Checking In and More Star Wars Related Progress

Is it just me or did this month fly by?  Seriously, I feel like I just put my Christmas tree away and now it's BAM February!  Since today is the last day of the month, I figured it would be a good day to check in on my monthly list and see how I did.

This is what I had planned to accomplish during the month of January.

1. Paint the boy's room.  Done - Check 

 

2. Paint the girl's built-ins.  Fail

 

3. Bring in a rug for the eating area of the kitchen.  Changed my mind on this one. 

I didn't do too bad.  I give myself a B+ because even if number three was technically scratched off the list, there was still some decision making involved.  This monthly list idea has been really helpful for me in the "stay focused" department, which is an area that I struggle with when it comes to decorating projects in my home.  I think I'll keep this monthly list making thing going.  I'll be back tomorrow with the list for February which will obviously include number two - paint the girl's built-ins.  

While I didn't make any progress at all in the girl's room, I did get a lot more accomplished besides painting in the boy's room.  In fact, I'm very close to calling it a wrap on this little Star Wars saga.  I've been working on artwork for his room.  Here's a peek at the gallery wall. 

Sorry for the weird angle.  I took the pictures from the side to avoid the glare on the glass.  Anyhow, I wanted to create a little gallery wall in his room that was filled with art and pictures that are really meaningful.  

This was my hubs comic book.  I framed it over a piece of fabric.  Want to know something crazy?  This comic book is dated October 1978. That's the year and month that I was born!  So, my hub who is 7 years my senior was reading this comic book when I made my appearance in the world.  HA!  I love little things like that, and I love seeing this comic book that my hub was reading when he was 7 framed in our 7 year old son's room.

Now, I'd like to introduce to you Mr. Darth Paper........

and Mr. Origami Yoda.

They were made by my son and his friend.

My son also drew this dragon picture.  I love it!  I don't want every single thing in this room to be Star Wars related, and I like the way this picture works with the colors in the room.

I used some left over fabric from the curtain panels I made to create a matte/background for this picture.

Before we were four, we were three.  This is one of the only family pictures I have of the three of us.  I used a scrap of fabric to fill this frame.

Last but not least, you may not have known this, but my boy has graduated from the Jedi Training Academy.  You need proof? 

How do you like the backwards hat and flip flops?!  He's such a cool little Jedi!  The force is strong with him.  ;) 

So this room is coming along, slowly but surely.  This little gallery wall makes me smile.  I'm seriously in love with these two. 

Gallery wall - Check.  

Now on to the diy headboard I keep putting off to the next day.    

How do you fill your gallery walls?  Personal pictures, art, keepsakes, or a mix of everything you hold near and dear?  Anyone else making a monthly list?  I think I've finally figured out how to conquer my design ADD.  

Master Closet Revisited

Last January I organized our master closet.  It went from this.

Shield your eyes!

to this.

Then just one week after, I made a minor tweak (at the hubs request), and it went to  this. 

                 

I used electrical tape for the chevron stripes.  You can read all about where the inspiration for that project came from in the original post here.

Well, it's been a year since I whipped this closet into shape, and it has stayed relatively organized except for this hot mess.

So, I decided, what with January being the official "get organized" month, to clean up this hot mess.  I took out one shelf, moved the hubs jeans/khakis to the wardrobe in our bedroom, claimed another shelf as my own to use for my frequently used handbags, and refolded the hubs sweaters.  When I was done cleaning/folding/rearranging I was left with this.

Better right?  Well, I have a hard time walking away once I get started.  I was in organize mode, and I just couldn't stop myself.   I decided to organize my jewelry.  Instead of keeping it all tangled up in a jewelry box in my bedroom, I would rather have all of my accessories displayed in the closet.  I want to be able to grab them in a hurry.  I ran to Home Depot and picked up a gold cafe rod and some cup hooks to use as jewelry organizers.

The cafe rod works great for cuffs and bracelets.  Cup hooks and twine are perfect for earrings.

I also replaced the silver knobs....

with some glass knobs I already had.

Do you notice anything else "new" in the above picture?  See that fabric on the wall to the right?  Well, call me crazy, but I decided to cover up the chevron stripes with some fabric scraps I already had.  I wanted to create the look of wallpaper using what I already had on hand.  Since I didn't have enough of any one fabric to do this whole wall, I created a "quilted" or "patch-work" wall treatment.  I LOVE IT!  Seriously, my closet is now my favorite place in the house!  It's fun and wild and random - just like me!  ;)

I figure what better place to let your imagination run wild with lots of different patterns than in your closet!

This was so easy to do.  I just ironed the scraps of fabric and used thumb tacks to pin them up on the wall.  It's all upholstery fabric.  There's no pattern; it's completely random.

I layered on my burlap board for more jewelry storage.

I also turned an old cork board into a jewelry organizer with some fabric, ribbon, and thumb tacks.  Then I hung it on the back of the door.

To hold belts, I'm using a plain old nail that I rubbed and buffed gold. 

My closet is little in size.  

It's not outfitted with fancy shelving ( I wish!).  

I have to share it with a man. 

Let's face it; it's the definition of Carrie Bradshaw's worst nightmare.   

But it works for me!  And, I think it proves that you can do a lot with a little if you challenge yourself to think outside the box (or ummmm......wire shelving).

I'm not exactly a Manolo girl anyway. (someday  - maybe)    ;)

How was your weekend?  Did anyone else do any closet reorganizing?




*Linking up here
Home Stories A to Z
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Savvy Southern Style
It All Started With Paint
Thrifty Decor Chick

Totally Awesome Timesuck

I know I don't usually post on Saturdays, but I had to share this with you all!

First off, you know what the word timesuck means right?  It's the name I give to anything that sucks up my time that is not completely vital or super important in my life but is still totally awesome.  Examples:  Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Television (namely reality television because Vampire Diaries is obviously super important so it doesn't exactly qualify as a timesuck).  These things take up lots of time and can be little black holes in your day if you're not careful.

So, I usually give myself a time limit.  That helps me manage my timesucking activities pretty well.  Except for yesterday morning.  I sat down to read a few blogs, knowing full well that I had just a half hour to read before getting ready to go to the gym.  I stopped over at Beth's (Home Stories A to Z), and that's when it happened.  I read this post about how to create a Facebook timeline cover photo and my time limit went completely out the window.  Look at how cute hers is!!!



I had to create one for my page right then, didn't I?  The actual "creating" didn't take long at all.  Beth's instructions are easy to follow (as are all of her tutorials - she really does a great job explaining things), and I could have made the photo, uploaded it, and went on to the gym.  Instead I played around for longer than I should have, but the end result is really fun.  And I did get to the gym..........eventually.

With Valentine's Day on the horizon I wanted something a little sweet.  I used this picture of my Target clearance pillows......

to create the background with a few simple tweaks on Picasa.  I just cropped the image into a rectangle, used the pencil sketch feature, and softened it up a bit.  I use Picasa and/or Picnik for all of my photo editing, and Beth also gives instructions for using Picnik to create a timeline photo.  Anyhow, I'm a big faux bois lover, so it's a little ridiculous how much I love this background! 

So if you don't have anything else to do this weekend, have some fun playing with your pictures and make yourself a Facebook timeline photo.  All the ummmm......cool kids are doing it!  Well, Beth's cool; me - not so much.  

See you on Monday!

Double Feature and Design Thoughts

Happy Friday!  I am so ready for the weekend!   Do you know where I was yesterday morning?  I was at .........jury duty orientation!  Guess what I did to pass the time?  I read my camera manual.  ;)   At least I made good use of my time.  Anyhow, I know it's a privilege to serve (at least that's what the judge said) but it's not exactly the most fun thing to do.

One of the brighter spots of yesterday morning was being featured in Emily's new series "Send Me A Picture".  The topic was -the DIY project you're proudest of - and she asked a few design bloggers to submit a photo with a brief description.  I was honored to be included in such a talented group, and I'm really looking forward to the next installment of this series.  Can you guess which project I submitted?  Head over to find out!

Today I'm beyond thrilled to have my home featured at Southern Hospitality.  Rhoda is one of the most encouraging and supportive bloggers I've "met".  I was so honored when she asked to feature my work-in-progress home.

Lastly, before I get my weekend on, I wanted to share this image with you.

It's from one of my favorites. 

I'm not a huge fan of the styling, while it's pretty it's just not me.  However, what struck me about this room was the color palette.  I love it!  

You know I'm a big fan of red and blue.  

                        

I got to thinking how easy it would be to make your accent color your main color and vice versa.  Could be an easy, affordable way to give your room a whole new look without really changing the color palette of the room.  Don't worry I have no plans to repaint my red walls.  I LOVE them way too much...........but if I ever tire of them it would be fun to go with blue walls and pops of red.  

Anyhow, these are the random thoughts that cross my mind as I sip coffee/wine and read my favorite glossies.  I thought you might like to know how my crazy mind works.  ;)   What do you pick up on when you're perusing magazines and catalogs?  Anyone else like to think about how little changes can make a big impact? 

Happy weekend!  

Short Curtains

First off, thank you so much for giving your opinions on the black or white issue yesterday!  I so appreciate your advice!  Although I'm still somewhat on the fence, I have started the process of taping off the doors. It's not so fun, but hopefully when I'm done taping I'll have my mind made up as far as a color goes.

Today's topic is short curtains.

For the most part, you either like them or you don't.  I for one like them, especially in a kid's space.  They are fun and casual.  I decided to go with short curtains in the boy's room.  One reason, besides liking the look, is because of the space issue.  His room is on the small side.  Dressing the windows with short panels allowed me to push the furniture up against the walls.  Even if it is just a few inches, it makes a difference.

When you saw this area last, it looked like this.

I used my no-sew hemming tape and the $9/yd. canvas fabric I found to make these panels.  The fabric is actually a vertical stripe pattern that I turned on its side.

These panels were easy enough to make except for the fact that I measured wrong and had to make a few adjustments.  Thank goodness I measured wrong on the long side rather than the short side.  To fix the problem all I did was fold down the top and clip the rings on to shorten them.  I think if you're going with a short curtain that it's best to have the panels hit right at the end of the window trim.  This was they look purposeful rather than like you just bought/made the wrong size.

For the bedside window, I had to create a border on the bottom.

The width of the fabric once turned horizontally wasn't long enough to cover this window, so I just made a border with the stripes going vertically to make up the difference.  Again just using no-sew hemming tape!  It's not super noticeable, but I do like that this window is a little different from the other one.  It sort of defines each area of the room.

You may have also noticed the red border around the Yoda quotes.  I just taped them off with frog tape and painted the border.  I chose red to tie in with the curtain panels.  

The yellow chair in the desk area is a recent $10 Restore find.  

I'm in love with it!  The desk we already had; it was purchased from Ikea years ago.  I recycled a soup can with some scrapbook paper and grosgrain ribbon to give him a pencil cup. 

Don't even try to act like you don't love you some Chewbacca!  

So what do you think?  Where do you stand on short curtains?  I'll admit the desk area feels a bit top heavy right now, but once I get the artwork on the walls I think it will balance things out nicely. 

I'm getting so close to being done with this room!  Next up artwork and then the headboard!  

*Linking up At The Picket Fence