Thursday, August 22, 2013

Gallery Wall

I've mentioned I have been in the process of a gallery wall in our living room.  Well tonight I feel like it is finally far enough along to share... Up until now,  I have had about two pictures hanging... not the prettiest. But today I made it out to the D.I. and luckily found several pictures to add to my collection.  
Here it is in all its glory.  And keep in mind it is still in progress. My end goal is a wall full.


These pictures aren't great at all since I took them once it was dark out but I was too excited to show this off to wait until the morning light.


This is a little hand painting on a tiny canvas I found at a thrift store a few months back and thought it was adorable not to mention very colorful. I think it was about $1.50


This was an actual photograph I found taped to the back of a frame.  I had been coveting this artwork by Sharon Montrose for awhile and while it is very reasonably priced, I just hadn't gotten around to ordering a print.  I haven't given up on that idea but this giraffe print will do for now. (Especially for 1$)


These are some sketches I did in highschool that I found while cleaning out my room to move.


This is one of my scores from today. (5 dollars!) I really like the simplicity and that it is in a heavy duty nice frame.


This is a before of the wreath seen above.  I had an awkward space to fill and wanted something a little more 3 dimensional.  I found this wreath in a drawer (I bought it at a boutique clearance last year for about 50 cents) and I decided to spray paint it gold so it wasn't so boring.  I also like that it could almost pass as metal.


So here are some more details of the things I haven't covered yet.
Black/white West Elm inspired painting: DIY here
Red, orange, yellow abstract painting: thrifted $5
Small flower painting: thrifted $0.50

All of my frames were thrifted as well for less than a dollar.  I think I am into this wall about $20 tops.  So here is some proof a gallery wall doesn't have to cost you a fortune.  If you check your local thrift stores often enough and keep an open mind, you are sure to come up with something. And when I say keep an open mind, KEEP IT WIDE OPEN.  Have you seen some of the things Emily Henderson hangs up?? Questionable on their own but once she gets them all together in a room they always look amazing.  Don't be afraid to be a little out there.
Also, I sort of mapped this out but when it came down to it, I just started hanging and built out from the center.  You don't have to be perfect (let alone want it to be perfect) and if it turns out horrible, chances are you can use most of your existing nail holes to rearrange and cover up the ones you can't use.  Don't be afraid to put holes in your walls.



Friday, August 16, 2013

I'm kind of a big deal

Just kidding. But really, have you ever started a project thinking "I'll just work on this for a few days, it's okay if it takes awhile." and then 9 hours later you're finishing the project? You're a terrible hot mess that hasn't eaten since breakfast and every muscle is sore but you've accomplished more than you thought was possible... Yeah. That just happened. 
Okay, so... I'm about to show you some pictures I'm very not proud of. Of our kitchen when we first moved in. 


This is the view as you walk in the door from the bedroom. I know, the robes are a nice touch. Here you can kind of see what the old counter/cupboard looked like... and how little counter space we had. 
You can see the full post on this update here.


This is the window above the sink


The previous owners (who we know) left up the curtains for us.


See the next door neighbors house/window? Yeah, great views over here. And absolutely NO walking around neked. 


First thing I did was take down the curtains.  Our house has an amazing craftsman style and I wanted to show off the moulding better.
Then I measured up 9 inches from the bottom of the window and installed these shelf supports. 
(My suggestion is to get your hands on some power tools for this.  I was too impatient and screwed them in by hand... I'm paying for it in blisters)


I picked out some boards at home depot that I think are made just for shelving. They are really pretty and perfect depth.  I picked out some that were 6 feet long- which worked out great cuz I didn't have to make any cuts. (When you go to the store, measure your space before. Chances are they will have a board in the size you want, and if not they will cut it for you for free)  I stained them and let them sit to dry. Don't forget, if your stain is really dark, you can wipe it off with a paper towel to lighten it a little.


I took a break from the shelving and mixed up some paint.  I wanted black but I have a lot of black in my house.  I searched through the oops paint and didn't see a color I loved.  I realized I had some paint leftover I could make my own color with.  I was going for a moody green- but it really turned out more black than anything.

I started painting... and since it was only one wall and not a ton of area, I finished in only a few hours.  I had to do about 3 coats.


I hung my shelves, screwed them all together so they aren't going anywhere, did my pile of dishes and organized the pictures on my fridge, filled my shelves (I finally opened our dishes from our wedding!!!)


And here is the other side.


And here is Stella, cleaning our floors for us.  She does a really good job.
Plate wall found here.

Here's a side by side view of before/after:



I know, you think I'm a big deal too. I mean, not everyone dares to sit on top of their fridge as they paint their kitchen... If only there was a picture of that fine moment.

So it turned out just as I hoped. And I don't think it looks too awkward blocking the windows with shelves... they're non-functioning anyways. (And I really don't even care, because I have a place to put our dishes now) It was amazing how much the dark paint opened up the room. It draws the eye up and accentuates our tall ceilings (which are rare for a house as old as ours). Not bad for a one day job! I'm off to eat now. Since it's been like... 10 hours.











Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Kitchen dreaming

My kitchen needs some help.  For someone who loves to bake and cook as much as I do, my kitchen is much too small.  One of the things we are missing is storage.  We have one tiny cupboard seen in this post and it only holds a few mixing bowls and my seemingly endless supply of tupperware.  The main problems is that we don't have any wall space in our kitchen.  Literally every wall that can be taken up is taken up.  So as I was cooking the other day, I had a brilliant idea.  Why not put open shelving on the wall with windows?  Sounds weird I'm sure, but I saw a picture of it somewhere (that I haven't been able to find since) and it looked really good.  So here is my inspiration for some open shelving in my kitchen.

I love how simple this is. with the all white and then natural wood. I also love how the shelves appear to be floating. Plus I have all white dishes, so I know mine would look great like that :)

I am a sucker for industrial.  I love that these shelves have sliding doors that can somewhat conceal things but still give the open feel.

How great are those mini spice shelves on the left?? And I also love the hanging pots and pans idea.

Another industrial-looking shelf.  It looks like can be readjusted for different heights which would be awesome.

And I am in love with this coloring.  Nothing says happy like bright colors.  I just might need to get me some prettier cooking utensils so I can display them.

I am hoping to get this done before school starts but my last week of summer might win me over....... We'll see.. 

As for now, I'm going swimming today. All day. And no one can stop me. 


Tuesday, August 13, 2013

It's me again.

Hiyee. Did I not warn you I was going to have a hard time blogging lately?? Well guess what. Finals are over and I've taken some time to relax and now I'm ready for some major projects. I finally got around to my desk I bought in the beginning of July. It wasn't horrible but what I really loved was the hardware.  It took me some time to decide what color to paint it and then find the time to paint it.


I found this on a random trip to the thrift store and I had Tom's car which is slightly smaller than my car.  As I pulled up to the loading dock and the two high school boys came out with it, I could tell it wasn't going to fit.  So just to be sure I pulled out my tape measure (which the boys laughed at and asked what girl carries a tape measure to which I replied... ME) So I had them hold it and waited for Tom to get home from work and he went with me and we shoved it in my trunk and drove the 5 blocks home. 


And here it is painted. I decided to go with black because black is such a timeless color.  I rolled the paint on just like I did with my green dresser and then added a top coat of polyurethane for durability.


Tom and I also added to our plant collection on Saturday.  We found this awesome exotic plant store downtown and Tom finally got his beloved Bonsai Tree (he literally has been wanting one for years)  We didn't get the classic one because they are pretty pricey and we figured we would give the cheaper, harder to kill one a go and expand our collection from there.  And I finally got my fiddle leaf fig. I never thought we would get so excited about plants but it felt like christmas bringing those home.


And since I had the black paint out, I alternated between painting the desk and this door.  Man I hate cheap/fake wood. 


Quite the improvement, ya?


And then as we watched a movie, I updated my chalkboard using this tutorial.  Seriously, I always tried to write like the pros do in the Pottery Barn magazines but until I read this tutorial, it always turned out so... homemade if not first grade looking.





What do you think? I want to get a new chair that actually fits under the desk.


Remember my living room list? I crossed off a lot of things but with those, added more.

Get a sectional
Sell old sofa
Get a new t.v. stand that is multi-functional
Gallery wall
Paint all interior doors black (done with 1 of 4)
Get a desk to go under front window
Get a chair that fits under desk
Get some bright throw pillows for sofa
Lamp for behind sofa
Style bookshelf

Thanks for reading!! Check back tomorrow for my kitchen update plans!

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Life after engagement

Yesterday was one of my best friends weddings and I was a bridesmaid. I had never really met most of her other bridesmaids before so it was really fun to get to know them. As we were all sitting around a table, I overheard a girl telling one of them about how she had called off her engagement. I immediately became nosy and started asking questions which I'm sure came off really rude since we didn't know each other at all. I could tell she didn't really want to talk about it so I told her how I had broken off my engagement too. She immediately opened up to me and started asking questions (since the only me she knows is the happily married girl). Since then I have been thinking a lot about my experience and thought it might be good to write it down.  I'm sure you want to know all of the juicy details because- who doesn't love other people's drama? Out of respect for him, I'm only going to share my side of it.
So I was engaged about three years ago.  We got engaged in November of 2010 and had our date set for March 2011. As time went on, things started happening that made us both realize we might not be as meant for each other as we had thought.  I wasn't happy and I was having major doubts.  Everyone told me that's just cold feet and it's natural but deep down I knew there was something really wrong.  At times I would think that calling it off was too hard and if it didn't work out we could just get divorced. But after about a month of talking it over and me doing a lot of crying, I decided to call off our wedding less than a month before our date. He was level headed and agreed with me that we weren't as happy as we should be.
The few days following that hard decision I felt more pain than I thought possible.  I cried almost all the time and still wasn't even sure if it was the right decision.  I became a robot, going to work, school, and acting happy.  But deep down I was always hurting.  As time went by, the pain started to get better and the thought of dating again wasn't so distant.  With the encouragement of my family I started dating again.  I hated every minute of it.  I hated dating in the first place let alone dating when I thought I would never have to do it again.  
On my first date, we went to a Jazz game. The night before I had nightmares of it going wrong but nothing compared to how it really went. My date was the sweetest guy, but my ex was sitting directly across the arena from us.  As soon as I knew he was there I started shaking and had to go into the bathroom to gain my composure. (and call my family half crying)  I went to work and laughed about it with all my co-workers but deep down it wasn't that funny to me.  
Even though I acted okay on the outside, I was still a mess inside.  All I could think was that no one would ever compare to him and I would die alone.
A few months later, my brother got married.  We were dating and engaged at the same time and he was my best friend. Even though I was so happy for him and loved his wife, it was really hard for me.  I remember driving away from his reception all by myself, feeling more alone than ever.
And then one day just four short months later, I met Tom.  He changed my life.  He was so patient with me. He listened to me vent about the things that happened in my past relationship.  He helped build me back up into the confident girl I used to be.  He even had the opportunity to run into my ex with me when we were on a date and held my shaking hand as we walked away. Through the next year he helped me heal. I always joked with him I should probably go to therapy but the truth is, he was my therapist.  After a year of dating and honestly the best relationship I had ever had I decided to give marriage a second chance.  Throughout our engagement I was sort of shocked I never had the fears or doubts I had with my previous engagement.  I was happy and content and just ready to be with him.  We got married a year and a half to the day of meeting and I haven't regretted it for one day.
Back during that dark time of my life, nothing anyone said made me feel better.  All that would help was time.  But all I really wanted was for someone to tell me that they've been through it and they came out alive.   Looking back, all of that is so distant.  There is no pain, only memories and a lot of lessons learned.  I know I experienced that for a reason and even though I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, I am so grateful everyday for it.  It has made me look at my relationship with Tom in a different way.  There are so many things that he does and doesn't do that I would have taken for granted without my experiences of my past relationship.  I know he was made just for me.
This is way more personal than I ever thought I would get on here, but after talking with that girl yesterday, I realized my happy ending to a sad situation could possibly help someone else.



And here is a little video from the happiest day of my life:


If you are in Utah, our videographer was the BEST.  He was also the best price I found.  I was so happy with his work. Here is his website: