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boyhood

 

Did you know I've been on a mini home refurbishing shopping spree?  Spree by way of side tables.  I have more little occasional tables than any one homeowner could ever possibly need.  :) 

Next on my radar:  leather via Dwell Studio. 

Aside from side tables, little boy rooms are also on the mind.  It's downright embarrassing how pathetic my son's room is.  A mish mash space with blah every which way you look.  I posted about it in late October and since then have promised to get started after the holidays.  Not that boo boo cares in the least, his only request is a great big giant desk.  He wants room to spread out.  Sweet kid.  So, my pinterest is overflowing with desks and superhero decor and yep, beds.  My first major decision. 

I'm guessing we'll be putting Billy Webb's workshop to work in the very near future...  :)

 

get shit done

Every few months I get the urge to get shit done.  So right around the time our super busy summer tailed off, I started to do just that, via curb appeal - landscaping, hardscaping, painting...  I'm like the local Rehab Addict {without the flat stomach and long blond hair}.  

Well, as I race to finish up exterior painting before crappy cold weather sets in, I've started to amass bits and pieces for my next indoor update: Baby Bear's room.  It was a kind of thrown together toddler space that hasn't been touched in forever.  They'll be a new bed, a big kid desk, paint, wallpaper, fixtures, artwork... 

I can happily report that my two most recent years-long indoor redos are complete, less one or two things.  The bathroom needs blinds and a doorknob.  Eme's room needs shelves and a pouf.  I may or may not ever get around to posting photos, but trust me, they look great!  :)

~~~

What are you working on these days?

 

 

Etsy Roundup

 
~ one rad set of salt & pepper shakers ~
 

My love affair with Etsy is long. 

Through the years, the beloved site and its crafty merchants have pitched-in for parties and decor and everything in between.  And, really, on any given day for no reason at all I might stop in to browse - like, um, today!  So, here's a round-up of some things now residing in my online basket.  They're just too good not to share, but don't even THINK about making a buy! 

these beauties are mine, all mine

 

 

tumblers with carrier, lucite lamp, apple sculpture, lucite wine carrier, magazine carrier, bookends

 

 

childhood unplugged

 

~ childhood unplugged ~

 

 

 

DIY progress

 

~ no more pink! ~

Has anyone ever walked into Anthropologie and walked-out empty handed?  I don't think it's possible.  I can't tell you how many times I've wandered in with a simple return and left with 2 five-pound bags hauled over each shoulder. 

One recent trip brought home a few accessories for our new and improved {and almost finished} bathroom.  Remember we started over a year ago?  Yep.  It's been a while.  We're consistently non-urgent in our DIY projects.  For instance, just like the bathroom redo, Miss Pippy's room is also crawling along.  I've come to terms with my slow-pokedness when it comes to redesign and am just happy both projects have turned out so well along-the-way.

It's the final finishing touches that make all the difference, right?  We all know you can't rush these things!  :)

What are you working on these days?

 

 

Vivian Maier

Who else is intrigued by Vivian Maier and her hidden talent? 

Don't know her?  Here's a quick bio:

A mysterious nanny, who secretly took over 100,000 photographs that were hidden in storage lockers and discovered decades later, is now considered among the 20th century’s greatest photographers. Maier’s strange and riveting life and art are revealed through never before seen photographs, films, and interviews with dozens who thought they knew her.

It's a fascinating story and I'm bummed to have missed an exhibition of her work in NY.  But, much to my delight, she's headed to the big screen.

Will you check it out, too?

 

Read more about her story at VivianMaier.com

 

 

an igloo is possible

oscar fashions

~~~

More crappy weather outside.  This morning it was a toasty 5 degrees with a snappy breeze. 

Have I ever mentioned I don't like to wear a coat?  #screwyouwinter

Aside from doing absolutely everything I can to encourage spring along, this weekend I'll be doing movie-voting calisthenics. 

Yep, it's Oscar time folks and I'm in it to win it.  Again. 

Look for our annual Oscar portrait next week.  :)

 

Stay warm out there!

 

 

paint winners & loser

`    
see that sparkle?  no, me either.

~~~

In considering Eme's room revival I of course oogled Pinterest and Houzz for ideas.  I was after a few "hey, that's cool" ideas without too much "um, hello cheeseball" and found a few paint treatments I liked.  I ended up with two winners and a loser.

Let's start with the loser.

The first treatment = sparkle.  Ask my daughter my two favorite things and she'll tell you food and sparkle.  I have ALWAYS loved sparkle!  My plan was to add shimmer to her ceiling which I would paint pink.  I ordered this product from Amazon and took the time to read reviews before pulling the trigger.  Just about all the users noted to double the amount of sparkle for noticeable results, so I ordered up.  Sadly, the sparkle treatment I hoped for failed to perform {see above}.   Unfortunately I hadn't considered the positioning of the wall {ceiling} and the limited about of light-bounce it gets.  Final Result = unnoticeable sparkle.  bummer.  Luckily, the prep time was zero {dump in sparkle, mix} and the cost was minimal.  Next time I'll stick with a vertical wall for shine.

The second treatment = ombre. 

~ ombre ~

 Who else loves Land of Nod?  They're products can be a bit pricey {i.e. stalk sales} but their catalog is so well produced and offers a treasure trove of ideas.  It was through them that I first saw an ombre radiator and fell in love.  This was a paint treatment winner!  I loved how it turned out.  Yes, painting an old school radiator is tedious, but on the bright side I had a closet full of old paint samples that were perfect for this job.  The only prep here was counting up the number of rungs and determining how many per color I wanted.  After the first coat I decided I wanted more of each color so I simply adjusted with the second coat.  Oh, and, since Home Depot sample colors only come in flat finish, I applied a final coat of satin polyurethane to add a pinch of shine.  Final result =  ombre goodness!

The third treatment = gold.

~ gold ~

  I loved the look of this contrasting door panel and knew I wanted gold accents in Miss Pippy's room.  So, it seemed like a great fit and I love how it turned out.  I purchased this jar of Marth Stewart gold paint and picked up one mini brush.  Final Result = one decked out door!  Billy Webb even liked it!  So much so that he thinks I should paint a piece of her crown moulding gold, too.  For now my paint brush rests, but I may pick it up and give it a shot. 

 Oh, and really, I did four paint treatments.  You can catch a glimpse of it here ^^^ - magnet paint.  

fun, right! 

  

the fun part

an art wall takes shape

~~~

Painting sucks.  Sure, it's fun to see a wall or piece of furniture get transformed by a brush, but I take no joy in the steps to get there.  Like, none.  And let's all just take a moment to high-five the fact that I managed to paint every square inch of her room without spilling a gallon of paint on the carpet.  Yay me!

But now, the fun part.  Decorating.  And new stuff.  The UPS man has been getting a work out the last few weeks.  Let's just say I've green-lighted one or two purchases...  yee-haw!!!!!!!!  Included in the mix of buys are several things that need DIYing or personalizing.  Here's a quick list of what's in store.

• new hardware for closet drawers.  Of course, the bore holes in my old hardware has to be 2.75" which turns out to be the one size in which no cool hardware is available anywhere on the planet.  So after a hopeful Etsy purchase which listed a great set at 2.75", it turns out they're not quite that.  Soooo, after I fill all the existing screw holes and repaint the drawer faces I'll install the new hardware.
• speaking of hardware, Eme's new desk is about to get some new drawer pulls, too.  Thanks again, Etsy.  :)
• my winning vintage lucite bench needs new jewelry.  And by that I mean new casters.  The black plastic ones just don't cut it.  As luck would have it, I found a whole Pinterest round-up of cool casters.  score!  Purchase soon to follow...  Oh, and I'm going to preserve the flawless "leather" cushion by covering it in fluffy fur. 
• lighting.  A cute tabletop lamp I bought from Target is a perfect blank slate.  I"m thinking either small scattered gold dots {using a pencil eraser} or a gold stripe at the base {using painters tape as my guide}.  Eme wants dots so they're the lead horse.
• I also still need to swap out all the electrical outlets and switches from the existing off-white to white, install shelving, decide where to hang my copper LED lightstrand, and spend way too much time working all the possible arrangements on the gallery wall.  After all that I'll focus on curtains, bedding and a rug! 

^^ yep, I could stare at this little bench all day ^^

^^ new stuff and new drawer pulls.  evidence of hole-filling, too ^^

^^ little lamp.  get ready to be decorated! ^^

 

Man, is this fun!!

 

 

 

 

Art!

Curating Emerson's soon-to-be gallery wall has been so much fun!  While it's true, my tastes do sway what I buy, I really have tried to keep Miss Pippy at the heart of the art.  For instance she loves animals and ballet and blue and pink, and, for those shops that had two prints I favored, Emerson selected the final buy.  It's been great fun and finally, I get to put so many Etsy favorites to work.   I love that Etsy and Society 6 and other online sites give artists and creatives a platform to showcase and sell their work.  Don't you?

Here are links to what's found above:

~ floral doodle, hoop art, popsicles, adorkable, balloons, ABC's, fox, Emerson, ballet, gold balloon, cat, girl, abstract, shine ~

I'm torn between a wall with all white frames or a mix of gold, white and maybe pink.  I kind of like the look of mixed.