Powder Room Makeover

While everyone else has probably watched the festivities today, TV-less me has not. I could have watched online, I could have gone to Mitch's Chicago Style Grill as they always have their TVs on. But I did not.


Instead I went to TJ Maxx and Target to help stimulate the economy. And this is why...


This is the only before photo I could find of our powder room. It is from the home inspection. Not much has (had) changed. Slightly different wall art, slightly different wreath. Walls a little dirtier from little hands.

And then I saw a bit of inspiration from a photo online from a bathroom in a magazine. One of those "Living" magazines. Maybe Coastal Living? Maybe not.

I definitely wanted to do a brown color on the walls. When I had a color specialist out, she helped to narrow it down. I (again definitely) wanted new lights. Notice the lovely builder's special light strip. You can barely see it in the photo, but I'm guessing there is enough there to know what I'm talking about. I also wanted a new mirror and a new towel holder. I don't have a photo showing it, but the previous owners put up robe hooks. It never worked for OUR towels as they'd slip off. Maybe they had towels with a loop on them? I wanted to keep the artwork I had in there but make it the main piece. And then later I was inspired by Thrifty Decor Chick to purchase this shelf at Hobby Lobby. I had kind of wanted a little shelf above the commode anyway. Not sure if all the items up there will stay. The candle thing in the middle will probably be replaced.

The color in the room is called Firewood by Benjamin Moore (1027). The mirror was on clearance on Marshall's Homegood for $20! I got that right around the time I was doing some Christmas shopping. Again the shelf is from Hobby Lobby on sale for about $15. The artwork is "Hello May" from Ashley G. I consider that my "modern" piece in this more traditional room.

So what I purchased today was the towel holder and a set of two hand towels. The holder came from TJ Max Homegoods for $9.99 and the Waverly towels were on Clearance at Target for $5.59. I ordered the light fixture from lamps plus on sale.

The only thing left is to find a waste can. We also hate our toilet paper holder. I guess you can't see it in the after pictures, but it is the same as in the before. Oh, and we are thinking about replacing the lovely faucet someday too. And when I get back to "normal" I plan to make a reversible tissue box cover too.

I hope you enjoyed this Makeover. I may not be the best designer in the world, but I like this a lot better now!

Special Deliveries...

Our friends went camping in Door County of the weekend and, per our request, brought back a bowl from our favorite Door County potter Renee of Off the Wheel Pottery for us. Gail brought it over today when she dropped her son James off for me to babysit. We purchased a beautiful utensil holder from her last year. Not only talented, she's a real sweet woman too. She does a lot of these etchings (graffitto technique) in her folk style art.

Second delivery was from UPS and much awaited by both Jason and me. It is the photo book we made through "Blurb". (no I didn't just burp, that is the name of the company) This is the company that you will reach if you try to make a photo book through FLICKR. We were a bit underwhelmed by the photo book we made and purchased last year from WinkFlash, so we decided to try a new company. I almost went with Shutterfly. Not sure why I didn't, but as it turns out, I really like the result and I believe the cost was at least half as much. Here are some examples of the final product: (be sure to click on the pics to see the detail in the larger photos)

Front of book

First page

Notice how we incorporated some of Ella's drawings into the book. We just scanned them and added them in as if they were photos!

Back of book

It is just amazing that they can put photos of your choosing (YOUR photos) on the front and back covers of a hardbound book. Other book options are paperback with photos on the cover, and hardbound with a plain cover and photos on your dust cover. There are other sizes you can order as well. They have an AMAZING free software package that helps you put your book together with many layouts and background choices and text placement. Photos can easily and conveniently be uploaded from FLICKR or other photo hosting sites. Or you can upload right from your computer. I liked getting them right from FLICKR because they were all organized into our "Best Of" instead of having to go back and pick from ALL of them. And if you want, you can list your book for sale and make some money if anyone buys a copy. Great for photographers or writers... I highly recommend Blurb if you are looking to make a photo book. And I highly recommend making a photo book. It can be time consuming, but it is really worth it in the end.

FRAMED!

My print, that is...



Finally my first (first purchased) print from AshleyG is framed. I think I saved my favorite for last because I wanted to wait for a custom framing sale so I could go "all out." As usual, the result is always shocking to me and not what I expected. I'm not sure why, I picked everything out. I think it has to sit and grow on me. I also think it won't work in this room. I'm hoping it will look more at home in our powder room once we've painted the walls brown.

Here's another print of hers I had framed earlier. Well, they just did the mattes and I used a pre-made frame. And by the way, that one finally grew on me.



I have another of hers, but don't think I've taken a photo of that. I really "cheated" on that one. It fit into an 8x10 opening so I used a ready made frame with a 8x10 matte opening. It is in my son's room and not in such a good location. It also has a dark matte and his walls are too close in color to the matte and frame. Bummer. Here is a pic of that print from her store...

Mattes for Artwork In

I purchased a couple of prints from Etsy this year that really needed custom mattes, due to the size of the pictures. I ordered some from JoAnns and just picked them up today. I feel like I am so bad at picking out colors that will compliment or bring out artwork.



I'm afraid the dark tan here draws attention from the art. I had just learned that a dark border will draw you in. Or is it the frame that doesn't work? Or both? (Artwork: "Rose" by Askey).



Here I'm afraid I've somehow made the light colors in the art look even more faded. And the frame, is it too much of a contrast taking attention away from the art? Overall this piece looks so much smaller than it did in the frame with the slightly too long matte. I do like the style of the frame. I think it is a carefree piece that needs a non-sophisticated, even fun frame. (Artwork: "Growing, Growing" by Ashley G.).

Have I really ruined this art with my lack of intuition or knowledge in this area? What would you have done?

Or perhaps I'm being too hard on myself and I just need to let these choices grow on me.

To see other artwork from the above artists in their Etsy stores, click on their names above.

Miles' New Paint

We came a long way from where we started. First I wanted a green for the walls in his room, then green with one accent wall of a khaki or dark tan. Then I couldn't find the right tan. Then we went on vacation and LOVED the light brown color (corkscrew willow) they painted most of the cabin.



So we used that for ALL of the walls!


On the walls are a couple of pieces I bought on Etsy. The one by the bed is from theblackapple and the one in between the windows is an original painting from konyskiw. On the wall you can't see is a print from ashleyg.
So I got in a few plugs in for some good artists on Etsy. :-)

BTW, I know the wall on the left by the bed is a little bare. We are thinking of getting some good photos printed up. I was thinking some closeup images of playground equipment. Any other suggestions are welcome.

The Clock and the Crock

As promised, here are the two beloved purchases from Door County:


I just adore the crock, every time I go into the kitchen I actually make a point of looking at it. It makes me smile. :-)

My Little Artist

Ella did a chalk drawing on the driveway yesterday. When she told me about it, I didn't make an effort to go see it, I'm afraid to admit. (I usually do, really!) But as I was leaving to go out for the evening I saw it and really think it is good! It is a drawing of the sun. Remember, Ella is only 3!

Too bad it is connected to the driveway and we can't sell it on Etsy! :-)

Creativity Come Out of There!

Where? My brain! So I struggle and struggle trying to be creative. I see things in real life that I like and think "ah, that is IT!" Well, last night I dreamed that we had our back deck redone. It was a combination of deck and brick pavers. What I saw in my dream was beautiful, it was creative and amazing. AHA, this means it was FROM MY BRAIN. Yes I just "saw it", but I saw it in my dreams, which means it came from me. Which means creativity must be somewhere in there. Now, how do I get it out? I think the number one block is lack of confidence. So where do I get this confidence? I don't know, but I'm looking at more magazines and blogs, I'm trying out little vignettes, I'm reading a little about decorating too. I'm observing more too. No, I don't think the deck I saw in my dreams was one I saw in real life somewhere because I don't recall seeing a combo deck and pavers like THAT!





Here are a couple of table centerpieces I did this weekend. In the dining room I just pulled a silk arrangement from the guest room, put it on a cake plate and added my yard sale find and a pretty bowl I had with water and the petunia bloom Ella pulled off my plant "for me". :-) The table runner is something my mom made and gave to me recently. I appreciate that she uses a little more muted colors for me.




Well, Ella seems to have a creative side, which I'd love to nurture. When I'm looking at art or clothes or anything pretty, she will point out what is "beautiful". She is an excellent colorer, for a 3 year old and likes to draw too. She can't wait until she can do more cooking, gardening and sewing. Here she is yesterday at the Lincolnshire Arts Festival at the "Paint a Volvo" activity.

Another Blog and Artwork I Love

On the blog mentioned previously (http://treefalldesign.typepad.com/tree_fall/), there was an entry showing a room in this woman's house and it included some prints from an artist, plus a link to that artists blog.

Here is her blog:
http://www.kittygenius.com/kitty_genius/

Here is her art for sale:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=4187&section_id=5004627

I bought a print: Not even near any of the style in our house, but I'm determined to make it work. I have my eye on a couple of other prints of hers as well. She seems like a really neat person too, very upbeat, inspired and together. She likes to post about flea market finds, table setting, clothes etc... I really enjoy reading about it all.