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The MindFULL Creative

Monthly Archives: June 2011

Slow Down

13 Monday Jun 2011

Posted by binkyg in Awesome Finds!, Musings and Insights

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

breathing techniques, deep breathing techniques, slowing down, stressfree living, the healthy living lounge

Ever get going really fast and an easy voice inside says, “slow down”? Sometimes I am going so fast that all I can hear is the harder voice that says, “come on…check one more thing off your list.”

Always looking for little things I can do throughout the day, when I travel and when I am up at 2am perseverating over life’s details, I seek simple ways to help me relax. I keep little reminders on the shelf above my computer desk. I have also literally written the words SLOW DOWN on a piece of paper and taped them to the mirror over my bathroom sink. Its not that I am wound up, but I do have a tendency to do a lot of things at the same time or go into “line em up and knock em down” mode as my friend, Ellen, says. I am very productive, but sometimes I can get going too fast and then I crash and burn.

A few weeks I came across the Healthy Living Lounge.  http://www.thehealthylivinglounge.com/  I thought it sounded intriguing and was delighted to find some really helpful articles and tips. Below is one of them. So simple. And yet, so powerful.

 Stop holding your breath!

When you start paying more attention to your breath you may find that you hold your breath more often than you realize. Simply being aware is the perfect first step towards  slowing down your mind and heart rate. It gives you a chance to think clearly and to answer/speak/act from a more thoughtful space.

Slow down… Check it out…

How do you slow down and MindFULLY create a space to think from? Let us know!

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Design on a Dime

06 Monday Jun 2011

Posted by binkyg in Creativity

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

bathroom makeovers, Capco, creativity for less, Dahl tile, Design on a Dime, DIY, Floor and Decore Outlet, HGTV, tile rugs

One of our favorite HGTV shows is Design on a Dime. It shows you the $5,000 version of a room and the $500 version.  I am always seeking ways to create what I see in magazines, shop windows and movies. Stimulating as this creative style can be, it can also border on crazy making. At least that’s how it felt while I was trying to re-create a “tile rug” we had seen in the Denver Design Center for our master bath.

When we bought the house, the Master bath was silly. While not very big, it was also impractical. It had this one green pedestal sink that looked like it landed. The owners tried to convince us it was worth something. And well, you know that saying…

The bathroom also had a toilet in the middle of the wall, hunter green tile and three little glass shelves.

The first thing we did was create space for a water closet and figured out how to fit a double vanity. Then we focused on what it would look like. How could we live with a small space and make it feel fun? On a visit to the Denver Design Center, we fell in love with a “tile rug” concept embedded on the showroom floor and budgeted for a small splurge.

Then reality hit. Did you know that when you like a tile, you wait a few days for them to tell you what it costs? After you scrape yourself off the floor, cause who knew tile could be so expensive, you then wait while they let you know when it will be in stock. (I thought they had it in the back room. Silly me, it was on their showroom floor, wouldn’t it be easy to get?)  The tile rug we liked consisted of three different kinds of tile. After two and a half weeks of back and forth on how much we needed, the cost, etc. we got word that the center tile was “discontinued.” Really? Ya couldn’t have told me that two weeks ago when I asked about it? Not one to take no for an answer, I literally spent a week online trying to find it somewhere else. I was obsessed. I ended up at the same supply vendor that the Design Center was talking to and got the same answer. There were 5 sheets of it in a warehouse in CT. We needed 8.

OK, think…how about if we change the dimensions and use more of the circle surround tile? Great idea! Same scenario. Cost, time, etc only to find that the circle tile was in Turkey and would take 12 weeks to get here, if it was on time. Really? Why not tell me that in the beginning?  We needed it in 4.

So, after I had a Customer Service meltdown (a common reaction throughout this journey), we let it go and set about making our own version. I scoured the web for tile options and landed at the Floor and Décor outlet on line, where I found a circle tile for 1/3 the price of the Turkish circles. We went to Dahl to find a reasonable insert (again 1/3 the price) and the sale section of Capco to find the slate surround (they practically paid me to take it). Same concept as the Designer rug, different execution.

Friday they laid it and we love it! It not only looks good, it feels good and will be a symbol for me everyday – when I look at it, it will remind me of what a little creativity and hard work can produce. We actually ended up creating something that worked even better than what disappointed us earlier.

Now, why don’t they make that concept into a TV show?

 How do you MindFULLY find ways to Design on a Dime? Let us know?

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