the living room and gallery wall

I am always thinking about potential projects for our home. Mark is always thinking about the end dates for those projects. We have lived in this home for ten years and he is still wondering if/when there will ever be an end to any of it. 

In my mind, a home is ever-evolving. So no end date.

In Mark's mind, that is a little slice of insanity.

My most recent project was to hang this gallery wall in our living room. I just used frames we already had and spray painted a few gold and a few black. I spent the better part of a Saturday laying it all out on the floor and then hanging them up with the help of my laser tool.

Mark came home and said, "This is the best our living room has looked in ten years!"

I am glad he likes it. And no doubt, he thinks this is the end. I do think it will stay for awhile, but I have plans to add more photos up to the ceiling and down to the floor, and probably change out the pictures every so often.

The opposite wall is flanked with three large mirrors. 

At some point, I will get tired of this wall and want to completely change it. Probably take it all down and repaint, etc. In fact, I am planning on it. The only constant is change. 

Shiplap entry walls and new light from Lucent Light shop on Etsy.  

Frames: Target, Ikea and West Elm.

Accessories: Target and Home Goods.

Pink chair found on Craigslist in its original fabric.

Paint is Benjamin Moore Gray Owl. (Looks more blue here than it really is).

bathroom under construction

As my pinterest board can attest, we are currently renovating our master bathroom. When I say "we," I mean "we" hired it out. 

90% of the tile is in: 12 x 24 gray tile on the floor, 2 inch noir hexagons on the shower floor and 3 x 6 white subway tile (and dark grout) in the newly-built shower. The mirror decision has yet to be made, along with new lighting, baseboards and the install of the glass shower door and half wall. Things are starting to look good, but the shower is completely non-functioning until door and plumbing are installed. So for the last two weeks, we have been sharing the kids' shower. I am so done with that.

This "little" project has turned into something big, as most reno projects do. What started as Mark's Christmas gift to me (professional closet organization) has shifted to the bathroom for the moment. We decided we couldn't have a spectacular closet, right next to a "blah" bathroom. So we changed our focus. After the bathroom, we will start on the closet (on a much smaller scale than originally planned, since most of our budget belongs to the bathroom now), and then some minor tweaks to the master bedroom. The whole thing is STRESS-FUL; not nearly as fun as I anticipated. 

I am pretty pleased with what we've done with the budget we have set. I am in LOVE with the Noir Hexazon tile, and would have used it for the entire bathroom floor, but it is pricey, so we used it in a very limited space. I also love the gray floor tile even more than I thought I would - looks like concrete with so much variation - no two tiles look the same.

Pictures to come.

p.s. This is my very first polyvore board, ever. I am learning.

Sources: wood mirror, gold mirror, Noir Hex tile, gray tile

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map quest

This new craigslist dresser sat empty for several weeks. Mostly because I wanted to thoroughly clean it, inside and out, before filling it with the boys' clothes.

I had only quickly wiped it down when I brought it home, but I removed loads more dirt and grime with a mixture of warm water, vinegar and liquid dawn.

I was sort of on a roll, so I decided to line the drawers with old National Geographic maps I bought on the cheap on ebay years ago. (For awhile, those same maps lined the walls of Jonah and Owen's room, but I took them down when we repainted a few years ago.) 
Since the drawers have that curved front, I had to create a template with some brown kraft paper first, then traced that onto the maps and cut them out. 
I also used 505 adhesive spray to adhere the maps to the drawers. That way there will be no shifting, and the maps, which were previously folded, can lay perfectly smooth and flat. (Tip: spray the map, not the wood.) The spray is a temporary adhesive, so the maps can be removed easily. The whole process was trickier than you might think. (The spray glue was easy. The template cutting was the tricky part because each drawer is not exactly the same size. Slight discrepancies meant lots of trimming.)

I don't usually line my dresser drawers. I know some people do, but I have never really seen the need. Until now. It just seemed like the old drawers, though newly clean, needed a buffer before putting little boys' clothes in them. 

That was a good theory until I realized I was physically and mentally done with this project before getting to the big drawers on the bottom. They remain unlined. And full of clothes. 

Even after my big scrub-down, the dresser still probably needs a good drawer freshener. Maybe some cedar. Also painting is not out of the question. That's just on the back burner for now.

wingback win

I just bought this wingback chair over the weekend. Yes, it's another Craigslist find. It is from 1960, and in super condition! The cushioning is even in great shape, which means it's comfortable, and that's Mark's first and foremost furniture requirement. (A $50 price tag is a close second.)

We were going to store it in the garage until I could get it re-upholstered, but I wanted to see how it looked in the living room. I didn't say anything to the kids - just let them discover it on their own. Each one came in and was surprised, then sat down and loved it. I can't keep them off of it now. It kind of bothers me that I don't actually know where it's been for the last 53 years (I bought it through a Craigslist consignment dealer), and I'm letting my kids crawl all over it, but I do love having it in the house. I'm actually loving the pink too.

Unfortunately, Mark's third furniture requirement is no pink.

instagram living room

I am in limbo with our living room. (For reference, this is what the room used to look like.) We have recently made a lot of changes that I like, but I still have some ideas that haven't come to fruition.  Namely, new upholstered chairs, a rug for the entryway, and curtains. Maybe sheer roman shades too. Maybe a giant leaning mirror to the right of the piano (I found the perfect one at Ikea.)

I ordered the couch from Alice Lane and I am very happy with it.

We bought this glider when the twins were born. It was in the bedroom forever, and now it is sort of a place saver. There's just too much gray furniture in here now.

I found that brown and white basket at Target. The kids sometimes use it as a garbage can. It is not a garbage can.

This is the entry. I have purchased 3 rugs for this area, and returned 2. The 3rd is a gray and cream striped one from Crate and Barrel that has found a permanent home in the master bedroom. It just seemed like it would look too dirty, too quickly with dusty feet coming in and out the front door. You can click on my Pinterest link on my sidebar, and see all the other rugs I am considering, under home again. This side table is from overstock.

Here'e a rug I just discovered today and I really love it! I'm not convinced I would like it with my paint color. In fact, my rug judgment has failed me thus far, so I cannot be trusted. But it's just so pretty. And I wasn't even looking for a Native American-style rug. That's the beauty of pinterest. (thanks Abby and Brooke White).

 My sister gave me this temple artwork for Christmas. I love it.

And there you have it. More than you wanted to know about my living room.

yep, we're two

Hank loves to sort things. This morning, he was focused on laying out the UNO cards, with great care. George tried to foil his plans early in the process, and Hank let him know it was NOT ok to touch the cards.

 He did this all on his own.

He also likes to stack and re-stack plastic cups (as seen above). He carries them with him all day long.

Meanwhile, George grabbed a handful of dirt from my new Yucca plant and deposited it on my rocking chair. He was more than happy to get the vacuum out and help clean it up. I'm not sure if he was being mischievous, or if it was an actual plan for me to vacuum? He loves that thing. I wouldn't be surprised.

wispy grass: as seen at anthropologie

I finally made it to Lowe's this weekend and found some grassy-grass for my soft Ikea baskets.  My Anthropologie plant and basket quest is [almost]* complete.  And I am satisfied. Except that I bought 3 good sized grass plants, and only have 2 Ikea baskets that are big enough.  The other 2 are small. 

One of the kids said, "Oh, we got sweaters for the plants?"


Another plant I already had fits nicely into one of the smaller baskets. 

Here's the grass with and without the basket.  I also bought plastic pots at Lowe's to protect the basket from water.  I still need to transplant them.

*When I find some nice looking succulents, they're also coming home with me.  Also need to get another set of baskets. Maybe Home Depot AND Ikea this weekend. 
Who am I kidding?  I won't make it to either for another 6 weeks.  So no, not really done.  Darn.

the office

I said I was going to get the newly renovated office totally organized so I could show it off a little. Turns out, I won't be getting it all situated until Halloween, at the rate I'm going.

I did take some photos during construction and while restocking our junk.  Actually, that is our dilemma - we DO NOT want to put the old junk in the new office, or at least not in the same way.  So I'm working on that, s l o w l y.

Someday, maybe we'll have 2 new office chairs and some stunning curtains to really add that something extra. And in my dreams Candice Olson will come over and offer to finish off the space.
But for now, here are the befores and afters (forgot to take some before we cleared out the original hodge podge office furniture).  My friend Denise came up with the idea for this room. She's so talented like that.

I bought these old cabinets from an office liquidator I found on Craig's List for $15 each.  Then we had them professionally painted to match the desktop and shelves.  That was Denise's idea.

Shelves in.  {by a carpenter - not us}

Shelves painted white.  Walls painted light gray.

File cabinets and desktop with glass.  A few necessities brought back in.

 We'll set up another computer where that printer is, for the kids.

I love that I have a place to sew and tons of storage - those metal file cabinets are mostly full of fabric.
I really enjoy this room now.