There's a whole lot of work going on around here, but the walls were starting to close in on me, so I had to clear the decks a bit. I've been on a tear around here sorting and organizing. I can actually walk into my kids rooms in the dark without risking serious bodily injury. It's a good thing.
I have a serious 'putting holes in walls' phobia. It takes me years to get around to hanging up art. As a matter of fact, I still haven't installed the door hardware on my kitchen cabinets. It's been almost 3 years. My goal is to complete that job this month. Anyhoo, I finally hung some of the art that's been propped up around my studio.
Over my bookcase. Love my new
Kelly Rae Roberts clock, now if only I could tell time ;) To the right is one of my birdhouse frames like the ones for sale in my Etsy shop. You can get yours
here.
Here is a favorite print by my friend, Devon. Her garden and her
art are amazing. Below is a piece by
Cori Dantini.
And another Kelly Rae Roberts piece.
I have two of these shutters to use for display. Not sure where to put them yet. Don't you love the cute calendar by my friend,
Elizabeth Caldwell? They're 50% off now!
It's finally beginning to look like Christmas around here. I've been way behind on my decorating due to deadlines and sickness. Deadlines are met, I'm feeling better, so bring on Christmas! I just wish I had finished my shopping.
This nativity scene, the angels, and the plates all belonged to my grandma. Lladro isn't really my thing, but I love having these reminders of her and her home.
This is the Santa collection that now lives full time in my studio. It helps when I have to create Christmas art in July.
This is the one thing that's still hanging over my head—the bathroom. I so wish i was finished with this already. I've completely lost interest in it, but traipsing up the stairs all the time is getting old, and I have company coming in two days, so I must press on.
It was hard work, but I finally got the bathroom remodel 'finished' for my sister-in-law's baby shower. It's not really finished, because the new floor won't be installed for another two weeks. Add to that a ne
w vanity, painting the wall cabinet, and finishing the faux board & batten ala
Welcome to Heardmont.
Here's the before. You can't see all the patches, spackle, and random primed section in this photo. You'll just have to trust me when I say it was UGLY! Don't even ask about the nasty grout that cannot be cleaned. Ugh.
Here's a mock up.
Drum roll please…here's what it looks like now! I love it!!!
It took me forever to choose the color! My youngest son picked it, but it seemed to over the top even for me. I finally went for it when I met Danielle Hirsch at an OSH grand opening! Remember her from Color Splash? She agreed with Josh on the color. She was so sweet!! Meeting her was the highlight of my day! Check out her
Restore my Decor to win a makeover!
Here is a sample of the board & batten (and the bathroom inspiration I used) I'll be installing next. You can see the tutorial
here.
I've had this great old file cabinet forever. It's big and holds everything, but it was so ugly! It was gray and rusted, but with a lot of paint and a cute little decal, it's gorgeous! I bought the decal from
Single Stone Studios. They customized it to my specs. Don't you think everything should be beautiful, even something as mundane as a file cabinet? Isn't it just too cute?
Me, Bari, Devon, & Miranda.
Yesterday, I had the great pleasure to meet fabric designer extraordinaire,
Bari J. Also joining us was
Devon, an amazing muralist and textile designer, and her adorable daughter and my best friend, Beth. We had so much fun! I met Bari and Devon on Twitter. I know a lot of people just don't get the whole Twitter thing, but it's been great for me!
This is my best friend, Beth. She's a fantastic graphic designer and artist. We went to college together. As you know, I love color and she's color phobic, so I never imagined we'd end up both wearing purple. Great minds think alike, I guess.
It's so hard to blog, when I can't show you all what I'm currently working on. It's frustrating! Here's a little sample of a doodle pattern I'm working on.
I'm really hoping to figure out & order fabric to replace these lovely Xmas wrapping paper "curtains" we've been living with for months. So tacky!
I've also been doing some online shopping. Nothing very fun, just staples, but I'm still excited. Can't wait until the day that the item I order arrives moments after I order it. I'm just a little bit impatient.
After a short hiatus in house painting, I realize I couldn't avoid it any longer. The kids bathroom has had swatches on the dirty, oddly patched walls for months. I was inspired by Melissa of
The Inspired Room to just go for it. I had been waiting until I had the time, but she posted that you should just start, even if you can only work on it a little at a time. I took her advice. My curtain fabric for the kitchen/family room and the master should arrive this week, so I jumped into this painting project to clear it out of the way before fabric/sewing chaos takes over. Oh see my painted toes? They have yet to see the light of day because it has been unusually cold around here:(
Here's the before pic. The cost of this makeover is free because I'm using paint I already have. I think the window treatment will be out of remade roman shades from my old house. Not sure yet. I will eventually replace the light fixture the vanity, the counter, and the sink.
I've been so overwhelmed with all the projects, both home repair and launching my licensing business that I talked it over with my husband, the project manager. He keeps advising me to do one thing at a time and to block out the rest for now. It's working on the home repair stuff, the business side is still a huge challenge.
By the way, this house came equipped with fluorescent lightbulbs everywhere. I've been replacing them one by one with GE Reveal bulbs. I just can't stand fluorescents. I've tried all different kinds, but they're all ugly. Have you found one that isn't?
Here are the yummy fabrics I'm waiting for. The chocolate on the left will be in my kitchen, nook, and family room. It's indoor/outdoor, so I think it will withstand the kids and swimmers. The one on the right is for the master bed and bath.
It took four days longer than I thought it would, but it was worth it. I present to you…the kids' bathroom. Yippee!!! I still have some more work to do in there (frame the mirror, add the shelves, window treatment, new light), but I didn't want to wait.
I wanted this bathroom to be fun. I found this shower curtain on someone else's blog (can't remember where). It's from Target and I L-O-V-E it!!!! The colors are perfect! The wall paint, which I already had) is a perfect match. Add some colorful towels I already had plus a few from Target and it all works. The bath accessories are also from Target. I love that place!
I was on an art hanging roll today, so I added my Gadget Fly print. Where better than a nature themed bathroom? You can purchase this print in my
shop.
A close up of the shower curtain. I hope you all had a great weekend!
I also wanted to say thank you to all of our service men and women for their sacrifice! You are appreciated!
By:
Nina Mata,
on 10/11/2010
Blog:
Beautifique
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Last Thursday I had a pleasure of visiting the fabulously decorated boutique of designer Michele Varian (in SoHo) for the Creative Inc. book signing event where I got to meet and greet with the wonderful authors of such a resourceful book (and might I add so well designed), Meg Mateo Ilasco and Joy Deangdeelert Cho! It was quite a turn out! It was so great to see such an overwhelming amount of people who came out to show their love and support to these two very talented and inspiring women. I wish them and this book much success!
HAPPY MONDAY!
I had a great vacation and I have some stuff to share, but I'm not up to sorting through all of the pictures right now, so here's a quick post about my current home dec project — curtains.
I've had this fabric for about a year, but it's one of those huge projects that just seems too overwhelming to start. On our hottest days, I've opted for a 'Shabby Chic' look minus the 'Chic' — sheets taped over the sliders. Classy, right?
I really love this fabric and wish I could find the name of it. It's an indoor/outdoor fabric which is perfect for these south facing, close proximity to the pool location. I knew I wanted a thick, wood rod for the sliders because one of them is about eight feet wide. I got a quote for the rods, finials, and rings from a local home dec fabric place of around $500 for hardware — gulp! Once I stumbled out of the store, I knew I had to come up with a better way. I couldn't find what I wanted online or anywhere, so I improvised. I got the brackets and rod from Home Depot unfinished. The rod is actually for hanging clothes on in a closet and was very cheap! I wanted wood rings, but the cost of buying them and tedium of staining them all was more than I wanted to do, so I borrowed a design from some store bought curtains and added loops to the back of the curtains. Easy peasy. I think all of the hardware came in under $50. Oh yeah!
I'm very pleased with the results, but I still have the big slider set to do :( I'm probably going to make a Roman shade for the garden window out of the same fabric or a solid color that matches, but that can wait.
By the way, our dog was miffed about not going on vacation with us, so he staged his own vacay shot.
When my father got a Kindle, he was awestruck by its instant gratification: “The books come out of the air!”
And now, I have a similar cry of joy: “The books hover in the air!”
I’m not talking about a Kindle, which is still too steep for me to consider. No, I’m referring to the amazing Umbra conceal bookshelf. (Which, at less than $10 from The Container Store, is a whole lot cheaper than any e-reader.)
Magically, a stack of books sits upon the wall, seemingly suspended sans anchor. An artful arrangement, as minimal as minimalism gets, the Umbra conceal bookshelf creates a floating home for a flotilla of tomes.
How it works: the L-shaped bracket screws into the wall. Place the last page of a book on top of the shelf and slide it to the wall. Below the shelf, two tiny hooks hold the back cover up—ingenious! You can then stack 6-8 books on the first, concealing the bracket on the wall to create the levitation illusion.
However, there are a few caveats. With the large shelf, the books should be no deeper than 10”, and the total weight of the books shouldn’t exceed 20 lbs. or they will sag. (Grab a stack of books and weigh it on your bathroom scale. I had what I thought was a heavy bunch, but it was only 13 lbs. No sweat for the Umbra.)
Next, the arrangement of books can be a little tricky. I bought two shelves for cookbooks. I have about 40, and it took some shuffling to create perfect pyramids of progressively smaller books. Some books were smaller in length, but not in width—and vice-versa. If you have a large collection of books, however, finding a pleasing aerial aesthetic shouldn’t be an issue. You can even display small objets d’art atop the books, as I did with a Japanese cast-iron teapot.
Finally, you need to install the shelf into a stud and use a hardcover for the bottom book. But paperbacks work well mid-stack, as you’ll see I put the meatless Moosewood between Jim Dodge and the Barefoot Contessa.
Books are works of art, and never before have they been so suitably displayed. I can’t imagine the Kindle being hung on the wall for artistic appreciation. But go ahead, get your e-reader. I’ll just keep buying more books…and more Umbra bookshelves.
I'm really proud of this project we did. Really. Ask My Bebe. It was so simple.
Step 1: Take a nature walk. Collect fall leaves of various shapes and colors. (Hint: To make this more educational, identify the trees as you go.)
Step 2: ASAP place the leaves face down onto clear contact paper. The leaves should all be about an inch apart.
Step 3: Cut out your leaves, leaving about a half inch of contact paper around each leaf.
Step 4: Place on window or other surface to beautify.
I have been thinking it would be fun to press some leaves for Thanksgiving. When the holiday gets closer, we could attach them to contact paper and stick them to the table. Wouldn't that be cute?
I think if I was going to attach them to a wall, I'd put contact paper on both sides of the leaf, leaving a longer edge on the side that needed to be sticky. Otherwise some of the color may seep onto the wall.
Congrats on the reorg!! Always refreshing. So flattered to see my print on your wall :o) And yay for putting nails in your walls! I'm going to bug you about your cabinet hardware. ;o)