DIY – Page 3

Hanging Around – Round 2

Happy Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! With how much I’ve been doing with him and the civil rights movement at school, I feel kind of guilty that I’m sitting finally writing a blog post while the baby naps rather than going out to honor his memory with some duty-filled action. Well, he’s with me in thought, at least. Is anyone out there filling their karma bucket with all sorts of humanity-oriented activities today?

The last time we hung (hanged?) something on the bathroom walls, there was cursing. There was disappointment. There was anger. Knowing this, my hopes were low and my defenses were up when we finally got around to installing our floating wall shelves.

I was fearful, first, that the shelves would look disproportionate in our tiny potty room. Spoiler alert: They turned out to be the perfect size for our needs. Secondly, when it comes to an item that needs to be level, picture me sweating bullets — especially in this notoriously uneven house. Again, things worked out for the best.

Miracle of miracles!

Here’s how these things work —

1) Hold up the shelf to get an idea of where you’d like it to go. We lightly marked the wall (top and sides) with a pencil. (I erased these marks after we marked for the anchors.)

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2) Mark and drill spots for the support and anchors to go. I love that anchors exist, but Dave HATES them — and with good reason. The directions often say to use a particular size drill bit, but 9 times out of 10 when you start to hammer it in, the hole’s too small. This time, we were missing the bit they suggested to use, so he used a smaller size and kind of hollowed out the hole to make it the right size. While I wouldn’t advise this method, it worked fine.

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3) Hammer anchors into wall. Hold up the support bracket and drill into anchors. There are actually more holes to use than screws, but as long as you don’t put all the screws on one side (um, duh? I know you guys are smarter than that…right?), you’re golden.

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4) Slide the shelf onto the bracket and drill the the two screws in to attach it to the bracket. You can either have the screws facing upward (so nobody sees them) or downward, depending on your need. I did the bottom one downward since no one would really see it, and the top one facing the ceiling since it would’ve stuck out like a sore thumb.

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And, by all means, if you can get a trained professional to oversee, please do.
Ours is named Winston.

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Aaaaahhh!!! Beauteous!

5) Load stuff on and style it to your heart’s content. I’m sure I’ll adjust this a million more times, but for now it’s so nice to have the additional storage back (we used to use a run-of-the-mill over-the-toilet storage unit, but I’d dreamed — yes, literally dreamed — of having something more modern and open like this forever) and fun accessories to play with.

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Thar’s Q-tips in them thar mercury glass.

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Yep, the hubs really and truly uses an old-school double razor thingamabob.

With a boar’s hair brush.

I love that guy!

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I moved in one of my all-time favorite cheap-o DIY art pieces. Old game numbers (antique shop) + unused matted frame + glue (+ burlap, if needed) = vintage-y art.

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More vintage with that turquoise blue side-bottle.

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While we’re at it, I thought I’d show the shower curtain that I finally put up. I kept my previous white one (it’s not in the best of shape thanks to a cat claw or two, but it IS white) in case it’s advised that we tone it down when we one day sell the house. But, for now, the punch of fun, bohemian color makes me happy. Plus, it makes the space go from boring tan-and-white to something more special and “us.” Unfortunately, I also realized that the color in the painting that I made was a tad too pink to coordinate well, so after trying to glaze some deeper orange into it (it’s better…but that’s a hard frickin’ orange to match!), I think I may go with something simpler.

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I do love it, though!

So, all I really have left in this room is to figure out a window treatment, then attack the shower surround. For now, we’ll just keep the shower curtain drawn and assume it’s finished. *wink*

It’s funny how it has taken so long to git ‘er done, but once I finally picked up steam, it came quickly. That being said, I’ve got some more painting/fixing-up to start in a couple of other rooms soon, too. Is anyone else full-steam-ahead on any projects?

Hanging Around

Let me just put this out there — honestly, bluntly — house projects are a usurper of confidence, riddled with unknown optimism killing obstacles.

I hate publicly admitting that, I do. Blogs I read most? DIY. My brain falls into the trap of feeling fully capable of attempting a little fix-up or putting an anchor in the wall…then, knee-deep in the project, some inexplicably frustrating mishap (possibly mistake? Possibly not) occurs.

This is why it has taken a year to work on the bathroom. Every single project has been an issue of some sort — LITERALLY EVERY DAMN PART.

Our last check-in, I had just put the laminate tiles down. It was far from perfect. Yes, anything’s an improvement (seriously…check the links at the bottom of that post to see what we started with), but with the uneven floor, they didn’t line up as nicely as I’d like. Let’s just say that I’m too much of a perfectionist to see things done improperly — one reason it takes me so long to get off my arse to complete something. (I hear this was a trait I share with my dad. Thanks for that one, Dad!)

The ceiling was a bear to deal with and still “cracks” here and there. The wainscoting was the wrong material and the guys had to install it by not pushing the grooves together completely in places (I’m sure I’m the only one who’ll ever notice, but it’s blatant to me). Dave nearly had a fit when he installed the toilet paper holder crooked (through tile and what seemed to be cement). It just keeps going.

So, when I finally decided to hang our towel holders, I went into it cautiously optimistic. Idiot. I should do these things cautiously pessimistic — with caution, assuming that the worst will happen, since this all seems to be a mess of superstition. And, after I had successfully hung the first two, I should’ve known better than to pat myself on the back. Stupid.

I decided to hang the third and final hook to the back of the door. It went on great, then when I opened the door, what did I see? Two screw tips piercing through the stained wood. Argh! So, what would’ve been a 20 minute project turned into 45 minutes and probably a month or two shaved off the end of my life. (I was just that ticked off.) But, finally, after finding two tiny, mismatched screws that would work (after a couple unsuccessful attempts), I’m okay. It never ends, though — I’m going to find some putty matched to those small holes to hopefully deter anyone from noticing the boo-boo.

I also threw my little painting up (not like…puke…or something) while I was at it, trying it both horizontal and vertical. Still not sure which I like, but I can at least take some consolation in the fact that I know the accessories I’ll be using will tie in the turquoise and coral so it doesn’t look quite so harsh. And at least the man of the house likes it, which I give him mad credit for. I know pinky-orange splotches aren’t everyone’s cup of tea.

So, what’s next? Hanging those gosh darn shelves over the toilet, ironing and hanging the shower curtain (who am I kidding? I’m going to re-clean and dry the thing to get the wrinkles out), organizing the built-in, accessorizing, and possibly sewing a curtain for the window and the bottom of the built-in. And later on, I hope to attack the bathtub and shower surround, but that’s a whole different battle…and possibly a different war altogether.

What about you? Am I the only one who would be a much bigger DIYer if not for all the stumbling blocks? It wouldn’t annoy me so much, but it just seems to be EVERY SINGLE PROJECT! Like someone, somewhere, is laughing their butt off at the continued bad luck. And, really, I do my best to find myself in a positive frame of mind before even attempting anything, as with most things — “You can do this! It’s an easy little project, and it’ll look great when you’re done!” Ugh. Naive.

I hate to be negative…I do! I read so many uplifting blog posts touting the fact that, YES, we all can do this! That’s probably why I’m so down about it. I am woman, hear me…fail. Miserably. I guess I disappoint myself sometimes…I guess we all do…and y’know what? That’s okay.

It’s coming along, isn’t it?

SIDE NOTE: The title of this post should really be “Hangin’ Round” after the Monkees song, but I wasn’t quick enough to put 2 and 2 together. Ya live, ya learn.

Christmas Decorating, Act Two – SHINY + RUSTIC

I recently told you about our Christmas tree and outdoor decorating. Today, I’m back to share with you the final act of our little saga — or, as I call it, SHINY + RUSTIC (yes, I’m saying that loudly…in a dramatic, humorous Shakespearean tone).

We’re already surrounded by tones of brown and tan, neutrals (and I kept the lighter blues…frosty and wintry, is where my head is). I introduced some greens — lighter, more pea green/puce tones as well as natural evergreens. The only red I used came in the form of accents — through my cute “JOY” pillow ($1 at Target), stockings, and on my “card clothesline.” Otherwise, the dining room boasts more than enough red (ick) on its own. It sounds like a hodgepodge, and maybe it is, but I also sprinkled a handful of clementines around for a traditional nod to the past while throwing in a pop of modern color.

Here’s the dining room —

It’s really a simple variation on what I did for autumn. I kept the gauzy scarf (there’s the 2nd scarf! See the tree post for the first…) as a runner and the antique drawer for the centerpiece, as well as a couple of candles and stuff, but otherwise, I just sprinkled in some greenery, pine cones, clementines, mercury glass…and some Christmas magic, of course.

I tried to keep it simple with a few smaller vignettes. Here’s my “sweater” vase, an antique creamer with a clementine stuck in (my people were dairy farmers…but, yeah, the orange makes no sense, but ’tis cute), and the musical snow globe my mom bought for Hadley last year. LOVE all the texture just on that thing alone, with its rough-hewn reindeer, cozy soft fabric, and leather and wood accents.

On the other side is a little woodland vignette. I bought the “tree” on clearance at Target, stood a pine cone up to appear tree-like, and put a couple of bottles and a more bronzy mercury glass candleholder (under a buck at Goodwill!) in a random pattern. Oh, and the bottle with the greenery is from my family’s own dairy farm — just sayin’.

And for the sideboard, all I really did was put a huge, green hurricane filled with silver bead garland and a candle on a vintage cake stand, a cute (but pitiful) plant and mercury votive on some magazines, and a vintage teacup full of cinnamon sticks throughout the front.

One of these days, I’ll clean everything behind this stuff off, but I like most of it too much — books, old and new; Waterford sugar/creamer set; a McCoy pottery teapot; a very old pewter pitcher; booze in case we’re ever cool enough to have anyone over (along with the mixer)…oh, and Hadley’s first piece of art. What’s not to love?

And here’s the living room —

We pick up the white “urchin” whenever our toddler “urchin” gets interested in poking his eyes out with it. Oh, and this is yet another “use whatchya got – decorate with a scarf” instance. (Third. Bam.)

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Our “landing strip” between the living room and dining room, which houses our “Card Clothesline.” For incoming Christmas cards (and a wayward Santa hat), I strung some twine between two nails, added some clothespins and a couple of stockings, and voila. We’re also putting cards on the opposite side so the dining room doesn’t feel left out. 🙂

Simple — Vintage cake stand (from our wedding), twine-wrapped candleholder/vase, mercury glass + gold candleholders (I feel rebellious mixing metals here), and a handful of outdoorsy pieces (greenery, pine cones, cinnamon sticks).

Across the “strip”, I mimicked the mercury glass, but piled it a bit more. (See below for details.)

My faux mantle. (No fireplace here — le sigh.) Very understated — just added a sprig from the tree, an orange, and a mercury glass votive, but there’s just enough texture and variation to make it less than boring.

Just Hadley’s stocking, hung from a shiny silver holder. I threw an orange on each holder for interest, but in the future I’ll put labels or a toy representing the receiver of said stocking (this year, it would be one of his “Little People” — either Superman (which has mysteriously gone missing) or the blond elf who looks suspiciously like Hadman). Or, maybe it’s where we’ll leave our Santa letters. 🙂

A fun little close-up of the textural variation. Atop a stack of old magazines, I put a very vintage copy of “The Complete Home” (I bought antiquing years ago), a replica of vintage playing cards, a pine cone, a clementine, and a large mercury hurricane (which also has more pine cones and a sprig of green). Oh, and if you look closely you can see me with my red “Keep Calm and Carry On” iPhone case and gray hoodie — the uniform of champions.

The chalkboard on our wall o’ frames had been home to this lovely thought since…maybe Valentine’s Day(?) —

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For the holidays this year, it says this
(and probably will until Valentine’s Day again; I don’t look upward enough) —

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And on that sentimental note, I think we’ll end our little tour. How do you decorate for the holidays? Do you make it a blatant Christmas-centric thing, or do you add a bit of shimmer and “season” (I kind of did both — red and green, and Santa’s hat, of course…but it’ll be easy to transition into a winter theme). Do you do bright modern (think “shiny aluminum Christmas tree”), cozy traditional (reds, greens, evergreen), or a fun hodgepodge of sentimental, hand-made stuff? I love hearing how others choose to deck their halls for the holidays.

Christmas Decorating, Act One – Keeping It Real

Today’s part one (Act I, if you will) of a two-part holiday decor-fest. UPDATE: Here’s Act II, as it were, with living room and dining room decor!)

Last year, I told you all about the slightly irritating (yet charming) Christmas tree escapade we undertook to go from fake tree to real. For 2013, we found one pre-cut at a local-ish tree farm (maybe next year we’ll up the ante and find and cut one OURSELVES! Adventure time, Hadman). We decorated (rather, poor Dave had to chase Hadley around when he’d get distracted as well as the cats when they got mischievous — but Hadley did pick several spaces for some of the ornaments), and are now able to bask around it as a fun-lovin’ family.

*Already stirring the homemade hot chocolate mentally, humming “White Christmas”

Things are getting simpler in some ways, and complicated in others. It seems our decorating this year is more of a daily metamorphosis. Every day that goes by, a little more gets done.

Slowly, slowly, said the sloth.

So, first, up went some new, white bulb lights on our porch — never before had we attempted outside lights, and while I had the idea (all I did was purchase the things from Target, bring them home, and hand them over to Dave — who then had to figure it out), all props go to the hubs for hanging them on a very cold day.

As days went by, I wound some fake greenery around the perimeter of the porch and down the railings. The final touch this year was a cute little (real) evergreen wreath with a red bow that we picked up along with the tree. Simple and sweet and classic.

(Side note: The cute little wreath is actually quite, um, bushy…so it does get a tad squished between our storm door and red door. Ah, the plight of an upstate New Yorker. Snowy areas can’t do without a storm door, no matter how cute a house looks without one.)

Speaking of tree, up it went, followed by a tangle of lights. (Let’s just say it’s not perfect this year. I’m usually impeccable about the lights. They’re actually overlapping in different directions. Disgrace!) The next day, Hadley “helped” hang ornaments. We didn’t put up half of what we had. Some are well-made but HUGE for the kind of weak branches we were workin’ with. But, we still put up a few of our quirky cheeseball “so us” ones. Hello, Superman and Yellow Submarine. I swear some year I’m going to get a small tree dedicated just to the weird ones, then have a separate “pristine” tree. But, for now, this is our life — it’s real, it’s messy, but it’s full of joy.

Oh, and I was also undecided on a topper. We don’t do the angel thing, or even the star thing (there were too many “drunk angel” jokes growing up, and I’m still far too immature to shove a tree up an angel’s dress); normally, I do a cascade of ribbons with a beautiful bunch at the top. I considered this…then considered doing nothing…when I suddenly had an, “Oh, this is different. This is rustic. This is kinda cozy-cute” idea. Scarf. And not just any scarf. It was my dad’s. So, hands off the scarf, buddy. (A longer scarf would allow for an adorable bow-tied effect — go for it if you have one!)

Just add a top hat and it’s Dickens in tree form.
…gotta find a top hat.

The tree (AKA pine-flavored kitty drinking fountain) is shorter and fatter this year, but that suits us just fine. We don’t use that room except for cat pans and cat stands (I suppose it’s the cat room), and a new-but-old-school radio/record player that we listen to Christmas tunes with. S’all good. It takes up the front room (it’s like the room was MADE for a Christmas tree; I finally listened to my mom and others and stuck it out there last year…they were right).

Oh, and it’s difficult to tell in the pictures, but in order to have a large enough “skirt”, I decided to use two past “skirts” and overlap them to make one — a crimson blanket that has a sweater weave goin’ on, and a piece of faux lambskin. It looks pretty darn cute by the light of day, and I appreciate the detail. One of these days, I’ll finally DIY a skirt that doesn’t look too feminine, nor too plain…and I’ll use the heck out of it year after year.

So, that’s all for today. Stay tuned for Act II, or as I call it SHINY + RUSTIC. In the meantime, feel free to weigh in below: Real or fake? Hodgepodge of ornaments or one streamlined “theme”? Lights outdoor or simple wreath? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

(And if you have kiddos at home, I LOVE reading David Shannon’s “The Amazing Christmas Extravaganza” to my kids at school. Mr. Merriweather loves his simple tree and wreath, but one year decides to add a string of white lights outside. When his grouchy neighbor, Mr. Clack, mocks his dinky display, things get out-of-hand (and, needless to say, the real meaning of Christmas is overshadowed).)

Toodles for now!

Blood, Sweat and Tears

Innocent. Unassuming. Even strangely invisible. But this damn toilet paper holder brought blood, sweat and tears for my poor husband.

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See, our walls kind of…suck. For the longest time, it took a couple of hours to hang ANYTHING involving anchors. They don’t appear to be plaster, but they’re super hard, so odds are they probably are. We needed to get a more heavy-duty drill to handle what they were dishing. Seriously. Hate. These. Walls.

That’s probably why it’s taken us so long to add the floating shelves, towel hooks and this TP holder to the bathroom. Those finishing touches that should be relatively simple could end up breaking us. Add the fact that there’s HARD AS A ROCK tile (along with what seems to be the hardest mastic ever known to man used behind it; my stepdad, who has worked on countless bathrooms, has never seen such a hard wall) behind the bead board and you’re just asking for a headache. We’ve known it. We’ve procrastinated.

But, one Sunday night, Dave decided it was time to check at least this one project off our list. Maybe he was sick of reaching around to grab the roll off the back of the toilet. For whatever reason, it was TOUGH.

There was a burned hand (from the torque of the drill, I kid you not). There were two calls to my stepdad. There was major swearing (he NEVER swears, folks! That’s my job). And, finally, there was disappointment that it was crooked. He felt defeated. Yes, there were almost tears (I think he started to well up, but I didn’t see it…so let’s just say he kept it together).

I suggested he put the roll on to see how crooked it really was. When he did, we noticed…

Nothing. It looked perfectly fine. Considering how much general crookedness we have in our house, it fits right in and even looks good. Phew.

So, my friends, you have heard the story of how Dave won the Battle of the Bathroom, Round 1. Let’s hope we survive the next couple of rounds to call this thing, finally, DONE! At least it’s coming together.

Falling Table

I love our dining room table. Every time I look at it, I’m reminded of that July 4th. That week+ before Hadley was born, overdue, when we tried anything and everything to get labor started (ineffectively). That’s when we finally put the table and chairs together, after sitting in a box which the cats thoroughly enjoyed scratching since the prior January.

I get another feeling when I glance at the table set, too, though. A twinge of anxiety because it’s usually piled with mail, with magazines, with gifts I’ve yet to wrap or cards I’ve yet to address or any other number of very random items. This is actually a relatively calm pile compared to the usual.

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But, since we’re into the throes of fall decorating, I figured I’d jump on the bandwagon and grab any excuse to de-clutter a bit. (Picture Dave doing a happy dance…if he were the type of guy to do a happy dance. I wish he’d get in touch with his inner-David Venable, but gosh darn it, I love him as he is.) So, unlike all the other posts, you get a cluttery before picture of my dining room table…then, a neater, fallified vignette. Now, if only we could keep it (and enjoy it) that way….

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I went with neutrals and monochromatic-yet-cozy accents. For a runner, I just used one of my favorite gauzy scarves, then plopped down an antique box filled with raffia, an antique bottle or two, varying-sized candles, a gourd and a mini-pumpkin (which appears taller because it’s sitting atop an over-turned votive candle holder; use whatchya got!) in the middle of the table. Oh, and the raffia is 100% out of the way of any flames, I promise.

I then added some asymmetry by using a square glass cake stand with a couple of antique bottles (one of which is a pint milk bottle from Homestead Farms — my family’s dairy farm from generations back, where my dad grew up) and a not-too-big white pumpkin. I figured the transparency of most of the items took away from the possible weightiness of the asymmetry. Finally, I strewn varying light or neutrally-colored candles in pairs or threes throughout the table. To add to the laid-back whimsy I used a variety of holders for the votives: a creamy antique teacup, a bubbly mercury glass holder, a creamer.

By the way, our dinners are usually spent at our taller, smaller kitchen table and occasionally in the living room, always with the baby’s “high chair” (dining room chair with his space-saving seat safely attached) pulled up alongside me. We used to feed the monkey in the dining room, and I’m positive we’ll revert someday, but currently this is the most convenient for our needs. We’re not keen on living room eating, so it only happens once a week or less. It is what it is.

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And pay no attention to the hideous red walls (and crappy iPhone pictures). It’s my dream to tone them down. This WILL come true. Oh, yes, it will.

So, how did you decorate for fall? Subdued? Crazy, over-the-top themey (skulls ‘n witches galore)? 🙂

Autumn Decor – A Modern Mismatch

So, my attention had been diverted from any and all thoughts of autumn decor with our little guy’s health scare. Things are getting back to usual around here, though, and it’s nice to have a little mental break, so I’ve decided I need to join a party — a link party!

Today’s post is the mantel zshuzshing theme. Since I’ve only got a fake mantel (actually a relatively small shelf), I did some accessorizing there, as well as on the nearby “awkward places” that separate our living room and dining room. Uuuummm, yeah. The pictures help explain that a lil’ bit.

Since I haven’t been able to hit up the craft stores with going-on two weeks of family illness creating homebodies out of all of us, (and our grocery store only carried cruddy orange pumpkins…some already painted! What’s the fun in that??), I didn’t have the items I wish I had to accessorize. I know. Excuses, excuses.

So, instead I decided to work with what we have BUT to keep it simple…for once. 😉 Given that I DID have Clementines on hand (Vitamin C!!!), I did end up with a punch of color.

I did realize that I mixed some metals, in faux mercury glass hurricane vases and some brassy accessories, and I’m surprised that I actually like the effect. I still don’t feel comfortable wearing my white gold ring with my brassy necklaces, but I’m getting over it. Am I the only one??

The “mantel” itself has a mix of textures: the shiny brass on the school bell, shimmering glass of the mini-hurricane and clock, earthiness of old wine corks and wood tones, softness of my gloves (I have another antique pair of leather ones that I’m considering switching out)…and it’s all grounded by the vintage books.

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As far as the “awkward spaces”, I kept it vintage yet clean and unfussy. So, in a weird way, it comes off as modern. Scary. It’s like I planned it or something. Don’t believe it!

The left side has a project that I completed a few years ago — an old skeleton key glued to some nice textured fabric in a frame, easy peasy — as well as a simple vignette of a stack of old mags, an old mustard yellow book, a hurricane vase…and a couple of oranges to finish it off. Simple but nice.

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The right side has some layering from one of my textured scarves (use whatchya got!), a vintage cake stand, another hurricane vase (to balance both sides from afar), a brassy cup filled with oranges (probably a candle holder), my spiky white urchin, and a tiny antique print. Again, a mix of old and new that somehow comes across as modern. Well, whadya know about that?

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I’m sure I’ll add something here or there when I finally get out to grab the crafty items I was hoping to grab (and as I work on the other projects; rotations happen, people. That’s autumny, right? Substitutions? Football?). So, there we have it! What’re you doing to fall-ify your place? Linking up at Thrifty Decor Chick (love her!).

Falling Into Style

While I tend to experience an anxiety spiral at the beginning of every school year (just tellin’ it like it is), the return of fall is still one of my favorite parts of living in upstate New York. It’s by far our favorite season. The colors. The crispness. The apples (and apple products). The corduroy jackets. The comfort food. What’s not to love?

I like to incorporate the different seasons into our home decor, but try to avoid the blatant leaf garlands and what not. Even at Christmastime, I try to use cozy items that will carry us past the holiday and through winter. I’ve even outgrown some earth tones (which I once really liked) and the rusts, golds, and oranges that usually encompass autumn. So, I’ve been on a search for some ways to switch things up a bit without falling prey to the old autumn gimmicks.

Enter Pinterest, stage left. It still takes some searching and sifting, since there is a healthy dose of bedazzled faux pumpkins (I kid you not; I’m all for using fake pumpkins year-to-year, but the sparkles…oh, the sparkles) and ghostly projects, but I did find some ideas that at least get my juices flowing (um, ew).

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Wait. Dude. Didn’t I just say no autumn garlands? Yes, yes, I did. You are correct. This, however, isn’t your mother’s fake leaves attached with tiny plastic tubing to attempt the look of nature in the most unnatural of ways. (Actually, I don’t remember my mother attempting this. I clearly didn’t acquire her taste in the gene pool of life.) And, for the record, I used to decorate with those things. 🙂

Plus, while this “garland” technically has some fall colors goin’ on, it’s also able to walk the line into other seasons pretty easily. I’ve also seen several garlands using rustic-looking cloth which I’d love to try.

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Wow, another Etsy find! I could just buy it, but then what would be the fun in that?? I don’t need the rhinestone awesomeness or even the swirly…what is that dusty messy looking stuff? Anyhoo… The decoupaging of book pages seems simple enough, but if I could find a stamp or book with a neat print or image, I’d be all over it. I have enough ancient books hanging around this place, I should be able to find something…right?

Not to mention, the styling of the other products at Cloth and Patina give me gobs of inspiration right there. Knowing that you can attain “AUTUMN” with creams, crystal, porcelain, and paper makes me pretty happy.

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If I did want a splash of color here or there, I’d totally try this. Painters’ tape + paint + pumpkin (real or fake) = a fun way to add some pattern (and the only chevron in the house is one of the fitted sheets for the baby’s crib…he’s so much hipper than us). If I didn’t want to ruin the neutrality from above, I can see a cream-and-gray tonal one. Can’t you?

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We can’t ignore the table, right? Even though I honestly can’t remember the last time we sat at our dining room table, as a family, to eat a meal. Easter? (We generally eat at our tiny kitchen set-up out of convenience.) And, odds are Thanksgiving will be another year of table hopping at out parents’ houses. But, a girl can dream, right?

The cool thing about this little tableau is that I already have an awesome antique drawer/box thingamajigger that would provide a neat-o replacement for this rustic box. Mix in some white pumpkins (vs. the traditional orange), and I’m a happy camper.

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It saddens me to take down the Beatles quote that’s currently hanging in our living room, but chalkboard art is meant to be enjoyed, then changed. Hey, much like a season! Look at that, being all metaphorical. Anyhoo, I like this Camus quote (although we’re working with a horizontal board, so I’d have to finagle it). Oooorrrr…

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…I could try THIS, or something like it. Hmm. Again, a girl can dream, right?

Here are a few pops of inspiration that only need a few words of explanation:

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Use this idea as a small piece of framed “art”?

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Three words: Mercury “glass” pumpkins. LOVE.

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I adore the simplicity of this one. It’s somehow earthy, textural, warm, monochromatic and modern, all at the same time. I’m on the hunt for some wheat.

So, while I may not implement all of these ideas, or even half of them, they give me a good jumping off point from which to start. And the first step is going through the stuff I have already, big and small, that might work. Goodness knows I have a buttload of candles and cylindrical vases. 😉

What do you think? Elegant? Rustic? Or too bland? Do you prefer warmifying your house with the colors of the season? There’s totally nothing wrong with that! After all, after I get past the initial “aw, crap!” of seeing the first leaves change, I get a huge thrill taking a short road trip to a cider mill amidst the colorful rolling hills. Ahh. Now I want cocoa.

P.S. Happy 14-month “birthday” to Hadman! Every Friday the 13th I find myself growing nostalgic for that day and sad (yet proud) of what a bright, sweet little person he’s become. *sniff, sniff*

Third Time’s a Charm…or is it Fourth?

I love Hadley’s room. It’s the only room we immediately painted (and cleaned the floor a dozen times) when we moved in, constantly referring to it as the nursery. We weren’t even married yet, but we just knew.

Still, it evolved from a guest bedroom to, well, a getting-ready-for-baby mess…

…to, finally, an awesomesauce nursery. Here are a few shots from when we had just finished (or as close to “finished” as one can get when the nesting thing doesn’t really hit you that hard):

Notice that “LOVE” art over the crib? I mentioned way back when that I had used Dave’s packing tape to put it up. One by one, letters started falling. So, I moved on to a couple of different Command strip and M3 adhesive thingies.

And guess what. They failed, too. Not all at once or anything; just one letter at a time (usually the “O” or the “V”.) Big wop wop. And bigger PITA when they fall on the baby during a nap. The letters are papier mache, so it’s not like he was hurt, but the sudden surprise of “thud on my head” tends to turn a sleeping babe into a suddenly-awake-and-none-too-pleased-about-it crankypants.

So, I recently purchased some Velcro-like (it’s definitely not Velcro since it snaps rather than quietly attaches) strips to attach to the letters. The baby even helped. That kid’s BRIGHT and immediately figured out that taking the protective paper brought forth stickiness. Ha. But, yeah, so far…so good!

The Velcro-like behavior of the strips means that the letters rise off the wall more by about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch, but since they’re 3-D art, anyway, you can’t even tell. Plus, when Hadley’s tall enough to reach them and yank them down, it’s no big deal — we can just snap ’em back up!

So, how’s this for a lesson in stubbornness and tenacity? Stick with it, folks. Even if it’s something as silly as letters on a wall.

Bathroom Update #4

Ha ha!!! It’s been many, many months since our last bathroom check-in.

Okay, that sounds weird. Of course we’ve been using the bathroom all summer. Silly me. Let’s try that again.

It’s been awhile since I last checked in with our bathroom re-do progress. 🙂 Better.

Don’t be thinking I’ve been sitting eating bon-bons and watching Real Housewife re-runs…’cuz I don’t eat bon-bons and I’m not a Real Housewife fan. (Not to mention, we don’t have cable, so there’s that.) “Who Do You Think You Are?” online, however…

Back on track. I’ve been working little by little on putting down our laminate tile squares; up to the toilet, at least. Everything was on hold until I painted the quarter round (primer and three coats of semi-gloss white). I had been on a roll for awhile, laying flooring during nap times, painting a coat or two during nap times…until I wasn’t on a roll. It’s so easy to get one’s momentum halted, isn’t it?

So, this week, I finally finished the last coat, and with my stepdad’s help with toilet moving/reinstalling and cutting trim down, the last of the big ol’ projects was done. Finished. Complete.

I’m not 100% done. (Of course.) Here’s what we have left:

– Hang floating shelves
– Hang towel hooks
– Hang art
– Clean and fill built-ins
– Wash and change out shower curtain
– Accessorize!

See? The kinda fun stuff. Sure, a couple of those things are “need a hand from the ol’ mister” jobs, so God knows how we’ll do a noisy shelf installation with the baby sleeping in the nearby nursery, but we’ll figure it out. Seeing the light so close to the end of the tunnel, I’m hoping we’ll get to finish soon. Woohoo! The end of the race is coming.

Watch out, you naked wall-over-the-toilet! You’re about to get shelved. And yer gonna like it!

Oh, and if you’re interested in the process so far (and the “before” picture…ick), check here, here, and here. And here‘s a look at the art I’ll be using.