Finishing up

If you follow me on Instagram you'll have seen that the curtains in the guest room are finally up.  Here's a sneak peak at the texture - can you believe they were only $6 a panel from Lowes?  I couldn't make them for that!  The curtain rod was a steal for only $10 at Ross.  Somehow I always find good deals there, despite the fact that their shelves are usually half empty.

We've also had a new queen mattress delivered for the master (thank you Macys Labour day sale).  Look at how ridiculously tall the bed is now, ha!  You can't even see the nightstand because it's so high.  Poor Murph man needs a pole vault to get on there.  Seriously though, we'll be removing the box spring this weekend to take it back down to a normal height. 

We moved the old mattress from the master into the guest room (which is sooooo close to being done).  I have professional supervision arriving this weekend (ie my father in law) for the great 2013 fan switcheroo, one more coat on the headboard and I'm calling it.  Pics to follow on Monday.

Have a great weekend - and if you live in Birmingham check out the annual Art Walk downtown.

Kate

xxx

Chevron-and-on

My latest creation for the Apartment Therapy Style Cure guest room makeover is a chevron frame.  I picked up a large square frame with a huge plain mat (on sale for $5 at Michaels).  It's usually used for people to sign at weddings.

I love a good chevron, it came a very close second in the coffee table pattern stakes, so it was a easy choice when I was contemplating how to decorate the mat.  Plus, I thought if it looked really bad I could always cover it with a fun fabric.

It looked a bit dodgy halfway through, but I reasoned that I was going for a hand drawn look and not perfectly symmetrical lines. 

Here's a closer look at my not-so-straight straight lines!

I went back and filled in some of the thinner chevrons, and added vertical lines to the wider chevrons to help break up the pattern.

Left on the to do list is to:

Paint the headboard
Change the hideous ceiling fan
Hang the curtains
Hang a couple of shelves
Add accessories
Finish and reupholster the chair

So, as you can tell, progress is slow.  The aim was to have the room finished by the end of this week - but I'm thinking it's looking more like the end of next week.  Mainly because I need some serious adult supervision before monkeying around with the ceiling fan!

Kate

xxx

2 for joy

During my trip home I inherited some fantastic retro/vintage family goodies.  Most of it was too big or heavy to bring back this trip, but I did manage to squish my favorite thing in my case (carefully rolled inside a cardboard tube).

My mum did this pen and ink drawing of 2 magpies in 1984.  She is one talented cookie.  Any shred of creativity I have has definitely been inherited from her. 

Its now hanging in our living room, above the little shoe cabinet that used to be in the kitchen. Along with my latest knick knack - a $5 sale vase from TJ Maxx.  I thought it was kind of Jonathan Adler-ish.  Maybe?

Kate

xxx

MIA in MIA

And I'm back - did you miss me?  We took a little time out to regroup and take a much needed holiday.  I'll give you one guess where....

The weather was beautiful, the beach was amazing and it was great to catch up with family and just relax.  No work, no emails, no ringing phones, perfect!

It wouldn't be a trip to Miami without a couple of gratuitous shots of palm trees and art deco buildings.

Fun times.

Not to say I wasn't planning and listing and thinking about all of the projects and updates I still want to accomplish this year (how can it be June already!).

First up was tackling the dreaded Ikea flat pack shelving we picked up on our last trip to the ATL (more on that HERE).

I was surprised at how easy it was to put together (although, to be fair, there were only 8 pieces).  One allen key and 20 minutes later, we have this:

The only surfaces we had in the bedroom were the 2 nightstands and the dresser so we were in desperate need of some shelving.  It fits perfectly next to the window in the master, and there is still plenty of room to open the closet door. 

I've also moved the TJ Maxx bench from the end of the bed to by the window to create a little nosey neighbor seat.

The bottom shelf is perfect for putting the cushions on when they're not on the bed.  The little white guy next to him is a Moomin (Google it!).

Most of the other item are either decorative or give us some extra storage.

The graphic magazine holders were from the Target dollar section and the cow photo was from Etsy seller Stephs Shoes.

And how could you not love the little smiling ceramic Russian doll.

Top shelf, front and center, is my all time favorite piece of art.

It's a vintage painting by numbers from a local flea mall.  I mean, I think it's vintage.  How can you ever really tell - it could have been painted last week by a 6 year old for all i know!  But I still love it!

Anyone else adding some extra storage or fighting with flat pack furniture?

Kate

xxx

Moody Blues

I mentioned in this post that I was keen to add a gallery wall to our teeny tiny half bath.  I wanted to break up the navy and also add something fun to look at.

I collected lots of different pieces to hang, but they were all really random sizes - not a standard 8x10 among them.  I have also amassed a pretty good collection of white frames in my "quick, buy it while its cheap" phase.  None of the prints fit exactly with the frames or mats I already had, so I decided to do away with the glass altogether and just attach the pics directly to the wall.

I picked up some washi tape from Michaels and got to sticking.

I've also added a few nick nacks to our little wall cabinet.

 

This was a card from Melanie Kimmett's Etsy shop

 

The Hatch Show print was a freebie from a music festival in Nashville.

 

I do eventually plan on adding custom mats to each of the prints, but the cost can quickly add up, so in the name of all things cheap and cheerful we'll be sticking (pun intended) with the tape for now.

Kate

xxx

 

To Mount or not to Mount

This weekend was the final straw, I couldn't spend one more minute looking at these wires.  It also didn't help that last week I read an article about why you shouldn't mount your tv above a wood burning fireplace.  Plus it was at an awkwardly high angle, so really wasn't comfy to watch for any length of time.

You can see we already had a little unit on the left that all of the receivers (or whatever they are) were supposed to go in. Of course, they never actually made it into the cabinet and have been sitting on top for the past 8 months.  Uuugh, those blooming wires! 

The switcheroo was very easy.  We popped the receivers into the little cabinet (it has handy sliding doors to disguise them when they're not being used) and took the back off so all of the wires could run behind it.  The proportions of giant tv to tiny cabinet aren't ideal, but we'll make it work for now and be on the look out for a wider cabinet.

It also gave me the opportunity to pretty up our mantel.  I hunted round the house for things we already had that I could use.  This is how it looks now, though I'm sure I'll be playing around with it.  Watch out for many more mantel updates in the future - I'll be taking full advantage of my new found decorating space.

The little origami fox was a Target clearance find, along with the flower pic.  I can't get enough of those Target end cap clearance goodies.

The glass owl was an antique mall find.  I think it's supposed to be a bookend, but this little guy is flying solo.  And the love is an Urban Outfitters Christmas decoration.

Not bad for working with what we already had.

Kate

xxx

Striped!

When we purchased our house the hallway was a gloomy green - it somehow sucked all the light out of what should have been a bright space.

I knew we would be painting it, and we quickly updated it from the dark green to a bright cream. I loved the crisp clean look it gave, but even I have to admit it looked a little plain Jane - even with the introduction of the cute Loch Ness Monster print (more on that HERE) and a little Welcome sign (more on that HERE).

The wall by the stairs, in particular, was crying out for something.  Anything!!

I came up with the idea of adding stripes along all of the walls, but with 5 doorways it would have been very start stop, so I decided on one wide stripe on the main wall. Now for the color - I must have bought about 50 different paint chips home. I wanted something neutral, but enough of a contrast that you would actually notice it. In the end I went for Dust Bunny (oh the irony!) by Valspar.

 

I masked out my line with painters tape. I read a great tip on Emily Clarks amazing blog for painting stripes: paint along the outside with an almost dry brush as this seals the edges and prevents bleeding under the tape.  (Please ignore the hideous smoke detector - it's on the list to be replaced!)

 

I couldn't wait to whip the tape off. Sure enough, the lines were nice and sharp.

 

I picked up 4 frames from our local dollar store and framed some of my own photos (side note: Walmart is having a half price sale on Poster Prints, less than $3 for an 11x14.  Run, don't walk!).

 

 

This pic was taken on a trip to Tampa.  Sadly this is as close as we got to that yacht!

 

 

The colour was just what I wanted, and I love any excuse to get my photos out of a box and onto the wall.

 

At only $3 for the tester of paint and $4 for the frames the whole project came in under $10. Perfect if you're a renter and don't want the hassle of repainting a whole wall when you move out, or if you want to inject a bit of color but don't want to commit to a whole wall.

 

Kate

xxx

 

Making Plans

Happy Friday!  I hope you've all had a great week.  I've been busy laying the groundwork for a couple of bigger projects (bigger for me anyway) around here.  I've also caught the organizing bug in a big way (I can almost hear my mum gasp from the other side of the pond, ha!).  The yard sale was the catalyst in getting this place in some kind of order.  If we haven't used/worn/needed it since we moved in (nearly 12 months ago) it's out (said in your best Heidi, Project Runway voice).  Purge, purge and purge some more.

It's a little overwhelming to tackle the whole house at once, so I'm trying to do one space at a time.  First up is our sad little pantry.  I'm thinking stencils and plenty of shelving and some flexible storage options, and maybe a counter top?  Wish me luck!

In blog news, I made a BIG investment this weekend.  A new camera!  Up till now, all my photos have been taken with my little point and shoot Cypershot, and it's been great.  But I look at blogs like The Lettered Cottage and Yellow Brick Home and swoon at their amazing photos.  Of course, it helps that they have amazing things to take amazing photos of.  And I know having a good camera doesn't make a good photographer (cue lots of Googling), but I'm really excited to get out and about and try to improve.

I can already see the difference in picture quality just wandering around the house taking snaps of random stuff.  Of course first up was Murph, who looks thrilled at the prospect of having his picture taken.

 

This painting by numbers is my latest flea market find:

 

 

 Along with this faux old calendar:

So look out for some, hopefully, improved pics.  Have a fantastic weekend whatever you have planned.

Kate

xxx

Third Time Lucky

One thing I've learnt since we moved into our house is that sometimes you have to play around with layout and colours and decor until you land on the look you love.   

Take the main wall behind the sofa in the living room.  It started with a framed London Underground print (actually some gift wrap from HERE).  I liked the size and the frame, but I just could not get past the aged creamish map against the crisp white mat.  Something about it looked weird.  I don't know why, but it did, so down it came.

Next up was the DIY starburst mirror.  I love a good startburst as much as the next person, and I think this will definitely end up in another area of the house (maybe painted and in the hallway?).  But it just looked a little raw, or unfinished, or woody or something, so down it came.

The most recent update is my amazingly innovative paint chip art.  Ok, so not really.  Paint chip art has been around forever, but this was my first venture.  Come on, you knew it was only a matter of time.  I mean free art, that couldn't be any more up my street!

There are many, many, many examples of really good paint chip art all over Pinterest. These are some of my faves:

Two Girls Being Crafty

A Beautiful Mess

Smart Girl Style

For my take I went for triangles.  I managed to find a paint chip that was close to the main colour in the living room, and I used that to judge which other colours I would use.

I laid out the triangles to work out the general layout and colour spacing

Piece by piece I transferred them to my white backing card.

And I squished them all down with a couple of heavy books (thanks to YHL for their inspiration and for producing a weighty book).

I popped them back in the frame I had used for the underground map, and up on the wall it went.

Just the look I was going for - at least for now!

Kate

xxx