Archive for Decor

Tulle-ing Around and Around…

By Kristen on September 4, 2012

Yesterday, I gave you all a clue about today’s project:

Were you guys able to figure it out?  Kim at NewlyWoodwards guessed a tutu which is pretty darn close (the shape and materials are right).

So what the heck did I do this weekend?  I made a wreath!    A Fall wreath if we’re getting specific :)

I had originally found my inspiration wreath on Pinterest (it’s originally from Etsy).  Since the Etsy listing was a bit more than I hoped to spend on a Fall wreath, I decided to DIY it.

Since I was DIY-ing it, I decided to make a few changes to better suit my tastes.  Instead of using a flat wreath, I went with a spherical wreath since I liked that shape more (that was $6.99) and I picked up some red, orange glitter, yellow, green, and purple tulle (all together, it was about $13.00).  It was surpassingly difficult to find Fall colors near me  - it seems like they only sell white, baby pink, and baby blue.  Eventually, I found some “Fall” colors at A.C. Moore, though they were on the brighter side… and the orange was covered in glitter.  Other options included getting orange, purple, and black for Halloween but I wanted to get a lot of use out as much as possible.

To start, I would cut about 4-5″ strips of the tulle (it’s going to depend on the size of the ring and how long you want the tulle to be).  I found it made the process easier if I would just cut a bunch of strips out before hand and then just focus on tying everything on.

I also made sure to follow a pattern – green, yellow, purple, red, orange – so that it didn’t get too unbalanced.

As I tied the tulle to the ring, I would take the front piece of the last tulle knot and  tuck it under the new knot and slide it back to the rest.  This worked out well – it kept the knots hidden on one side and helped the tulle kind of blend together nicely.

I will be honest and say that this is sort of a time-consuming project.  It must’ve taken at least two hours for me to tie all the tulle around the wreath and since it’s a tedious job, I needed to take a few breaks.  Also, while the glitter tulle looks nice, there is orange glitter everywhere in our living room.  If they had a regular orange, I would’ve grabbed that instead.

It was a great feeling to see it when it was all done.  The wreath finished at the perfect time because I ended it on my last piece of orange tulle (I have loads left of the other colors).

To help make this even more Fall festive, I hot glued some leaves and purple flowers (both of which I had in our Fall decor storage box).  I’m very happy with how they look on the wreath.

I have a spool of silver wire so I snipped a little piece and twisted a little hook on the back so I could hang it on our front door.  This may be one of my favorite wreaths yet.  It’s bright and cheery, but still very Fall appropriate.

Now I’m curious – do you hang anything on your front door for the seasons or do you prefer to keep it bare?  Have you tacked a Fall decor project lately?  Anyone else in full-blow Fall decorating mode (like me)?  

Posted in Autumn, Decor, Details, Flowers, Home, Projects Tagged: , , , , | 14 Comments

Bookcase Eye Candy

By Kristen on August 21, 2012

Soo, apparently I haven’t shown you an update on our bookshelves since February.  Talk about slacking, especially since I have tweaked it since then.  In case you forgot, this is what it looked like:

This weekend, while Joe was away, I plopped myself in front of the bookshelves, took everything off and started over.  I also used this opportunity to purge some of my magazines.  I couldn’t bear to get rid of any of my Martha Stewart Wedding magazines (which Joe can’t understand) but I did go through my Christmas and Halloween edition magazines and cut out the pages I wanted so I could toss the rest.  The game plan is to buy some binders and clear pocket sheets so I can hold onto these for a while.

With that said, I like to think that the bookshelves turned out quite nicely this time!  I may actually be getting the hang of this styling thing.

The top left corner of the bookcase has the Game of Thrones books that I got Joe for his birthday, and the two he already had.  That is the Wall Street bull (or at least his cousin) protecting those books.  I can’t remember  where he came from, but I’ve had him for a while.

The next cube combines the red and grey books.  They all have covers that say “war”, “dangerous”, or “forger” so I’m hoping they’re able to get along for a while.  Please ignore the pumpkin… this weekend I decided that I was over Summer.  I’m ready for Fall and the best way to show that is to start decorating.  There are pumpkins, mums, and various other Fall items sprinkled about the apartment and I like it.  I’m not done yet so when I am, I’ll do a full post on that.

Down below is pretty cool.  Cool as in color because there are a whole lot of blue books down there.  The left cube has an assortment of books, like the two we snagged on our trip to DC, as well as a little votive holding two champagne corks – one bottle we got as a gift from the second hotel we stayed at in London and the other is from our wedding.  The cube on the right features the third book we got in DC, our Hunger Game books – which Joe has yet to read! and I now realize in this shot that they’re in the wrong order! – and one of our antique cameras.

You’ll also notice some new magazine files.  A while ago, Joe and I picked up the Kvarnvik magazine files in navy from IKEA to replace the Kassett boxes we had.  Not only do they class up the joint, they’re much sturdier so you can move them around while they’re full without worrying.  Clearly, that is a concern to me since I am constantly tweaking.

On the top right is the final section.  The cube on the left is what I fondly refer to as our  ’emo’ section.  I think it’s me getting in touch with my 16-year-old self (I sincerely thought I was emo and spent my time looking for new and vague bands that no one had heard of before and I still stand by the claim that I was the first person in our town to discover Something Corporate, not that it’s a big deal or anything.).  Regardless, I like how all the books look together next to the white penguin.

The cube on the right has one the boxes I painted (inside I’ve stashed all of the books’ cover sleeves in case I ever want to take on my commute or wherever).  Above that is a box that’s storing our wedding album (which was beautifully designed by Daniel Moyer, our photographer), and above that is another of our antique cameras.  The books are Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Staten Island, and New York.  Kind of a fun play on words if you ask me ;)

So, that’s where we’re at right now.  I’m very happy with the way things took and I think they may stay this way for a while.  At least until we get more books…  And until after November when that pumpkin will have to go away…

Do you constantly tweak something in your house like bookshelves or maybe a mantle?  

Posted in Decor, Design, Details, Home, Living Room, Organizing, Storage Tagged: , , , | 9 Comments

Paint it Up

By Kristen on August 10, 2012

A few weeks ago, I saw this great project over at Centsational Girl where Kate spray painted some IKEA shelves (a project I hope to one day tackle) but there was a small detail I noticed.  In order to incorporate some magazine file folders she had, she painted them.

Genius idea if you ask me.

So genius that I thought, “Hey, I could do that”.

And so I did.

Joe and I have two office storage boxes just kind of lying around.  One is black and one is orange (very Halloween, I know).  They didn’t match with anything in our living room so I thought that I would tackle a painting project.

Each storage box got a healthy cover of acrylic paint I had around.  For the orange storage box, I decided to go with Martha Stewart’s Lake Fog and for the black box, I went with Craft Smart’s Bright Blue.

The Martha Stewart paint seemed to go on a lot nicer and you can barely tell it’s painted when you pick up the box.  You can also still see the box’s texture through the paint.  The Craft Smart paint leaves a bit of a chalky feeling but I think it’s because there’s such a thick layer of paint on it.

This was a quick and easy project and I was able to just camp out on the couch and paint.  Gotta love free updates.

Have you done any free updates lately?  Anyone else tried painting their storage boxes or something else to help it fit with your decor?

Posted in Colors, Decor, Details, Living Room Tagged: , , , , | 6 Comments

Inspiration Wheels in Motion!

By Kristen on July 6, 2012

Last Friday, I shared with you my new inspiration for our bedroom.  While Joe was away camping with the guys (the outdoors is so not my thing), I got to work.  I have devised a new plan for our master bedroom based on said inspiration photo…

So let’s get into it…

1)  We’re going to be keeping our current bed, the Somerset Queen Panel Bed from Raymour & Flanigan because we still really like it.  We also love our Poetical Comforter set by Barbara Barry Bedding (a wedding present from Macy’s) so that’s totally staying.  I thought it would be fun to jazz things up with a nice colorful throw, like the Hailey Teal Throw from Crate & Barrel.  All strong basics that we can keep for the long haul.

2)  These are the colors we’re planning on using for the room:

3)  Our Hemnes nightstand from IKEA is getting a total overhaul – we’re going to paint it with Behr’s Peacock Tail and it is going to be awesome.  On top will be our bedside carafes from Crate & Barrel (which I still love) and our snazzy yellow lamps.  Originally, they were these medium antique bronze lamp bases from Target but I spray painted them yellow (using Rustoleum’s Gloss Sun Yellow).  With this bright new face – I finally got around to buying new white lamp shades, which are also from Target.
4) Once the nightstand is all finished, I’d like to change out the knobs to something a little higher end.  I’m leaning towards Anthropologie’s Lisbon Knob.  It’s the perfect combination of blue and teal that’ll match the look of the room but light enough that it’ll grab some much deserved attention.
5)  Can you believe that the only mirrors we have in our apartment are in the bathroom and a length-wise mirror in the bedroom?  I’d like to bring something bold into our bedroom – it’ll help brighten up the room, which can sometimes be a good thing since the windows just lead out to our neighbor’s house.  Not much of a chance for natural light.  Pier 1 Imports‘ Ocean Mosaic Mirror is just the thing we need.  There’s greens to match other aspects of the room but also browns which will tie into our storage trunk.  It’s perfect if you ask me.
6)  Our bedroom dresser (which is from the Somerset dresser from Raymour & Flanigan) is also staying put.  I still love it.  That dresser is the reason I bought the bed set.  The glass on the doors has a blue tint to them so it’ll work well in the room.
7)  Another item that’s staying in our room is our Kiona trunk from Pier 1 Imports (it’s no longer available online).  It’s the perfect place to hide extra blankets and comforters.
8)  We’ve still got the green and white Sofia fabric from IKEA.  The plan is to make two pillows cases that’ll cover those gold pillows we used to have on our couch (you can see them here).  They’re currently just sitting in the back room and it’s about time that we put them to use.  No point in buying new fillers if we have spare pillows just lying around, you know?
So what do you guys think of the game plan?  Know any places to buy fun hardware or maybe interesting mirrors?  How do you feel about rugs in the bedroom?
Posted in Bedroom, Decor, Design, Home Tagged: , , , | 8 Comments

A Spray of Sunshine

By Kristen on July 5, 2012

I did it.  I made a move when it came to starting on our bedroom (after I shared that inspiration photo with you last week).

Our night stands went from this…

…to this

Quite the transformation, huh??  I am in love with our lamps now.  They are so bright and cheery – a complete opposite of the dark green.

Last Friday night, I headed over to Home Depot and Target for some errands.  At Home Depot, I grabbed a can of Rustoleum‘s Gloss Sun Yellow spray paint, as well as a can of their primer.  After I grabbed my paint (and some paint swatches for the nigh stands) I headed over to Target to pick up two matching white lamp shades.  They have a drum shape and are pretty simple.  Nothing major – just a simple fix.

Saturday morning, I got to spraying. There are no photos of this because:

  1. I think you all know how to spray paint
  2. It was so hot outside that I sprayed and dashed back inside
Anywho, after a quick coat of primer and two coats of yellow, the lamps were done.  After the second coat, I waited about one – two hours to bring the lamps inside.  With the heat and humidity, I was afraid it wasn’t going to dry properly outside (even though I had placed them in the shade).

Either way, they’re not perfect but the imperfections are so small that only I notice them.  And now you all since I’m sharing the photos.  Whoops!  Looks like I have a ways to go before I become an expert spray painter…

Once a day and a half of the lamps being inside had passed, I put them back in the bedroom.

Remember how I mentioned that Joe totally supports me when I run with an idea?  Well, I showed him my inspiration photo last week and then he went way on a camping trip with his friends.  Joe had no idea what color I was planning on painting the lamps (and truth be told, I didn’t know until I got there and scoped out the options).  It was a fun surprise for him!  Thankfully, he loved the color and was pleasantly surprised that I had gotten around to spray painting the lamps while he was away.

I asked Joe what he thought of the new shades – he approved (although to be fair, anything would’ve been better than our old ones).  I swapped the old for the new and we are all set right now.  The lamps look so fancy in the bedroom.

After owning these lamps for about six years, I finally love them.

What do you think of my color choice?  Are you glad I went with the yellow for the lamps or would you have preferred I went with the green?  Anyone else recently spray painted something?  Are you partial to fun colors or do you gravitate towards the quieter colors?

Posted in Bedroom, Decor, Details, Home Tagged: , , , | 17 Comments
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