The shelving project

I set out to make some plumbing shelves to reside in the nook between the fireplace and wall.  A little test to see if I wanted to commit to the expense of built ins. The nook has been several things before but nothing just right and lately it was home to my antique crates and wasted space.  We headed to the store where I researched and gathered information on the plumbing portion of the shelf. We left with three and a quarter pine planks, the widest one available, and had Home Depot cut it into 3 44" long pieces plus a square left over piece. Love that service.  I figured while I prepped the pine planks, I could ponder the dimensions and required pieces of plumbing hardware I would need.

I put the girl to work, sanding and priming the planks.  I leaned them up to dry; sun dried planks. And they remained like that for awhile while I pondered dimensions.

And then my sons birthday party was approaching and I really needed to clean up that corner. A D'uh moment, and I realized the antique boxes that I INTENDED to place in between the shelves when completed could hold the planks INPLACE until I figured out the plumbing portion.

And that is where the shelving project between the fireplace and wall ends.  The space is finally used in a useful way and it even looks decent.  And I do not need to do the math to figure out the plumbing pieces. Hooray! All I need now are a few more antique boxes and another plank for the other side.

p.s. the little square piece that was left over from the pine plank.... we are trying to turn that into a clock... stay tuned.

Sprucing things up

A few years ago my assistant and I scraped off the wallpaper in the vestibule. Then hired a contractor to lay some mosaic slate flooring and fix the wall.  The trim had been left untouched (other then her removing it and reinstalling it). The colour was old and the caulking was still visible, and the grubby little finger and dog snout dirt (he scratches his head/ears by rubbing against wall corners...does yours?) piled up and the painting began.

 Left side before, right side after

Simple update, huge improvement.

And since that is such small update, lets move inside the main room and check out another simple, crafty update.

That 6 panel fake window frame has been up for several months, empty. Before that it was leaning against the wall for two years. Look close enough and you'll see where I bought it from x's 6.  Every time I decided to get some pictures in there, I realized how few vertical pictures I have and that sorting through a gazzillion files was daunting. This morning I finally decided to update the Pier 1 paper fillers with some scrap material.  I have others around my house, frames displaying unique pieces of fabric.

A long, long time ago in my coming of age days, we wore our jeans over and over until they wore out and then we sewed patches on the knees and butts and anywhere else.  Guys and girls swapped scrap fabric. Guys and girls sat around sewing their own patches. I still have my vintage Levi's jeans with patches, I wonder how much they go for, but I digress.  Deep down my my scrap fabric bin were some "vintage" scrap material.

Nothing to explain here, simple crafty update: cut scrap, tape it down, reassemble frame.

Not much of an improvement and a lot of reflection, so I guess I need to find some photos.

BUT the next one is big. HUGE. MY life improved...

 Hooks. Lots of them.

Before this life changing event, all our coats were tossed on the butterfly chair. In sight. Cluttered looking.  A bit depressing. Yeah, there are hooks in the vestibule, but it's very small and if you are familiar with cold, cold winters, stopping in the vestibule to take off shoes or coats is not an option (at least not in my house). No where to turn, tripping over each other. So enter living room and then what?

I won't go in to it here, but front door entering into living room layout sucks. I knew it when I bought the house, I've complained before. And I went ahead and bought regardless, (for many other reasons that trumped this issue).

Up until recently it was a huge quandary of mine; how to lay out furniture so it is inviting (impossible) and family friendly.  How to deal with all the jackets. How to add living room storage for out door stuff without taking away from the space being a living room. Then one day I looked at my room differently. I needed to approach it as a loft in an industrial building. Most have walk in spaces. I moved some furniture around, changed horizontal things vertical to add dimension and accepted the fact that we have jackets. Lots of them. So up go the hooks, in the living area.

And so far, so good.

Sources (because I love the trench coat and the designer, so Ill list other things too:

Paint: Dove white on the trim, Oatlands Taupe on the walls, both by Benjamin Moore
Trench coat: Yargici

Window picture frame: Pier 1 Imports
Sofa: Wests Elm Tillary
Urban Outfitter curtain
Mexican Mirror Frame
Anthropologie lamp shade
Urban Outfitter butterfly chair
Gray & white stripes: Eddie Bauer Vintage Gray & Chantilly Lace Benjamin Moore
Kilim pillow case on chair: bought in Grand Bazaar Istanbul
White pillow case: West Elm

Objects of desire

A potential living room update:

**Restoration Hardware Sorenson sofa in textured linen weave black (vintage velvet black would be lovely too)
**West Elm Slipper chair in pink linen
**West Elm Sloan chair in leather

Mantel madness

Finally started to clear out the Christmas decorations and had fun creating a new mantel.

Pulled out the old black frame, realigned the hemp rope and clipped on some new photos. Framed some original first drawings by my son in this fake antique metal frame.

Added a dash of colour on one side and some dried cattails and lavender on the other. And words to live by,  balanced on a small hook and centered over mantel.

The Tillary

Apparently my daughter is a stylist. As I walked away from couch to take a photo, she strategically placed Ernie on the sofa.

The angst I have had with my other sofa is resolved with the new one. Yay! Although I love the old one that I bought almost 10 years ago, while pregnant with my first son ...  and although it was a momentous moment in my life being my first big purchase ... a love hate relationship developed. The back was too high.  Pet hair stuck to the faux suede. I always had to keep it covered. blah blah. But I could never part with it.

I discovered the  Tillary from West Elm a few years ago. When I became serious about replacing my sofa, I did a lot of online and instore research.  I ended up choosing this one because it would fit well in this awkward room with 4 entry ways, truncated walls, a fireplace and the outdoor entrance coming right into the middle of the main room in this home ... THEE WORST design problem. My most hated aspect of a house. Why did I buy it then, well that's another the story. For NOW the Tillary works in this space. It is low. If its placed along the window, light beams in and over the low sofa.  If I move it parallel to the fireplace, a cozy location, it doesn't chop up the room too much. And a low console can be placed behind it, creating a distinctive pathway into the room. Oh, the options I have!

The color, granite, is oddly close to the other sofa, steely blue, which I was trying to get away from.  Shrug. I had ordered lots of fabric samples. I did want white, but that is just silly. The gray works great with my new colors in the rugs and wall.

And the sheep skin rug. Yeah, it's in so many blog photos, seemingly trendy. And I thought it was merely for looks. I had eyed these beautiful rugs before, thinking how divine it would be to stumble out of bed, resting my bare naked feet on the purest, whitest, softest rug before walking across the cold hardwood floor ... I like feeling with me feet.  But I never bought one until ... my brother was looking for gift ideas ... and, well, now I can place my [clothed] butt on this divine throne of mine. AND I discovered, IT is not only for looks. Seriously. Try it.
 
I wonder, does anyone really care that much about a sofa. Maybe. Its a big purchase. Getting the right one for your room can bring calm to your otherwise hectic life. AND I am so glad to be done thinking about it.

Patiently, eagerly

Waiting for the sofa.

(I'm so not a stylist, there is always some little pile of stuff that doesn't get moved out of the shot - pile of blankets, bag of newspaper...)

I rearranged the living (living sounds so formal,  family room makes me think there should also be a living room. Its our only sitting room. sitting.congregate.hangout room) sitting room. Swapped the rugs, moved the other sofa, removed the tree, swept up the pine needles. Thankfully we have a new sofa to fill the void of removing Christmas tree. And the other sofa, we have decided to keep it.  When I say we, I mean "I" was torn between not keeping extra items,  yet feeling a little hoardish if I do keep it, but practical 'cause we only have ONE sofa and I may eventually need this one yet someone else may need it more but I could wait it out a bit first... but my even more sentimental yet clearly decisive son said "keep it", making me sway that way. I just need to find a place to store it.

Snow arrived early this morning. Must have been raining pretty hard before it turned to snow as there is a huge puddle of water in my basement, indicating such a turn of element events.  The stump crusher turned my-new-handyman emailed to reschedule the electrical and wall work for next week due to impending lake effect storms today and him being a snow plower finally had snow to plow.  I had pushed the fridge into middle of kitchen and moved a lot of the kitchen stuff onto the dining room table so he could access the wall (and so I can protect the food). I suppose I can take really good measurements and hit home depot kitchen designer again so my clearing out kitchen efforts are not wasted.

For now, I spend the morning with my little daughter while we wait for the delivery.

Inbetween contracts

Work is super slow right now. As in nilch. Nada. Nuttin'. Waiting for contract to be signed. But I still have to show up and sit and wait. All day. I do do some things, like turn on the lights. Make it appear like an active office. Pay a couple of bills. Look at some spreadsheets. And watch for the post man. That has been exciting; three different postmen over the past few weeks. Our usual postman was promoted to a better route. A better route for him, he tells me. "Less packages to tote around for delivery, flatter terra firma". We have had a few temporary postmen, until one lands this route.

Sometimes I see a matinee and then return to work. Yesterday I saw Ides of March. Last week I caught Elite Killers. The week before, Driver. Before that, Crazy.Stupid.Love. And I am forgetting a few in between. Ryan Gosling was in three of the movies that were released this fall. Lucky me. And Yes, it takes THAT long for a contract to be signed.

Sometimes I leave early. Like today. I will pick up my son after school and take him shopping. He went to school today wearing shorts, t-shirt and sweatshirt. Its 35 degrees and snow in the forecast. He asked me why I haven't done laundry. I asked him why he wouldn't wear one of the three pair of long pants that are in his dresser drawer.

He wins. Well, in the long run at least, as I'll take him shopping tonight. But I am pretty sure he was very, very cold after his 15 minute walk to school. I didn't know 9 year olds could be so particular about clothing. Although he had forewarned me. "No cords. No sweatpants (anymore)." And he is a Libra. Same as me. And yea, it can take me a few years to find a perfect pair of pants. SO I should know and more so, be understanding.

My daughter comes to work with me on Monday and Fridays. And we do nothing together for the day.  For a few hours on the other days she continues with her babysitter, so I can do the office stuff. As well, her babysitter is having her own baby in a few weeks and we thought it better to continue this way, until her baby arrives..  But this morning, as I dressed Lucy, as per usual, and tucked her little ribbed velvet blackish leggings into her shiny little black boots she said "bye". As in, "Bye dad, I'm going with my mom today." She cried while I tried shutting the door leaving her on the inside. I cried too. I console myself, as she gets to spend time with her dad; its wet and cold outside. I'm walking to work... But that moment cannot be erased from my mind, especially while I am sitting here with no work to do.

My days of nothingness... I did buy a mouse today. My 10+ year old mouse was dying. The past few weeks I had to bang the mouse down on the pad to move the cursor, rather then rolling it across the pad. The new mouse has helped significantly; blood pressure down, annoyance levels flattened.  I will be able to return to work tomorrow. If I waited a day longer, I may have quit.

SO along with a working mouse and oodles of time and my small new obsession, the CB2 Piazza velvet storm sofa. 

living room olio design board #6

Thankful for Olio boards (well, for a few minutes). And until the contract is signed, I can work this sofa on the design board and see if it will end up in my living room.

Linking up with The Woven Moments monthly best. 

Check out a bunch of best posts from the month of October.

Living room design board #4

I've got the rug. Not the one shown here, although it is a beauty. The one pictured is from Güney Carpet where I bought mine.  My new rug(s) are patchy and multi-colored.  I wanted to see how this sectional would look w/ a similar rug. ... Playing around with Olio Board. White or Gray?

The walls are white. The floors are hardwood. The area is smallish as the door opens into the middle of the room (and there is another entrance to work around. These sectionals, West Elm's Tillary are 74"w. One will work in my room for sure. Maybe two.

I like the white, but I am a pet owner and they like to rub against the edges of furniture and lay on the furniture. I don't think I want to cover the sofas all.the.time. The gray is good too, but I would like darker gray.

Grey and white striped wall

Yay! It's done and it was fun, well not really fun, but satisfying. And we love it!

The Process:

YAWN. Yep, one stripe in and I'm bored bored bored. Painting the scuffed up risers seems like a good diversion.

OK. A little later and some progress. I started taping on rainy day. Mundane. And I can only do it for small amounts of time, as long as baby is in the mood to play. She wants to help and draw on the walls. I thought I could use gravity as a leveling device for the stripes; such as tape the top, let tape hang down and flatten against the wall. But this is a 100 year old home and by the bottom I had gained half an inch width. Out comes the level, pencil and rewards card (to flatten edge). And a hole lotta determination.

A little more motivated and excited, I am doing everything possible stopping myself from painting the few stripes I have. I reallllllly want to test it and see what it will look like. Instant gratification. No No No. Stay focused. More taping.

The stripes are to be 3.5" wide. Don't be fooled by the narrow stripe in between the larger ones. That will remain white. Painters tape comes as wide as 3" (and less) but that is not wide enough for me, hence the double rows.

Last few taped stripes added last night (Tues 5/24/11). When I walked by the next morning a satisfaction smile crept across my face. I still have to tape above the window and door. As I headed upstairs I wondered how I would fit my too long level in the small area above the window. At the top of the steps, BOING, an idea. Cardboard template. I can rest well tonight.

Next morning, I measured and cut a 3.5" piece of cardboard which will be used to space the taping above the window and door frames. And while I am at it, a group photo of my tools. The Tops Bonus Card was an essential part of the process; I used it to flatten the edge of the tape against the wall in order to avoid leakage under the tape. I did lose several weeks worth of deals at the grocery store as each time I was cashing out I could never find my card... it was worth it (I hope, haven't tested it yet).

Wednesday night (5/26/11) I started painting. Yay for my cutting in. I usually suck at that which is why I hired out for the rooms upstairs. The moon and planets must well balanced tonight for this Libra because I was a pro. I didn't even tape the ceiling edge!



Thursday night (5/26/11) I need the ladder to finish above the window. Don't be lazy go get it. Finish the job.

 


Before:

Midway:

After:

And a few more angles so I can peak at it while I am at work:

as of May 27, 2011

Saturday (5/28/11) Determined not to leave the wall almost completed...well I finished it. Notice below, above the doorframe, one narrow white stripe? Yep, didnt notice until I peeled off the tape that I had only placed on piece of tape there. My keystone stripe, I suppose.


Completely completed, including over door frame:

May 29, 2011

Inspiration

Hereafter movie:

West Elm sheets:

Ikea tray:

Paint chips: Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore * Vintage Gray by Eddie Bauer

And now I am all inspired and excited to do something like this for a wall in my sons room:

via Design*Sponge

Epilogue: The inspiration first landed in my mind when I saw the movie Hereafter. I did a little paint research, found some white (Benjamin Moore, Chantilly White) and started painting in Dec '10. Bad idea to paint before Christmas. Got the white on, but put the ladder away to make room for very fat, wide, HUGE Christmas tree. A few months of idleness and lack of energy. And then an energy booster and inspiration after seeing Danielle's painting. Made a paint decision, Eddie Bauer's Vintage Gray, mixed as Valspar and bought a gallon mid-May. Started taping a week later, (lots of rain and forced inside). Taping may have taken a few hours but with baby, work, soccer & baseball games and life stuff, the work spanned 2 weeks.

Pressing the tape down with the rewards card did help, but there was still some bleeding, mostly due to old wall and tiny pockets in the white paint.  I read somewhere that applying a coat of white paint (or the colour that is under the tape) on the stripes before the grey paint (2nd colour) may have helped with bleeding, but I didn't have the patience for that.  I tore off some of the tape after 2 coats and 2 hours. I tore off the rest of the tape after a night of drying. There was an insignificant difference between waiting (letting the paint dry a bit more).

Yeah, I still have above the door... 
I will do above the door this weekend, but I was too impatient to not post what I consider completed enough :).

I also wonder if I should stripe the small corner under the other little window, creating a "foyer" area. I'm just not sure how to merge it with the rest of the wall on the other side of the door. hmmmmm

A day or two later,  I realize how scattered my thoughts have been and how I have been jumping from one thing to the next and back. I was so caught up in my thoughts, personal things that have been going on, that I missed my yoga class yesterday. I see now the measuring and painting was a diversion from myself and gave me some focus. A good thing to have while I work through my feelings on family and friends.