Year of Change {January Reveal}

It's a super busy day over here at Commona My House!

Have you entered to win the Portland Collection Caitlin Wilson Pillows yet? 

Be sure to enter by Monday 2/2 at Midnight!!!

 I'm thrilled to share my January Paint a Room Challenge with you today!

If you're new to Year of Change, head here for all of the fun details for this year-long design challenge.

As usual, I am joined on this journey by my talented friends, 

Rosa Beltran Design

Suburban Bitches

Life on Virginia Street

I have been wanting to update my builder's grade kitchen since we moved into our home. I had BIG PLANS...

I love the warm white, subway tile, gray cabinetry, unique brass pulls, greenery (in my case I'd use succulents, not just lettuce, heehee) and the warm wood touches throughout. 

via

1. Paint the walls Sherwin Williams "Dover White".

2. Paint the cabinetry and island Sherwin Williams "Dovetail Gray".

3. Replace our clunky white kitchen counter stools with smaller scale, clean line, wood/metal ones.

Kira Bar Stool
 Wayfair

4. Replace busy, outdated, green and beige backsplash with subway or hex tile in a warm, creamy tone that will blend with the "Dover White" walls, but downplay the granite.

Gotham Hex, Antique White                    Ultra Cream Subway 

Home Depot                                             FireClay Tile

5. Brass Fixtures, knobs, pulls.

via

6. Use Cream, Gray, Blue and Green soft and sophisticated fabrics throughout on windows and table cloths. 

Well, and then, I could finally break out all of my Jadeite colored accents and love my kitchen.

Portland {Caitlin Wilson Portland Collection & Giveaway}

***The Caitlin Wilson Pillow Giveaway winner is Michelle Peterson with an IG comment.
Winner was chosen randomly. Thank you all for entering and sharing encouragement regarding my upcoming move to PDX! 

So...a lot can happen in a short amount of time. Things for me have never been constant for too long for some reason despite my desire for roots. I like to think of myself as a sort of Mary Poppins, but without all of the talent...when the wind changes course, I'm off again.

And with that, I'll share that after being in Utah for only 18 months...we are moving again.

Job transfers and promotions have taken us through 15 moves in 17 years at this point.

But what makes this unexpected move a bit brighter? It's to Portland, Oregon! I'm an East Coast girl and ALWAYS thought that if I ever moved again it would be back home to Connecticut. 

But PORTLAND is a pretty amazing place, so I'm warming up to the idea and thinking it will be an amazing new chapter, in an inspiring new town.

To help me get all excited about my soon to be new city

I'm watching a lot of Portlandia, 

studying up fun places to go when we get there,

and GIVING AWAY CAITLIN WILSON PORTLAND COLLECTION PILLOWS!!!

One very lucky winner will receive the pillow covers shown below.

Bridgecity Blooms on Grey {14'x20")

Burnside Buffalo Check (20"x20")

Gold Dot (20"x20")

To enter, leave a comment below, telling me which pillow is your favorite from her Portland Collection.

For optional additional entries: 

-Leave an additional comment below sharing which of all of Caitlin's Patterns is your favorite (Pillows, Fabrics, Rugs, anything). 

-Follow me on Instagram (@amysagedemik),
look for the Caitlin Wilson Pillow Giveaway post & tag 3 friends.

-Re-Gram 

-Follow me on Twitter

-Re-tweet 

*Giveaway ends on Monday at Midnight MST. Winner will be chosen at random and notified/announced on Tuesday before 12Noon.

Are you dying????!!!!

I selected these 3 pillows at Caitlin's Alice Lane Trunk Show last weekend...just for you!

Thank you to Caitlin and her staff for furnishing this giveaway! It is the perfect way to celebrate my move to Portland!

XO,

*Gold Foil State Print 

Wordless Wednesday Inspiration {Sherwin Williams "Distance"}

via

I Heart Valentines {2 Easy Valentine Decor Ideas}

I'm getting ready for Valentine's Day at my house!
I've made quite a few Valentine DIYs but these two projects are my favorites...and they are my most pinned Valentine Projects, as well!!!

YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN ICE CREAM Printable
Shown in Raspberry and Mandarin.
Free Printable. Frame them, stick them up somewhere...or what I love to use them for: Print them out and tie to a pint of Ben & Jerry's. 


Heart Shaped Candy Box Door Decoration
The best DIYs involve eating a box of chocolates, right?!
Step by Step instructions and inspiration to make this quick and unique project. 



XXXOOO,

Downton Decor Club: Season 5, Episode 4 {Crawley Women & Their Suitors}

There were a lot of "OH NO"s last night for me. One being Anna's curious delivery (in person) to Gillingham's residence and to Piccadilly. How did she know the exact spot where Green died? And why were Green's final words, "Why have you come"?  All of this has me a bit bothered.

I also did an "OH NO", when Tony didn't take too kindly to Mary's farewell.
Everyone: "OH NO"!

*For my third "OH NO", see below.



I think it is really interesting this season, that there is a full arc with the Crawley women.
Each one, Violet, Isobel, Cora, Mary, Edith, Rose (and Crawley women figuratively such as Daisy, Miss Bunting, perhaps Anna) ...has a story line which involves being a more liberated woman regarding her relationships. {Correlating with the movement happening at that time with women's rights, suffrage, clothing styles...all across the board (and Miss Bunting is quite symbolic) women are being assertive and independent...and learning how to express this new found voice of living in  the 20th Century).

Violet and Karagin.
Isobel and Lord Merton.
Cora and Mr. Bricker.
Mary and Tony...and Charles.
Edith and Gregson.
Rose and her future husband...and how she begs Shrimpy to not force her into a marriage of convenience. That she will only marry for love.

OK, enough of the plot...all I am going to say is that there are so many parallels that it has me wanting another hour each episode.  I mean Violet and Karagin.... are Cora and Bricker...I have to stop...I'll give too much away. In case you haven't seen Episode 4, head over here!



Alright, now for my Downton Decor Observations!

Malachite Monday {Malachite Frame; Mix & Match}

via
Style at Home

Throwback Thursday {DIY Valentine Doormat}

HI! Today's Throwback Thursday DIY is my simple "Arrow End Doormat" that I made for the DECK THE DOOR display at the Deseret News Home Show last October.

The DECK THE DOOR CHALLENGE was all about bringing personality to your front door while staying on budget (under $50). Each designer was assigned a month, I was given February.
AND GUESS WHAT? IT'S ALMOST FEBRUARY!!!
I loved this project. 
In fact, the doormat is in use in my house as we speak.
-----------------------------

I really wanted to make a door mat. So I did, for under $15.

Supplies

Coir Mat

Stiff Paint Brushes in various sizes

Black Exterior Paint

Sharpie Marker

Cardboard 

Spray Adhesive

I headed to IKEA and found a plain $9.99 coir mat and went to work!

Initially I thought I'd make a Heart Shaped Valentine's Mat but I really wanted to make something that would work for several months and not just be specifically for Valentines Day. Not to mention, I'm not necessarily cutesy...so something with a geometric design is more my style. I thought of this easy ARROW END design that could be used all year round. Actually, I think I'll be using mine from Thanksgiving through February! (Several elements in my design for the Show are adaptable to other times of the year...I use feathers, arrows and stripes throughout my display..I'll be sharing those DIYs over the weekend). 

Once I had my arrow design, I printed it out and used spray adhesive to easily glue the template to a white piece of cardboard. Then I cut out my arrow template. 

To use this template, right click, save this file and print.

Print arrow template, spray cardboard, press arrow template sheet onto cardboard, then cut out your arrow shape so you have a template to trace. 

I then traced the template onto the mat with a Sharpie marker. 

This can be as simple or as precise as you'd like. I kept mine on the simple side. If you wanted to you could measure and tape out a grid so that your arrows were perfectly aligned. I just sort of went at it with my template. I traced with the Sharpie, went over the Sharpie line with a thin, stiff brush and then filled in the center of the arrow with a thicker, stiff brush. (I tried using a sponge brush but it really didn't work well on the coir). The coir is imperfect and that is sort of the nature of working with this material...you may not have PERFECT straight lines...but that is the look of this rough material. 

As I continued to trace, paint and fill in my arrows, I realized that some of my arrows were better than others...I kept the better ones open and didn't fill them in...the ones that were a bit wonky I filled in.  I loved this more contemporary design approach.

After about an hour of painting I loved the result and knew it was just the right, fresh door mat for my February Home Show Door.

A few tips, it did take about an hour. Put on some good music and DON'T try to kneel on the mat. It is quite stiff and a bit painful to actually kneel on that sucker while you're painting. Your knees will thank me!

Be sure to come back over the weekend for more DIYs from my Valentine Home Show Display!!
XO!

Wordless Wednesday Inspiration {Sherwin Williams "Tricorn Black"}

Backyard Bungalows {Mid Century Modern Man Cave Exterior}

It was such a fantastic experience to work with Cynthia Bee of The Conservation Garden Park and Jordan Valley Home and Garden Club on this Man Cave. For the exterior of the shed we wanted to go for a bang with this drain pipe vertical garden idea. 

via

It has been all over Pinterest in various forms.

We selected a color to match our front porch table, that was a Thrift Store find and Cynthia went about designing the project by using inexpensive items that can be found at Home Depot.

On our shed, Cynthia cut the drain pipe 8 feet long, the width of the shed.
She then cut out sections for planting. We loved the deep teal paint that we used on the table on the front porch (you know it's one of my favorite colors), so the drain pipes and end caps all got a coat of paint. You can see that the rest of the installation was pretty simple. Hooks, S Hooks and Chain. 

And Succulents.
It was so much fun to see people's reactions to this installation. Everyone went nuts for the succulents, although, this would make a pretty fantastic kitchen garden with lettuce and herbs.

Our Man Cave door was pretty incredible. It was a fabricated metal sliding barn door.
But it wasn't complete with out a wreath, if you will.....so this vintage dart board was just the right touch. 

And you can see the scale below. It's a pretty small Shed, 8 feet by 7 feet total. But it was seriously the perfect size for a Man Cave, Office or what I would have loved to use it for...a Studio. 

Head over here to see the Man Cave's Interior Design.

It was such a pleasure to be involved in this project.
Thanks again to The Salt Lake Home Show, Wrights Shed Company, NW Artisan Hardware, The Jordan Valley Home and Garden Club, The Green Ant and Humble Dwellings.