The frames were hung from the moldings with care...

...in hopes that some art soon would be there.



Remember those free frames I scored in early May? Well I took the large ones and hung them on either side of the pocket doors in the living room.

The anal retentive side of me doesn't like that they don't match but at least the are a similar size. Considering the low, low price of $0 - I think its looking pretty gorgeous.



Another reason why I love those picture rails (I wish I had added them upstairs!) is that hanging these requires no holes in the walls. The hook at the rail balances on the molding and a wire holds the frame up. Easy peasy.

I suppose Ill have to make some holes to hang something inside these frames. I wish I could hang them off the larger frames but Im not sure how to accomplish that without a feat of engineering. But for now, at least there is something on the walls adding a bit of texture.

Hardware treat

Normal women treat themselves to retail therapy at Saks and a new pair of shoes. I, in my twisted desires, get excited by a trip to Lowes (despite the ridiculous frequency of my visits) and treat myself to an electronic staple gun.

I don't know about you but those manual ones kill my hands. Not sure why I waited so long because this is clearly worth its price tag of $50.


First project was to turn the Ikea Ung Drill frame into something useful.


I took out the glass and cardboard backing, cut a piece of screening to fit and stapled it in place.

Amazingly, I didn't staple into my finger once!!

For now its functioning as a earring holder

but the plan is to mount it in my office, get some hooks into and it and use it to hold the office supplies I need most often like scissors, etc. I'd like to keep as uncluttered a desk as possible. I just need to find the right kind of hooks/jars.

Hmm...but looking at this, perhaps I should have used pegboards instead? I think I'll try it with the screen and see how it holds up.

I actually purchased the staple gun for a totally different, non home decor related project but it will also come in handy when my fabric from Spoonflower arrives and I can upholster the guestroom chair seat. In case you're wondering, I scraped the paisley pattern I posted Friday in favor of this which I think will work better in the room as a quirky surprise.

What do you think?
(loose translation in french : please be seated)

Have you heard?

Have you heard of Spoonflower?

Talk about a service that I can't believe hasn't already been brought to market long ago. Spoonflower will print up short runs (as little as a yard!) of your own personally designed fabric. I'm very excited to put this service to the test and I don't even sew.

My first project is to have some fabric printed up to reupholster the seat of the desk chair in the guestroom. You know, the one that I had planned to paint ages ago and still haven't gotten around to it? That one. I still plan on painting it gray - its just taking me longer than I anticipated :)

I was hoping that I could do something very specific to me or the house so I played around with variations of my address or photos of the house but it all looked very cheesy. I still wish I could do something that was personalized but I can't think of anything good. Ideas?

So I moved onto a paisley pattern that would incorporate the green and grays and black in the room. My first attempt at a pattern resulted in this:


Not terrible but after it was all done I realized that its a little too whimsical for me. It might better toned down on a gray background but Im not loving it.

So I'm working on an alternative that might work that involves old line drawings of antique chairs. I'll share what that looks like when I am done with the design.

In the meantime I figured I'd share the good news about this service. I'm not sure what sort of quality I can expect but I'm hopeful its worth the effort.

Ironic progress

Maybe its not ironic but more plain stupidity: the guestroom is the most "finished" room in the whole house. Guess how many guests we've had? You guessed right - none. Why would we invite anyone to stay over when we had virtually no other furniture in the rest of the house? But more importantly, why is the least used room the first one to get done? Lack of priorities? Mental illness on the part of the owner?

Admittedly, its so far along mostly because a) I was mostly using items I already had laying around b) I have a lower standard for this room in general. And hey - at least its progress!

Here is what it looked like when we bought the house. Notice the very chic plywood window treatment. Oh-la-la!


The last time I showed progress on this room, I had added some window treatments with my DIY accent and had set up the bed. (Take a look here) This weekend I decided I was going to hang the Madeline prints in their old frames. Shabby chic may be out but its in full force here. I also dragged up the 5x7 ivory shag rug I had from my last house. Its not quite the right size but it adds a little texture and that's the idea.

And finally I brought up the chair I need to reupholster and paint for the desk.

And before I break my arm patting myself on the back, I still have quite a bit to do in here to get it totally finished. This includes:
1. Painting the desk & chair in bedford gray I bought ages ago

2. Purchasing and hanging the scalloped mirror over the desk

3. Finding a nightstand to go in place of that plastic storage drawer unit seen at left. Maybe something like one of these two from Target?

$79 plus S+H

$42 plus S+H
4. Reupolster chair seat
5. Do something with this big blank wall opposite the bed.

Mr. Limestone wants to put a tv in there. And since we already have the cable hookup, an extra tv, Im down for that. Whats the likelyhood Mr. L will actually get around to mounting aforementioned television in this century? I think its pretty slim but Im holding out hope. Its not that important if it gets done anyway. However, looking at this photo is making me think that I have an even better reason to give a try to the Ikea Trollsta sideboard.

If it doesn't work in my office, I could always use it on this long wall. Hmmm.
6. Once all of the above are done, Ill work on a care package for the infrequent guests we get. More on that in a future post.

Working the workspace...

Picking up where I've left off regarding my office, there isn't much to show. Im a bit stuck on what to do in here. As Ive mentioned, its a very small room. I want it to be stylish and functional. And since its my office and it doesn't really have any interesting architectural details, I'm feeling a little more free with the style. That said, Im quite constrained on the budget. Anyone want to lend a hand?

In search of some economical choices, I found myself thinking of that mecca of cheap furniture, Ikea.

So this weekend we ventured to the new controversial Ikea that just opened in Red Hook, Bklyn.
I considered just buying everything right there - desk, chair, storage piece, rug, etc.. On further consideration, I didn't want to go too hog wild with purchases because Im concerned about space layout and I didn't want to waste money buying pieces that might not fit or work. So I sacrificed instant gratification with a more patient approach. I'm starting with a desk and working from there.

I had spotted this desk on a prior trip.

I liked how they paired the cabriole legs with the industrial material. I liked that it came in two sizes so I could choose the scaled down version to work with the small room. I liked the price at a sweet $140. It had a little oomph and I like oomph :)

Ok, now onto the layout. I a little bit stuck since in a very poor decision making moment on my part, I allowed the internet & phone lines to be installed on the left side of the room. If I had been thinking clearly, I would have put them on the right side which would have given me more layout options. But Monday morning quarterbacking will do me no good now. (In my defense, I was sort of overwelmed with a thousand of these tiny decisions at the time so I'm giving myself a pass on this one). Im nuts when it comes to seeing wires tacked along the wall so I don't want to do that here. So my two options for desk placement are: a) pushing the desk up against the left wall long ways or b) pushing the short end of the desk against the left wall so the bulk of the desk juts out. I went with option b for now. What do you think?


While I was at Ikea, I stopped to make an inspection of this bad boy.

I liked the look. Its a bit large at 72 inches but its less than 30 inches high so that should help keep it from being overwelming. Im thinking it *might* work along the right side wall for storage inside and display on top. Is it too much?

And yes, that is a totally trashy brown paper + masking tape window treatment you see. Isn't it fabulous? NOT! It gets really sunny in here so I needed something to block the sun from melting me. Its also an odd size window so I can't just buy any old thing and tack it up there. Once again, I'm stumped.

Once the large pieces are in, I have some fun accessories all ready to go in including a crystal desk lamp, a chanel poster, a postcard rack, etc..


So to recap, what else needs to be done in here?
a) decide on layout
b) office chair
c) storage piece
d) rug
e) window treatment

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ta-da!

Without further ado, here they are


I still would have preferred the original couch I ordered in terms of color and comfort but these work too. I love the lines and how they aren't too high or large. Im just so happy I can finally put my feet up in my own living room.

At the same time, it feels weird to be in there relaxing at all since its been empty for so long. Im sure I'll get used to it very fast.


Hardly a voila moment as there is a lot missing here but we're making due for now. Ignore the table under the tv...that is going bye bye at some point. We carried up our old coffee table from the basement. Its not what I wanted in here but until I find a coffee table that works, this one will be living in this spot so at least my cold drink has someone to sit while I'm watching my trash tv :)



I also ordered the gold patterned rug. Im still not sold on it but I ordered to see how I like it in the room. If it doesn't work I can return it or it can go in our bedroom. So more to come on that.

I'm going to need a bigger vase...

While strolling the street fair last weekend, I decided I needed some fresh flowers in the house. I stopped by a deli that happens to have a huge flower selection and didn't see anything I was too keen on except a nice green cymbidium orchid. It was $25 which really shocked me - this was the deli afterall. But the saleswoman told me it would last a month if I made a fresh cut at the base of the stem every other day. Doubtful but sold, I took it home with the idea that I would take my large vase and submerge the orchid in a zen and easy to accomplish arrangement sort of like this


image from HGTV.com

Clearly, I have issues with size. This is the biggest vase I own. Was I on crack thinking I owned a vase 3x as tall?


Its been a week and the orchid is still going strong. So maybe in another two weeks of stem cuts, I'll be able to squeeze this orchid underwater to get the look I had in mind. Until then, its very nice to come home to fresh flowers everyday.

PS: sorry for the delay in sofa photos. I have been droning on and on about this furniture delivery for months, the least I could do is show you what Ive been waiting for. Unfortuntely, Ive just been really busy with work this week and haven't had a chance. I promise Ill post a photo as soon as I get the chance.

Edited to add: Its been 9 days and the orchid is definitely looking the worse for wear. Its not terrible looking yet but there is no way its going to last a month. And yes, I have been changing the water and cutting down the stem every other day.

We have liftoff!

Im sure everyone was at the absolute edge of their seats about my furniture woes. Im happy to report the couch and chairs have arrived safely. Woo-hoo. Its weird to even have furniture in that room after it being empty for so long.

Sorry, Im a bit tied up with work this week so photos will have to wait a few days.

A welcome gift for my chairs...

The couch & chairs are scheduled to arrive in less than 36 hours. Keep fingers crossed for a smooth delivery.

Look what I found on sale at Target. These little rectangular fellows should work nicely as a pop of contrast on the chairs that will face the couch. I couldn't resist getting them a little welcome home gift.

They are the perfect color combo with stripes of gold, gray, beige and cream with black piping. They called out to me.

Now I need some pillows that work on the couch. Any ideas? Im working in the same shades - creams, black, grays and golds.

A look back...

Im going to try to do one of these before/afters on a regular basis. Ive done the dining room, now its on to its sister space, the kitchen. As I mentioned earlier, these aren't true "afters" as there isn't a single room that is completely finished but Im going with the concept that waiting for perfect is a waste of a perfectly good today.



My plan is to put a more detailed picture book together of the before/in progress/afters (I have more than a 1600 photos to sort and arrange) but until then, a single before and after collage will have to do.

Anyone who has been reading since this beginning, this will all be old news so feel free to ignore. For those that might have stumbled upon my blog more recently, hope this serves as a cliff notes version of how far this house has come since we started.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!