Holly Becker over at decor8 is hosting a virtual Stripe Mania blogger party. Basically, you just take a picture of yourself wearing something stripey and link to it on Twitter. Holly is compiling all the photos onto a designated Pinterest board with links to each participant’s blog. Sounds like fun, huh? You know me. I’m a big fan of stripes.
I painted wide horizontal ones on the TV wall in our family room.
Everett’s watching Sesame Street right now, so I’m channeling my inner child for today’s post. Here’s a throwback video to get you in the mood…or to share with your kiddos if they happen to be sitting on your lap or looking over your shoulder.
After viewing our current home {which we are trying to sell by owner}, a potential buyer asked about the ‘M’ monogram above our TV, concerned that her surname didn’t begin with the letter ‘M.’
I assured her that it was just a decal and could be removed without damage to the wall. But the more I thought about it, I figured maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to go ahead and remove the decal now in case other buyers were worried it was permanent and would have to paint over it. I went to the website I purchased the monogram from to get instructions for proper removal. {In case you’re interested, I bought the white matte ‘M’ monogram from Dali Decals for ~$25 with shipping and you can see it here.} Removal seemed easy enough. I carefully picked at the top of the monogram and slowly peeled it away from the wall.
The decal was off in less than a minute without any damage to the paint or wall.
Dali’s website does state that if a monogram is left on the wall for an extended period of time {not exactly sure what that is} that there could be damage to the wall upon removal. So, that’s your fair warning. Our decal was on for a little over a year. I put it up last March and if you’d like to see how easy it was to hang, click here. Sadly, once the decal was removed it lost its shape and wasn’t able to be reused. Decals like these are great for rentals, dorms and even nurseries because there’s a good chance that the living arrangement is going to be temporary.
So, that’s the case of our missing letter ‘M.’ I wouldn’t mind having another wall decal in our next home. Who knows? Chung, chung.
images: 1) Sesame Street via You Tube 2-4) Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
As in, I use lots of hooks for lots of different purposes in my home. {Gotcha. I thought that title would grab your attention.} Not only are hooks inexpensive and easy to install, but they also keep clutter up off the floor {somehow it looks a little better on a wall?!}. That leaves more floor space open below for traffic flow, furniture, playing, parking, closing/opening doors, or just breathing room. Right inside our front door, I have a row of wall hooks for guests to hang up their coats, hats, or bags.
There’s even a lower set of hooks for little people who visit us: our kids’ friends, neighbor kiddos, and our nieces.
In fact, we have no closet on the entire first floor of our home. That’s not to say we never had a closet on the first floor. We did. But we found the closet door to be cumbersome in a small, crowded hallway so we DIYed it into a mini mudroom sans door. There are hooks for coats, purses, backpacks, and lunchboxes.
I even hung a double hook at kid height just inside the mudroom on the doorway wall that we opened up to accommodate the mudroom. When the kids are sitting on the bench removing their shoes, the hook is just to the left and in front of them. It makes a great spot for them to hang their bags and jackets. It’s amazing what kids will put away if you make storage options accessible to them.
Across the hall from the mudroom is a half bath. I attached a wall hook at kid height between the sink and toilet to make hand-drying and towel-hanging easier on the kiddos {which ultimately is easier on me!}.
Having a large pantry off the kitchen area makes living without a traditional first floor closet doable. Behind the pantry door I hang a broom, dust pan, and small rechargeable sweeper. That leaves plenty of room for the actual vacuum cleaner to sit on the floor without crowding the small space.
Handy Hubby installed a similar hanging system in the garage for outside brooms, shovels, trimmers, and other long miscellaneous items.
We have ceiling hooks in the garage to store our bikes. {I can get my bike down but need help putting it back.}
And we hung two rows of hooks at the door where we enter the house from the garage to keep reusable shopping bags, swim gear, and helmets in check. In the summer, we also use these hooks for wet swimming trunks/suits and drying beach towels. {Our neighborhood has a community pool within walking distance.}
Right inside that same door, I hung a cork board organizer that has a trio of key hooks. When we come home, before we even close the door to the garage, we always make it a point to hang up our keys. Handy Hubby has a nasty habit of hoarding all sets of car and house keys in his coat pocket, leaving me stranded at home when I need to be at work or elsewhere. Figuring out a simple, no-fail key hanging system was a must for our marriage!
I’ve utilized hooks upstairs in my home too. Three of the four bedrooms have hooks located right inside the door for items that get used more frequently than things stored in the bedroom closets. I hang up the kids’ comfort blankies {my guys have a fondness for silky blankets…especially Layne who chews on his…which is why I have to hang it up every morning to dry…it still smells awful to me but awesome to him}, a special kindergarten bus hat, toddler sleep sack, and guest towels on these bedroom hooks.
In the second floor laundry room, I have a row of hooks behind the door for hanging ‘line dry only’ items. It works great! Not only are my wet bras hidden out of sight, the heat from the nearby dryer shortens drying time.
And, finally, I used a double hook to hang my ironing board on a skinny wall in the laundry room. That way it’s up off the floor but not hidden in a closet somewhere further away from the laundry room. Not that I iron all that much. But still.
So those are a few ways I’ve incorporated hooks into the whole storage scheme over here. Currently, we have over 2,500 square feet of living space and plenty of closet space. However, that’s all about to change when we downsize. Finding even more clever ways to store things on a wall/ceiling, off the floor, with a hook or two is going to be a must. Have you ever used hooks to resolve a storage problem? Share, please!
images: 1) TR Woodworks for Etsy…all the rest) Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
Since we’ve moved the placement of our bed in the master bedroom {see the old/new floor plans here}, I’m giving the wall of windows new curtain rods and panels. I’m thinking cozy linen flowing from a chunky black rod hung at ceiling height. But before I can start on any decorating, I’ve got a few holes to patch. Few = 17!!!! Why? Because the old curtain rods I used were way too short {only a few inches wider than the windows themselves} and hung way too low {only a few inches from the top of the windows}. Live and learn. The new furniture arrangement has meant taking down a couple of frames from the walls, too. One frame previously hung above a chest of drawers on the now bed wall. Goods news = no more chest of drawers, I got Handy Hubby to purge his stuff and fit it all into our closet. Then we sold the dresser via Craigslist today. Bad news = holes above our bed. Nothing a little spackle can’t handle.
Pardon the unmade bed. My lil’ guys decided to romp around in the pillows while I spackled. And since it was already 4:00 p.m. by the time I finished removing all the old curtain hardware and sanding/filling the holes, I figured, “What the heck? We’re closer to bedtime now anyway.” I’ve yet to hang the custom headboard. Here’s the window wall in all its pock-marked glory.
That’s just half of the wall. Yup, I have some touch-up painting to do! I’ve been perusing thrift, antique and online stores for the perfect mirror to hang between the 2 windows. I wanted something with an interesting shape. Up until today, everything I’d found was way too pricey. I managed to squeeze in a quick trip to one of my favorite outlets {Ballard Designs} this morning and found just what I was looking for. Not only was it marked down just because it was an outlet piece, but all wall decor was an extra 30% off! Sweet.
I love the geometric shape and the way the dark metal frame contrasts with the lighter capiz tiles. I’m itching to get it up on the wall, but in the meantime I’ll be waiting for my spackle to dry, sanding, re-spackling, waiting some more, re-sanding and painting. Pretty monotonous stuff. Looks like I’ll have a dusty bedroom for another few days.
Layne is learning to read and write. He’s my little bookworm. Lately, he’s been writing little notes to Handy Hubby and me. He tapes them to walls, doors and furniture and leaves them for us to find. He’s a sneaky guy. I can’t bear to part with these letters, so I’ve got them hanging on an empty wall in our kitchen. I put them at kid height. That way Layne can see them too.
Let me translate for you. {I already mentioned my handmade birthday card here.}
“Mom and Dad, I want to go to Kings Island.” Layne said this was a summer letter. Kings Island is a nearby amusement park that we didn’t make it to this past summer.
“Mom, I want you to go to bed and give me a goodnight kiss.” I found this one on the door leading from our garage to the kitchen. I had just come home from a 10-hour day at work, and it was late. I went upstairs, snuck into the boys’ bedroom and gave my boys goodnight kisses. How could I resist?
“Dada, can we go on an adventure?” Layne hung this note on the refrigerator. We had hosted Thanksgiving the day before. Handy Hubby and I had spent most of the day in the kitchen preparing the meal while Layne and Everett played with their grandparents. As much as Layne enjoyed it, I think he missed his Dada. We did end up going on an adventure the day he wrote this note. It included walking in a nearby cornfield, traipsing through the woods, peeing on corncobs {the boys not me} and searching for clues.
“Mario, can you give me a DS?” Mario is the name of our Elf on the Shelf. Layne really wants a Nintendo DS for Christmas. Really.
“Dad, I want to watch Scooby Doo.” This note got taped to the bathroom door while Handy Hubby was taking a shower one Saturday. {I was at work.} Scooby Doo is Layne’s favorite cartoon.
“Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad. Love, Layne.” I found this sweet note in Layne’s backpack after school one day. Awww. He thinks of us when he’s at school! Who knew?
“Grinch.” ‘Nuf said.
I think we have a writer on our hands. Okay by me. Even though Layne looks like the mini-version of Handy Hubby, he has my tendencies. When I was little, I was so bummed at the end of the school day wanting it to last longer. I’d come home and write poems, songs or stories. I even wrote and illustrated a few books. I still have these books, and Layne has quite an interest in them. We’ve read them probably 100 times each. I’m not sure why…they aren’t that great. I think he’s just fascinated by the thought of his Mama writing books as a kid. He can’t wait to write his own. Someday… Until then, I’m hoping to fill this wall with his adorable notes.
The DIY wall art in our entryway made from a Lowe’s drop cloth is finished.
It’s not perfect. But nothing in this house is and that’s just fine with me.
It’s funny how a lot of homeowners are trying to update their homes by adding modernities while I’m trying to “debuilder” mine by adding things that look older than they really are.
I’m so glad I decided to hang the custom fabric art with twine and grommets. It’s different. It doesn’t look too polished. It has wrinkles and seams that run throughout. {Although I did stitch a small PVC pipe into the bottom to straighten it a little.}
And the words say it all. That little boy {and the other 2 boys in my house} make me smile every day. ”You make me happy when skies are gray” is a phrase from Everett’s nightly bedtime song that I sing to him. After we read a book and turn out the lights he says, “sing song for me.” How could I resist?
I bet you think I’ve forgotten about my naked entry hall wall and the custom art that y’all voted on for it. Well, I haven’t. It’s just I’ve got those 2 lil’ buggers nipping at my feet {and all the while Handy Hubby has been out of the country for work}. I don’t trust 2 boys {5yrs and 2yrs old} around me when I’ve got an open can of black paint! I’d say I’m 70% done.
After much debate, I decided to hang the wall art with grommets. That means a full ‘how to add grommets to fabric’ tutorial is coming your way. Lucky you.
The red ladder has been standing at attention in our entryway for the last week. That whole ‘walking under a ladder is bad luck’ myth better be a myth.
I love the way this new piece of art looks old and worn. My hand painted letters are far from perfect…even though it takes about 10 minutes to complete one! {I have come to hate the letter “E”.} At first, I wasn’t so sure about it. After all, it is just a huge piece of fabric with black letters painted on it. But, like most things that I do around here, now that I’ve been living with it for a little bit it’s totally starting to grow on me.
I told you how much I value your comments and suggestions last week. This week, I want you to help me with a little DIY project that’s been up my sleeve for over a month now. We have a blank wall in our entryway/living room just calling out for some large scale artwork.
I’m really drawn to the idea of DIYing a custom print. This is my inspiration…
The “money can’t buy me love” plywood art is just perfect for making a huge statement on an otherwise empty wall. What a focal point! And it’s inexpensive, too…always up my alley. I think painting an inspirational quote on a big canvas dropcloth could work just as well – and be even cheaper! So, that’s my plan. Handy Hubby and I want a phrase that’s special to us and holds meaning. We’ve narrowed it down to 3 phrases but are requesting your help to choose the one that will end up on our wall. That’s right, peeps, you get to pick what our art says! Here are your choices:
1) “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”
2) “You make me happy when skies are gray.”
3) “But why can’t every day be just this good?”
1 & 2 are from bedtime songs we sing to our boys. 3 is from a Travis Tritt (yeah, I’m a country girl at heart) song that never gets old and was a crowd pleaser back in our college days. Vote for the one you think would be best for our home.
You have until 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) Sunday, September 26th, to vote as many times as you’d like. I’ll reveal the winning phrase sometime next week, so stay tuned…
What to do on a Saturday night? There are the usual choices: movie, dinner, absolutely nothing, go to bed early, eat ice cream, read, hang out on the porch after the kids have gone to bed, etc. But what about painting? That’s what we did this weekend. And by we I mean Handy Hubby. I did play an integral part in supervising though. You see, our 2-story foyer is about as plain as it gets. We’ve been wanting to paint a modern mural of sorts on the large empty wall for a while now. Well, we finally got around to borrowing a projector.
We knew we wanted a branch-like motif but nothing too country or theme-y. Something a little more modern. Something similar to this…
Don’t you just love those cherry blossom branches? Handy Hubby wasn’t too keen on so many blossoms. We eventually agreed on a more graphic cherry blossom print for our stairwell. Handy Hubby printed up a transparency for the projector and this past Saturday night he traced the outline onto the wall with a pencil.
We rotated the image so that the branch comes out of the corner just like the inspiration photo from Young House Love.
Handy Hubby wanted to paint it white but I wanted something with a little more contrast. We settled on a nice muddy gray that’s about 2 shades darker than the wall color. (Yup, you could say I won.) There’s nothing more romantic than seeing Handy Hubby up on a ladder with a paint brush in his hand. It makes my heart flutter.
Handy Hubby likes the contrast now that he can see it up on the wall. It’s still a work in progress but it’s really coming along. I’ll be sure to share final pics as soon as it’s done! Oh, and we aren’t quite finished with that projector yet. I have another DIY project up my sleeve that requires a large scale guide, too. Keep watching…
We’ve been working hard on the family photo wall that I mentioned here. Well, guess what? It’s finally done (“all done” as Everett would say) and I’m super, super, SUPER excited to share it! Really. This is what we had to start with…
A nice blank canvas but pretty tall and narrow. Not to mention it’s home to our thermostat, dining area light switch and a random outlet (seriously, why would we need an outlet here?). After pouring over image after image of family gallery walls online, I knew I wanted to fill the wall up with white frames. Kind of like Brangelina…”if we’re gonna do it, we might as well do it big.” While Handy Hubby was out of town on biz, the boys and I took a little trip to IKEA. I had the measurements of the wall written down and my nifty tape measure. I wanted the overall outline of the gallery to be similar in shape to the rectangular wall but not so orderly that it looked contrived. So, right there in IKEA I mapped out the dimensions of our wall and played around with frames to get an idea of which ones would work. I’m pretty sure I got a lot of “OMG, she’s crazy!” looks, but I get that a lot and I’m used to it.
This was my loose, general layout just to figure out which frames to purchase. Once I got home and had more precise details, I changed it up to the layout below to compensate for the thermostat, switch plate and electrical outlet.
Then came the hard part…choosing what to put in each frame. I started a ‘family wall’ folder on the computer to help narrow down the possibilities. I just kept deducting and deducting for days until I had a small selection to choose from. (Much like the judges’ process of elimination on American Idol during Hollywood Week.) I didn’t want only photos though. I wanted to use Handy Hubby’s Valentine’s Day gift and somehow include our boys’ baby footprints.
I put together 2 mini display cases for the baby prints. I started with these footprints made from DIY kits available at craft stores… (we made the prints a while back when our boys were babies but haven’t ever displayed them)
I cut pieces of linen fabric to fit the smallest IKEA frames then hot-glued the prints to the linen.
I didn’t iron the linen because I wanted it to look a little worn and old. Then I framed ‘em up and cut away the excess fabric from the backs.
Voila! Two baby footprint shadow boxes that mean the world to me.
I designated 4 frames to Handy Hubby’s Vday gift and the baby footprints then ordered the remaining frames’ photos via ePingo. It wasn’t exactly cheap but after sorting through all of our digital pictures, I was happy to finally display some precious moments…well worth the money to me. **When ordering photo prints make sure you choose photos that are oriented (horizontally/vertically) the way the frame will be hung on the wall AND in the correct size needed. This can be a very tedious task but necessary.** Once our prints arrived, I cleaned each frame and inserted the corresponding photo. Then Handy Hubby got to work hanging each frame on the wall. He taped off a template for a uniform border and then hung the frames within the template using a pencil, level, tape measure, drill driver, drywall anchors/screws and lots of patience.
3 of the IKEA frames (the individual 5×7′s) I bought didn’t include hanging hardware. Boo. A minor setback. I found a box of picture hanging hardware at Hobby Lobby and Handy Hubby made it work, Project Runway style. Man, I love that guy.
After all the frames were hung, we were left with this empty space around the thermostat.
It wasn’t a surprise. I had a little idea for personalization. A(nother) trip to Hobby Lobby and I found what I was looking for.
A few wooden characters and some blue tacky goo filled the spot nicely.
It says it all. Handy Hubby was relieved and said, “So, I guess that means we’re done having kids.” I warned him that it would be very easy to change up the “Me, U & 2″ to “U, Me & 3.” “Oh,” was his reply. (It’s okay, Handy Hubby, I’m not ready for that.)
If you’ve made it this far into the post, you deserve a look at the finished product.
From the family room…
Some close-ups…
I am sooooo pleased with the way our family wall turned out. It’s organized but not a sterile all-the-same-size frame layout. It took way more planning than I thought but now that it’s finished I can’t help but stop and browse over the pics every time I pass by. Our boys even like looking at them and since the bottom frames are low on the wall, our 2-year-old can take part in the picture gushing. I was torn between color prints or all black-and-whites but I’m in love with the B&W. By far, the emotions and memories that this wall conjures up is what makes it special. And I’m so giddy to have our most meaningful family moments captured in a place for us and visitors to see. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU Handy Hubby for all that you did! Another project I couldn’t have done without you. Literally. No family = no family wall.
budget decor, DIY, inspiration