battling bland | Offbeat Home

This is Offbeat Home's archive of battling bland posts.

Most Recent Posts About battling bland

One thing really makes a place look lived-in: hanging art on the wall. It takes a commitment to put a nail into plaster to hang a picture, and seeing art you've committed to hanging immediately makes you feel in control of your space.

But you've got to find art that feels like you. I couldn't hang a Thomas Kinkade painting in my home and feel happy about it. It would NOT be considered an improvement to the space.

While you're waiting for art you love to come along, you can liven up a room with your own art — or your family's! Round up the necessities, and I'll meet you in the driveway for a seriously easy step-by-step guide to making art for your home you'll be proud of.

Hands up: how many Homies have a cadre of Christmas lights boxed up somewhere? Sounds like you have some project ideas to brainstorm this weekend — especially if you're living in a dorm. These projects SCREAM "battling bland."

I am not a gated-community lover. Where some people see neat, tidy, clean, and fresh, I see suffocating sameness. Where some people see safe community outside the reaches of city life, I see bizarre planned suburbia far far away from everyone else (ideal in zombie apocalypse, not so much for everyday life). Some people like rules, I like being able to park on the street overnight. Now I find myself living with AWESOME PEOPLE in my nightmare neighborhood: the suburbs. But why be all Sad Sam about it?

Shopped for lighting lately? You probably found yourself disappointed by the white bread wood veneer choices at Home Depot. Our new sponsor Omega Too Lighting & Design will pull you out of the sad chandelier shopper slump.

I LOVED browsing their site. I got a very The Sims vibe, bouncing from art nouveau pieces to gothic chandeliers to candle sconces — you wanna see?

Want a fireplace to bring the warmth, on a budget, in your apartment? It's totally possible, I promise! See how I installed a fireplace in my apartment for less than $200.

I kind of hate wood. I'm one of those terrible, sinful people that will paint old wood furniture aqua, yellow, or antique white rather than treat it properly. I don't whisper sweet nothings to my wood furniture and seductively offer to apply another coat of stain to it. I mostly just paint it and eventually forget that it ever had a lovely cherry finish.

This led to a small problem in my apartment. No matter what I tried… I HATED those damn cabinets. Until I found this solution.

Whenever I mention my orchids to people, even plant-lovers like me, they almost always say, "oh, I can't grow orchids." But you can! Orchids are just plants, and like all plants, they need light, water, and a little attention.

If my current house was an analogy of a clown puking all over everything — which is a description I've heard — the new house would make that same clown drop dead from sadness. What can I do?!