up the highway, there’s something so so AMAZING about stepping out of your car, and being welcomed to the islands like this.

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I’ve had my head wrapped up in ideas for my fabrics for the past few days and then realized some of you asked about pattern mixing in the comments on my youngest daughter’s room (see it here). One question was how to go about mixing patterns successfully and Michelle offered up a few really great tips last week.

My approach to effectively use multiple patterns in a room is to start with one pattern that will dictate the palette and go from there. I pick a patterned fabric I love (or sometimes rugs or wallpaper or artwork) and use that as a jumping off point for the additional colors and patterns that will be included in the space. Here are some examples of the technique in some beautiful designer spaces and then a quick example of my own.

This wallpaper in this sitting room sets a lavender and green palette with the lampshades playing off the green and the purple zebra mimicking the hue found in the flower pattern above.

New England Home

Two colors next to each other on the color wheel will work together, below is a beautiful medley of bold green and blue in a floral paired with geometric print wallpaper and accent pillows, that print taking its color cue from the botanical. Mixing florals with geometrics is a win win combination!

Thibaut Design

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I’ve been a DIYer for like ever but I have to say this is one of my favorite DIY projects to date. I mentioned last month how I was going to build some outdoor planters and last week, Matt and I built two outdoor planters for the courtyard to frame the French doors. When I first started this project I planned on a Chippendale style, but stopped at the basic criss-cross pattern – the simplicity appealed to me. We’ve built a lot of things together, but these are my new favorites!

We referred to Ana’s cedar planter plans to get us started but varied the height and width of the cuts, and then added the X pattern detail at the end. We used a combination of pine and poplar from Lowes, here is the wood cut list for each planter and how we assembled them:

Wood Cut List Per Planter:

Sides:  1 x 6” boards cut at 21.5” length (12 pieces)

Legs: 2 x 2” boards cut at 24” length (4 pieces)

Top + Bottom Slats: 1 x 3” cut at 16.5” width (8 pieces)

Interior Supports: 1 x 2” cut at 16.5” width (2 pieces) and 1 x 8” at 16.5” width (2 pieces)

Criss Cross Pattern:  1 x 2” cut at 42 degree (4 pieces at 22.5” length) and 7 degree angles (8 pieces cut at 10.5”length (see diagram below))

Tool + Supply List:

Compound miter saw; Kreg Jig; measuring tape; safety eyewear; power screwdriver; brad nailer (or hammer and brad nails); wood screws, sander, respirator (for sanding and spray priming/painting); paint or stain, wood (see cut list).

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Hey everyone! Today I’m excited to announce a project that has been in the works for over a year. Long ago in the dark ages before Pinterest, I was bookmarking DIY tips and tutorials on my computer to keep track of all the cool ideas or helpful information I wanted to refer to in the future.

From time to time, I’d link to a few on the site, and those infrequent features led to regular series you all know as the Best of the Blogosphere. Problem was, as time went by, the features were getting buried under more recent posts, and I was getting way too many emails about projects featured in the past. Cue the necessity for a well cataloged library of all that amazingness! 

Now that Pinterest exists, I include many inspiring ideas in my DIY Inspiration board, but I wanted to create a library dedicated to home improvement and interior decorating ideas. Pinterest is great, but often research leads to a bad source or no source (grrrr), so I decided to gather up all my favorites in a reliable spot. 

Today I’d like to introduce you to the Best of DIY site – a place where I’ve gathered over 1,000 excellent tutorials and tips in one organized place. The categories range from home improvement to crafting to fabric projects and include outdoor ideas too. Drop down menus make searching by category easy.

Here’s the best part – all of the galleries link to original sources which take you the right place in one click of your mouse – bookmark or Pin from the original source of brilliance as you please.

Some of the galleries are small for now (like Fall and Christmas Decorating), but as those holidays approach there will be plenty more ideas to browse – I’ll be sure to let you know when they’re packed with more inspiring blogger projects. Feel free to email us through the contact form to submit your projects for consideration to be featured, or if you know of an amazing DIY tip you’ve seen elsewhere, send it our way!

I have to give a great big shout out to my assistant in this endeavor – you all know Amanda who helps me scout the BOTB links. She has worked tirelessly behind the scenes for months to assist me in uploading all of this information. We’ve emailed back and forth and finally organized all of this DIY goodness in one place. Thank you Amanda, I couldn’t have done this without you!!!  

The new site is a really great resource and I see it as a way to continue to promote all of you – have fun exploring Best of DIY – I encourage you to come back often because we’ll be uploading a dozen or so links a week of the best ideas from around the web. The ‘Best of the Blogosphere’ series will continue, but now you know where to find all the goodies! 

Enjoy browsing the galleries – and have a great weekend!

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