Crafting a Colorful Home A Room-by-Room Guide to Personalizing Your Space with Color

Knit, stitch, and paint your way to a more colorful and happy home with color expert and crafter Kristin Nicholas.

     Learn how to make your home sing through handmade crafts and a bold use of color. Kristin Nicholas, color expert and all-around master crafter, shares her secrets to selecting colors and patterns and explores the variety of crafts and decorating touches that have made her home so unique. Going room by room, Kristin uses her own 1751 farmhouse as a leaping-off point for craft projects perfect for every space. You'll find a range of step-by-step projects to make your home cozy and bright, including knit pillows, embroidered curtains, crocheted blankets, and painted lampshades. Along the way, Kristin also shares DIY techniques on refinishing furniture, faux finishing walls, mural painting, and recycling wool clothes. Full of inspiration, and with vibrant photographs throughout, this is a complete guide to creating a home that reflects your own handmade style.

KRISTIN NICHOLAS is the author of eight books on knitting and embroidery. A colorist at heart, she brings her love of bold and beautiful color combinations to her knitting, embroidery, crocheting, needlework, sewing, crafting, gardening, interior decoration, photography, painting, and pottery. For sixteen years, Kristin was the creative director of Classic Elite Yarns, where she honed her skills of developing product lines, graphic design, and sales and marketing. Vogue Knitting crowned her a "Master Knitter of the '90s." Since 2001, she has been working as an author, book illustrator, and product designer. In addition, Kristin has been a contributing designer to many other knitting books. She lives on Leyden Glen Farm, a working sheep farm in western Massachusetts, with her husband and daughter.

Introduction: A House of Many Colors
1. In the Studio: Getting Started with Color and Materials
Technique: How to Select a Color Palette for Your Home
2. The Garden and Entryways
Project: Colorful Outdoor Signs
Project: Mosaic Flower Pots
Project: Painted Terra Cotta Pots
Technique: How to Paint an Exterior Door
3. The Kitchen
Project: Toran
Project: Potato-Printed Dishtowels
Project: Felted Wool Striped Potholder
Project: Pom-Pom and Bells Toran
Technique: How to Make a Decorative Archway
4. Porch
Project: Hanging Embroidery Hoop Lanterns
Project: Painted Coffee Table
Project: Paisley Inspired Tablecloth
Project: Scott's Rocking Chair Cushion
Technique: How to Make Stamps for Fabric and Walls
Technique: How to Make Your Own motifs and Patterns
5. The Living Room
Project: Striped Knit Scrap Afghan
Project: Pom-Pom Appliqué Pillow
Project: Painted Lampshade
Technique: How to Paint Walls with a Dragging Technique
6. The Dining Room
Project: Serving Tray Repurposed from Old Picture Frame
Project: Polka Dot Glasses
Technique: How to Paint a Mural
Technique:How to Recover a Chair Seat
7. The Library
Project: Squiggles Embroidered and Painted Pillow
Project: Wool Felt Embroidered Trivet and Coasters
Project: Mod Granny Squared Crochet Afghan
Technique: How to Felt and Dye Wool Fabrics
8. Upstairs Bedrooms and Stairways
Project: Blocks-and-Bricks Duvet Cover
Project: Crazy Quilt Swatch Blanket
Project: Squares and Circles Curtain
Technique: How to Colorwash Walls
Technique: How to Make Striped and Floral "Wallpaper" with Paint