Nuttin'. Zip. While there are still many flowers in bloom, there is nothing blooming right now. My daisies, cone flowers, and chrysanthemums are doing quite well, but...well...you've already seen them.
And there's another issue: Doug is in Ireland this week, so he took the camera. Understandable, totally. Bummer for me and the blog, though.
Since he's in Ireland, I am going to do a makeover on our room. It is so hard to work on the master bedroom when the master is home! So...evil laugh...it will be fun to surprise my jet-lagged husband when he comes home. And without a camera, you'll have to wait to see it...though I'll keep you posted on how it's going. Hehehehe.
Have a great week!
Monday, August 6, 2012
Friday, August 3, 2012
Hanging Artwork
The first thing I do when we're about to pack up a house is to take all the artwork off the walls. Without the artwork and pictures, the house just doesn't feel like it's "mine" anymore. So the boxes get packed faster and I'm much less nostalgic.
Done that a few times. It works really well for me.
So why is it that it's taken more than a year to get some pictures up in our new house? I know that artwork is what makes my house feel like a home. Whatever my problem, I've finally gotten around to hanging a few things. Already this place is feeling more homey.
Parks and landscapes. These black-and-whites also have a slight greenish tint to them. Works perfectly with the grey-green walls. I even got to use my fancy laser level that Doug got me when I first started staging.
I even hung our family picture. Shocker. I think it's been at least four years since I've had a family picture in my home. These are my favorite people, I swear. I just don't like looking at myself every time I walk into a room. Or having other people look at my picture. Weird. Yup, that's me.
Funny story - I hung the kids' individual pictures down the stairwell. The next morning, Sophia started "talking" to them. She even tried to get through the banister to touch them. This went on for a good fifteen, twenty minutes. More than once that day. She really loves having the pictures up there - and having me identify everyone.
A long time ago (when we had real cable), I used to watch "The Stagers" on HGTV. Loved it. One of the stagers noted that, if he had to choose between furniture or artwork (not being able to use both), he would always choose artwork. That statement has made me think a lot over the years. At first, I wasn't so sure I agreed with him. Now, though, I think I know what he means.
Furniture makes a house functional - no matter how beautiful it is, furniture is really meant to be used. Artwork makes a house beautiful, gives you something to look at when you're sitting on said furniture, and really personalizes a space. An empty space can still be beautiful with artwork. With only furniture, a home can still look relatively empty. Case in point: most of my house.
Yes, I really need to work on that wall and those chairs. Oh yes, and the couch. It's kind of funny that my front room houses all my current projects. Once they're done, though, I can hang art in there, too. Looking forward to it!
Done that a few times. It works really well for me.
So why is it that it's taken more than a year to get some pictures up in our new house? I know that artwork is what makes my house feel like a home. Whatever my problem, I've finally gotten around to hanging a few things. Already this place is feeling more homey.
 |
| These pictures are so calming... |
Parks and landscapes. These black-and-whites also have a slight greenish tint to them. Works perfectly with the grey-green walls. I even got to use my fancy laser level that Doug got me when I first started staging.
I even hung our family picture. Shocker. I think it's been at least four years since I've had a family picture in my home. These are my favorite people, I swear. I just don't like looking at myself every time I walk into a room. Or having other people look at my picture. Weird. Yup, that's me.
Funny story - I hung the kids' individual pictures down the stairwell. The next morning, Sophia started "talking" to them. She even tried to get through the banister to touch them. This went on for a good fifteen, twenty minutes. More than once that day. She really loves having the pictures up there - and having me identify everyone.
 |
| Going down the stairway...a little askew due to the kids "loving" them |
Furniture makes a house functional - no matter how beautiful it is, furniture is really meant to be used. Artwork makes a house beautiful, gives you something to look at when you're sitting on said furniture, and really personalizes a space. An empty space can still be beautiful with artwork. With only furniture, a home can still look relatively empty. Case in point: most of my house.
Yes, I really need to work on that wall and those chairs. Oh yes, and the couch. It's kind of funny that my front room houses all my current projects. Once they're done, though, I can hang art in there, too. Looking forward to it!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
A Foray into Decoupage
Time to update the blog!
Sophie would actually love to help, but...we'll wait a few years on that. My sister took this picture, and it was too cute not to share.
Back to the DIY stuff. Inspired by Bonnie's sanding, puttying and painting, I decided it was time for me to tackle a furniture job as well.
This was also a yard sale find, but it cost $10. It was also in much better shape than Bonnie's desk. Originally, it was intended for the guest room, since there isn't a bedside table. But the guests for the wedding are long gone, so perhaps it was time to think of a new place to put it. The front room, for example. It is rather dark in there. And I have two chairs that I'm (still) working on reupholstering. A table between them would look very fetching. Of course, there's also a couch in there now, too...hm, time to think about moving things around.
So I started by sanding and priming, of course.
That done, it was time to paint the bottom white. With the gray-green walls, I've decided I need to add more items that are white (or at least lighter than say, black). I just tipped it upside-down and painted just the legs and the underside of the top.
Then I started researching decoupage, the art of putting paper on furniture, walls, or other items. And looking for paper to put on the top. I found the coolest wallpaper online. Sadly, I only needed a little piece, but it was only sold in double rolls. Which ended up being around $35. Yikes. This wallpaper, therefore, might be part of many projects coming up. Good thing I like it as much (or more) in person as I did on the web.
According to About.com, I needed to make a pattern out of tissue paper. Which I did:
Then I cut it out of the paper:
See? Super cool wallpaper. The first piece I cut out Did Not Fit. Which led me to my own idea (always a dangerous thing) of putting the wallpaper on the top and then dealing with it later. Here was my friend throughout the process:
Oh yeah, Mod Podge. I had a coupon, so it only cost me $4. I rolled it onto the table, then positioned the paper.
Yup, kitchen counters are great for this sort of thing. Then I worked feverishly to get rid of bubbles, and added another layer of Mod Podge on top. After it had dried, I realized that Doug's favorite chef knife was just lying there, begging me to make use of it. With knife in hand, I quickly and easily cut off the extra paper. Voila, no pattern-making involved! Doug did, however, note dryly that a razor blade would have worked just as well.
Whatever, Mr. Love-My-Knife.
The biggest bummer was that the wallpaper was not wide enough for the table. To make the pattern look good, I ended up with not one, but two seams. Argh.
Then I painted the edges black with acrylic paint, and covered the whole thing with polyurethane. Or rather, Doug did. The lid on the can was so tight he had to use pliers to get it open, and by the time he opened it for me, I was long asleep. So he put it on for me. What a great guy.
And now, here are the results:
I even moved the entire front room around to make room for it. A friend came over shorty thereafter, and the only thing she noticed was the table.
Maybe because the chairs are still un-reupholstered? ; )
Sophie would actually love to help, but...we'll wait a few years on that. My sister took this picture, and it was too cute not to share.
Back to the DIY stuff. Inspired by Bonnie's sanding, puttying and painting, I decided it was time for me to tackle a furniture job as well.
This was also a yard sale find, but it cost $10. It was also in much better shape than Bonnie's desk. Originally, it was intended for the guest room, since there isn't a bedside table. But the guests for the wedding are long gone, so perhaps it was time to think of a new place to put it. The front room, for example. It is rather dark in there. And I have two chairs that I'm (still) working on reupholstering. A table between them would look very fetching. Of course, there's also a couch in there now, too...hm, time to think about moving things around.
So I started by sanding and priming, of course.
That done, it was time to paint the bottom white. With the gray-green walls, I've decided I need to add more items that are white (or at least lighter than say, black). I just tipped it upside-down and painted just the legs and the underside of the top.
Then I started researching decoupage, the art of putting paper on furniture, walls, or other items. And looking for paper to put on the top. I found the coolest wallpaper online. Sadly, I only needed a little piece, but it was only sold in double rolls. Which ended up being around $35. Yikes. This wallpaper, therefore, might be part of many projects coming up. Good thing I like it as much (or more) in person as I did on the web.
According to About.com, I needed to make a pattern out of tissue paper. Which I did:
Then I cut it out of the paper:
See? Super cool wallpaper. The first piece I cut out Did Not Fit. Which led me to my own idea (always a dangerous thing) of putting the wallpaper on the top and then dealing with it later. Here was my friend throughout the process:
Oh yeah, Mod Podge. I had a coupon, so it only cost me $4. I rolled it onto the table, then positioned the paper.
Yup, kitchen counters are great for this sort of thing. Then I worked feverishly to get rid of bubbles, and added another layer of Mod Podge on top. After it had dried, I realized that Doug's favorite chef knife was just lying there, begging me to make use of it. With knife in hand, I quickly and easily cut off the extra paper. Voila, no pattern-making involved! Doug did, however, note dryly that a razor blade would have worked just as well.
Whatever, Mr. Love-My-Knife.
The biggest bummer was that the wallpaper was not wide enough for the table. To make the pattern look good, I ended up with not one, but two seams. Argh.
Then I painted the edges black with acrylic paint, and covered the whole thing with polyurethane. Or rather, Doug did. The lid on the can was so tight he had to use pliers to get it open, and by the time he opened it for me, I was long asleep. So he put it on for me. What a great guy.
And now, here are the results:
I even moved the entire front room around to make room for it. A friend came over shorty thereafter, and the only thing she noticed was the table.
Maybe because the chairs are still un-reupholstered? ; )
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