the wrap around gallery wall.

of course the minute we decided to bite the bullet and spend the time to hang a gallery wall in our old home - the place sold. it was for only a few months that we got to enjoy the look, so we decided to do it again in our new house... but with a twist. we decided to wrap the gallery onto two walls and give it a continuous look by taking the frames all the way into the corner.

we laid it all out, got ready to hang and then i got really nervous. is this going to look terrible? i majorly hesitated, but danny pushed me along and i'm so glad he did. i love the way it turned out. it's so many of our favorite pieces and prints each with their own meaning special to us, and has already proved to be a fun conversation starter with guests.

the sitting room. danny's favorite room in our home. 

i need some more art for a few of the frames. going to dig through our archived photos.

view out to the front porch from the couch.

view from the front porch in (+ a frenchie tush)

family heirloom loot.

each time i go home, i come back with a few new things. this time i was on a mission for afghans. my grandma eileen and mom used to crochet all the time and i was anxious to get my hands on a few of their blankets. i use a blanket every night on the couch - even in the middle of the summer. i'm just more comfortable like that.

while we were in oregon, my mom pulled out a dozen or so handmade afghans and quilts and told me the background on each one - who crocheted it. when it was crocheted. the story behind the colors and patterns. danny limited me to two (and that's all we really could stuff in our carry-on luggage), so we came home with these.

{both crocheted by my grandma eileen. we totally love them.}

plus i may have snagged another milkglass vase...

...and this awesome crocheted lace / oversized doily for the sitting room couch :) 

thanks, mom!

little things i'm loving in our new home.

moving is an adjustment and sometimes both d and i feel like we're losing our minds. currently the #1 phrase in our house is, "hey babe - do you know where <blank> is?"and it's not me asking the question #drivingmecrazy!

we don't have a spot for our keys. boxes are still unpacked. the cable isn't working. we have the world's smallest toilet and a tiny refrigerator. no idea what switch controls what light. i drove right past our house the other night. yup, our routines have been rocked. but it's all totally worth it and we're loving our little home. some of my favorite things.

the original glass door knobs throughout the house.

windows. windows & more windows allowing huntie to be part of the willo block watch.

our dining room nook with three perfect windows.

our bedroom. i'm kind of obsessed with it. it's so cozy and relaxing.

awesome interior light fixtures. 

high ceilings, curved hallways & original chandeliers in multiple rooms. 

original hardwood floors and a sunken family room. 

our lush backyard and paver patio ready for some strung lights and a BBQ.
and so much more...

i'm excited to get even more settled in this weekend, start decorating and have some friends over.

diy bedroom makeover.

it was one of those rare - but awesome - weekends when we didn't have anything on the calendar. not a single obligation. we woke up on saturday morning and brainstormed things to do and landed on an overdue diy project to spruce up our bedroom.

we've loathed our bedroom set for years. first of all, it's a set. it was danny's from back in the day and just didn't suit us at all. i changed the bedside hardware to try to help it, but that bed. ugh. it was time for something new. a neutral fabric headboard + new crisp white sheets. all light, bright and hotel like.

ting did some online research (he liked this tutorial the best), made a list of supplies and we were off to the races. in just 3+ hours we tackled this project and i'm in love with our new bed. it's a world of difference and we're obsessed.

breakdown of our costs:

$19 -- plywood cut to size (74" x 46") at Home Depot 

$46 -- 2" foam at Hobby Lobby (we found a 40% off coupon online)

$23 -- 2.5 yards of upholstery fabric + batting 

$.60 -- 20 buttons for covering in fabric
$.99 -- two decorative needles + thread

-----------

= $89.59 for a Cal King tufted fabric headboard
a little less expensive than some of the ones we looked at like this and these and these.
plus, we had leftover foam which we cut up to add some fresh fluff to huntie's bed.  

this was honestly a pretty simple DIY project that didn't require crazy tools - just some spray adhesive, a bit drill (to make the holes for the tufting), a staple gun, needle and thread. 

{ting created a grid on the plywood to mark where our tufts would go and then drilled holes}

{spray adhesive the foam to the plywood and then batting on top to secure everything}

{ironing all the wrinkles out of our fabric}

{making fabric covered buttons. there's a much easier way to do this, but we couldn't find the kit anywhere}

{fabric on and ready for tufting!}

{danny would poke the needle through the holes marked in the back. i'd feed the button and send it back through}

{the finished product!}

{loving my new headboard and crisp white sheets. i feel like a queen in our new bed!}

rainy day home project :: gallery wall.

we took advantage of a rare rainy day over the weekend and tackled a home project. we didn't have plans to do this, but after a cup of coffee and some chatting about how much we hated the wall, one thing led to another and before we knew it we were in the midst of a home project.

the wall in our sitting room was tragic. it stood as a classic example of moving into a home and just filling the walls to fill them - not waiting until there was something we really liked. for so long we've loathed the wall, the enormous mirror and stale catalogue sconces. it didn't feel like us at all. i've loved the idea of a gallery wall for some time (remember this post?), but never really took the time to assess our frames/artwork collection and see what we had - until sunday.

i went around the house, into closets, storage areas, the bedrooms and grabbed all the big frames i liked and started to arrange them on the hardwood. when we realized we had enough to work with, the fun really began.

thank goodness for perfectionist ting. there'd be 700 holes in our wall if i tried to do this - not him, one for every single frame. oh, and of course i didn't think through the fact that we'd have to remove all the existing nails/screws, spackle plus re-paint before we could start to hang. doh! luckily he handled this. 

it took half the day, but we're so happy with how it turned out. now we just need to print some photos and find some other prints we love.

{we're so glad to see the frame go. you'll enjoy your new home on craigslist.}

{it's 11-feet wide by 4-feet high}

{you probably recognized the Instagram print from this post}

{see that sevilla feria 1946 print? i toted that thing across western europe and have had it rolled up in the closet since i lived in sevilla, spain in 2004. it's a wrinkled mess, but i love that it's finally up on the wall}

{how great is this watercolor painting of miss sydney? my parents enlisted a local artist to make this for us using one of our favorite photos of her.}

{it's nightime, but we're done! now it's time to get some prints and photos for the frames}

a 2012 resolution.

host more dinner parties, cocktail parties, backyard bbqs... just host more at home.

use our collection of mix-matched stemware... {thanks, mom!} 

mix & serve-up fun seasonal cocktail recipes...

{via}

step the table with my pretty runners & napkin rings... 

make appetizers appear fancy in mom's old crystal bowls...

play our slew of boardgames... 

who wants to come over? 

thirfted bedside.

i came across this adorable bedside table during a recent thrift store outing. for $40 i decided that it was a perfect piece to replace the existing nightstand in our guest room. i'm now on the hunt to replace that room's bed frame.