Gallery Walls

I LOVE gallery walls; they're a great way to be creative and make your home unique by grouping together images and items that have meaning to you (or things that you just think are pretty). Here are a few swoon-worthy gallery walls:

via Elle Decor

David Jimenez

via Lonny

via Domino

After our wedding, I created a gallery wall of our own with all of our wedding photos:

I loved it at the time, but there comes a point where it's weird to have an entire wall dedicated to your wedding. A few weeks ago, I reached that point.

SO, after painting the entry and living room, I decided to update the gallery wall as well. The librarians and book conservationists are going to hate me for this one. To save money, rather than trying to find small prints, I purchased this book at Half Priced Books for $4.98, and I tore it to pieces:

I'm pretty proud of the results, considering I didn't plan ahead or draw the layout beforehand. In the future I might add more photos and objects, but for now I'm happy with it.

**For anyone who's concerned about the fact that I destroyed a book, I did read it as I was tearing it apart. It's quite interesting if art history is your thing, and I even saved it just in case I need more artwork in the future!

XOXO,

Kelly

Guest Bedroom Transformation

Here's another update for you. Like Picasso, I am in the midst of a "gray" period (his was blue, but I've never been a fan of that color). The location of this update is one of our three guest bedrooms. It's the largest of the three, and we've left it white for now because someday it will most likely be a nursery, but in the meantime I wanted it to still look inviting. However, it's hard for a room to feel "inviting" when you open the door and see this:

It's a built-in shelf that I used to store old towels in. Ugly, ugly. It has the same wood paneling that used to be in our office as well. Last Saturday I was walking around the house looking for something else to cover in chalkboard paint, and I decided it was time to do something about this sad, little shelf instead. I took out all of the shelves, lightly sanded, and primed them. Instead of chalkboard paint, though, I decided on some leftover paint from our dining room.

Here it is now:

It's not perfect or anything, but I don't roll my eyes in disgust now every time I open the door.

I'm still playing around with what I want to keep in these shelves now that they look halfway decent:

I tried putting an old painting in the shelf to add some color. I have mixed feelings about it, so I took it out. What are your thoughts??

Here's the shelf as it is right now. I need a photo for the frame. :)

And in case you're wondering what the rest of the room is like:

My dad hung this light for me over the weekend!! I'm so happy to have a light in here! It's an old, brass light I bought off Craigslist, and just spray painted white.

Before:

What's that in the corner? Could it be??? Another one of Dad's waiting room chairs?

Why, yes, it is!

I would like to find a white gourd lamp from HomeGoods to put on my Craigslist steamer trunk (which is now functioning as a nightstand). I'd also like to get two sunburst mirrors to hang above each bed (also probably from HomeGoods). Something like these, I'm thinking:

Lastly, I'd like to get these quilts (in sandalwood) from Pottery Barn to replace the comforters. I won't get them until they go on sale or I find them at the outlet.

That's all for now. I started making a Christmas wreath tonight. I'll post finished pictures later this week, but here it is so far:

*One more thing, if you like what you're reading, I'd love for you to follow my blog!!! Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO,

Kelly

Channeling Franz Kline...

I mentioned here that I have a big, fat wall that's begging for art. I've also explained numerous times that our money tree is a little.... crispy right now. When I saw these images from Kevin Sharkey's apartment in the September issue of Martha Stewart Living my wheels started turning.

These paintings are inspired by the work of Franz Kline, an American Abstract Expressionist. When most people hear "Abstract Expressionism", they immediately think "Jackson Pollock". I do too, to some extent, but I've always loved Kline's paintings. Here are a few of them:

Franz Kline, Orange Outline, 1955

Franz Kline, Painting Number 2, 1954

Franz Kline, Suspended, 1953

I'm not naive (or dumb enough) to think that I can just go buy a canvas and some paint and become a Kline-clone, but my wall has been naked for too long, and if I wait until I can afford even a "Franz-inspired" painting, I'll be waiting for a LONG time, so I'm going to give this a try. I'll keep you posted, even if it ends in complete disaster. :)

XOXO,

Kelly

Big Savings at Ballard Designs!!

Two weekends ago I was down in Cincinnati for my cousin's wedding. I posted earlier about my discovery of a Ballard Designs outlet in Ohio. Because the hotel where I stayed was literally 1.8 miles from the outlet I of course had no choice but to go.... and all I can say is thank GOD I did!! Apparently two to three times a year they offer an additional 50% off every item in the store. As fate would have it, I was there on one of those very special days!!!!

Although I wanted many, many things, I stayed true to my law school budget (which I despise) and left spending under $400 ($395 to be exact).

Here's my loot:

The Louisa Bergere Chair and Ottoman: Full price I would have paid $958, but with all the discounts I paid around $320.

I also purchased the Macau Arm Chair in White: Full price I would have paid $249, but I only paid $65.

I wish I'd had a U-Haul and an endless supply of funds, but it's probably better that I didn't because I was so blinded by a great price that I most likely would have come home with things that I didn't love.

I'll post pictures of where these pretties end up soon!

XOXO,

Kelly