Faux Brick Hardboard Wall Panels

I took a trip to IKEA recently and noticed the badly patched seam in this brick wall on one of their displays and thought, "oh, that's not brick then. duh."

Looks like they could have filled the gaps a little better? But I did like the effect of the texture from the "bricks."

Later I did some digging around the web and I discovered these faux brick hardboard sheets at Lowes. I wonder why I've never noticed these before in the lumber aisle? About $26 for a 4x8' sheet is so affordable! And the reviews are all really positive.

I think with a little effort and some plaster you could make the walls of your bathroom or laundry room look crusty and old like this:

Or if you're on a super-tight budget, I bet you could use the sheets in your kitchen even (painted flat black or white like the IKEA room above, but seamed better, of course!). Have you ever tried the faux brick hardboards? I'm dying to use them somewhere now!

(WHOA, FLOORS! ^^^)

My Kitchen Pendants and a Circa Goodman Substitute

Along with what seems like every other decorator on the planet, I love Circa Lighting's Goodman cone pendants. The prices rance from about $400 to $900 each depending on the finish. They are so gorgeous:

(all images via Circa's Blog)

When I was deciding on pendants for our little kitchen remodel (both in size and in budget), I really wanted something like those from Circa. If only these paper shade cone pendants from Shades of Light existed at the time! Maybe for our next house :)

For our kitchen though we ended up with these black/oil-rubbed bronze pendants from Home Depot (of all places!). I wasn't even looking for pendants that trip to the HD, but they sang out to me from across the light bulb aisle.

I bought three on the spot for about $75 each, which is a pretty great deal, I think.

We love how they look with the newly painted cabinets and they work great - so no regrets here for going the inexpensive route this time.

Where did you buy your kitchen sconces?

Marble Floors

Today is the last day of summer vacation for my girls. I am full of all the mixed emotions moms usually have on this day. Part of me is saying "YEAH!" and part of me is heartbroken. It's been a good summer, but also it's been a bit of a whirlwind. Can't we have just one more week?

Also, it's pouring outside and I love the rain in early autumn. It makes the streets a little cleaner and the breeze is so nice and cool. We have the back doors and windows all open, and coloring books and puzzles all over the floors. It's been a lovely, lazy morning. And now I'm putzing around on Pinterest looking into kitchen floors, trying to figure out which direction I want to go there. I really need to decide soon.

So far, I'm most drawn to these these marble floors. Wouldn't they be perfect in my small kitchen? At this point, I'm open to most anything though and would love to hear what you used in your kitchens. Also, what would you never use again?

Cabbage White

I have paint colors on the brain today. The landlord is paying to have the whole brownstone professionally painted, which is awesome (and was a bit unexpected to be honest). I'm just so, so glad I don't have to paint the 20' high stairwell on the parlor floor myself (YIKES!).

I'm probably going to go with a very pale gray for all the common area walls (I LOVE Benjamin Moore's Pale Oak), but I'm super-duper tempted by Farrow and Ball's Cabbage White. It's this really bright, clear greeny-bluey white. I think it would be so fresh!

image from Lonny

Off to grab some sample pots to throw up on the wall this morning before the painter needs my final choices. I'll be sure to share on instagram (my handle is @jennykomenda).