November 2017 Round Up

When I first started my blog years ago I used to post "Weekly Top Ten" montages of all my favorite things for the week - in the spirit of helping myself focus more on the positive aspects of my life and just generally be a happier person (you can still find them under the Label "Top Ten"...they're such a fun walk down memory lane!).  In that spirit, I'm trying out something new this week and writing up a short "Round Up" for the month of November.  TBH - A lot of other bloggers do something similar so I'm just jumping on the bandwagon here, but I thought it might be good way to share some things that don't necessarily merit a full blog post.  I'm going to try to keep these short and sweet, and they'll probably be pretty random, so here goes.....

One Room Challenge Post Thoughts

It's still crazy to think that in 7 short weeks I was able to completely transform the Guest Room - it's officially my favorite room in the house now.  And like a true junky, I've already got my mind reeling for the Spring!  I'm really kinda obsessed with thinking about it, so here's a super sneak peek into what is going through my mind because the next session will be here before you know it!

My new "Recipe" Page

I really love to cook and I'm trying to get back in the habit of cooking at home again this winter (I was reallly bad over the summer), and to keep me motivated (and maybe inspire others to do the same) I added a new page where I am going to start sharing some of my favorite recipes.  Click here to check it out - my plan is to build this out a little at a time and see where it goes, but right now I've got a few of my favorite weeknight meals, my go to Halloween dinner, and everything I cook for Thanksgiving, including the best Pumpkin Pie ever courtesy of Bobby Flay.

How my new Kitchen stools changed the whole house

Well at least the first floor....this month I pulled the trigger and ordered these amazing new stools from World Market to replace the old red ones (and I mean old...me and my mom figured out that they were at least 30 years old!  Not a bad lifespan right?)  I had always felt like there was a slight disconnect from the living room and the kitchen - I think in the back of my mind I knew it was the stools, but I was hanging onto them because I had painted them myself and still loved the punch of color, but they just didn't flow with the direction the rest of the house is taking.  Lesson learned - if something feels off in a space trust your gut and don't be afraid to make a change!

Christmas Time Starts.....NOW!

Happy Black Friday everyone!  I usually spend the day shopping by myself but I'm actually pretty much done my Christmas list so today I am going to switch over the house from Thanksgiving to Christmas (and then possibly go shopping tomorrow LOL).  I really enjoyed pushing myself to blog weekly during the One Room Challenge (you can check out my final Guest Bedroom reveal here) so I'm going to try to keep the momentum going and do a Friday post each week if I have something fun to share.

To kick off the season I'm sharing a few pics of my mantel decked out for the holidays - which I couldn't resist putting together before Thanksgiving.  I picked up this wreath during the Hearth and Hand launch at Target and it was too pretty to put away for a month....so then I just kinda leaned into it and kept going.  As much as I love all things white these days, my husband loves decorating our XMas tree with multi-colored lights, so this year I'm trying to figure out a way to blend the two into something we both love.  The colors I'm going with are blue (the antique window frame), green (the wreath), and classic Christmas Red...along with a lot of white, gray, silver, and gold.

I saw someone share this red and white pom-pom garland on Instastories and ran out to Michaels to grab it (and I'm glad I did because it's totally sold out now!) and then winded two strands around my candlesticks, which I'm keeping gray this year but would love to change out to something different next time.  To keeps the garland in place I like to use a few craft glue strips or dots....they're nice and sticky but I can get them off easily when I'm done.

To bring in more green I wrapped some $3 garland I found earlier this year in the Target Dollar spot around each white candle (which are all from World Market and don't smell!) - small candle / medium candle / large candle

The stocking holder I built last year (if you are interested in a good beginner building project this is perfect - you can totally build just using hand tools and this tutorial from Shanty 2 Chic is great...or you can always shoot me a note and I'd be happy to build you one!)  The little red stockings are from Kohl's....I like to keep the small ones down here so the kids can't pull them down as easily.

I have some Styrofoam blocks on the bottom of the box, and then I filled it with some pine cones (which are great to pick up super cheap after Christmas), some ornaments I found at Michaels, and the leftover Target Garland.

I want to try to add something in front of the fireplace, but I'm pretty happy with how everything is coming together!  Hopefully these smaller weekly posts are fun to read....next week I have something new I want to try out, but until then...enjoy the long weekend!

One Room Challenge Week 7 - Guest Bedroom Final Reveal!

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Well we've made it - 7 weeks in the books and the guest bedroom is looking mighty pretty if I do say so myself.  Before we get to the good stuff, I just want to say a very big thank you to Linda from Calling it Home (the organizer of the entire One Room Challenge) as well as House Beautiful and the newest ORC media partner Home Love Network.  I've decorated many rooms in my house, but taking part in this was an entirely new and wonderful experience!  The weekly connection to other bloggers not only pushed my creativity, but inspired me to work to make this little blog the best it can be...and for all of that I am so grateful.  As excited as I am about sharing my own space, I think am even more excited to see all of my fellow ORC featured and guest participants final reveals today!

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

You've all heard me ramble on enough over the last 6 weeks, so now I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking - and lucky for me they are BEAUTIFUL pictures taken by my wonderfully talented and lovely friend Lauri from Lauri Tripaldi Photography.

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

At the end I have included links to all of the products I shopped for this space, but for now enjoy what I've been tagging as my "Modern Farmhouse" guest bedroom, but I like to think of as my  "Re-Furbished Bed and Breakfast w/a hint of Hip Grandma" guest bedroom, you know like all the cool kids are saying : )

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

Lauri Tripaldi Photography

And because who can resist a good BEFORE / AFTER - here you go:

One last thank you to all of my friends and family who have been so supportive in this journey!  If you're curious about any steps in the progress of this room, or furniture plans I used check out my weekly posts, and be sure to follow me on Instagram for more design and building projects!

Week 1 – Paint and Planning
Week 2 – Installing the Trim
Week 3 – Building the Faux Fireplace
Week 4 – Building the Bed
Week 5 – Makting the Curtains, building the nightstand and the shelf
Week 6 – DIY Mirror / Homemade Artwork / Hiding the TV

Media Partner House Beautiful | TM by ORC

1. Blue Striped Duvet Cover  | 2. Green Velvet Pilllow Cover |  3. Leoni Ceiling Fan   |   4. Waffle Weave Blanket    |  5. Gray Chambray Sheets   |   6 and 7 Animal portraits from Etsy   |   8. Black table   |   9. Scones   |   10. Luggage Rack   |   11. Floor Lamp   |   12. Thin Brick   |   13. Laminate Floor   |   14. Sherwin Williams Halcyon Green   |   15. Curtain fabric   |   16. IvoryWool rug

1. Small Black House Lantern  |  2. Large Galvanized Silver Vase  |  3. Vintage Brass Bell

4. Silver "Bergamot & Mahogany" Candle  |  5. Medium Glass Jug Candle Holder

6. Cream Textured Stoneware Pitcher  |  7. Large Glass Vase with Brass Wrap  |  8. Cream/Gold Stoneware Bread Plate

One Room Challenge Week 6 - 3 DIYs for the price of one!

We're almost there folks!  One more week to go til the final reveals not just from myself but from all of my fellow ORC guest participants over at Calling it Home!  So as not to give everything away, this week I'm giving you a slightly different post and share a break-down of the three big DIY projects that I just completed for the guest room, while trying not to spoil the final touches in the room.  Here goes.....

Number 1 - Hiding the TV

If you've been following along the last few weeks you are very familiar with the Owl and Pig portraits that have been sitting over the fireplace, but you might not remember that there is actually a TV hiding behind those guys.  I don't think that the TV necessarily needs to be hidden in every room (our living room TV is very much front and center) but since this one won't be used every day and is the first thing you see when you walk in the room, it was important to find a solution to hide it.

First up, I bought the portraits from Etsy, printed them through Shutterfly, and mounted them in two Ribba frames from IKEA.  Since they weren't wide enough to cover the span of the TV, I used 1x3 boards stained in the same Dark Walnut finish as the mantel to add a second frame (they actually look like so expensive now that I might use this hack with other IKEA frames!)  I then attached two Eye Bolts to each so I could mount them to the support structure.

To make the mount I used a combo of 1/2" and 3/4" plumbing pipe/fittings - the pipe and center support are 1/2" but I used 3/4" fittings for the two side supports so I could easily slip the pipes in.  I spray painted the whole structure in Rust-Oleum Hammered Black and hung it right below the crown.

There is good amount of space between the frames and the TV, and they slide open and closed really smoothly so mission accomplished on this one.


Number 2 - Turning a Clock into a Mirror

I love the look of round hanging mirrors (like this one from Target) and I had been holding onto this old broken clock for a while so I figured why not try to re-purpose it before buying something new.  

I was able to disassemble the clock easily so I could pop the glass front out.  I then spray painted the back of the glass with Krylon Looking Glass.  The directions say to use about 5 thin coats, but I ended up with closer to 9 to get an opaque look.  The final product has an antique finish, so if you're looking for something to do your make-up in I'd suggest buying something with a clearer finish.

The frame itself was in pretty good shape so I just used some furniture repair markers to touch up any scuffed spots, and then I attached two D-Rings to the either side of the frame.  I had some thick rope leftover from my Powder Room shelf that threaded through and knotted around each hook.

When the mirror was dry I popped it back in the frame, re-attached the back, and hung it in the "entryway" over a small shelf that used to hang in our foyer.  I love using cabinet knobs as an alternative to wall hooks (you can just screw them directly into a wall anchor) so I picked this one up at World Market and adjusted the rope to a good height.  I added a few of the cups my dad has brought back from his worldly travels, a set of skeleton keys I picked up a Micheals a while back, and a cute little flower from Ikea to complete the look.


Number 3 - Oversized Book Art

I know some people aren't into using text as decor, but I think it can add a great graphic element to a space if done right.  I like to create my own text art using quotes that are meaningful to me and my family - in this case I used a passage from "A Farewell to Arms" that was read at our wedding (one of my best friends actually made a really sweet framed version of this passage for us but it sadly broke in our move so I've been looking for a way to bring it back into our house ever since!)

I had stumbled across tutorials like this one on Pinterest and fell in love with the look of these oversized book pages.  I think most people print them out as engineer prints and then frame them (which I'm not knocking as it's a great technique) but I like to paint things directly on canvas whenever I can.  And since I'm super Old School and stick to the "the process is part of the art" philosophy I have my own overly complicated way of transferring text to canvas. 

First, I work up the text on my computer, and then I print it out in multiple pages so I can transfer it at scale.  Next, I use an Exacto knife to create a rough stencil - for larger fonts I'll cut out the whole letter but for smaller fonts I just focus on the outlines.  From there I use a pencil to lightly trace the outlines onto my canvas, which I first painted with a coat of white chalk paint.

I was planning on using a gray paint marker to write the final text, but I could only find silver, so I settled on a Gray Sharpie.  That ended being a really bad choice.  It turned out OK, but was a lot more muddled then I wanted so I ended up going back to the craft store and found a Dark Gray art marker that worked SO MUCH BETTER!  You can see in the pic above the difference between the top 3 lines and the bottom 2.

If you're going to DIY anything on canvas I highly recommend also adding a frame!  I just use 1x2 pine boards that I fit to the canvas and stain (this one is in Varathane Briarsmoke).  I'm so happy with how this one turned out that I kinda want to put them all over the house.

The guest room is pretty much done now save for a few punch-list items that I'm going to knock out next week.  I've been having fun shopping and styling and I can't wait to show you the final touches, including all of the goodies I picked up from the Target/Magnolia Hearth and Hand launch - check out my mood board and links below to see what I snagged and make sure you come back next week to see how it all comes together!

1. Small Black House Lantern  |  2. Large Galvanized Silver Vase  |  3. Vintage Brass Bell

4. Silver "Bergamot & Mahogany" Candle  |  5. Medium Glass Jug Candle Holder

6. Cream Textured Stoneware Pitcher  |  7. Large Glass Vase with Brass Wrap  |  8. Cream/Gold Stoneware Bread Plate

 

 

Media Partner House Beautiful | TM by ORC