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

Picture this

Are you on Instagram?  I'm becoming slightly obsessed.  It's like a behind the scenes look into my fave bloggers and celebrities everyday lives.  And I'm all for being nosey!

Some of the photos people post are so creative.  Rhonna Designs and House of Smith are always adding amazing graphics and fancy lettering to their pics.  I'm sure you can print them out, but I thought I'd try a more crafty option.

I started with one of my own photos.  I printed it though Walmart photo center as an 11x14 poster.  It's great quality and because it's poster paper you can't see any nasty finger prints.  I took the picture out of the plane window as it was coming into New York when I was moving to the US, so it has some sentimental value.

I searched the web for some inspirational quotes and found the perfect one "adventure is worthwhile" by Amelia Earhart.  I thought it fit my photo perfectly.  I picked up some letter stickers at Michaels (they had loads to chose from) and just stuck them on.

I also found this frame at Michaels - it was on clearance for only $10.

Now all I need is somewhere to hang it!

Have a super happy 4th of July whatever you have planned.

Kate

xxx

Finding A Place

I've been on the lookout for a place sign for the past couple of months.  You know the ones with the list of streets or areas.  Some of them are like bus signs and some of them are just a fun list.

I really wanted to find one that meant something to me.  I was thinking about getting my DIY on, but when I saw this at HomeGoods I knew I had to have it.

I love that it's like 3 planks of wood, and I used to work in Paddington before moving to the US so it's a nice reminder of home.  And the cherry on top, it was only $25!

It's hanging out in the living room next to the french doors.  I'll hopefully take some wider shots this weekend (I just need a couple of days hours to tidy round first!).

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

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

 

Sucker for Succulents

I'm ashamed to say we have absolutely no plants in our house.  Mainly because I'm a crazed plant killer.  Clearly if we were going to add plants, it needed to be something hardy that wouldn't shrivel up and die a day after I forget to water it (which I inevitably will). 

So this weekend I hot footed it to Lowes to jump on the succulent bandwagon.  I picked up 3 for $4 each.  I already had 3 little red buckets from the Target dollar section.  Our window sills are irritatingly narrow so they weren't going to fit there.  Instead, I decided to try and hang them.  Luckily I found a measuring cup hook at a local flea mall that worked perfectly.

There were lots to chose from.  Ultimately, I went for the ones that looked the weirdest.

I love the strange shapes.

If I was going to name this one it would be "the claw" - I'm sure it's actually called something like the "succulentomiticus clawstotensis".

They hang in our kitchen, right below our red retro clock.

I love the mixture of old wooden hook and crisp red buckets.

Fingers crossed I can keep these sweet little plants alive!

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