Welcome to Wall-y World, Part 2!

Nope, I'm not talking about Wal-Mart.

Or Chevy Chase.

Last week, in Part 1 of Wall-y World, I showed you two spaces that I warmed up with just a few simple changes.

Today I'm showing you the second half of project, "warm up the walls!"

I always find it interesting how very dense I can be sometimes.

I'm sure this comes as no surprise to you!

I never really realized how bare these walls were on either side of the mirror, until I happened to snap this photo.

Wow! Cameras really play tricks on you, don't they?
This one makes my mirror look like it hasn't been cleaned for a long time.
 How crazy!

I was thinking about adding plates on either side...

But which kind?

I have a lot of blue and white in my house so that seemed like a natural choice but when I held this one up it was just too busy.

Then I found these beauties at, where else? TJ MAXX of course!

The large plates were $3.99 each and the smaller ones were $2.99.

I loved that while they were a neutral, the detail in them gave them much more interest and character.

So here is the wall again

Before

And here it is

After!

Oh man! My silly camera is still doing that crazy streaky thing with the mirror even in these After photos!

This angle is so much better.

 

I'm really loving how it all looks at night.

The plates help reflect the light which was an unexpected bonus!



Well, that completes our Wall-y World adventure!

Thanks for visiting and we hope to see you back here soon!

Vanessa

P.S. I promise you my blinds aren't as dirty as this they appear in the last photo. It must be that silly camera again!

Linking to
Feathered Nest Friday
Stuff and Nonsense

Metamorphosis Monday
Boring to Better
Whassup Wednesday

Welcome to Wall-y World! Part one...

They say one thing leads to another, and that has definitely been true over these past few days as I have, for whatever reason, been on a mission to warm up some walls in our home.

I'm pretty sure it has something to do with how inexpensive these projects are. And also that I am able to do them all by myself!

My first area to be attacked came about after I discovered 4 large matching frames that I had tucked away in a closet. I had originally purchased them with a different purpose in mind but they didn't quite fit the bill...and I never remembered to take them back...and I lost the receipt...and well, they ended up in a closet.

But, hey! That little mistake allowed me to do this first project entirely for free! Well, I guess not TECHNICALLY for free since I did have to purchase the frames in the first place!

But, doesn't it sound better to say that you did a project for free?

This is what greets you when you come up the stairs of our house and onto the landing.

It is on the way to the "kids corridor" where their bedrooms, bathroom and playroom all are.

It's not bad.

The pictures were hung up very quickly in a moment of,

"I want something on that wall and this will do for now."

Looking back the other way leads towards our Master Bedroom.

This next photo really helps you to see just how high that ceiling is and how much actual wall space is NOT being maximized.

Do you want to know what that paper says that is hanging on my son's door?
It reads, "Welcome to Legoland!"

And it is the truth!

 When I found those frames at the bottom of the closet, I knew exactly where I wanted them to go!



 I love how much more it fills in the space and really helps draw the eye up.

It is so dark and rainy here that it was very hard to capture the right lighting.

Plus, it's a hallway.

Nuff said!

Here is the view looking back towards the Master Bedroom again.

Having the half-round table there is perfect.

No sharp corners to run into!

You might think I am referring to my kiddos running into it, but actually there is another person, whom shall remain nameless but isn't me and isn't one of our children and lives in our house, who used to run into the table that was there previously.

Ahem.

I added this hurricane to the table and filled it with red faux rose petals for a little Valentine's Day touch.

Let's move on down the hallway a bit...

Straight ahead is the Playroom.

To the left is the kids bathroom and their bedrooms are on the right.

I'm all about keeping it real here folks so Clifford the big red dog made it into these photos.

I have been wanting to do something with this wall for a long time but wasn't quite sure what that would be.

I couldn't do anything that would easily be knocked off and it needed to be fairly simple so as not to make the space feel more crowded and narrow.

Going back through a copy of "Elegant Homes" magazine, I stumbled across this photo which gave me just the inspiration I was looking for!

I love that the frames are all the same size and style but the mats and the photos are varied. It keeps the lines clean and yet has a relaxed feeling to it too.

Drawing from this, I found inexpensive frames ($4 each) and came up with my own version.

I decided to mix it up a bit by adding the framed Initial Letters.

'H' for our last name, 'I' for Ian, and 'L' for Lauren.

Here is the view looking back down the hallway.

Not bad for a total cost of $36!

What do you think?

I'm loving it! And, of course, any opportunity to catch a glimpse of those precious faces as I'm walking by makes it that much better!

Hope your week is off to a great start!
Blessings to you,
Vanessa

Linking to
DIY Showoff
Stuff and Nonsense

Tuesday Treasures
Boring to Better
Whassup Wednesday



Ugghhhh...decorating a mantel is HARD!

Before I start into my Mantel Decorating woes, I want to answer another question posed to me in my 100th post.
Bonnie wanted to know what I did for an occupation prior to becoming a stay-at-home mom.
Well, I'll tell you Bonnie...

I wore high heels every day.
I didn't race out the door in sweats and Uggs.
I had something called, "Vacation Time".
And something else called, "Sick Days".
I wined and dined and spent money on clothes at Banana Republic like nobody's business.
I was known as Vanessa and not
"Ian or Lauren's Mom".
I used parts of my brain that I am pretty sure now lie dormant.

I was what you would call a "Corporate Recruiter".
I worked in Human Resources for a large international corporation and did all of their Hiring at their World Headquarters in Southern California .
It was a great job.
I enjoyed it.
And you know what?

I wouldn't trade my sweats wearing,
What's that crusty stuff on my shirt,
 Did someone just throw up into my hands,
How many times do I have to listen to "Old McDonald's Farm",
Never a Dull Moment,
Life Altering,
Faith affirming,
Dream fulfilling,
Most wonderful job title I could ever have
For anything in the world!

So, there you have it. My life before I became known as Mommy!

Now, onto the dreaded Mantel Dilemma!


Does anyone else face this problem?

You get all of the Christmas crud down and packed away and you are left with these big expanses of wood staring you in the face. 

Then I feel that momentary panic.

What went there before Christmas?
Did I even like it?
How do I do this?
And should I show this to everyone in blogland when they all do such a fabulous job on their own mantels?

I somehow managed to figure out what to do with my Living Room Mantel.

But this Family Room one was throwing me off!
I think it may have something to do with my desire for

Symmetry

and

Balance

and

Not Liking Change!

And it could also have something to do with the fact that surrounding the mantel are many other decorative items.

I always have that fear of "junkin' it up" too much.

But, I have to tell you.
You all have been so inspiring to me!
I'm trying to free myself from the Bondage of Boring, and try my hand at just HAVING FUN WITH IT!
Bring things in from other rooms.
Add some character.
And if it doesn't work, just try something else.
Whew!
That feels like such a relief!

So I started with this little urn which was a recent purchase.
And actually, it is the only thing on the mantel that is new.

Everything else I already owned.

This little ball boxwood fit perfectly on top.

I then added this rooster topiary for some height.

The antique books were brought in from another room and help to add that charm and character I was looking for.

The little blue and white plate sitting on top fits perfectly.

Come to think of it...is that actually a rooster?
Maybe a chicken?
In this picture it almost looks like a bunny.
Weird!

A bowl of lemons in the middle and a tall wrought-iron candleholder on the other end help complete the vignette.

It's not blowing my mind.

But I think I will let it stay...

For now!

And even though you are probably getting sick of seeing my kiddos, my parents love it so I'm going to show some more of them anyway.
I wanted to show you the newly updated framed photos that sit on the shelf just to the right of the fireplace.
This first one was on the front of our Christmas cards this year.

Ohhhhh...those faces!
Be still my heart.

Linking to

Metamorphosis Monday

Tabletop Tuesday

Sweet Little Lamp for a Sweet Little Girl!

First things first...you know how when you haven't been sleeping well and you are waiting for the caffeine to begin coarsing its way through your veins and it is very early in the morning when you are typing up a new blog post and you refer to a "Violet" as a "Pansy"? You don't? Well then, never mind!

For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, I am going to let you live in blissful ignorance of my mistake and for those of you who do know, please don't hold it against me. I really do know the difference between those two plants.

We all have our moments!

Now, as I mentioned in my last post, I am easing into the New Year with some smaller projects, the first of which is giving some love to a little lamp in my daughter's room.

Purchased at Wal-Mart for $10 it was just the right size but I thought it needed to just a bit sweeter for my sweet little girl.

I think having the shade hanging crookedly helps with the

 "Before-ness" of this picture don't you?

I didn't have any specific plan for the shade other than that I wanted to add some color to it. I found these darling little yellow rosebuds at the craft store.

 (Yes! I went into the Craft Store to buy something Crafty. It's a New Year's miracle!)

I decided to just hot glue them around the top and the bottom of the shade to sweeten it up.

Then, with the thrilling sensation of having the hot glue gun in my hand giving me some extra courage I did something I have NEVER done before...

I STENCILED SOMETHING!

Granted, just one little something, but still...

Aren't you proud of me?

One little 'L' for one little Miss Lauren.

I'm kind of liking how it looks at night with the 'L' having a subtle glow.

So, if you really think about it, this was actually a fairly Big project for me.
Hot Glue Gun and Stenciling all at the same time?
History in the Making here folks!

Oh, and just so you know, this post is #99 for me.

That means the big #100 is up next!
Stay tuned...

From this Southern Girl at Heart,
Vanessa

Linking to
Feathered Nest Friday
Tuesday Treasures
Tabletop Tuesday
Boring to Better
Whassup Wednesday

Defeatist

Do you ever have a Defeatist Mentality?

I was discussing this with a dear friend of mine the other day and we were commisserating over the fact that we often suffer from

"Why-bother-starting-when-we-will-just-get-interrupted-twenty-million-times-and-not-be-able-to-finish-itis."

I'm pretty sure this is a treatable condition but it would require locking the children in their rooms for extended periods of time and slipping PB&J sandwiches under their doors.

I have MANY, MANY, MANY home improvement projects I want to tackle this year. Some of these are big. Some are small. Most make me feel tired just thinking about them.
And, when you have little children in your home as so many of us do, you find yourself wondering how on earth you are going to put up Wainscoting when you can't even go to the bathroom without someone peeking their head in and asking, "Are you done yet Mommy? How about now? How about now? How about now? How about now"
....sigh...


Most of my wish list involves large chunks of time and the help of my husband.
Things like this....
Painting the mudroom and maybe slapping up some beadboard (right Becca?). Its my first ever real laundry room and it is time to help it live up to its full potential!

And this little area off of the kitchen? That door leads to these shelves and then around a corner that goes back under the stairs with lots of great storage. The problem is, the light has been broken in there since before we moved in. And I think that I could make this little nook into something extra special. Some paint and fabric on those shelves would feel like a sweet surprise every time I opened the door to go get a new roll of paper towels.

And there are several areas where I would love to add some kind of wainscoting or trim work.

The entry

 Downstairs bathroom

 And the dining room

 But I have a husband who is currently working full-time (often including evening dinners and driving up to 8 hours in a day), studying to get his MBA (which means he comes home, plays with the rascals, eats dinner and joins me in trying to convince the rascals to also eat dinner, plays with said rascals some more (which includes letting them pounce on him and ride on him like a rodeo horse), helps give baths to 2 squirmy naked rascals, tag teams with me to put those rascals to bed (usually including several trips back into oldest rascals room to threaten him within an inch of his life if he doesn't stay in bed and go to sleep), and then the love of my life goes into the office and studies or takes tests or writes papers for his MBA program until 11 P.M. (or later) and then stumbles to bed only to start it all over the next day!

Add that to all of our other activities and commitments and you can understand why I might hesitate to load one more thing onto his overflowing plate.

This leads me to realize that I am not going to be able to keep up with all of you fabulously inspired Bloggers who are heading full-steam ahead into the New Year with amazing projects and accomplishments.

So, I am going to humbly submit my small changes for your consideration. And hope that you will still come back even if it is only to make yourself feel better. You may even get a laugh out of it. It won't offend me if it is at my expense!

Until then, I am going to enjoy this lovely little violet which I planted in a gorgeous tureen gifted to me by my sisters mother-in-law many years ago.

 

She saw me admiring it on a visit to her home and as I left she graciously offered it to me. I believe she found it in Germany when her husband was stationed there in the Air Force.
Isn't it just so sweet?
Placed on the island in my kitchen, it greets me every morning and I have to tell you...
it gives me just as much pleasure as new wainscoting!


Have a fabulous week my friends and please stay tuned for some fun things happening here this week!


From this Southern Girl at Heart,
Vanessa

Linking to
The Nester

What Took Me So Long?

I'm seriously considering starting a new series entitled,

"What took me so long?"

Dedicated to all of those projects that I put off forever and ever and then when I finally get around to it, the simplicity of it and the speed at which it's accomplished leaves me wondering why I didn't do it a lot sooner!

This was definitely a "what took me so long" kind of project.

And it would have gone even faster if I had not been fighting a Migraine off and on for the last 4 days. 4 DAYS PEOPLE! And, I'm not talking the slight pain of a headache. I'm talking hurting so badly that you pull on your hair because it actually makes it feel better. The nausea, the inability to bend over or turn your head from side to side. Praying that you will throw up because it actually relieves some of the pressure! Anyone out there relate?

Nothing like starting out a blog post talking about puking!

Let's move on to decorating, shall we?

When I left you on Monday I was getting ready to show you some small changes I made to our Master Bathroom in order to cover up the shower that I would like to rip out sooner rather than later.

Here is what it looked like Before

There is something about putting a picture of your toilet on the Internet that just feels so wrong.

And no, that is not frosted glass on the shower doors.

And yes, there is a reason that the light isn't turned on.

One time my in-laws watched our kids for a couple of nights and they ended up staying in our house and I remember telling my hubby that there is nothing quite so humbling like the feeling of knowing that your Mother-in-law is going to be using your very grimy shower. I scoured and scoured it, but I think there are just some things that are beyond help!

So, let's do the next best thing!

Cover it up!

I took 2 inexpensive drapery panels ($9.99 each) with built in Grommets and strung them up on an oiled bronze colored shower rod.

The length of the panels allowed me to add height to the space and using drapes instead of a normal shower curtain gave it the fullness I was looking for. The soft gold color picks up the 2 tones in the striped wallpaper.

 And when I actually leave the door open, you can see the curtains in the same eye as my window treatments and the colors work together perfectly!



The second half of this "What took me so long?" project involved the towel bar and toilet paper holder in the same space.

We have wanted to replace them with oiled bronze to match the rest of the bathroom hardware but because one was attached to wallpaper and the other to tile, it was very difficult to find sets that matched up with the existing holes.



So, once again, I did the next best thing and just sprayed those suckers! Using a can of oiled bronze spray paint leftover from another project, I dramatically changed the look of this little space. Painting the round bars took a little more time and patience as I had to wait for one coat to dry before I turned it to the next side, but it was well worth it!

Looks like the real deal, doesn't it?

So, now I can check one more project off the list and feel like I am off to a good start in 2011!

What took me so long?

From this Southern Girl at Heart,

Vanessa

Linking to
Anything Goes

Boring to Better
Power of Paint Party
Fabric Fun Thursday
Whassup Wednesday
Feathered Nest Friday