Decorating Made Easy: Decorating with the 60-30-10 Rule

Posted on September 7, 2011August 6, 2019

The 60-30-10 rule is a tested concept used by interior decorators everywhere. It’s a simple proportion that spells out the ideal amounts of color to use in your decorating.

To keep it as simple as possible, 60% of your room should be composed of your dominant color, 30% should be composed of a secondary color and that final 10% should be reserved for accents. Now, maybe that sounds a little confusing . . . so here are some examples:

This room is a perfect example of the 60-30-10 rule in practice.
60% = Lavendar (walls and blanket)
30% = White (bed and fireplace)
10% = brown/tan (chairs, dresser, floor)

Another great example:
60% = Tan (walls, floors) 30% Brown (couch, tables)
10% Blue and White (pillows, vases, etc.)

A classic example showing that you don’t need a soft, muted color on your walls to make this work.
60% = Red (walls, accessories)
30% = Cream (furniture, rug)
10% = Tan (floor, accessories)

Another great example that clearly demonstrates that the main color doesn’t need to be calm, simple, neutral or BORING!
60% = Green (walls, accessories)
30% = White (furniture, art prints)
10% = Dark Brown (floors, chair legs)

An example that proves you can use the 60-30-10 rule to work incredibly vibrant and bold colors smoothly into your decorating.
60% = Blue (walls, light)
30% = Pink (bedspread, chair, painted leaves)
10% = White (trim, doors)

The color options are endless and it’s not difficult to see that using this rule helps you keep your color scheme under control and helps you produce an end result that’s very focused, very clean and very inviting!

Dental Neglect and Home Improvements

Posted on August 4, 2011August 6, 2019

The other night, we–my family and I–were sitting in the living room, watching the Tigers. The kids were running around, driving us a little nuts and eventually there came a point when I stood up and put my hands on my hips. (Which really, is something I wish I didn’t do because my wife and kids always mock me and laugh and say that I think I’m a Super Hero. Which I don’t, the picture below notwithstanding. I just happen to stand like one.)

At any rate, I stood up, put my hands on my hips and said, “Alright! It’s time to brush your teeth!”

Caleb, my 10-year-old son, just snickered, nudged Andrew, his younger brother, and whispered in a too-loud whisper: “Look, Dad acting like he’s Superman again.”

I looked down and realized my hands were on my hips and my chest (or stomach) was all puffed out. All I really

Proof that I have a tendency to stand like a superhero.

lacked was a cape and tights. And muscles. And height.

I thought for a second about how sad a Super Hero I would actually make before returning to the issue at hand: “Go! Go brush your teeth. It’s time for bed.”

Well, they scampered off–all 5 of them–like a small heard of domesticated beasts. But amidst the thundering of their stampede, I heard something I couldn’t believe: I heard Andrew–in confidential and extremely boastful tones–say the following:

“I haven’t brushed my teeth in four days!”

To which Caleb responded with: “Wow. How do you get away with it?”

To which Andrew replied, “I fake it.”

Well, at that point, I’d heard enough. The last thing I need with 5 kids is for Andrew to start promulgating a gospel of dental neglect. I stomped into the room, stood with my feet shoulder-length apart, straightened my back, puffed out my chest (or stomach), put my hands on my hips and said:

“Andrew Peter! You will brush your teeth at least twice a day or…or…” I searched and searched for the right threat, the right punishment, the right ultimatum to level at this hygiene-negligent son of mine. Ah, yes, that will do. “Or, you will pay your own dental bills!”

Andrew’s face clouded over and he looked down in defeat. Then, he looked back up. “Where am I going to get money for all of that? I’m just a kid.”

What? Money for…? He was trying to get me off-topic. “It doesn’t matter where the money comes from,” I said. “I’m saying you’ll have to find it and pay the dentist for all the bills that you rack up because you don’t brush your teeth.”

There. A definitive closing argument. Now, we should be able to move on.

“You mean ‘pay him’ like when I pay at the restaurant? When you give me money and I pay? Like that?”

His eyes were big and innocent and I couldn’t tell if he was really curious or if he was messing with me.

“No. Not like that. You’ll have to earn the money yourself.”

He paused. Looked down, thinking. Then his face brightened: “Dad, the only money I get comes when I get Tooth Fairy money. So if I’d lose all my teeth, I’d have enough money to pay the dentist, right?” I started to respond that that didn’t make any sense, but he kept rolling. “But then, I wouldn’t have any teeth to brush or any teeth to have to pay the dentist to drill, right?” He was picking up steam now, the clear end of his logical masterpiece in sight. “So then, I’d have all the money and I wouldn’t have anything to pay the dentist for and, I wouldn’t have teeth to brush. I’d be rich.” He finished with a flourish and I half-expected the other kids to rise to their feet, clapping.

I needed to end this and I needed to end it now. I puffed out my chest one more time, struck my pose and said, “Brush your teeth” in a very no-nonsense kind of way.

Caleb, who’d watched the whole exchange, snickered and said, “Superman has spoken–we must obey.”

Well, that kind of broke the ice and we all laughed a little bit. But I couldn’t shake Andrew’s desire to not brush his teeth. I mean really, who intentionally tries to avoid brushing their teeth? Who else but a kid would ignore such a simple project–especially when ignoring that project is only going to lead to expensive and painful work down the road?

I was just thinking those thoughts when the home improvement point hit me (yes, I’ve written enough blogs and radio segments about paint to see paint-related points in everything): I’m doing the same thing he is–with the exact same consequences.

See, there are all sorts of little projects around my home. A hallway ceiling that should be painted. Kitchen cupboards that need to be touched-up. Some peeling edges on my wallpaper that should be stuck back down.

I’ve got all kinds of little projects. Some are bigger than others, but most are really, just 10 and 15 minute jobs. In the grand scheme of things, they take no time at all. They cost almost nothing and they don’t require loads of expertise or special tools.

And yet I routinely ignore them. I do. I don’t know why. I guess I’m like Andrew–I don’t want to take the time to do these little fixes. I just keep telling myself that it’s not a big deal, that I’ll get to it later.

But the problem with that line of thought is that failure to act now only causes bigger problems later. Just like Andrew and his teeth, I’m saving time now, but I’m going to have to pay the piper, later. And I’ll have to use my own money to do it.

For example, the peeling wallpaper is a perfect case in point. The spot I needed to fix was about 3 inches long all along a seam. Nothing. It wouldn’t have taken any time or money or effort at all. (Notice I’ve shifted to past-tense to talk about this). A little dab of paste, some safe-release tape to hold it down for a few hours and it would have looked like new. But I left it and didn’t do it. I ignored it.

But Tessa didn’t. She found it and, of course, figured it should be picked at, peeled, pulled at. Well, one thing led to another and before long, she’d created a much bigger problem that took much longer to fix. On top of it all, the fix I managed to come up with wasn’t nearly as effective as the easier, cheaper one would have been.

So now, that’s me and my family–what’s your’s like? Are your kids brushing their teeth? If not, do they brag about it, too? Is that just a kid-thing? Or do I have bad-hygiene kids? And how about you? Not so much your teeth, but do you have projects at home like I do? Easy, quick projects you keep ignoring?

Well, maybe it’s time to tackle them. Maybe it’s time to cross them off your list and deal with them on a more regular basis–before they become bigger, more expensive problems down the road.

Give it some thought!

Bad Uniforms and What They Teach Us About Paint

Posted on August 2, 2011August 6, 2019

The year was 1976. The team was the Chicago White Sox. The Sport? Major League Baseball. Yes. Major League Baseball.

Maybe some of you remember this, maybe this is new to many of you, but for 3 games in 1976, the White Sox sent their players out on the field wearing…yes, shorts. And not cool, baggy shorts. No. Tight, clingy shorts. With their socks pulled up all the way to their knees.

This alone would have been bad–a fashion faux-pas of epic proportions–but the designers of this sleek little number weren’t done. They added to the shorts what would have been a boring white shirt were it not for the GI-NORMOUS 1970’s black collar.

Together, the whole outfit was so horrible, I’m pretty sure opposing teams refused to even take the field against the White Sox. White Sox players themselves likely spent hours in counseling and therapy sessions after being ridiculed and laughed into oblivion by former fans.

And yet, what’s interesting to me is that underneath that ridiculous outfit, these men were still Major League Baseball players. They are/were more successful than me by a long shot and yet, looking at the pictures, it’s almost impossible to think of them that way.

It’s a perfect example of that old saying about how the clothes make the man (or, of course, woman). When we say that, we know that clothes don’t CHANGE who we are, but they certainly affect how we are perceived.

For example, think of the manliest man playing the game today–I’m not going to name names, you just get somebody in your mind. Picture that player and then dress him–in your mind–in this bozo outfit from the 1970s. Give him shorts and white socks with black stripes pulled up to his ankles. Put that little shirt on him with the big fluffy disco collar. I guarantee if you do that, you’ll be unable to take him seriously. The goofy get-up doesn’t change who he is, but it certainly changes who we think him to be.

Now let’s shift gears and talk about paint.

Your home–your living room, your kitchen, the exterior of your home itself–can be in great shape. It can be solid, well-built, brand-new. It can be composed of the highest quality materials and consist of the best workmanship known to mankind. It can be all of those things, but if the paint colors are boring or were poorly chosen, all of the quality underneath remains hidden.

Look again at the pitcher in the top picture. He may be a tremendous athlete (and even if he wasn’t, he’s still likely 20X more fit than most of us). And yet, even though that may all be true, he looks so silly in his little shorts and his big collar and pulled-up socks that I look more manly sitting here typing this story about paint colors than he does throwing curveballs and 4-seam fastballs.

As I said earlier, clothes MAKE the man–they alter our perceptions–and the same is true with your home. You can take the best, highest quality workmanship and hide all that quality beneath poor paint jobs and lousy color choices.

It’s a remarkable concept: an athlete takes years and years of sweat and work and effort to hone him or herself to be the best he or she can be in their sport. Just like those White Sox players. And yet, all that work can be tossed out in a minute when you cover them over with a stupid-looking uniform. You can spend hours and hours and tons of money making your home exactly the way you want it, but if you choose the wrong paint color–something that simple and that superficial–the rest of the work is cheapened.

So all that to say, choose wisely. Color matters. The right colors can make your home look like something out of a magazine and the wrong colors can make it look like kids built it. Choose the right colors!

How to Clean Up Latex Paint Spills

Posted on July 27, 2011August 6, 2019

On a number of different posts here, I’ve talked about paint tools you need to own: certain brushes, certain rollers and so on. However, a must-have tool for every do-it-yourself painter or professional contractor is something that’s not as obvious: a wet/dry vacuum.

Believe it or not, this can be one of the most helpful, time-saving (and potentially life-saving) tools in your arsenal. See, when people paint inside their homes, one of the most common occurrences involves a ladder, a paint tray and the innate human desire to take short-cuts. Typically, it works like this: you’ve got your paint tray hooked to your ladder and you’re happily working your way around your room. At some point, you decide to move the ladder and, because you’re almost at the end of your project, you decide just to pull the ladder–after all, if you do it carefully, there’ll be no problem, right? Well, normally there isn’t. But every now and then, the ladder hits something and before you know it, the paint tray goes over the edge, hits your carpet (it always misses the dropcloth!) and you’ve got a mess.

And that’s why having a shop-vac on hand is such a life-saver: it gives you your best chance of dealing with the mess and preventing it from becoming a disaster.

However, having the right tool on hand is one thing. Knowing how to use it is another. So, with that in mind, here’s how you go about using your shop-vac to clean up a LATEX paint spill:

DON’T PANIC

The first thing you need to do–as is the case with any emergency–is to resist the natural urge to freak out. Yes, you spilled paint on the new carpet. Yes, it’s a mess. Yes, you’ll probably be in big trouble with someone else in your home. But freaking out and running around in circles isn’t going to help you save your neck. Calm, cool thinking wins out every time. So stay calm. That’s step one.

COLLECT YOUR TOOLS

Calmly (but quickly) grab a bucket of water, some old rags and either a couple wide (6″-10″) putty knives or some scraps of cardboard.

REMOVE PAINT FROM THE SURFACE

Start your clean up by removing as much paint as you can from the surface. You can do this by scraping it (carefully) off with the wide putty knives or the ripped up scraps of cardboard. Use either of these items to scoop as much paint off the carpet as possible and return it to the paint tray–NOT THE BUCKET (since you don’t want to add any contaminant to your paint bucket).

BRING ON THE DAMP RAGS

After the excess paint has been removed and you’re left with the paint that’s soaked into the carpet, bring out your damp rags. Use these to sponge the spot and remove as much of that soaked-in paint as possible.

BREAK OUT THE WET/DRY VAC

After you’ve done all of this, it’s time for the WET/DRY vacuum. Hit the spot carefully and pull up as much paint as possible. Introduce more clean water, work it around with your fingers or hand and then vacuum it back up. Do this again and again and again until the paint has been completely removed. Don’t quit with this step until you feel you’ve pulled out as much of the paint from the spill as you’re going to get. Once you let it dry, you’re done–you can’t go back for a second try tomorrow night.

DRY THE CARPET WELL

Once the paint’s removed, carefully blot the wet area with dry towels (don’t scrub the spot with your towels as you can damage your carpet that way.) Blot the area, removing excess moisture and then put a fan on the area and allow it to thoroughly dry.

If you follow these steps carefully and thoroughly, in about 24 hours, the spot should show no signs at all of the near tragedy that happened there. And all because you had a wet/dry vacuum in your tool belt!

Get Creative! Projected Images, Stencils, and Silhouettes

Posted on July 15, 2011August 6, 2019

By Guest Writer, Shannon VandenBosch

When it comes to creativity, I need some inspiration. So I go to a few decorating magazines and/or peruse my “Favorites” list of websites for design ideas. When I feel I have found a few pictures representing the style, image, or technique I would like to achieve, it becomes my muse. This is when I breathe a sigh of relief because the mental work is done and I can begin the process of tweaking the look I have found in order to make it my own style statement.

Recently, I was challenged to take a blank wall in our recently remodeled RepcoLite store in Jenison, Michigan, and create interest, and hopefully, inspiration. This empty wall space was located directly above the counter area where customers would sit and contemplate their own design decisions by beginning to choose a color or palette of coordinating colors.

Immediately, I liked the concept of stenciling or projecting an image on the wall to create a mural. I recalled seeing a large, abstract, flower in a Benjamin Moore color brochure. Aha!! The inspiration, my muse!

I began by taking measurements of the wall space and calculated the size of a single petal needed to make the flower, the length the stem needed to be, and the size of a single circle. Color choices were made to compliment the store’s interior decor. The single petal and circle were cut out of cardboard and then stenciled or traced onto the wall. The stem was drawn free-hand in proportion to the flower. Then the image was painted with interior wall paint. The whole process took about 6 hours. (See picture above–or, better yet, stop at our Jenison store and see it in person!)

As alluded to earlier, other ways to create murals is to use a projector to cast an image on a wall and either trace it and then paint or begin painting the image . Click here and here for more info. You can also check out this site for some more examples of graphic murals. Silhouettes are created by drawing and then painting a picture of something, say a headboard, on the wall instead of actually using a real headboard. This technique is not only creative, but inexpensive! Take a look at current decorating magazines for more information on this technique. Stencils not only can be made but bought at local stores that sell wallcoverings, crafts, or interior decorating items.

I hope you have been inspired to get creative and make the next space you choose to decorate even more uniquely yours.

4 Ways to Speed Up Your Next Weekend Paint Project!

Posted on June 22, 2011August 6, 2019

The thought of tackling a painting project doesn’t always fill us with excitement. In fact, a lot of us dread these “weekend-killers.” Many of us don’t get all warm and fuzzy over the thought of spending tons of time painting. At least I know I don’t.

Oh, the painting isn’t really the problem–that part’s relatively fun. It’s the washing of the walls, the patching of the nail holes, the taping. It’s the PREP WORK that I really hate. And I hate it because it adds so much time to my project.

But there’s a simple fix for this: Do the Prep Work Early!

PATCH THOSE NAIL HOLES

If you’re going to try to roll paint on your living room walls on a Saturday morning, then take 15 minutes on a Monday night and go around the room filling all the nail holes with a good spackling compound. We recommend White Lightning Lightweight Spackle or Crawford’s Spackling. Go around the entire room and fill ALL the nailholes and then quit for the night.

SAND THE SPACKLING

The night after you spackled all your nail holes, take another 15 minutes and go around the room doing a quick sanding of those spots. By this point, (if you’ve truly waited 24 hours) the spackling will be bone dry and will powder nicely as you sand it. This stage of the project should only take you 15 quick minutes as you work your way around that room.

WASH THE WALLS

Every paint job should start with a good wall washing using TSP (TriSodium Phosphate). However, washing the walls down on the day you want to paint can really slow you down–it’ll take a good 30 minutes to an hour to wash the walls and then another 15 minutes or so for them to dry. Avoid all of this by washing the walls down early. Just as we mentioned with the spackling and the sanding, take a night in the week BEFORE you plan to start painting and go around the room, washing the walls down. Doing this will save you all that time on the day of your project.

ROLL OUT THAT MASKING TAPE

Finally, the night before you plan to do your work, apply your masking tape to all your trim and around your doors and ceilings, etc. Of course, if you’re going to do this, you’ll want to use either 3M’s Blue Painter’s Masking Tape or 3M’s Blue (Orange Core) Safe Release Painter’s Tape. Both of these tapes will still cleanly remove after being applied early!

If you tackle these prep work steps early, you’ll have more nights of work–but, each night will be relatively short AND, best of all, when the weekend arrives, all the boring work will be out of the way. All you’ll need to do is pop the top on your gallon of paint and start rolling your new color on your walls.

Accomplishing this work early is a great way to minimize the frustration of a paint project. Give it a try–you’ll like the results!