I’m still feeling like I have a work in progress. I’ve spent quite a bit of time standing in front of these walls trying to decide if the placement is correct, if I painted the bottom half of the walls too dark, if I should have followed closer to Emily’s example and nixed the molding and even if I really like the prints of not.

So here’s what I’ve got:

The prints on the left were there all along I just moved them down. Then I removed the paint by numbers and added two more photos on the left and then I finally think I found a home for this antique clock I’ve had for awhile. All the pictures came from a coffee table book I found at Big Lots. It was called something like “Life Magazine’s 50 best Photos”. Whatever the title was it only cost about 8 dollars and I think I sure did get a good bang for my buck.

On the other wall I am less happy. Here’s what we’ve got:

The sailboat travel poster I had in the hallway and I moved it here because I wanted something to puncture that molding in order to keep your eye from stopping before reaching the ceiling. I also thought the colors worked very well with the walls and helped to bridge the two shades. However, it left me with a funky space to the left. So I added those two pictures there, one on top of the other with a wide white matting in order to balance out the heft of the sailboat print. But, I’m just fellin’ a little blah about them together.They are both family pictures, here are close ups:

This one here is of my great grandparents on my mother’s side, Ruth and George Thomson. When I came across this picture I just thought it was a real gem. I doubt they were even married yet when this picture was taken in 1926. Great Grandma Thomson must have been a real rebel wearing pants in those days. The little house in the background also reminds me of Ittybittybungalow.

And here’s another young couple. Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Carnevale on their honeymoon in Niagara Falls. That’s quite a hat if you ask me.

Turns out this has been an oddly appropriate post for Valentine’s Day.

Taking a cue from Emily and her walls I decided to try this out in my own place. The only thing I wanted to do a bit differently was to add a molding ledge at the point where the colors would change at a plate rail height. The room is small so it only took four 8 foot lengths and they only cost about 5 dollars each. I had a much easier time mitering these corners than I had with the crown molding in the bathroom, in case you were wondering. Once I had the pieces cut I stained them with a mixture of Gunstock and Chestnut wood stain at a four two one ratio respectively  in order match the exiting trim. I knew I wanted to keep the original color (BM Nantucket Fog) on the top in order to keep it tied in with the living room, so I chose a color only a few shades darker for the base (Behr Stormy Blue) . Once I nailed the trim up I then painted the bottom and this is what I have now.I took these pictures at night so they happen to be a little dark (Maybe  someday Apartment Therapy will make a return trip to the ROC and take some superstar shots of Ittybittybungalow). 

I can see that the plates need to be adjusted but I can make quick work of that

These pictures also need to be moved down a little bit but that’s not a big deal.

Here is the before picture:

Thanks Emily for the local inspiration!

I spent today installing open shelves in my kitchen. Originally, I wanted to have real cupboards here but that was cost prohibitive at this time. Even with used cupboards it was too expensive ( I could never find them in the right size anyway). I was thinking that these would be the next best thing. The major drawback here is although I am gaining storage, it can only be for things I’m interested in looking at and things that  are worth getting on a stool for.

It took most of the day to trim and paint the shelves but once I figured out what I was doing the whole job went pretty smoothly. I’m happy with the results and even  with the meager gains in storage, I think it adds a hint of personality to the kitchen since there isn’t any other place to display anything. It’s definitely better than the empty space that was there before.

I am stuck with one dilemma though. You see, I’d like to add one more shelf beside the fridge, over the microwave. However,  if you look at the first picture you can see that the bracket on the right for this little shelf is not going to be able to line up with the others in the middle because of the fridge.

I could do a couple things:

1. )  Move those middle brackets that are centered on the wall to line up with the new brackets for the shelf over the microwave, but I think that will look silly on the top.

2.) Place four evenly spaced brackets under each of the top two shelves allowing the brackets on the left to line up all the way down with the two new brackets on the proposed new shelf. (I think this is the best idea but the stupid brackets are not cheap and I’d then have to by four more)

3.) Stop fussing about it, just put up the new shelf  and forget about the middle lining up.

Now, If only I had a Kit Kat Clock for this place.

Not only did I not take anybody’s advice I went with the most boring curtain design ever, and the blinds are still there but I’m open to to idea of a small panel of sheers. I made the curtains myself from the Dwell Studio by Robert Allen material that I had liked for awhile. I did only need a yard and it was 1/2 off so these cost me 17 bucks in fabric, I had the clip rings from the old curtains and then  I spent 2.75 for the curtain rod.They were just hung tonight so they are still hangin’ kinda funny but I’m sure  they’ll relax some over time.

You might also notice that the bathroom is now extra luxurious with the new hand towel ring beside the sink.

And here’s a little something so you can ooh and ah over these major changes.

           Before                                                                    After

The corner blocks allowed me to cut the molding straight and avoid the miter all together. They were very difficult to paint around though.

Here’s a picture of the whole ceiling with the blocks:

and here you can see the board and batten panels:

I’m taking everyone’s advice and getting rid of the blinds. You’re all right, there are too many lines and the molding around the window is enough to be interesting so I think I’ll take a cue from Karen Anne and hang a simple panel inside the window. There is a Dwell Studio fabric that I have had my eye on, its sort of pricy, but since I’ll only need about a yard I think I can make a go of it.

After a lot of cursing, and an “I give up break” including a nap and an episode of Dear Genevieve we  were in business. You can see here that I did manage to get the panels on the ceiling and I started to add crown molding around the perimeter of the room, but its not going well. I can’t seem to make the cuts right. It seems so simple but all the angles make my head spin. So, I’ll have to try again tomorrow.

Here is the before picture:

and here is the what I have so far picture:

I think it looks a little more interesting. The room is small and it helps to draw your eye up making the space seem a little larger.Now, if I could only finish off that molding I’d be in ready to paint.

I’m also having thoughts about changing the curtains in there. I don’t like valances or café curtains and the blinds have to stay for obvious reasons but I’m not sure what other options there might be.Any thoughts?

Before

During

I’m finally putting in the batten strips in the bathroom. I’ve had them primed and cut in my basement since the summer and for some reason I had major fears about doing it without any help. Well, I decided it was time to put my big girl pants on and get to work. 

It looked a little like this:

I’m no carpenter and I bet this lady could have done a better job than me but I’m pretty happy with how it looks. Tomorrow I’ll putty and caulk the gaps and prep the strips for paint. Then on Saturday I’m going to hang bead board on  the ceiling and trim it out with a small crown molding and then cover it all with a fresh coat of white paint.

Each batten is hung between 9 and 10 inches apart. They are  not even all the way around because I needed to avoid parts of the sink, the heat vent, toilet paper holder and the window sill. However, I don’t think anybody will ever be able to tell.

I was pretty excited because it looked a lot like many of the chairs that I had been looking at online. Clean lines, tufted back, and  mid centruy-esque. It was very study had no major signs of wear and had no spots of or stains (that dark spot is a wet spot from some melting snow outside when I unloaded it) I spoke to the clerk and was able to get it for a song- $14.95. I threw it in the car and brought it home. There was only problem- the skirt had to go. Twenty minutes later, we have a winner!

I love it when things are cheaper and easier then you ever thought.

PS. There is a matching one left. – Won’t reveal my source here but if anybody is interested I’d be happy to share the location in private.

I found this great Mission style rocker on Craigslist this week and wanted to use it to break up my matchy-matchy living room couch, loveseat and club chair set. So I did an ol’ fashioned make over on it this morning. Lightly sanding it and adding a new stain made  a huge difference. Afterwards, I added a new pad (I can not believe how expensive foam is) and recovered the pad with a Dwell Studio upholstery fabric in cream with a slight pattern to it. I really liked the juxtaposition of the old style of the chair and the modern material. A few hours worth of work and this is what I wound up with:

I am pretty happy with how it turned out but, I had a hard time with the upholstery tacks. I’m wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to how to get them to go in straight. They were all lined up but when I would go to pound them into the chair they would bend and then the head would land cockeyed on the material causing them not to line up well. You can really see that here:

As soon as the Christmas Tree comes down I think this chair will look right at home.

Here’s the tree I promised to show you weeks ago. We got it from the Boy Scout Tree Lot up the street from us. It’s a Balsam. It’s not very smelly but it hasn’t dropped too many needles, has lots of space for ornaments and can support their weight. Plus its not fat and squatty. I dislike fat and squatty trees! The ornaments are all chartreuse and then I used a heavy duty natural fiber rope from the HD for garland.

Here’s Lisa (my roommate) and and I coming home with the tree strapped to the roof just like in the movies!

And here is the mantle all dressed up for the holidays. I had to make the stockings myself. I just wasn’t so keen on the idea of the stockings I saw at the store and I wanted a miniature one to match for my cat Riley.

Anyways… Merry Christmas.