You've seen almost the whole house now - I'm holding out on the living room and pictures of the whole open space altogether until our furniture arrives. Sorry! And we haven't decorated the game room, so someday I will take pictures in there when it's photo-ready. :) I haven't yet been inspired, though I really should hang at least some semi-sheers to keep Gus from "greeting" our neighbor and all his visitors!
Until then I thought I'd post some of the small things keeping me busy at night.
UNPACKING
I know this isn't exciting visually for you, but I unpacked the last of our kitchen boxes, which a) gets them out of our back hallway so we can let the light shine in and use that door again!!! and b) I found an awesome place of honor in my kitchen for all my nana's old cake pans - they have an entire double door lower cabinet, and I have a large drawer for all my cake decorating paraphernalia like coloring gels, fondant tools, frosting bags and tips etc. I haven't had a nice space for all my cake stuff in any of our houses, so this is exciting for me and makes me want to bake some cakes!!
ENTRY GALLERY WALL
I got around to hanging my gallery wall in the foyer, which is really just a small jutout as opposed to an actual room. The size made me worry that the gallery wall would overpower the space, but the 11' ceiling really helped with that! I haven't really had photos of the kids on display in over a year while we were renting so it makes me happy to walk by these beautiful faces on the wall! I got a real bargain on these frames, but in hindsight I wish I had put d-rings on and hung them by wire - it would have given me more flexibility to adjust them. The little hangers that came on these frames were not easy to use!! So I also added some command strip backing to serve as temporary double sided tape to keep them from tilting if they get brushed in passing.
If you're hanging multiple pieces or if you need to hang something at a very specific height I highly recommend one of these! Best $10 I ever spent.
And here's my gallery wall of the nugget and the doodle. :) The photos are 11x14 and the frames are an odd size - basically an in between size down from 16x20. It would have been easier if I wanted to hang the photos vertical or portrait style, because I have 11' of ceiling height, but only a 6' wall width. Of course all my favorite photos are landscape/horizontal, so we made it work with an obscure frame size. The sign in the middle is one of my quickie projects while we were still in the rental. I did that right after I bought the frames so I knew what size to cut the wood. :) There is order to my madness! If you can't read it, it says "First we had each other, then we had you, now we have everything." It struck a chord with me when I first saw a sign like this online, and it evidently struck a chord with mom because she cried today seeing it on the wall with the kids pictures. Mind you, she'd seen all the pictures a million times, and she'd seen the sign. I think she's just particularly fond of these babies.
I still have to tackle the opposite wall in the entry which is getting a set of coat hooks, and hopefully a mirror. I've changed the plan so many times on this one little wall it's kind of comical. Time spent per square foot on this foyer is off the charts. :) Mom and I are doing a shopping marathon tomorrow! It's Brent's mother's day present to me... as in, no diapers, no tantrums, no sippy cups all day for me! Yes, I realize the irony that my gift on mother's day is being away from my children for the day, and I realize I'm not being nominated for mother of the year. Don't judge. Anyway, I'm hoping inspiration strikes for the coat hook wall while we're out and about. I'm not loving the bench anymore, so we'll see if that makes the cut when I get the other wall done!
SHOWER CURTAIN
After all your great feedback (via facebook for those wondering what I'm talking about), I finally tackled the shower curtain. We all agreed it needed something, and probably some extra height. I was planning to use a panel of gray burlap because I was feeling like the "something" it needed was depth in color. But after striking out on the right shade of gray, Brent voted for the natural burlap color anyway, and I'm so glad he weighed in. The natural burlap picks up on the jute rope that's wraps the chandelier, and it gives the earthy, natural feeling I'm trying to bring in. Less sterile, more organic is the goal.
So I used my photo editing software to play with the placement of this panel. At the top and the bottom it looked like a DIY job of lengthening a shower curtain that was too short. But adding it anywhere in the middle looks more like a deliberate decision. The sewing was still really easy - and if I'm saying that you know it's easy! I wouldn't allow a good seamstress to inspect my work because I may have taken some shortcuts, but it's perfectly fine for us! I added about 18" to the length with that panel. I also had to buy a second liner and add 20" to it. Then I searched high and low for trim. I wanted something white but sort of natural, and struck out again. I must say living out in the country is going to be a major adjustment for me!! I'm going to have to resort to more online shopping I think, which doesn't let me satisfy my whims! Anyway, I attempted to make my own frayed edge ruffle and it was a fail. Eyelet was too prissy, and I couldn't get burlap that was white enough. Then I found the perfect trim!! At first glance it's a bit feminine, but mixed with the ticking stripe and the burlap it looks nice and natural. I LOVE my new shower curtain. Thanks for all your help and encouragement!
Here's a reminder of the before:
And finally, mom and dad got their shutters stained. Aren't they pretty!! Pay no mind to the dead sod and weeds. We are just trying to pretend they didn't give us dead grass painted blue-green that washed off in the rain. The sod we're laying ourselves arrives next Friday night for an early Saturday morning start. It's a week away and my back is already aching!
I'm taking this weekend off from the blog. Happy Mother's Day everyone!!
Until then I thought I'd post some of the small things keeping me busy at night.
UNPACKING
I know this isn't exciting visually for you, but I unpacked the last of our kitchen boxes, which a) gets them out of our back hallway so we can let the light shine in and use that door again!!! and b) I found an awesome place of honor in my kitchen for all my nana's old cake pans - they have an entire double door lower cabinet, and I have a large drawer for all my cake decorating paraphernalia like coloring gels, fondant tools, frosting bags and tips etc. I haven't had a nice space for all my cake stuff in any of our houses, so this is exciting for me and makes me want to bake some cakes!!
 |
| BEFORE |
 |
| AFTER - Hello natural light! It's nice to see you! |
ENTRY GALLERY WALL
I got around to hanging my gallery wall in the foyer, which is really just a small jutout as opposed to an actual room. The size made me worry that the gallery wall would overpower the space, but the 11' ceiling really helped with that! I haven't really had photos of the kids on display in over a year while we were renting so it makes me happy to walk by these beautiful faces on the wall! I got a real bargain on these frames, but in hindsight I wish I had put d-rings on and hung them by wire - it would have given me more flexibility to adjust them. The little hangers that came on these frames were not easy to use!! So I also added some command strip backing to serve as temporary double sided tape to keep them from tilting if they get brushed in passing.
If you're hanging multiple pieces or if you need to hang something at a very specific height I highly recommend one of these! Best $10 I ever spent.
And here's my gallery wall of the nugget and the doodle. :) The photos are 11x14 and the frames are an odd size - basically an in between size down from 16x20. It would have been easier if I wanted to hang the photos vertical or portrait style, because I have 11' of ceiling height, but only a 6' wall width. Of course all my favorite photos are landscape/horizontal, so we made it work with an obscure frame size. The sign in the middle is one of my quickie projects while we were still in the rental. I did that right after I bought the frames so I knew what size to cut the wood. :) There is order to my madness! If you can't read it, it says "First we had each other, then we had you, now we have everything." It struck a chord with me when I first saw a sign like this online, and it evidently struck a chord with mom because she cried today seeing it on the wall with the kids pictures. Mind you, she'd seen all the pictures a million times, and she'd seen the sign. I think she's just particularly fond of these babies.
I still have to tackle the opposite wall in the entry which is getting a set of coat hooks, and hopefully a mirror. I've changed the plan so many times on this one little wall it's kind of comical. Time spent per square foot on this foyer is off the charts. :) Mom and I are doing a shopping marathon tomorrow! It's Brent's mother's day present to me... as in, no diapers, no tantrums, no sippy cups all day for me! Yes, I realize the irony that my gift on mother's day is being away from my children for the day, and I realize I'm not being nominated for mother of the year. Don't judge. Anyway, I'm hoping inspiration strikes for the coat hook wall while we're out and about. I'm not loving the bench anymore, so we'll see if that makes the cut when I get the other wall done!
SHOWER CURTAIN
After all your great feedback (via facebook for those wondering what I'm talking about), I finally tackled the shower curtain. We all agreed it needed something, and probably some extra height. I was planning to use a panel of gray burlap because I was feeling like the "something" it needed was depth in color. But after striking out on the right shade of gray, Brent voted for the natural burlap color anyway, and I'm so glad he weighed in. The natural burlap picks up on the jute rope that's wraps the chandelier, and it gives the earthy, natural feeling I'm trying to bring in. Less sterile, more organic is the goal.
So I used my photo editing software to play with the placement of this panel. At the top and the bottom it looked like a DIY job of lengthening a shower curtain that was too short. But adding it anywhere in the middle looks more like a deliberate decision. The sewing was still really easy - and if I'm saying that you know it's easy! I wouldn't allow a good seamstress to inspect my work because I may have taken some shortcuts, but it's perfectly fine for us! I added about 18" to the length with that panel. I also had to buy a second liner and add 20" to it. Then I searched high and low for trim. I wanted something white but sort of natural, and struck out again. I must say living out in the country is going to be a major adjustment for me!! I'm going to have to resort to more online shopping I think, which doesn't let me satisfy my whims! Anyway, I attempted to make my own frayed edge ruffle and it was a fail. Eyelet was too prissy, and I couldn't get burlap that was white enough. Then I found the perfect trim!! At first glance it's a bit feminine, but mixed with the ticking stripe and the burlap it looks nice and natural. I LOVE my new shower curtain. Thanks for all your help and encouragement!
Here's a reminder of the before:
 |
| Curtain needed some oomph! |
 |
And finally, mom and dad got their shutters stained. Aren't they pretty!! Pay no mind to the dead sod and weeds. We are just trying to pretend they didn't give us dead grass painted blue-green that washed off in the rain. The sod we're laying ourselves arrives next Friday night for an early Saturday morning start. It's a week away and my back is already aching!
I'm taking this weekend off from the blog. Happy Mother's Day everyone!!
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