To have and to hold...our TV {Armoire}

My aunt gave me this armoire a month or so back, it was just taking up space in her basement. It is Asian inspired and pretty sturdy. I fell in love with the contrast of the organic hardware on such a big square piece of furniture. It was a rich burnt orange which would definitely not work in my space, so I painted it  a cool gray. This my friends was not fun! The hardware does not come off and so I had to use an artist's brush around the circles and florets. I still have some cleaning up of where my hand was not so steady.

open with t.v.
{note vintage Moroccan pouf I snagged at estate sale!}

with the floret twisted you can see the ORANGE!

Closed. I like the softness of what is a traditionally bold colored piece.

Soon, I will be moving the living room into the "front room" and the dining room back here off the kitchen. I will have to share a floor plan. Like our last house downtown, which was built in 1890s, the rooms were not designed for the same modern day purposes and sometimes you have to compromise natural flow for practicality.

Enjoy your day!!!

xxSarah

Keeping life in balance. {framed memories}

I have been holding on to six really special prints done by two awesome photographers I have the pleasure of knowing. I chose two of my favorite engagement photos, two of my favorite wedding photos, and two of my favorite infant photos of Stella and ordered them as 8x8 inch prints mounted on matte board.

I have been brainstorming the perfect way to frame and hang these for some time. Thinking of not only my decor but the best way to compliment or contrast the black and white images. I started out planning for black gallery frames with large white mattes, having about 4-6 inches of negative space to either side of the image....then I began lightening up my space with neutral tones and slowly moved the black frame and accessories out of the room where I planned to hang these. So I pondered off-white gallery frames but then wasn't sure of the white mattes....

So like everything else, to the back burner {aka the closet where all small projects go to die} they went. Finally for mother's day I decided I wanted frames, I was sick of not having these memories up in my home. My parents have some rough cut timber for various projects and they agreed that I could have a few pieces. So I drew up a plan and on mother's day weekend my dad, hubs, g'pa and I began to construct the frames.

this plan changed a bit when we brainstormed how to keep everything in place.

Everything went smoothly with our assembly line of worker bees {other than a nail from dad's pneumatic gun literally grazing my indian-style bent knee. Believe me he will hear about that for as long as I remember it}. And then the assembled frames set in the garage for another week or so until Mom and I got a chance to do a white wash on them with diluted deck stain.

I ordered glass from a local glass specialty store, much cheaper than Michael's or Hobby Lobby (who don't allow coupons on custom framing/glass cutting) and Dad cut some pieces of wood to use with a screw for keeping everything in place. So I layered the glass, the matte board mounted print, and some cardboard, which all fit perfectly in the routed inset under the pivoting shims.

Then I took some screws {green cement board screws that I had on hand...hey, they worked great. don't judge me} and picture hanging wire and prepared these pretties for hanging!

Off to the wall! I can assure you nothing about a 80 year old house is square, also nothing about rough cut frames make them of equal length, and lastly when using wire, no matter how well you measure for your screws/hooks your wire will not have the same tension on each frame...so I was dealing with a lot of "ish." I hung a craft paper cut out of a frame around the height that I wanted. Calculated the spaces, then measured 9ish inches here and 2ish inches there and finally I was able to hammer in the hooks and slap some of these guys up on the wall.

The blue piece of tape down below is the height of the buffet that will make its way in the room.

Then the craft paper came down, the last frame went up, and I had the most childish grin on my happy face!

Melissa Pardi Photography

Ashley Warren Studios

Ashley Warren Studios

The contrast of such beautiful fine art images with the imperfect, rough around the edges frames is quite comparative to life. And in my quest to make my house a home, I want to make sure there is this kind of balance. 

xxSarah

Big Ol' Stinking Blog Post! {lamps & mirrors & chairs, oh my!}-

Good thing I don't do this for a living or I'd be eating....well, probably not much better than I do now :)

I have been gone for a while...again. So wanted to share a few things in one large post just in case I decide to disappear for another week or two. :D

I found this freaking awesome lamp at a local thrift for less than $2! It was bulbous and had texture but was a terracotta color so I primed and painted it a glossy white. Then I have been searching online for the perfect shade. Was thinking drum shape, maybe some anthro inspired floral needlework? However, yesterday, mini decorator Stella decided it would look much better if it were on the floor...in pieces. Sorry for the dumpy garbage pic {hubs apparently has been searching for a new favorite energy drink}

RIP Lamp

Lamp shade inspirations...

I do have two ceramic vases I found at an auction for like $4 for the pair...I may attempt to take a lamp kit to them. Any advice on 16 month olds and keeping lamps in the house???

that would be the contents of my wallet. and shoes. and the remote. and clothes. she'd been awake for 30mins.

Now for some not so depressing projects.

Ok, so I really promised myself never to share photos of my tiny messy closet-with-a-bed master bedroom {chuckling to myself at actually calling it a master bedroom} Our home was built in the 30s...so aside from it being extremely inefficient when it comes to heating and cooling, the rooms and bathroom are teeny {yes I said bathroom. there is one in the downstairs loft/manroom but singular in our living space}. Well we still managed to cram the 60s-70s, solid, heavy as a horse, king suite that I got from my grandparent's lake house. I loved the caneback headboard and carving in the dresser and nightstand but hated the speckled brown finish. So when I got it home, I painted the headboard dresser and side table an antique white and ran out before getting to the mirrors. Almost 2 years later, (act as if you can't believe that!) I finally pulled out the mirrors and decided a paris gray with some subtle glaze would maybe be a nice contrast.

I approve.

I think I mentioned once, twice, three times, how I am so stupid for attempting to reupholster two matching chairs...well, feelings haven't changed. I do like how chair one turned out. I do love my Land's End Chevron Ikat pillow that I snagged during friends and fam event! Woohoo!

and with her twin who is still looking rough.

Well that felt lovely. Glad to be blogging again. 

Here is a sneak at a blog to come later this week...

fabulocity times 6!

Enjoy your day!

xxSarah