Crazy Awesome or Just Crazy?

When I saw this candelabra at At Home in Homewood (how's that for repetition?), I had to have it. Because the turquoise color is the exact color of my second accent color in the living room. But so far I don't really have a good place to put it. My upright piano is so high that the candelabra is really close to the ceiling. (I have thought about asking Heinz to cut part of it off in the middle and to weld it back together.) Or maybe I'll just wait until we get a sofa table and it will look good on there. Or I might just keep it where it is.

Bedroom Wallpaper

The bedroom wallpaper was put up today. I LOVE it. It matched the wall color perfectly. I was afraid it would be too busy, but I don't think it is. Even Heinz said he likes it more than he thought he would. There's quite a bit of wallpaper left over, so maybe I could use it for a background for some artwork elsewhere in the room. After the wallpaper lady was done, Heinz put up the new sconces. There are matching ones in the master bathroom vanity as well.



This is a reproduction retro phone I got for the bedroom. Sure it's a little inconvenient because you can't lay in bed and pick up the receiver, but the point is it looks good, right?!

Kitchen Curtains, Finally!

My mom is an amazing seamstress. While I was visiting her last week, she made my kitchen curtains for me. I helped out a little and took notes. The one above the bay window is one long continuous valance. We made them one and a quarter times the width of the window so it would have a little bit of gather but not too much. And I'm pretty amazed at how the red bouquets are perfectly spaced out over the width of the windows.

Behold the Feature Wall!

This is going to take some getting used to. I love it, but it sure is different than what was before! The bedroom wall has not been wallpapered because I didn't buy enough wallpaper. Hopefully that can get done next week.

Finished Half-Bath

The red-and-gold lampshades and towel really class up the joint.

More Homemade Kitchen Artwork

This project needs a bit of work. I made it just last night. The frame is a $10 shadow box frame from Ikea. I covered the mat with leftover kitchen curtain fabric (photos coming soon once I get the bay window rod). I then attempted to attach or hang some copper cookie cutters from my mom, who got them from her mom. I didn't want to hot glue them because I didn't want to ruin them. I put tacks in the mat with tape on that to try to keep them on there. Next I might try some of that yellow tacky stuff that you can put stuff on the walls with. Any other ideas that wouldn't hurt the cookie cutters?

My Husband Is a Man of Many Talents

See this outlet? Looks ordinary, yes? But the thing is that it didn't used to be there. Heinz put it in the foyer where the feature wall is going to be so that I can plug in a lamp there. He did it last night after work even though he was really tired. Oh yeah, and it really works! Bonus: I now have a piece of the wall to take in to the paint store to have matched up for some touch-ups I need to do. Because the can labeled "foyer" and a new can of the supposed color don't match. What do you think the paint people would say if I told them I cut a piece of the wall out so I could match it up?

The Geese Have Left the Building

Our half bath was painted 1980's country blue. You know what color I mean—the color of geese that you bought at a local craft fair and then would have sitting around the house because everyone else was. (Sorry, Mom.) But anyway. That was the color of this bathroom. But no more! It now matches the foyer. And even better, I painted vertical stripes in this room. Katie gave me the great idea of painting the half bath to match the foyer. And then Stephanie suggested accenting with red towels and chandelier shades to pull it together with the other rooms, and then Kate Nicholson suggested that I paint stripes. It certainly takes a village to help me decorate. So I got a quart of high gloss in the same color as the main color of the bathroom. I measured off 6-inch (mostly) stripes with a laser level. It took some time to get a good rhythm going, and even though I almost quit twice, I'm glad I stuck it out. The results are very subtle and almost look like wallpaper. Would I do this again? It would have to be a small room. It's a LOT of work.

Stay tuned for the chandelier shades. Heinz has to rewire the sconces so they fit.

Before, stuck in a time warp


After, finally in the 21st century

New Bed

We got our new bed yesterday. It is ginormous! I was going to put wallpaper just directly above the bed, but I think that would be too choppy-looking. So I'm going to have the whole wall done instead.

Homemade Artwork

Now that the downstairs is completely painted (YEA!), I can start thinking about accessorizing. For the first time in my life, I have walls in the kitchen for artwork and accessories. Besides a clock, message center, and calendar, this is my first kitchen art. It's like a framed scrapbook page. I photocopied recipes from my great-grandmother's cookbook (in her handwriting) and a picture of me (I don't know if you can tell, but I'm sporting some awesome bell bottoms). I used some red-patterned scrapbook paper that looks like an old-fashioned kitchen tablecloth. At some point I'd like to paint the frame red to really make it pop. And the best recipe that I included: Homemade Soap. My grandma Sherron says she still remembers having to stir it on the stove.

My next project is to hang some shiny copper cookie cutters on the wall, but I'm not sure where yet.

Piano Stool Cushion

I have an old 1917 upright piano with a stool that swivels up and down. I plan on painting the piano but not the stool. Stephanie had a great suggestion of putting a cushion on it to match the living room furniture. So I matched up this turquoise fabric and had someone make it for me. Stephanie suggested her friend's aunt Kathy, who made some beautiful cushions for her dining room chairs. Kathy actually borrowed the seat of the stool and made the cushion fit around it so it won't come off. It's bulkier than I thought it would be but it fits beautifully. And her welting work is lovely! She charged me $35. So if you need someone to make custom cushions for you, let me or Steph know and we'll give you her number.

An Afternoon Project

Yesterday Katie pointed out that the back of the bookcase in the hallway was the same color as the half bath that I really want to change. For a long time this bookcase was completely full of books. Now that the back is more noticeable, I had to do something about it. I used leftover library paint so that it would fit in better.

BEFORE:


AFTER: