This giveaway is closed.  Thank you for entering!

Who’s ready for the weekend?  I know I am after a long week.  Before we get to the weekend, we’ve got a fun way to add a little more color to your home.  Pillows from My Pillow Studio, available in a variety of colors and patterns.  Here are my favorites for fall.

Ikat Gray and Yellow:

Yellow and White:

Coral and White:

Orange and White:

Like what you see?  Good!  Here’s your chance to win.

The Goods: A pair of 18 inch square pillow covers in any fabric from My Pillow Studio.

To Enter:  Leave a comment!

This year, I’m actually ahead of my usual week before holiday decorating schedule.  As in, our front porch is ready for Halloween.  Bring on the trick-or-treaters!  It’s nothing special, just left overs from years past, pumpkins, dollar store birds and skulls, and a DIY project or two.

Because we’re got two little guys, I didn’t want anything bloody, gory, or scary.  Just a little spooky.  I made the black feather wreath a few years ago.  Sure, it’s a little smaller than I’d like, but it does the job.  On the left side of the door, I set a dollar store skeleton in the planter.  Our pumpkins, ready for carving, add nice color.  And a cut paper tree silhouette wrapped around a cheap vase is a fun luminary.

To the right side I added a birdcage Ben found in the garbage at the apartments.

Filled with pine cones, a cheap crow, and a skeleton, it looks more suitable for Halloween.  I’d like to cover the table with something to dress it up, but I don’t know what yet.  Two more pumpkins and a tombstone round out the grouping.

Wanting one more thing, I made the tombstone with supplies I already had at home.  A piece of foam insulation, utility knife, and Martha Stewart Terra Cotta paint I bought at Home Depot on clearance for fifty cents, not knowing what I’d use it on.

For a tombstone look, I cut the top into a half round shape using the utility knife.

Using a pencil, I carved the name Frank N. Stein and dates in the foam.

Then I randomly brushed the paint on.  Sand in the paint gives a nice, gritty texture.

Three coats of paint kind of filled in the text, so I went back over with a thick black Sharpie to high light the text.

Now all we have to do is carve pumpkins and hope the trick-or-treaters are willing to hike up our driveway for candy.

Have you started or finished decorating for Halloween?  Are you planning a Halloween party?  Do you stick to a theme?  Brooklyn Limestone’s Halloween themes are always super fun.

More often than not, our projects go exactly as planned.  Or we can tweak it until it does.  Other times, it is a total failure before it really even starts.  Dead in the water.  Well, this is one of those times.  We’ve still got plenty of work in the family room, kitchen, and office before we can paint, but I thought I’d get a head start by testing my favorite sample.  You know, the one I had mentally painted the whole area with?  My ringer, as it were.  All along, I’d thought Restoration Hardware’s Silver Sage would be perfect.

After using many RH colors at our first house, I grew to love their pretty, but muted colors.  Silver Sage is a nice greenish blue with enough gray to keep it calm.  Then, I made a startling discovery.  Okay, not startling, but a discovery none the less.  RH’s Silver Sage and Behr’s Silver Sage were nearly identical.

So I figured I’d give it a shot.  I bought a sample of Behr paint, planning to test it on the walls and use it for another project.  Because I have the patience of a two-year old, I walked in the door, set my stuff down, grabbed a paint brush, and make two swatches.  One in the family room, another behind the fridge in my office.  And I waited for it to dry.  And that’s when I made another startling discovery.  Truly, this one surprised me.  The color looked great in my sunny, south-facing office.

Just as I had imagined.  But in the dark, north facing family room, it looked baby blue.

Eeeek.  When Ben came home from work, I first asked what he thought of the color in the office.  He said he liked it.  So I told him to look at the family room swatch, to which he replied, “It’s so bright it hurts my eyes.”  Yes, it was that bad.  And here’s the kicker, he didn’t believe they were the same color.

Based on this side by side (with the same editing) I don’t think anyone would.  Which is sad, because now I’ve got to find a new sample that will look good in the bright office and dim family room.

After pouring over my Glidden, Dutch Boy, Martha Stewart, and Ben Moore swatch books, I’ve narrowed my selection to four colors.  So here are my new options, all from Ben Moore.  1.  Beach Glass, which looks even brighter thank Silver Sage.  2.  Duxbury Gray, considerably darker with more green.  3.  Iced Marble and Greyhound, more blue and less green.  4.  Heather Gray, seemingly a darker and more green/gray version of Silver Sage.  And my current front-runner, despite the darker hue.  I’ve also considered using Silver Sage, but toning it down in the family room with a gray wash over.  But that seems far more complicated and touching up any areas down the road will be impossible.  Oh, decisions.

I’ve picked out colors I didn’t like before, but not such a muted one.  Something I was so sure of before.  What would you do?  Do you have a favorite muted green/blue?    What was the worst color you chose?

To the survey.  100 of you filled it out (thank you!) and here are the results.

Most readers are women between the ages of 26 and 34, in a relationship, with kids and/or pets.  So, kinda like me.  And you’re all so sweet.  Let me show you:

“You read “real” (does that make sense?) and I like your style. Looking forward to seeing the new life in that great mountain house of yours as you transform it into HOME.”

“I think your very funny and your style and personality seems to match mine very well. Reading about how you guys transformed your old house and how you are improving your new home as well inspires me to do the same with my future home. I can’t wait to incorporate the things I have learned from reading your blog into our future house.”

“I like your style, the fun/easy/cheap art projects which include the kiddos, the built-in & molding projects… I could go on and on. Definitely like that your writing is short, sweet, concise. Some blogs (even though I still love them) can get wordy (and repeat themselves over and over in the same post) and I tend to skip through them fast just to get to the pictures.”

“You have a great mix of projects, tutorials, and personal writing. I like how your husband seems to know a lot of serious constructions stuff, so those tutorials are helpful to me in knowing what someone I hire should be doing 🙂 It’s different from what is on other blogs.”

“You’re relatable, projects are something I’d do but never knew how to get started, you make it clear what is reasonable for a regular diy-er to do and what is best for a pro to be called in for, a lot of the crafty ‘stuff’ you do is way cheaper than buying it and actually looks better”

“Personally more interested in the building and heavy decorating type projects rather than the etsy stuff and the Photoshop designs/handmade art. Sewing/painting projects are interesting as well. Basically, a lot of blogs offer designs, but where you guys stand out is that you have the skills to do some serious construction. A lot of bloggers aren’t trained professionals like Ben, so it sets you ahead of the curve.”

Of course I already knew how great you were, but it’s a good reminder.  Sometimes it is easier to take the negative comments to heart.

We’ve gotten requests for more organizational and living solutions, followed up by building projects.

For the most part, it seems easy to navigate, leave comments, and contact us.  But it’s not as easy to find a project, relate to the projects, and follow tutorials.

I’ve been (trying to) update the blog, including a Projects & Tutorials page with links to all the tutorials we’ve shared.  Just click on the text link to get to the full page.

Of course, if you’re looking for a project, but can’t find it, don’t hesitate to send me an email, Facebook, or comment.  I’m happy to help you find what you’re looking for.  Hopefully updating categories will help, too.

As for tutorials, when I can, I post full, clear, step by step instructions with pictures.  However, I’m hesitant to post a ‘here’s exactly how to do it’ tutorial if it covers something Ben does, which I’m not familiar with.  You see, I don’t want to make everything seem too easy.  The projects we (fine, Ben) tackle aren’t always simple.  Because of that, they might not be safe if you don’t know what you’re doing.  Or if I don’t know what I’m doing/writing/telling you to do.  I’ll try to make building/electrical tutorials more clear, but we can’t be your sole source of information.  If you are uncertain about a project, do research, ask, or hire a professional.  Better to be safe than sorry.

I guess I don’t know how to make projects more relatable  because everyone is different.  So are the situations.

More than a few comments got me thinking, so I’m here to discuss them.  Like this one:

“Seriously, I think you’d have a good blog if you just put in your own personality. I don’t know how I landed at your blog but within weeks I noticed the similarity. Now I just open your post in reader every now and then and honestly just roll my eyes at the similarities, mostly in the structure of your posts.”

I’m sorry you feel that way.  I write the same way I’d speak to you if we met in person.  Similarities will always appear if you’re searching, and a lot of home improvement blog structures are similar because the nature of the content.

And this:

“Think of a way to be different from other bloggers. I will be completely honest and say that when I first started reading your blog I kept getting a vibe that it was a copycat of what the most popular DIY blogs were doing (monthly sponsor post. Superlatives, giveaways, etc.) That turned me off. But after a while, I started to really dig the way you were taking on the huge renovation of the new house.  Be your own captain.  Blog about something differently than others – a new topic, a new contest type, a new avenue for sharing. There has got to be something that’s unique about OHA that no one else could do as well as you.”

I think OHA is different from a lot of other home improvement blogs because we’re willing and able to tackle a range of projects.  Whether I’m sewing, organizing, and crafting.  Or Ben’s building furniture/cabinets, remodeling a kitchen or bath, changing electrical, or installing windows.  Most of the projects we tackle we’re doing ourselves.  Not many people have the skills or know how to do the variety of projects these days.  But, I would like to explore new options, like the Craft Challenge I issued last week.

“I would love more pictures in tutorials – especially craft and sewing tutorials. Pictures of more of the stages. I think you do a great job, but the lighting in your photos isn’t great (sorry to bring it up, I know you work really hard on this blog).  If you look at most DIY/craft blogs, they start with a picture of the supplies all laid out. Just a more polished look on tutorials would be great, and maybe try experimenting with camera settings etc? Katie Bower has some great tutorials on making the most of your camera. I think that excellent sharp photography could really take OHA to the next level, because the projects you tackle are brilliant!”

Looking through old posts, picture quality has definitely improved.  I thought I was doing better, but I’m still learning and getting to know my camera.  If pictures are looking a little dark, feel free to write a helpful comment letting me know.  Oh, and if you want larger pictures just click on it to enlarge.

That’s the run down.  And my random thoughts.  You can still take the survey, if you’d like.  The more info you’re willing to share helps me make this blog better.  Of course you can leave comments here, too.