wall makeovers (& a lot of pictures)

i think someone spiked my chai tea latte's with some

red bull this weekend.

after 14 months in our current home our to-do list is still

pretty long. some big projects and some small.

saturday i was determined to cross off some of the

small projects i'd been dragging my feet on.

namely, dressing up some walls.

i've been working on the boy's room's upstairs as i'm able to get materials.

the stairwell leading up to their space is dark, has poor lighting, and up to now

has had nothing on the walls. bOrInG!

i knew i wanted to deck it out with color and with stuff  that would be

fun for the boys. i want them to love their rooms, and the walk up!

everything on the wall came from around the house. i didn't spend a dime.

the above print is hanging on an old barn door which is leaning in the corner

on the landing at the bottom of the stairs.

most of the frames received a fresh look with

either spray or craft paint or both.

five keys representing the five of us.

an 8x10 print from my friend jessie. hopefully she won't

mind i cut it up to achieve a different look.

the boys' artwork. . .

the excerpt above is from a book "the clowns of god" talking

about children with down syndrome, challenging the things on which most

people place value.

there are three framed numbers on the wall. a 3, 5, and 7, the ages of the boys

when we moved into quinby cottage.



i can't remember where i got this print. it was years ago. it was on etsy.

that's all i know.

i have just a few spots to fill in and i'm sure

it will be ever changing as the boys grow.

next up is the wall on the other side of the staircase. it looked like this for a

long time. . .

one of our problems in this house has been lack of space for

bookshelves. after tripping over books stacked in wire baskets

and even an old antique wash tub i'd had enough and decided to

throw up a couple shelves on this wall.

(please ignore the different color trim. still working on painting it all out.)

i bought a few scrolly brackets and two 1 x 6 x 6 boards, stained them

and slapped 'em up there.

it really warms up that wall.

looking at this side of the room is totally different now. i love it.

so, that's what i did on saturday.



oh, one other thing got changed. i wanted to use the little mirrors from

our front room in the stairwell.

and the 'w' and the chalkboard which i spray painted red. so i had to

 re-do this wall.

here it is now. prints from jones design company.

whew!

love checking things off my list!

~ stacy ~

warming things up

with nights in the mid-40's and days in the low 70's fall has finally landed in south carolina! it's my favorite time of year. i absolutely love having the windows open and waking up cold!

we are still getting settled in here at quinby cottage. i have been a painting maniac but still have a good bit left to do. my arms are petering out on me, though. every wall and every bit of trim work in this house needs freshening up so even though it's a small house it is a time consuming task, especially since i am the primary painter.

with each finished wall i am able to pull out some simple
decor and thereby empty another box. i do love an empty box!
my trash to treasure dresser is serving as a bright spot in our dining area. i pulled in a few pine cones and had the boys collect some acorns from the yard and called this space done. i love this tray, i use it year round.

i'm having to get used to lower ceilings again. in our last home the fireplace was in a room with two story ceilings so i had all sorts of room above the mantel to play with. you can see here that i don't have a ton of space between mantel and ceiling. i found the oval mirror from tjmaxx and pulled the rest from around  the house.

mr. blue bird there is constantly bouncing around the house. i found him at the dollar store, brought him home and painted him blue. he's our waldo.

sorry for the horrible picture. this little vignette really isn't as boring as it looks. i stink at photography!

i'm snubbing orange pumpkins this year in favor of white no particular reason, just a little tired of plain ole orange. (though we will be carving an orange pumpkin, and the pressure is on for pastor j to do something super fantastic because i plan to win $50 in a carving contest with it.)

i threw this together last night before our small group came over. i still have another coat

of paint to apply to this wall but i couldn't stand the random stacks of stuff accumulating on

the secretary desk anymore.

there's nothing special going on here, i just grabbed a few empty

frames, stripped a lamp of fabric, and put some twigs in one

of my blue ball jars. i am really drawn to the

industrial look but only in small doses so this naked lamp

gives me just the right amount for our small space. i'm trying to decide if i should

 paint the whole thing - base, frame, finial and all. for now this will do.



nothing special going on here, either. but i gotta tell ya, after having our house on the market for.ev.er i am excited to have family photo's out again!

they really warm a space up, don't ya think?

an almost empty bowl of candy corn is my only punch of fall in this corner.

man, my kids go through this candy fast. me? i don't touch the stuff. ahem.

nothing particularly fallish going on here. i just wanted to show off that i got some pictures on the wall. this is our hall of black and white family photos of old. see that white door thingy in the middle? kind of a pain.

it's the electrical box. i'm trying to figure out what to do with it. i may paint the trim black to look like a frame and put something fun in the center. just don't know what yet. i'm totally open to suggestions!? anyone else have something awkward like this smack in the middle of open wall space?

so, that's a little of what i've been doing around here.

like my new pillow. i love it. also from tjmaxx.

what do you do with old window frames?

I threw together a quick project in between sorting, weeding and packing boxes today. its o the chalkboard variety which i know in diy world have become a dime a dozen. i thought i'd show you anyway.

I had an old window frame, I had a piece of masonite - amazingly already cut to size, and I had chalkboard paint.

So, I threw them all together.

the frame is painted plane ole' white.

hardware, too.

i like masonite for diy chalkboards because it is such a smooth surface.

any pressed wood will do, doesn't have to be the masonite brand!

you can pick it up at any LowPot and they will cut it to size for you, so make sure you take

some measurements.

i have had this can of chalkboard paint for a while, it has seen me

through many projects.

i'm thinking about painting the entire fridge in our new home with it.

too much?

i'm happy with today's spontaneous project. this window had three panes so it works

perfectly for our family. each kid gets a column for their daily to-do's, notes, homework assignments, etc.

okay, enough fun.

gotta go pack some more.