Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Project Hallway panels

Okay, it's time to share what became of this fabric! Remember?


Duh, of course you do. You read this blog & you've seen this picture no less than 12 times (but I know I never mentioned the fabric is from Anna Marie Horner's Innocent Crush line, now did I?). I commissioned my mom to make simple panels for the lonely little window in the hallway. The window doesn't let in much light on a good day, even without a window treatment. So I was a little worried how the panels would or wouldn't affect things in there. But none-the-less, that boring bare window needed something stat!


I'll spare you the details of how we got to this point (mostly because I don't think the husband would be amused). But let's just say it started with me buying a cheap-ola $5 curtain rod from Christmas Tree Shops, and then the husband climbing up, down, up, down the step ladder, leveling, measuring, drilling, climbing back up, down, up, down the ladder some more, measuring again, drilling again, all the while I was in the background saying helpful things like, "ooooh yeah, that doesn't look right". So needless to say, for obvious reasons, there were no photos of this process.

So the panels were looking okay at this point, but they were blocking out way too much light and I knew I needed something to tie them back. So off to Joann's I went. I came across some great trim (do you know Joann's carries Cynthia Rowley & Project Runway lines? Ooooh, yes please!). Anyway, after much debating I narrowed it down to 3 choices...none of which are C. Rowley or Project Runway, ironically....







In the end I chose option #3. I loved greek key #1 and #2, but there was something about the braided gold that I loved even more. It's not something I'd originally thought to work with, but it spoke to me at the time, so home it came with me!



There was no rhyme or reason to how I tied these back. Really, it's almost ghetto when I tell you I simply hammered a nail in there and voila...instant tie-backs!



I'm still getting used to the fact that we have some sort of treatment for this window. But I love that the fabric adds a pop of color to the gray-black-white color scheme that's happening in there now.

And the good news? The curtain rod & panels are still intact...so, bonus points to the husband for all of his hard work! And who said a cheapy $5 curtain rod isn't legit?

Friday, February 24, 2012

Master bedroom updates!

Okay, here we go...I'm back to share some master bedroom updates! I'm all out of wit and candor today, so instead you'll just be getting some crappy pictures & a bit of commentary on what's currently going on in there (besides the usual mess of clothes, books, etc...hey, at least the bed is made!). Mmmmm, kay? Here we go!

So two weekends ago I got down to business & painted. Painting a room is so exhausting to me, especially the prep work. Seriously, prep works makes me want to just live in the old and forget the new. It's more of an effort than the painting itself! But recently I taught myself how to cut in with a good brush, which pretty much eliminated the need for tape (and because I'm neat, I really didn't bother with a drop cloth either). I'm telling you people, a good brush makes all the difference in the world! I use an angled brush by Purdy (I'm not sure the dimensions, but I don't think that really matters...it's whatever you're comfortable holding). The paint was a low VOC & paint/primer in one from Benjamin Moore, which required only one (count 'em....ONE!) coat to cover that burnt orange/brown that was previously in there. From me to you...I thank you Benjamin Moore. Lazy painters of the world rejoice!







Yep, how's that for a set of crap-tastic photos! But you get the point, right? Anyhoo, because these pictures were snapped in haste, the the color is not true to what we're seeing in real life. It's definitely cooler with more blue undertones, but at different times of the day it looks brown. To say this color took some getting used to is the understatement of the century! When I started painting, I actually stopped to check the label as I wasn't so sure the lovely gal at Benjamin Moore had even mixed the correct color. Then I began to wonder if I even asked for the right color in the first place (if you're still curious...Benjamin Moore wins, Katie loses). So, zero points for me for being lazy and not bothering with a sample. Oh well. You live and you learn. I'm certainly not painting this room again. 

To make a long story even longer, I'm bothered by the fact (but slowly gettting used to it) that the comforter and the wall color are all wrong together. But apart, I feel the love. So since I'm not planning to repaint, or get a new comforter, we'll have to make it work, right? I ordered this fabric from Calico Corners last week. It's the ikat pattern I had in mind, it draws in the deep grays of the wall, and was on sale for $14.99/yard. Score!



I never shop at Calico Corners but did you know (that despite having bolts & bolts of fabric on the walls) you have to order your fabric anyway? I guess it's a new policy or something...or so I was told. But for 2 yards of this stuff (for throw pillows) I was a little miffed they couldn't make an exception for little 'ol me. BTW--it's a week later and still no sign of the UPS man with my fabric...just sayin' Calico Corners...

So there you have it! A little update as to what's going on in our master bedroom. If the weather ever gets a bit warmer & predictible around here, I'll be priming & painting the new nightstands which I'm super anxious to add to the space! When and if that ever happens before June, remains to be seen. But I'll be updating you all along the way!

TGIF!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Hey, yo.

Alright, so here we go....a new City Dwellin' design! I know several of you have stopped by in the last day or so to compliment the new digs. I'm absolutely thrilled with the way things turned out! Moe Howard of the blog Five Sixteenths (as well as With Love Crochet) is the fabulous gal behind this here design. And because I'm a little special when it comes to navigating Blogger (and well, anything tech related really), she was all sorts of help getting me to this point...tweaking, assisting, listening to my stupid questions, etc. If you like what you see, check her out!

I'll be back this week with regularly scheduled blogging. Promise. I'll be sharing some pictures of the master bedroom progress, as well as some DIY art we finally got around to hanging, and some new curtains for project hallway. Remember this lovely fabric?



See you later this week!

Friday, February 17, 2012

Oh my.

Wow. So I fully intended to blog a bit more this week (my mind is racing with projects and ideas). But then things got busy, life got in the way, and before we knew it...it was Friday. Which is a good thing of course. Bring on the weekend!

Okay, so first things first. I've got some exciting changes happening to the 'ol blog! It's out with the old, in with the new around here. So expect to see some updates in the next few days. In the meantime, if things are a little wonky....well, now you know why. Tech support isn't ranked as one of my strong suits.

Also, did you know my birthday is coming up? In 2 weeks and one day to be exact (but who's counting?). I'm turning 35. Which is probably something to get excited about, right? Well guess what folks. I feel great...35 definitely does not scare me! At least my 34 year-old self doesn't think so (asking my 21 year-old self that same question would have elicited a different response).


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So even though I'm turning 35, I'm still allowed to ask for gifts, right? These are some things that are currently on my wish list...

A personalized phone case, like this one from Etsy seller Abigail Lee Home

Personalized Phone Case - Nautical Design - More Colors Available

This book (because Santa never delivered). And yes, I'm still the only design/decor interested human who doesn't have one.


A manicure. Of any kind, really. But if I'm going to get specific, then it's going to be of the gel variety. Because I can't be the only one who gets uber annoyed when their polish chips just after one day. Right?


Pinned Image
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Maybe a pair of boots...


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Or shoes. I'm not picky.



If you were me, which would you choose? All of them? I thought so. Good answer.

TGIF!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Love


A little Instagram love today. And a rasberry mocha to hit the spot.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Take a tour before

Alright, here we go. I'm keeping good on my promise to show you some before pics of our master bedroom. Things really changed in there this weekend...it's a good thing I thought to take some photos!

So we're going to take it back to the old school & show you what things looked like before putting an offer on the house. With the state of the bedroom the way it was, it's amazing I bothered with that offer in the first place!




Ye-owza (um, and side note...check out the missing door knob on the closet!). It's funny, looking at old photos of our house just boggles my mind. It doesn't even look like the same place! Except, just wait. You're about to see something awfully familiar in the next set of bedroom pics.

So anyhoo! I'm pretty sure when we looked at the house that I declared right then and there this wall color was going, going, gone. And then a funny thing happened. I moved in, the furniture arrived and I didn't hate it so much. And then four years later....



I know, I can't believe it either. I kept the wall color! Once the furniture arrived, the space felt warmer and suddenly not so disgusting afterall. But like all good things, they must come to an end. Things have gotten stale, and it was time for a change. So let's talk about the things that are staying, going, changing, etc....

For starters, the furniture is staying--more specifically, the bed and dresser.



Prints that we bought on the streets of Paris--also staying.




Window treatments (or lack there of) will be added. The husband's chest (where all of his belongings go to die--see?) is also staying.



The nightstands (and lamps)--they're going too. See why we needed an upgrade? These fit the bill for four years, but we really need something more substantial this time around (stay tuned--I scored some new ones this past weekend--finally!--and I'll be posting about those soon).



This chest will likely be going too (but not for good, I'll just moving to another room). I'm not sure it will look so great once the new nightstands are here. This thing is the sister version of the husband's chest--a lot of my belongings die here too (especially after a long day & I'm just too lazy to put anything away...which, you'd be surprised just how often it happens!).


So there you have it! A nice little glimpse into the current state of our master bedroom. Up next--painting and new nightstands!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Bedroom sneaks

TGIF!

I'm back to share some sneaks of our master bedroom makeover process. I'm pretty much going to do things ass-backwards here, and show you what I've been working on so far. And then I'll turn around and show you the current state of our space (which wasn't so pleasant looking this morning when I thought to take pics...girlfriend's gotta clean up in there!).

Anyhoo, first things first! I had been debating about a duvet since oh, um....last fall. If you've been following me in my quest to find the perfect nightstands (more on that in a minute) then you're not surprised to know that finding the perfect duvet set was nothing short of a tall task. And then I saw this over at Centsational Girl....


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Problem solved! Armed with a gift card, store credit & coupons, I headed over to Bed Bath & Beyond to purchase my goods (the set is Poetical by Barbara Barry). I haven't purchased anything duvet related in quite some time, so I was surprised to learn that pillow shams are a cool $50 each! I know Katie, welcome to the world where everyone already knows this. It's sort of like curtain panels that are sold in packages of one...don't they know we'll need two?! (and this is me stepping off my soapbox right now) Anyway, 1 thing accomplished, 116 more to go!

Benjamin Moore's Gettysburg Gray will be the wall color of choice...

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I'm still on the hunt for fabric to add to the space, but so far I've come up with these...



I was originally thinking to incorporate blue into the space, but the yellow/gray fabric is really speaking to me now (although, it looks totally mismatched in this photo). I'm still very much on the hunt for other options, but these just happened to speak to me right now. Oh, and for anyone wondering, these are upholstery samples from Joann's...I don't recall the specific line right now, but when I do make final decisions, I'll be sure to add sources for everything I purchased. Okay, moving along!

We've already tackled the lighting situation on the walls....


I had the electrician switch out 3 of these when he was here working on the kitchen lighting. Two birds, one stone people! The lights are $29 a piece from Home Depot. Lowes has a similar fixture for almost double the price, so go me with my bargain hunting (yes Lowes, I just called you out. I love you, but sometimes you do me wrong!)! I never thought to take a before picture of what was happening in here, but to give you an idea of what we'd been looking at for the last four years, here's a shot of the awful, misplaced sconce in our hallway. See why we were in need of an update? Gross!


So, as you may or may not know, I've been on the hunt for theeeee perfect set of nightstands for quite some time now. There isn't a Goodwill, Amvets, Salvation Army, random cheap-o furniture outlet, or antique shop I don't visit. And I'm still batting zero. I suppose my requirements are a bit too specific--they must be less than $100 each, at least 28"-30" in height, and must be longer than the current 12" Pier One pedestal stands that currently serve as our bedside tables. I was originally thinking something more "dresser-like", and Christmas Tree Shops turned up this beauty...



...but they were too long for the space. So much for that idea! This 3-drawer chest fits the bill measurement-wise...



...but aside from the measurements being spot-on, I'm not entirely sure I'm in love with it. I asked the husband what he thought, and his reply was, "does it really matter what I think?". Ah, husband! That is what I love about him, he's always 100% on board when it comes to letting me make the design decisions around here. As long as I do him a favor and stay out of the kitchen. Seems like a decent compromise to me! If I decide to purchase these, they most definitely will be getting refinished. I'm still not sure what color they'll be though...which is maybe why I'm having such a difficult time pulling the trigger. I just can't envision what these would look like. The husband's response? "But the wood finish is so nice, you really shouldn't paint them". And then I kindly reminded him that these were $129 from Christmas Tree Shops....this wasn't wood we were talking about here! So for now, the hunt remains. I'll be out & about this weekend seeing if anything can top these.

So there you have it. Some plans for a master bedroom so far! I'll be back next week to share some progress. I think if I'm a little more forthcoming on the details, it will help keep me in check and ensure that this makeover is complete before 2017.

Happy weekend-ing!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Give me an "R"!

Our home has seen it's fair share of letter K's come waltzing through the door, so I'm guessing the husband was super confused when I brought home these babies...


You see, a good friend and I have a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch your's" policy. Except neither of us is scratching each other's backs, we're just looking out for one another (duh). So when I spied these letters (her item of request) I snatched them up, shot her a text, and carefully guarded my items within an inch of my life. Although, looking back I don't think the older gentleman with the 8 year-old child (who had come to chat with the sales clerk) was going to fight me for two letter R's. But you never know. It's always best to play it safe.  

After getting the go-ahead to purchase them (and spray them black) we were officially in business. I took the liberty of  leaving the smaller letter as-is, since the silver texture was very cool & vintage-y. But the gold letter got the usual...primer and 2 coats of paint...


I'm happy to report that I had a very pleased client...um, er...friend. She's hosting a gathering at their place this weekend & I can't wait to see where these letters will call home! Hey, maybe that will be an update for next week! Hmmmm, yeah...now I'm thinking. 

I'll be back tomorrow to share details of our master bedroom makeover! I'm still in the very beginning stages of hunting & gathering some goods, but I'm excited to share what I'm working on!

Friday, February 3, 2012

I resolve...

While February was busy sneaking up on me, I was still thinking about January. What can I say, I'm a day late & a dollar short around here. But did I make nice on those resolutions? I'm happy to report that...

We're consistently eating cleaner
I'm flossing more than before
I'm fairly certain I've narrowed my choices for a new blog design
I've finally navigated Pinterest (check me out with my one pin...go me!)
I'm finally tackling that master bedroom makeover

Okay, so I'm lying...the flossing isn't going so well. But I felt the need to say it, in the off-chance that my dentist might happen to be reading this (although, if we're getting technical here 'flossing more than before' is actually true, considering it's something that I rarely did before). So eh, 4 out of 5 ain't too bad.  

The last time you joined me, I complained mentioned that I couldn't find a small console table for the real, real entryway to save.my.life. And then like magic, this appeared...



Okay, so it didn't magically appear. But the day I wrote my last post, I found this little gem for $35 at a local antique store. The piece itself was missing the back of the unit, which is why it was such a deal. But that didn't phase me since this is really more of a decorative piece. The doors stick, the inside is covered in awful contact paper, and the painted faux wood finish isn't so hot either. So to sum things up, this is definitely not what I'd envisioned for the space. But it works. Sometimes thinking outside the box isn't such a bad thing. Which is why going into a space with a well laid out plan isn't always the best idea. You never know when the unexpected will fit the bill!

Obviously I have plans to paint it. I was originally thinking that whatever found it's way into this space would be painted green, ala this great piece from Emily Clark...



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But now I can't help but wonder if something this large would be like the big green elephant in the room. I'm all for adding an unexpected color to a space, but I may have to mull this one over.

And again, that's what we like to call deviating from the original plan, my friends. TGIF!

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