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

Whale of a time

How's this for a cheapo frame filler - a gift bag!  I'm a big fan of framing wrapping paper but this is my first time framing a gift bag (groundbreaking, I know!).  It was a whopping $1.99 from TJ Maxx and I love the print - it looks a bit like a whale.

Not much of a tutorial for this one.  Buy cheap gift bag.  Cut up cheap gift bag.  Put cheap gift bag in frame.

Ta daaa.

In furry friend news, Murph is now sporting his Summer 2013 line (ie he had a hair furcut).

In his defense, we had just gone upstairs and the air hadn't been on so it was pretty hot.  He's not usually this much of a mouth breather, ha!

As soon as it cooled down, he was back to his crazy self.  The black and white blur is the first toy we ever gave him after bringing him home, and he LOVES that stinky thing.  We wash it regularly but it still always stinks. 

This will be the first weekend in a while with no travelling or working so I'm really looking forward to getting stuff done around the house.  Look out for more updates next week - I'm determined to have a productive weekend.

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

Fabric-tastic!

This weekend turned into a bit of a fabric frenzy.  First up was this purple/lilac trellis fabric for a master bedroom project I'm currently working on.

Next up was a floral fabric for the master bathroom.  I haven't shown you any pics of this space because we have done literally nothing to it since we moved in.  The walls are still a shockingly awful baby poop brown (the old owner thoughtfully left a half empty can of this paint in the garage - thanks a lot!).  I'm hoping to use this fabric as a jumping off point for the whole room - a nice neutral on the wall and definitely some new flooring.

Lastly I had a quick stop in JCPenney and picked up 2 woolen throws for an unbelievable $6 each!  I think most JCP stores are currently undergoing a major makeover and so lots of the old stock is massively reduced.  I thought these would work well in the man cave.  Another room that hasn't really been touched, but we have argued about settled on a grey/red/black colour scheme.  The carpet was new when we moved in and is a biscuit colour, so I thought these throws would tie in the colours nicely.

I did have the chance to style the screened porch, but the weather was terrible so the "after shots" will hopefully take place this week.

How was your weekend, any fun fabric finds?

Kate

xxx

It's all white

In super duper amazing news, our bedroom has made the cut in the Apartment Therapy Bedroom Retreat contest.  If you would like to vote, you can pop on over HERE.  Try not to be distracted by the other amazing entries, and head straight for the purple pillow.

This is the perfect opportunity to tell you about my latest TJ Maxx find (love that shop).  If you've been following along, you'll know I've struggled to find something I really love to hang above the bed in the master.  Why is that big blank wall always so tricky to fill?

I started with a small (too small for the space) square pic that made the move from our apartment.  It was only meant to be temporary, but 8 months later it was still there, staring down at my with it's annoyingly small proportions.  It's amazing how a temporary fix can turn into permanent.

One day I decided enough was enough and took it down in the hope that having nothing at all would be the kick start I needed.

And then a couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon this gem in TJ Maxx:

It was only $20 - great price, check.  The shape and size were perfect, check.  But I wasn't keen on the colour.  Nothing a can of white spray paint couldn't fix.

I made sure the mirror was completely covered before starting to spray.

After just one coat.

And here it is after about 3 coats and 24 hours of drying.  Ta daaaa!

Murph is as enthusiastic as ever about my latest project.  He could really give a girl a complex!

This weekend has a forecast of warm spring weather, intermittent spray painting, with a chance of thrifting!  Have a great St Paddys day.

Kate

xxx

Wonder Wall

On Monday we checked out how I turned a grubby grill into a fun note holder (more on that HERE).

On Wednesday it was the turn of a pair of thrifted wall sconces to be brightened up (more on that HERE).

And now, finally, its time to see what they all look like together.  "Good grief Kate, you really know how to drag a project out" I hear you cry.  Ha, I know - but I just love love love how it all turned out.

Our big blank bare grey wall has finally be transformed into a gallery-ish wall.

 

I tried to mix items that were personal to us, with colourful prints and things I'd made.  I knew I didn't want just a wall of frames, so mixed in the little shelf, the wall sconces and the upcycled note holder.

 

 

Emily Henderson of The Emily Henderson mentioned a little shelf exactly like this one in one of her Craigslist roundups, so I was especially smug to have picked mine up at a local flea mall for a crisp 1 dollar.

 

 

The little hexagonal mirrored tray was also a thrift store find.  It wont be long before there will be nothing new in our house, just a sea of thrift shop finds.  And I'm ok with that.

 

 

I'll give you one guess where the fan came from... altogether now... "a thrift shop".  But seriously, they are just the best places to find vintage bargains.  And no self respecting home blogger would be without their Design Sponge book. 

 

 

Going into the project, I knew the kind of overall shape I wanted to create and laid everything out on the bed to get a rough placement.  When it came to hammering the nails into the wall, I really just free styled it.  I wasn't concerned about having even spacing or anything hanging in line.  In fact, the more random the better.  Clearly if you want to hang pics in a grid, a level and tape measure and some serious calculations are required. 

 

 

Murph clearly wasn't too enamoured with my wall hanging technique.  You're looking the wrong way!!

 

 

This weekend I'm preparing to check off one of the major projects on the 2013 to do list.  Brace yourself Birmingham!!  Plus I have a sweet little Pottery Barn copy cat project in the works. 

 

Have a fantastic weekend whatever you have planned - hope to see you back here next week.

 

Kate

xxx

 

Wall Sconces with Love

I'm finally putting a dent in my spray painting hit list.  First was the metal grate (see more on that HERE) and next up were these 2 wall sconces.  They were a whopping $3 for the pair from Gardendale Flea Mall.  I love the shape, but wasn't in love with the colour.

I thought about painting them black.  Then I thought about painting them white.  Then the March issue of BHG Magazine arrived with all the bright spring colours, and so I decided on something completely different.  

I wouldn't describe myself as a lavender person, but I really like how they turned out.  I originally planned to hang them in the dining room, but shifted them to the master when my wonderwall began to take shape.

You can see my Dollar Store Ampersand art made it onto the wall too (see how it was made HERE).

In other cheapo art news:

Step 1 - buy cheap Big Lots sticker

Step 2 - stick to paper

Step 3 - put in frame

Hope to see you Friday for the big wonderwall reveal.  I couldn't be happier that our big grey wall has been transformed into a little pocket of loveliness.

 

Kate

xxx

Grate to GREAT!

Despite the weird snow in March weather, this weekend was surprisingly productive.

First up were these strange grate thingys.  I bought them from a thrift shop a couple of weeks ago for I think 20c each.  I'm not entirely sure what they are - maybe a BBQ rack or a grill rack?  Whatever they are, they had something funky stuck to them.  Nothing a good soak and scrub with a wire brush couldn't fix.

I really liked the pattern so in the cart they went.  Yep, I'm the type of person who needs a cart when I shop at a thrift store, ha!

I decided that after cleaning a coat of spray paint was definitely in order.  I thought the zig zag pattern would be perfect for holding postcards and notes.

This is how it was looking after a couple of coats (I wanted to try just one first to see how it turned out).

Luckily there were a number of small holes down each side, the perfect size for running a rope through to hang my upcycled note holder.  I picked some up at Hobby Lobby for a little over $1.

Here is my new note holder hanging in the master.  Can you believe that this used to be a scabby old grate?  Sometimes I wonder where I get these ideas from, I really do.

I added this sweet little origami dog to the top (it was a West Elm Christmas clearance buy).  He was looking up so I needed to give him something to look at....a funny little rabbit keyring (no clue where it came from).

 

You can see that's it not just the note holder that made its was onto the wall in the master.  Oh yes, I was hammer happy this weekend.

 

 

I hope you all had a productive weekend.  Be sure to check back on Wednesday for more wonderwall updates.

 

Kate

xxx

H & Mmmm

Guess what arrived in our postbox last weekend (thanks mum!).

Our H&M cushion covers are finally here.  Can you believe they were only about $5 each (I had to order them from the UK site because they don't have a US online shop, yet!  The campaign starts now).  I love the bold geometric print and the dark grey colour.  The back is a teeny tiny repeat of the same pattern.

Luckily I had a pair of old cushions I'd been trying to sell on Craigslist for weeks (come on Birmingham, don't you know a good deal when you see one?) that were a perfect fit.

It's just a jump to the left:

And then a step to the right (see how I whipped up my own Captain Mirror HERE):

We have been making do with a couple of Euro pillows and a pair of side tables:

What a difference a headboard (more on that bargain find HERE), a pair of nightstands and some jazzy (yeah, that's right, i said jazzy) cushions can make. 

You can see I took the picture above the bed down.  I'm hoping having to look at the big blank wall will spur me on to finding/making something completely amazing to take its place.

Kate

xxx