Art Wall, a beginning

As I mentioned last week, we had some frames to hang. Today, we hung them. I had grand plans to make some epic art walls.  I have been oooh-ing and ahhh-ing over art walls on the interwebs for quite a while now. I am sharing them with you so you may ooh and ahh as well. Let the fawning commence.So, very very pretty.

My many apologies about the links. I am trying to become more organized when I save images so I know where I found them. When I know where I found the image I’ve linked back, but when I don’t… well, I didn’t.  Lets just chalk this up to a rookie mistake, okay? Good. I’m glad that’s settled.

Anyway, my point was not my poor blogging courtesy, but rather how much I love these art walls.

Here is our interpretation.It is just a start. I would like to see it grow. I’m not 100% committed to the arrangement, but as we get more pieces to hang I hope that it will fill out nicely.

We hung the rest of the pieces we framed last weekend as well, but not in an art wall set up… Rather in my standard museum hang. You know, evenly spaced and at a eye level. Classic. 

Flor-ed!

My Flor tiles arrived this week. Yay! I haven’t yet put the little flor-dots on them (special stickers that hold the tiles together), because I have been playing around with the configuration. This was my first attempt:I swear I did not take these photos in the middle of the night. It was like maybe 5 o’clock, it just happened to be pouring outside so ambient light was nil. Anywho, I quickly realized that when I ordered the tiles I had not planned on having them be 2 wide- there were no where near enough to have them doubled. Okay, one by one it is then.  Trial number two: sticking to my original vision.  I placed the tiles in a sort of random layout. Okay, not that random since it goes floral, blue, floral, cream, floral… But whatevs. During a more ‘pure’ random didn’t really work with the tiles only being one wide. So, we lived with the above layout for a day or two, but I wasn’t really feeling it. Thus, the third (and current) configuration: I still need to cut one of my extra tiles to make the runner fit the hallway a little better. Once I finally get around to doing that I will be ready to apply the flor-dots and be done. Well, done with the runner. One day I will actually paint the walls, doors, and trim. One day.

We are still waiting for our living room rug to come in. I’m really hoping it will arrive this week. Keep your fingers crossed!

Framing Frenzy

On Saturday we made an epic journey to Ikea. We made it through with our sanity (mostly) intact. We also made it through with a cart full of Swedish designed, Chinese made goods. The bulk of our purchases were frames… thus, it has been a framing frenzy!Hopefully one evening this week we will have a hanging frenzy! Oh, and a handy tip: I used an old butter knife to flip up and down those pesky metal tabs that you find on the back of cheap frames. Worked like a charm and no sore fingertips.

I did all the framing this morning before Bill got up (I know, it is quite shocking that I woke up first!). I have more frames, but I need to sift through massive amount of my digital photos and pick out which ones I want to order and frame. I also now realize that I should have gotten some more larger frames because I want to print off some of the sweet images from here.

Anyway, once Bill got up we switched to working outside. Nothing really amazing, just all those normal maintenance things like mowing the lawn, weeding the flowers, and weed whacking (around the beds of our little neighborhood garden).

We bought some non-frame related things at Ikea as well. Like these cute little bud vases, that I filled with cute little red anemones from our garden.And a bunch of candles to put in our (non-working) fireplace. I’m not super pumped with the current arrangement, but it is a starting point. I would like to add more height to the back row. I also had the great idea to buy a whole stack of these pretty fabric boxes. That way I could totally organize the gigantic mess that is my hall cabinet.You see, since the cabinet door opens down and the cabinet is so deep I cannot reach all the way to the back. I can barely reach to the midpoint, so everything gets all jumbled and mashed whenever I am looking for something (like a matching sheet set). Now with these handy dandy fabric boxes I could put matching sheet sets into their own box according to size and then just pull out the box instead of trying to get anything from the back. Perfect plan, right? Wrong! The baskets were just a few inches too tall. Sigh. So now I have to find other uses for these boxes, which I’m sure won’t be a problem… I do have a lot of stuff that could be stashed away into cute boxes. But, still, I’m disappointed that I don’t get to use them for their intended purpose. Oh well, I guess I got what I deserved since I didn’t take measurements ahead of time.

Well, that is it for this weekend. What kind of fun things did you all do? And remember, just a few short weeks until you get to see the entire house (which means I only have a few short weeks to shove things in closets or under beds clean).

Rug-tastic!

I have just completed some major rug shopping. And I am jazzed. That’s right. Jazzed.

Here are the rugs that will soon be joining our home. Isn’t she gorgeous? We actually already have a smaller version. We bought it just a few months after we moved in and at that point weren’t ready to commit to a large scale area rug.  However, the little rug grew on us day in and day out. It has morphed into being the inspiration for the color flow of our house. We have been planning for quite some time to take the plunge and upgrade. And that is happening now. And, I am jazzed (Ha, there is it again!). Anywho, we will move the smaller one up to our bedroom, but it really could work in any room of the house.

That is not all. Are you ready for even more rug fantastic-ness? I have also just ordered modular carpeting from Flor. These pretty little puppies will line our upstairs hall. You probably noticed that the 1st and 3rd image are the same, just the rug color has been been swapped from Blue Heeler to Bury it Bone. The center image is Pale Blue (it really got the short end of the stick stupid name-wise). I plan on using all three carpet tiles to create a random(ish) pattern. Yay! Such fun.

Jazzed.

 

Inspiration Overload

While relaxing this evening and watching Meet the Fockers, I perused the interweb (mainly the blogs on my reading list, actually) and downloaded a ton of images that I love. Then, thanks to trusty Picasa, I made them into a slide show to share with you all.

Hmmm, do you think I might have a thing for blue?

So, what is your take on my image collection? Are they inspiring to you as well or not-so-much? What would your inspiration decor look like?

P.S. What do you think of the image time of 3 seconds? Too long, too short, or just right?

  

11 Months and Counting

I have given myself a deadline. Or maybe a goal. Beh, semantics.

Anyway, I realize that we bought our house almost a year ago. If memory serves correctly we signed the last of the papers on April 30th and received our keys May 1st, 2009. With this momentous (a bit of hyperbole, I know) anniversary coming up I figured I should commemorate it… by giving a ‘then and now’ tour of our house.

That means that I have about 20 days to prep (ie organize and de-clutter) the house to get it ready to show you. By no stretch of the imagination is any room ‘done’ or even close to being so. Yet, still, we have made growth in the last year, if by no other way than filling the place up with furniture. Of course there are still entire rooms (yes, plural) completely overrun with boxes, but so it goes. It will just be something to compare it to on the 2 year anniversary.

Well, that is it. Prepare yourself for the great reveal on May 1st.

 

Our Vancouver Getaway

We have been back from Vancouver, BC for well over a week now, so I guess the time to blog about it is now or never.

It was a really nice little vacation. We had a lot of fun and were able to relax (even though we were perpetually on the go… It is funny how vacation works, eh?).

We stayed a the Nelson House B&B in West End Vancouver, just a few blocks from wonderful Stanley Park. We had the attic suite, which was surprisingly large. It had a little writing desk and twin bed in one dormer, a kitchen nook in another, and the queen bed in the what would have been the third (however, the dormer window had been converted into a little balcony). Plus, there was the living room area in the middle.Right outside the writing desk dormer was a Magnolia in full bloom.

We arrived on a Tuesday and lucky for us the Vancouver Art Gallery is free Tuesday evenings! Now, can someone please explain to me why it is called a ‘gallery’ and not a ‘museum’? It is most definitely the city’s art museum with permanent and rotating exhibits, not some gallery where you can buy works.  

Anyway, the classical facade of the Gallery was covered in a hand painted mural by Michael Lin, which I loved. I was really hoping that they would have some prints of his in the museum, ahem, gallery store, alas, they did not. They did, however, have a framed Dutch still life print in their clearance section (a remnant from a previous exhibit from the Rijks, which I wish I could have seen). I think it will end up in our bedroom, but as of yet it is sitting on our kitchen table amidst a pile of mail.

The only other real souvenir we bought on our trip was this adorable mercury glass owl from Parliament, a furniture store in Gastown (which, sadly, does not have a website).  This little guy is living in our dining room on the plate railing that lines two walls.

I, of course, took a ton of photos while we walked or (tandem) biked around the city. Maybe some of the photos will actually be printed and framed. Particularly ones of the jellyfish at the aquarium or the birds at the conservatory. But, where would the jellyfish go? Hmmm….This little guy is adorable and would work well in our bedroom or in my imaginary art wall installation. I wish I knew how to use Photoshop better so I could play around with a bunch of fun effects. Right now I just use Picasa which is super duper basic. I love swans. I think this was only the second time I had seen them in real life (the other time being in Rome at Villa Borghese). I don’t think I will probably do anything with the swan photos, but who knows…

Now here are some to definitely print and frame:Just kidding! How disgusting are those seagulls choking down starfish? Blech.

Here is the pretty boy we came home to. He was super cuddly when we returned (even more than usual). We saw two saints while in Vancouver. Bill and I both stopped and just watched them go by. While (in our humble opinion) they were no where as cute as Ralph, they were far better behaved (being that they were able to be walked in a dense urban setting and did not jump or bark at anybody. Amazing, I know).

Well, that is it for our trip. This weekend we are not up to anything terribly exciting. While I am doing house stuff, it is just the boring things like laundry (which I am good about regularly doing) and dishes (which I am horrible at regularly doing). We recently bought some power tools (a jigsaw and miter saw) so expect some fun projects in the near future. Right now we are just making a pair of saw horses to get used to the tools and gear up for repairing the back steps. But, oh, my idea list of things to make with those tools grows daily as I find new plans and projects out there in blogland.

Shop, Shop, Shopping

Well, we are back. You probably didn’t even know were gone. Anyway, we headed up North to Vancouver, BC for a mini vacation this week. It was also our 2 year wedding anniversary. I must say, it was very convenient getting married over spring break, because now we always have the option to get away together to celebrate our anniversary. But, I’m not really writing about our travels today. Maybe I will get to that tomorrow. Maybe not. After all, I do have a big list of things I need to accomplish before, *gasp*, returning to work and the kiddos bright and early Monday morning.

You might be amazed to know this (your amazement level will vary greatly depending on how well you know me), but I actually got stuff done today and did not procrastinate by putting (it all) off until tomorrow. I (are you ready for this?) put away my clothes! I know, I know, it is quite unbelievable. It had really been way, way, way too long. I am happy to now report that you can see the floor in my room. I am also working on laundry and have been good about putting dishes right into the dishwasher (as opposed to just piling them in the sink). We will see how long this streak of cleanliness lasts.

Anyway, as the blog titles indicated I also did a bit of online shopping as reward for my job well done. I got some cute new candle holders at Luna Bazaar. Ah, cute, cute, cute! I had seen the Capiz lotus blossom candle holders at some stores before, but could never bring myself to buy one due to their inflated cost. However, at Luna Bazaar they are quite a steal, so I didn’t feel quite so torn about parting with my money.

I also bought some art prints off of Etsy. I had been eyeing a couple of sellers’ work for quite some time; today was they day I finally decided exactly which prints I wanted. They were tough choices to make, I assure you. I bought a couple of cityscape prints from Artquirk. I also got some animal prints from Matou En Peluche.

I can’t wait for it all to get here. Of course, I really need to be on the look out for frames (and possibly some mats) to go with all my new prints.

Oh, and I almost forgot (probably because this purchase is not quite so thrilling as the others)… But, I also bought some metal sectional framing kits from Utrecht. They are to frame my 2 wonderful Beautiful Angle posters. I will still need to go to a local framing store to get glass and the backing material for the posters though. Soon, so very soon, I will have many beautiful pieces of art to hang. Yay!

However, I still need to figure out framing for our gargantuan Nolli map (remember this?). I think we will just have to end up biting the bullet and paying an astronomical amount to get it professionally mounted and framed. That is, unless any of you out there have any helpful suggestions… Hmmm?