Paper and Tape

Hey everyone! Is it really spring?? Sure doesn't feel like around these parts. We're supposed to get snow tomorrow. Noooo! Argh!!!! Not a lot-just enough to remind us that Mother Nature is in charge. I guess she doesn't care what the calendar says and just wants to unfold spring to us when she's darn good and ready. So...we wait...

Anyway, a couple weeks ago I showed you an "art" piece I made with an antique hanger and a calendar page. Remember? It was the Simple Addition post. Well, I got three more antique hangers and attached different antique pages to them.

These pages are really cool. They're sea life illustrations done by a well known German scientist in the late 1800's. My brother got the pages on ebay from some guy in Europe and they were supposed to be my Christmas gift. Now, three months later, I finally have them. Of course, I can't just buy picture frames and hang them. No. Since I had the four hangers I thought I definitely had to attach the pages to the hangers and display them all together. My breakfast nook walls were bare and that's where they needed to go.

I had a problem, though. Only one hanger had clothes pins to attach the paper. I had to figure out how to attach the other delicate pages to the other hangers. It turns out archival tape and some twine was all I needed.

I just looped the twine around the hanger rod and taped it to the back of the paper.
I used archival tape so it won't damage the old paper.

Ta da!! What do you think? Clever, huh?

The white shelf came out of my mother's garage, from an old a house she bought more than 20years ago. When she bought that house, the shelf stored small cans of old paint. The cans were probably on that shelf for at least 20 years prior. That shelf was way too beautiful to be in a garage holding rusty old cans. I brought it home, cleaned it up and have been loving it since.

I'll be linking up to some great parties. Hope to see you party people there.

Have a great week. See ya.

Linky Parties!

Piece of Work Wednesday at

Coastal Family Room

Hey everyone!  Come on in and welcome to our Florida family room.  Hope you all enjoyed the tours of the living room and dining room.  If you missed either of those tours, you can catch them HERE, before we continue.

Before we go any further, let's take a quick look at the entry.  I know.  Not much here to see.  I'm on the hunt for two matching benches that will fit under the paintings.  The paintings are 36"x48" and I don't want them to look "top heavy" if the benches are too short.  I think the benches should be at least  48" long.  I thought about sofa tables or chests under each painting but the bottom ledge of each niche is only 29" from the floor and standard table height is 30" so that won't work.  The quest continues...

These self-made paintings were a quick and easy way to fill a big space on a small dime.  I feel the niches needed something bold and I think the paintings  make a statement. What they say, I'm not quite sure, but anyway...moving on...

Let me say, this isn't the look I envisioned for this room when we first moved in. I wanted to create a fun light -hearted room with a  relaxing beach vibe and I was thinking it would be almost all white.  Something with the  colors of the coastline-soft sandy dunes, sun bleached star fish and sand dollars, and  the soft greens of natural sea grasses.  And, mixed in would be various shades of brown, like pieces of driftwood.

I've always wanted an all white room and I thought I'd finally be able to have one. I didn't intend on having all the bright greens and blues. I love all the white rooms I see in  high styling design magazines, and I love the white rooms I see in so many of the blogs I read.  LOVE THEM!  And I love white painted furniture.  I have LOTS of it!  But I guess I love color more.  I have so many brightly painted colorful pieces, too.  Bright greens and blues.  And some reds.  So, I guess this room is a compromise. My objective was to incorporate the pieces I already own and love into this new space...still lots of white and a couple of brown pieces...with punches of bright apple green and splashes of turquoise...and mahogany colored floors to anchor it all. 

The walls are painted a very light creamy sort of green.  My son calls is pistachio, so, I'll call it that, too.  The room has the lightness that I wanted without being white. 

For me, the easiest way to put together a coastal feeling home is to start with white sofas.  We purchased these new for this room back in October '09.  I bought them from jcpenney.com.  They were on clearance for $499 each( I don't remember  the original retail price, but I think they were around $1100 each).  What a lucky find!  I was nervous about an online purchase but the reviews were all five star so I went for it.  I'm really happy with them.  They're super comfy and the cushions are foam wrapped with down feathers.  Best of all, the slipcovers are machine washable!

The only  other purchases for this room were the coffee table and the long shop counter that the tv is on.  The coffee table is from Ballard Design.  It was the floor sample and on sale...a good deal but I don't remember what we paid for it. 

The shop counter, on the other hand, was an absolute splurge.  It counts as my birthday, Christmas and anniversary presents for the next umpteen years.  Honestly, it's the single most expensive thing we own.

We happened upon it one day while window shopping at the Lincoln Park, Arhaus Furniture in Chicago.  It almost took my breath away ( it did take my credit limit away, lol).  Anyhoo...I love it and it fits in that huge niche.

And, take note of the curtains.  They look custom, right?  No?  Can't fool your keen eyes.  They're  king size bedsheets, $12 each.  'nuff said.

How do you think I did?  Do you feel the beach vibe?

Anyone else showing a new room or completed project this week? I'd love to see it.  Do tell!!!

I'll be linking with a bunch of parties this week.  Will you be there?

See ya around

 

Spring Has Sprung Chez Barb

Spring is still a couple of weeks away and Easter isn't until the last weekend in April but like so many of you I can't wait any longer for spring to come.

I'm lucky to be in Florida this week so I'm getting a break from the cold rainy Chicago weather but I know that when I get back there will still be plenty of winter to endure. I'm taking advantage of the warm sunny days in Florida and focusing on welcoming the feeling of spring  while I'm here.  I should be really inspired to spruce up the Illinois house when I get back. 

I've been playing around with my "stuff", arranging and rearranging, trying to put together some vignettes.  I came up with a couple different looks and now I have a bit of spring sprinkled around the house.

Whatever is happening outside- I don't care, 'cuz spring is in da house!!

Oh,  and I hope to share my Florida family room next week.  Still trying to get a few decent photos.  I don't know if it's my camera or me (more than likely me) but I have a heck of a time taking a clear photo.

Have a great weekend and I hope to see you at some linky parties!