Thursday, October 20, 2011

Faux-denza

Thanks for all of your encouraging feedback about the wall stencil! It was so much fun to do and share. I have another project that I am working on, we like to call it our faux-denza. Its not a shelf, its not a credenza, its a faux-denza! Also, its an IKEA hack. And man I love me some IKEA hacks.

So, heres the deal. Before Travis and I were married I loved the simplicity of the narrow stretch between "dining" and "living" (its really all just one big L shaped room). It was nothing but green walls and 2 old doors. This was back before I compulsively photo documented everything, just incase, I ever needed the picture. So the picture below does not do the space justice. Although you can say HI to my granny and aunt janet! Anyway, just imagine how sharp my white table with retro green cushions looked off to the right of that space and those doors.

 After Travis and I got married I needed places to store "things", and so we decided to purchase this. Its part of IKEA's Expedit shelving line. If you look closely you will see that the smaller units are not functional, per say.


 We layed the unit on the floor horizontally and then used the bottom for storage and the smaller areas for display. In order to hide the bottom ugly parts we made some little curtains from muslin. It was....fine, but I've always wanted to do more. Here you can see what we have now:




Looking at the pictures there are a few things I don't like. 1. I feel like this heavy piece on the floor really weighs things down. 2. The console is so dark it really pulls down the sharp green walls. 3. The curtains are, fine, but nothing exciting. So to address these issues we have decided to do some major console renovation. First, we ordered 6" legs for this baby. Our baseboards are 5" so this will be just tall enough. But the real project is turning this console into a faux-denza. And here is how we're going to do it.

We are going to make 2 doors to cover up the bottom row of storage, and of course, I had something a little fun in mind for spicing up the outside of the doors. So, I needed some inspriation.
I really love these vintage kittinger chests. Hello greek key goodness.

(and don't even get me started on how awesome the wall paper is)

 So I decided that I wanted to use these two peices as my jumping off point. So before I get too carried away I should probably just give you a bare bones run down.  
Faux-denza to-do-list:
1. purchase painters grade wood and cut to size
2. paint wood glossy white
3. purchase wood molding
4. decide on arragement for the greek key effect
5. cut wood molding into peices
6. spray peices gold
7. attach peices to door with wood glue
8. cut vertical slats of consol, so that once doors are placed they will be flush with the sides
9. attach legs to console
10. attach doors to console
11. poof, faux-denza!

So, these instructions are pretty simple and not at all detailed, but as we go along I plan to do a couple of posts showing our progress! I am so excited to see the finished product!


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Time to make lemons

Well, thankyou for bearing with me after my short post earlier! I was so excited to be featured I just wanted to let everyone know, but had to get back to the clinic. If you are visiting from 36th ave. then its a pleasure to meet you! If you wanna know more about me or this blog then click "the halls" to get all of the deets!

I know I've posted many pictures of our house, but I haven't shared one of my favorite parts of the house. When I started my OB/GYN rotation back a year ago I spent a week on night float and 3-4 really crazy weeks that we didn't get to see much of each other. We didn't like not being on the same schedule, but we decided to find a way to make things better...and the result is one of my favorite parts of our house.

First thing, a chalk board to write short notes to each other!

Second, a love tree. Exclusively for little love notes

I love going back and looking at our notes later.
 

I even love the supplies. clothes pins and milk glass and chalk. Oh My!

 These were so easy to make. Grey cardstock, off white card stock, stamp, gold ink.
The stamp says "Uniquely Handmade limited edition". I thought it fit.


So thats it, my favorite part. Funny how its never the expensive lighting or appliances.

I've been featured

Hey Guys!

I have some great news, Desiree from 36th avenue featured my couch makeover!! Woo Hoo :) click on the link above to go directly to the post where its featured along with some really CUTE fall projects that some of her readers have been up to! I really love Desiree's blog, she always has such cute projects and ideas! I think y'all should really check out her mud closet; it's so cute it makes me want to delve into our closets {scarry thought}!


The 36th Avenue


I'm on a lunch break now, I've been working in the pediatric sub-specialty clinics and having a BLAST! Just wanted to give everyone a heads up!!!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Casa de Hall

Hey Guys!

Here is an idea of something sweet, simple, and inexpensive to do for your significant other. But first, a story. For the longest time Travis and I have been wanting to go to Sante Fe for the weekend. Unfortunately, timing and money have not allowed us to make a trip West. So, for labor day weekend I turned our house into our own special bed and breafaskt, Casa de Hall. 

Here are a few picture of what I did; along with some easy and simple ideas! First I made some stationary using Micrsoft Publisher. These two little notes were really simpe to make, but I thought that it made things feel more special.

The menu Travis could choose from was: Make Your Own Omelette, Breakfast Burrito, Chocolate Chip Pancakes, Belgium Waffles, and Blueberry Pancakes. Breakfast was served with fruit, and a choice of orange juice or sparkling grape juice.
On the morning of, I got up early and went to the store to pick up some hydrangeas and fruit; when I returned I wrote Travis a note saying "Thank you for staying at Casa de Hall, breakfast will be served at 10am. Until then feel free to sleep in or enjoy our spa services." (Our "spa" services were a candle lit bubble bath and a hot oil massage). I laid out the china and set the table so when he woke up he could order his breakfast.



Mason jars for the hydrangeas and a gold frame for the Casa de Hall sign makes it feel more legit. And I love the way our china looks just plain -no mats or chargers- sitting out in the natural light.

Our pattern isVera Wang Grosgrain
So, there you have the run down of our little weekend! I'm sure that Travis could have cared less about hydrangeas and cute stationary, but it made just a normal morning feel special for us; which is the real reason we were wanting to get out of town anyway! I think the biggest blessings are always in the small things.

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Monday, October 10, 2011

Faux Wallpaper

 Here are some pictures of the stenciled wall paper. I wanted to put them in the post with the explanation, but it was too long! What do you think?


  
View from the doorway {still so much to do}

 

 Our dresser in Weathervane by Martha Stewart. I love our moody colors


  

So there are a few different pictures of our faux wallpaper. We are so pleased with how it turned out!