Archives For Emily

Photo Wall Alternatives

February 17, 2013 — 5 Comments

I’m on a bit of a photo wall burnout in my house right now. We have a collage wall in our living room, photos going up our stairway (well, I’ve yet to put those back up since moving our new mattress up the stairs), and I’m putting a wall of photos & art in the new home office.

The thing is, I LOVE the way floor to ceiling photo walls can look.  They tell a story.  They show your personality by what you put up.  They are unique to you.  But as I began thinking about our entryway I knew that another photo wall was the last thing this house needs.  Thus began my brainstorm for ways to have visual interest on a wall without the use of photos/frames/art.

Here is what our entry looks like as of this morning.  Excuse the poor quality pics…they’re straight off my phone.

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Entry

That table and mirror were both freebies from various locations.  I can’t wait to change them out!

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This was the first area in the entire house that I decided to paint, and from the second I painted it I’ve loathed my color and sheen choice.  But I have to admit, I secretly love it as well because it is the best example of how far I’ve come and how much I’ve learned about home remodeling.

Before

I love that throwback picture.  That wallpaper was hands down the EASIEST in the entire house to remove (thank God!).  It was very thick paper that was already loose and practically fell off once I applied the magic potion to it.

So back to how the entry way is now–empty, naked, & shiny.  The only thing on the walls is the sign that we had made for our wedding. Chocolate Butterbean Sign

Other than that there’s just the supposed to be gray, but really it’s blueish-purple SEMI-GLOSS paint.  What was I thinking?  Obviously I didn’t know that semi-gloss really shouldn’t go on walls.  Especially walls with imperfections.  The light coming in from outside bounces off the glossy wall and makes the worst reflection.

Entry Hall

So after much browsing and brainstorming I found some great options to add interest to the wall without adding a bajillion picture frames.  Here are some examples of what I’m contemplating doing.

Monotone walls & mouldings like I did in the office. (p.s.–reveal post will be ready in the next couple of weeks!)
Then there is the option to make a pattern on the wall to add texture.
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I really love the visual interest of the pictures above.  It would definitely take me some trial and error to figure out how to do it, but it doesn’t look too incredibly difficult (says the girl who’s never done it).

I’ll be honest with you, I’d love to put up some gorgeous wallpaper in the hall, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.  I know that this house is most likely not our forever home & I can’t imagine leaving wallpaper on the walls for someone else to sweat over taking off.  Or maybe it ends up being our forever home, I get sick of the wallpaper, and the I have to go through that whole annoying, labor-intensive process again.  To that I say, “No thank you!”.

Then there are the options that will give you the same effect as wallpaper, but that are less permanent for people like me who tend to change their minds often.
Introducing, stenciling.
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Mid Century Thrifted Dresser
Natalie C.
I am REALLY liking the scallop stencil wall above. 
The last two ideas are so unique & I am thankful for creative people such as these who come up with such fun ideas!
DIY Sharpie Wallpaper Tutorial @ Vintage Revivals
Yeah, you read it right….this was done with a Sharpie!!  Mandi from VintageRevivals.com is quickly growing as a new favorite of mine.  Her style is eclectic + vintage + DIY and she’s not afraid to try new things.
I left the most simple for last.  Although I don’t think this is what I’ll end up doing, I love the simplicity of it for how much impact it makes.
Hallway display
And yes, I do realize that there are frames on the walls in most of the pictures above.  I’m not opposed to SOME art or photos, just not an entire collage of them.
Anyone else have any suggestions for me on what I could do in my entry way?  I’d love a new front door (so not happening anytime soon), a vintage-y coat rack, iron banisters….I could go on and on.  This project will be low $$$ and not TOO much labor.
emily

Office Mood Board

February 14, 2013 — 2 Comments

Remember a while back when I wanted to do a Mad Men themed office for Alex? As much as I still drool over mid century rooms, now that the office is in our dining room and not behind closed doors, it just wouldn’t flow with the rest of the house.  SO, here’s the new mood board for what I’m thinking.

mood board

Light. Chairs. Desk from craigslist. Rug. Curtains.

The only thing I need to get is art or photos for the frames.  Oh, and the frames. I found some beautiful botanical prints you can download for free from Honey & Fitz, but I’m not so sure they’ll work in the masculine office. I’d love a bunch of black and white architectural sketches, but I’ll just keep my eye out for some prints at a good deal.

I hope this weekend will be productive around the house…buuuuut Alex and I are both sick.  On Valentine’s Day.  It’s a pretty scary site.  We may or may not have had blue box mac n cheese and ginger ale for our romantic vday date. Sexy sexy. Speaking of sexy, you should hear my sexy man voice I have going on right now.  I know, it’s hot.

emily

Eyelet curtains??

February 13, 2013 — 9 Comments

For some reason I’ve always had an aversion for eyelet curtain rings.  You know, the curtains that have the wide curtain rod rings that are made in to the curtains? Some call them grommets?  Anyways,  I recently bought some curtains for Alex’s office that I hope to get put up this weekend and I LOVE everything about them…except that they are eyelet.  Am I just picky?  I don’t seem to mind them when I see them other places, and have even picked them out for a friend’s place & they look great..but I just can’t get in to them for my house.

What I have for the office are SANELA gray velvet curtains from IKEA.

sanela eyelet curtains ikea

Compare the above picture with the different pleats below.

Drapery 1_functional

source

Does anyone else get the same feeling about eyelets as I do?  Perhaps they look too casual for my liking?  I get the feeling of a college dorm room when I look at them.  OH! Maybe I could spraypaint the metal rings a brassy-gold to give it some maturity???  Hmmmm…Oh shoot I think I might have just added a project for the weekend.

I know this isn’t the most entertaining post in the world, but sometimes it’s the little things that make the biggest statement in a room.  I am a firm believer that window treatments are the mascara and eyeliner a window needs to bring them to life.  Without them they just look cold, sad  & naked!

Now let me give IKEA a little love here.  I’m not the biggest fan of big box stores simply for the lack of originality, but I have absolutely zero problems with getting my curtains from IKEA.  Oh, and the hardware too!  Compared to any other store I’ve been to (I’m talking Target, Walmart, World Market, Bed Bath & Beyond…) their curtain rods are not just cheaper in price, but they are higher in quality than many rods that are at least double in price. So, just a tip–head to IKEA for your curtain hardware!

So if all goes as planned this weekend I’ll be putting the curtains up in the office, scraping the windows of excess paint, and arranging the furniture in the room.  Stay tuned!

emily