Friday Fabulous - the Gallery Wall

the new gallery wall

I just LOVE Fridays!  I'm not really sure why they hold such a special place in my heart since I gave up my Monday-Friday job quite a while ago but they are still my favourite for sure.  I guess it's because it's the gateway to the weekend and the weekend is always so full of possibilities.  This Friday I thought I'd give you a peak at what I've been working on around here.  

A few months back we decided that we needed to finish painting out our living room since we had started it, well, two years ago.  Woa!  That's right, it had been THAT long!  Since we were painting I decided to take down my picture ledges so we could fill the holes and paint the wall then maybe put the ledges back up again.  Check out my post about the picture ledges here. 

the old gallery wall with our old green walls (though it's hard to tell that the wall colour is green)

Once I had the ledges and pictures down I realized that I hadn't love loved what they looked like when they were up.  I am really glad I gave it a try but I didn't like how cramped everything felt.  Also, Mr. D knocked one particular picture off the ledge a number of times (by accident of course) and I just didn't want to deal with something that could be a danger to those sitting on the couch.  So...I left the space blank for MONTHS.  Um, it's still blank but that'll be another story for another day.  I knew I wanted to put the pictures back up but didn't want to use the ledges.  I also moved everything over to an adjacent wall so that the picture frames wouldn't get knocked off the wall anymore.  

BEFORE ... ARGG so much clutter!!! 


The buffet has become a dumping ground and I thought you might like to see the clutter up close!  We are working on getting things more organized but we're not quite there yet.  Notice the blue painter' tape on the wall.  I was marking the middle of the buffet or as close as I could get with eye-balling it so I could center my gallery.  It was a great thought but didn't quite work out as I had planned but more on that in a later post.

 AFTER

I love LOVE how the gallery uses most of the space on the wall while drawing the eye upward making the ceilings feel just a little higher.  I also love that I was able to put some space between the frames which gives the eye a little time to "breathe" and to take each photo in before moving to the next one.  It's amazing how those little spaces help the room to feel orderly and calm which really helps to make our house into a peaceful home.  I'm still working on styling the buffet so I'll spare you the cluttered mess this time.  All in all, I'm super excited about having so many special photos up.  Oh and little C noticed them the other day and stood there for a while just taking it all in.  I totally love that he can look up and see his family (near and far) any time he wants.  That's the best!

I'll do a post later on how I put everything together but until then...have a happy Friday!

Baby Shower, Surprise Visitors & a New Addition

Well, it's been almost four months since my last post and you may be wondering where on earth I've been.  I didn't intend to take such a long break but things got busy and I quickly realized that my full attention needed to be on getting ready for our newest addition.  Since little E has arrived we have been learning to live life as a family of four.  That has had some challenges and I didn't know that I could be even more sleep deprived than I already was!  But, in spite of the challenges we persevered and have now started to come out of the sleep deprived fog.  Can I just say that it feels great to have a few hours of sleep at night uninterrupted?!

One of the highlights from before little E's arrival was the AMAZING baby shower my family threw for me.  It was PERFECT, beautiful and something I would have admired had I seen it in a magazine or on a blog.  They truly outdid themselves.  The most amazing part was that my two sisters were flown in to surprise me and to attend the shower.  WOW!  I could tell you that I was super excited but I'll be honest, I totally screamed when I saw them in my in-laws' livingroom.  It went WAY beyone super excited!  You see, I haven't seen my sisters in person since Christmas so it was beyond amazing to see them...in my in-laws' living room!  From "the surprise visit" and the shower until little E's birth it was a race to get loose ends tied up at work, boxes of baby clothes washed and our house tidied up.  We even hosted a super fun friend the week before little E's arrival which turned out to be so amazing because she was able to stay with little C while we were at the hospital.  Anyway...I could go on and on but instead I thought I'd share a few pictures of this ah-mazing shower and my special visitors.

all of my favourite treats

my sweet sisters-in-law & mother-in-law thought of every detail

the yummiest cake EVER

me - looking like I'm about to pop

My beautiful & amazing sisters.

Right now I'm working on putting up my gallery wall - again.  This time I left the picture ledges out and I'll explain why later.  I'm hoping to use them in the boys' room once I turn my attention back to that space.  Until then I'm working hard to use nap time to get my reworked gallery wall up.  I'm loving it SO much more but it's not quite done so you'll have to wait just a little longer for pictures.  I'm so excited about getting back to working on making our house more homey and organized in between baby snuggles and reading books to my sweet C of course. 

Living Room Progress Report

Well, here we are again.  So much has happened in the last week-and-a half that I don't know where to start.  Mr. D decided to take a week off work and start getting ready for our room switch-er-roo but little did I know that the week would end in us ripping, well Mr. D ripping off all of the old molding in the boys' new room.  Phew, it's been a whirlwind of painting, sanding, filling and moving junk stuff from one room to another. Not only that, but Mr. D felt so enthusiastic that he wanted to get our bedroom painted too!  WOW!  I'll post more about these transformations at a later time but let's just say they have been up to three years in the making.  THREE years people.  The hilarious thing is that Mr. D up and decided that he wanted to get it ALL done in one weekend...with a toddler running around... and a pregnant wife who can't really bend in the middle anymore.  Needless to say, we pressed on and it's almost done.  Almost!  I can't wait to show the boys' room but that will have to wait for another time.  We are still waiting on some trim work to be finished. 

OC-16 Cedar Key by Benjamin Moore 

Instead, let's turn our attention to the almost forgotten living room.  This living room update has been a long couple of months in developing.  Actually, it's been almost two years in the making.  You see, we painted one singular wall of the living space a wonderful and warm colour called Cedar Key by Benjamin Moore just over two years ago before little D was born.  It was delightful and made the room start to feel just a touch brighter.  


The other three walls were the old olive, no, pea soup green.  Now, I have nothing against pea soup green but this particular shade was making our house feel like a cave. We're talking DARK people!!!  I actually like the opposite of dark in my home.  I'm a bring on the bright sun, open the curtains and turn on the lights kind of gal.  So, fast forward to last weekend and you can understand my surprise when Mr. D suggested that we paint the living room ALL Cedar Key.  I did a little happy dance inside and ran for my paintbrush.  Well, its done and it looks wonderful.  It's bright, cheery and makes our chocolate sofas pop.  It makes things that much more exciting to update because the "envelope" of the room provides a great foundation.  The carpet is another story.  We won't go there.




The picture on the left is very similar to the two chocolate coloured sofas we have in our space...minus the very interesting throw pillows.




Part of the reason why things have been dragging a little is that I've been very indecisive picking fabrics for throw pillows and the ottoman.  I'm not really sure why choosing fabrics has been a sticking point for me because fabric is a realm that I'm really comfortable with.  I think it's because there are so many great fabrics and patterns out there now that its so difficult to narrow down the choices.  I think I've narrowed it down to the fabrics I really love...for now anyway.  Here's what I'm looking at.

1.  white curtains - Ikea
2.  zigzag pillow - source unknown
3.  wide stripe pillow - Potterybarn
4.  damask fabric - fabric.com


I'm still wavering about colour but I've always loved the crispness of light silvery blue with white.  I'm also really into wide stripes because I think they add an element of fun.  I'm not sure I'm going to find the exact fabric I want to I will probably have to piece things together to make the stripes I want.  I'm still debating the fabric choice for the ottoman because little D plays there ALL the time.  Right now, the pleather is extremely easy to clean so I need to keep that in mind.  There are so many more elements but I have to pace myself.  I get so tired these days so my new "mantra" is one thing at a time.  Right now I'm shifting my focus to getting the painting and finishing done.  After that, we're back in business in the living room and those pesky curtain rods will be the first to go up! 


Until then, happy painting or fabric picking or whatever projects you are working on.  Oh, and I'd love to hear about them so drop me a line and tell me ALL about them.


Ciao!

Dreaming of Befores, Afters and Dramatic Transformations

Aren't before and after pictures so great?  I always enjoy seeing a dramatic transformation and dreaming about how I could transform my own space.  I truly wish I had more before and after photos for you of my own updating because that would mean that I was actually taking my plan from my mind's eye into reality.  The thing is, I am working on it even if it doesn't look like it.  I'm still plugging away at the living room updating things as I can.  I'm not the kind of person who buys something just because it's cheap so it will take time for everything to come together.  Right now I'm saving my pennies to buy two curtain rods, one for the window and one for the french doors.  It's tempting to take the money I've already saved and spend it on a bunch of little decorative items or to buy cheap curtain rods that will bend and warp over time.  The thing is, I know I wouldn't be happy with that and ultimately, curtains are going to change the vibe of our space.  They will instantly make our living room feel warm, cozy and inviting.  That's definitely what I want and I have to keep reminding myself of that.  Stick.To.The.Plan.  It's going to be so worth it in the end.

I already have the curtains, which I picked up from Ikea months ago.  They are plain white and while that will give a very crisp feel I would like to add a little interest.  I'm toying with the idea of adding a wide band of patterned fabric either at the top or at the bottom of each curtain panel.  The curtains also come with hidden tabs which may look great but I'm also toying with the idea of using curtain clips.  As you can see, the plan is somewhat evolving and some of the particular details will come together as I go.  Here are some possible ideas.

From West Elm (an older style that I don't think is available any more)

sorry, source unknown


from Decor pad - so beautiful

I'm not sure if I'll go with all solid fabrics or try to bring in a fun pattern.  At this point, I'm leaning toward the patterned fabric but we'll see how I feel when it comes time to actually make it happen.  There you have it.  That's where I'm at in the living room saga.  I anticipate that I'll have the rest of the pennies needed to pick up those curtain rods very soon and then I really will have some before and after photos for you.  Until then, happy decorating.