CatChiN uP!

Good grief....WAY BEHIND on my blogging duties! Where to start, Where to start.....it's been a month filled with new discoveries, creative challenges and exciting opportunities. The room re-do we were asked to do a few weeks ago for Good Morning America was a combination of all three. When I launched Courage to Create several years ago, I did so because I wanted the freedom to be able to go in any how-to/creative direction; to be able to work creatively with anything and everything; to inspire others to do the same, and that's fortunately, exactly how we've been able to roll. Once in a while I get requests to do "catalog inspired" things, which ultimately means they want to show people how to create the exact same thing, a handmade, do it yourself copy for a fraction of the price. Initially, this approach usually bursts my creative bubble a little bit simply because I'm a big advocate of taking an idea and really making it your own, putting your own individual stamp on it, which these requests pretty much restrict. However, I'm always willing to play along and it usually turns out that I, myself, learn something and walk away from the challenge with a newfound appreciation for the project, the concept...whatever it may be.
What I learned from the catalog inspired room re-do was this..
Using a catalog layout makes an excellent step-out for people who have trouble deciding colors, what to put with what, how to arrange, etc. You know exactly what you need to get; to build; what goes where; the colors to grab...right from the get-go. It eliminates the unsure, indecisiveness some people have when approaching a room re-do. It also makes it easier for people to visualize creative substitutions, as needed. And those were my favorite parts of the room, where we had to work with things the family already had to create the same look. Old closet doors cut down into the desktop; their old dresser was disassembled and reconstructed into shelving, etc.....that's where the experimental fun came in! I don't know why...but whenever you're able to actually improvise and create things using only what you already have, it makes the end result that much more rewarding. The original version of the 'catalog room' was very cool (and cost around $8,000 to purchase), and in the end it was really a lot of fun to see 'the exact same thing' that we created ourselves (for around $900)! The family polished up all their DIY skills and the teenage girls who now reside in that room, LOVE it....and that's what it's all about!
You can check out the before, the after and the lowdown on all the room re-do projects and how to go about them, HERE.






Cheers to the Hatfield family...Eddie, Gail, Alex and Krystal!




Had an incredible time creatin' with you all!
michele.