Anyway, this print was one of my first decor purchases for the new apartment. We hadn’t even moved in yet. We both love that it’s kind of cheeky and retro… she has the most fantastic sneer. Fast-forward six weeks later and Wednesday night I made myself a drink, put on some episodes of “Felicity” and busted out my craft paint to make this Ikea mat navy blue instead of cream (that was just blending into the walls). I think the navy makes the picture pop a bit more, plus it ties into the living room (err, when I get those curtains done anyway). It took 5 or 6 thin coats of acrylic paint, maybe half of a small bottle? This is in our entry hallway.

This hallway is REALLY hard to photograph. No natural light except the kitchen window, which of course put a big glare in the middle of the picture. I have some plans for it though – a Turkish runner, maybe a new table (or finally FINALLY skirt this one), and I need to find a mirror for last-minute-out-the-door checks.

This post gets the “most parenthetical post ever” award.

I was excited to finish this little project last week because it was for a gift for my good friend Laura. We’ve been working for a while on her bonus room in her new house that has an office and tv space, and I wanted to prepare a housewarming gift that took some of the elements from the room. Because we planned to upholster an ottoman coffee table in a blue floral, I used this fabric (which also appears covering some bulletin boards) to cover a tray to use for corralling remotes, snacks, etc. I just used a remnant! And I loved how it turned out so much that I bought two more trays to make one for myself and another lucky friend (yet to be determined!).

I bought the tray at Michael’s Craft Store – they also have them at Joann’s – in the little raw wood craft project section. They have things like plaques, letters, boxes, and little paints you can use to decorate them with. Because the tray is unfinished (and very lightweight), it was $7. Yes, SEVEN dollars.

I used a fine grit sandpaper to smooth down any splinters before applying a dark wood stain (just followed the stain directions). Took about 20 minutes, then I let it dry for two days.

I toyed with the idea of photocopying the fabric and using a print-out, but I finally opted to try using the fabric directly, and I’m so glad I did. The color is wonderfully rich. I ironed the fabric and cut it to size (see my note below) and applied using Mod Podge with a small foam brush (also from the craft store).  I applied the glue to the underside of the fabric AND to the wood of the tray before placing them together and smoothing out any bubbles. I did this in about 3 inch strips along the shorter edge.

Here’s the thing (Laura, now you know…) it was REALLY hard to cut the fabric just right, and then to my chagrin, the glue did cause the fabric to shrink ever so slightly. Annoying. Next time I’ll try cutting it close to size, gluing it down, and then trimming to get tight into the corners and edges using a rotary cutter. Play around with it.

After the glue dried and the fabric is attached, I applied a thin layer of Mod Podge OVER the fabric to protect it. Do this very thinly, and be sure to smooth out any bubbles or thick areas of glue. The glue won’t show unless it’s too thick. Otherwise it will dry clear.

Here you can see where the fabric shrunk up, along the bottom edge… (Sorry Laura!)

It’s a really simple and easy project, and I felt so accomplished after finishing it. Picking a vibrant color really helped too. And staining the tray isn’t the only option. Spray painting it any color would also look great.

I can’t wait to tackle this again! It’s so affordable (especially because it just uses a scrap of fabric and a $7 tray!) and provides chic and pretty results. Can’t beat that!

You’ll need:

Glass fillable ornaments (the metal cap should be removeable)

Filler (anything that might fit through the top hole of the ornament). Moss, fake snow, little jingle bells, sticks, sequins, fabric…

Here are mine:

I used moss in this one for a natural look.

Scraps of gold tulle look sparkly on the tree.

Fake snow on the inside, sparkle-sticker (from the scrapbooking section) on the outside!

I filled the last one with feathers from the craft store.

In some cases, I used the eraser tip of a pencil to gently push the item into the ornament and position it a bit. I also had grand plan to etch our monograms onto two ornaments but we had a little snafu with my stencils (the curved glass posed a bit of a problem). Hoping to debut a different etching project in a few weeks!

What holiday crafts are on your list?

I’m loving these white sheers trimmed out in a dark shade (I think it’s navy). While these curtains are likely custom ordered, why not hack this idea for yourself? If you’re handy with a sewing machine, you’ll know what to do. Non-sewers could use wide ribbon or edges-tucked-under fabrics strips and iron-on tape (used for hemming) or fabric glue. Ikea sheers are cheap, ribbon can be found cheap. Eye-catching and interesting window treatments are just a hack away!

P.S. Love the pale blue paint on the ceilings to add height to the white walls too.

Photograph by Stacy Zarin, as seen on Desire to Inspire.

I knew you guys would want some instructions on how to make your own pretty bulletin board after I posted mine – it was SO easy and pretty inexpensive. And I love that it dresses up my wall while letting me swap out inspiration pictures, cards from Ryan, and other pretties.

Here’s how to get one all of your own:

Start with a plan old cork board with a frame. Mine was from Target in the back to school section and was $10.

Lay your bulletin board face down on your (ironed!) fabric. I chose a linen, and used just under a yard ($15, but you can find linen cheaper here). I wanted a neutral but textural look, but you could use a print or a colored solid. Beware of stripes, because you’ll work twice as hard making sure it stays straight as you staple in place. Your fabric should be about 2-3 inches larger than your board on each side.

You can iron your piece after you cut it, which is what happened right after this picture was taken! Then you’ll fold over one side and start stapling. You’ll notice that my staples are onto the back of the bulletin board itself – I would actually recommend stapling into the FRAME as it is likely a bit thicker. Some of my staples were trying to poke through the front when I was done. Pull the fabric taut and staple every few inches.

When you get to the corners, you’ll have a little extra fabric. It will probably look like this when you finish with your first two sides.

Take the extra fabric and tuck it under to form a point toward the center of the bulletin board, like this (then staple in place):

Once all four sides and corners are stapled, you can  flip your bulletin board over. It will look something like this:

Kind of boring, right? That’s why I added the nailhead trim. I picked up a pack of 100 brass nailheads at the fabric store in the upholstery section. It was like $4 or $5. They are basically just intense thumbtacks, but the head is curved more.  I spaced them about an inch apart. They pushed in pretty easily, but after my thumb got tired I did use a hammer to lightly tap them into place. Spacing them evenly is the hardest part, but I’m no perfectionist and didn’t let a couple crooked ones ruin my day. I followed the frame edge as my guide for how far in to place them (each tack went into cork, not the wooden frame). I’ve also seen people use a spray adhesive between the frame and fabric first to ensure a really tight, smooth fit, but I didn’t have any and I don’t think it’s really necessary.

Then just hang according to instructions, and decorate! I had some pretty postcards around, paint swatches from our apartment, a cute card Ryan got me for Valentine’s Day last year, a pretty bookmark, a calender, a vintage 45 (“Maggie Don’t Leave Me” by the Vikings), and my “Dream Bigger” necklace from Jess LC. I love my new “Live What You Love” print from Made by Girl. It’s a work in progress, but I love adding pretty pieces as I find them around the house.

This project took me a little more than an hour and was under $30 (could be significantly cheaper depending on your fabric choice and bulletin board size!). Do you think you’ll take it on? What inspirational items will you be putting up? And what do you think for fabric – a solid or a pattern?

I get my love of bouquets and flower arranging from my dad and his sisters – they all have a wonderful knack for it that I hope is hereditary!

I loved reading about the  new “loose” technique of arrangements – the author likened these modern displays as the perfect undone-bun with a few wispy strands of hair. Here are two of the arrangements made in the class featured in the article:

I love how textural these arrangements are. The article has some good tips on how they are layered, but doesn’t go into specific detail. Clearly from these two bouquets, color contrast plays a major role as well. It sounds like a lot of the magic comes from a great vessel and a wide variety of flowers, herbs, and leaves to choose from and be inspired by! I can’t wait to try something like this at home.

All the frames were purchased in black specifically to be grouped together.  And for the most part, I was liking it – but the corner felt dark and heavy in comparison to the light walls and floors – especially next to the two bookshelves that are on the adjacent wall. So the frames came down and the glass and art came out.

To paint the frames, I had to wait for a couple good-weather days in a row, since I knew that the black paint would take many coats of white to be fully covered. I used old cardboard as my “work area” – it’s been used before as my spray-paint station!

First up, a nice even coat of primer. Doesn’t have to hide all the black (and it won’t) but it needs to be evenly applied because that’s what the white paint will stick to. This way I didn’t have to do any sanding (and since I wasn’t sure how all the frames were constructed, I wouldn’t risk damaging them with sanding).

The primer was followed up with four coats of white spray paint, which I spaced out between two days. I used a satin finish because I couldn’t decide between glossy and flat! Note: if you don’t get spray-painter’s hand-cramp after this, you are super-human. Ow!

I hung the pieces back up in the same basic configuration – but once I had the old prints in the new white frames, some of the black and white (read: mostly black) photographs looked too dark for the frames. So they went to live in my “art that needs framing” file and the white frames got some more colorful pieces that I already had.

One frame just wasn’t up for the makeover (the little one in the corner with the lady holding her rosary. I thought it would look weird with a white frame) so that got set aside. To fill the blank space, I pulled out a little 8×10 canvas (got it a while ago at an arts supply store) and some acrylic paints. I’m no pro, but some swirled paints got me a little piece of custom art for next to nothing and filled out my gallery wall. No framing necessary!

This is project #2 for our dining room rehab! More to come.

Today we’re lucky enough to have Andie share her Queen Anne condo (hey neighbor!). Andie and I met because Ryan and I went to college with her boyfriend, Christian Powers of the local band Colonies. She’s lived her about three years and the whole place is so cute it was hard to narrow down the photos! I think you’ll love seeing her carefully curated home! I’ll let Andie show you around…

This is my work area. I live in a 1940s Condo on the South Slope of Queen Anne and a lot of the furniture in the space is bolted to the wall. Until I decide to sledgehammer it out, I’m stuck with pieces like this formica-topped desk. To jazz it up a bit, I used
blonde-wood contact paper to cover the surface. I saw the idea for hanging wall clipboards in the now defunct BluePrint Magazine, in a feature about Lotta Jansdotter’s studio. I have clipped things that inspire me, a tiny picture of Bonnie & Clyde, a letterpress alphabet, photos of my family & paint chips. I began collecting vintage French records last year, and this is one of my favorites, so I decided to hang the sleeve at my desk. The typewriter is a vintage 1960s Smith Corona cursive typewriter, coined the “love letter machine.” It is my favorite piece in my whole house, & comes to work at Assemble sometimes too. The large artwork above the desk is from Urban Outfitters, and caught my eye because it is quilted fabric with embroidered horses & power lines.

My kitchen table is pretty obviously an IKEA set, but I sanded & painted the chairs our signature Assemble red to brighten the space. In the background, you can see my chalkboard column, where each guest to my place has drawn & labeled a picture. I’ve
almost filled the whole column. The table runner is a napkin set from Anthropologie, which I stitched together. Then, everything rests on one of my family’s Turkish rugs. My dad has been in the Air Force for over 30 years, so we have lots of pieces from the
Middle East & other parts of Asia.

My bookshelf is from IKEA and is filled with color-organized books and games. I like color-coding because it makes everything feel deliberate. I’m a bit obsessed with vintage machinery, so I have lots of old telephones, sewing machines, fishing reels, typewriters, Polaroid cameras, and as you can see, an old Nintendo on display. Artwork is by Dan McCarthy, one of my favorite screen-printers and the glass head sculpture is from my favorite store, Black Ink in Boston.

I just actually tore up my carpet to reveal beautiful hardwood floors after deciding that I don’t care if my downstairs neighbor complains about noise anymore. Ironically, the area rug is from Fred Meyer, which is proof that furniture doesn’t have to be expensive as long as it is styled nicely. The coffee table I found on the side of the road, painted it & purchased replacement glass for it, the antlered candle piece is also from Fred Meyer, which I painted white. The artwork behind the brown couch is a piece by my late Grandmother, who was an abstractionist. This one is entitled, “Florida Gate.” The brown couch is Crate & Barrel and the coral love seat is a vintage find that was reupholstered. I spotted it while driving down Sunset Blvd in Hollywood and nearly caused an accident slamming on my breaks. Tree pillow by Bauden Foss. Oh, ps., that’s my Chihuahua, Grady. She’s awesome.

I’m afraid to start fires in the fireplace, so I just decided to clean it out and put white candles in there. It looks really beautiful when they are all lit up. Artwork on mantel is “Comfort & Ease” print by Lisa Congdon and the deer piece is by Elizabeth Soule. More machinery! This is a vintage fishing reel my dad gave me after I told him I love bakelite. (I meant jewelry, but it was so thoughtful that I love it). Eventually I would like to replace the tile with mini-mosaic tile, but the marble will have to do for now.

My father hunts and fishes, which upstarted my preference for eating wild game rather than mass-farmed, unhealthy livestock. We mostly eat either free-range organic beef or chicken or venison, rabbit or quail that my dad has hunted. We use & respect everything from the animal, and these are some mounted antlers from a deer that he hunted. Next door to the mount is a deer couple drawing by Ryan Berkley, some Audobon paintings ripped from a dollar-store book, and an original art piece embroidered by Cindy Steiler entitled “You Reap What You Sew.” Also, more vintage records and my xylophone, the prettiest sounding instrument in the world.

This area used to contain a hideous cherrywood, stain glassed cabinet. I went on a gutting tirade one day and ripped the cabinet doors off, installed glass shelves & painted the entire interior an icey green-white. All of my “cute” dishes go up here, including my teapot & cups from Anthropologie, deer salt & pepper shakers, wine goblets and lemon juicer. The owl artwork is also by Elizabeth Soule. This area also houses the bulk of my “A” collection and my tiny ceramic pony collection.

I painted my bedroom light yellow when I moved in because it was a terrible avocado green when I moved in. (Along with a bright pink bathroom, which is now light, light blue. The bed is ikea, as are the bedside tables (more woodgrain contact paper). The lamps & shades are Urban Outfitters, however, the shades were yellow, which I covered/shellacked with fabric from Purl Soho. The artwork on the walls from left clockwise, Keep Calm Gallery, girl with mustache by Ashley G & Drew, two blonde-girl paintings are by a friend, Frida Clements, the painting with the birds is a piece I did for an old art show, the small portrait print is by artist/friend Caris Reid, the little dog is a cover photo of the book “Dirty Wow Wow” which is the exact replica of my childhood best friend, who I named Snoopy, the portrait of my Great Grandfather is a piece I made for my dad out of paper, and the giant wooden “8” was an address number I took out of our dumpster when it was replaced with metal. The quilt on the bed was made by my mother, and is an abstract interpretation of my bookshelf. Pillows are from West Elm.

I also asked Andie if she could share a few photos of Assemble itself.

I had had the idea for Assemble since about 2003, but it didn’t come into fruition until I met Emily and we cultivated it with both of our relative experience with art and craft.  We are both very interested in design, creative events and modern art.

Thanks so much Andie for opening your home to us! Local readers, head up to Phinney Ridge to check out Assemble to do some shopping (the lovely Oliver’s Twist bar is nearby too!) or sign up for a workshop.

From design*sponge:

From Young House Love:

And my favorite oldies: From Modern Homebody / Kelly + Olive:

Mid-process

And Apartment #412:

Stenciling a pattern onto your walls can be a cheap alternative to wallpaper – and for those that rent, perhaps the only option if you’re looking for pattern and not just color. It’s best in small doses, like in these rooms where the pattern is in a small space or accent wall. Reason being: this is not an easy process! I get tired just reading about stenciling walls!

While I don’t know that we’d tackle this particular DIY (our walls are all weird textured anyway), I think it is so awesome that people are being so inventive and creative! The biggest change you can make in a room is with color, and this is a whole new take on using paint to achieve a major makeover.

What do you think? Would you take on a project like this? Modern Homebody posted pretty good instructions way-back-when if you’re convinced this is for you!

Here are some of the items that I love:

Customizable (the text) mug : $18

Whale plaque (this would so go in our living room): $18

Porcelain branch (gorgeous): $30

Any pieces you’re swooning over? And etsy sellers, send me your shop name, I’d love to see what my readers are making and selling!