Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Part of throwing a great party is having the perfect present, and I am so proud of the one I made for my lovely sister-in-law. But first the back story:

The week after Sara's shower I, along with my sisters-in-law, threw a combination baby shower/going away party for my brother and sister-in-law. They're moving across the country and having a baby shortly thereafter, so we wanted to send them off in style. I'll post more details about that party in the next few days, but first I wanted to share the oh-so-awesome present that I dreamt up for them.

Months ago, when my sister-in-law registered at Target, I fell in love with the theme she had picked out for the nursery.

These adorable little animals will be on the crib blanket, the rug and everywhere else. They're a really simple drawing, so I knew that doing watercolors of them would be a piece of cake.

I bought three 8x10 frames, and did a watercolor of the elephant, the tiger and the giraffe.





I love how they turned out, my favorite is definitely the giraffe! Aren't they so cute and cuddly? I am sure my little nephew will be bribed into choosing me as favorite aunt love them as much as I do!

An Elegant Entryway

After fixing up the living room and the dining room, our front entryway was becoming more and more of an eyesore. We wanted to make a good first impression, but it was more of a horrible first impression, followed by an inspiring second impression. Here's how it looked on the day we moved in.

 

The previous owners had installed lovely fluorescent lighting and more of the "burlap sack" (as we have so affectionately dubbed it.) Plus there were some weird bars (maybe pull-up bars) and a bunch of hooks. In short, it was ugly. To make matters worse, when we installed our new front door last year, we slapped up some boards to roughly frame in the doorway, and called it a day.

Here's how we tackled this eyesore:

We started by tearing out the luv-ly fluorescent light, the framework holding up the light, and the burlap sack.

We were left with the lovely fixture hole and a bunch of yucky glue on the plaster walls. Some spackle, and a bunch of scraping and sanding left the walls smooth enough to prime.

 

Next up was a couple of coats of primer, and a lovely little chandelier. We took a standard black five armed chandelier from a bargain outlet, and transformed it with a little bit of metallic spray paint. The result was an aged, elegant look that totally matched the style of our house.

Staining the moulding around the door was definitely the most challenging part. Turns out you can't buy stain at Walmart that matches the 100 year old finish on your house's original moulding. Who knew, right? In the end, two coats of colonial maple, two coats of red mahogany and three coats of lacquer produced a finish that is nearly indistinguishable from the original finish.

 

The last step was painting the door and the wall above the doorways. Two coats of a lovely blue gray called Woodlawn Silver Brook by Valspar were the finishing touch.

 

Now the entryway makes as good of a first impression as the rest of the rooms!

Before:

After:

 

Linked to Metamorphosis Monday. Be sure to check out the other transformations there!

The Language of Decorating

Did you know that there is a specific language for decorating? It's true, and I'm ready to wager that you don't know the difference it can make in your "perception" of the room. Take this lovely office that I have in my inspiration folder.

In regular language, if I were to describe this room to you, I would say:

"A small room with a relatively large window. The walls are painted light blue, and the trim is white. The floors are hardwood with a zebra rug. There are wall mounted shelves, a white desk and desk chair, white curtains and a capiz ceiling light fixture. There are pictures on the wall and frames and magazine holders on the shelves. "

This description gives you a complete list of the items in the room and the colors, and most of the decorating choices.  It does not, however, give you a clear picture of the feeling in the room, or any sense of "I want that!" Now, read this description, using the language of decorating:

"This cozy home office feels much larger thanks to the soft periwinkle shade on the walls and the crisp white trim that unifies the baseboards and the window casing. The space is filled with light thanks to a beautiful window framed with fresh white panels that have been mounted close to the ceiling to visually lift the ceiling.  A white parsons desk with sleek lines adds simplicity and functionality without sacrificing an inch of style. The desk is grounded in the room by a plush zebra print rug that protects shining hardwoods beneath.  A stylish white and chrome desk chair on wheels makes it easy to slide over to the wall mounted shelves where office supplies and papers are artfully arranged in coordinating containers. Framed photographs on the shelves and delightful art on the walls makes the space personal, while the crowning glory of this room is the stunning capiz chandelier."

Quite the difference, no? The next time you start to feel frustrated by the lack of style in your rooms, try describing your room with the "language of decorating" Here are some tips:

• Use euphemisms and broad, all encompassing words.  Say "cozy" instead of "small." Say "space" instead of "room." Say "art" instead of "picture." 
• Use descriptive words for color. Instead of using brown, black or off-white,  say espresso, ebony and cream.  It sounds more custom, more unique, and definitely more chic. 
• Use descriptive adjectives, and plenty of them. In the paragraph above, I used cozy, soft, crisp, fresh, sleek, plush, shining, stylish, artfully, delightful and stunning. Almost every element has a corresponding descriptive adjective that provides a more complete picture of the "space" :-)
• Replace the generic term wood, specifying the type of wood, and the finish used. A wooden coffee table becomes an "oak coffee table in a light golden finish."  A wooden bookcase becomes a "mahogany bookcase in a deep espresso finish."  Can't you just picture the luxury?
• Create a verbal picture of how the items in the room relate to one another. If there are coordinating items in a room, say so. Notice how I described how the desk sits on the rug that covers the floor, and also how the chair can move to the shelves, where I now describe what is on the shelves. 

Try this exercise yourself, either with a room from your own home or a favorite room that inspires you. And then come back and tell me all about it! 

It's Glamorous, and Romantic!

Warning, this will be a long post! However, the transformation from dreary and dark,
to romantic and beautiful, is well worth your time. I promise!
Of the three available bedrooms in the house, we chose the one to the left of the stairs for the following reasons:

• It was closest to the bathroom :0)


• It had the least amount of work needed to be "liveable" right away


• It was the nicest.

And of course, every master bedroom must be the nicest in the house, right? Right.

The problems facing us in this "red room" were multiple. Red, red carpet, that was gross. Peach paint on the walls, and ceiling, 80's wallpaper, outdated light fixtures, fugly miniblinds, and UGLY closet doors. Seriously, the closet doors reminded me of something from a seedy motel from the 60s. I swore "Those closet doors will be the first thing to go!" Hmm. I definitely should not considering a career as a prophetess. I also shouldn't swear. So we embarked on our mission to de-uglify the room.

1. We ripped out the red, red carpet, finding hardwoods in good shape underneath. They'll need to be refinished, but they're not bad.

2. Jon and Steph helped us remove the 80's wallpaper, only to expose ORANGE paint beneath. We have since decided that the previous owners were on crack. Had to be. :o)

So, we exposed all of the orange wall, and then slapped on a coat of $6 white paint on the ceiling, and $6 antique white on the walls. We learned two things from this first project: 1) $6 paint is crap. Seriously, save your money, and buy good paint from the blue store or the orange store.  2)Antique white just looks like dirty white. Not exactly mood inspiring for a bedroom.

However, we had more important matters to attend to in the house, so we moved in the bed, put up some new lights, and called it a day. (Note: I did not say, ripped out closet doors) This is how the bedroom looked last March: (1)
Then, one afternoon in early summer I decided I had had enough of a room with no ambience, and promptly accomplished 2a and 2b: we bought a real, grownup bed, rearranged the furniture, and hung curtains from our old apartment. (The blinds were still up though) This made the room liveable until January 2009, which is when we finally pretti-fied the room.

The following pictures show you the graphic before and afters, in which we tried to maintain roughly the same angles as the first shots, so you get a good idea of the improvements.

Before: 

AfterBefore:
After:
Before:
After:

Before: 

Closeup of 80's wallpaper: :o)
After:

Much improved, no? As I mentioned, we replaced those half moon sconces with these pretty little guys, and they're on a dimmer, so they're oh-so-romantic. 

Here's a few more shots for your viewing pleasure:



So to sum up, this is what we accomplished in this room in the first year:

• Painted walls and ceiling


• Painted walls and ceiling, again. Better this time.


• Replaced half moon sconces with pretty sconces.


• Replaced metal mini blinds with drapes and a roman shade.


• Bought a real! bed


• Ripped out icky carpet.


• Put in new switchplates and outlet covers


• Replaced dimmer switch.

Still to do in this room:

• Replace the three outlets


• Paint heater vent


• Refinish floors


• Redo closet wall  (we were gonna do that first, remember? hee hee)


• Install baseboards


• Buy new dressers

 

Mantel Makeover

This has got to be one of my favorite makeovers so far in our house. It really improved the look of the living room, and allowed the mantel to become the star of the room!

We started by tearing out the paneling above the built-in bookcases and the fireplace. Behind that paneling was plywood, and beneath that plywood was avocado green wallpaper. Under the wallpaper was the original plaster, but unfortunately we could only fix up the plaster on the side walls. The plaster on the front wall was too far gone. We also removed the "header" that housed the three fluorescent light fixtures, and all of the old wiring that ran to those lights. Ugh.

Then, we ran new wiring, installed the two ceiling fixtures on the sides and a halogen spot in the middle, and put up drywall to cover the sad, sad ceiling and back wall. After a few hours (days) of spackling and sanding, we were ready to prime and paint.

Here is the ghastly before:

And the much improved after:

Of course, there is still a bit of decorative moulding to install, and a couple of other minor things, but overall I'd say the mantel is now stellar!

Ideas for the office

I've been playing with ideas for the office, and have already made one previous "idea board." I know that I want to do an asian themed room, but the last board I did hadn't really captured the look I was going for in the room. I want the office to be relaxing and simple, so that it is easy to work in. Here are some pics of the office currently, so you can get an idea of where everything will go. We'll be taking down some of the paneling, replacing some of the drywall, and obviously painting over that hideous blue.  

And here is the idea board. 

1. First off, the color scheme is very simple. Black for some of the furnishings, and the built in desk/cabinet/file drawers will be painted white. The walls will be a nice gray, and the trim around windows, etc will be a crisp white. Red will be brought in to cheer up the room in plenty of accents. 

2. This great rug from Target brings all of those colors together. It's definitely out of the price range, but it gives an idea of the color, and the design that would really work. I am not a fan of abstract in general, but I love it in rugs. As far as size, the bigger the better, as the floor in the office is really beatup. 

3. This ebony desk is from Penneys, but it's not what we would use. We want to use our old front door, and convert it into a desk. I think we would either paint it black or white, and build legs and storage underneath it.  A little plexiglass for the top and, presto, a lovely desk with lots of history. As far as placement in the room, I'm thinking on the wall across from the closet, as long as there is enough light. 

4. Instead of your average, boring (and pricey!) office chair, I would want to go with something like this red leather parsons chair from Pier 1. Definitely red, for accenting, and I like the formality a dining room chair brings in. It keeps the office from feeling too cubicle-y. I also love the added texture that leather would bring in. This one's $50, but I'm sure I can find something better priced, especially if it's a DIY project. 

5. All three of these lamps are from Pier 1 as well. I love the clean, simple lines, the simple shades in the coordinating colors. I'm thinking the red one(s) on the desk, and the white one on the built in desk, in one of the corners. The paper lantern is an idea for where you see the fridge on the wall, I think it would look cool to hang a couple of these (staggered) in that corner for more light. 

6. This is the inspiration for the room. It's a glazed ceramic asian horse from Target. It's currently on clearance, and I might just pick it up. In spite of the fact that it is insanely popular right now.  However, what I like about it is that it is simple and clean while still embodying lots of style. It's asian without screaming "I'm asian! See all the color and embroidery!"

7. This photo collage would look great on the wall opposite the built in desk. I'm thinking matching black frames, wide white mats, and black and white photographs taken by moi! 

8. Once again from Pier 1, these vases could go above the built in desk, on the door desk, or on any book shelves that may happen to make their way into the room. I love the white ones with the touch of metallic shine, and the red bamboo ones have a great texture to them. I'll be watching for the red ones to go on clearance!

9. Although I am not sure where a pillow would be needed in the office, :0) I liked the color and pattern of this pillow. The contrast between the red and white is stellar, and the pattern is subtly reminiscent of the Far East. 

10. Lastly, this little wall decoration is cute and attractive at the same time. It ties in with the asian flair, and it's cool too. :-) 

So there you have it, the inspiration for our office. Some of this is definitely just ideas, but some I'll actually be looking for in the stores! Hope you enjoyed!