A Few Changes in the Family Room

I wanted to share a few photos from some recent updates I've made to our family room. When Christopher and I are home together (which is a rare occasion outside of when we're sleeping), this is where we spend the majority of our time. This room has bothered me for awhile though; I was unhappy with the green color I picked (I'm clearly deficient when it comes to picking green paint colors), and the layout of the room was awkward. Part of the awkward layout is because we are working with the furniture we already have, and the other part of it is that I arranged the room poorly.

*Note to Christopher: the next time you accuse me of not owning up to mistakes I've made or faults I have, please refer to this post because I've listed two already, but I still refuse to admit that I am incapable of putting the cap on the toothpaste every single day. :)

Back to the updates- Here are the before photos:

... and here are the after photos:

*I should note that I was watching Law and Order: SVU. A group of construction workers had just discovered a skull in the dumpster. Scary stuff.

I changed the color to Ashen (516-4) by Pittsburg Paints; it's the same color we have in our dining room.

I moved our TV stand up against the window. Yes, our TV is Charlie Brown-esque. We are hopefully getting one for Christmas, though I can think of so many other things I'd rather spend money on.

I moved the club chair to the other end of the room; it's still at an awkward angle for watching tv, but we rarely have enough people watching TV in this room for it to be an issue.

The wall on the left still needs a big, fat painting.

Oh, and I'm still scouring the house for my next chalkboard paint victim; I'll keep you posted, but here's a couple photos for my "message of the week".

**One last thing: if you frequently stop by, and are semi-interested in the topics you're reading, please "follow" my blog (on the right hand side of the page). Thanks for stopping by!!!

XOXO,

Kelly

Fabienne Jouvin

I have always been intrigued by cloisonne; my grandmother has an entire room in her house devoted to her love of Asian decor, and she has many cloisonne pieces. A few months ago, while aimlessly surfing the web, I found a tea jar by Fabienne Jouvin, a french artist. Jouvin uses ancient Asian techniques to create beautiful metalwork pieces. What I love most about her pieces is the western spin she puts on a very eastern technique. If you'd like to learn more about the process of creating cloisonne pieces, you can visit Fabienne's blog. *FYI- her blog is primarily in French, but the photos are beautiful... :)

Image via Ebay

*Love the copper border without enamel...

*My personal favorite. Reminds me of a suzani print. I will own a tea jar one day.

*I know what you're wondering: "What on earth is she going to do with a tea jar". I'm going to turn it into a lamp, of course.

XOXO,

Kelly

A Little Hollywood Regency Never Hurt Anyone....

I LOVE faux bamboo furniture! I think it's so beautiful and classic, and I often search for pieces on Craigslist, Ebay, and Etsy. A lot of the faux bamboo pieces that I find are classified as "Hollywood Regency". This style of decor is all about glitz and glamor. It's defined by bright, lacquered pieces of furniture, lush fabrics (velvet and silk), crystal chandeliers, pagoda lanterns, and chinoiserie pieces. Hollywood Regency is focused on entertaining. This all sounds great to me!! I'd like to incorporate a few of these elements into our home over time.

Here's a few pieces on Ebay right now. I've also noticed that Florida is the mecca for faux bamboo furniture. All of the items that I want would have to ship from Ft. Myers and Clearwater, which would be costly, so if anyone wants to rent a U-Haul and head to Florida over Christmas, I'm game. ;)

A credenza for our bedroom would be great, but what I really want are matching night stands that I could paint...

Definitely a must-have. Begging to be spray painted.

I have an unhealthy obsession with Chippendale chairs.

Most of these items actually will ship via Greyhound or a moving company, but based on the research I've done to get night stands or a chair to Ohio would cost anywhere from $60 to $100, so it would have to be a REALLY good deal for me to bite the bullet on these.

Happy Ebay-ing!

XOXO,

Kelly

Gallery Hop: November 2010

The first Saturday of every month, the Short North Arts District has what's called a "Gallery Hop"; all the shops and art galleries stay open until midnight. It's a great way to promote all the local businesses and cram as many people into a tiny gallery as possible, and last night with the 30 degree weather, I felt especially "close" with all of my fellow gallery-hoppers.

If you've never been to a gallery hop, here are a few pictures to persuade you because I'm certain my rhetoric (if you can even call it that) was not sufficient enough:

From Loot:

Love the lamp; looks like bamboo!

Initially, I was trying to take a picture of the globe mobile, but that painting is actually really beautiful as well....

Patchwork kilim bench; I've gushed about this guy before....

Next Stop: Big Rock Little Rooster

Now I have no business being in a bridal shop anymore, but how could I resist when they have a tutu out front....

.. and chalkboard paint inside?!?!?

*(Hello Christopher; you look cute in your tweed hat) :)

Now to Collier West:

Feather collars? Yes, please. That is right up my over-the-top alley.

Seriously some of the best jewelry in Columbus....

Ladies and Gentlemen: the Harry Allen Golden Pig has made its way to Columbus. Ridiculously impractical and terribly charming: so of course I want one. The only problem: if that little piggy moves into 1551, this little piggy will be unceremoniously kicked out (that little piggy is $200). SO, after careful consideration, I've decided to find a toy animal (maybe a pig, or maybe a goat, or even an alligator) and spray paint it gold instead. Pretty resourceful, huh? I think so....

Here's one more picture of that beautiful pig that I found on Apartment Therapy:

Final Stop: Grandview Mercantile

I could spend hours here... Christopher prefers 10-15 minutes... ;)

Blue and White Japanese Umbrella Stand...

Funky lamps; I've got a few things I'd like to turn into lamps... I'm sensing another project in my future...

I love the chair (after it's recovered) and the sunburst clock; I'll take both, please.

Cattail balls- not for sale, but don't worry, you can find them at FOUND. I know because I went on a mad witch hunt for mine after seeing them here...

Faux Bamboo Desk. If only I could get my hands on this desk with a bright, lacquer paint I'd be in heaven.

Sunburst light, similar to the Moravian star light I want for our entry.

This last picture is for Christopher. I gave him very specific instructions: "tell me if you see anything fun to take pictures of for my blog". His suggestion: giant antlered animal. What is that thing even, an elk perhaps? Thanks Christopher. With your help my blog is going to be a big hit.

*I would like to add that one shop where I regret not taking photos is Rose Bredl. It's without question my favorite flower and garden shop in Columbus, and instead of taking photos I chatted with shop girls Mary and Ruth. I'm going to do an entire post of Rose Bredl soon, but in the meantime, here's a photo that I hacked from their facebook page:

Happy Daylight Savings!?

XOXO,

Kelly

Painted Door

Okay folks, here's another "Survive-Christopher's-First-Year-of-Law-School-Project". This one's super-fun, and because it's getting cold, rather than having a glass of wine, I made my favorite hot chocolate while I worked:

Seeing this picture makes me want another cup....

.. but onto the project instead:

Background:

About two years ago Christopher's parent's dogs (Sammie and Bella) were in town visiting along with his parents. The four of us humans decided to go out to dinner, leaving Sammie and Bella alone at our house. Naturally they flipped out, scratching and clawing the door that leads to the garage, in an unsuccessful escape attempt. I can't blame them, really; it seems like perfectly natural behavior, and I'm considering doing the same thing the next time Christopher leaves me home alone. I'll let you know how it goes.

Here's the "before" photo. Just to be clear, the door would be ugly whether or not it had been attacked by two malteses.

Close-up of the damages:

Of course I would love to just replace the door. The rest of the doors in our house are six panel, so this one just doesn't fit, but doors can be crazy-expensive. This one is also hardwood, so I don't like the idea of replacing it with a cheap one. I'd been toying with the idea of painting it a glossy color, but it has so many scratches and dents in it, glossy paint would have been a poor choice.

Enter inspiration. Last spring I saw these images from the Anthropologie catalog:

Prior to seeing these images I mainly thought of chalkboard paint as being solely for kids. I was wrong. I LOVE the slate-like finish of chalkboard paint, and the art-nerd inside of me loves the idea of drawing on the door. Tomorrow I'm off to buy chalk!

Here are some semi-after photos; I say "semi" because I was too excited to wait until the door was fully dry to take photos. I'm going to add another coat in the morning.

For Sammie and Bella's next visit I'm going to encourage them to release their anxiety and express themselves through the art of chalking. :)

Have a great weekend!!!

XOXO,

Kelly

Why I'm a Nerd.. Reason #678.2

When I was growing up, I had the most amazing rock collection- EVER. My parents were always buying me books about rocks and gemstones, and I even grew my own geodes once. *For those of you who wonder why I was picked on as a kid, stop wondering. :)

One thing I've come to realize in my "first adult home" is that it's important to decorate and furnish it with things you love and mean something to you. With that being said, I've realized that I've slowly started assembling an "adult rock collection".

Amethyst tea light candle holder

Geode Bookends (*More on this little guy below)

Here are a few pretties that I would love to have as part of my adult rock collection someday:

*Image via Metropolitan Home

Large Amethyst Geode: No Joke, I saw one this large at HomeGoods for $200, and I passed it up because I knew Christopher would kick me out and change the locks if I had brought it home... sigh....

*Image via Martha Stewart Living

Kevin Sharkey's closet: with a huge piece of pyrite on a lucite base. Maybe if I glue together all the pieces of pyrite from my childhood rock collection it would be about that size.... :)

Rock Crystal lamps: I'll just take out a second mortgage on the house for a pair of these- although I would undoubtedly be once again locked out of my own house. Slightly louder sigh....

Until I can add to my rock collection, I decided to improve my current pieces a little bit with some inspiration from Matters of Style blog. This project was easy-peasy! All I did was paint the rough surface of the geode with gold leaf paint, which I absolutely love by the way! Big thanks to MoS blog for this fun and simple idea!!

Backside of Geode (if the picture wasn't in the way, you'd see a few of my gemstone books)!

XOXO,

Kelly

On My Mind....

I had a little time before my Corel class started tonight, so I decided to doodle a few images:

A wingback chair...

...and a pagoda lantern.

These images are fitting because I believe I've found a suitable pair of wingbacks ($50 for both!!) on Craigslist that I can have recovered:

I also received a gift card through work and plan to spend part of the money on a new entryway light. *Ours hangs too low.

I hope you enjoyed my doodlings; you know what they say: art imitates life. Hopefully the wingbacks and light will soon have a new home at 1551!!!

XOXO,

Kelly